Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-16
By Florida p. Sumerwe11
w 7HATi is feud, anyway" asked Tom Root. He
w leaned toward the loose jointed Kentuckian
Drawing by w. M. Berger

N/HAI is a feud. anyway! asked ON Root lie
w leaned toward the loose JOlnted kentuCk1an,
who sat opposite.
The other two men looked up expectantly For
minute FRANKLIN did not speak, Then, in throaty
voice, he answered:
"A feud sir is fight the death. 1t lasts from gen.
Grafton to generation, hOnored inheritance from
father to 1t has nothing to do with primogeniture;
but is family affair." free for ALL from the eldest to the
youngest The only law of feud is that the families of
those at shall fight until the other is exter-
minated Like fire in the heart of live oak it snol
ders until the last combustbe bit has crumbed to ashes
Like the oak fire too it may quite dead, when
wandering wind of passion will fan it into consuming
fame"
Are they wiped out by outside interference"
asked Thompson
Sometimes" said Franklyn; but it's oftener the
lnterferer than the feud that is Wi ped out.
There a difference between the kentuCklan and
his three fellows, the difference between of doors
and the city. He of the Lincoln type; uncouth,
titanic, to catch and hold the eyes of all who
him. typifying force in all its crude immensely
Again he broke the silence in that deep bass of his
If youd like to hear it, III tell you of chap who tried
to break up feud
They were quiet trio and only nodded; when Frank
lyn talked, one else had much to say.
WIHEN l was nineteen, l went back to the
V" tains. had finished my studies at Lexington.
l wanted to breathe. The monotonous responsibility
never of my own kin. They couldn't have
dured the town; but loved them and wanted them
only a country boy want his
Il got to the cabin at shutdown No expect
ing The hounds swarmed out to meet me. The
dishes had not been washed. But it was home, and
liked it. The mountaneers are undemonstrative. My
mother did not kiss me; but she looked me and
said Welcome son.
THAT night we sat late and heard the news; four
years condensed into many hours. First of ALL the
tale of fool missioner, my father called him.
Robert Raymond, rich Yankee, who had come among
my people to teach namby pamby creed of peace on
earth can still the white heat of with which
my mother informed me He don't even preach hell!
"Ths man had lived among them two years. Though
they sneered at his creed they had to regard him
ro1l,; Co.
punishment he good friend and could fight like
catamount when he believed he was right. How he
stood it and is thing beyond my comprehension.
Reared in Boston, surrounded by every luxury and
every influence for good, with the soul of
and the heart of on he had dedicated his life
to the uplifting of people who did not him. who
looked down him from a height of sodden ignorance
and superstition that seemed unassailable.
Il met him week after my arrival, and learned from
him that the Caews and Jacksons had been it again.
as their fathers and grandathers had been until the two
tribes had dwinded in each to a single family
After old Carew shot old Jackson Mrs Jackson, with
her baby arm and rifle on the other had shot
Carew. This left only the women, each with a boy
baby five six months old.
Raymond knew these after each other.
He patrolled the neighbOrhood all times, hoping to
avert further bloodshed. wild for adventure;
spent lot of time with him. Day after day he watched
those cabins helped the women too and took them food
and game He tried to get the other leave to
go the town where they could get work.
He might have talked to the wind with more effect
Those hawk eyed polished their rifles and roamed
the hills waiting to make good the heritage of hatred
left them by their husbands.
nNE day coming down Bald Notch when the
~ sun burst out in a sudden flare of light and showed
the women spur about four hundred yards below
We couldn't reach them and the wind would have car
red voices in the opposite direction We both knew
what coming. AS looked at Raymond, he fell on
his knees and commended their souls to God. | wasn't
much on prayers but immensely interested in any
kind of fight; while Raymond prayed, watched the
terrible drama below.
They met, and don't believe either said one word