The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-03-27


dark object came Hopping round the
corner in the chips. Hello, Jumbo"
said. "who killed that chicken"
NANNY. My name amt Jumbo"
The driver came back to say that he
had "done found the wood pile, but
could 7 find nary AK" So we CROPPED
out to. her, and finding some logs al
ready we soon had roaring fire.
The girl rom college was helping Mrs.
Brown il he kitchen, and supper was
soon smoking on the table, including
the Topping chicken crisply fried.
The supper was good, but the table,
in the expressive language of the noun
tains, "Hit was the powerfulest curios.
ity tibet ever was" 1t was a round,
double decker covered with oilcloth
rudely nailed ON. The outer rim was
space foot wide, on which the plates,
knives, forks and napkins were placed
The center of the table was six inches
higher, and on this the body of the re-
past was spread. A big and little oil
lamp family lighted the gloom, and
when one Of the drivers saw anything
he wanted on the opposite side of the
table round came the center with
creak and groan. Sometimes my plate
was in total eclipse, and sometimes
Jumbo's head was lost behind the big
yellow bowl of apple sauce laid my
hunk of hot corn bread on the movable
rim, and away it went to the opposite
side of the table.
l dismissed my conveyance in the
morning and arranged to go the rest of
the way with the "hack" bound for
Cashiers valley. The girl from Collow-
hee college shared with me the one seat
in the wagon, and the driver sat on the
end board over the traces. The wooden
top was so low that was forced to hold
my hat in my hand and SO came to the
end of my journey in no great state be-
hind horse and mule.
We had retained most of the altitude
gained in the climb up the Cullowhee
mountain so that the passage over the
Blue Ridge was little more than the as
cent and descent of an ordinary country
hill. Cashiers valley is swung like ham
mock between the tops Of the mountains,
1900 feet above the sea. Rock mountain
and Chimney Top present huge granite
faces to the valley. Whitesides, with it's
vast expanse of sheer rock on the hither
side, is mostly wooded ON the Cashiers
face. Yellow mountain, the highest peak
of the Blue Ridge at this point, the huge
mass of Hogsback, the two Sheep cliffs
and Big and Little Terrapin complete
the blue walls surrounding Cashiers val
ley. A clean, sandy road winds through
the settlement, along which our horse
and mule wagon trotted quietly to the
music of cowbells and gurgling trout
streams, and in the sweet morning sun
shine drew up before low house of
hewn logs and wooden additions, with
beds of asters and all the old fashioned
odorless fall flowers bordering the walks
The wood pile was opposite the gate, the
barn ON neighboring slope and gardens
of corn and cabbage swept round the
rear of the house. Host and hostess were
waiting in the porch and had remained
up the night before until the unprece-
denied hour of 10 o'clock, awaiting me.
I had written from indianapolis that I
should probably be one day behind my
letter and Mrs. Hooper had assured her
husband that would come on time I'M
less something broke down, as l was the
most restless man she ever saw. We re-
newed our acquaintance before the log
fire i'll the stone chimney and Twas soon
ready to start out in search of the other
members of the Hooper family.
This Mrs. Hooper was the second Of
the four daughters of Squire Hooper and
retained the family name, as did the eld
er sister, through having married with
in the clan. The squire, whom the
county judges were wont to consult on
knotty law points, died soon after the
close of the war, but his widow, who
was an invalid bolstered up in her easy
chair quarter of a century before, was
still living, although confined to her
bed She seemed to live altogether in
the past and to retain all the luminosity
of the wartime against her Confederate
neighbors and was rather surprised at
my more amiable views of the dead and
gone past She never tired of telling
me "what store" her husband thought
of me and Lieutenant Sill, and yet up
to the very day of my leaving there was
something on her mind. When taking
final leave of Aunt Lucy, the old wom-
an said to me in trembling voice chok-
ed with emotion, "Tbere's one thing / |
want to ask yet won't hurt ye to tell |
me-be ye friend of the south?"
81 hope so, said, AUNT Lucy"
eff the war was to be fit over, would |
ye fight ON the same side?" she contin- |
ued, pursuing her point.
Certainly" l said, eff l took any |
part, but think should leave fighting |
to the boys next time.
After some further conversation she |
concluded with the statement that she
didn't know much about politics, but
she had always allowed that if l came
back to the valley would tell her what
was right. "Ye must come agin an stay