Elsie Singmaster

“ But Elizabeth did not think of its beauty. She prepared Herbert’s breakfast and also his lunch, then she climbed once more into the wagon.
She did not remember until she reached the old gentleman’s house that she did not know his name. Fortunately he was on the porch and rose to greet her. He was, as his daughter had said, always finding interesting persons, and he was also frequently disappointed in them. Few young people, he mourned, were willing to put their minds upon anything for any length of time, even upon the history of their own country and neighborhood. ”

“ Among ignorant people like the mountaineers there were often old persons whose memories were long.
For almost an hour she went on without seeing a sign of human life. The towering trees interlaced their branches far above her head, sometimes she could see long distances, sometimes the view was cut off on both sides by thickets of rhododendron. She saw many deer; once a fox crossed her path, and partridges rose whirring. The road, if it could be called a road, rose gradually. ”

“ Clambering to old Joe’s back, Elizabeth started to go farther into the woods. For herself she had not the least fear. If she could only see Sheldon and find what they wanted of her! Sometimes she bravely determined to hold out against them even if it were only the will which they wanted. The old woman should do with her money what she chose, they should not coerce her! They would get tired and let Herbert go; they would not risk their lives for the sake of forty dollars! ”

“ Chambersburg is a much larger town than Gettysburg, and to Elizabeth, who had bought her supplies there when she and Herbert had arrived in the early spring, it seemed now to promise more patrons. She would still be interested in Gettysburg and wished to learn all she could about the battle, but her relations with the town would henceforth be those of a tourist.
When morning dawned, she began to wonder whether Gettysburg’s rudeness was not a product of her own imagination.
“No town is going to hang out banners because Elizabeth Scott has arrived to sell onions!” said she to herself. ”

“ The farmer opened his gate.
“It’s better to let some things be,” he explained. “There are some things you’d better just stand, like skunks and weasels. They can’t be brought to judgment, they’re too all-fired sly and disagreeable.”
Elizabeth climbed the road slowly. She saw that in another week the golden-rod would be in bloom. Already, though it was only July, a bright red branch of a gum tree showed here and there in the woods.
Then she quickened her steps. She had not seen Herbert since noon and that was a long time for him to spend alone in the woods. ”

“ The three moved slowly up the road one behind the other.
Elizabeth was thankful for the warning about the old woman’s “hollering.” It began suddenly and so near that she was startled. The cabin was hidden in a thicket; if it had not been for the shrill voice, she would have passed it. She parted the branches and looked into a little open space at a log house surrounded by heaps of wretched débris gathered in years of careless, slovenly living. She slipped in through the opening made by her arms and went to the door. ”

“ Herbert made no answer. Now Black Smith took a share in the conversation.
“The mountain people don’t stand for no nonsense,” [Pg 111] said he. “They ain’t like the people of the plain. The people of the plain says one thing and means another, while the mountain people says one thing and sticks to it. The mountain people—”
“Shut up!” commanded Sheldon, whether in weariness of Black Smith’s loquacity or because he thought silence best, it was hard to say. There was a surprising sentimentality about Black Smith. ”

“ One young man stood up in the car and looked back at her. Elizabeth shrank against the fence.
Then she heard a different sound, this time the throb of an engine rapidly climbing the hill. Here there would be no use to ask. But when the car came into view, long and low and powerful and occupied by a man alone, she walked out into the road. ”

“ Elizabeth returned to the doorstep.
“I told him our pedigree and our intentions. If he had stayed a little longer, I should have told him to keep out of our woodland. Now, my dear, it’s time for bed.”
Herbert rose stiffly.
“Everything is ready, isn’t it, Elizabeth?”
“Yes, everything; the onions and the radishes and the lettuce and the peas.”
“Doesn’t it make you a little uncomfortable to think of going about peddling things from door to door to strange people?”
[Pg 9] “Not a bit! It’s just as honorable to sell onions as diamonds or books. ”

“ You don’t know her! We were told that the instant you gave us any trouble we could have the constabulary come up here. They’ll wipe you out! They’ve got your deeds recorded! They’ll punish you for the present and the past.”
A dark figure appeared in the faint speckled circle of lamplight.
“I told you so!” said the woman’s voice, which Herbert had heard before. “Destruction is waiting for us! Destruction from our airless lives, according to the nurse, and destruction from the guns of the soldiers.”
Sheldon rose muttering.
“Git out of here, Jinny!” ”

