Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1925-01-01


She watched him until he passed out
of her sight down the road. Then she
rested her arms upon the rail Of the
fence and laid her head down upon
them The moon rising higher above
the distant hills, looked wan and
white. The wind was blowing chin.
The girl stood few moments; then
she turned slowly, crossed the white
road, and went up the narrow path I'd
the cabin that stood like dark blotch
on the white of the landscape. She
pushed open the door and went In.
The light from a single candle threw
the greater part of the room In
shadow. There were few embers In
the great open fireplace, and beside.
them sat her father the rings of
smoke from his pipe floating lazily up
ward to lose themselves amid the
rough puncheons that formed the cell
Ing. He looked up as the girl entered.
Then, though the night was warm, he
stopped and knocked the embers apart
until they sent up tiny burst Of
flame.
The girl crossed the room. picked up
basket full of coarse stockings from
the rude bench table, and seating her
self near the candle thrust her needle
In and out with quick, sharp motion.
The room was full OF pungent odor
from the red peppers and lunches of
dried herbs that hung from the cell
Ing.
The old man, shifting his gaze from
the fire, redoved his pipe and opened
his lips.
where's" he began. The girl
looked up quickly. A bright spot OF
color burned in either cheek.
YOU'D better be goin' to bed, pa.
It's gettin' late.'
again swiftly, silently. The old man
drew few more puffs then he
stopped and knocked the ashes from
his pipe He rose and crossed the
room and. with a rough, unwonted
tenderness, laid one heavy hand on her
shoulder.
Goodnight, pa" she answered,
sharply.
A little while later she folded and
laid away the last stocking. Then
she rose and, taking up the candle,
passed slowly into the room that she
had shared with the other children ever
since she could remember Without
undressing she blew out the candle
and threw herself down upon the hard
bed and lay there, staring up at the
ceiling, wideeyed, sleepless.
She had never known human sym
pathy She had never felt the need
of 1t, Born Of the mountains, living
her life beneath the shadow of their
mystery, finding in their wild canyons
and deep gorges their sweeping winds
and cold, still SUBMITS, an answer to
the mystery Of life, to the dim silence
Of the soul In their loneliness they
had called to her, and they were call
ing her now. She rose dumbly and
passed into the outer room. The en-
bers had died down, leaving only d
pile of dead ashes on the hearth She
unbarred the heavy door and went out
into the night. The stiffness was like
velvet. Before her stretched the long
white road; beyond 1t the mountains
bathed in mists, dark with shadows.
She hurried on and on, all the wild
unrest of heart and brain reaching out
in answer to this wordless, unknown
call. Now the mists and the darkness
EMBODIED her; great crags, handicapped,
lowered above her. She struggled on
dumbly.
On all sides Of her rose the great
forest trees. Through the dense foil
age the moonlight shifted family. Now
and then the tangled underground
tripped her. Huge boulders, washed
down by some mountain torrent, lay
across the path. The smell Of vege-
tation, damp, reeking with death and
complaining note of some night-bird
reached her ears, and far away in the
distance the bark of a coyote. Once
she paused, feeling some human pres
ence near, but 1t was only the ripping
of a mountain brook and the walling
of the wind.
At length, exhausted, she sank down
close to a great boulder. She rested
her arm against the rock and leaned
her head upon it. Dimly she felt the
peace of the vast, pregnant silence.
Far below her lay the valley, shrouded
In mists; above her the great heights
shrouded in mystery, and calling, ever
calling.
She started up suddenly, conscious
Of new element The wind was ris-
ing. All about her she could feel the
deep undertone of the forest. She
stood still and listened, and for the
first time felt vague fear. From the
distance she heard the deep boom of
the mountain torrent A light flashed
among her trees, followed by a roar
that seemed to come from the very
bowels of the mountains. The wind
had quickened into terrible life. The
great trunks of the trees bent and