Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1920-10-12

of 1t upon his tongue
"The Wild Man. he pondered, "a
harmless OF cuss, an pitiful to see
Seven year he's been in these Flat
woods. Hit amt often body gifts q
glimpse Nv i'm. did once-a tall oil
ghost of man-tall as you Almost
but face on I'm the pitifulest you
ever see. An like ghost he comes
and like a ghost he goes-nobody
knows where to. They say he's got a
daughter somewhere's up In the hills
thar, but never seed her."
The Boss went back to his pipe. The
other sat bordering what he had just
heard.
mo, 1t wasn't on account Of the
Wild Man." he resumed, as if In an
swer to the Boss first question. "She
was afraid somebody might make us
leave"
"An' that'll be long while a-doin','
the Boss answered. "They amt no
body in this quarter O. tn world has
got tn right t do that. That lam b.
longs t. Colonel Warbritton. Ever hear
tell of him?'
II never did"
He owns hundreds and hundreds OF
acres-f1ve or six sections, / guess
layin' in square right along the river
here, tn very heart and flower Nv tn
Flatwoods. That's his east line back
thar where the River road bends
north. tn be many long day b'fore
he orders anybody off. He's got Sc
much b'sides don't s'pose he hardly
knows he's got this. / doubt If he ever
seen it."
The Boss let the oars drift while he
turned his head and sat a moment
sweeping his eyes up and down the
dim. forest-bound shore line.
'Them Warbrittons is a remarkable
race" he resumed Fire eaters every
one. Soldiers an fighters sence tn
Lord knows when. In times long ago
they wus a clan. They had flag with
gray wolf on it, an they called their
selves the Gray Wolf clan. They say
every man In the clan wus brave. an
every woman virtuous. An that's
what. they prided themselves on spe-
cial particular. They wus all big
men. They wus FIVE of 'em in the
Revolution two with Clark; an four
In the war of r."
The Pearlhunter bent forward and
hung upon the words. Somehow they
strangely stirred him.
II fit tn Injuns under this Colonel
Warbritton. TIL soldiers use t talk
about I'm a lot around tn campfire.
That's how / come t. know s. much
about i'm. Hit wus me that saved his
scalp at Horseshoe Bend" A tang of
pride crept into the hard tones of the
grizzled old river man. His boss got
shot through tn brains an fell s.
quick he caught tn colonel's foot, an
/ stood over I'm with tn bayonet
whilst he got loose. We sent seven
screechin' heathens t hell that day
b'fore hep come. That's how got t
be sergeant. Hit wus tn best he
could do fer a man that hadn't no
learnin'. No. No. You needn't be
afear'd Of gittin' driv' out O. TIL cabin.
If the colonel wus here, he wouldn't"
He clutched the oars In earnest. A
few lusty strokes drove the boat down
to where the glare from the campfire
of the Boss crew of 'clammers" fiared
out across the water. There he turned
In to get the jack light.
A dirtier bunch of men than the five
lounging about that campfire couldn't
be found anywhere else in the world
except in another "clammer's" camp.
The practice of the early pearl fishers
was to put the clans In watts and al
low them to die there and rot. This
muck was afterward carefully "han-
died" for whatever pearls 1t might con-
tain.
The ordinary jack light is simply an
oil burner-in early days a candle, or
fire of pine knots-arranged with re-
fector-on the bow of the boat In such
way as to throw the full brilliancy
of the light down upon the water,
leaving the fisherman himself in dark
ness. Such light, If the night be
dark and the water quiet and clear,
renders objects beneath the surface
perfectly plain to a considerable depth.
While the Boss was fastening the
lack light to the bow of the boat the
Pearlhunter stepped ashore to blacken
the points of the freshly sharpened
spear in the blaze of the campfire, for
all fishermen know Ii Is never advis-
able to strike with a spear that gilt
tiers. He knew every man Of them
around the fire. But toss Of his
hand. a toss of FIVE hands In response,
was all that passed between them
men that would have carried COM
rade for miles at need; that would
share the last bite with him; that
would knife him just as readily at a
fancied grievance. Such were the
river men; law unto themselves
simple code, warped Enthusiastically
with knife and pistol for judge and
Jury; a leftover product of other days
when clansmen followed their chief
and asked no questions; bi-product
of the border who found 1t hard TO
disarm when civilization came In.
The Boss slipped an oar into the
water and laid the boat more toward
the south shore, over the deepest part
of the bar. Hardly had he done SO
when the Pearlhunter lowered the
point of his spear. The outline Of an
immense black bass took shape under
the glare of the jack light, half hidden
among the swaying verdure, as If ~
Ing in wait for his prey, which in all
likelihood he was a scaly tiger of the