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I E BLUE MOON c I rt t i u A TALE OF THE FLATWOODS 44 y pJ a DAVID Copyright by the Bobbs Company y Ii t i Pd a r Ing the bushes with the Y i n ution iZ he crept up he edge edg of the pool and oral andt p Peered ered forth A woman woma woman a a girl sat girl sat on a flat rock jutting t out from the opposite bank lank jI her bare feet swinging in the thet t water With the mass massof r o of f color close to her face it J k was hard to tell the one from fr the other the others the flowers from i tl the e face where the roses left leftoff p p off f f and the fG fare face e began Her Hert Heri i t I f s' s I hair hung loose s soft ft and wavy the th the kind o of f hair a roguish t I shaft of morning sun can ran change to spun gold lips like liker r t the song a moment ago ago upon i t them eyes like the little patch of sky at the bottom of the 1 pools pools eyes eyes that opened wide x 1 5 t s that had nothing to conceal nia This Thi i is ia first fiat r glimpse of the Wild Rose ROle He HeV HeS V S calls call himself hV be h- because 1 V cause cause ause he does doe not know his c father Wild Rose Roe is i. the thes i- i s daughter of Wild Man a mysterious mysterious mys mys- recluse Pearl 1 r er er finds Ends the B Blue ue Moon Moona a a great pearl that looks look like 1 a at full moon in a cold sky ky And then hen the moet moat exciting i things thing happen in quick ion sion i I This is a fa fascinating story tory of ofa I Ia a queer people in a queer place the the freshwater pearl hunters huntera of the Wabash river flats flab of s n Indiana in the late forties It We good r reading ading j I t o T CHAPTER I I. I 1 1 j I Ip p The Iron Gray Iron Gray man 1 f fJ J j AUyoung j young man stood on the after aften deck k of oi small and dingy houseboat houseboat house house- ouse l k o a a very boat filing a fish spear Riding at the end end dot of a a st storm blackened rope strung from a cleat at the bow to a tree on onshore onshore onshore shore the the boat rose and fell with the ti pulse of of th the river lazy laxy and languid the beat of the hot afternoon sun iSUn He was was so tall with such a spread of shoulder s that he seemed out of n place upon upon so so small a deck Wind Wind- season season and weather wear had worked their will upon him But there are arc f forces that grave grae deep deeper r than wind and rind weather Youth can cari hold wind and weather at bay It Is powerless S against those other forces forces those those Inh In s h ner ner forces that grave the soul Under the chafe of them his face face had become the face of a man who ho had looked upon life lite and found It not to his lik lik- ing His eyes held the keen Iteen quick hardness Ss' Ss that comes to eyes that see only lifes life's sterner side w The they called him 4 the river men men not that he had found i his pis pearl possibly b because cause he had hadnot not found It Failure names men as wellI well I t as success success In the wilderness The space space between the fore and after decks of the houseboat at was wa occupied l pied pled by a kind of cabin with a curtained curtained cur cur- entrance fore and lift aft and a a single small window on tn each side Ibo be man suddenly man n suddenly stopped filing the fish fishr shear spear r and glanced with quick anxiety toward this cabin A woman was Wall coughing He crossed the narrow deck at nt ata a stride shoved aside the soiled and rum rumpled le curtain and entered A dark k gray Iron woman sat humped forward 0 n a n rickety old by the window on the shore side As I If conscious con con- scions of his Inability to help possibly t calloused by long familiarity with similar sim sim- 5 lIar ilar scenes scenes he stood looking down peon her with no expression of ot sym sym- pathy other than a wince e of pity In ini i his eyes She straightened after a n time and lay b back k against the bed quilt spread 4 in In the chair spent and quivering the s trembling shell of what had once beena been beena a a avery very beautiful woman The mant manI man t I crossed ro sC the cabin dipped d up a of water out of a bucket by the cook and offered It to her I She waved wat d It away i r and flat I It has has hass Its It's so warm warm and s been long from the spring Without a word he set the cup back backon f on on the bench picked up the bucket w passed out to th the front deck crossed crossed tw the file narrow gangplank and hurried 4 away up the slope toward the cliffs tl that at rose above the trees a few rods rods' Vack ack back from the river shore hore fir The The spot was ivas known the length lenth of the Wabash for who has bas not heard beard of ot Fallen Hock Rock with the broad thin wai wa- wa i n pitching over th the sharp-edged sharp v shelf h between twe n Its two breasts and lapping lap lap- lapping ping the Hie strewn stone-strewn pool at Its base t And the spring breaking out from under unk un k der the shale ledges of ot the cliff cHIT near the nest west est end of the old cabin and trickling Its waters down a little sul stained gutter Into the pool who pool who n has not heard of It Not rot to have haves s 5 drunk of Its waters was considered considered a n S 'S misfortune IR in the Flatwoods Just as asIn asIn t r In ancient Greece reece It was considered