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Show The Light in the Clearing A TALE of the NORTH COUNTRY in the TIME of SILAS WRIGHT I By IRVING BACHELLER I li . Author of EBEN HOLDEN; D'RI AND I. DAR.R.EL OF THE BLESSED I ISLES. KEEPING UP WITH LIZZIE. Etc.. Etc. I Copyright by Irving Bacbeller I BARTON MEETS THE DUNKELBERGS, INCLUDING PRETTY LITTLE GOLDEN-HAIRED SALLY. Synopsis. Barton Paynes, an oriihan, goes to live with his uncle, Peabody Baynes, and his Aunt Deel on a farm on Rattleroad, in a neighborhood called Lickitysplit, about the year 182G. the movements of a frightened serpent. ser-pent. In the silence how loudly the pencil seemed to hiss in its swift lilies and loops. My aunt exclaimed "Mercy !" as she looked at the sheet ; for while I knew not, then, the strange device upon the paper, I knew, by and by, that it was a gibbet. Beneath it were the words : "Money thirst shall burn like a fire in him." She rose and smiled as she looked into my face. I saw a kind, gentle glow in her eyes that reassured me. She clapped her bands with joy. She examined my palm and grew serious and stood looking thoughtfully at the setting sun. I see, now, her dark figure standing stand-ing against the sunlight as it stood that day with Amos in its shadow. What a singular eloquence in her pose and gestures and in her silence ! I remember how it bound our tongues that silence of hers ! The woman turned with a kindly smile and eat down in the grass again and took the sheet of paper r.nd resting it on a yellow-covered book began be-gan to write these words : "I see the longing of the helper. One, two, three, four great perils shall strike at him. He shall not lie afraid. God shall fill his heart with laughter. I hear guns, I hear many' voices. His name is in them. He shall be strong. The powers of darkness shall fear him, he shall be a lawmaker and the friend of God and of many people, and great men shall bow to his judgment and he shall " She began shaking her head thoughtfully and did not finish the sentence, and by and by the notion came to me that some unpleasant vision vis-ion must have halted her pencil. Aunt Deel brought some luncheon wrapped in paper and the old woman took it and went away. My aunt fold- sing and did sing while he worked songs that rattled from his lips in a way that amused me greatly. Then, too, he could rip out words that had a new and wonderful souud in them. I made up my mind that he was likely like-ly to become a valuable asset when I heard Aunt Deel saw to my Uncle Pea-body Pea-body : "You'll have to send . that loafer away, right now, ayes, I guess you will." "Why?" "Because this boy has learnt to swear like a pirate ayes he has !" Uncle Peabody didn't know it but I myself had begun to suspect it, and that hour the man was sent away, and I remember that he left in anger with a number of those new words flying from his. lips. A forced inarch to the upper room followed that event. Uncle Peabody explained that it was wicked to swear that boys who did it had very bad luck, and mine came in a moment. I never had more of it come along in the same length of time. After I ceased to play with the Wills boy Uncle Peabody used to say, often, it was a pity that I hadn't somebody of my own age for company. com-pany. Every day I felt sorry that the Wills boy had turned out so badly, and I doubt not the cat and the shepherd shep-herd dog and the chickens and Uncle Peabody also regretted his failures, especially the dog and Uncle Peabody, who bore all sorts of indignities for my sake. One day when Uncle Peabody went for the mall he brought Amos Grim-shaw Grim-shaw to visit me. He was four years older than I a freckled, red-haired boy with a large mouth and thin lips. He wore ' a silver watch and chain, which strongly recommended him in my view and enabled me to endure his air of condescension. He let me feel it and look it all over and I slyly touched the chain with my tongue just to see if it had any taste to it, and Amos told me that his father had given it to him and that it always kept him "kind o' scairt." "Why?" "For fear I'll break er lose It an git licked," he answered. He took a little yellow paper-covered book from his pocket and began to read to himself. "What's that?" i ventured to asfc by and by. "A story," he answered. "I met a ragged ol' woman In the road t'other day an' she give me a lot of 'em and showed me the pictures an' I got to readin' 'em. Don't you tell anybody 'cause my ol' dad hates stories an' he'd lick me 'til I couldn't stan if he knew I was readin' 'em." m I begged him to read out loud and he read from a tale of two robbers named Thunderbolt and LIghtfoot who lived in a cave in the mountains. They were bold, free, swearing men who rode beautiful horses at a wild gallop gal-lop and carried guns and used them freely and with unerring skill and helped themselves to what they wanted. want-ed. He stopped, by and by, and confided to me the fact that he thought he would run away and join a band of robbers. "How do you run away?" I asked. "Just take the turnpike and keep goin' toward the mountains. When ye meet a band o' robbers give 'em the sign an' tell 'em you want to join." He went on with the book and read how the robbers had hung a captive who had persecuted them and interfered inter-fered with their sport. The story explained ex-plained how they put the rope around the neck of the captive and threw the other end of it over the limb of a tree and pulled the man into the air. He stopped suddenly and demanded: "Is there a long rope here?" I pointed to Uncle Peabody's hay rope hanging on n peg. "Le's hang a captive," he proposed. At first I did not comprehend his meaning. He got the rope and threw Its end over the big beam. Our old shepherd dog had been nosing the mow near us for rats. Amos caught the dog who, suspecting no harm, came passively to the rope's end. He tied the rope around the clog's neck. Barton gets into trouble at home and decides to run away. He has some Interesting experiences experi-ences before he returns home. Read about them In the next installment. in-stallment. (TO B10 CONT1NUKD.) CHAPTER I Continued. 