“ Any one listening to Elizabeth would have said “Of course!” “In the first place, we have this house, blessed, [Pg 4] substantial old thing that it is, only occasionally occupied during forty years and yet habitable after a little mending of the roof. John Baring’s character can be seen in the way he built his house. I’m more proud of him every day. Then we have the acres and acres of woodland behind us, and our garden—think of the produce we have to sell to-morrow! And soon we shall have our orchard,—our orchard, Herbert. ”

“ Elizabeth rose, frightening the farmer, who thought she was going to be resentful.
“I’m going to call my brother,” said she. “He’s the boss of the orchard.”
While the men talked, Elizabeth sat on the doorstep, her hands clasped round her knees. [Pg 155] She smiled into the twilight, remembering with amusement a narrow escape. It had been on the tip of her tongue to say, when she had heard Herbert’s adventures, “Darling, weren’t you afraid?” and she had caught herself in time, realizing that neither “afraid” nor “darling” were words to say any more to Herbert. ”

“ But I’ve heard tell as how folks saw John Baring wandering about. He had a long white beard and he—”
“But he didn’t have a long white beard!” contradicted Elizabeth. “He wasn’t an old man, he wasn’t even middle-aged! It’s the mountaineers who go wandering about. They think the place is theirs.” ”

“ It was not the ruin of a house or barn; it was difficult to tell what it was.
“I’m going to find out,” said Elizabeth. “I’m going to learn all about this mountain. Perhaps this place was burned when Chambersburg was [Pg 21] burned. That was a year after the battle of Gettysburg—that is, I think it was. It’s hard to realize that there was fighting here or anything else but peace and happiness. As I remember, people had to flee from the fire for their lives. I suppose it’s hard to forgive things like that.” ”

“ Elizabeth started out on foot, going northward along the eastern slope of the mountain. Here lay large and well-cultivated farms, and orchards which were already yielding large profits. Fences were well-made and clear of vines and briars, lawns were mowed, and in beds and on porches bloomed an abundance of flowers. ”

“ No paper should be written by strangers in the settlement of the mountain people. There’s those of us can write. If papers is to be writ we can write them. An’ we can read what is on papers that has been writ. You fetch this paper an’ we’ll tell what’s on it.”
Elizabeth hesitated. The old woman could [Pg 126] hardly be made more miserable than she was. She would go and get the paper now and Herbert should be free.
Black Smith was impatient with her delay. He looked at her menacingly.
“Look here. Your brother ain’t gettin’ much to eat while you’re foolin’! ”

“ When the farmer had gone, Elizabeth thought of a blossoming orchard.
Then a gaunt figure crossed the yard. Elizabeth had not seen Jinny, but she believed that this was Jinny before her.
“We’ve heard tell that you spoke for us,” said a harsh, tired voice. “You said to every one assembled at the place of meetin’ this afternoon that not bein’ trusted makes folks wicked. You said you was goin’ to trust us. Now you have let your light shine, miss, don’t forsake us. There’s not many left of us, what with our airless houses an’ the tisic, but what there is is not so bad as you might expect. ”

“ But not even the word of a Colonel Thomas and the printed statement of a book could in an hour or two alter the conscious and unconscious convictions of Elizabeth’s life. The belief that one has been “well-born” is not easily yielded, even though one may have hitherto felt no conscious satisfaction. When, at last, she turned a weary Joe in upon the grassy drive, her lips were set.
“I don’t believe it,” said she stubbornly.
Herbert came to meet her and to take the horse. He glanced back over his shoulder into the woods. All day poor Herbert had been looking over his shoulder. ”

“ But I can’t forgive John Baring. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t work for you. I don’t believe I could stay in the neighborhood. Folks wouldn’t be friendly with me; that is the way it would work out. I know you’re all right, a good, law-abiding citizen, and I’m sorry for you. You see, the folks round here are afraid of the Baring stock, that’s [Pg 84] the sum total of it. I am sorry for you, young lady. Ain’t there any other place that you can live?”
“I’ve talked to people about him,” said Elizabeth. “They all say he was considered to be a good man.” ”

