Tombstone epitaph., 1917-01-14

II 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 h. suited an no man has to bar his loor against thievery: where all we ask ts to be left alone. 1 reckon every day ye're wonderin' Is my halo on straight?' It's nat'ral enough that ys should be right scornful of a man that some newspaper reporter has called a 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. 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 I thought even have been able to help ye. could have told ye for one thing that whether the ways here be right or wrong. they've done stood fer two hundred years. We've got to so slow changin' 'em. Ye can't hardly pull up a 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 tho settle ments to teach school. He was smart. upstandin' feller an we'll 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 somebody might kill him. I 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 tol'able ignorant" went on the man, but I've read few books. an one of 'em told the story of the Trojan hoss. wanted ter see what kind of critter you was a ridin' into these hills. l come to this cabin the night ye got here to find out"
 q thought so." she quietly answered. q 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 ye've a mind to. , he answered. "Ye was comin' to be . schoolteacher here. Well. I'd done been a schoolteacher here. see your smile-ye're wonderin' what 1 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 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 I shall teach that to lie hidden behind bush and shoot an unsuspect. , ing enemy IS cowardly and despicable. 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 a way they could understand, could ye? If Jeb had come to ye. like he came to , me, askln' the name of the man he sought to kill, ye would have said ter him. 1t was so-and-so. but ye mustn't harm him, because somebody writ ir a book two thousand years ago that |. killln' is a sin An the hell of 1t is 3 ye'd low such talk would satisfy him r "Ye couldn't do no such wicked
 thing as to stop an reflect that he's s l mountain boy, an that for two hun
 dred years the blood in his veins he, ! been a comin' down to him full oi