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Show El P- & Harlan Haicker. l&ryt SYNOPSIS In 1786 Saul Pattern of Virginia came Into the beautiful virgin country coun-try of the Big Sandy valley In Kentucky. Chief of the perils were the Bhawneea, who sought to hold their lands from the ever-encroaching whites. From a huge pinnacle Saul gazed upon the fat bottoms and the endless acres of forest in Its primeval pri-meval quietude at the mouth of the Wolfpen, and felt an eagerness to possess It, declaring It a place fit for a man to LIVE In! Five years later he returned with Barton, his fifteen-year-old son, and built a rude cabin. In Saul's absence the Indians In-dians attacked Barton and wounded him so badly Saul was forced to return re-turn with him to Virginia. In 1796, when It was reasonably safe, Saul returned with his family and a patent pat-ent for 4,000 acres, this time to etay. He added to the cabin, planted crops and fattened his stock on the rich meadows. Soon other settlers arrived. A century later, in the spring of 1885. we find Cynthia Pattern, Pat-tern, of the fifth generation following follow-ing Saul, perched on the pinnacle from which her great-great-grand-tather had first viewed Wolfpen Bottoms. Bot-toms. The valleys, heretofore untouched un-touched by the waves of change sweeping the Republic, are at last beginning to feel that restless surge. Her dad. Sparrel, and her brothers, Jesse, Jasper and Abral, have been busy converting the -old water-wheeled water-wheeled mill to steam power. Spar-rel's Spar-rel's triumph Is complete when the golden stream of meal pours forth at the turning on of the steam. Cynthia feels that something out of the past has been buried with Saul. Cynthia Is a pretty and Imaginative miss in her late teens, who often re-created Saul and her other forebears, fore-bears, and fancied them still living. Sparrel proudly brings home the first meal out of the -steam mill, and Julia, his wife, is pleased. Generation Genera-tion has added comforts and conveniences con-veniences to Saul's homestead, and Spar.-el has not shirked. The family fam-ily goes easily Into the work of the new season, due to the simplicity of life designed along ago on the Wolfpen. Wolf-pen. The men are busy In the field, Julia In her garden, and Cynthia In the house. Joy Is abundant. CHAPTER III Continued "No. I want to be a lawyer, Cynthia, Cyn-thia, and have an office, and plead cases over at town. I read some about them In the Gazette, and I know Tandy Morgan over at town, and I've listened some to the trials over there on court days. I think I conld do If "Does It take real money to read law, Jesse?" "Some. I been thinking about that, too. I'm going to dig ginseng roots this fall, and I ought to get a price for my steer when the drover drov-er come through, and I think I ought to get to try It a winter." "I'd like to have a winter at books la the Institute, but I don't guess Td ever get to." "What would you do with It after jrou had It?" "Oh, I'd Just like to know things and not be so book Ignorant" "You know about a place and yon know enough about just books for girl." She knew how he meant that well to her and she kept It silently for a time. Then, she said, "I wouldn't want to see yon go away, Jesse. It wouldn't be the same with you gone, but It would be nice for yoa to read the law If you have that wnnt. Maybe May-be I could go for a while. Let's ask." "Not Just yet, it's too soon. After Aft-er the crops get laid by, maybe." There wns a pause In words, each one thinking forward In his own way. Then the notes of the supper bell came flying up the hollow In search of them, and they walked slowly home through the dusk. CHAPTER IV WHILE Cynthia was watching the quiet movements of Sparrel Spar-rel plowing on Wolfpen, Shellenber-ger Shellenber-ger was debarking from the noisy wharf-boat at Catlettsbuig at the mouth of the nig Sandy where the river packet Ventura had Just landed land-ed from Pittsburgh. He got through tho piles of sacks and barrels and rolls of wire on the wharf and bank, and walked up the hill to the waterfront. water-front. There he paused for a minute min-ute to look down at the two rivers coming together to form the trl-stote trl-stote view of Kentucky, West Virginia Vir-ginia and Ohio. The little town at the Junction of the rivers and three states was bustling bus-tling with activity. It was the gateway gate-way to the Rig Sandy Valley. All produce for the new and growing towns up the river came down the Ohio from Pittsburgh or up the river from Cincinnati, and poured Itself out on the wharf at Catletts burg. Shellenberger stood watching watch-ing the negroes hustle great loads ef flour and coffee and salt from the bow of the Ventura. 