f n a calamity t to die without having seen the statue of Olympian Zeus y Fallen Rock flock Is 18 the highest front of or SS naked stone along the Wabash At Atthe Atthe rE the present day clay seven towns can be bo seen from its lUi summit in to the late fo fors for for- s n n n n ties two Buckeye a mile up the river and the City twenty miles farther tarther on When the man returned to the houseboat the Iron Iron Woman Gray Woman still lay pack ack ck In the shaky rocking chair Dipping the battered cup full tull of ot fresh freshwater freshw water ter w ter the man stepped to to her side Your cool drink mother The thin lids raised The eyes she turned toward him him must have havee been wonderfully beautiful In her ber day day day- large and deep and lustrous The cough that wasted her breast seemed powerless to dim their luster The man crossed the the- cabin and laid his hand on the rumpled curtain over the doorway about to return to his task of sharpening the fish spear It looks cool cool and and calm up calm up there He lie paus paused d glanced back over oer his shoulder at her and waited for her herto herto herto to go go onIs onIs on Is that a log house I see up there under the cliffs 7 The floor of the houseboat creaked under the weight of him as he lie came cameto cameto to fo the window He lie had to stoop low v to bring his eyes level with the open opens ing lug ingA A CIA log house old and empty The rhe Woman Iron sat musing a moment her Ier ey eyes s astray among the trees trees nodding languidly In the serene serene- June afternoon I wish I might live again upon the shore The sun beats down so o hot upon the houseboat and I grow weary i of the eternal throb of the river If I could only live a little while up p there I should grow strong not nobOdy no 1 And why WIlY Its It's empty and body w would care clire In these deep woods theres there's nobody to care A 1 flicker I k j of light crossed her face Id get well up there under the cliffs with the cool spring so near And Ive I've lived so long since long since you were a n child In arms arms river the the Ohio the White the Wabash 1 1 Always mother I 1 Always the houseboat house house- boat boat drifting drifting drifting drifting and and you so frail so beautiful The man left the window and knelt by the rocking chair The Iron Gray Woman saw the question In his eyes eyes eyes- a hunger for some word out of the past a word that hail had never come All his life Ute she had kept it from him him him- whatever It had been that happened d back there behind the veil of her si silence sip sl lence that l left ft him nameless a river waif a nomad In an orderly world a fisher of pearls a n Her lIer eyes came back and faltered over him No o longer a child a boy boy t the boy the e reflection reflection reflection tion startled her A man knelt at her side side the the question written big upon his face And It was his right to know know w. w Her lIer head dropped back against the quilt that cushioned the chair It Ita Its It's a sol solemn mn thing to be the mother of a aman man man glorious but solemn f The Tite lustrous eyes eyes brIghter brighter for the fever wasting them them carne came back to him after a time He saw a flung far thought thoughtfulness ulness In them knew v they had strayed into that past from which he was wa's barred The thin lips parted The mans man's fingers curled url d tense upon the chair arm To Toa a a city on the Wabash in early days days' came three families of Virginias Virginia's lnla's purest blood blood my my family your fathers father's family and the family of of another of another man man shuddered The Iron and was silent for a moment The Theman Theman Theman man man picked up a wast wasted d hand stroked d It S softly between his own and she went on strained and slow like one desperately nerved t to a a dreaded Jong-dreaded task My parents both died when when I was wasso wasso wasso so small that I 1 can barely y remember i them leaving me their only churl child to the care of ot a n distant relative rel a great- great uncle of ot my n fathers This great great-great- uncle uncle well well as I 1 look back Upon upon my my life I 1 cannot remember that he ever gave gae me a pleasant word I My aunt was was as different as as dawn to dark She was was was' everything that he be was not A thousand times she loved m my min hurt hur away They had ha a daughter dau an only child almost my age and of ot the same name surname and all When uncle was away on bu business s trips as he often was was' for weeks It was wag like sunshine I after rain Such happy times I They The are high among the few pleasant memories of my life Ufe The Woman lion iron Woman Gray paus paused d her dark deep eyes eves seeming to search back Into the dead past like a traveler straining his gaze Jaze across a stretch of Df desert esert to where the oasis lies The Theman Theman man an shifted to his other knee and shy she sh went on My aunt died when we were In our girlhood After Atter that the that the gray da days were ever everl more than the bright brightA A A petulance set settled tied deep upon my uncle Ills best word was a growl The servants serf ser ants moved noved about the house like silent shadow shadows sIn s. s In this same city upon the Wabash lived two other families as I have