The Washington herald., 1909-07-04

Above the mantel hung the portrait OF q
large. fair woman already in her middle
wears the splendor of the face filing the
homelv room with a sort OF radiance. The
artist. or life itself. had impaired TO the
really commonplace features a resem-
blance Of power. peace. and tenderness
that produced the effect Of spiritual enul-
Cence. The expression was not that OF
mere holy longing, which often renders
the countenanee Of good women pathet-
icaIy suggestive OF importance, but the
solemn majesty OF the head nobly bent
the benefcent light in the quiet eyes. the
lips sweetly set as IL 10 pronounce bless
ings rather than prayers. each betokened
the repose OF a spirit that had outlasted
the tragedy which made 1t great.
Hit wouldn't sprise me now. mister, ef
er halo shined out round thet head"
murmured Pappy. observing the stran-
gers interest "She puts me in mind Of
thet narchin'. high-sOundin Scripter
which ends in er chorus erbOut glory an
honor an peace"
A crisp wind swept through the open
doorway. All that remained OF the bright
October day was a yellow veil Of sunlight
drawn across the valley. The air was
filed with the droning. sleepy sounds OF
humming birds. tinkling sheep bells, and
OF women singing cradle songs IN the VII
lage below. A hundred purpling peaks
pierced the horizon and between them
rolled an opal mist Ike the very shroud
Of sleep.
eth day she come back home were
Ike this only colder; frost come tn mid
die Of September thet year. I mind how
1 set her here by tn fire an drawed of
her shoes ter warm her feet. an how she
wringed her hands ter hev me do sech er
thing Her face We're pinched an faded
like er rose that hev withered in tn bud,
her dress were ragged. an she were actu-
ally hungry. Damn him.
a rhetorical pause followed. during
which Pappy hitched his chair forward
violently, Kicked the logs upon the hearth
into a fame, and brushed a tear from his
cheek
BET thet hain't whar mer story be
gins he resumed.
Mary Frances want mo- an seven
when her ma died. an Bud jest let her
run wild. Mister. hits easy ter tell when
er child hev lost hits mother. Th' but
ton'u be often er little boys breeches. er
gals hair be tangled or her dress'u cape
open behint Just so Mary Frances used
ter come over here Iookin' like er little
pink locust with her clo'es onfastened an
her pantlets dangling She had CT round
saser face them days. gander blue eyes,
an har like corn tassels. Thar want no
shame IN her no place fer trouble; an
she were eZ full OF joy ez er robins
breast Is Of song. She never, ter say, ac-
tually played; Jest ruined erbout. singin'
an talkin' ter herself. She never hank
cred aTfter children's company She
lowed they spilled her thoughts Thet
were III only qUare thing I noticed in
Mary Frences ontl her pa married agin. |
an Partheny let in ter train her Up Ike
tother gals her in tn valley.
Bet yo' can't train er butterfly no way
yo' fix hit. mister. They haint made
Outen nOthin' bet wings, an all they air |
htten fer IS ter fly. So. when God made !
Mary Frances He turned her loose, so ter |
speak. She were free horned in er sense !
common folk know nothin' erbout An /
Partheny'd ez well tied er June bug ter 4
n spinnin' wheel ez Mary Frances. fer
all IN thread she spun. Time she turned 4
her back tn little gal were out an gone /
with er fash Of her ap'on tails over tn \
top Of tn hill to'ards our house Fer. not
hevin' child'en Of our own. me an Mar
thy were terrible fond Of her
"Accordin' ter Partheny though. her
worst fault want bein' no count ter
work. bet hit We're tellin' lies. One night
az church she went so fur ez to ast tn
prayers Of all Christian people that she
mout hev the strength an perseverance
ter break her little stepdarter of this on
godly habit
An continued Pappy with a reminis-
cent smile that wrinklel his face into a
whiskered hemisphere of humor, I'm
bleeged ter admit thet Mary Frances had /
mighty few morals them days. She didn't
need EN- God bless her, Fer morals,
mister. air sOmethin' we older folks gifts
from feelin' an fearin' sin in Us Bet
Mary Frances never felt wrong, an she
want afeared ter 'sOciate freely with all
her innercent thoughts An them lies she
telled were jest tales she made I'D outen
tn abundance Of her happy heart Thet's
how come me TO take Up fer her.
''Arfter listenin ter her little yarns hit |
come ter me at last thet she want moth
In bet er genius an them were Jest her
young INSPIRATIONS wOrkin oSt
Now, thar's one kind Of stock yo' can't
breed, mister-Eeniuses. Nor yo' can't /
train 'em Up ter Tn mark OF thet high
calm. Fur ez 7 kin see. they air acct
dental. anyhow. thar want no account
in fer Mary Frances. Her mother were j
valley an her father were like I telled I
yo' tother day-er horned fool Yet thar
she were with her faculties keyed up so
high she lnOwed things she never larnt |
an felt mo- an she lnOwed. Many er
scholard couldn't tell ez pulitzer tale ez
thet little gal What they got in their
minds hain't thern; they recollect hit out
en- books an sech. Bet them sparrow
tailed notions Of hern growed up in Mary
Frances They were alive borned Of her
sDeret. so ter speak"
The old man arose. tottered like an an
cient Brownie 10 the shelf above the fire.
place and drew from behind the clock a
bit OF crumpled paper yelIowed with age
and marked over with hierOglyphics which
here and there threatened TO be real let
ters.
''Thet were her first poetry" he said.
handing it 10 his guest ITO be sho'. yo'
can't read hit becase she wrote hit afore
she could write: bet them signs stands fer
words. an ev'ry line rhymes ez good ez
ef they have been wrote by Socrates. I've
heerd her sing hit many a time: AIer !
heart Is ike tn bamboo Berry " he hum
med softly Tibet were tn fust line. an
cherry were at the end Of tn next, bet
1 can't recoHect how she got hit thar.
Well sir, ez time went on, what with
Partheny naggin' an Bud takn' no no
uce Mary Frances staid here rore'n she
do al home. So I began ter feel respon-
sible fer her. Bet rasin' er genius hain't I
nc easy matter. Fer they foller no law, ]
Jest keep on actin natchel. whichever I
way that air. On seem how she were
predestined. me and Marthy made much I
Of her and praised all she dene Oncst. !