4 few rafts of logs were tied to lie willows above the town. Some men were fishing from them. Heavy fleets of coal barges were nmvins lowly Into view from behind ttie sharp wedge of West Virginia down the Ohio. "Looks good enough," Shellenber-ger Shellenber-ger thought, turning away from It, and going Into Sherry Gordon's saloon. sa-loon. The saloon was crowded with rough men from the boats and the mining towns. A friendly-looking hill man was leaning over the rail at the end of the bar. Shellenber-ger Shellenber-ger spoke to him and got a hospitable hos-pitable answer. "Have a beer with me," Shellenberger Shellen-berger said. "Sure. Make It a whisky." They drank and commented on the spring weather. "Where you frum?" the man asked. "Pittsburgh." "A feller could see yon didn't come from no place about here. Where you headin' for?" "Pike county," Shellenberger said. "Tou goln' way up there? It's a long ways from here." "How's the best way to get up there?" "They ain't no best way, mister. They's only one way wlthouten you aim to walk. Yon take the C. & O. from here up to Richardson. That's as fur as she goes. You ketch a ' boat up there and It takes you on up to Pike." Shellenberger bought drinks again, and then went outside, following the main street back toward the hill to the railroad station. The Big Sandy train was crowded to the baggage car with curious men from the new towns and tbe mines up the river. They seemed to belong to a different race from Shellenberger Shellenber-ger or Sparrel Pattern. Several of them were happily drank. Shellenberger in his neat gray tailored suit and polished shoes sat among them aloof but observing. After a while he sat by one who looked more Intelligent, Inquiring carefully about the work these men did, their wages, the number of sur plus men who had wandered into the valley without a steady Job. Many of them, he learned, belonged to the poor lower-river towns above Catlettsburg, where they picked up a few dollars around the mines. The new railroad followed the Big Sandy back into tie hills. Shellenberger Shel-lenberger sat by the window observing ob-serving with particular Interest the width and current of the river below be-low him, appraising the rafts that were coming down from the timber-lands timber-lands and the raftsmen who were straining mightily at the long oars to get the logs around the sharp bends without breaking op or grounding on the sand-bars. The train passed coal mines at whose base a depressing debris of hovels huddled darkly together. The hillsides, hill-sides, already deflowered of their timber, exposed naked ridges to the sun. Whole families of conventional hill type were out In the bottoms plowing and digging. The railroad ended about fifty miles up the river at Richardson. Shellenberger and the remaining dozen passengers now got off and had lunch at the only restaurant before going down to the wharf. A half-hour after the train was In, the boat whistled for all those who were going on up the river. "You're going on by boat?" Shellenberger Shel-lenberger asked of a tall black-hatted man tramping In long strides toward the wharf. "Yes," Amos Barnes said. "We're right lucky to have a good boat stage. Takes longer by hack." They walked on down to the log wharf. "When is she due in Pikeviller Shellenberger asked. "Sometime tomorrow. If she's lucky. Pretty fast going, Catlettsburg Catletts-burg to Plkevllle In two days. That's traveling." There wns a score of passengers on the Fanny Freeze, all men save one, a travel-tired woman who sat with her baby on a chair on the upper up-per deck mindless of the smoke. Some of the men Idled about the narrow passageway, or leaned against the railing watching the families digging In the fields. Several Sev-eral gathered among the heap of freight on the lower fore-deck. Shel lenherger found Barnes sitting on a barrel of flour In the sunshine. "Cinders ain't so apt to get In a man's eyes up front here," Barnes said. "Yes, It's much better up here," Shellenberger answered. Shellenberger regarded Barnes trying to take in nil his dimensions He was a large man In a dnsty brown suit, the pants tlght-flttins hugging his knees, and sqneeinu down Into n pair of straight hi.ick hoots with brown ears to pull them on by. Ills sandy hair fl:irei out from under a hii:h cmwnorl hl.ick hat and Joined a flnwirs red hi'inl which swept down fr.'