The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-10-10
Ts PVShi~

Yhs PvSstivN
HB gaunt man led the way. At
his heels, doggedly. came the
two short oneA fagxed. yet
uneomplaining: all Of them
1Esnchsd 10 the skin by the cbili rain
that swtHied through the gap. down
into the night ridden valley below.
Sky never vas 80 black. Days of In
esssant storm had left It hmpenetrably
svsecasA Three or four miles lay be-
tween the suI!en travellers and the town
that Graded itself In the lower end Of
the valley.
Night had stolen early upon the dour
spring day. Eight o'clock-no more
and yst Il seemed to thess men that
thsy had plowsd forever through the
blaeknsss Of this evil night, through .
hundfSd villainous shadows by un-
pointed pathA Few were the words
that had passed between them during
al thoss weary miles. An occasional
satA. mufasd but imprssstvs. fell from
The bps Of ons - the other Of those
WAo followed eioes behind ths/ s/bilent,
impssturbabis lsadsf The tall man
was a. 9'isnt - the unspsakabls night
ITSELF
IL was impossible b distinguish the
fssss Of these doggsd nishtfarers
The collafS Of their coats wers turned
- thsir throats wers muh'ed and the
broad rims Of their rain soaked hats
Wsre far down over the eyes. There
was that about them which sueRsstsd
the unfesented pfessurs Of drsarnoa In
stds he DRY breast poeksts ee long
0oatA
This was an evening IN the spring Of
1879 and these men wers forging
their way along q treacherous noun
tafa road IN southwestern Virginia
The washing away Of q bridge tan
miles farther down the valley had put
An end to all thought Of progress by
rail. for the night At least Rigid ne
cesdty compelled them to proceed In
the faos Of the direst hardsh,pa. Their
mission was one that could not be
stayed % long - they possessed legs
and stout hearta Since 8 o'clock in
the Afternoon they had bsen strug-
Cling along their way. at times by mar
row wagon rosds. not infreQuently by
xsts and fcoepaths hat made for
economy In distance.
1hs tan man strods onward with
never decreasing strength and con-
ddsncs- His companions. On tho CON
ta1. were faint and sore and scowl-
ing They wsrs not to the mountains
born They came from DE gentle low
Ands By the ssa- from broad pianta-
uons and plea "a nt bywayA from tho
tidewstsr country. he was the leader
sn tbs ugly night, and ut they wers
the mastses- Thsy followed, but he
led at their bidding. They had known
him for less than six hours and did
not know his name; nor he theirs for
that matter. They took him on faith
and for what hs was worth-$5.
"Are those the hghts Of the town.
painted one Of the mAstsrx, a throb Of
hope in his breast
''Yas, r." was all the tan man said.
''How far?" demanded the other.
~'Bout fo'h mile
Can We make 1t BY .. think
"Yas, T."
-We'd better bs moving along. It's
half past I now"
"Yas, r."
Once more they set forward, descend
ing the slope into the less hazardous
road that wound its way into the town
Of g., then. as now, a thriving place
in the uplands. The ending Of a dead
hor tny, vi
to the opening of this tale had left
this part Of fair Virginia gasping for
breath, yet too proud to cry for help.
Virginia, the richest and fairest and
proudest Of all the seeding states, was
but now finding her first moments of
real hope and grief.
Intermittent strains Of music came
dancing up into the hills from the
heart Of 8. The wayfarers listened
in wonder.
"It's a band" murmured one of the
two behind.
"Yas, r; circus band" vouchsafed
the guide, sudden eagerness in his
voice ivan Slye's Great and Only
Mammoth shows
"a cirrus?" interrupted one Of the
men Grufly. "Then the whole town is
full OF strangers. That's bad for us,
Blake"
81 don't see why. He's more than
likely to be where the excitement s
highest, amt he? He's not too old for
that. Well find him in that circus
tent, Tom, if he's in the town at all
"First circus they've had in S. in
a dawg's age" ventured the guide,
with the irrelevancy of an excited
boy. "Ricc's was there once, l can't
remember just when, an they was
some talk of Rarnum las yeah, they
say. but he done pass us by. He's got
Holy Beheemoth that sweats blood
this yeah they say. Doggone. I'd like
to see one" The guide had not ven
tured so much rs this. all told. in the
six hours of their acquaintanceship.
Lets be moving on. I'm wet clear