The Elk Mountain pilot., 1917-02-15

| OuSnt TO Know. 10 QlQ0t Know E04I
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 beon In
suited an no man has to bar his door
against thievery; where all we ask II
| to be left alone. reckon every day
ye're wonderin' Is my halo on
straight?' It's nat'ral enough that 70
should be right scornful of man that
| some newspaper reporter has called
murderer"
His voice fell away. and Juanita
heard agains 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 Gown 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. l can't stand it,"
"Mebby eff yed stopped to think
| about things" he resumed, "ye'd have
seen that l didn't have no quarrel with
your plans. Mebby l mought even
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 can't hardly pull up
poplar saplin' with one jerk. Thar's
tap-root underneath 1t thet runs
| down halfway to hell.
IF people hyarabouts is distrustful
| n furrip NJ if's he
cause of the samples they've had. A
feller came here once from tho settle
ments to teach school. He was
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. Ye've got
to make folks forget about Trevor
| afore ye makes 'em trust you"
THANK you," said Juanita coldly.
"Ill try to show them that I'm not an
| other Trevor. Are you warning me
away to save my life?"
I'm tol'able ignorant" went on the
man. but I've read few books. an
one Of 'em told the story of the Trojan
| hoss. l wanted ter see what kind OF
critter you was ridin' into these
hills. l come to this cabin the night
ye got here to find out"
II thought So" she quietly answered.
II 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 IL ye've mind TO-
he answered. "Ye was comm to be a
| schoolteacher here. Well. I'd done
been schoolteacher here. I see your
smile-yere 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 a friend, an l
reckon that won't break my heart"
"Thea.' said the girl. looking up
and meeting his eyes with flash OF
challenge. II shall endeavor to get
along without your favor. We could
hardly have met on common ground
at best. l shall teach the ten com
mandments. including Thou shalt not
kill l shall teach that to lie hidden
Deliluu IL DuSH anu suOOt I'LL uususpeCt
ing enemy is cowardly and despicable.
l would not be willing to tell them
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 way
they could understand. could ye! II
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, 1T was so-andso. but ye mustn't
harm him. because somebody writ in
book two thousand years ago that
KILN is sim An the hell of 1t 10
ye'd low such talk would satisfy him.
"Ye couldn't do no such wicked
thing as to stop an reflect that he's .
mountain boy. an that for two hun.
dred years the blood in his veins hes
been a comm down to him full of