-n his ears to t lie fifth button -. i. - vest. Shellenberger filled his pipe leisurely. leis-urely. He could hear a young mountaineer moun-taineer describing his adventures on his first journey out of the hills. "... I Just give up that Catlettsburg Catletts-burg was sure all afire and a-barnin' down the way everything was a-blazin, a-blazin, up like a brush heap In a clearln', and I yelled out to Taz, he was back at the tiller, Taz was, I says, 'Let's take and tie up, Taz, this dad-burned town's a-burnin' up!' And Taz he made a sight of fun outen me a-devilin' me on account ac-count I'd slept clean a-past Catlettsburg Cat-lettsburg and here we was already a-runnln' In to Ashland where they got all them furnaces and things." The laughter was frayed by the wind and carried back Into the swirling smoke. "I suppose you've been down to Ashland or somewhere?" Shellenberger Shellen-berger Inquired. "I rode the Greenup Connty circuit, cir-cuit, and I'm going up to Plkeville to ride circuit now." "You are well acquainted with the upper Big Sandy then, I Imagine?" "I ought to be, brother. I've rid a sight of country in these parts in my day. I've rid about every single creek and holler." Shellenberger spread out a map of the Big Sandy region. "There's Catlettsburg at the mouth of the river. There's Louisa, And there's Richardson where we took the boat That's Paintsville, there's the mouth of Gannon creek. . . ." "That's the mouth of Gannon we're Just now passing," Barnes said, pointing to his left over a salt barrel, "A man could float a good-sized raft down that stream. Is It that wide very far up?" Shellenberger asked. "It's fifty to a hundred feet wide for a right smart piece up. I've rid the full length of it head to mouth many's a time." "I understand there are some large tracts up In there, still held by the old original settlers, Is that right?" "That sure is right," Barnes said. "Yon couldn't find a finer lot of folks anywheres than along that creek. Some's been living there nigh on to a hundred years or so, wouldn't surprise me." "Where'd you say we're at now?" "Right there. See? There's Gannon Gan-non Fork running off there to the south. Here we are rounding that bend. There Is Paintsville, Prestons-burg, Prestons-burg, there Is Beaver creek going off to the southwest, and there's Plkesvllle, then the Breaks and the Virginia line." "S6 you are well acquainted along that valley?" Shellenberger repeated. "About where Is the Pattern Pat-tern property?" "Well, now, let's see. The Harts would be about there, and, well, the Patterns would be Just about there, near or far, I Judge." "It Is a large tract, Isn't It?" "He's got a sight of land, I don't reckon be knows how much he has got Clever man though, Sparrel Pattern Is. He's got books and a deal of learning. He does doctoring. And bis woman, there ain't a taken-er taken-er woman on tbe creek than Julie Pattern." While Cynthia and Jesse planted the last of the sweet-potato sprouts In House Field, the Fanny Freeze landed on the sharp bend at Pres-tonsburg Pres-tonsburg and was tied up for the night to a big sycamore that shone yellow In the dusk. Toward noon of the next day Shellenberger walked briskly down the gangplank at Pattern Landing, Barnes watched him go, saw him greet Nelson, Spar-rel's Spar-rel's grandson, and got up the bank by the wide path that lost Itself in the willows. Cynthia stood by the door to the kitchen In the evening listening for an Instant to the quiet flutter of the live things on Wolfpen about to receive the dark. "Tbe days In the garden with the sun on your back are good days. They ought to go on and on forever. The evening always comes so fast when you've got things to set out Then your body feels so good after work. Just standing a minute before be-fore supper while another day goes out A body can see the dark come In the same way you see the big hand of the clock move: you look away for the space of a little thought and then when you look back again It has moved, or grown darker." Jesse was coming In from Barn Hollow. He stopped at the beehives by the garden fence to straighten a rock under a corner of one of the boxes. Jasper and Abral came op from the barn. "How's the lambing?" Jesse asked. He poured out water In the pan on the wash rock. "Thirty-eight lambs now, fourteen pair twins." Abral said. Jesse laughed at the way he said It "There's Bible for it" "That one young ewe Is In some trouble," Jasper said. "I feared that," Sparrel said. Cynthia felt a surge of pity for the poor ewe which was imperfectly imperfect-ly equipped to bear the lamb she had conceived, and was now ruthlessly ruth-lessly trapped In a snare whose purpose pur-pose Cynthia could not fathom. There was a faint noise In the orchard or-chard path behind the house. Sparrel Spar-rel got np. The boys listened. Cynthia Cyn-thia paused In the