Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1901-09-19
BREAKFAST ON A MOUNTAIN
HOW VERY GOOD THE COMMON
FOOD TASTED.
Res0llecti0n Of . Meal Of Bye Gone
Years. Down In North Carolina,
Frightened the Present
Of no T,ilsrh

and bright-eyed, rested his chln WIN
a sigh upon his claspcd hands and shot
an unamiable glance at the hearty At
rican who, half bent, half-towered over
him. The black mans brows were
beaded with bright drops of sweat,
which sparkled-the avowed ornament
Of all honest toilers
"Oh, I'm sure l don't know what l
want" the lean man said. "You order
something"
OF larger, more good-humored
build, his companion took up bill OF
fare and fell to examining its blocked
out list Of dishes, Of which there was
SO great number and variety as
seemed an almost complete bar to Sc
lection, says the New York Commercial
Advertiser. Finally he commanded
eggs, toast, coffee-their customary
morning meal.
The waiter departed. The lean man
scowled humorously at his broad back.
cut squarely short by the bobtail
jacket.
81 don't like 'niggers' for breakfast
he observed. Don't you think its .
little too much ?"
"Thou was not always such adandy,"
answered his friend. But neither man
had an impulse, beyond the persuasion
Of habit toward breakfasting at all
The room in which this pair and
number of others were sitting was
vaultlike and was walled by q kind OF
chocolate woodwork, which, together
with the ugly furniture, shed its own
darkness over all the place except q
lew tables at the very front. There q
broad window framed picture OF the
street, with its scattering procession,
with the elms of Madison square be-
yond it, their threadlike boughs
spreading against the white sky OF the
morning. The glare Of light here was.
however, rather annoying, SO that
most of the tables near the window
were empty.
In the interval of five or ten minutes
between the ordering and the serving
of their breakfast the larger OF the
two men suddenly called up an irrelev'
ant recollection. As spontaneously as
It had shot into his consciousness he
communicated it to his companion in
the form Of the following yarn
"Four of us, two women and two
men-its no consequence who the rest
of the party were, for you wouldn't
know them, all southerners-got info a
North Carolina mountain schooner,
with canvas top a canted-up body,
| like a boat, and horse and mule to
drag it, and after two days travel She
| driver put us down in an open field at
the foot of Table mountain. 1t Was
noon; we had wasted time, but we
went ahead over an ugly path up the
mountainside.
1.-THE path spiraled and heightened
out, taking us over lodges and through
underbrush. 1t was dark in the woods,
but it drew intensely darker of std
den, and occasionally when we came tc
a bit of clearing we looked up into
thunder clouds. :,
"And SO the rain caught us in small
kind of plateau, high up where tue
smooth rock begins which holds up inc
table top of Table mountain. VIZ
crouched in kind Of thicket and tht
mule, a big black fellow, and the horse
a meek brown one, which We had Zee
up to carry the ladies, stood tetheree
in the pelting rain. 1t was then abnu
8 o'clock in the evening, and the rail-
became still more squally; a clond.
mist blew across the place most desc
lately.
"Well, we couldn't go back; it wa
too dark, too wet and the women wer
too cold We built fire under ou
coats and coaxed out real blaze
Then got on the back Of the blacl
! mule, for we had tossed up and 1t aa'
fallen to me to godown and get things
aud the mule and l turned down tn
path. Riding mule downhill bare
back is terribly paintnl, but he woul
nit lead, and when | got tired ga!loI
, ing behind him, hitting him with
stick, | took another turn on his ssee
edged backbone. Somehow l got t
the wagon and somehow managed t
get the mule and pack OF blankets
!. pots, tin plates, ham and oatmeal An
coffee up to the mountain again, whe
q it must have been about midnigh
The rest of the party were lying utdt
j a dead, fallen tree, very close to tn
d fire. What feast it was-the han
n the oatmeal and the coffee.
e soThe next morning | woke vel
Q early. 1t was light, but not yet fall
IL dawn. climbed out on the far edl
Il of a precipice toward the east, where
o could look down and across and far Q
o TO a range Of hills. The mist lay
It the valley like a blanket, dead gray,
i a dirty glass; the hills looked alnso
sr black. But the dawn was even tn
;" widening, yellow light filling the 81
"a rise. suddenly tnc urieho eoi" 80"
~ the sun lifted up behind the rams
= AS II A hand had removed some din;
u covering from the valley, the m
y flashed dazzlingly white--a narr1
>. band at first that swiftly yet gradual
!. Aung itself over the whole space, a
Ut in a moment more the opposite moul
Is aims were a sparkling green. | W
: fairly drunk with the pleasure OF
ne and of the keen, sweet wind that III
ry up with the dawn. ,,n
RI 81 went back after awhile, and the
e. the three others lay, comfortat
as asleep cooked breakfast, which
ate like animals
he The lean man said; Il saw the S
rise about two years ago ! saw IL
Madison square, and remember n
bright and clean 23rdsstreet lookedl
fairly shone, and the trees down
Union square looked so wildly gre
in the distance" He smiled pleasant
adding: 81 wonder how many PEG
in this place have seen a sunrise wh