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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/23550-0.txt b/23550-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..722a0e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/23550-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,944 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Una Of The Hill Country, by +Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Una Of The Hill Country + 1911 + +Author: Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +Release Date: November 19, 2007 [EBook #23550] +Last Updated: March 8, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNA OF THE HILL COUNTRY *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +UNA OF THE HILL COUNTRY + +By Charles Egbert Craddock + +1911 + + +The old sawmill on Headlong Creek at the water-gap of Chilhowee Mountain +was silent and still one day, its habit of industry suggested only in +the ample expanse of sawdust spread thickly over a level open space in +the woods hard by, to serve as footing for the “bran dance” that had +been so long heralded and that was destined to end so strangely. + +A barbecue had added its attractions, unrivalled in the estimation +of the rustic epicure, but even while the shoats, with the delectable +flavor imparted by underground roasting and browned to a turn, were +under discussion by the elder men and the sun-bonneted matrons on a +shady slope near the mill, where tablecloths had been spread beside a +crystal spring, the dance went ceaselessly on, as if the flying figures +were insensible of fatigue, impervious to hunger, immune from heat. + +Indeed the youths and maidens of the contiguous coves and ridges had +rarely so eligible an opportunity, for it is one of the accepted tenets +of the rural religionist that dancing in itself is a deadly sin, and +all the pulpits of the countryside had joined in fulminations against +it Nothing less than a political necessity had compassed this joyous +occasion. It was said to have been devised by the “machine” to draw +together the largest possible crowd, that certain candidates might +present their views on burning questions of more than local importance, +in order to secure vigorous and concerted action at the polls in the +luke-warm rural districts when these measures should go before the +people, in the person of their advocates, at the approaching primary +elections. However, even the wisdom of a political boss is not +infallible, and despite the succulent graces of the barbecue numbers +of the ascetic and jeans-clad elder worthies, though fed to repletion, +collogued unhappily together among the ox-teams and canvas-hooded wagons +on the slope, commenting sourly on the frivolity of the dance. These +might be relied on to cast no ballots in the interest of its promoters, +with whose views they were to be favored between the close of the feast +and the final dance before sunset. + +The trees waved full-foliaged branches above the circle of sawdust and +dappled the sunny expanse with flickering shade, and as they swayed +apart in the wind they gave evanescent glimpses of tiers on tiers of the +faint blue mountains of the Great Smoky Range in the distance, seeming +ethereal, luminous, seen from between the dark, steep, wooded slopes of +the narrow watergap hard by, through which Headlong Creek plunged and +roared. The principal musician, perched with his fellows on a hastily +erected stand, was burly, red-faced, and of a jovial aspect. He had a +brace of fiddlers, one on each side, but with his own violin under +his double-chin he alone “called the figures” of the old-fashioned +contradances. Now and again, with a wide, melodious, sonorous voice, he +burst into a snatch of song: + + “Shanghai chicken he grew so tall, + In a few days--few days, + Cannot hear him crow at all-----” + +Sometimes he would intersperse jocund personal remarks in his +Terpsichorean commands: “Gents, forward to the centre--back--swing: the +lady ye love the best.” Then in alternation, “Ladies, forward to the +centre--back----” and as the mountain damsels teetered in expectation +of the usual supplement of this mandate he called out in apparent +expostulation, “_Don't_ swing him, Miss--he don't wuth a turn.” + +Suddenly the tune changed and with great gusto he chanted forth: + + “When fust I did a-courtin' go, + Says she 'Now, _don't_ be foolish, Joe,'” + +the _tempo rubato_ giving fresh impetus to the kaleidoscopic whirl of +the dancers. The young men were of indomitable endurance and manifested +a crude agility as they sprang about clumsily in time to the scraping +of the fiddles, while their partners shuffled bouncingly or sidled +mincingly according to their individual persuasion of the most apt +expression of elegance. Considered from a critical point of view the +dance was singularly devoid of grace--only one couple illustrating the +exception to the rule. The youth it was who was obviously beautiful, of +a type as old as the fabled Endymion. + +His long brown hair hung in heavy curls to the collar of his butternut +jeans coat; his eyes were blue and large and finely set; his face was +fair and bespoke none of the midday toil at the plow-handles that +had tanned the complexion of his compeers, for Brent Kayle had little +affinity for labor of any sort. He danced with a light firm step, every +muscle supplely responsive to the strongly marked pulse of the music, +and he had a lithe, erect carriage which imparted a certain picturesque +effect to his presence, despite his much creased boots, drawn over his +trousers to the knee, and his big black hat which he wore on the back of +his head. The face of his partner had a more subtle appeal, and so light +and willowy was her figure as she danced that it suggested a degree of +slenderness that bordered on attenuation. Her unbonneted hair of a rich +blonde hue had a golden lustre in the sun; her complexion was of an +exquisite whiteness and with a delicate flush; the chiseling of her +features was peculiarly fine, in clear, sharp lines--she was called +“hatchet-faced” by her undiscriminating friends. She wore a coarse, +flimsy, pink muslin dress which showed a repetitious pattern of vague +green leaves, and as she flitted, lissome and swaying, through the +throng, with the wind a-flutter in her full draperies, she might have +suggested to a spectator the semblance of a pink flower--of the humbler +varieties, perhaps, but still a wild rose is a rose. + +Even the longest dance must have an end; even the stanchest mountain +fiddler will reach at last his limit of endurance and must needs be +refreshed and fed. There was a sudden significant flourish of frisky +bowing, now up and again down, enlisting every resonant capacity of +horsehair and catgut; the violins quavered to a final long-drawn scrape +and silence descended. Dullness ensued; the flavor of the day seemed to +pall; the dancers scattered and were presently following the crowd that +began to slowly gather about the vacated stand of the musicians, from +which elevation the speakers of the occasion were about to address their +fellow-citizens. One of the disaffected old farmers, gruff and averse, +could not refrain from administering a rebuke to Brent Kayle as crossing +the expanse of saw-dust on his way to join the audience he encountered +the youth in company with Valeria Clee, his recent partner. + +“Ai-yi, Brent,” the old man said, “the last time I seen you uns I +remember well ez ye war a-settin' on the mourner's bench.” For there +had been a great religious revival the previous year and many had been +pricked in conscience. “Ye ain't so tuk up now in contemplatin' the +goodness o' God an' yer sins agin same,” he pursued caustically. + +Brent retorted with obvious acrimony. “I don't see no 'casion ter doubt +the goodness o' God--I never war so ongrateful nohow as that comes to.” + He resented being thus publicly reproached, as if he were individually +responsible for the iniquity of the bran dance--the scape-goat for the +sins of all this merry company. Many of the whilom dancers had pressed +forward, crowding up behind the old mountaineer and facing the flushed +Brent and the flowerlike Valeria, the faint green leaves of her muslin +dress fluttering about her as her skirts swayed in the wind. + +“Ye ain't so powerful afeard of the devil _now_ ez ye uster was on the +mourner's bench,” the old man argued. + +“I never war so mighty afeard of the devil,” the goaded Brent broke +forth angrily, for the crowd was laughing in great relish of his +predicament--they, who had shared all the enormity of “shaking a foot” + on this festive day. Brent flinched from the obvious injustice of their +ridicule. He felt an eager impulse for reprisal. “I know ez sech dancin' +ez I hev done ain't no sin,” he blustered. “I ain't afeared o' the devil +fur sech ez that. I wouldn't be skeered a mite ef he war ter--ter--ter +speak right out now agin it, an' I'll be bound ez all o' you uns would. +I--I--look yander--_look!