The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1911-03-23

@
copyisht, 1907. BY R. F. Fepao & c..
body knows and which everybody
laughs ut but am wiser than every
body, because l don't laugh"
A roar OF merriment greeted this
assertion. I could not help Joining
in IT.
"Let nae eat first, and then wen
have the story. The story will wait,
and my hunger is too ripe TO keep"
OF necessity in this history must
talk Of myself. am the hero of 1t,
and he'sia poor hero indeed who isn't
worth talking about. was wan
derer by inclination, not of necessity,
and. although not actually seeking ad-
venture. ! was not unwilling to enjoy
some mild form of enterprise should
such come my way, hut little thought
Of the strange experiences which lay
before me. Few people even If they
are interested viii believe the story
and will say Of me, as was said of
Mustapha. "He is a stupid dreamer"
To these can honestly confess that
should sometimes doubt the history
| myself had l not always before me
one incontestable proof of the truth
Of 1t. For my personal appearance
stand over six feet, am broad slioiIls
dered and athletic, have fair hair and
am clean shaver, and believe there
are less well favored men in the world
than myself
Brayle lies, IL indeed there is stiIl q
village there, at tile foot of one Of the
Southern JBhfs OF the great Caucasian
range. 1t is an out Of the Way place
which probably few tourists have dis
covered, Is enough to say that,
While the slopes of the western range
are clad in verdure, the central range,
ns it3may belGa3led, siarid, rocky and
|ilRsolate. of comparatively. uniform
height. the mountain tops rise males.
liealIy into the region Of perpetual
snow. There are, practically speak
ing, no passes, only here and there a
goat track, dizzy enough to contem.
clate, Of a mountaineer's zigzag path
which Lends nowhere in particular,
and in the neighborhoed of Brayle
sheer rock rises pernendicularly from
the mountain read which runs through
he village. So to my story.
Supper finished and brler pipe set
going, suggested another log on the
are, more wIne-lt was very thin wine
and harmless-and Mustapha's tale.
The man had drunk at my expense or
do not think lie would have. told the
legend.
Its little know" he said. Every
one knows nearly us much. only they
DO not believe. LOng.ago, long before
Brayle existed. somewhere near here
there was pass from this side of the
mountains to a country beyond. There
was constant intercourse between the
people on this side of the. mountains
and that country, whose Inhabitants
though, different, We're friendly. The
men were strong and warllke and the,
women more than beautiful, far supe-
rior to ours, 1t Is said, and the wealth
Of the country was enormous, In the
kings treasury were stored gold and
silver and precious stones, greater
wealth than man could name. 1t was
a pleasant country, too, warm and sun
ny. for the great mountains shut 1t Ia
and sheltered 1t. They were strong
people and therefore dwelt in safety, a
contented people and therefore happy.
a. day came when the pass was no
more. 1t was year of fierce storms,
such as had not been known until that
time nor have been since. Mountains
split asunder and changed their shapes,
and when the storms were over the
pass was gone. The mountain walls OF
.it had split and fallen in; shutting that
fair land out of the world forever"
1.-THE legend improves with every
telling" said the landlord.
And it's all lle," said one Of the
other men contemptuously. ''I've been
lost day and night upon the noun
tains and know every inch Of them
that is to be known. It's all a tale.
Mustapha Is a stupid dreamer"
Mustapha watched me. Ny criticism
was the only one he cared about. His
companions jeers he had heard often
enough before.
81 thought It all tale once, /" he said
when 1 made no comment. II know
better now. There was until lately n
wise woman in Brayle, and she told
me that, though the pass was destroy
ed, there remained a secret entrance to
this fair country through the noun.
tains and that she had seen armed
men going there. I did not believe