Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1915-11-04

ought to know. Ye didn't know that
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. | reckon every day
we're wonderin' Is my halo on
straight?' It's nat'ral enough that ye
should be right scornful of a man that
some newspaper reporter has called a
murderer"
His voice fell away. aB6 Juanita
heard again the beating OF tae ham
mers out in the barn.
rs 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 can't stand it,"
"Mebby eff ye'd stopped to think
about things" he resumed, "ye'd have
seen that | didn't have no quarrel with
your plans. Mebby l mought even
have been able to help We. | could
have told We for one thing that
whether the ways here be right or
wrong, they've done stood fer two
hundred years, Ye'ye got to go slow
changin' EN-. Ye can't hardly pull up
a poplar saplin' with one jerk. Thar's
a tap-root underneath it tibet runs
down halfway to hell.
IF people hyarabouts is distrustful
of furrin teachers an ways, it's be-
cause of the samples they've had. A
Teller came here once from the settle
ments to teach school. He was a
smart, upstandin' Teller an well
liked. A man by the name of Trevor.
when folks found out that he was
l~ocatin' coal an buyin' their land fer
next to nothin'-robbin' them of their
birthright-it looked right smart like
somebody might kill him. l warned
him away to save his life. Ye've got
to make folks forget about Trevor
afore We makes EN- 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 toI'able ignorant" went on the
man, but I've read a few books. an
one Of EN- told the story of the Trojan
boss. | wanted ter see what kind of
a critter you was a ridin' into these
hills. ! come to this cabin the night
We got here to find out"
T thought So" she quietly answered.
Il 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 it that way if we've a mind to-
he answered. eye was comm to be a
schoolteacher here. Well, I'd done
been a schoolteacher here. l see your
smile-ye're %wonderin' what / 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 a friend, an ]
reckon that won't break my heart"
Then said the girl, looking up
and meeting his eyes with a flash OF
challenge, 81 shall endeavor to get
along without your favor. We could
hardly have met on common ground
at best. I shall teach the ten com
mandments, including Thou shalt not
kill. shall teach that to lie hidden
behind a bush and shoot an unsuspect
ing enemy is cowardly and despicable
II would not be willing to tell them
that they must live and die vassals to
feudal tyranny"
mo-" he agreed, "ye couldn't hard
ly outrage your holy conscience by
tryin' to teach EN- things in a way
they could understand, could We? II
Jeb had ONE to We, like he came to
me, askin' the name of the man he
sought to kill, We would have said ter
him, 1t was ~so-and-so, but ye mustn't
harm him, because somebody writ in
a book two thousand years ago that
KILN is a sim An the hell of it is
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 a comm down to him full OF