_” + +He had thrown himself into a posture of amazed intentness and was +pointing upward at the overhanging boughs of a tree above their heads. +A squirrel was poised thereon, gazing down motionless. Then, suddenly--a +frightful thing happened. The creature seemed to speak. A strange +falsetto voice, such as might befit so eerie a chance, sounded on +the air--loud, distinct, heard far up the slope, and electrifying the +assemblage near at hand that was gathering about the stand and awaiting +the political candidates. + +“Quit yer foolin'--quit yer fooling” the strange voice iterated. “I'll +larn ye ter be afeared o' the devil. Long legs now is special grace.” + +So wild a cry broke from the startled group below the tree that the +squirrel, with a sudden, alert, about-face movement, turned and swiftly +ran along the bough and up the bole. It paused once and looked back +to cry out again in distinct iteration, “Quit yer foolin'! Quit yer +foolin'!” + +But none had stayed to listen. A general frantic rout ensued. The +possibility of ventriloquism was unknown to their limited experience. +All had heard the voice and those who had distinguished the words and +their seeming source needed no argument. In either case the result was +the same. Within ten minutes the grounds of the famous barbecue and bran +dance were deserted. The cumbrous wagons, all too slow, were wending +with such speed as their drivers could coerce the ox-teams to make along +the woodland road homeward, while happier wights on horseback galloped +past, leaving clouds of dust in the rear and a grewsome premonition of +being hindmost in a flight that to the simple minds of the mountaineers +had a pursuer of direful reality. + +The state of a candidate is rarely enviable until the event is cast and +the postulant is merged into the elect, but on the day signalized by +the barbecue, the bran dance, and the rout the unfortunate aspirants +for public favor felt that they had experienced the extremest spite +of fate; for although they realized in their superior education and +sophistication that the panic-stricken rural crowd had been tricked by +some clever ventriloquist, the political orators were left with only the +winds and waters and wilderness on which to waste their eloquence, and +the wisdom of their exclusive method of saving the country. + +***** + +Brent Kayle's talent for eluding the common doom of man to eat his bread +in the sweat of his face was peculiarly marked. He was the eldest of +seven sons, ranging in age from eleven to twenty years, including one +pair of twins. The parents had been greatly pitied for the exorbitant +exactions of rearing this large family during its immaturity, but now, +the labor of farm, barnyard and woodpile, distributed among so many +stalwart fellows of the same home and interest was light and the result +ample. Perhaps none of them realized how little of this abundance was +compassed by Brent's exertions--how many days he spent dawdling on the +river bank idly experimenting with the echoes--how often, even when he +affected to work, he left the plow in the furrow while he followed till +sunset the flight of successive birds through the adjacent pastures, +imitating as he went the fresh mid-air cry, whistling in so vibrant +a bird-voice, so signally clear and dulcet, yet so keen despite its +sweetness, that his brothers at the plow-handles sought in vain to +distinguish between the calls of the earth-ling and the winged voyager +of the empyreal air. None of them had ever heard of ventriloquism, so +limited had been their education and experience, so sequestered was +their home amidst the wilderness of the mountains. Only very gradually +to Brent himself came the consciousness of his unique gift, as from +imitation he progressed to causing a silent bird to seem to sing. The +strangeness of the experience frightened him at first, but with each +experiment he had grown more confident, more skilled, until at length he +found that he could throw a singularly articulate voice into the jaws +of the old plow-horse, while his brothers, accustomed to his queer vocal +tricks, were convulsed with laughter at the bizarre quadrupedal views +of life thus elicited. This development of proficiency, however, +was recent, and until the incident at the bran dance it had not been +exercised beyond the limits of their secluded home. It had revealed new +possibilities to the young ventriloquist and he looked at once agitated, +excited, and triumphant when late that afternoon he appeared suddenly at +the rail fence about the door-yard of Valeria Clee's home on one of the +spurs of Chilhowee Mountain. It was no such home as his--lacking all the +evidence of rude comfort and coarse plenty that reigned there--and in +its tumbledown disrepair it had an aspect of dispirited helplessness. +Here Valeria, an orphan from her infancy, dwelt with her father's +parents, who always of small means had become yearly a more precarious +support. The ancient grandmother was sunken in many infirmities, and the +household tasks had all fallen to the lot of Valeria. Latterly a stroke +of paralysis had given old man Clee an awful annotation on the chapter +of age and poverty upon which he was entering, and his little farm was +fast growing up in brambles. + +“But 't ain't no differ, gran Mad,” Valeria often sought to reassure +him. “I'll work some way out.” + +And when he would irritably flout the possibility that she could do +aught to materially avert disaster she was wont to protest: “You jes' +watch _me. I'll_ find out some way. I be ez knowin' ez any old _owel_.” + +Despite her slender physique and her recurrent heavy tasks the drear +doom of poverty with its multiform menace had cast no shadow on her +ethereal face, and her pensive dark gray eyes were full of serene +light as she met the visitor at the bars. A glimmer of mirth began to +scintillate beneath her long brown lashes, and she spoke first. “The +folks in the mountings air mighty nigh skeered out'n thar boots by yer +foolishness, Brent”--she sought to conserve a mien of reproof. “They +'low ez it war a manifestation of the Evil One.” + +Brent laughed delightedly. “Warn't it prime?” he said. “But I never +expected ter work sech a scatteration of the crowd Thar skeer plumb +terrified _me_. I jes' set out with the nimblest, an' run from the devil +myself.” + +“Won't them candidates fur office be mighty mad if they find out what it +war sure enough?” she queried anxiously. “They gin the crowd a barbecue +an' bran dance, an' arter all, the folks got quit of hevin' ter hear +them speak an' jaw about thar old politics an' sech.” + +“Them candidates air hoppin' mad fur true,” he admitted. “I been down +yander at Gilfillan's store in the Cove an' I hearn the loafers thar +talkin' powerful 'bout the strange happening. An' them candidates war +thar gittin' ready ter start out fur town in thar buggy. An' that thar +gay one--though now he seems ez sober ez that sour one--he said 't +warn't no devil. 'Twar jes' a ventriloquisk from somewhar--that's +jes' what that town man called it. But _I_ never said nuthin'. I kep' +powerful quiet.” + +Brent Kayle was as vain a man as ever stood in shoe leather--even in the +midst of his absorption in his disclosure he could not refrain from a +pause to reflect on the signal success of his prank and laugh and plume +himself. + +“But old Gilfillan he loves ter believe ez the devil air hotfoot arter +other folks with a pitchfork, an' he axed how then did sech a man happen +ter be in the mountings 'thout none knowin' of it. An' that candidate, +the gay one, he say he reckon the feller kem from that circus what is +goin' fer show in Shaftesville termorrer--mebbe he hearn 'bout the +bran dance an' wanted ter hev some fun out'n the country folks. That +candidate say he hed hearn dozens o' ventriloquisks in shows in the big +towns--though this war about the bes' one he could remember. He said he +hed no doubt this feller is paid good money in the show, fur jes' sech +fool tricks with his voice--_good money!_” + +Valeria had listened in motionless amazement But he had now paused, +almost choking with his rush of emotion, his excitement, his sense of +triumph, and straight ensued a certain reluctance, a dull negation, a +prophetic recoil from responsibility that clogged his resolve. His eyes +roved uncertainly about the familiar domestic scene, darkening now, +duskily purple beneath the luminous pearly and roseate tints of the +twilight sky. The old woman was a-drowse on the porch of the rickety +little log-cabin beneath the gourd vines, the paralytic grandfather came +hirpling unsteadily through the doorway on his supporting crutch, his +pipe shaking in his shaking hand, while he muttered and mumbled to +himself--who knows what?--whether of terror of the future, or regret +for the past, or doubt and despair of to-day. The place was obviously +so meagre, so poverty-bitten, so eloquent of the hard struggle for mere +existence. If it had been necessary for Brent Kayle to put his hand to +the plow in its behalf the words would never have been spoken--but “good +money” for this idle trade, these facile pranks! + +“Vallie,” he said impulsively, “I'm going ter try it--ef ye'll go with +me. Ef ye war along I'd feel heartened ter stand up an' face the crowd +in a strange place. I always loved ye better than any of the other +gals--shucks!--whenst _ye_ war about I never knowed ez they war alive.” + +Perhaps it was the after-glow of the sunset in the sky, but a crimson +flush sprang into her delicate cheek; her eyes were evasive, quickly +glancing here and there with an affectation of indifference, and she had +no mind to talk of love, she declared. + +But she should think of her gran'dad and gran'mam, he persisted. How +had she the heart to deprive them of his willing aid? He declared he had +intended to ask her to marry him anyhow, for she had always seemed +to like him--she could not deny this--but now was the auspicious +time--to-morrow--while the circus was in Shaftesville, and “good money” + was to be had to provide for the wants of her old grandparents. + +Though Valeria had flouted the talk of love she seemed his partisan +when she confided the matter to the two old people and their consent +was accorded rather for her sake than their own. They felt a revivifying +impetus in the thought that after their death Valeria would have a good +husband to care for her, for to them the chief grief of their loosening +hold on life was her inheritance of their helplessness and poverty. + +The courthouse in Shaftesville seemed a very imposing edifice to people +unaccustomed to the giddy heights of a second story. + +When the two staring young rustics left the desk of the county court +clerk and repaired to the dwelling of the minister of the Methodist +Church near by, with the marriage license just procured safely stowed +away in Brent's capacious hat, their anxieties were roused for a moment +lest some delay ensue, as they discovered that the minister was on the +point of sitting down to his dinner. He courteously deferred the meal, +however, and as the bride apologetically remarked after the ceremony +that they might have awaited his convenience were it not for