Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-07-07
CHAPTER |.
David Moreland's Mountain

DaVlQ mOTcIduo . HOA"'
Carlyle Wilburton Dale-known to
himself and few close friends as Bill
Dale-had laid out a course of action
almost before the northbound tram
had left the outskirts of the state cap
ital behind. 1t incurred facing big
odds: but other men had faced Dig
odds and won out, and what others
had done ne could do. Indeed, ne had
already done several things which
other men might not have Thought OIL
doing. and one OF them was leaving
bride, not figuratively but literally. al
the altar in a fashionable church But
he knew Patricia hadn't wanted 10
marry him any more than ne hau
wanted to marry her.
If was only natural for him to think
of coal, now that he had cut loose Tor
all time from the 'set" in which he
had always jbeen a colossal mistit, now
that he must pull his own oars or vir-
tually perish. He had heard coal
talked since the day Of his birth; to
him coal and business meant exactly
the same.
One of ht@ fathers associates had
often spoken Of a fine vein in the
mountains of eastern Tennessee-had
often tried to persuade his father to
look into it, to no avail, Young Dale re-
membered that this vein lay not far
from a long railroad siding called the
Halfway Switch, IN the vicinity of Big
Pine mountain. The owners were
mountain folk of English descent, his
fathers associate had said. Decidedly
strange, thought Dale. that his father
hadNnever cared to investigate it.
The. cindery little train reached the
long siding about the, middle of a fine
spring morning. Dale took up his bag,
FASTENED out, and soon found himself
standing alone In the heart of an ex-
tremely wild section of country.
When the noises of the little train
and the fast mail 1T had just met had
died away, there came the saucy chat
tering of boomer-squirrels' and the
sweet twittering of birds. Dale caught
the Joyous spirit. He could have
fairly shouted out of the fullness of
his very human heart. Here all was
unspoiled and unprofaned.. and some
thing whispered within him:
They won't cali you savage
here-make this your own country
From somewhere on a, nearby
mountainside rifles keen report split
the air; a bullet whined like a mad
hornet; Dale's hat jumped little on
his head.
The awakening was exceedingly
rude. Dale wheeled. his gray eyes
ablaze. and saw only tiny cloud of
smoke-mist rising from the laurels
more than fifty feet away.
Come out, you.eoward!" he roared.
Come out and let me see you," curl
osity taking the place of anger in his
voice. "rve always wanted to know
lust what a real highwayman was
liker
The muffled sound of twig break
ing a short distance off to his left next
claimed his attention. He was being
closely watched by pair of the fin
est. clearest brown eyes he had ever
seen. He saw her eyes first; he never
forgot that
She was standing on low cliff be-
yond the sparkling creek that flowed
beside the railroad, and she was par
TALLY hidden by clump of blooming
laurel. But Dale could see that she
was about twenty; that every line of
her rounded. graceful figure whis-
pered of doelike strength; that she
was as straight as young pine; that
her chestnut-brown hair caught the
sunlight. and that her face was oval
shaped and handsOme-rather than
pretty--in spite of its tan.
Dale took off his hat. There was
bullet hole in the very top of its high
peaked crown.
"Who's the robber?" he frowned.
The girl blushed.
''Mebbe he amt a robber," she said
"Mebbe he thought you was somebody
else. Anyhow, you amt bad hurt, are
ye?
Dale smiled. "Oh. not seriously!"
You amt likely to be, eff ye behave
yeself."
"If | behave myself" Dale
laughed. "Why. l couldn't be naughty
If I tried; I'm the one and only man.
mas little Willie-boy! / wonder If
could put up at some house near
here; eh?"