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K
N THE mountainside. a few
hundred yards above the
pale little city of crudely-
lettered slatestones, Bill
Slagle watched the peo-
ple of the Big Laurel as
they reverently and ten-
derly put banks and shocks and sheaves
of White and purple liowers on e
narrow ridge that covered all that was
left of Henry Henry, the best loved
man on the mountain and a man Bill
Slagle had hated bitterly. .$- strange.
new feeling was tearing at Bill Sla-
gle's soul, lashing it,’ scourgiug it.
When the inevitable came to him,
would those banks and shocks and
sheaves be his? They would not!
For Bill Slagle, young black-bearded
giant of a mountaineer. of terrible and
uncontrollable temper, was loved by
none. lie was among his people a
savage, tyrant king. To see him was
to be afraid-afraid of the piercing of
his deep. black eyes; of the sound of
his voice; of the grip of his great
hands; of the hcavy, quick tread of his
feet. lie could have broken the body
of the ordinary'man across his knee
with ease.
whipping, nor the dare, nor the insult,
of any man on earth. Still-when the
inevitable came to him, would tlm.-‘e
banks and shocks and sheaves be his?
They certainly would not! ‘
For the first time in his life. he was
beset by a great and overmastering
loneliness and sense of loss.
Then the strange, new feeling gave
way to a powerful, primitive, jealous
wrath. His huge dgure quivered with
it. His hands clinched upon the bar-
rel of his rifle as tho they would Erush
the wood into the steel. Ilis jaw
muscles stood ‘out tense behind his
beard. He took his gaze from the
mourners below. who were turning
from the pale little city. and looked
up the crooked path behind him.
Coming hurriedly down the path was a
freckied. poorly clothed. barefoot boy
of 8, Littlejohu Dorsett, only child of
-Sarah Dorsett, a plump and pretty
young widow; and in one hand he car-
ried a bunch of withering wild violets.
Slagle stepped squarely before the
little fellow. “Hi. thar. son!" he el-
lowed, in wanton defiance of he knew
not just what. '
The boy stopped suddenly and caught
his breath. Ills freckles stood out
clearer because of the pallor that had
come at the sound of the terrible voice.
He trembled from head to toe. and
turned his gaze downward.
“I'm already late.” he chattered. “I
had to go plumb down thar at Tom
Higgins’ creek to git'these hyur vl'lets.
Please le' me go on!"
“Gi‘ me them thar flowers hyur!“
snorted the giant mountaineer.
The boy held the withered. violets
out for Slagle to take. Slagle took
them roughly and with a sneer.
"I wanted to take ‘em down thar?"
quavered the widows son. pointing B be
little sunburned finger. V
"ilain‘t he donehad enough?” clipped
Slagle. “‘Pears to me like he has, 83'
ad,’ Looka down ‘thar--'s a wagon-
load, ey gad! liaint he done had
enough?" i
Littlejohn' Dorsett straightened an-
, “Nol" quick ' tremulously.
. He went ragged and hungry to
help the pore. Sech '3 feller as him
L-ain't never have enough!” . .
With that the widow's son turned.
afraid for himself for that which he
had said to the man of the savalze
temper, and tied homeward. Slagle
watched the little figure until it was
lost in a bend in the path,and there was
He had never carried the '
By Hapshurg Liebe
every one of the little flowers, and put
them tenderly and blindly over the
,still, beloved heart.
He sat there in the silence until
night had come, thinking, thinking
about his great loneliness and h
sense of loss.
Tllcrc was the sound of bare feet in
the leaves somewhere out to his left.
He knew it was the widow's son. Come
to add his little mite to the glory of
the fallen. lle lay very close to the
earth, that he might not be seen. He
saw the dim little shape kneel and lay
a small, dark blot against the snowy
white of the laurel bloom; then he saw
the dim littlc shape rise and walk
slowly back into the black shades of
the woodland.
when the patter of the boy's foot-
:-teps had died away and the night had
lrronle still again, the lashing in Bill
Sla[.;le's soul broke out in a low, heart-
hrokcn ‘p(’t‘t'llI
“Oh, bod 'lmighiy, if someb3Ily'd only
ter and a quicker flash-for the peg
had been knocked from the end ofthe
horn, and there had been a short train
of powder leading into the rest-and
Bill Slagle sllot to his full height with
a guttural cry of intense pain. .
