The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-03-14
WATERS OF rumsLlNe FORKS.

Tod jerks. of Tumbling Forks. had got
r ligion. The ether citizens Of the Forks
cCuldn.'t account for it. but they said
there wasn't any question about It. and
that Tod had it good and hara, and was
Probably pious for keeps. Tod was the
only reHgionist in the Forks There were
Methodists over II the Ford and a colony
% Baptists down at Deep Water. when
I latter thing. the neighbors SAID. was Il
! keeping with the eternal fitness OF things
. Tod had set his religion from the Camp
oellites while he was on visit 10 Ham ;
Station. on the Black stone
Prior To Tod's conversion he had been
about as tough as they made them. and.
as his Tvickednsss rad struck deep. So
( hac his pietv. Tumbling Forks admired
rod's evident sincerity and allowed that
/, nc had perfect right TO make q fool
of himself IL he wanted 10. That was
Tumbling Forks way of looking az the
matter. Tod was a nddler- lie used TO
scrape out I'll kinds of things. ard H. the
past the inhabitants OF the place shoot
their feet weekly TO the strains from MS
bow. Dan Tucker and Money Musk
were never heard now and from Tod 3
cabin nightly. and daily, TOO, for tha5
matter. came Wandering Boy" Sweet
Hour OF PRAYER. There Is a Fountain,
and a lot more ike them.
Tod used to sing. TOO. and his voice
wasn't half bad. The FumbiiuE Forks
people said Tod was the best singer IL the
SECTION. They gathered around night
TOW, but in "A sort OF shame-faced way.
and at a respectable distance. while h
was lifting up his voice inside his cabin
ard peahng out Hold the Fort and
Sinners Turn, Why VIII Ye Die2' with
2 heartfelt enthusiasm.
One day Tod was sitting in his doorway
scraping his fiddle, while the Tennessee
sun threw maple leaf shadows all about
+ m. Tod was trying something new
that morning. he had heard il in a little
Episcopal mission that he had wandered
into one day when the Campbellite churc.
y as closed. lie had caught the tune onl,
faltingly. but ne more than knew the
words, for he felt them. Somehow he
thought that they were better than any
OF the other things that he had learned.
The red bird stopped whistling. in tho
hedge as Tod struck the tune with his
bow and began singing
Art thou weary. are thou Ianguid.
Art thou sore DISTRESSED?
Come to me-" saith one, and coming
Be at rest"
Tod heard a movement beyond the
hedge where the redbird had been whist
ling. He looked quickly. and through the
interlacing twigs he saw a woman. Sh-
vas UuTTtlNS away IN 4 SOTL OF uIiI-
guilty fashion. Tod knew who it was.
X was Jenny Travers. Jenny had been
one of the prettiest girls in the Forks ten
years before. a young fellow, tall, good
looking and with a tongue that could
talk 10 women. had come from beyond
the mountains. Jenny had listened TO
him when she wouldn't listen to the
young fellows at the Forks, with whom
she had been brought up. One night
IL, h.
beyond the mountain went at the same
time. Two years later the girl came
back. Her old father took her in. The
Tumhling Forks folk found out that
though she carried in her arms a baby
boy. she was Jenny Travers still. OF the
nan from beyond the mountain none OF
them ever heard again.
The men didn't mean to be unkind. The
women put them up TO it. They didn't
ST eak much TO Jenny, and when she saw
the dissemination she spoke to none. OF
course, no woman spoke to her. That
wasn't to be expected, but some were
much worse than others. Jenny's child
was now S years old. and he went TO TIL
crossroads school and played with the
other boys. that is, he played with all
but one of them. Mary Garths little
boy was under orders not TO speak TO
little Billy Travers. lie had been taught
the value of a sheer by his mother who
before she married Hod Garth and be-
fore Jenny had gone away with the man
f: ON beyond the mountain. had been
JCnuy's girlhood chum. Tumblng Forks
10 ople sometimes said under their breath
that Mary had set some store by Jenny S
lover. and that was the reason why she
vas so bitter now.
The next day Tod jerks played his fld-
ole in the sunshine again. The redbird
stilled his voice once more. Tod wene
through the Episcopal hymn. He knew
he had listener No movement until
his voice and violin had rounded out the
y erse: