Morris tribune., 1917-03-02
Lost on the
Mountain Side
By ETHEL HOLMES

Anything for me today, Sam?
asked a girl of a rural postman trudg-
ing along a road in Tennessee.
Yes; l reckon | got one for you.
SUSIE" said the man, looking over a
bundle of letters he carried in his hand
Not finding it, he dived down into his
bag and pulled out it's contents, which
he examined carefully.
"Well, now, that knocks me out" he
said, with troubled and puzzled ex-
preston on his face. when / sorted
the letters for my route at the post
Office l sure saw one for you"
And it's gomez" cried the girl ia a
frightened tone.
"Wait till look 'em over again"
He examined every letter again and
with the same result as before. He
scratched his head in thought.
II stopped at the tavern for some
thing to warm me and threw my bag
down on a chair
"Oh, Sam! Was there any one in
the room with your
LET me see. There was a lean, hun
cry looking man in spectacles"-
And a red beard?"
"'Pears to me he had a red'beard."
The girl turned and ran away from
the pOstman, who followed her with
his eyes till she was out of sight.
Susie Barker, the girl in question,
ran till she came to the tavern. There
she stopped and asked the landlord
which way the man with red beard
had OOno Ho ho6 5oDorfod 1yoopooS3o+o
ly after the pOstman had gone in the
direction of the Cumberland plateau,
the base of which was but a mile dis
tant. Susie set out at a run, but she
could not keep such a pace and soon
settled into a hurried walk. A short
distance from the foothills she saw the
man she was after ascending the hill
She knew the trails leading up to the
plateau and struck into one that was
shorter than that the man was taking
She had not gone far before the two
paths crossed. Sitting down on
stone, she waited for him to come to
her.
"Howdy," she said to the stranger
when he came up.
"HOwdy," replied the man. scrutiniz-
ing the girl. "Y're not lost, are W"
'Well, l dunno. l come up hyer to
find a gal know, and thOrt she lived
purity nigh this place, but l don't find
her somehow. amt used to these
mOuntings. l never come up this way"
She looked exhausted and troubled
She was very plainly dressed, but was
rather cOmely for rough country girl
''Is there anything l can do for you?"
he asked
"Nothin', unless you can put me on
the track to find my friend I'm lookin'
for. But mebbe you're a stranger in
these parts yerself."
The man looked uneasy He had
good reason to shake the girl, but did
not exactly know how to go about it.
You're right there. l don't see how
| can help you, since I'm not familiar
with the country about here"
The girl looked about her with trou-
bled glances, The man started to
go on.
Yer not goin' to leave a pore gal
out hyer on this lonely hillside, air
W" she said, looking at him reproach-
fully.
II don't see how 1 can help it., said
the man. Il don't know where you
want to go, and I've got to get on my
self"
CD y mind my goin' on with W"
she asked pitifully.
"Well, don't see how l can do that"
was the reply, ''seein' that I'll have to
walk great deal faster than you can"
"Try me-"
The man looked perplexed. He
couldn't very we'll leave girl who was
lost on the mountain side, and in the
business in which he was engaged she
would be an obstacle to him. Indeed.