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Show rQwkin theWiind BY HELEN TOPPING MILLER tTOMWC0-. "I heard somebody." Lossie tensed. "Sounded like the front door." Three dogs, yapping, flung themselves them-selves suddenly out of the dark and around the house. Virgie Morgan pressed switches. The terrace outside, out-side, ivy-covered and glittering now with ice, was suddenly illumined. And as swiftly, the dogs were still. She could see them out there now, in the drizzle, taut as so many canine ca-nine statues, facing a tall figure in a tan rain-coat and limp, rain-soaked rain-soaked hat. There was another rap on the door, and she could hear a calm, slow voice, masculine, with youth in it, speaking auietlv to the dogs out- since David's death. It was then I that Virgie had lost her temper. "Trying to tell me I didn't know enough to run my mill!" She snorted snort-ed now, setting the coffee-cup down on the hearth. As though she nad not steered the mill successfully through the hardest hard-est years business had ever known in these Carolina hills! A whole year after David had had his stroke, and for three years since. No profits to speak of but no red ink either. Credit maintained, and the quality of the Morgan product kept to its high standard. Manufacturers who bought pulp from the Morgan mills knew that they were getting the best. Virgie had fought for that as side. Behind her Lossie begged, "Don't open it, Mis' Morgan. Let me call Andrew." "Shush!" Virgie was curt. "Certainly "Cer-tainly I'll open it. It's one of the boys likely. Don't be a fooL Oh" she said, as the briny gust of the night rushed in the open door. "How do you do?" "Good evening." Out of a strange, whitp Vftnntf farfl utranpp rlnrk pves David had before her. "I'd like the see the mill Wallace Withers would run the old chiseled" chisel-ed" she snorted, fanning her disgust dis-gust anew. She unbuttoned her shoes, eased the straps over her plump ankles, wandered to the window. Marian ought to be coming in the crazy young one. It was after ten and the wind was rising. A regarded her. A man a young man, whom she, had never seen before. "I" he began, hoarsely, smiling in a wan, dazed way, "seem to be lost I saw your light " "Come in out of the wet," Virgie ordered. Lossie was making little frightened, expostulatory noises but Virgie paid no attention. "My feet :are pretty muddy," the stranger objected. His voice had the sound of cities in it His 'clothes had never, obviously, .been made ?f or mountain traveL They were sodden, sod-den, soil-stained, briar-torn. '. a i"Come along'in," repeated Virgie, firmly. "Where were you headed for? You're a long way off the highway. high-way. This road doesn't. go any farther." far-ther." . J ' .This, young man, she waSjCertain, was no, thug. . His face was, star-tlingly star-tlingly pale, . with hollow . shadows under the eves. "Lossie, make -some hot coffee 1 . right away.'' , ; ;"I didn't-come by the highway." He removed the dripping hat and she knew then that she had been right -about him. He had a good head, his eyes looked at her honestly, honest-ly, though haggardly, and he could not be much past twenty-five. "I ' was trying to find the highway. I came oyer the mountain." "My heavens!" Virgie exclaimed, wurTTiinB tn him. as she. denied sons, I slow, cold drizzle, blackened the windows win-dows and, freezing, made the hemlocks hem-locks bend -and twist into tortured patterns. -.It was the,, worst early storm Virgie could remember. The boys would grumble about going flut-into flut-into the woods tomorrow, but two truckloads- of seedlings-had to: be put out before the ground froze hard and their roots dried. .'. : Lossie came in with' the wood, punched1 at the fire, regarded her mistress staring out 'into the ugly, night. ,", ' ,.; ' j "Want I should wind the .clock? , she inquired helpfully. - -r warmed to everything young and male except Bry Hutton. "You mean -Jyou've been walking weather' like this? Come lip here by the fire'. Never mirid the mud this! house is used to mud. Lossie, make some, hot coffee right away.- You'd better bet-ter take that soggy coat off quick, young felow, .and let it dry iOUt How -on, earth did you. get lost on the mountain?" - ; ..,,,' The stranger sank into a chair, slipping wearily but of the dripping : coat He seemed , at the point of utter ut-ter exhaustion. His breath came in ' tired gusts. His hands shook. - came in with Johnston's oilt- ..-"You always wind it too tight," Virgie -objected. "I'd hate tor that clock to get out of fix. David brought it to me all the way from St. Louis once held it on his lap so the little bronze boy wouldn't get his arm broken off. It's company for rne, linking ahd s,rikin in "the night Marian, thinks It looks terrible but Marian thinks "about everything.m thistiousp ft old-fashioned and terrible terri-ble including rhelj .1 f Lossie, hunkered down, poking;, at thefemberi Paid hesitantly ''Its pone pfyrtf jbusiness. Mis Kor- garf- it . t "That" Virgie was dry neyer deterred yoivyet when you had ayy-' ayy-' thing on you"roind!'V ,' "It's none of my business, he girl went on in a little, desperate rush "but I can't help seeing things. She-don't care a thing in this wcprld for Eiar Hutn, Mis' Morgan. IJot a thing in this world. It's just-you make such a fuss about it-she s stubborn, she's always had her ojwn way a lot" . " -- "She's had her own way too much" Marian's mother set her mouth stiffly. "Bry Hutton cant drink and tear around like he. does and then hang around my house! . 1 "She just wants her own way, : " ritPd Lossie, with the brash fa- fit;" he-said. "We were making estimates es-timates on some road-building for' the Governrrtenti- We started ', to leave Tuesday that was" ''You mean you've been roaming around these .mountains since Tues-. day?" she "demanded. , - . - T'l must Have been. It seemed like a couple of years to me. You seSeI was starting on ahead to. send a couple of telegrams' from the, filling Jtation down there at the cross-roads and the rest of the outfit out-fit wer supposed to pick me up, w&en tje baggage was loaded. So T kvalkeji down the mountain road and I sfew what, .Itiioughf was certainly cer-tainly a- short; cut dpwp. to-Tbe store a peilfectly 'plainr traE-" i f'Madfe by a bea'r, probably. Or bs hogl or' hunters," supplied Virgil Vir-gil pulling more wood on the;blaze. "Then jta a Uttle bit you found that ydu wefe lost Men born and raised in) thesernountains have been lost o!er there in those laurel hells, son. Filks who know these hills respect them .'We don't go up there in the bife timber without a guide. Even I don't-and I've lived here in the ; shadow' of those big peaks, -and cut ; timber on them for a lot of years You iwere mighty lucky to get oul al)ve,il you ask me." , : -i ; r- miliarity of the, old: servant 11 vou'd just stop fussing about him-fet him-fet on like it didn't matter one way or another, she'd get tired of h m mighty quick. But-she like, a fuss SoingAhe likes to get the best of you ' . . . 'Lossie. if it wasn't that you can make good -.butter and iron naptans better tnanny&dy I ever had m y kitchen, I'd. fire you for .your you'wouldn't. Mis' Morgan you know what say is so. You .want me to sit up till she comes m? ' "No,-you go to bed. I want my breakfast before seven I'm going up in the woods with the boys. , vi'd better oil up your boots -and "set 'em in a warm place, then. You got 'em terrible. stiff the other day, wading that branch." - I want sausage-and corn i muffins muf-fins And black coffee. Black-not du-tygray. Shut that door. It makes 3 'Yes'm " you'd put in a fur-.. fur-.. m Morgan-it would save a totku that ashes and dirt -A lot of people have lived in 'this house, Lossie Wilson, and nc-kody nc-kody ever froze yet. 1 |