The state herald., 1921-01-11

| anO tn0 Clty twenty m1le6 Iarther ON.
When the man returned to the
houseboat the Iron. Woman still
lay hack In the shaky rocking chair.
Dipping the battered cup full Of fresh
water. the man stepped to her side.
"Your cool drink, mother"
The thin lids raised. The eyes she
turned toward him must have been
wonderfully beautiful In her day
large and deep and iustrous. The
cough that wasted her breast seemed
powerless to dim their luster.
The man crossed the cabin and laid
his hand on the rumpled curtain over
tho doorway. about to return to his
task Of sharpening the fish spear.
1T looks cool-and calm-up there"
He paused; glanced back over his
shoulder at her. and waited for her
to 60 on.
rs that a log house see up there
under the eliffsr
The floor Of the houseb0at creaked
under the weight Of him as he came
to the window. He had to stoop low
to bring his eyes level with the open
Ing.
"A log house : old and empty"
The ron-Gray- Woman sat musing a
moment, her eyes astray among the
trees noddlng languidly In the serene
June afternoon.
II wish I might live again upon the
shore. The sun bents down 30 hot
upon the houseboat. and grow weary
Of the eternal throb Of the river. II
I could only live little while up the .e
I should grow strong"
"And why not7 It's empty. and no.
body would care. In these deep woods
there's nobody to care"
A flicker Of light crossed her face.
'Td get well up there. under the
strong cliffs. with the cool spring so
near. And I've lived so long-since
you were child In arms-on the river
the Ohio; the White: the Wabash 7"
always. mother! Always the house
boat-drIfting; drifting-and you SO
frail. SO beautiful"
The man left the window and knelt
by the rocking chair. The Iron-Gray-
Woman saw the question In his eyes
a hunger for some word out of the
past; a word that had never come. All
his life she had kept II from hm-
whatever It had been that happened
back there behind the veil Of her ST.
lence that left him nameless: Q river
waif; q nomad In an orderly world: q
Usher Of pearls: q pearihunter. Her
eyes came back and faltered over him.
No longer q child: q boy-the refiec.
tion startled her. man knelt at her
side-the question written big upon
his face. And II wns hiS right to
know. Her head dropped back against
the quilt that cushioned the chair. It's
a solemn thing to be the mother Of q
mnn-glorious but solemn.
The lustrous eyes-brighter for the
fever wasting them-came back to him
after q time. He saw q far-flung
thoughtfulness In them: knew they
had strayed into that past from which
he was barred. The thin lips parted.
The mans fingers curied tense upon
the chair arm.
ITO n city on the Wabash. In early
days. came three families Of virginia's
purest blood-my family, your fathers
family. and the family of-of-another
mnn."
The Iron Woman shuddered
and was silent for a moment. The
man picked up a wasted hnnd; stroked
II softly between his own. and she
went on. strained and slow. like one
desperately nerved to Q long-dreaded
task.
MY parents both died when I was
80 small that can barely remember
them. leaving me. their only child. to
the care Of n distant relative. great
uncle Of my fathers. This grcat.grent.
uncle-weli. us look back upon my
life cannot remember that he ever
gave me u pleasant word.
my aunt was as different ms dawn
to dark. She was everything that he
wns not. A thousand times she loved
my hurt away.
"rhcy had a daughter. nm only child.
almost my age. and Of the same name
surname md all. When uncle was
away on business trips. ms he often
was for weeks, II was like sunshine
after rain. Such happy timesl They
are high among the few pleasant
memories Of my life"
The Iron.Grny-w Woman paused. her
dark. deep eyes seeming to search
back Into the dead past. like traveller
strnining his gnxe across Il stretch Of
desert to where the oasis lies. The
man shifted to his other knee and sh.
went on.
MY aunt died when we were In our
girihood. After thnt-the grny days
were ever more thnn the bright.
pctuiance settled deep upon my uncle
His best word was Hrowl. The scrv.
ants moved about the house like silent
shadowa.
I'm this snmc city upon the Wabash
lived two other families. ms I hnve told
you--your fathers family and the
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