The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-01
The Man On the
Mountain Top
III ~ Sara Lindsay Coleman.


y aldo her, MS sho sat nloof from the hos
9spital inmates III her special corncr OF the
\ portco, he was awaiting directions for
4 his days tramp.
q she had suddenly felt herself n. ghost
il chnincd to n walking cough. but With
d strength still left TO creep into the sun
shine ana watch the passing Of this vivid.
e eager eyed. s,n-browncd young woods.
man.
Ills eyes had paid irresistible tribute
4 to tic wlstf,l glance from her eyes. and
4 when he loft, the volcts that he held
Sii Ills hand as lie waited toying with
Them idly. lay on the chair beside her.
Vaguely moved and feeling that some
thing IN each had crossed tho bar Of SUM-
light that day on the floor between them
aud touched In greeting. she had lifted
I tho frai woodland riolcts and pinned
then on her gown.
q 1mpclled BY. he hardly knew what i'm
n pulse, the doctor OF the mountain-top
V hospital had been watching Miss Carleton
ii As she read n letter. For II month he
5S had been watching her. Women were
n not srnucl, in his line--hc hated the synp-
toms they poured over him and fled from
!. them and their loauacity--but the silence
y Of this woman who asked no questions.
d but sat, day after day, her listlcss hands
N folded, her lstlcss eyes on tho shining
& ranges that lost themselves III the sky,
irrltated him.
Miss Carleton la,,ghcd--a low little
laugh.
The doctor looked at her dun,bly. lie
L hadn't heard her laugh before, and he
& wanted to say that he had been feeling
Gold; that the gray hairs thickcning In
al,is dark thatch had depressed him
vaguely; but that It was all a mistake;
that he was dcliriously young bubblins
A with youth and buoyancy since sinco a
moment before when she had laughed
''Violcts," the doctor said, maybe two
weeks later. Aren't they coming pretty
often? The women hero shy You get
Y them every day. I'm glad they're inter-
.$estcd in your anairs--anything is better
for them than bending over those eternal
waists they cmbroider."
.'To wear In heaven" Miss Carleton
5&nung in saucily.
5"And 1t relieves nc from talking cough
to them-T get mighty tired of talking
cough I'd rather hear about letters tina
come every day. rather smell violcts--'
Il But Miss Carleton was gone.
u S!'"fYou're laughing" she complained to
sof her own ROOM II never meant to
do It, didn't care, really l didn't, If
8the valley brmmcd over with men who
wanted to make me less lonely But
Il couldn't resist YOU, l had to writo Il
Wee note when you camc-ilnd then
You may put your naughty faces to-
Sgcthcr and laugh If YOU like. It's just
ftllat I'm lonely" she whispered. tits
the loncincss-,slncc l no
longer have my work. ! wondor?'
W June came and driftcd away; July
was ushered in; the summer rested on
the nountaln-top like Il full tide that
has no ebb. and, as. day followed day,
wheeling on, more than one mountains
top dwelcr saw the change i'll Miss
Carleton.
SS3'lIow strong she is growing; how
beautiful they would say as she passed,
And It was true Under the influence
sof5 the letters that we're laid at her plate
morning after morning, from n man
whose very name was unknown to her,
for he signed himself simply, "rhc Man
lin the Valley" her nature was swcctcn-
Ing, seeding at its core for larger, dcarcr
life.
did you ever write letters to a
woman you localized. DR.. lIcrbert?''
Sin my Lochinvar days, Miss Carlo
tom the doctor said,
land did something come between
you? And did it hurt so? Is that why
You left A big city practice and came
y 900 feet up to minister to ugly coughs?'
86f"No," said the doctor. gravcly. u
had a better reason. Isn't making you
well and sending you back reason enough
for my being hcrc?
"Sending me back?'' in sudden terror.
!" But m not going! l ato my heart out
to 60 back when / came, but now--now -
e When the silence grew heavy between
han, 1,
knew a chap who wrote letters to a wo-
mana white slip o1up' woman, whom he
didn't idealize,' be ,.lii. '"llc didn't
know he loved her at first The whole
Swce2 of his life was away from womcq.
Byt this girl was so lonely, SO pathetic
8s5mchow, that he found himself writing
these letters to her almost before he
knew It, He had an idea Il thcory---hc
was great clap for thcorics-and lie
kept himself in the background. lie
asked nothing of the girl lIc--''
s8"He blundcrcd!" she cried, Suppose
tho woman had never had a lover; sup
pose the sweep Of her life had been away
from men. that she had been SO busy
that she had never thought Of one until
she got those letters
The doctor spoke sharply.
Suppose through the whole long Won
5derful summer Il me she had reared her
Bjoy castle, al first afraid It would van
ish like the bubbles She had blown in
childhood. until she had come to believe
i In the writer Of those letters with the
same terrible childlikc faith she gave TO
her Cod"
5a85 ,' Child, child the doctor implorcd
her
With a little unsteady laugh Miss
Carleton got to her feet. "lIow that big
moon starcs," she said Wouldn't you
like to climb on its chin and sail to your
Hearts Desire? Haven't you land of
Hearts Desire. DOCTOR" She leaned aud
looked deep into the moon-hllcd, sleep
Ing valleys as she spoke
4 The doctor tried to answer He drew
back into the shadows as she said good
night. lie had seen II woinan's soul,
and the sight had shaken him,
y Not many days later 4 fai!$-tale hap
pcninE came 10 Mary Carleton in tho
shape Of a telegram that told her of the
d4ati Of an old great aunt and the
arrival OF fortune, all IN breath
The doctor came back from the valley
settlement, where he had been visiting
x patient 10 hear the story and slip
away from everybody, In the quiet of
his den, with tho little fire OH The hearth
fighting the growing dusk, he iried 10