the circus, +he imagined that the youthful couple had designed to utilize a round of +the menagerie as a wedding tour. The same thought was in the minds of +the metropolitan managers of the organization when presently the two +young wildings from the mountain fastness were ushered into their +presence, having secured an audience by dint of extreme persistence, +aided by a mien of mysterious importance. + +They found two men standing just within the great empty tent, for the +crowd had not as yet begun to gather. The most authoritative, who was +tall and portly, had the manner of swiftly disposing of the incident by +asking in a peremptory voice what he could do for them. The other, lean +and languid, looked up from a newspaper, in which he had been scanning +a flaming circus advertisement, as he stood smoking a cigar. He said +nothing, but concentrated an intent speculative gaze on the face of +Valeria, who had pulled off her faint green sunbonnet and in a flush of +eager hopefulness fanned with the slats. + +“Ventriloquist!” the portly man repeated with a note of surprise, +as Brent made known his gifts and his desire for an engagement. “Oh, +well--ventriloquism is a chestnut.” + +Then with a qualm of pity, perhaps, for the blank despair that settled +down on the two young faces he explained: “Nothing goes in the circus +business but novelty. The public is tired out with ventriloquism. No +mystery about it now--kind of thing, too, that a clever amateur can +compass.” + +Brent, hurled from the giddy heights of imminent achievement to the +depths of nullity, could not at once relinquish the glowing prospects +that had allured him. He offered to give a sample of his powers. He +would like to bark a few, he said; you couldn't tell him from a sure +enough dog; he could imitate the different breeds--hound-dog, bull-pup, +terrier--but the manager was definitely shaking his head. + +Suddenly his partner spoke. “The girl might take a turn!” + +“In the show?” the portly man said in surprise. + +“The Company's Una weighs two hundred pounds and has a face as broad as +a barn-door. She shows she is afraid of the lion when she stands beside +him in the street parade, and--curse him--he is so clever that he +knows it, no matter how he is doped. It incites him to growl at her +all through the pageant, and that simply queers the sweet peace of the +idea.” + +“And you think this untrained girl could take her place!” + +“Why not? She couldn't do worse--and she _could_ look the part. See,” he +continued, in as business-like way as if Valeria were merely a bale of +goods or deaf, “ethereal figure, poetic type of beauty, fine expression +of candor and serene courage. She has a look of open-eyed innocence--I +don't mean _ignorance_.” He made a subtle distinction in the untutored +aspect of the two countenances before him. + +“Would you be afraid of the lion, child?” the stout man asked Valeria. +“He is chained--and drugged, too--in the pageant.” + +It was difficult for the astonished Valeria to find her voice. “A lion?” + she murmured. “I never seen a lion.” + +“No? Honest?” they both cried in amazement that such a thing could be. +The portly man's rollicking laughter rang out through the thin walls of +canvas to such effect that some savage caged beast within reach of the +elastic buoyant sound was roused to anger and supplemented it with a +rancorous snarl. + +Valeria listened apprehensively, with dilated eyes. She thought of the +lion, the ferocious creature that she had never seen. She thought of the +massive strong woman who knew and feared him. Then she remembered the +desolate old grandparents and their hopeless, helpless poverty. “I'll +resk the lion,” she said with a tremulous bated voice. + +“That's a brave girl,” cried the manager. + +“I hev read 'bout Daniel's lions an' him in the den,” she explained. “An' +Daniel hed consid'ble trust an' warn't afeard--an' mebbe I won't be +afeard nuther.” + +“Daniel's Lions? Daniel's Lions?” the portly manager repeated +attentively. “I don't know the show--perhaps in some combination now.” + For if he had ever heard of that signal leonine incident recorded in +Scripture he had forgotten it. “Yes, yes,” as Valeria eagerly appealed +to him in behalf of Brent, “we must try to give Hubby some little stunt +to do in the performance--but _you_ are the ticket--a sure winner.” + +Of course the public knew, if it chose to reflect, that though +apparently free the lion was muzzled with a strong steel ring, and every +ponderous paw was chained down securely to the exhibition car; it may +even have suspected that the savage proclivities of the great beast were +dulled by drags. But there is always the imminent chance of some failure +of precaution, and the multitude must needs thrill to the spectacle of +intrepidity and danger. Naught could exceed the enthusiasm that greeted +this slim, graceful Una a few days later in the streets of a distant +city, as clad in long draperies of fleecy white she reclined against +a splendid leonine specimen, her shining golden hair hanging on her +shoulders, or mingling with his tawny mane as now and again she let her +soft cheek rest on his head, her luminous dark gray eyes smiling down +at the cheering crowds. This speedily became the favorite feature of the +pageant, and the billboards flamed with her portrait, leaning against +the lion, hundreds of miles in advance of her triumphal progress. + +All this unexpected success presently awoke Brent's emulation--so far he +had not even “barked a few.” A liberal advance on his wife's salary had +quieted him for a time, but when the wonders of this new life began +to grow stale--the steam-cars, the great cities, the vast country the +Company traversed--he became importunate for the opportunity of display. +He “barked a few” so cleverly at a concert after the performance +one evening that the manager gave him a chance to throw the very +considerable volume of sound he could command into the jaws of one of +the lions. “Let Emperor speak to the people,” he said. Forthwith he +wrote a bit of rodomontade which he bade Brent memorize and had the +satisfaction soon to hear from the lion-trainer, to whom was intrusted +all that pertained to the exhibition of these kings of beasts, that the +rehearsal was altogether satisfactory. + +An immense audience was assembled in the great tent. The soaring dome +of white canvas reflected the electric light with a moony lustre. The +display of the three rings was in full swing. That magic atmosphere +of the circus, the sense of simple festivity, the crises of thrilling +expectancy, the revelation of successive wonders, the diffusive delight +of a multitude not difficult to entertain--all were in evidence. +Suddenly a ponderous cage was rolled in; the band was playing liltingly; +the largest of the lions within the bars, a tawny monster, roused up and +with head depressed and switching tail paced back and forth within +the restricted limits of the cage, while the others looked out with +motionless curiosity at the tiers of people. Presently with a long +supple stride the gigantic, blond Norwegian trainer came lightly across +the arena--a Hercules, with broad bare chest and arms, arrayed in +spangled blue satin and white tights that forbade all suspicion of +protective armor. At a single bound he sprang into the cage, while +Brent, garbed in carnation and white, stood unheralded and unremarked +close by outside among the armed attendants. There seemed no need of +precaution, however, so lightly the trainer frolicked with the savage +creatures. He performed wonderful acrobatic feats with them in which one +hardly knew which most to admire, the agility and intrepidity of the +man or the supple strength and curious intelligence of the beasts. He +wrestled with them; he leaped and rolled among them; he put his head +into their terrible full-fanged jaws--but before springing forth he +fired his pistols loaded with blank cartridges full in their faces; +for the instant the coercion of his eye was pretermitted every one +treacherously bounded toward him, seeking to seize him before he could +reach the door. Then Emperor, as was his wont, flung himself in baffled +fury against the bars and stood erect and shook them in his wrath. + +All at once, to the astonishment of the people, he spoke, voicing a +plaintive panegyric on liberty and protesting his willingness to barter +all the luxury of his captivity for one free hour on the desert sands. + +Surprise, absolute, unqualified, reigned for one moment. But a +circus-going crowd is uncannily quick. The audience perceived a certain +involuntary element of the entertainment. A storm of cat-calls ensued, +hisses, roars of laughter. For the place was the city of Glaston, the +Company being once more in East Tennessee, and the lion spoke the old +familiar mountain dialect so easily recognizable in this locality. Even +a _lapsus linguae_, “you uns.” was unmistakable amidst the high-flown +periods. Although the ventriloquism was appreciated, the incongruity +of this countrified jargon, held in great contempt by the townfolks, +discounted Emperor's majesty and he was in ludicrous eclipse. + +Behind the screening canvas the portly manager raged; “How dare you make +that fine lion talk like a 'hill-Billy' such as yourself--as if he were +fresh caught in the Great Smoky Mountains!” he stormed at the indignant +ventriloquist. The other partners in the management interfered in +Brent's behalf; they feared that the proud mountaineer, resenting the +contemptuous designation “hill-Billy” might withdraw from the Company, +taking his wife with him, and the loss of Valeria from the pageant would +be well nigh irreparable, for her ethereal and fragile beauty as Una +with her lion had a perennial charm for the public. The management +therefore assumed the responsibility for the linguistic disaster, having +confided the rehearsal to a foreigner, for the Norwegian lion-trainer +naively explained that to him it seemed that all Americans talked alike. + +A course in elocution was recommended to Brent by the managers, and he +fell in with this plan