Smyrna times., 1908-01-22

contact with. rs 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 Il pursuit-why any one
should particularly care about birds
and squirrels and hOwers-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 a new world There had been phys
ical sSnd 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 a new sunbOnnet.
She had sewed a fOunce on her best
dress. She had made a bow to wear
at her throat. She had cleared her
hair of tangleS and felt 4 wave of
pride sweep over her as she caught
the young man looking at it 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 a way as an
equal and in a 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 a 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
were very quiet At first he told her
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 a 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 he
shOuldered his pack and set out.
/ Half mile down the trail he found
her. She was seated on Il rock at a
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 as
he had seen her on that first day Her
hair was hanging down her back,
stockings and shoes were conspicuous
" absent, and bow and flounce were
missing. Not exactly as he had seen
her on that first day, for now she had
been weeping.
''Why, Nancy, what is it?" he ask
ed as he took her hand.
L
most walled. It's that l can't write
can't talk, can't go nowhere, CAM
be nuthin' nor nobody. It's that l am
pore and shacklety and ignorant and
have got to live and die we're. It's
it's
but, Nancy he began, and then
realizing her feelings, he 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 hel
tears falling as he held her hand BY
and by he softly said:
II didn't know it till just now, Nan
cy."
"But it can't be-" she replied as she
raised her head and threw her hail
back. 1T can't be no more than the
eagle and the crow. YOu-yeu are ev
erythng; l am nuthin'-nuthin' bu
pore and ignorant and shacklety, JUS
fitten for such a life as this
Then she bent forward and kissed
him, wrenched her hand away and fec
up the trail and left him looking aftel
her and pOndering and wondering ant
feeling such Il pity as he would never
feel for woman again. He hearC
her whistling among the rocks. Sh'
was fighting herself; he heard hel
laughing. She was going back to tn
old life with 4 breaking heart. An(
he knew she was right