Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1910-05-04
cHAprEf. H.

and coal region as the first of AN
epoch, and as the year Of the great
Hood. But the herald of change had
not yet blown his trumpet in Paradise
Valley; and the world Of russell and
green and limestone white, spreading
itself before the eyes of the boy sit
ting with his hands locked over his
knees on the top step Of the porch
fronting the Gordon homestead. was
the same world which. with due sea
sonal variations, had been his worid
from the beginning.
y 1t was a hot July afternoon, a full
month after the revival, and Thomas
Jefferson was at that perilous pass
where Satan Is said to Turk for the
purpose of providing employment for
the Idle. He was wondering II the.
shade of the hill oaks would be worth
the trouble 1t would take to reach 1t.
when his mother came to the open
window of the living room: a small.
fair, we'll preserved woman, this moth
er of the boy Of IL. with light brown
hair CRAVING little at the temples.
and eyes remindful Of vigils. Of fervent
beseeching, Of mighty wrestlings
against municipalities and powers and
the rulers Of the darkness of this
world. "a
You, Thomas Jefferson" she said,
gently. but speaking as one having au-
thority. you'd better be studying your
Sunday lesson than. sitting there doing
nothing"
"Yes'm," said the boy. but he made.
no move other than to hug his knees
little closer. He wished his mother
would stop calling his Thomas Jeffer-
son." To be sure, 1t was his name.
or at least two thirds of it; but he
liked the Buddy" of his father or the
Tom Jeff' OF other people vast dea!
better.
Further, the thought of studying
Sunday lessons begot rebellion. At
times. as during those soul-stirring re-
vival weeks. now seemingly receding
into far-away past, he had moments
Of yearning to be wholly sanctified.
But the miracle of transformation
which he had confidently expected as
the result of his coming through" was
still unwrought When John Bates or.
Simon Cantrell undertook to bully him,
as aforetime. there was the. same IN
toxicating experience of all the visible
world going blood-red before his eyes
the same sinful desire to slay them
one or both.
He stole glance at the open window
of the living room. His mother had
gone about her housework, and he
could hear her singing softly, as beflt-
ted the, still. warm day. All hymns
We're beginning to have that effect, AMI
this one in particular always renewed
the conflict between the yearning for
sanctity and desire to do something
( Hncnarn FOL ,;Dlra 4 IL,
course lay In flight. Hence, the battle
being fairly on. he stole another glance
at the window. ssprang A[oot, and ran
silently around the 1holse afsd'S vi roIghs
the peach orchard to Chamber over the
low stone wall which was the only
barrier on that SIDE between the will
derness and the sown. IS
Men spoke OF Paradise as 1.-THE val
ley" though II was rather, sheltered
c*yvitb Mount Lebanon for its back
ground and semicircular range OF
oak-grown hills for its other rampant
Splitting 1t endwise ran the white
streak of the, pike, macadamized from
the hill quarry which, full quarter
of q century before the Civil War, had
furnished the stone for the Dabn.y
manor-house: and paralleling the road
unevenly lay a ribbon of silver, known
to less poetic souls than Thomas JEFF
fersons as Turkey Creek. but loved
best by him under its almost forgotten
Indian name of Chiawassee.
Beyond the valley and its inclosing
hills rose the other mountain" blue
in the sunlight and royal purple in tho
shadows-the Cumberland. source and
birthplace of the cooling west wind
that was whispering softly to the ce-
dars on high Lebanon. Thomas Jeffe.-
son called the loftiest of the purple
distances Pisgah, .picturing it as the
mountain from which Moses had lool,-
ed over into the Promised Land. Some
time he would go and climb 1t and
feast his eyes on the sight of the Ca
naan beyond; yea, he might even 10
down and possess the good land, If so
the Lord should not hold him back MS
He had held Moses.
That was high thought, quite In
keeping with the sense of overlordship
bred Of the upper stillnesses. To COM
pany with 1t, the home valley straight
way began to tdeali3e itself from The
uplifted point Of view on the mount
OF vision. The Paradise fields were
delicately- outlined squares of vivid
green or golden yellow, or the warm
red brown of the upturned earth III
the fallow places. The old negro quar-
tiers on the Dabney grounds, many
years gone to the ruin of disuse. were
vine-g grown and invisible save as a
spot of summer verdure; and the man
or-house itself, gray. grim and forbid
ding to a small boy scurrying past 1t
in the deepening twilight, was now no
more than great square roof with the
cheerful sunlight playing on 1t.
Farther down the valley, near the
place where the white pike twisted it,
self between two Of the rampant hills
to escape into the great valley Of he
Tennessee, the -shingled roof I'M
der which Thomas Jefferson had eaten
and slept since the earliest beginning
OF memories became also a part Of
the high mountain harmony: and the
ragged. red iron-ore beds on the slope
above the furnace were softened into
a blur of joyous color.
The iron furnace, with its alternat
ing smoke puff and dull red fare.
struck the one EARRING note in SYM
phony blown otherwise on great ma
lures organ pipes: but to Thomas
Jefferson the furnace was as much .
part of the immutable scheme as the
Hills OF tne forests OF the creek which
furnished the motive power for Its air
blast More. 1t stood for him as the
summary of the worlds industry, as
the white pike was the worlds great
highway. and Major Dabney Its chief
citizen.
He was knocking his bare heels to-
gether and thinking idly Of Major
Dabney and certain disquieting rumors
lately come to Paradise, when the
tinkling drip of the spring into the pool
at the foot of his perch was interrupt
ed by sudden splash. BY shifting a
little to the right he could see the
spring. A girl of about his own age,
barefooted. and with only her tangled
mat Of dark hair for a head covering,
was filling her bucket in the pool. He
broke dry twig from the nearest ce-
dar and dropped 1t on her.
You better quit that, Tom-Jeff Co..
don. taken sight o. you up there"
said the girl. ignoring him otherwise.
That's my spring. Nan Bryerson,"
he warned her .dictatorially.