Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1907-11-27


mei ol tie n.ount..!l. fie rotr'ed and
he rested. He visited Of ..r cabins
and made :rieuds of all q CINE In
contact WITH. As they fou.,l him one
day, so they found him the next.
There were those who corlI rot I'M
derstand why he should interest him
self In such pursuit-why any one
.1ould particularly care a.soui BIRDS
and squirrels and flowers but they
liked and trusted the man for all
that. 1t came at last that even the
owners of some of the hidden stills
talked of inviting him to visi, them.
For three long months Nancy lived
In a new world. There had been phys
ical and mental changes for tue bet
ter. Unknown to even her mother,
she tried to teach herself to read
Shoes and stockings We're precious
things among the people of the noun
tain, but never since that first day had
Williams seen her barefooted She
| had made herself a new suaoonnet.
She had sewed flounce on her best
dress. She had made a bow to wear
| at her throat. She had cleared her
hair Of tangles and felt wave of
pride sweep over her as she caught
the young man looking at 1t admir-
ingly. She slyly watched him as he
ate, and she tried to copy him. He
had seen these things and hundred
others, and they had made him smile.
He had treated her In way as an
equal and In way as child. He
had been friendly, but he had never
talked love. He had told her of ro-
nance and adventure. Of the great
world to which she was a stranger.
but not with any intent to make her
| dissatisfied with her surroundings
Had he been bit more observing he
would have seen the growth Of new
sentiments and aspirations that she
lacked the womanly ingenuity to con-
ceal. but he went on regarding her as
a child.
One evening he announced that on
the next morning he must take his de-
parture. Together they sat on the
| doorstep in the moonlight and looked
down over the forests and peaks and
nCLC NCiy 4uACt. AT uISI uS IClu uCE
| Of the great ocean lying hundreds of
miles away, Of the great cities teem-
| ing with human life, Of the wonders
she might some day behold, and she
| crowded closer to him like a child.
| Then she sighed and sighed and sigh
ed and moved away. By and by she
entered the cabin and sought her bed
| without word. She did not appear
at breakfast. She had risen and gone
| out. He waited half an hour to say
goodby, but as she did not come be
shouldered his pack and set out
| Half a mile down the trail he found
her. She was seated on a rock at
bend where they had often sat and
rested and talked.
"Come down, Nancy. I want to say
goodby," he called.
| She came Slowly, and he saw her es
he had seen her on that first day. Her
| hair was hanging down her back,
| stockings and shoes were conspicuous
lily absent, and bow and founce were
missing. Not exactly as he had seen
her on that first day, for now she had
been weeping.
"Why. Nancy, what is it?" lie ask
ed as he took her hand.
"It's-it's that l can't read!" she al
most walled. ITS that ! can't write,
can't talk, can't go nowhere. can't
be nuthin' nor nobody. It's that at,
pore and shacklety and ignorant and
have got to live and Gle we're. It's
| it's
"But, Nancy he began, and then,
realizing her feelings. ne knew not
what to add.
you'll never come ag'in?" she que
ried
perhaps not"
"And I'll have no one-no one
| Her eyes were cast down and her
tears falling as he held her hand. BY
and by he softly said:
81 didn't know it till just now. Nam
cy."
"But it can't be-" she replied as she
| raised her head and threw her hair
back. "It can't be no more than the
eagle and the crow You-you are ev-
erything; l am nuthin'-nuthin' but
pore and ignorant and shacklety, just
fifteen for such a life as this"
Then she bent forward and kissed
him, wrenched her hand away and fled
up the trail and left him looking after
her and bordering and wondering and
feeling such pity as he would never
feel for woman again. He heard
her whistling among the rocks. She
was fighting herself: he heard her
laughing. She was going back to the
old life with breaking heart And
he knew she was right.