2 I could only fall into his arms and express myself In the grief of childhood. child-hood. He hugged me close and begged mie to tell him what was the mutter. mut-ter. "That Wills boy stole my melon," I said, and the words came slow with sobs. "Oh, no, he didn't," said Uncle Peabody. Pea-body. "Yes he did. I saw a piece o' the rin'." "Well by" said Uncle Peabody, stopping, as usual, at the edge of the precipice. "He's a snake," I added. "And you fit and he scratched you up that way?" "I scratched him, too." "Don't, you say a word about it to Aunt Deel. Don't ever speak o' that miserable melon ag'in to anybody. You scoot around to the barn, an' , I'll be there in a minute and fix ye up." He went by the road with the tea and I ran around to the lane and up to the stable. Uncle Peabody met me there in a moment and brought a pail of water and washed my face so that I felt and looked more respectable. respect-able. ' . Tb.S worst was over for that day, but the Baynes-Wllls feud had begun. It led to many a fight in the school yard and on the way home. We were so evenly matched that our quarrel went on for a long time and gathered intensity as it continued. One June day Uncle Peabody and I, from down in the fields, saw a fine carriage drive in at our gate. He stopped and looked intently. " "Jerusalem four-corners !" he ex claimed. : "It's Mr. and Mrs. Horace Dunkelberg." My heart beat fast at thought of the legendary Dunkelbergs. Uncle - looked me over from top, to toe. "Heavens!" he exclaimed. "Go down to the brook and wash the mud off yer feet an' legs."- I ran for the brook and before I had returned to my uncle I heard the horn blow. "The. Dunkelbergs I the Dunkelbergs Dunkel-bergs ! Come quick !" it seemed to say. Mr. Dunkelberg was a big, broad-shouldered, broad-shouldered, solemn-looking man. Sorae-. Sorae-. how his fare reminded me of a lion's which I had seen in one of my picture pic-ture books" He had a thick, long, out-' out-' . standing mustache and side whiskers, - ',.'and deep-set eyes and heavy eyebrows. ,- '(jife stood for half a moment looking t' down nt me from a great height with his right hand in his pocket. I heard ' a little jingle of coins down where -, his hand was. It excited my curiosity. curios-ity. He took a step toward me and .. i retreated. J feared, a little, this '- big, llon-llke man. My fears left me suddenly when he spoke in a small squeaky voice that reminded me of the chirping of a bird. "Little boy, come here and I will make you a present," said he. It reminded mo of my disappoint-lont disappoint-lont when uncle tried to shoot his run at a squirrel and only the cap clucked. I went to him and he laid a silver piece in tiie palm of my hand. Aunt Decl begun to hurry about getting dinner din-ner ready while Uncle Peabody and I sat down on the porch with our gnosis, among whom was a pretty, blue-eyed girl of about my own age, with long, goldeu-brown hair that hung in curls. "Sally, this is Barton Baynes can't you shake hands with him?" said Mrs. Iiniikclberg. With a smile the girl came and of-I'ered of-I'ered me her hand and made a funny bow and said that she was glad to sec me. I took her hand awkwardly and made no reply. I had never seen many girls and had no very high opinion opin-ion of them. As we. sat there I heard the men talking about the great Silas Wright, who had.' just returned to his home in Canton... He had not entered my consciousness until then. While I sat listening I felt a tweak of my hair, and looking around I saw tli(' Dunkelberg girl standing behind me with a saucy smile on her face. "Won't,, you come and play with me?" she asked. I tool: her out In the garden 1o show her, where iny watermelon had lain. At the-moment I couldn't think of anything else to show her. As we walked along I observed Dial her feet were in dainty shiny bill Ion-shoes. Suddenly I began to be ashamed of my i'eel, that were browned by the .sunlight find s'Tslehcd by I he brier:;. The ah I'M. watermelon didn't seem to Jnlere I her. "Let's play house In the grove," tsuld she, and showed me how to build a house by laying rows of stones with an opening for a door. "Now you be my husband," said she. Oddly enough I had heard of husbands hus-bands but had only a shadowy notion of what they were. I knew that there was none in our house. "What's that?" I asked. She laughed and answered: "Somebody "Some-body that a girl is married to." "You mean a father?" "Yes." "Once I had a father," I boasted. "Well, we'll play we're married and that you have just got home from a journey. You go out in the woods and then you come home and I'll meet you at the door." I did as she bade me but I was not glad enough to see her. "You must kiss me," 6he prompted in a whisper. I kissed her very swiftly and gingerly gin-gerly like one picking up a hot coal and she caught me in her arms and kissed me three times while her soft hair threw its golden veil over our faces. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you," she said as she drew away from me and shook back her hair. "Golly! this is fun!" I said. "Now go to sleep and I'll tell you a story,'' said she. Then she told pretty tales of fairies fair-ies and of grand ladles and noble gentlemen gen-tlemen who wore gold coats and swords and diamonds and silks, and said wonderful words in such a wonderful won-derful way. I dare say it prospered all the better in my ears because of the mystery by' which its meanings were partly hidden. I bad many questions to ask and she told me what ': were fairies and silks and diamonds and grand ladies and noble gentlemen. We sat down to one of our familiar dinners of salt pork and milk gravy and apple pie now enriched by sweet pickles and preserves and frosted cake. A query had entered my mind and soon after we had begun eating I asked : "Aunt Deel, what is the difference between a boy and a girl?" There was a little silence in which my aunt drew in her breath and exclaimed, ex-claimed, "W'y!" and turned very red and covered her face with her napkin. nap-kin. Uncle Peabody laughed so loudly loud-ly that the chickens began to cackle. Mr. and Mrs. Dunkelberg also covered their faces. Aunt Deel rose and went to the stove and shoved the teapot along, exclaiming: "Goodness gracious sakes alive!" The tea slopped over on the stove. Uncle Peabody laughed louder and Mr. Dunkelberg's face was purple. Shep came running into the house just as I ran out of it. I had made up my mind that I had done something some-thing worse than tipping over a whatnot. what-not. Thoroughly frightened I fled and took refuge behind the ash-house, where Sally found me. I knew of one thing I would never do again. She coaxed me into the grove where we had another play spell. I needed just that kind of thing, and what a time it was for me ! A pleasant sadness comes when I think of that day it was so long ago. As the Dunkelbergs left us I stood looking look-ing down the road on which they were disappearing. That evening my ears caught a note of sadness in the voice of the katydids, and memory began to play its part with me. Best of all I remembered the kisses and the bright blue eyes and the soft curly hair with the smell of roses in it. CHAPTER II. I Meet the Silent Woman and Silas Wright, Jr. Amos Grimshaw was there In our dooryard the day that the old ragged woman came along and told our fortunes for-tunes she was culled Icovln' Kate, and was said to have-the gift of "second "sec-ond sight," whatever that may be. It was a bright autumn day and the leaves lay deep in the edge of the woodlands. She spoke never a word but stood pointing at her palm and then at Amos and at rue. Aunt Deel nodded and said: "Ayes, Kate tell their fortunes if ye've anything to say ayes!" .She brought two sheets of paper and the old woman sat down upon the grass and began to write villi a little lit-tle stub of a pencil. 1 have- now (hose fateful wheels of paper covered by the scrawls of old Kale. I remember how she .shook- lu r head and sighed 1 mid .sal. heal in;: her forehead with the knuckle,; ol' her bony hamla after ! he iiad loohe.l at I lie palm oi' A inns. .'-' wil l ty the point of her perHI r,n over and up and djua tin: i.Ii'jel lik-. "Sally, This Is Barton Baynes. Can't You Shake Hands With Him?" Said Mrs. Dunkelberg. ed the sheets and put them In her trunk and we thought no more of them until but we shall know soon what reminded us of the prophet woman. The autumn passed swiftly. I went to the village one Saturday with Uncle Un-cle Peabody in high hope of seeing the Dunkelbergs, but at their door we learned that they had gone up the river on a picnic. What a blow it was to me ! Tears flowed down my cheek's and I clung to my uncle's hand and walked back to the main street of the village. A squad of small boys jeered and stuck out their tongues at me. It was pity for my sorrows, no doubt, that led Uncle Peabody Pea-body to take me to the tavern for dinner, where they were assuaged by calces and jellies and chicken pie. At Christmas I got a picture-book and forty raisins and three sticks of candy with red stripes on them and a jew's-liarp. That was the Christmas we went down to Aunt Liza's to spend the day and I helped myself to two pieces of cake when the plate was passed and cried because they all laughed at my greediness. It was the day when Aunt Liza's boy, Truman, got a sliver watch and chain and her daughter Mary a gold ring, and when all the relatives were invited to come and be convinced, once and for all, of Uncle Koswell's prosperity, and lie filled with envy and reconciled with jelly and preserves and roast turkey with sage dressing and mince and chicken pic. What an amount of preparation we had made, for the journey, jour-ney, and bow long we had talked about it ! In !l.e spring my uncle hired a man to work for us a noisy, brawny, sharp-featured fellow with keen tfi'ny (yes, of Ihe name of Dug Draper. Aunt Decl lulled him. I, feared him but. regarded him wilh great hope "localise he hud a funny way of win Icing Ic-ing at; me with one eye across (hi! lablo and, further, because In; cimi'l |