delightedly, but after two or three elementary +bouts with the vowel sounds, long and short, consonants, sonant and +surd, he concluded that mere articulation could be made as laborious as +sawing wood, and he discovered that it was incompatible with his +dignity to be a pupil in an art in which he had professed proficiency. +Thereafter his accomplishment rusted--to the relief of the +management--although he required that Valeria should be described in the +advertisements as the wife of “the _celebrated ventriloquist_, Mr. Brent +Kayle,” thus seeking by faked notoriety to secure the sweets of fame, +without the labor of achievement. + +Valeria had welcomed the pacific settlement of the difficulty, because +her “good money” earned in the show so brightened and beautified the +evening of life for the venerable grandparents at home. For their sake +she had conquered her dread of the lion in the pageant. Indeed she had +found other lions in her path that she feared more--the glitter and +gauds of her tinsel world, the enervating love of ease, the influence of +sordid surroundings and ignoble ideals. But not one could withstand the +simple goodness of the unsophisticated girl. They retreated before the +power of her fireside traditions of right thinking and true living which +she had learned in her humble mountain home. + +It had come to be a dwelling of comfortable aspect, cared for in the +absence of the young couple by a thrifty hired housekeeper, a widowed +cousin, and here they spent the off-seasons when the circus company went +into winter quarters. Repairs had been instituted, several rooms were +added, and a wide veranda replaced the rickety little porch and gave +upon a noble prospect of mountain and valley and river. Here on sunshiny +noons in the good Saint Martin's summer the old gran'dad loved to sit, +blithe and hearty, chirping away the soft unseasonable December days. +Sometimes in the plenitude of content he would give Valeria a meaning +glance and mutter “Oh, leetle _Owel!_ Oh, leetle _Owel!_” and then break +into laughter that must needs pause to let him wipe his eyes. + +“Yes, Vallie 'pears ter hev right good sense an' makes out toler'ble +well, considerin',” her husband would affably remark, “though of course +it war _me_ ez interduced her ter the managers, an' she gits her main +chance in the show through my bein' a celebrated ventriloquisk.” + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Una Of The Hill Country, by +Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNA OF THE HILL COUNTRY *** + +***** This file should be named 23550-0.txt or 23550-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/5/5/23550/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Una Of The Hill Country + 1911 + +Author: Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +Release Date: November 19, 2007 [EBook #23550] +Last Updated: March 8, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNA OF THE HILL COUNTRY *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + UNA OF THE HILL COUNTRY + </h1> + <h2> + By Charles Egbert Craddock <br /> <br /> 1911 + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + The old sawmill on Headlong Creek at the water-gap of Chilhowee Mountain + was silent and still one day, its habit of industry suggested only in the + ample expanse of sawdust spread thickly over a level open space in the + woods hard by, to serve as footing for the “bran dance” that had been so + long heralded and that was destined to end so strangely. + </p> + <p> + A barbecue had added its attractions, unrivalled in the estimation of the + rustic epicure, but even while the shoats, with the delectable flavor + imparted by underground roasting and browned to a turn, were under + discussion by the elder men and the sun-bonneted matrons on a shady slope + near the mill, where tablecloths had been spread beside a crystal spring, + the dance went ceaselessly on, as if the flying figures were insensible of + fatigue, impervious to hunger, immune from heat. + </p> + <p> + Indeed the youths and maidens of the contiguous coves and ridges had + rarely so eligible an opportunity, for it is one of the accepted tenets of + the rural religionist that dancing in itself is a deadly sin, and all the + pulpits of the countryside had joined in fulminations against it Nothing + less than a political necessity had compassed this joyous occasion. It was + said to have been devised by the “machine” to draw together the largest + possible crowd, that certain candidates might present their views on + burning questions of more than local importance, in order to secure + vigorous and concerted action at the polls in the luke-warm rural + districts when these measures should go before the people, in the person + of their advocates, at the approaching primary elections. However, even + the wisdom of a political boss is not infallible, and despite the + succulent graces of the barbecue numbers of the ascetic and jeans-clad + elder worthies, though fed to repletion, collogued unhappily together + among the ox-teams and canvas-hooded wagons on the slope, commenting + sourly on the frivolity of the dance. These might be relied on to cast no + ballots in the interest of its promoters, with whose views they were to be + favored between the close of the feast and the final dance before sunset. + </p> + <p> + The trees waved full-foliaged branches above the circle of sawdust and + dappled the sunny expanse with flickering shade, and as they swayed apart + in the wind they gave evanescent glimpses of tiers on tiers of the faint + blue mountains of the Great Smoky Range in the distance, seeming ethereal, + luminous, seen from between the dark, steep, wooded slopes of the narrow + watergap hard by, through which Headlong Creek plunged and roared. The + principal musician, perched with his fellows on a hastily erected stand, + was burly, red-faced, and of a jovial aspect. He had a brace of fiddlers, + one on each side, but with his own violin under his double-chin he alone + “called the figures” of the old-fashioned contradances. Now and again, + with a wide, melodious, sonorous voice, he burst into a snatch of song: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Shanghai chicken he grew so tall, + In a few days—few days, + Cannot hear him crow at all——-” + </pre> + <p> + Sometimes he would intersperse jocund personal remarks in his + Terpsichorean commands: “Gents, forward to the centre—back—swing: + the lady ye love the best.” Then in alternation, “Ladies, forward to the + centre—back——” and as the mountain damsels teetered in + expectation of the usual supplement of this mandate he called out in + apparent expostulation, “<i>Don't</i> swing him, Miss—he don't wuth + a turn.” + </p> + <p> + Suddenly the tune changed and with great gusto he chanted forth: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “When fust I did a-courtin' go, + Says she 'Now, <i>don't</i> be foolish, Joe,'” + </pre> + <p> + the <i>tempo rubato</i> giving fresh impetus to the kaleidoscopic whirl of + the dancers. The young men were of indomitable endurance and manifested a + crude agility as they sprang about clumsily in time to the scraping of the + fiddles, while their partners shuffled bouncingly or sidled mincingly + according to their individual persuasion of the most apt expression of + elegance. Considered from a critical point of view the dance was + singularly devoid of grace—only one couple illustrating the + exception to the rule. The youth it was who was obviously beautiful, of a + type as old as the fabled Endymion. + </p> + <p> + His long brown hair hung in heavy curls to the collar of his butternut + jeans coat; his eyes were blue and large and finely set; his face was fair + and bespoke none of the midday toil at the plow-handles that had tanned + the complexion of his compeers, for Brent Kayle had little affinity for + labor of any sort. He danced with a light firm step, every muscle supplely + responsive to the strongly marked pulse of the music, and he had a lithe, + erect carriage which imparted a certain picturesque effect to his + presence, despite his much creased boots, drawn over his trousers to the + knee, and his big black hat which he wore on the back of his head. The + face of his partner had a more subtle appeal, and so light and willowy was + her figure as she danced that it suggested a degree of slenderness that + bordered on attenuation. Her unbonneted hair of a rich blonde hue had a + golden lustre in the sun; her complexion was of an exquisite whiteness and + with a delicate flush; the chiseling of her features was peculiarly fine, + in clear, sharp lines—she was called “hatchet-faced” by her + undiscriminating friends. She wore a coarse, flimsy, pink muslin dress + which showed a repetitious pattern of vague green leaves, and as she + flitted, lissome and swaying, through the throng, with the wind a-flutter + in her full draperies, she might have suggested to a spectator the + semblance of a pink flower—of the humbler varieties, perhaps, but + still a wild rose is a rose. + </p> + <p> + Even the longest dance must have an end; even the stanchest mountain + fiddler will reach at last his limit of endurance and must needs be + refreshed and fed. There was a sudden significant flourish of frisky + bowing, now up and again down, enlisting every resonant capacity of + horsehair and catgut; the violins quavered to a final long-drawn scrape + and silence descended. Dullness ensued; the flavor of the day seemed to + pall; the dancers scattered and were presently following the crowd that + began to slowly gather about the vacated stand of the musicians, from + which elevation the speakers of the occasion were about to address their + fellow-citizens. One of the disaffected old farmers, gruff and averse, + could not refrain from administering a rebuke to Brent Kayle as crossing + the expanse of saw-dust on his way to join the audience he encountered the + youth in company with Valeria Clee, his recent partner. + </p> + <p> + “Ai-yi, Brent,” the old man said, “the last time I seen you uns I remember + well