The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-12


LII 81 O Fsther-How Jack Cotton Died.
~ In picturesque corner among tho
hills there Is on old mill con.
|bt nrning which strange traditions are told
N Tho lower story is built Of unknown rock
|Il while the upper story consists of two sub
|lE eantial rooms. Ono of tho rooms Is much
than the other, tho smaller ono be-
Hill Ing mere closet in comparison with the
|)E front apartment. The mill looks as though
EE 1t had been built to resist q siege, and it
\ surely has witnessed many strange and
Hi horrible scenes, even If but the half that
\ Is told is true.
IAN About the beginning of tho Revolution
| Aseyeral Tory families Inhabited tho coun-
kTtry A young man Of ono of these fami-
n ,lieS loved tho daughter of Jealous Whig
ID and tho day had been appointed for the
| marriage. When it was first Whispered
N among the neghbors that the youth had
tSsided with the Tories, tho girl was almost
4 'brOkenhcartcd, but declared that sho would
! not believe the fact till sho had heard 1t
Efrom his own lips.
M Sooner than she expected she had the
n chance. One evening, rs she was milking
the cows, her lover jumped tho fence and
\ stood before her. She told him instantly
| what she had heard, expcctinga vehoment
/ denial.
II Yes" he said, cit is oil true, and be-
! fore another year your father will wish no
was as am
m He would SEQ his grave 2rst," the girl
"A Indignantly replied.
"a "Ho may not have fer to go to find it,
n the young man avoWod, with q peculiar
Eintonation in his voice.
He persisted in following the girl, against
X,.ho xul tN hn t-ry- g.
k. there, and he forbade his neighbor on
& vas not welcome in his house. The girl
k/srdently sanctioned, by word and manner,
tho action OF her father. Tradition does
not tell all that followed. However, the
fGyoung man, whose name was Jack Cotton,
Il left In towering rage, swearing that
n whom next he returned he would enter IL
y no pleased, went away and was seen no
more until year afterward. Pretty Nancy
81 Langon continued to milk her cows
N There was so much tumult and con
n fusion in the country that people became
Injured to danger and wero not afraid. And
B Nancy, large, buxom maiden of 10, was
a proud of hor own courage. Her mother
u was an invalid and timid, and she closed
the shutters If the wind was heard among
n the pines.
IN IL all SouHucu llko inc SrOanS OIL dying
men," she would say. Her husband and
d four sons were with General Greene, and
even the slightest suggestion of their death
u wos terrible to her. Her younger daugh-
"a ter, Eva was of her temperament She
81 shivered, too, when the wind blew too hard
Ek or when neighboring woman brought in
F3the tidings of tho disastrous result of some
n hroff battle. Little Eva would crouch
TX tloser to her mother, and thoy two, with
|B hands clasped would pray for their fnroff
III loved ones, and that tho merciful Father
s would not forget them in their helpless
a condition.
x But on such occasions Nancy would
throw open the windows and wish that she
were man that she might bo with her
father and brothers to fight for the coun.
try she loved so vol.
ID One day their father returned quite un.
expectodly. The news had just preceded
his arrival That Jack Cotton and dozen
other Tories were in tho neighborhood
4, The women were torn by conflicting emo
u tions-joy upon the return of tho father
! and husband mingled with fcar for his
IA safety.
I'm There was o neighbours daughter spend
|5aNg tho night with Nancy and Eva, and
IN My the next morning tho two girls start