"Why,the gal does the work.She ploughs with that bull,and does the plantin'herself.She kin chop wood like a man.An'as fer shootin',well,when huntin's good 'n'thar's shootin'-matches round-about,she don't have to buy much meat.""It's a wonder some young fellow hasn't married her.I suppose,though,she's too young."The old man laughed."Thar's been many a lively young fellow that's tried it,but she's hard to ketch as a wildcat.She won't have nothin'to do with other folks,'n'she nuver comes down hyeh into the valley,'cept to git her corn groun'er to shoot a turkey.Sherd Raines goes up to see her,and folks say he air tryin'to git her into the church.But the gal won't go nigh a meetin'-house.She air a cur'us critter,"he concluded emphatically,"shy as a deer till she air stirred up,and then she air a caution;mighty gentle sometimes,and ag'in stubborn as a mule."A shrill,infantile scream came from within,and the old man paused a moment to listen.
"Ye didn't know I had a great-grandchild,did ye?That's it a-hollerin'.Talk about Easter bein'too young to merry!Why hit's mother air two year younger'n Easter.Jes come in hyeh a minit."The old mountaineer rose and led the way into the cabin.Clayton was embarrassed at first.On one bed lay a rather comely young woman with a child by her side;on a chest close by sat another with her lover,courting in the most open and primitive manner.In the corner an old grandam dozed with her pipe,her withered face just touched by the rim of the firelight.Near a rectangular hole in the wall which served the purpose of a window,stood a girl whose face,silhouetted against the darkness,had in it a curious mixture of childishness and maturity.
"Whar's the baby?"asked Uncle Tommy.
Somebody outside was admiring it,and the young girl leaned through the window and lifted the infant within.
Thar's a baby fer ye!"exclaimed the old mountaineer,proudly,lifting it in the air and turning its face to the light.But the child was peevish and fretful,and he handed it back gently.Clayton was wondering which was the mother,when,to his amazement,almost to his confusion,the girl lifted the child calmly to her own breast.The child was the mother of the child.She was barely fifteen,with the face of a girl of twelve,and her motherly manner had struck him as an odd contrast.He felt a thrill of pity for the young mother as he called to mind the aged young wives he had seen who were haggard and care-worn at thirty,and who still managed to live to an old age.He was indefinably glad that Easter had escaped such a fate.When he left the cabin,the old man called after him from the door:
"Thar's goin'to be a shootin'-match among the boys to-morrer,'n'Ijedge that Easter '11be on hand.She al'ays is.""Is that so?"said Clayton."Well,I'll look out for it."The old mountaineer lowered his voice.
"Ye hain't thinkin'about takin'a wife,air ye?""No,no!""Well,ef ye air,"said the old man,slowly,"I'm a-thinkin'yu'll have to buck up ag'in Sherd Raines,fer ef I hain't like a goose a-pickin'o'grass by moonshine,Sherd air atter the gal fer hisself,not fer the Lord.Yes,"he continued,after a short,dry laugh;"'n'mebbe ye'll hav to keep an eye open fer old Bill.They say that he air mighty low down,'n'kind o'sorry 'n'skeery,for I reckon Sherd Raines hev told him he hav got to pay the penalty fer takin'a human life;but I wouldn't sot much on his bein'sorry ef he was mad at me and had licker in him.He hates furriners,and he has a crazy idee that they is all raiders 'n'lookin'fer him.""I don't think I'll bother him,"said Clayton,turning away with a laugh."Good-night t"With a little cackle of incredulity,the old man closed the door.The camp had sunk now to perfect quiet;but for the faint notes of a banjo far up the glen,not a sound trembled on the night air.
The rim of the moon was just visible above the mountain on which Easter-what a pretty name that was !-had flashed upon his vision with such theatric effect.As its brilliant light came slowly down the dark mountain-side,the mists seemed to loosen their white arms,and to creep away like ghosts mistaking the light for dawn.
With the base of the mountain in dense shadow,its crest,uplifted through the vapors,seemed poised in the air at a startling height.
Yet it was near the crest that he had met her.Clayton paused a moment,when he reached his door,to look again.Where in that cloud-land could she live?