ez ye war a-settin' on the mourner's bench.” For there had been a + great religious revival the previous year and many had been pricked in + conscience. “Ye ain't so tuk up now in contemplatin' the goodness o' God + an' yer sins agin same,” he pursued caustically. + </p> + <p> + Brent retorted with obvious acrimony. “I don't see no 'casion ter doubt + the goodness o' God—I never war so ongrateful nohow as that comes + to.” He resented being thus publicly reproached, as if he were + individually responsible for the iniquity of the bran dance—the + scape-goat for the sins of all this merry company. Many of the whilom + dancers had pressed forward, crowding up behind the old mountaineer and + facing the flushed Brent and the flowerlike Valeria, the faint green + leaves of her muslin dress fluttering about her as her skirts swayed in + the wind. + </p> + <p> + “Ye ain't so powerful afeard of the devil <i>now</i> ez ye uster was on + the mourner's bench,” the old man argued. + </p> + <p> + “I never war so mighty afeard of the devil,” the goaded Brent broke forth + angrily, for the crowd was laughing in great relish of his predicament—they, + who had shared all the enormity of “shaking a foot” on this festive day. + Brent flinched from the obvious injustice of their ridicule. He felt an + eager impulse for reprisal. “I know ez sech dancin' ez I hev done ain't no + sin,” he blustered. “I ain't afeared o' the devil fur sech ez that. I + wouldn't be skeered a mite ef he war ter—ter—ter speak right + out now agin it, an' I'll be bound ez all o' you uns would. I—I—look + yander—<i>look!</i>” + </p> + <p> + He had thrown himself into a posture of amazed intentness and was pointing + upward at the overhanging boughs of a tree above their heads. A squirrel + was poised thereon, gazing down motionless. Then, suddenly—a + frightful thing happened. The creature seemed to speak. A strange falsetto + voice, such as might befit so eerie a chance, sounded on the air—loud, + distinct, heard far up the slope, and electrifying the assemblage near at + hand that was gathering about the stand and awaiting the political + candidates. + </p> + <p> + “Quit yer foolin'—quit yer fooling” the strange voice iterated. + “I'll larn ye ter be afeared o' the devil. Long legs now is special + grace.” + </p> + <p> + So wild a cry broke from the startled group below the tree that the + squirrel, with a sudden, alert, about-face movement, turned and swiftly + ran along the bough and up the bole. It paused once and looked back to cry + out again in distinct iteration, “Quit yer foolin'! Quit yer foolin'!” + </p> + <p> + But none had stayed to listen. A general frantic rout ensued. The + possibility of ventriloquism was unknown to their limited experience. All + had heard the voice and those who had distinguished the words and their + seeming source needed no argument. In either case the result was the same. + Within ten minutes the grounds of the famous barbecue and bran dance were + deserted. The cumbrous wagons, all too slow, were wending with such speed + as their drivers could coerce the ox-teams to make along the woodland road + homeward, while happier wights on horseback galloped past, leaving clouds + of dust in the rear and a grewsome premonition of being hindmost in a + flight that to the simple minds of the mountaineers had a pursuer of + direful reality. + </p> + <p> + The state of a candidate is rarely enviable until the event is cast and + the postulant is merged into the elect, but on the day signalized by the + barbecue, the bran dance, and the rout the unfortunate aspirants for + public favor felt that they had experienced the extremest spite of fate; + for although they realized in their superior education and sophistication + that the panic-stricken rural crowd had been tricked by some clever + ventriloquist, the political orators were left with only the winds and + waters and wilderness on which to waste their eloquence, and the wisdom of + their exclusive method of saving the country. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Brent Kayle's talent for eluding the common doom of man to eat his bread + in the sweat of his face was peculiarly marked. He was the eldest of seven + sons, ranging in age from eleven to twenty years, including one pair of + twins. The parents had been greatly pitied for the exorbitant exactions of + rearing this large family during its immaturity, but now, the labor of + farm, barnyard and woodpile, distributed among so many stalwart fellows of + the same home and interest was light and the result ample. Perhaps none of + them realized how little of this abundance was compassed by Brent's + exertions—how many days he spent dawdling on the river bank idly + experimenting with the echoes—how often, even when he affected to + work, he left the plow in the furrow while he followed till sunset the + flight of successive birds through the adjacent pastures, imitating as he + went the fresh mid-air cry, whistling in so vibrant a bird-voice, so + signally clear and dulcet, yet so keen despite its sweetness, that his + brothers at the plow-handles sought in vain to distinguish between the + calls of the earth-ling and the winged voyager of the empyreal air. None + of them had ever heard of ventriloquism, so limited had been their + education and experience, so sequestered was their home amidst the + wilderness of the mountains. Only very gradually to Brent himself came the + consciousness of his unique gift, as from imitation he progressed to + causing a silent bird to seem to sing. The strangeness of the experience + frightened him at first, but with each experiment he had grown more + confident, more skilled, until at length he found that he could throw a + singularly articulate voice into the jaws of the old plow-horse, while his + brothers, accustomed to his queer vocal tricks, were convulsed with + laughter at the bizarre quadrupedal views of life thus elicited. This + development of proficiency, however, was recent, and until the incident at + the bran dance it had not been exercised beyond the limits of their + secluded home. It had revealed new possibilities to the young + ventriloquist and he looked at once agitated, excited, and triumphant when + late that afternoon he appeared suddenly at the rail fence about the + door-yard of Valeria Clee's home on one of the spurs of Chilhowee + Mountain. It was no such home as his—lacking all the evidence of + rude comfort and coarse plenty that reigned there—and in its + tumbledown disrepair it had an aspect of dispirited helplessness. Here + Valeria, an orphan from her infancy, dwelt with her father's parents, who + always of small means had become yearly a more precarious support. The + ancient grandmother was sunken in many infirmities, and the household + tasks had all fallen to the lot of Valeria. Latterly a stroke of paralysis + had given old man Clee an awful annotation on the chapter of age and + poverty upon which he was entering, and his little farm was fast growing + up in brambles. + </p> + <p> + “But 't ain't no differ, gran Mad,” Valeria often sought to reassure him. + “I'll work some way out.” + </p> + <p> + And when he would irritably flout the possibility that she could do aught + to materially avert disaster she was wont to protest: “You jes' watch <i>me. + I'll</i> find out some way. I be ez knowin' ez any old <i>owel</i>.” + </p> + <p> + Despite her slender physique and her recurrent heavy tasks the drear doom + of poverty with its multiform menace had cast no shadow on her ethereal + face, and her pensive dark gray eyes were full of serene light as she met + the visitor at the bars. A glimmer of mirth began to scintillate beneath + her long brown lashes, and she spoke first. “The folks in the mountings + air mighty nigh skeered out'n thar boots by yer foolishness, Brent”—she + sought to conserve a mien of reproof. “They 'low ez it war a manifestation + of the Evil One.” + </p> + <p> + Brent laughed delightedly. “Warn't it prime?” he said. “But I never + expected ter work sech a scatteration of the crowd Thar skeer plumb + terrified <i>me</i>. I jes' set out with the nimblest, an' run from the + devil myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Won't them candidates fur office be mighty mad if they find out what it + war sure enough?” she queried anxiously. “They gin the crowd a barbecue + an' bran dance, an' arter all, the folks got quit of hevin' ter hear them + speak an' jaw about thar old politics an' sech.” + </p> + <p> + “Them candidates air hoppin' mad fur true,” he admitted. “I been down + yander at Gilfillan's store in the Cove an' I hearn the loafers thar + talkin' powerful 'bout the strange happening. An' them candidates war thar + gittin' ready ter start out fur town in thar buggy. An' that thar gay one—though + now he seems ez sober ez that sour one—he said 't warn't no devil. + 'Twar jes' a ventriloquisk from somewhar—that's jes' what that town + man called it. But <i>I</i> never said nuthin'. I kep' powerful quiet.” + </p> + <p> + Brent Kayle was as vain a man as ever stood in shoe leather—even in + the midst of his absorption in his disclosure he could not refrain from a + pause to reflect on the signal success of his prank and laugh and plume + himself. + </p> + <p> + “But old Gilfillan he loves ter believe ez the devil air hotfoot arter + other folks with a pitchfork, an' he axed how then did sech a man happen + ter be in the mountings 'thout none knowin' of it. An' that candidate, the + gay one, he say he reckon the feller kem from that circus what is goin' + fer show in Shaftesville termorrer—mebbe he hearn 'bout the bran + dance an' wanted ter hev some fun out'n the country folks. That candidate + say he hed hearn dozens o' ventriloquisks in shows in the big towns—though + this war about the bes' one he could remember. He said he hed no doubt + this feller is paid good money in the show, fur jes' sech fool tricks with + his voice—<i>good money!