He could see nothing at all! The
dim stars were gone. The black out-
lines of the trees were gone. Every-
thing was gone from his sight. lie
sank to his knees, his hands held close
to his burned eyes, and cried pit-
eously:
“Blind! I'm blind-blind!"
He began to crawl ‘up the narrow
trail on his hands and knees. suffering
great agonies. He felt his way to the
crest of the mountain, and turned
down the other side toward the little
cabin in which had lived alone,
save for a fiddle, for years.
When he came to a bypath that led
up to his right, stopped. lie was
but a short distance from the home of
the Widow Dorsett. > lie knrw he must
5;
''I reckon I'm even with you."
love me thisaway! I don't want ‘em to
afeard o‘ me! I want 'em to love
me lliisawayl h, if I could only keep
my devilish temper down whar
b'longs! If I Jest could!"
A little animal walked softly past
him and stretched itself out beside the old
lie knew it was
oblivious of all
faithful unto
the end. ('l)IliC to be by its master until
death relieved it or its last duly. For an
instant he wondered, in his uncouth.
primitive way, why llenven permitted
the pitiful. world-wide tragedy of an-
imal life without recompense; then the
lashing within him burst into words-
again:
‘if n-tn a.dawg'd love me miss-
. ,..
ower-covered ridge.
4 r .. n “B
a‘i:lieevd iiigembdyr: lrilaid mac,‘ gs) cf 1 0 lie had had dmzq, more than one. But
wished the boy had cursed him gm-me he had killed them all with his bare
brute that he was. He ran after Little'-
john, calling lustily. There was no
answer. The sound of his voice had
only caused Littlejohn to run the
faster..
slagle stopped
the withered flowers in his hand. and
forced himself to laugh at his weak-
ness. lie threw the violets to the
ground. and stood looking down at
them. Then he stooped, gathered them
up, walked down to the last resting-
place of poor Henry Henry. and threw
them down again. lie turned away,
stopped, faced about. knelt, picked up
‘still. lookgod toward -
hands, in dz-monincnl fits of anger.
Some time later, lllll Slagle rose and
turnrd homeward. lie moped ills way
thru the woodland, and found the path.
And then something happened----
At the point in the path at which he,
had stopped Littlcjohn Dorsctt, ills
powderhorn caught on an outstretched
laurel branch; and the strap, worn
thin at the shoulder. broke in twain.
lie set the l-utt of his riiie on the
ground and knelt. The night was so
thick that he .could see nothing. He
scratched a match, and hold it close
to the ground; there was a quick sput-
have a doctor. He knew he must have
help. lie hated to ask for help; but
his suffering overcame his pride. and
he turned up the bypath and followed
it to the cabin. He pushed the door
open, and crawled across the thresh-
“Bill Slagle!" came a shrill and
much frightened voice; and Bill Slagle
could tell by the sound of it that Sarah
orsett was backing from him.
"ilave pity!" begged the giant. husk-
y He sat back on his heels and
stretched his quivering. earth-stained
hands toward the woman. “llave pity
on me, Saryi You needn't to be
afeard 0’ me no more. Nobody needn't
to be afeard o’ me no more. My eyes
is both burnt out. and I'm as blind as
a rock. Sary, in God's name I ax you.
have pity on me now! Send yore lit-
tle boy down to the creek at the foot 0'
the mountain, and to that thar camp-
in‘ party thar for a doctor. Thar's a
doctor amongst ’em. I know him.
