Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-01-02
spective, the blue ridges Of the Ale
gheny mountains.

railroad at the base or Lluys
mountain, and as she trudged she
sang the old song that she had
learned from her grandmother:
my dear little children, If you were mine
All alone and aloney o,
I'd dress you up in silk so fine
Down by the green woody sidey o."
She was on her way to explore a
certain hidden dell, which she had
marked weeks before as a likely spot
for wild Strawberries.
When she reached the long, high
trestle spanning ChurchilI's creek, she
stood listening, her head on n side,
bright-eyed, alert, like a knowing wild
creature of the mountains.
Then, hearing the sound she had
expected, she nodded her yellow head
sagely, and scrambled a few feet up
the mountainside above the track to
wait for the approaching train to go
by.
Soon she saw the engine coming
round the mountain and apparently
making straight for her like one of
the head-lowered "beastisies" of
granny's tales. Then the train curved
with the curve of the mountain; it's
long line of coaches and sleeping cars
came into view, like the gliding SER
pent body of the monster. Slowly it
came, then slackened to creeping, as
the trains all did at the trestle.
Keen-eyed and absorbed, Nancy
watched the coaches roll slowly by,
and waved a brown hand at the faces
looking at her from the windows. In
the last coach of all she saw a white,
wan face in a mass of cleaning, red
gold hair-the face of a girl propped
against white pillows. Her eyes were
turned toward the window, her hand
was a little appraised to throw
Something stung Nancy sharply on
the cheek, and the last coach rolled
out upon the bridge. The little girl,
gazing after it, clapped her hand to
her cheek; and out of the coach win
dow was thrust a red-gold head, while
it's owner gazed down into the yellow
waters of Churchill's creek, still tur-
bid from spring freshets.
When the train was across and had
gone winding on to the tunnel, Nancy
taking down her hand, found it
stained with blood.
Nancy had seen half-eaten apple
cores enough to recognize the object
that the sick girl had been about
to throw out of the coach window;
but apple cores do not wound when
they hit.
Wondering what had cut her cheek
Nancy stopped to pick up her berry
basket, which she had dropped when
she was struck, and beside it she saw
a small circlet of shining yellow, which
held a myriad of seemingly live, fiery
stars circling about a clear, greer
drop of sparkling, Pickering dew.
She took it up and gazed with awe
at the wonder flashing on her little
brown finger.
Then she laughed for very joy
I'm born fer luck! Granny says so
an nanny says so-oh-dearie-
me-
"'Down by the green woody sidey o.
And the little voice rang out jub
ilantly as Nancy, steady-headed, light
footed, sped V the dangerous tres
tie with an that must have
made an onlooker tremble.
The sun had dropped behind the
purple, misty top of the mountain
when, finally emerging from thu
denseness of the blooming laure
thickets that clothed the slopes, Nan
cy reached her fathers clearing, will
it's sickly growth of corr and buck
wheat.
Pap" and Hence were home now
Pap, tall, broad, with straw-coloret
hair and beard, was cleaning his riff
on the bench outside of the door
Hence was bringing a bucket of waite:
up from the spring.
But they had all dropped everything
except the baby, which nanny. wa
holding, to listen to Nancy's story.
"An' she Thinks" explained Nancy
at Pap's knee, while the luck-stone
as granny called it, lay sparkling il
pap's great hand, "the sun-haired la
dy she thinks it fell in the creek Ion.
with the apple core. An she air sick
that's what allied it's comm often he
finger. She air sick like Sc many O
'em as goes by set up agin pliers"
cts the spring and ticks wha
they're goin'," said pap, ''same as m.
grand'pap telled about the dee
an beasties hantin' the ticks, spring
time an sech, when poly"
can they mostly get well,' sal
Nancy, looking up into pap's face
because there amt never any goe
back set up agin pliers. I'd know
her cause of her sun-hair, the lady
The cyars they war goin' SO slow
he'd a good look at her; an I got t.
be at the junction when she goe
back, cause the cyars stop. there
goodish bit an l can hand it to her.
"She won't be goin' back for
spell, shouldn't THINK, SAID NANNY
eff she's going for to get perke,
up"
"But she might" said Nancy, "ar
I got to be there"
eyes," said pap, turning the treas
ure over in his big palm. "Nanny
she's got the right end of it; She
got to be there"
Now the junction was four mile
from Lilly's mountain, and there wen
two passenger trains a day goin.
westward. One passed in the earl
morning, the other in the afternoon
and to be present at their passin
was Nancy's intention.
To mean to do a thing with Name