</i>” + </p> + <p> + Valeria had listened in motionless amazement But he had now paused, almost + choking with his rush of emotion, his excitement, his sense of triumph, + and straight ensued a certain reluctance, a dull negation, a prophetic + recoil from responsibility that clogged his resolve. His eyes roved + uncertainly about the familiar domestic scene, darkening now, duskily + purple beneath the luminous pearly and roseate tints of the twilight sky. + The old woman was a-drowse on the porch of the rickety little log-cabin + beneath the gourd vines, the paralytic grandfather came hirpling + unsteadily through the doorway on his supporting crutch, his pipe shaking + in his shaking hand, while he muttered and mumbled to himself—who + knows what?—whether of terror of the future, or regret for the past, + or doubt and despair of to-day. The place was obviously so meagre, so + poverty-bitten, so eloquent of the hard struggle for mere existence. If it + had been necessary for Brent Kayle to put his hand to the plow in its + behalf the words would never have been spoken—but “good money” for + this idle trade, these facile pranks! + </p> + <p> + “Vallie,” he said impulsively, “I'm going ter try it—ef ye'll go + with me. Ef ye war along I'd feel heartened ter stand up an' face the + crowd in a strange place. I always loved ye better than any of the other + gals—shucks!—whenst <i>ye</i> war about I never knowed ez they + war alive.” + </p> + <p> + Perhaps it was the after-glow of the sunset in the sky, but a crimson + flush sprang into her delicate cheek; her eyes were evasive, quickly + glancing here and there with an affectation of indifference, and she had + no mind to talk of love, she declared. + </p> + <p> + But she should think of her gran'dad and gran'mam, he persisted. How had + she the heart to deprive them of his willing aid? He declared he had + intended to ask her to marry him anyhow, for she had always seemed to like + him—she could not deny this—but now was the auspicious time—to-morrow—while + the circus was in Shaftesville, and “good money” was to be had to provide + for the wants of her old grandparents. + </p> + <p> + Though Valeria had flouted the talk of love she seemed his partisan when + she confided the matter to the two old people and their consent was + accorded rather for her sake than their own. They felt a revivifying + impetus in the thought that after their death Valeria would have a good + husband to care for her, for to them the chief grief of their loosening + hold on life was her inheritance of their helplessness and poverty. + </p> + <p> + The courthouse in Shaftesville seemed a very imposing edifice to people + unaccustomed to the giddy heights of a second story. + </p> + <p> + When the two staring young rustics left the desk of the county court clerk + and repaired to the dwelling of the minister of the Methodist Church near + by, with the marriage license just procured safely stowed away in Brent's + capacious hat, their anxieties were roused for a moment lest some delay + ensue, as they discovered that the minister was on the point of sitting + down to his dinner. He courteously deferred the meal, however, and as the + bride apologetically remarked after the ceremony that they might have + awaited his convenience were it not for the circus, he imagined that the + youthful couple had designed to utilize a round of the menagerie as a + wedding tour. The same thought was in the minds of the metropolitan + managers of the organization when presently the two young wildings from + the mountain fastness were ushered into their presence, having secured an + audience by dint of extreme persistence, aided by a mien of mysterious + importance. + </p> + <p> + They found two men standing just within the great empty tent, for the + crowd had not as yet begun to gather. The most authoritative, who was tall + and portly, had the manner of swiftly disposing of the incident by asking + in a peremptory voice what he could do for them. The other, lean and + languid, looked up from a newspaper, in which he had been scanning a + flaming circus advertisement, as he stood smoking a cigar. He said + nothing, but concentrated an intent speculative gaze on the face of + Valeria, who had pulled off her faint green sunbonnet and in a flush of + eager hopefulness fanned with the slats. + </p> + <p> + “Ventriloquist!” the portly man repeated with a note of surprise, as Brent + made known his gifts and his desire for an engagement. “Oh, well—ventriloquism + is a chestnut.” + </p> + <p> + Then with a qualm of pity, perhaps, for the blank despair that settled + down on the two young faces he explained: “Nothing goes in the circus + business but novelty. The public is tired out with ventriloquism. No + mystery about it now—kind of thing, too, that a clever amateur can + compass.” + </p> + <p> + Brent, hurled from the giddy heights of imminent achievement to the depths + of nullity, could not at once relinquish the glowing prospects that had + allured him. He offered to give a sample of his powers. He would like to + bark a few, he said; you couldn't tell him from a sure enough dog; he + could imitate the different breeds—hound-dog, bull-pup, terrier—but + the manager was definitely shaking his head. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly his partner spoke. “The girl might take a turn!” + </p> + <p> + “In the show?” the portly man said in surprise. + </p> + <p> + “The Company's Una weighs two hundred pounds and has a face as broad as a + barn-door. She shows she is afraid of the lion when she stands beside him + in the street parade, and—curse him—he is so clever that he + knows it, no matter how he is doped. It incites him to growl at her all + through the pageant, and that simply queers the sweet peace of the idea.” + </p> + <p> + “And you think this untrained girl could take her place!” + </p> + <p> + “Why not? She couldn't do worse—and she <i>could</i> look the part. + See,” he continued, in as business-like way as if Valeria were merely a + bale of goods or deaf, “ethereal figure, poetic type of beauty, fine + expression of candor and serene courage. She has a look of open-eyed + innocence—I don't mean <i>ignorance</i>.” He made a subtle + distinction in the untutored aspect of the two countenances before him. + </p> + <p> + “Would you be afraid of the lion, child?” the stout man asked Valeria. “He + is chained—and drugged, too—in the pageant.” + </p> + <p> + It was difficult for the astonished Valeria to find her voice. “A lion?” + she murmured. “I never seen a lion.” + </p> + <p> + “No? Honest?” they both cried in amazement that such a thing could be. The + portly man's rollicking laughter rang out through the thin walls of canvas + to such effect that some savage caged beast within reach of the elastic + buoyant sound was roused to anger and supplemented it with a rancorous + snarl. + </p> + <p> + Valeria listened apprehensively, with dilated eyes. She thought of the + lion, the ferocious creature that she had never seen. She thought of the + massive strong woman who knew and feared him. Then she remembered the + desolate old grandparents and their hopeless, helpless poverty. “I'll resk + the lion,” she said with a tremulous bated voice. + </p> + <p> + “That's a brave girl,” cried the manager. + </p> + <p> + “I hev read 'bout Daniel's lions an' him in the den,” she explained. “An' + Daniel hed consid'ble trust an' warn't afeard—an' mebbe I won't be + afeard nuther.” + </p> + <p> + “Daniel's Lions? Daniel's Lions?” the portly manager repeated attentively. + “I don't know the show—perhaps in some combination now.” For if he + had ever heard of that signal leonine incident recorded in Scripture he + had forgotten it. “Yes, yes,” as Valeria eagerly appealed to him in behalf + of Brent, “we must try to give Hubby some little stunt to do in the + performance—but <i>you</i> are the ticket—a sure winner.” + </p> + <p> + Of course the public knew, if it chose to reflect, that though apparently + free the lion was muzzled with a strong steel ring, and every ponderous + paw was chained down securely to the exhibition car; it may even have + suspected that the savage proclivities of the great beast were dulled by + drags. But there is always the imminent chance of some failure of + precaution, and the multitude must needs thrill to the spectacle of + intrepidity and danger. Naught could exceed the enthusiasm that greeted + this slim, graceful Una a few days later in the streets of a distant city, + as clad in long draperies of fleecy white she reclined against a splendid + leonine specimen, her shining golden hair hanging on her shoulders, or + mingling with his tawny mane as now and again she let her soft cheek rest + on his head, her luminous dark gray eyes smiling down at the cheering + crowds. This speedily became the favorite feature of the pageant, and the + billboards flamed with her portrait, leaning against the lion, hundreds of + miles in advance of her triumphal progress. + </p> + <p> + All this unexpected success presently awoke Brent's emulation—so far + he had not even “barked a few.” A liberal advance on his wife's salary had + quieted him for a time, but when the wonders of this new life began to + grow stale—the steam-cars, the great cities, the vast country the + Company traversed—he became importunate for the opportunity of + display. He “barked a few” so cleverly at a concert after the performance + one evening that the manager gave him a chance to throw the very + considerable volume of sound he could command into the jaws of one of the + lions. “Let Emperor speak to the people,” he said. Forthwith he wrote a + bit of rodomontade which he bade Brent memorize and had the satisfaction + soon to hear from the lion-trainer, to whom was intrusted all that + pertained to the exhibition of these kings of beasts, that the rehearsal + was altogether satisfactory. + </p> + <p> + An immense audience was assembled in the great tent. The soaring dome of + white canvas reflected the electric light with a moony lustre. The display + of the three rings was in full swing. That magic atmosphere of the circus, + the sense of simple festivity, the crises of thrilling expectancy, the + revelation of successive wonders, the