Maybe he can ease this hyur awful.
awful hurtin' for me. Sary, have pity
on me now!" .
ills pleading stirred a great compas-
sion in the kind heart of the pretty
little widow. There were tears in her
sweet brown eyes‘ as she helped him to
the only bed in the house. Then she
ran down the trail. haliooed at a cabin.
and sent a messenger for Ihe doctor
who was with the camping party. When
she returned she saw with regret that
there was nothing she cool for
the injured man, who lay tossing from
side to side in pain. holding his teeth
shut tightly and striving not to make
an unmanly show of himself.
Suddenly Bill turned his
scorched and unseeing eyes toward the
pair at his bedside. lie beckoned jerk-
“Son," he begged. "come hyur. Don't
be afeard 0' me Come hyur jest a
minute, Please!"
“Go to him, Littlejohn." urged the
mother’s gentle voice. ‘
Slagle felt the near presence of me
boy. lie felt the glorious sweetness of
it in spite of his misery. Somehow it
seemed connected with the heartbror
ken cry that had burst from his soul
over in the pale city.‘ lie felt for the
lltlle hand, the same little hand that
had given him the withered violets a
few hours before. and found it.
"Son," he muttered. "I want to ax
you to forgive me for 3-lakin' yore flow-
ers from you. it was lowdown mean
in me to do it. When I warn how
much everybody loved pore Henry
Henry, it made me plumb wild. I was
mad acause everybody was afeard 0'
me, and didn't like me none at all-
even tho it was my own fault. That's
what made me do it, son. And. son, I
want to tell you this-that I went down
thar and put the vi'lets whar you yore-
self meant to put ‘em. Now, say 'you
haln't got nothin' ag'inst me, or I jest,
don't think I can stand it, Please!
Say it!" '
,“Say it, Littleiohn." echoed Sarah
Dorsett
"Shore," said the boy,,heartily.
“Much obliged, son." gasped the suf-
fering giant..lle clasped his hands,
wrung them nervously. shut his teeth
together tightly. and was silent. v
The doctor came. ilo thrust a
needle into Bill Singles arm, and the
big mountaineer began to feel easier.
Then, with the woman‘s help, the doc-
tor"w'ent to work.
.At daybreak Single put forth a hand
Sud took the physician by the shoul-
"boc," he muttered, “I want to know ’
m
the truth. t-noulzli to take
it. Am I ever to see any more, or am
I not to see any more." With a curved
forefinger he pointed to the bandage
over his eyes.
"I'm afraid not." was the slow, re-
gretful answer. .
“And will I be dlstiggered much about
the face?"
“You will be disfigured Very little.
my friend. It looks like a blow from
Fate. Almost the entire force of the
explosion struck your er :4. Your
heard is burned but little.‘
One of Slagle‘s hands vent toward
a trousers pocket. “How much do I
owe you, c?"
The doctor laughed a little. “Noth-
ing, my dear fellow!" he said kindly.
"You didn't let us pay you for acting
as guide on those trips to the Balsam
and the White Rock; surely I ought to
be willingto do something for you.“
“Shore am much obliged. Doc," mur-
mured Slagle. He went on, "And cain't
I be led home today? These liyur folks
cain't afford to be bothered with me.
y’know, Doc!" '
"Not today," declared the physician.
"Tomorrow. perhaps. I'm sure Ilirs.
Dorsott will keep you until tomorrow.
Eh, llirs. Dorsett?"
The woman answered
..‘-(,5... .
The doctor turned to‘ his medicine
case. "I must go home this morning.
My father is ill. I want you to come
to town four days from now, Bill. and
I'll take you to an eye specialist."
The doctor left bandages, medicines.
and directions for their application.
and went.
What a Jewel is compassion! Little
and mean. indeed, is the man who does
not have the deepest pity for those he-
reft of the blessing of sight. That day
there were few of.the people of the Big
Laurel who did not come to see poor.
unmanned Bill Slagle. whom they had
feared for so long. They held his
hands us they sat beside his bed. and
tried to cheer him in his darkness: and
Bill Slagle's eyes smarted with tears
much of the time.
At twilight of this happy day. when
the visitors had all gone to their homes,
llloizglllflilly.