New-York tribune., 1922-02-12


For fifteen minutes they travelled as s1iftly
the smallest todder could walk Able of
the derby brought up the rear Of the process
sion, tripping over the armful Of wood he car
ried with the awkward persistence of an cnor-
nous ant
Eventually the trees thinned out. and
through them we the colony set in dip
between the hills Crumbing chimncvs
perched drunkenly on sageing ridgepoles amid
rotting shingles. Numhcrlcs~ season I'D
stained the cabins the hue ol the rock ledges
and the tree bolcs, until they seemed part of
the wilderness itself. A few of the huts were
Of two stories. Ladders, not stairs were used
to reach the upper floor The best OF the
houses. toward which the procession was hast
ening, had window pancs. IN the Others rags
or paper had been stuffed INTO The gaps The
vindictivc old woman hustled her flock MO the
cabin, holding the door open Just crough to
let them squeeze through Then as the scr
geant made to follow she slipped in herself and
slammed the portal in his face Cnruffled he
set his shoulder against It and pushed il oper
before she could bolt it.
There was ancient stove beside which
Able of the derby piling his sticks. There
was also a rickety double bed covered svtr
an old red blanket. work bench and one
senlle char These were the chief furnishings
OF chamber not larger than the average city
fiat living room. The air was filed with tha,
strange odor Of dust and neglect that SEEM
always to accompany ableet pover1--
At the work bench sat Pap. patriarch %
his clan and head man Of the settlement. in 50
far that it was he who generally packed h.
baskets down to West Taghkanic and there
traded them at the general store. Long vithes
Of white oak were coiled Ike wire about his
feet. Between his knees he held the begin
nings Of basket, the upriehts haring out from
the plated bottom like petals of gigantic
sunfowcr
He was blond to the verge Of beng albino
with the face Of feeble haboon. His faded
blue eyes peered at you from beneath sparse
brows and, meeting yours. nickered down
again He was stunted and thin and wizcneG
and apparently wracked with all the uncom
tortable emotions that might be yours were the
MIkado and his train in ceremonial dress to
stroll into your home uninvited
Yet throughout our interview the witaered
old hands continued the work he held between
his knees. They kept on weaving as though
governed by some force entirely outside what
intelligence dwelt in the queerly peaked skull
II know YOU" Pap quavered in greeting
~ ou be tecatives."
The sergeant disavowed this. explained his
mission and demanded why Able the derb,
crowned, was not in school
Il be good man., Pap whined ~Ast M.
Blocker down to store He say so Able
KANT go school. Able KANT talk
Grlnnlng at the attention thus directed tow
ard him, Able proceeded to confirm this state
ment by making strange noises IN his throa
when addressed. He seemed tongue-tied rathe.
than mentally deficient We learned that h.
was Pap's son, uncle to the babies that scram
bled Oh the cabin floor
There other Children Pap voucbsafed
who were even then in school. He professe
not to remember either their number or aees
Ii he spoke the truth and there were stil
others to the family. the problem Of where an
how they slept nights was complicated still
further
When asked. Pap replied briefly In the
bed and refused to discuss the manifest i'm
possibility OF this In this one-room cabin he
dwelt with the hostile old woman, their daugh-
ter, her two babies and husband. Able and the
other children who Pap said were at school
There was scarcely room for them all to sit
down at once. let alone Sleep.
Pap professed he was sixty wears old he
had had many children. but could. or would
not say how many. Reading and writing were
far beyond him and his tribe as the gospe
Of Einsten Physicians Of the body or soul
were as unknown 70 him and his people a
achemists. Only the youngest Of them had
ever sat before a teacher. He had never seen
railway train. He had no idea who was
President of the United States or even what
these were. and yet he the globe trotter,
the Travelled man of the settlement. who scy-
eral times a year went down to West Tagh-
kanic, where Mr.. Bleecker would vouch for
him as a good man. For the rest OF the
Frightened People. residents of the State Of
New York in the year 1921, the world
bounded by that uneven horizon where the
Columbia hills rose to meet the October sky.
Fifty miles away stood the Capitol of the En-
pire State, and here sat Pap in his cabin
s.unted of mind dwarfed Of body. ignorant of
God or law, with his inbred children and
grandchildren about him. dreeing his feeble
weird as the basket grew into form beneath
his hands
Passonately he wished to be rid OF us, YET
lie was afraid to say So He went forth into
the sunshine to be photographed with the air
of one on the way to the scafod While there
two Ot borc If tho t,.ihe yyJZpOp1 little men