diffusive delight of a multitude not + difficult to entertain—all were in evidence. Suddenly a ponderous + cage was rolled in; the band was playing liltingly; the largest of the + lions within the bars, a tawny monster, roused up and with head depressed + and switching tail paced back and forth within the restricted limits of + the cage, while the others looked out with motionless curiosity at the + tiers of people. Presently with a long supple stride the gigantic, blond + Norwegian trainer came lightly across the arena—a Hercules, with + broad bare chest and arms, arrayed in spangled blue satin and white tights + that forbade all suspicion of protective armor. At a single bound he + sprang into the cage, while Brent, garbed in carnation and white, stood + unheralded and unremarked close by outside among the armed attendants. + There seemed no need of precaution, however, so lightly the trainer + frolicked with the savage creatures. He performed wonderful acrobatic + feats with them in which one hardly knew which most to admire, the agility + and intrepidity of the man or the supple strength and curious intelligence + of the beasts. He wrestled with them; he leaped and rolled among them; he + put his head into their terrible full-fanged jaws—but before + springing forth he fired his pistols loaded with blank cartridges full in + their faces; for the instant the coercion of his eye was pretermitted + every one treacherously bounded toward him, seeking to seize him before he + could reach the door. Then Emperor, as was his wont, flung himself in + baffled fury against the bars and stood erect and shook them in his wrath. + </p> + <p> + All at once, to the astonishment of the people, he spoke, voicing a + plaintive panegyric on liberty and protesting his willingness to barter + all the luxury of his captivity for one free hour on the desert sands. + </p> + <p> + Surprise, absolute, unqualified, reigned for one moment. But a + circus-going crowd is uncannily quick. The audience perceived a certain + involuntary element of the entertainment. A storm of cat-calls ensued, + hisses, roars of laughter. For the place was the city of Glaston, the + Company being once more in East Tennessee, and the lion spoke the old + familiar mountain dialect so easily recognizable in this locality. Even a + <i>lapsus linguae</i>, “you uns.” was unmistakable amidst the high-flown + periods. Although the ventriloquism was appreciated, the incongruity of + this countrified jargon, held in great contempt by the townfolks, + discounted Emperor's majesty and he was in ludicrous eclipse. + </p> + <p> + Behind the screening canvas the portly manager raged; “How dare you make + that fine lion talk like a 'hill-Billy' such as yourself—as if he + were fresh caught in the Great Smoky Mountains!” he stormed at the + indignant ventriloquist. The other partners in the management interfered + in Brent's behalf; they feared that the proud mountaineer, resenting the + contemptuous designation “hill-Billy” might withdraw from the Company, + taking his wife with him, and the loss of Valeria from the pageant would + be well nigh irreparable, for her ethereal and fragile beauty as Una with + her lion had a perennial charm for the public. The management therefore + assumed the responsibility for the linguistic disaster, having confided + the rehearsal to a foreigner, for the Norwegian lion-trainer naively + explained that to him it seemed that all Americans talked alike. + </p> + <p> + A course in elocution was recommended to Brent by the managers, and he + fell in with this plan delightedly, but after two or three elementary + bouts with the vowel sounds, long and short, consonants, sonant and surd, + he concluded that mere articulation could be made as laborious as sawing + wood, and he discovered that it was incompatible with his dignity to be a + pupil in an art in which he had professed proficiency. Thereafter his + accomplishment rusted—to the relief of the management—although + he required that Valeria should be described in the advertisements as the + wife of “the <i>celebrated ventriloquist</i>, Mr. Brent Kayle,” thus + seeking by faked notoriety to secure the sweets of fame, without the labor + of achievement. + </p> + <p> + Valeria had welcomed the pacific settlement of the difficulty, because her + “good money” earned in the show so brightened and beautified the evening + of life for the venerable grandparents at home. For their sake she had + conquered her dread of the lion in the pageant. Indeed she had found other + lions in her path that she feared more—the glitter and gauds of her + tinsel world, the enervating love of ease, the influence of sordid + surroundings and ignoble ideals. But not one could withstand the simple + goodness of the unsophisticated girl. They retreated before the power of + her fireside traditions of right thinking and true living which she had + learned in her humble mountain home. + </p> + <p> + It had come to be a dwelling of comfortable aspect, cared for in the + absence of the young couple by a thrifty hired housekeeper, a widowed + cousin, and here they spent the off-seasons when the circus company went + into winter quarters. Repairs had been instituted, several rooms were + added, and a wide veranda replaced the rickety little porch and gave upon + a noble prospect of mountain and valley and river. Here on sunshiny noons + in the good Saint Martin's summer the old gran'dad loved to sit, blithe + and hearty, chirping away the soft unseasonable December days. Sometimes + in the plenitude of content he would give Valeria a meaning glance and + mutter “Oh, leetle <i>Owel!</i> Oh, leetle <i>Owel!</i>” and then break + into laughter that must needs pause to let him wipe his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Vallie 'pears ter hev right good sense an' makes out toler'ble well, + considerin',” her husband would affably remark, “though of course it war + <i>me</i> ez interduced her ter the managers, an' she gits her main chance + in the show through my bein' a celebrated ventriloquisk.” + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Una Of The Hill Country, by +Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNA OF THE HILL COUNTRY *** + +***** This file should be named 23550-h.htm or 23550-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/5/5/23550/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Una Of The Hill Country + 1911 + +Author: Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +Release Date: November 19, 2007 [EBook #23550] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNA OF THE HILL COUNTRY *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +UNA OF THE HILL COUNTRY + +By Charles Egbert Craddock + +1911 + + +The old sawmill on Headlong Creek at the water-gap of Chilhowee Mountain +was silent and still one day, its habit of industry suggested only in +the ample expanse of sawdust spread thickly over a level open space in +the woods hard by, to serve as footing for the "bran dance" that had +been so long heralded and that was destined to end so strangely. + +A barbecue had added its attractions, unrivalled in the estimation +of the rustic epicure, but even while the shoats, with the delectable +flavor imparted by underground roasting and browned to a turn, were +under discussion by the elder men and the sun-bonneted matrons on a +shady slope near the mill, where tablecloths had been spread beside a +crystal spring, the dance went ceaselessly on, as if the flying figures +were insensible of fatigue, impervious to hunger, immune from heat. + +Indeed the youths and maidens of the contiguous coves and ridges had +rarely so eligible an opportunity, for it is one of the accepted tenets +of the rural religionist that dancing in itself is a deadly sin, and +all the pulpits of the countryside had joined in fulminations against +it Nothing less than a political necessity had compassed this joyous +occasion. It was said to have been devised by the "machine" to draw +together the largest possible crowd, that certain candidates might +present their views on burning questions of more than local importance, +in order to secure vigorous and concerted action at the polls in the +luke-warm rural districts when these measures should go before the +people, in the person of their advocates, at the approaching primary +elections. However, even the wisdom of a political boss is not +infallible, and despite the succulent graces of the barbecue numbers +of the ascetic and jeans-clad elder worthies, though fed to repletion, +collogued unhappily together among the ox-teams and canvas-hooded wagons +on the slope, commenting sourly on the frivolity of the dance. These +might be relied on to cast no ballots in the interest of its promoters, +with whose views they were to be favored between the close of the feast +and the final dance before sunset. + +The trees waved full-foliaged branches above the circle of sawdust and +dappled the sunny expanse with flickering shade, and as they swayed +apart in the wind they gave evanescent glimpses of tiers on tiers of the +faint blue mountains of the Great Smoky Range in the distance, seeming +ethereal, luminous, seen from between the dark, steep, wooded slopes of +the narrow watergap hard by, through which Headlong Creek plunged and +roared. The principal musician, perched with his fellows on a hastily +erected stand, was burly, red-faced, and of a jovial aspect. He had a +brace of fiddlers, one on each side, but with his own violin under +his double-chin he alone "called the figures" of the old-fashioned +contradances. Now and again, with a wide, melodious, sonorous voice, he +burst into a snatch of song: + + "Shanghai chicken he grew so tall, + In a few days--few days, + Cannot hear him crow at all-----" + +Sometimes he would intersperse jocund personal remarks in his +Terpsichorean commands: "Gents, forward to the centre--back--swing: the +lady ye love the best." Then in alternation, "Ladies, forward to the +centre--back----" and as the mountain damsels teetered in expectation +of the usual supplement of this mandate he called