The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-14
Old Man Kelsey the Path
finder.
BY JOHN w. HAYS.

the very summit of the Blue Ridge as
everybody knows. some four thousand
feet above the sea. Between them lift
the crags of Grandfather Mountain,
dark with balsams. Lower down are
forests of spruce and pine springine
nom thickets of rhododendron. and
afar below the cliffs Of Linvi!le River
seem but ragged lines upon the pur-
pic depth.
Until quite recently this preclpitous
face of. the Grandfather had been one
Of the inaccessible spots Of the Caro-
Era mountains. Had it been other
Wise old Kelsey. the Pathfinder would
have never known the call to build
thereon the YonoloSsie road. For
where mountains roll in only moderate
o4lloWs men of lesser genius may mark
the trains. But show Kelsey a sea of
nils and canyons tempeStuOuS, yaWn-
ing, impossible, then a vision comes t..
the old man. He hears a call. Grid
ing up his loinS he plunges into the
wilderness to explore and dream alone
sill from his dreams there grows a
ltrail upon the mountain side fulfilling
all requirements.
They say that wild animals in the
forest show no fear of the old Path
Under as seemingly oblivious to all
about he explores the dark recesses of
their jungles. Wolves and bears are
on Grandfather and rarely a tourist
camps there overnight but he tells a
narrowing tale Of the "panthers long
drawn scream"
The moun tain pe'J!e say they have
some times t,Jnd Kelsey in the woods
| marking curious signs upon rocks and
| trees pointing here and there with
something mounted upon a witch's
tripod. muttering all the while a jar
gon no one understands. And all have
heard how a hunter came suddenly
upon him one evening in the dusk of
| the pines talking with a great black
| man who had red eyes, and an axe in
| his hand, and how, too, shortly after
the hunter disappeared and was never
seen again. unless the bleached and
scattered bones found with a rusty
rifle near where the great rock lifts
| tells some tale of him. Many declare
these scattered bones assemble at
times and with rifle in hand stalk out
white and silent along the moonlit
YonoloSSie. Behind the doors of
mountain churches it has more than
once been questioned who might be
this black man with red eyes, and
what are these strange doings in the
dark recesses of the mountains. And
| there have been whispered doubts if
all the means used by Kelsey in locat-
ing this winding road would bear in
IVeStigation by the preacher. Indeed, /
have heard certain evil minded peo-
pie openly declare that the Yonoossie
road was laid out by the aid of old
| Nick himself, and that on dark and
stormy nights Kelsey and the Old Boy
| may be seen astride the same broom
riding the road like mad. But when
| L asked Kelsey of these things he
looked hard at me from half-closed
eyes which buried SO deeply and
| strangely that ! drew away abaShed
and dumb.
Now whether 1T is due to witchcraft
and diabolical aid, or whether like
another Ancient Mariner the old man
holds them with his eye until he had
| his will, certain 1T is that his roads
once located get built; and this is suf-
| fcient for my purpose. One morning
when the mountain people walked the
| Yonolossie road had been graded. They
rubbed their eyes good and hard, but
| there it lay winding about the ragged
mountain side as smooth as a fiume of
water. And since then everybody has
| expected the road to disappear some
night mysteriously as it came. Horses
| that travel here shy suddenly and
| bolt sometimes when there is no APP
parent cause, and dogs have been
| known to run panic stricken and yelp-
| ing along this road as though chased
! by furies. Everybody knows that dogs
| and horses see things hidden from
| human eyes.
1 have my own suspicion as to the
means Kelsey used in getting this
work done. But it does not become
me to fling dark hints at one who has
| accomplished his end SO admirably.
Still, it is we'll for those who travel
this road, particularly in the dusk of
| the evening, to wear some charm
which has been blessed by the priest.
| And the maid who passes here after
| the shadows fall had best hold close
| to her protector and peer not too Gu
| riously into the darkening pines.
1t so happened when / rode there I
| had not even a horseshoe to protect
me from the malign influences linger-
ing from the incantations of the old
Grandfather. 1t was chestnut time.
The leaves were flying in the high
wind and the brown nuts rolling down
the hillside. The windgusts blowing
about Grandfather seemed to be hold
ing gala-day They would sweep
down from the hilltop and Whirl the
them up by the armsfull, f1inging them
away over the purple valleys, yelled
and dim as the land of dreams. Here
and there fragments of shining cloud
white winged yachts, went scudding
before wind or came Struggling down
$,
looming themselves among the feath-
| cry pines; then shaking themselves
free would bound into the open Yono-
| lossie and away before the wind like
untamed colts of the Earl King.
Into the dark hollows, pine shaded
ana damp, out on the sunlit slopes
| streWn with nuts and brown leaves
mile after mile l whirled; now with
the wind and clouds and leaves. a part
OF the flying cavalcade. now doubling
down upon my wheel to face the roll
| licking gusts that struggled to fling
me into the purple depths.
Presently as | turned again for 2
run before the wind a white cloud
swept into the road before me and
together we We're whirled along
cloud, wheelman and dancing leaves
while the pine trees tossed and roll
licked and the very mountain crags
Nseemed part of our riotous COMMA
NY With arms folded and feet over
3ndlebars | drove along in wild
Rndon. | forgot that I was mortal.
r Necame one with the wind. the
zntain and the flying cloud. I was
no Anger of the earth but sailing away
with $he white cloud masses far over
law eIs