Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1915-12-23
CHAPTER XIV.

CHAPTER XIV.
TITS only lonesome people," Anse
Havey went on, that knows how to
love an dream. I've stood up there On
the ridge with julius Caesar and Al,
exander the Great, an it seemed to
me that | could see 'en as plain as
see you now. [ could see the sun
shinin' on the eagles Of the legion an
the shields Of the phalanx. I'm rich
enough, / reckon. to live amongst other
men that read books, but a dream
keeps me here. The dream is that
some day these here mountains shall
come into their own. These people
have got it in EN- ter be a great
people, an I've stayed here because !
aimed to try an help en-
But" she family eXpostulated, you
seem to stand for the very things that
hold them back. You speak almost
reyerently of their killing instinct and
you oppose schools"
The man shook his head graVely and
continued:
I'm feudist because my people are
feudists an because / can lead 'em
only SO long as I'm a fghtin' Havey.
God knows, If | could wipe out this
blood-spillin' I'd gladly go out an offer
myself as a sacrifice to bring 1t about
You call me an outlaw-well, I've done
made laws an I've done broke them,
an I've seen just about as much
croOkedness an lawlessness at one
end of the game as at the other"
But schooIs?" demanded Juanita.
why. wouldn't. they help your dream
toward fulfllment?"
Il amt against no school that can
begin at the right end. I'm against
every. school that can only onsettle
an teach dissatisfaction with humble
Twin where folks has got to live
humble"
He paused and paced the room. He
was no longer the man who had
seemed the immovable stoic His eyes
were far away, locking beyond the
horizon into the future
It's took your people two centuries
to get where they're standin' today"
he broke out abruptly, AN fer them
two hundred years we've been stand.
in still or goin' back. Now ye come
down here an seeks to jerk my people
up to where ye stands in the blinkIuF
of an eye. Ye comes lookin' down on
EN- an pityin' EN- because they won't
eat outen your hand. They'd rather be
eagles than sOng-biTds in a cage, even
If eagles are wild an lawless. Ye
comes here an straightway tells 'em
that their leaders are Infamous. Do
we offer 'em better leaders? Ye
refuses the aid Of men that know en-
men of their blood-an' go your own
ignorant way. Do We see any reason
why should countenance We? Don't
ye see ye're just a-scatterin' my sheep
before they knows how to herd them
selves ?''. r.
"I'E1 afraid" said the girl very slow,
~ and humbly, that I've been a fool 4"
@Ye says the boy Jeb wears my
trademark. in the hate that's en- his
face" continued Anse Havey passion
ately. He's been here with me con
sortin' with them felIers in Plutarch
and Shakespeare. If l can curb him
an keep him out of mischief he's goin
down to Frankfort some day an learn
his lessons in the legislature. He amt
goin' to no college, because I aims to
fit him for his work right here.
seek to have fellers like him guide
these folks forward. I don't aim to
have them civilized by bein' wiped out
an, trod to DEATH"
He paused, and Juanita Holland re-
,peated helplessly, I've been a fool"
I reckon We don't know that young
Jeb BtcNash thinks little Milt kilt
Fetch, an that one day he laid out in
the1a'rel to kill little MiIt,'' Bad Anse
pursued. I'VE don't know that the only
reason he stayed his hand was that
I'd got his promise ter bide his time
But l reckon We do know that if Milt
was killed by a Havey all that's tran
sp1red in ten years wouldn't make a
patch on the hell-raisin' that'd go on
-hereabouts in week. Do ye think it's
strange thet Jeb don't want his sister
consortin' with the boy that he thinks
murdered his father?"
Juanita rose from her chair, feeling
like a pert and cocksure interloper
who had been disdainfully looking
down on one with a vision immeasur-
ably wider and surer than her own.
At last she found herself asking: But
surely Young Milt didn't kill Fetch.
Surely you don't believe that?''
No. I know he didn't; but there's