Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1910-05-18
FRANCIS LYNDE
4 N. % 40
! CHAPTER ".

Cf1A1IGS ".
On rare occasions the Major, riding
to or from the oss-roads post-office
In Hargis' store. would rein in his horse
at the Gordon gate and ask for drink
OF water from the Gordon well. y At
such times Thomas Jefferson remarked
that his mother. always hastened 10
serve the Major with her own hands;
this Notwithstanding her own and I'm
Gle Silas' oft-repeated asseveratlon
touching the Majors unenyiable pre-
geminence as Man Of Sin. Also he re-
marked that the, Majors manner MT
such moments was thing to dazzle
the eye. like the reflection of the SUM
mer sun on the surface Of FURNISHED
Z metal But beneath the polished ex5
terror. the cropping perceptions Of the
boy would touch a thing repellant:
thing toAstir a slow current Of resent
ment in his blood. GeS
It was Thomas Jefferson's first COLI
lision with the law of caste; law
Draconian in the Old South. Before
the war. when Deer Trace Manor had
black thrails. there had been no visit
inner knoll and the overgrown log
AAoAAAcotS1uf ASHkuO AkVA 40kNSASCs aNSu1Ar
rel there was none, nor any shadow OF
enmity: but the Dabneys were lords Of
the soil. and the Gordons were crafts
men, s.
Even IN war the distinction was
son. were oficera. having their COM
leb Gordon, whose name headed the list
Do At~o IN nd
ended q private in the ranks.
In the years Of heart -hardenings
which followed, breach was opencyf,
narrow ct first, and never very deep.
but wide enough to serve Caleb Cor
don had accepted defeat openly and
honestly and for this the unrecon-
structed Major had never fully forgiv-
i en- him. It was an added proof that
there was no redeeming drop in the
Gordon veins-ahd Major Caspar was
as scrupulously polite to Caleb Cor
don't wife as he would have been. and
: was. to the helpmate of like Bryerson,
mountaineer, and distiller Of Illicit
whisky.
Thomas Jefferson was vaguely indig
nant when Pettigrass came to ask his
father to go forthwith to the manor
house. In the mouth OF the foreman
he invitation took on something Of the
flavor Of command. None the less, he
was eager for news when his father
y came back. and though he got 1t only
+ from overhearing the answer to his
mothers question. 1t was satisfyingly
thrilling
ITS mighty near as we talked, Mar
tina. The Major Jumps the railroad in
with all the other improvements. calls
'em Yankees. and h'ists his battle flag.
4 The engineer. that smart young fellow
with the peaked whiskers and the eye
4 glasses. went to see him this evenin'
about the right Of way down the VAL
ley. and got himself slung of the porch
of the great house into q posy bed"
There ID going to be trouble. Caleb:
now you mark my words. You mustn't
mix up In IT.
4 don't allow to. II I can hep It.
( The railroads goin to be . mighty
good thing for US II I can get Mr..
Downing to put In side track for the
furnace.
Following this there were other con-
ferences, the Major unbending sum-
ciently to come and sit on the Gordon
porch In the cool of the evening. The
4 Iron master, as one still in touch with
the moving world. gave good advice.
Failing to buy. the railroad company
might possibly seek to bully right Of
way through the valley. But in that
case. there would certainly be redress
in the courts for the property owners.
In the meantime. nothing would be
gained by making the contest per-
sonal fight on individuals.
So counseled Caleb Gordon, sure, al
ways, OF his own standing ground in
any conflict. But from the last of the
conferences the Major had ridden home
through the fields; and Thomas Jefter-
. son, with an alert eye for windstraws
OF conduct, had seen him dismount
now and then to pull up and fling away
the locating stakes driven by the rail-
road engineers.
Giving the Major a second and a
third chance to refuse to grant an
easement, the railroad company push
ed It's grading and track laying around
the mountain and up to the stone wall
marking the Dabney boundary, quietly
accumulated the necessary material.
and on a summer Sunday morning
Sunday by preference because no re-
4 straining writ could be served for at.
least twenty-four hours-a construc-
ton train. black with laborers, wiisked
around the nose of the mountain and
dropped gently down the grade to the
temporary end Of track.
It was Thomas Jefferson who gave
the alarm. Little Zoar. unable to sup
port q settled pastor. was closed for
i the summer. but Martha Gordon kept
the fire spiritual lalight by teaching her
son at home. One of the boys Sunday
privileges, earned by faultless reef
tation OF prescribed number of Bible
verses, was forest freedom for the re-
mainder OF the forenoon. He heard
the low rumble of the coming train.
and 1t was only by resolutely ignoring
the sense OF hearing that he was enn-
bled to get through. letter-perfect.
g Blessed are We. when men shall re-
vile you and prosecute you," he chant
ed monotonously. with rowing eyes bent
on finding his cap with the loss Of the
fewest possible seconds and shall
say all manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake'-and that's ALL"
And he was of like shot.
Mind, now. Thomas Jefferson; you
are not to go near that railroad" his
mother called to him as he raced down
the path to the gate.
Oh. no; he would not go near the
railroad! He would only run up the
pike and cut across through the Dab
ney pasture to see II the train were
really there.
It was there. as he could tell by tho
noise Of kissing steam when the cross-
cut was reached. But the parked
wooding of the pasture still screened
1t. How near could he go without be.
ing near" in the transgressing sense
OF the word? There was only one way
Of finding QUITO keep on going until
his conscience pricked sharply enough
to stop him. It was great convent
ence, Thomas Jefferson's conscience.
As long as 1t kept quiet he could be
reasonably sure there was no sin III
sight. Yet he had to confess that ii
was not always above playing mean
tricks; as that Of sleeping like log
till after the fact. and then rising up
to stab him till the blood ran.
He was halfway across the pasture
when the crash of falling tree stop
ped him In mid-rush. And In the vista
opened by the felled tree he saw a
sight IN mako hin, t,Irr a nd yoco bor,o