The Ely miner., 1926-01-01
By VINGIE E. ROE
Copyright by the Mccall Company
wNU Service.

mirror that hung on the kitchen WALL
small matter of passing her hands
over the shining mass. for the braids
were smooth, almost as they had been
when she pinned them there before
sun-up, and rolling down her sleeves.
sat down to the table where simple
meal was steaming. She bowed her
head and Mrs. Allison, her lean face
gaunt with shadows of fear and appre-
hension, folded her hard hands and
asked the customary blessing of that
humble house.
Humble it was in every particular
of its scant furnishings, of its bare
cleanliness which was its only adorn-
ment, of the plain food on the secured,
clothless table.
These folk who lived in 1t were
humble. too, if one judged only by their
toil-scarred hands, their weary faces.
But under the plain exterior there
was something which set them apart,
which defied the stamp of common
place, which bid for the extraordinary.
This was the dominant presence Of
purpose of the two younger faces. the
spirit of patient courage which shone
naked from the two pairs of blue eyes.
The mother had less of it.
She was like war-mother Of Old
waiting always with a set mouth and
eyes scanning the distances for
tragedy.
The living spirit of stubborn cour-
age had come out of the heart and soul
of John Allison, latter-day pioneer.
who for two years had slept in low,
neat bed at the mountains foot be-
yond the cabin, his end one of the mys-
teries of the wild land he had loved
His wife had never ceased TO fret for
its unraveling, to know the how and
wherefore of his fall down Rainbow
cliff-he, the mountaineer, the sure,
the unchancing. His daughter and son
had accepted it, laid it aside for the
future to deal with, and taken up the
work which he had dropped-the plow,
the rope and the cattle brand.
1t was heavy work for young hands,
young brains.
The great meadow on the other side
of Nameless was rich in wild grass, a
priceless possession. For five years 1t
had produced abundant stacks to feed
the cattle over, and the cutting and
stacking was work that taxed the two
to the very limit of endurance. And
the corn land at the west-that, too
took labor fit for mans muscles. But
there were the hogs that ran wild and
made such quick fattening on the
golden grain In the early fall. 1t was
the hogs that paid most of the years
debt at the trading store, providing
the bare necessities of life, and Nance
could not give up that revenue. work
or no work. Heaven knew, she needed
them this year more than ever-since
the fire which had flared in a night the
previous harvest and taken all three
of the stacks in the big meadow. That
had been disaster, indeed, for 1t had
forced her to sell every head Of her
leaving barely enough to get another
start. McKane had bought, but he had
driven hard bargain.
This was another spring and hope
stirred in her, as it is ever prone to do
In the heart of youth.
Tired as she was. the girl brought
forth from the ancient bureau in her
own room beyond, worn old Bible,
and placing 1t beneath the lamp, sat
herself down beside the table to the
study of that Great Book which was
her classic and her school, Mrs. Alli-
son had retired into the depths of the
cabin; from the small room adjoining,
Nance could hear the regular breath
ing of Bud, weary from his labors. For
long time she sat still, her hands
lying cupped around the Book, her
face pensive with WEAKNESS, her eyes
fixed unwinking on the yellow fame
Then she turned the thin pages with
reverent hand and at the honeysweet
rhythms of the Psalms, stopped and
began to read.
With David she wandered afar into
fields of divine asphodel, was soon lost
in sea of spiritual praise and song.
Her young head, haloed with gold
en- spray in the light of the lamp, was
bent above the Bible, her lashes lay
like golden circles sparkling on her
cheeks, her lips were sweetly nodded
to the words she unconsciously formed
as she read.
For long time she pored over the
ancient treasure of the Scriptures, and
In all truth she was innocent enough,
lovely enough to have stirred heart
of stone. 1t was warm with the breath
of spring outside. Window and door
stood open and no breeze stirred the
cheap white curtain at the sill.
Peace was there in the lone home
stead by the river, the security that
comes with knowledge that all is
looked to faithfully. Nance knew that
two huge padlocks on the stout log
barn that housed the horses and the
two milk cows. were duly fastened.
for their keys hung on the wall beside
the towel-roller. She knew that the
well board was down, that the box was
| filed with wood for the early break
| fast fire.
"sIn Thee OH Lord do I mt nv