The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1912-12-10
CHAPTER |.


Cumberland ridge through a sky OF
mountain clarity. the sun seemed hesi'
tatlng before its descent to|the hori'.
Eon. The sugar-loaf cone that tow
cred above a creek called Misery was
pointed and edged with emerald trac-
cry where the loftiest timber thrust
up its crest plumes into the sun. On
the hIllsides It would be light for
more than an hour yet, but below,
where the waters tossed themselves
along In a chorus OF tiny cascades, the
light was already thickening into
cathedral gloom. Down there the fur
riner" would have seen only the rough
course of the creek between moss
yelveted and shaded powders OF
titanic proportions. The native would
have recognized the country road in
these tortuous twlstings. A great block
OF sandstone. to whose summit a man
standing in his saddle could scarcely
reach his fngertips, lowered above
the stream, with gnarled scrub oak
cllnging tenaciously to its apex. Loft
lily on both sides climbed the noun
talns cloaked In laurel and timber.
Suddenly the LEAKAGE was thrust
aside from above by cautious hand,
and shy, half-wild girl appeared In
the opening. For an instant she halt
ed. with her brown fingers holding
back the brushwood. and raised her
face as though listening. AS she
stood with the toes OF one bare foot
twisting In the gratefully cool moss
she laughed with the sheer exhilara-
tion OF life and youth. and started out
on the table top OF the huge rock.
But there she halted suddenly with a
startled exclamation and drew instinc
lively back. What she saw might well
have astonished her. for II was thing
she had never seen before and OF
which she had never heard. Finally,
reassured by the silence, she alipped
across the broad face Of the fiat rock
for a distance OF twenty-five feet and
paused again to listen.
At the far edge lay a pair OF saddle
bags such as form the only practical
equipment for mountain travellers.
Near them lay tin box, Uttered with
small and Misunderstanding tubes OF
soft metal, all grotesquely twisted and
stained. and beside the box was a
strangely shaped plaque of wood
smeared with a dozen hues. That this
plaque was a painters sketching pal
ette was a thing which she could not
know, since the ways of artists had
TO do with a world as remote from
her own as the life OF the moon or
stars. II was one of those vague mys-
teries that made up the wonderful life
Of down below" Why had these
things been left here in such confu.
sion? II there was a man about who
owned them he would doubtless return
10 claim them. She crept over. eyes
and ears alert. and slipped around to
the front OF the queer tripod. with all
her muscles poised In readiness for
Hight.
A half-rapturous and utterly aston.
lshed cry broke from her lips. She
stared moment, then dropped TO the
moss-covered rock, leaning back on
her brown hands and gazing intently.
Hits purify" she approved. in a
low. musical murmur "Hits plumb,
dead beautiful"
or course 10 was not finished pic.
ture-merely study of what lay be-
fore her-but the hand that had
placed these brush strokes on the
academy board was the sure, deft
hand Of a master OF landscape, who
had caught the splendid spirit OF the
thing and fixed II immutably in true
and glowing appreciation. Who he
was; where he had gone; why his
work stood there unfinished and aban.
doned, we're details which for the mo-
ment this hal!-savage child.woman for
got to question. She was conscious
only OF sense of revelation and awe
Then she saw other boards, like the
one upon the easel, piled near the
paint box These we're dry, and rep
resented the work of other days. but
they we're all pictures of her own
mountains, and in each OF them, as
in this one. was something that made
her heart leap
To her own people these steep hill.
sides and "coves" and valleys were a
matter of course. In their stony soil
they labored by day. and In their shad
ows slept when work was done. Yet
someone had discovered that they held
picturesque and rugged beauty; that
they we're not merely steep fields
where the plow was useless and the
hoe must be used. She must tell Sam
son-Samson, whom she held in an
artless exaltation OF hero worship;
Samson. who was SO smart" that he
thought about things beyond her un
derstandIng; Samson, who could not
only read and write, but speculate on
problematical matters.
Suddenly she came to her feet with
q swlft.darting impulse Of alarm. Hell
ear had caught a sound. She cast
searching glances about her, but the
tangle was empty of humanity. The
water still murmured over the rocks
undisturbed. There was no sign o.
human presence. other than herself
that her eyes could dscover-and ye
to her ears came the sound again. anC
this time more distinctly. 1t was th'
sound of a mans voice, and 1t wa!
moaning as II In pain. She rose ant
searched vainly through the bushes o
the hillside where the rock ran ou
from the woods. She lifted her skirt
and splashed her feet in the shallow
creek water. wading persistently NJ
and down Her shyness was forgotten
The groan was q groan OF humaI