The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-11-26
A Humble
Heroine.
BY MARION LEWIS.

unkempt Most of them had long
beap0s. They wore homespun, and
they carried rifles wherever they went.
This man was totally different He
was dressed for the mountains, but
she had seen no such clothing up there
before. He lifted his cap to her. In
all her life she had never seen that
done to girl or a woman on the
mountains. If he had a corncob pipe
it was not in sight, and he wore shoes
instead of thick boots.
Nancy Settle could not read. The
people she lived among did little talk
ing. When they did talk it was about
moonshine whisky, possums, coons and
other matters of local interest She
had never visited the town, fourteen
miles away, except on one occasion.
Then her father had hitched an OK to
a cart. tied ropes to the animals horns
for lines and driven her there and
back. In town she had seen heaps of
houses and heaps of people, but she
was scared and disturbed all the time.
She had seen what her father said
were gentlemen and ladies, and she
remembered them ever afterward. This
was why she said to herself as she
stood leaning on the handle of the
broom that the man before her must
be gentleman. He asked for her ia
Their, who was away In the woods, and
for her mother. who was out digging
sassafras root, and then he explained
that he had come up the mountain to
study nature. He would study flow
ers, the birds and the wild animals,
and he would write of them later on.
He wanted board and lodgings Would
Mr.. Settle take him in?
Nancy had seen men whose rough
speech frightened her. She had seen
others who came to make love to her
She had run away from both kinds.
She did not run away from this man,
who gave her his name as Williams.
After the first five minutes she was
hardly EN- barrassed. True, she was
her hair hung down her
back In a tangle, and there were hooks
missing from her waist. But his talk
put her at ease. He seemed to take
no notice of her shortcomings.
He talked of the woods and the
weather and the scenery, and she
found herself talking to him. 1t was
SO with the mother when she came.
She was hard featured and distrustful,
but the strangers courteous words
and his pleasant smiles caused her to
look with favor upon him. With the
husband and father 1t took longer.
He was not moonshiner, but there
were stills in the dark ravines belong
ing to others, and he was on his guard
against strangers for the sake of his
friends. He could have led a revenue
officer to four different stills within a
radius of five miles, but he would
have died before pointing his finger in
the direction of one So he would
take the stranger In, but he would
also watch him. The man should not
move twenty rods in any direction
without being followed and spied on.
If he had come for the revenue service
then one more dead man should be
left in the forest to be covered by the
leaves in the fall
The coming of Williams was an
event to all, but to Nancy it was more
than that. An inherent something
combed and braided her hair next
morning. 1t put shoes and stockings
on her feet. 1t washed her face with
soap and water, and 1t cleaned her
finger nails and caused her mother to
look at her in surprise. The barefoot
ed way was good enough for the
mountaineers who came to sit and
smoke and talk and borrow cornmeal,
but 1t was not good enough for gen
tleman from the lowlands.
The stranger fell readily into the
ways Of the people. His bed was rude
and his fare rough, but he was salts
fed. Grim men and lanky boys came
to stare at him and ask him brusque
questions, but he laughed as he an
swered them and finally won their
confidence. He talked to them of
AAaAy WOA0CAlu1 1ANGAllOubt A6 tOIu
them stories of sea and land; he gave
them pointers on the habits Of the
birds and animals they had lived
among all their lives and were yet
ignorant Of He was ready to an
swer all questions and arbitrate all
disputes, and they had to bow to hts
wisdom. For couple Of weeks he
was followed as he moved about.
Then 1t was agreed that he had not
come as a spy. With his sporting
shotgun he brought down squirrels,
rabbits and birds, and after carrying
them home he set to work as a taxi
dermist and stuffed and mounted them
In such a iifelike manner that the peo-
pie Of the mountains came five miles
to see and to praise.
And after the first two weeks Nan
CT often accompanied him In his ram
bles. Sometimes the father went
along as well. The girl could shoot.
and she brought down many speci-
men. She brought flowers and re-
membered the names he gave them.
She found the holes. Of woodchucks
and rabbits and weasels and listened
closely while he told of the habits of
such animals Williams was In no
hurry. re had come to pass the sum-
mer on the mountain He roamed and
he rested. He visited other cabins
and made friends of all he came in
contact with. AS they found him one
day, so they found him the next.
There were those who could not un-
derstand why he should interest him
self in such a pursuit-why any one
should particularly care about birds
and squirrels and fowers-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 visit them.
For three long months Nancy lived
In new world There had been phys
zeal and mental changes for the bet
ter. Unknown to even her mother,
she tried to teach herself to read.
Shoes and stockings were precious
things among the people Of the noun
tain, but never since that first day had
Williams seen her barefooted. She
had made herself new sunbonnet
She had sewed q founce on her best
dress. She had made a bow to wear
at her throat. She had cleared her
hair Of tangles and felt a 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 a hundred
others. and they had made him smile.
He had treated her in way as an
equal and in a way as child. BE
had been friendly, but he had never
talked love. He had told her Of ro-
nance and adventure, Of the great