The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-11-27

At last she was conscious of pres
ence besides her own, as Of someone
standing silently at her back.
Rather nervOusly she turned her
head, and there, with one foot on the
lower step of the stile, stood the
young stranger himself. Once more
their eyes met, and with little start
she dropped her own. 49,.
L kinder hate to bother We, ma'am,"
said the even voice, "but can't hardly
get acrost that stile whilst ye're settin'
on it." .-....
There was no note Of badinage or
levity in his tone, and his clear, drawn
features under the moonlight were en-.
tirely serious.
Juanita rose. II beg your pardon"
she said hastily, as she went down the
stile ON the far side.
That's all right, ma'am," replied
the man easily, still with a serious
dignity as he, too, crossed the road.
While he was untying the knot in
his bridle-rein the girl stood watch
Ing him. In the easy Incidence of his
movements was the ripping some
thing that suggested the leopard's
frictionless strength.
The very quality that gave this
young stranger his picturesqueness
and stamped him as vital and dynamic
in his manhood sprang from that wild
roughness which he shared with his
eagles and Dawn shared with her
weedlike flowers. And yet it was
somehow as though this man, whose
voice was so calm, whose movements
were so quiet, whose gaze was 60 un-
arrogant, was crying out in a clarion
challenge with every breath: Il am
q mani"
Suddenly she wondered II in him
she might not find an ally. She felt
very lonely. To have counsel with
someone in these hills less stupidity
phlegmatic than Good Anse Talbot
would bring comfort and reinsurance
TO her heart. She must cope with the
powerful resourcefulness of Bad Anse
Havey, he Of the untamed ferocity
and implacable cruelty and shrewd in
telligence. If some native son could
share even a little of her viewpoint
she would find in him a tower OF
strength.
Perhaps he had yielded to the un.
spoken appeal of the deep, rangeful
eyes that were always gray, yet never
twice the same gray, and the sweetly
sensitive lips so tantalizingIy charm
ing, because they were fashioned for
SmilpS and uyoro ,Ouy
Il reckon" he said, you find it right
different, don't you?"
She nodded.
But it's very beautiful" she added
as she swept her hand SJout in a gess
ture of admiration.
i was he who nodded at that. very
gravely and almost reverently. though
at the next moment his laugh vas
short and almost ironicaI.
! r5ckon God never fashioned any,
thing Detter-nOr worse" he told her.
when you've breathed it an seen it
an lived it, no other place is fit to
dwell in, an yet sometimes low that
God didn't mean it to be the habita-
! tion Of men an women. It's cut out
for eagles an hawks an wild things.
1t belongs to the winds an storms an
bear an deer. 1t puts fire into veins
meant for blood, an the only crop it
raises much is hell"
"You-you've been out in the other
world-down below" she questioned.
"Yes; but couldn't stay down there.
/ couldn't breathe, hardly. SICK
ened-an' ] came back"
She turned to him impulsively.
II don't know who you are" she
began hurriedly, "but know that you
brought this man home when he was
not in a condition to come alone.
know that you sent man ahead Of
you to keep peace at the dance. I
know you have heart, and it means
sOmething-means a great deal-to
feel that someone in these hills feels
about it as l feel"
She stopped suddenly realizing that
she was allowing too much appeal to
creep into her voice; that she had
come to fight, not to sue for favor.
Il thought maybe you would
! neip me, she nnlShed, little falter-
ingly. would you mind telling me
your name?"
He had unhitched his horse and
stood with the reins hanging from one
hand.
Its Havey," he said slowly, ''but
hereabouts I've got another name
that's better known He paused, then
added with hardened timbre Of
voice, as though bent on making def
ant what would otherwise sound like
confession: Its Bad Anse"
The girl recoiled, as though under
a physical shock. 1t seemed to her
that every way she turned she was to
meet staggering disappointments. She
! had spoken almost pleadingly to the