Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-07-10
The STORY Teller.
A MOUNTAIN SIREN.
BY JOHN WINTHROP GREEN.

should not sneer and criticise because
the teller must use the personal pro-
noun and perhaps refer to his percep-
tion or his prowess. If 1t Is his ad-
venture. how can he avoid saying, Il
did thus or so?" If lis courage pulled
him out Of tight place, why seek to
demean It? A man Is what he Is. If
things have happened to him which
may be Of interest to. others, let him
write them as they took place, wheth-
er he was hero or q craven.
Your atlas will show you that the
eastern Carpathlan mountains form q
portion of the boundary line between
Servia and Bulgaria. If you cross any
fwhere to the north of pirot, you must
cross the range. In my wanderlngs
afoot l had planned to cross the range
by the public road between Pirot and
Nissa, but for three days was guest
at poor little wayside inn In the shad-
ow Of the foothills. This inn differed
in no degree from hundred others, be-
ing only wretched apology for house
Of entertainment. but I had made q
long tramp and wanted a breathing
spell before the long and rugged as
cent. The landlord was silent. morose
man, giving me little attention. and his
wife was a sloven with face which a
man would look at twice only for Its
wickedness. The beds and the fare
were Of the meanest, but as / had ex-
pected nothing better was not disap-
pointed.
On the second day of my arrival as
was walking along the banks OF a
stream half a mile from the inn an
English pedestrian came along. That
is, he was q pedestrian In the sense
that he was afoot. AS soon as ne
learned who l was he told me that a
cousin Of his had journeyed that way
three months before, but had mysteri.
ously disappeared. The missing man
had been traced as far as Pirot. He
was known to have set out for the
mountain road. but he could not be
traced into Bulgaria. Somewhere on
the mountain trail he had vanished
from sight. The story did not interest
me overmuch. American and English
pedestrians abroad have habit or dis
appearing from the world now and
then, and 1t Is learned later on that
they were tucked away In some OBJ.
scure inn or camped amid some old
ruin. The searcher passed on to my
inn and made inquiries and two hours
later informed me that he had secured
no news.
That evening q second searcher ar
rived. He was a native Servian. living
at Leskovatz. and had been hired by a
Frenchman to prosecute inquiries re.
garding the disappearance Of a young
man Of 20 who was making pedestri'
an tour. Indeed soon recalled the
fact Of meeting the young man at Sc
mendria two months previously. He
had headed for the Carpathlans and
Bulgaria. and he had also disappeared
on the mountains. Even when the two
disappearances were coupled together
I saw nothing alarming. 1t was not
until the third day that l felt | had
cause for speculation. Then a police
official who had been sent out from
Noyibazar by the widowed mother Of q
young man who had disappeared as
mysteriously as the other two reached
the inn. This young man, who simply
set out for q two weeks tramp In order
to boast of having crossed the Carpa'
thians, had been traced to within five
miles Of the inn, but the landlord and
his wife stoutly denied that he had
ever reached 1t. There were roads
by which he could have branched of
and continued his way, but yet the off,
cIal was not satisfied. He frankly told
me that he believed young Hull had
come to the inn and been made away
with for the money he carried. / had
seen nothing suspicious, and be had no
real grounds for an accusation, but he
went away. saying that he would have
the place watched.
Iwas ready to take my departure on
the fourth day. when there was sud
den change In the demeanor OF the
landlord and his wife. All at once they
became obsequious and smiling and
solicitous. A nice lunch was put up for
me, and they refused pay for 1t. / was
given the clearest directions and was
told that almost as soon as l had begun
the ascent Of the mountain l would
| find an interesting ruin a little of the
road. 1t was something ought not to
miss, and they kept extolling 1t until !
| promised to turn aside. l set of In
good spirits, though wondering bit as
| to the sudden and singular change In
the people Of the inn, and by noon
had covered a distance Of IL miles. !
passed two inns without stopping and
likewise three or four peasants huts
and when sat down to rest 1t was on
q large stone by the roadside and close
| beside one of the branches Of the Dan.
ube. nibbled at lunch as | rested,
and had been sitting perhaps 20 min.
utes when young woman with fish
pole in her hand suddenly appeared. l
gave her good day as a matter OF
course and was not much surprised
when she laid down her pole and came
and sat beside ME and began to ask
questions. She was peasant girl OF
about "a, better dressed and better
looking than the average, and In ad-
dressing a stranger she broke no rule
Of conventionality according to the
peasant code. invited her to share
my lunch. and presently we were chat
ting away like old acquaintance.
In many instances the peasants OF