doorway. Julia came from the Kitchen. "It must be Nelson," Jesse said. Two men on mnieliack came from the pall) into tlie yard. Cynthia saw that it was Nelson and a strnncer. She concentrated on tbe stmnu'or whoso f .irures were obsuuie in the laM of Ue UuylipUt Sparrel welcomed the visitor from where he stood. "Howdy," he said in his deep voice. "Howdy, folks," Xelson said, still holding to the bridle of the mules. "I brought this feller over from the landing. He says he wants to see you. Grandpap." "You're welcome," Sparrel said. "Come in." "Thank you, Mr. Pattern. My name Is Shellenberger." They shook hands. "These are my sons, Jasper, Jesse and Abral." "Howdy," the boys said, and shook hands one after the other. "My wife and daughter." Shellenberger removed his hat and bowed. Cynthia was taken by his bearing. "He's good-mannered; be says 'Missis' to mother, and he calls me 'Miss Pattern' and that sounds funny; fun-ny; nobody ever said that to me before." "You are Just In time for supper," Julia said politely. "It does smell like It, and it smells good," Shellenberger said. From the end of the big table, Sparrel asked for the blessing of God upon the food before them. Shellenberger was making some rapid readjustments between what he had vaguely expected and what he actually saw. The log cabin of popular talk, filled with thin children chil-dren and hounds holding soul and body together Inadequately with corn bread and greasy bacon, had represented for him the four thousand thou-sand square miles of the Kentucky mountains, and left him unprepared for Wolfpen Bottoms, with this big house, these people, and this table full of hickory flavored ham, candied can-died sweet potatoes, mashed Irish potatoes, fluffy hot wheat biscuits, sweet yellow butter, and black honey hon-ey tasting of clover blossoms and wild-flowers. "This is an unusual section of country np here, Mr. Pattern," Shellenberger observed. "There's not a finer piece of country coun-try anywhere than right around here," Sparrel said. The silences at the table were natural and unstrained, broken occasionally oc-casionally by Shellenberger's remarks re-marks and Sparrel's replies. Cynthia Cyn-thia wondered what Jesse was thinking about this man who had so unexpectedly appeared at their supper table. How he changes the evening and the room I A minute ago it was Just like It always is. Now It's His hair has a bald spot and a cow-lick in it, and there Is a funny ridge above his eyes in his eyebrows and across between his eyes, and his nose Is stumpy, and his eyes are deep In. He talks nice, but I don't believe I like him much. Abral seemed to be Interested In him. "Whereabouts do yon come from?" Abral suddenly asked. "Well, I suppose I come from a great many places," Shellenberger answered. "I move around wherever my business takes me. I've Just come from Pittsburgh to Catlettsburg Catletts-burg on a boat and from there to Richardson on a train, and from there to your father's landing on a Sandy River boat." "Pittsburgh is a long way off from here, ain't It? How long does It take to come from there?" "Most of three days." "Why did yon want to come way up here to Wolfpen?" Shellenberger laughed, and Sparrel Spar-rel smiled at Abral's serious and Insistent In-sistent questions. "You mustn't pry Into other people's peo-ple's affairs so, Abral," Julia said. "Not at all," Shellenberger said. "I wanted to see this fine country np In here, and see If we couldn't do some business with each other, yonr father and I." They left the subject there during dur-ing the rest of the meal. The men got np. The evening was balmy and they sat on the long banistered porch, looking down Wolfpen toward the black mass of Cranesnest Mountain. "Yon have a big place here, Mr. Pattern." "It's a good-sized place," Sparrel said. "My great-grandfather took up nbout five thousand acres when he came in here and It's been added to a right smart since, maybe another an-other thousand." "What do you do with all of that acreage ?" "Why, we have about sixty acres of good bottom-land In crops, a good deal in grass, and there's this j part here with the house and garden gar-den and orchard ; my two girls have farms on it and the rest Is Just land to have around you to look at and hunt In. I hadn't thought much about what I did with It" Sparrel1 spoke slowly and clearly. Shellenberger Shellen-berger noted the pleasant sound of the voice. "Then you get all your Income from one hundred and fifty acres, let us say, and all the rest of the six thousand lies Idle and unproductive." unproduc-tive." Shellenberger balanced between be-tween question and assertion. (TO BE COSTIXVED) |