Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1908-03-20
A Humble
Heroine.
BY MARION LEWIS.
Copyrighted, 1907, by NJ. M. Cunningham.

. Copyrighted, 1907, by NJ. M. Cunningham. .
0e0eOO
1t was one day In early spring that
" appeared on South Carolina noun
lIln and stood at the door of a humble
cabin. He was young man Of ave
and twenty. and he was fair to look
upon. The girl Of twenty who was
sweeping the rough floor with switch
broom stared ut him for moment and
wondered how he had found hin way
there from the other world. She had
seen. men IL plenty s@shs aax men sers
cry day of her life, but they were not
like this man. They were rough and
unkempt Most Of them had long
boards. 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
IL was not III SiBut, hnu hc WoAo phoOD
instead of thick boots.
Nancy Settle could not read. The
people she lived among did little talk
Ing. When they did talk 1t 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
u,f,o, hor Pothar hod hitchod nm ov IN
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 a 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 embarrassed True, she was
barefooted, her hair hung down her
back In II 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 revenue
officer to four different stills within O
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. Tho barefoot
ed way was good enough for the
mountaineers who came to sit and
smoke and talk aud borrow cornmeal,
out IL was not bOou eHOuBu ioi BSh-
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
many wonderful Inventions; he told
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 his
wisdom. For a 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
dermlst and stuffed and mounted them
in such 1Ifellke manner that the peo-
pie of the mountains came five miles
to see and to praise,
And after the first two weeks Nan
cy often accompanied him in his ram
bles. Sometimes the father went
along as well. The girl could shoot,
and she brought down many a 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