The Adair County news., 1922-10-10

Bruce had expected-wrinkled past
belief, lean and hawk-nOsed from age.
The hand that rested on the cane was
like birds claw, the skin blue and
hard and dry. She stood bowed over
| her cane.
Yet in that first instant Bruce had
an inexpllcable impression of being in
the presence of a power. He did not
have the wave of pity with which one
usually greets the decrepit. And at
first he didn't know why. But soon
| he grew accustomed to the shadows
and he could see the woman's eyes
Then he understood.
They were set deep behind grizzled
brows, but they glowed like Goals.
There was no other word. They were
not the eyes of one whom time is
| about TO conquer Her bodily strength
was gone; any personal beauty that
she might have had was ashes long
and long ago, but some great fire
burned in her yet.
She blinked in the light. who is
| it?' she croaked.
Bruce did not answer He had not
prepared a reply for this question. But
it was not needed. The woman leaned
forward, land a vivid light began to
dawn in her dark, furrOwed face.
Even to Bruce, already succumbed
to this atmosphere of mystery into
which his adventure had led him, that
dawning light was the single most
startling phenomenon he had ever be-
held The witchlfke face seemed to
| CLEAN with a white flame. And
| Bruce knew that his coming was the
answer to the prayer of whole life
time. 1t was a thought to sober him.
No small passion, no weak desire, no
| prayer that time or despair could ST.
lence could effect such light as this.
Bruce" he said simply. 1t did, not
even occur to him to use the surname
of Duncan. 1t was name of time
and sphere already forgotten. 81
don't know what my real last name
| Is" ~.
"Bruce-Bruce,"' the woman whis-
| peISu. OIc pdASACN AsluN
to him as if it would feel his flesh to
reassure her of it's reality. He saw
| the exultation in her wrinkled, lifted
face. "Oh, praises to His Everlasting
Namer', she cried "Oh, GlOry-Glory
20 on HighP'
And this was not blasphemy. The
words came from the heart. No mat
| ter how terrible the passion from
which they sprang, whether 1t was
such evil as would cast her to hell,
such a cry as this could not go IN
heard. The strength seemed to go out
of her as water flows. She rocked on
her cane, and Bruce, thinking she was
about to fall, seized her shoulders.
'"At Iast-at last" she cried. you've
come at last" -<s
She -gripped herself, as if trying to
find renewed strength. go at once"
she said, ''tO the end of the Pine
Needle Trail, 1t leads from behind the
/ cabin" ....a..
He tried to emerge from the dream
like mists that had enveloped him.
"How far is it," he asked her steadily.
"To the end of Pine-Needle Trail"
she rocked again, clutched for one Of
his brown hands, and pressed it be-
tween hers.
Then she raised it to her dry lips.
Bruce could not keep her from it. And
after an instant more he did not at
tempt to draw it from her embrace. In
the darkness of that mountain cabin,
In the shadow of the eternal pines, he
knew that some great drama of human
life and love and hatred was behind
the action; and he knew with knOwl-
edge unimpeachable that it would be
only insolence for him to try further
to-resist it. Its meaning went too
deep for him to see; but it filed him
with a great and wondering awe.
Then he turned away, up the Pine
needle Trail. Clear until the deeper
forest closed around him her voice still
followed him-a strange croaking in
the afternoon silence. "At. last" he
heard her crying. "At last, at last"