Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1909-01-23
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mountain ostensibly 90 get the cherry
cordial she had left behind her the day
before. really to satisfy her hunger for
news.
AS II happened Mrs. Halloran's first
/ greeting set her anxiety at rest Prem.
dergast had bought some tobacco at
/ the general store an hour before while
she had been making her daily order.
and the storekeeper had questioned
him To an interested audience he
had told OF the finding of Hugh on
the mountain road IN q sort OF crazy
fever and enlarged upon the part the
girl on horseback had played Hugh
was all right now. he said. except that
he didn't remember him or the cabin
or Smoky Mountain.
What Prendergast had said Mrs
Halloran told Jessica In a breath. Be
fore she finished she found that Jes-
sIca had not heard Of the incident in
the saloon which had precIpitated the
fight with Devlin. and with sympa.
thetic rhetoric Mrs. Halloran told this
too.
why does Smoky Mountain hate
him SOP What has he done?" asked
) Jessica.
Mrs. Halloran shook her head. Il
never knew anything myself" she
said judiciously. Il reckon the town
/ sllus counted him just a general low
down. The rest is only suspicion an
give the dog bad name"
/ There had been comfort for Jesslca
+ 10 this interview. Mrs. Halloran's
story had materially increased the
poignant force OF her pity. What had
a seemed 10 her a vulgar brawl had
been in reality a courageous and I'M
selfish championship OF a defenseiess
outcast Thinking or this. the self
blame and contrition which she had
/ felt when she listened TO the violin
! nssailed her anew. till she seemed a
very part OF the guilt an equal sinner
/ by omission
Yet she rode homeward that day
with almost light heart
As Harry stood in the cabin door
way looking after Prendergast toward
the town. glistening far below I'm the
morning sunlight. he thought bitterly
OF his reception there.
They ali knew me-" he thought
Every one knew NEON the street. in
/ the hotel. They know me for what
/ have been 10 them. Yet 10 me Il is all
n blank. What shameful deeds have |
( doney' He shrank from memory now.
"What was ! doing so far away. where
was I going. on the night when was
picked up beside the railroad track3 l
may be d-unkcrd," he said 70 him
self. "No. IN the past month have
drunk hard. but not for the taste OF the
liquor. ! may be gambler. may be
cheat a thief Yet how is II possible
for bad deeds TO be blotted out and
leave no trace? Actions breed habit II
they do not spring from it. and habit
automatically repeated becomes char
acter. feel no Inherent propensity 70
rob or defraud. Shall ~ VIII these
| things come back 90 me II my memory
doesy'
In the battle that he fought now he
turned. even In his weakness. TO man
ual labor. striving TO dun his thought
with mechanical movement He clean
ed and put 10 rights both rooms and
sorted their litter OF odds and ends.
But at times the inclination 20 escape
became well nigh lnsupportable. When
the conflict was fiercest. he would
think OF girls face once seen. and
the thought would restrain him. who
was she? Why had her look pierced
through him2 In that hateful career
that seemed so curiously alien could
she have had a part?
He did not know that she OF whom
he wondered In the bitterest Of those
hours had been very near him; that on
her way up the mountain she had
stolen down 10 the Knob TO look
| through the parted bushes TO the cabin
with the blue spiral rising from its
chimney.
Though the homely task to which he
turned failed TO allay his struggle by
1