The Spectator., 1915-11-23


 they'd ruther have ignorance than | charity. Ye think that you an Al mighty God have gone in partners fer the regeneration of these mountains. where no woman has ever been in suited an no man has to bar his door against thievery; where all we ask is to be left alone. I reckon every day ye're wonderin' Is my halo on straight?' It's nat'ral enough that ye should be right scornful of man that some newspaper reporter has called murderer"
 | His voice fell away. and Juanita heard again the beating of the ham, mers out in the barn.
 ''Is that all?" she asked. but the man shook his head and stood there looking down on her until under the spell of his unusual eyes she felt like screaming out: Talk if you want to. but for heavens sake don't look at me. I cant stand it!"
 | 'Mebby eff ye'd stopped to think about things" he resumed, ''ye'd have seen that didn't have no quarrel with Joui piuho. NCpps 4houSht CNCh have been able to help ye. I could have told ye for one thing that whether the ways here be right or wrong, they've done stood fer two hundred years. Ye've got to go slow changin' 'em. Ye cant hardly pull up poplar saplin' with one jerk. Thar's a tap-root underneath it thet runs | down halfway to hell.
 If people hyarabouts is distrustful | of turin teachers an ways, it's be- cause of the samples they've had. A feller came here once from the settle ments to teach school He was a smart. upstandin' feller an well liked. A man by the name of Trevor.
 When folks found out that he was locatin coal an buyin' their land fer next to nothin'-robbin' them of their birthright-it looked right smart like somebody might kill him. warned him away to save his life. We've got to make folks forget about Trevor afore ye makes 'em trust you.'
 Thank you.' said Juanita coldly I'll try to show them that I'm not an other Trevor. Are you warning me away to save my life?"
 I'm tolable ignorant" went on the man, but I've read a few books. an one of 'em told the story of the Trojan hoss. I wanted ter see what kind of critter you was a ridin' into these hills. I come to this cabin the night ye got here to find out
 'I thought SC" she quietly answered '1 was to be inspected like an immi- grant, and the lord of the land was to. decide whether or not should be sent back"
 Put 1t that way if ye've mind to, he answered. "Ye was comin' to be a schoolteacher here Well, I'd done been a school cher here 1 see your smile-ye're wonderin' what l could teach. Maybe. after all. it's a right good idea to teach A B C's before ye starts in with algebra an rhetoric. Ye wouldn't have me as friend. an I reckon that won't break my heart"
 Then" said the girl. looking up and meeting his eyes with flash Of challenge, T shall endeavor to get along without your favor. We could hardly have met on common ground at best. shall teach the ten com mandments, including Thou shalt not kill l shall teach that to lie hidden behind bush and shoot an unsuspect- ing enemy is cowardly and despicable l would not be willing to tell theH that they must live and die vassals to feudal tyranny"
 "No,' he agreed. ''ye couldn't hard ly outrage your holy conscience by tryin' to teach 'em things in a way they could understand. could ye? If Jeb had come to ye. like he came to me, askin the name of the man he sought to kill ye would have said ter him, It was so-and;so, but ye mustn't harm him. because somebody writ in a book two thousand years ago that killn' is sin. An the hell of it iN ye'd low such talk would satisfy him\
 "Ye couldn't do no such wicked thing as to stop an reflect that he's a mountain boy. an that for two hun dred years the blood in his veins hes been comin' down to him full of