Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-07-07
THECLANCALL
By HAPSBURG LIEBE
~

mile, We and my nav. Come to see
me, Bill, and We'll go a-ishin'. SO
long, Bill old boy"
John Moreland returned presently.
The man from the city rose and prof
fered hisshand
My name," he began, old habit
strong upon him, 'is Carlyle"
Before he could get any farther with
1t, John Moreland flung the hand from
MIN as though it were a thing of un-
speakable contamination. His bearded
face went deathly white with the
Whiteness of an old and bitter hatred.
HIS great fists clenched, and every
muscle in his giant body trembled.
What's the matter, man?" Dale
wanted to know.
"Carlyle!" Moreland repeated in q
hoarse growl. You say yore name is
Carlyle!"
Yes" wonderingly, but that's only
part of it. My name is Carlyle Will
burton Dale-Bill Dale. What's the
matter?"
did you come from West vir-
ginnyT sharply.
Dale gave the name of his home
town and state.
That's dif'rent." The mountain
eer's countenance became lighter
This man I'm a-thinkin' about, he
was from West virginny. | hope you
won't hold nothin' ag'in me fo' actin
up that away. l couldn't hep it, shore,
it seems. You'll know how felt when
l tell ye about it, Mr.. Dale l owe it
to ye to explain. Jest a minute"
He stepped into the cabin and
brought out another chair, sat down
heavily and crossed his legs. Dale,
too, sat down.
1.-THE mountain you had to come
over to come here, MIR. Dale" More
land began, his big voice filled with
an old, old sorrow, rs knowed as Da-
vid Moreland's mountain mostly be-
cause David Moreland is buried in the
very highest place on top of it, him
and his wife. He was my brother, and
was the best brother a man ever had.
1t was allus the talk o. the neighbor
hood how much we liked each other.
Up ontel the time he was married ]
went with him whar he went, and he
went with me whar 1 went I'd fight
fo' him, and he'd fight fo' me. It's
hard to tell, even after this long
time. -.
David, he was strappin' big man,
like all o. the Morelands. He was
about yOre size, and grey-eyed like
you, and he had brown hair like you.
When you walked up to the gate. it
made me think o. him the day he was
married; he was all dressed up in
dark blue like you. . . Then David
he went up here one summer anc
found this vein o. coal. He got law.
full p'session o. the mountain, and
moved his wife up here. The rest of
us lived over in the Laurel Fork coun.
! try then.
zone day l got letter from David
which said that a man named John K
Carlyle was a-goin' to buy his noun.
tain and the coal, and said that his
wife was pow'ful sick. A week later
she died, and left a baby which died
too, accordin' to a old Injun by the
name O. Cherokee Joe, who knowed
my pap and knowed David. And q
month later we was all dragged from
our beds by this same Cherokee Joe
| tellin' US that Carlyle had shot David
Carlyle. Cherokee Joe said, was
a-drinkin' hard. The Injun seed the
shOotin' through a window
1T was might nigh to three davs
later when we got here and found
pore David a-layin' whar he'd fell
We secured the mountains fo' miles
and miles around in a s'arch fo' the
dawg who killed him, but we never
found him. =. The land up here
looked purity, and it belonged to us
by David's death; SO we all moved ur
here TO live, and built us cabins.
'Major Bradley found out about the
end o. my brother, and he wanted ms
TO put the case i'm the hands O. tbe
law. But we wCIFdnAt do it. A More.
land never goes to law ;ab0ut anything
He pays his own debts, and he collects
what is his due"
Joha Moretand arose. land paced the
porch floor. which crealed under his
weight He stopped before Dale, and
went on sadly
"NOw ye'll know why was so much
tore up when heered wore name, the
Carlyle part John K Carlyle killed
the best man AIT ever lived. And meb-
be yell understand why we amt never
had the conscience to sell the coal
which cost Brother David his iife''
Moreland's guest sat staring absent
ly toward a brOWn-winged butterfly
that was industriously slipping honey
from the heart of a hcneysuckIe
bloom. He gave no sign that he had
heard anything out of tine ordinary,
but in an odd, persistent way his mind
seemed to connect his father, John K.
Dale, with the story he had just heard.
John X. Dale had come originally
from West Virginia, and he had fatty
refused. time upon time, to make any
investigation of the Moreland coal
property.
The hillman interrupted young
Dale's thinking:
''Addie, she's a-goin' to have dinner
ready purity soon. Would ye like to
wash, Mr. Dale?"
Yes" was the answer, and in the
tones of Bill Dale's quiet voice there
was shade of meaning that More
land did not catch Yes, I'd like TO
wash"