told you you you- your you your our fathers father's family and the family of of another of another r man Your YonI father and this other man ere w both my ray suitors But my uncle tried ever every means In his power power to turn your jour father father father fa fa- fa- fa ther away from me to my cousin while he secretly encouraged the attentions attentions at at- of or the other man to me Your fathers father's blood was of the best In Virginia A soldier as the men of his family had always been he had already won by conspicuous gallantry the rank of ot colonel in the Indian wars What was he like The Iron Woman turned her eyes and studied him so long so Intently Intently intently In In- that he trembled lest his question ques ques- tion a tIon-a a question that came In spite of ot him him had had startled her Into silence Like you she resumed and not like you jou ou His eyes were blue his hair light Your hair Is s dark like mine Your eyes yes are aie lIk like mine But he had the same height and breadth of shoulder shoulder der like you your slow of ot speech slow to strike till the right Instant came came came- then as us the hawk hawl strikes I never liked the the other other man though my uncle made It Impossible for me completely to discourage hi his liis attentions Her lIer words dropped back Into the the memory groove worn deep by the years I kept up a show of Interest In him for the sake o of my cousin She really loved him and It t was the only way she could get to see see him He lie was a n very handsome man though as It afterward turned out the black sheep of 01 his family and deeply Involved in debt leM It was to repair his hl wasted fortunes as I now believe belle that he deliberately planned to win my cousins cousin's heart heart- heart and and hand The cough threatened to come back She held her hands tight upon upon her breast till she had mastered it and then hurried on as if afraid her strength might not hold to say all that had to be said The very very boldness of oY him fascinated fascinated fascinated fasci fasci- my cousin Day by day ills his power over her grew greater I never neve realized how great tilt till one night without without with with- out taking even me into her ber confidence she utterly astonished us uS' all by eloping eloping elopIng elop elop- ing with him I will never forget the day that followed My Mr uncle disowned her ber and sent ent after her a message that she was n never ter again to set foot Inside his door He raved and swore drank himself Into drunken madness and finally ended by driving me away away also Your father had already declared himself My uncles uncle's cruelty hastened our marriage That Tha same sam day he took i Tc l I Never a Knew a Mans Man's Face Could Look as His Looked me me to hl his home as as his bride brIde to to the bt beautiful gray mansion overlooking the river Weve We've som sometimes Umes passed It ItIn itIn In our wanderings there there came a n wistful pause pause but but I never allowed you to know v. There followed a year rear of such h happiness happiness hap hap- ss as I I never knew could come to this world world world-a a year jear ear that has left barren barren barren bar bar- ren all the years jears that followed that beggared nil that went before lOne One evening almost n a year to a day afterward afterward afterward after after- ward as I 1 sat rocking you a baby In to Inthe the cradle and waiting for your father to come orne In thinking strangely enough of my cousin whom I 1 had bad never neer seen since the night of ot the tile elopement H nt d n slight sound nt a one of the low windows windows win win- dows doves caused me to turn I 1 was far steadier nerved than I n now now v am nm but butI I 1 could hardly keep back a scream There stood stool my ray cousins cousin's hu husband tIe He was speaking In a n half whisper But for the moment I was v too startled startled to tomake tomake tomake make out what he said He game came out from behind the curtains and drew diew near I 1 shrank awa away In low whirS pers for tor the maids were just out outside de dethe the door he was begging me hie to leave your jour our father and come to him that him that he he had never ne loved lo m my cousin cousin that that I must come that come that It was alwa always s 's tn me rae e. e Ills voice was hot as flame but It is turned me cold I couldn't move He came close stooped close stooped over meA me A 1 step sounded in the hall hull Half frantic I 1 tried to push him back toward th window At the Instant the door opened and In It your It-your your father father fa fa- father ther with the he maids behind him I 1 never knew a mans man's fa face e could look 11 as his looked I 1 sank Into a chair and hid my eyes yes I How long has this been going on he thundered The Iron Woman Gray shuddered The man kneeling at her ber side eagerly drinking In every word tightened his fingers reassuringly upon her handI hand I answered never a word I couldn't she faltered on My ly breast was hollow empty as a gray sky The helady lady can answer that I heard the voice of ot th the the other other ther man man sneer There was a cry crr and your father sprang at him The maids screamed I uncovered my eyes expecting to look upon death But the the other other man leaped through the window and was |
