Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1907-08-01
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
I1koSL u landed at Southampton,
September IA. 1885, and q
SM| 8 ragged crew we were.

oM| q ragged crew we were.
XX \ The Judge" Joe Brace
RoN led the way-a great, gaunt
man. with long. long legs, a stoop In
his shoulders and swaying movemen,
of his body and arms as he walked, as
II he had load on his back and long
way to 60; man with u black fell on
the back of his hands, dark beard
growing high upon his cheek bones,
and q great bush Of iron gray hair
sticking out all round his head, and q
forelock hanging down over his eye.
One could see nothing Of his features
but a long red nose and deep-set. beady
eyes. His fustian jacket was worn
to rags at the elbows-and SO was
mine, as for that-split in the seams
between the shoulders with the con.
slant strain Of the laboring arms. Once
upon time his top boots had been
black, but now they were all the same
yellow clay color with the trousers that
were tucked into them, and just as
badly in need Of repair.
followed with Van Hoeck. He held
my arm, not for support, but for guild
ance, because he was stone blind. He
was thirty or thereabouts, believe;
but he looked twenty years older than
l, who am now but twenty-siX. Though
he was Dutch by birth, he looked like
an Asiatic, being small, dark Jew,
with all the characteristics of his peo.
pie; while l, with my fair skin, light
hair, and large frame, am pretty true
in appearance to my northern race. He
was better dressed than any of us,
for though he had accompanied us, and
roughed 1t so far as board and lodging
were concerned, he had taken only a
financial part in the enterprise, his
blindness naturally debarrlng him from
q laborlous part. His clothes retained
Lomethng of their original appearance.
Albeit he had worn them day after day
for eighteen months, at the least;
whereas mine, what with exposure to
the sun, the sweat of work, rough
usage, and the strange devices en-
ployed in repairing them, were scarcely
recognizable as Christian clothing. His
face gave more sign Of strain and fa-
tigue than either the Judges or mine,
which might well be, seeing how great
relief to the mind physical labor Is.
There was a furrow between his
brows, deep lines descending from the
inner angle Of the eyes, pinched look
about the nostrils and fleshless checks,
that gave n fearful. strenuous eager
ness to the weird expression of his
face. And that expression was weird,
nay. even repulsive. though his fca-
lures were not ill-shaped and 1t was
chiefly due to the popularity of his
eyes. Most people Of dark complexion,
like his, have dark iris to the eye, but
his was of steely gray, and was the
more noticeable because there was the
iris and nothing else; there was no
pupil-nothlng but that gray patch
upon the yellowish ball of the eye. lie
kept his eyes open when his mind was
preoccupied. Often when he was sit
ting near me willie | worked | have
changed my position that might not
see those CHASTITY eyes wide open to
the African sun. yet unconscious of its
glare. There was something terrible
in his blindness.
Our rear was brought up by the
"Kid" The name by constant use
and familiarity had long ceased to be
slangy to my ear
Poor little Lola! she was the rag
gedest and most disreputab!e of the lot.
though 1t was not for that reason she
walked behind Us; indeed, had she sus-
pected that to follow implied inferiority
she would have marched ahead OF her
own father That was her cllara cter.
The child wore ragged red flannel
petticoat. a camisole that had once
been white, and colored handkerchief
tied loosely round her neck. She had
a string of colored beads upon her
wrist, but neither hat on her head nor
shoe on her foot. Her purple black
hair grew low down on her temple,
and broke into curls over the ears at
the nape of the neck and wherever it
was uncontrolled; it was matted to-
Cether in thick. loose pleat that fell
down to her waist, and tied at the end
with strip Of red flannel, torn from
Ter petticoat She had the prettest
little hands and feet. dark olive skin,
a large but beautifully shaped mouth,
with the finest teeth l have ever seen.
md a pair of glorious black eyes, full
If audacity. and betrayng only too
faithfully her wild and ungovcrnable
disposition. Properly dressed land
washed) she might have passed for a
rpanish princess; In her present cond-
lion there was no mistaking her for
Jpything but the self-willed little say
age she was.
The Kid had given us n deal of
Iouble-bad we foreseen how much |
DO not think Van Hoeck or l would
nave put in that postscript 10 the
agreement which her father, the
Judge, induced us to subscribe.
THE Kid has eyes in her head for to
lee WITH" the Judge said. in urging
her claim upon our future consldera.
tion. "end she kin use 'em as well as us
In lookin' for stones, end likewise,
bein' female, she kin cook our meals
for US; sbe kin wash our shuts, end
she kin sew us up, and keep ns nice
end tidy" Whether she was capable
Of helping us in these matters cannot
say; all know is that she didn't.
"What kin you expectY' asked her
father. in e0tenuation, 'her mother