“ Smith started rapidly, looking forward not without pleasant anticipation to the moment when, gun in hand, he should lead Elizabeth to Mammy Sheldon’s cabin. It would be not only another triumph for the mountain people to have outwitted the people of the plain, but it would end an anxiety which was really acute. ”

“ Just before daylight she heard a sound and saw a dark form emerge from the woods. She leaned far out the window to see as well as she could. At first she thought it was Herbert, but it proved to be too large an object to be human. When she recognized old Joe, she rushed out and [Pg 93] took him by the bridle. He was dull of vision and feeble of step and therefore ill-equipped to make his way alone through thickets and over rocks, but eventually instinct had brought him home, though he had suffered cruelly on the journey. His skin was torn by briars, his knees were bleeding from numerous falls. ”

“ We have a good deal of woodland back of the house and men prowl about there constantly with guns and dogs.”
“I know them!” said Colonel Thomas excitedly. “They have a settlement up in the woods.”
“I spoke to one of them and told him that we had come to stay, and the next evening I found a scrawled note directing us to leave. It was even decorated with skull and cross-bones!”
[Pg 36] “There’s only one of ’em can write and he learned in the penitentiary, that’s Sheldon, a tall man with a drooping mustache. ”

“ There’s this Sheldon who served a term for arson—I sent him up myself when I was judge—and a heavy, short, black-bearded man named Black Smith—don’t think it’s ‘blacksmith’; there’s nothing so industrious about ’em! They all have pleasant descriptive titles, like ‘Black’ and ‘Bud’ and ‘Bully.’ But [Pg 37] there’s one institution they fear and that’s the constabulary.”
“Who are they?”
“They are the State police. If you are annoyed, let me know and there’ll be a settlement. The law will stand behind you there.”
Elizabeth rose once more. ”

“ Black Smith grinned at her.
“It ain’t no use to come here unless you got the paper.”
Elizabeth backed against the tree, appalled by the savage aspect of Smith.
“I have no paper that would be of any value to you.”
Black Smith came closer.
[Pg 125] “You made out a paper,” he insisted. “We heard tell of it. You can’t keep things secret from the mountain people. You’ve got to get it for us.”
“That was a will made for the sick old woman,” explained Elizabeth. “She was afraid that her son would take her money for a gun and she would not have decent burial. I made a will for her.” ”

“ Elizabeth bade him the time of day and asked him whether he remembered John Baring.
“Yes, I remember him,” said he. “Everybody remembers him about here. He set Chambersburg on fire. Three million dollars was lost and [Pg 62] thousands of people set out on the streets and animals driv’ off and all kinds of damage done. It was Baring done it. If he comes back, people will shoot him.”
Elizabeth asked no more questions. He had become, it seemed, to some, a sort of legendary demon! But she saw him, reaching up to write on the attic beam, “I have built this house the best I know. ”

“ Sheldon whistled and Herbert felt a panting creature pass him.
“Watch him!” ordered Sheldon.
Herbert heard the sound of retreating steps, of other growls, of voices near at hand. One was a woman’s.
“You’ll bring destruction on yourselves!” she cried. “You’re plottin’ an’ plannin’ your own ruin an’ downfall! The State police won’t stand the carrying off of men, they—”
The speech ended abruptly, almost as though a period had been put to it by force.
Herbert heard Sheldon’s sharp “Shut up, Jinny!” and another whine from Black Smith about the “mountain people.” ”

“ The old lady stood with her hand on the latch of the screen door, ready for instant flight.
“After I had been treated so rudely, I determined to find out what was the matter, so I went to an old gentleman in Gettysburg, Colonel Thomas, and he told me about John Baring.”
“He could tell you the truth! He was a soldier himself. He knows what John Baring did!”
[Pg 58] “Yes, he told me the truth, at least what seems like the truth. Then I came home. It’s very hard to learn suddenly that you are a descendant of a man whom his neighbors believe to be a traitor.” ”

“ Elizabeth recounted hurriedly the history of the last few days.
“After you went away, I went down the road on an errand, and when I came back Herbert was gone, and there was a notice saying that I could have him in exchange for the paper.”
“What paper?” asked Colonel Thomas.
“Some time ago I walked up into the woods and heard an old woman crying because her son was going to take her money to buy a gun and there wouldn’t be anything to bury her. Forty dollars was all she had. So I wrote a will, but I left it in the cabin, and she won’t give it to them. ”