out in apparent +expostulation, "_Don't_ swing him, Miss--he don't wuth a turn." + +Suddenly the tune changed and with great gusto he chanted forth: + + "When fust I did a-courtin' go, + Says she 'Now, _don't_ be foolish, Joe,'" + +the _tempo rubato_ giving fresh impetus to the kaleidoscopic whirl of +the dancers. The young men were of indomitable endurance and manifested +a crude agility as they sprang about clumsily in time to the scraping +of the fiddles, while their partners shuffled bouncingly or sidled +mincingly according to their individual persuasion of the most apt +expression of elegance. Considered from a critical point of view the +dance was singularly devoid of grace--only one couple illustrating the +exception to the rule. The youth it was who was obviously beautiful, of +a type as old as the fabled Endymion. + +His long brown hair hung in heavy curls to the collar of his butternut +jeans coat; his eyes were blue and large and finely set; his face was +fair and bespoke none of the midday toil at the plow-handles that +had tanned the complexion of his compeers, for Brent Kayle had little +affinity for labor of any sort. He danced with a light firm step, every +muscle supplely responsive to the strongly marked pulse of the music, +and he had a lithe, erect carriage which imparted a certain picturesque +effect to his presence, despite his much creased boots, drawn over his +trousers to the knee, and his big black hat which he wore on the back of +his head. The face of his partner had a more subtle appeal, and so light +and willowy was her figure as she danced that it suggested a degree of +slenderness that bordered on attenuation. Her unbonneted hair of a rich +blonde hue had a golden lustre in the sun; her complexion was of an +exquisite whiteness and with a delicate flush; the chiseling of her +features was peculiarly fine, in clear, sharp lines--she was called +"hatchet-faced" by her undiscriminating friends. She wore a coarse, +flimsy, pink muslin dress which showed a repetitious pattern of vague +green leaves, and as she flitted, lissome and swaying, through the +throng, with the wind a-flutter in her full draperies, she might have +suggested to a spectator the semblance of a pink flower--of the humbler +varieties, perhaps, but still a wild rose is a rose. + +Even the longest dance must have an end; even the stanchest mountain +fiddler will reach at last his limit of endurance and must needs be +refreshed and fed. There was a sudden significant flourish of frisky +bowing, now up and again down, enlisting every resonant capacity of +horsehair and catgut; the violins quavered to a final long-drawn scrape +and silence descended. Dullness ensued; the flavor of the day seemed to +pall; the dancers scattered and were presently following the crowd that +began to slowly gather about the vacated stand of the musicians, from +which elevation the speakers of the occasion were about to address their +fellow-citizens. One of the disaffected old farmers, gruff and averse, +could not refrain from administering a rebuke to Brent Kayle as crossing +the expanse of saw-dust on his way to join the audience he encountered +the youth in company with Valeria Clee, his recent partner. + +"Ai-yi, Brent," the old man said, "the last time I seen you uns I +remember well ez ye war a-settin' on the mourner's bench." For there +had been a great religious revival the previous year and many had been +pricked in conscience. "Ye ain't so tuk up now in contemplatin' the +goodness o' God an' yer sins agin same," he pursued caustically. + +Brent retorted with obvious acrimony. "I don't see no 'casion ter doubt +the goodness o' God--I never war so ongrateful nohow as that comes to." +He resented being thus publicly reproached, as if he were individually +responsible for the iniquity of the bran dance--the scape-goat for the +sins of all this merry company. Many of the whilom dancers had pressed +forward, crowding up behind the old mountaineer and facing the flushed +Brent and the flowerlike Valeria, the faint green leaves of her muslin +dress fluttering about her as her skirts swayed in the wind. + +"Ye ain't so powerful afeard of the devil _now_ ez ye uster was on the +mourner's bench," the old man argued. + +"I never war so mighty afeard of the devil," the goaded Brent broke +forth angrily, for the crowd was laughing in great relish of his +predicament--they, who had shared all the enormity of "shaking a foot" +on this festive day. Brent flinched from the obvious injustice of their +ridicule. He felt an eager impulse for reprisal. "I know ez sech dancin' +ez I hev done ain't no sin," he blustered. "I ain't afeared o' the devil +fur sech ez that. I wouldn't be skeered a mite ef he war ter--ter--ter +speak right out now agin it, an' I'll be bound ez all o' you uns would. +I--I--look yander--_look!_" + +He had thrown himself into a posture of amazed intentness and was +pointing upward at the overhanging boughs of a tree above their heads. +A squirrel was poised thereon, gazing down motionless. Then, suddenly--a +frightful thing happened. The creature seemed to speak. A strange +falsetto voice, such as might befit so eerie a chance, sounded on +the air--loud, distinct, heard far up the slope, and electrifying the +assemblage near at hand that was gathering about the stand and awaiting +the political candidates. + +"Quit yer foolin'--quit yer fooling" the strange voice iterated. "I'll +larn ye ter be afeared o' the devil. Long legs now is special grace." + +So wild a cry broke from the startled group below the tree that the +squirrel, with a sudden, alert, about-face movement, turned and swiftly +ran along the bough and up the bole. It paused once and looked back +to cry out again in distinct iteration, "Quit yer foolin'! Quit yer +foolin'!" + +But none had stayed to listen. A general frantic rout ensued. The +possibility of ventriloquism was unknown to their limited experience. +All had heard the voice and those who had distinguished the words and +their seeming source needed no argument. In either case the result was +the same. Within ten minutes the grounds of the famous barbecue and bran +dance were deserted. The cumbrous wagons, all too slow, were wending +with such speed as their drivers could coerce the ox-teams to make along +the woodland road homeward, while happier wights on horseback galloped +past, leaving clouds of dust in the rear and a grewsome premonition of +being hindmost in a flight that to the simple minds of the mountaineers +had a pursuer of direful reality. + +The state of a candidate is rarely enviable until the event is cast and +the postulant is merged into the elect, but on the day signalized by +the barbecue, the bran dance, and the rout the unfortunate aspirants +for public favor felt that they had experienced the extremest spite +of fate; for although they realized in their superior education and +sophistication that the panic-stricken rural crowd had been tricked by +some clever ventriloquist, the political orators were left with only the +winds and waters and wilderness on which to waste their eloquence, and +the wisdom of their exclusive method of saving the country. + +***** + +Brent Kayle's talent for eluding the common doom of man to eat his bread +in the sweat of his face was peculiarly marked. He was the eldest of +seven sons, ranging in age from eleven to twenty years, including one +pair of twins. The parents had been greatly pitied for the exorbitant +exactions of rearing this large family during its immaturity, but now, +the labor of farm, barnyard and woodpile, distributed among so many +stalwart fellows of the same home and interest was light and the result +ample. Perhaps none of them realized how little of this abundance was +compassed by Brent's exertions--how many days he spent dawdling on the +river bank idly experimenting with the echoes--how often, even when he +affected to work, he left the plow in the furrow while he followed till +sunset the flight of successive birds through the adjacent pastures, +imitating as he went the fresh mid-air cry, whistling in so vibrant +a bird-voice, so signally clear and dulcet, yet so keen despite its +sweetness, that his brothers at the plow-handles sought in vain to +distinguish between the calls of the earth-ling and the winged voyager +of the empyreal air. None of them had ever heard of ventriloquism, so +limited had been their education and experience, so sequestered was +their home amidst the wilderness of the mountains. Only very gradually +to Brent himself came the consciousness of his unique gift, as from +imitation he progressed to causing a silent bird to seem to sing. The +strangeness of the experience frightened him at first, but with each +experiment he had grown more confident, more skilled, until at length he +found that he could throw a singularly articulate voice into the jaws +of the old plow-horse, while his brothers, accustomed to his queer vocal +tricks, were convulsed with laughter at the bizarre quadrupedal views +of life thus elicited. This development of proficiency, however, +was recent, and until the incident at the bran dance it had not been +exercised beyond the limits of their secluded home. It had revealed new +possibilities to the young ventriloquist and he looked at once agitated, +excited, and triumphant when late that afternoon he appeared suddenly at +the rail fence about the door-yard of Valeria Clee's home on one of the +spurs of Chilhowee Mountain. It was no such home as his--lacking all the +evidence of rude comfort and coarse plenty that reigned there--and in +its tumbledown disrepair it had an aspect of dispirited helplessness. +Here Valeria, an orphan from her infancy, dwelt with her father's +parents, who always of small means had become yearly a more precarious +support. The ancient grandmother was sunken in many infirmities, and the +household tasks had all fallen to the lot of Valeria. Latterly a stroke +of paralysis had given old man Clee an awful annotation on the chapter +of age and poverty upon which he was entering, and his little farm was +fast growing up in brambles. + +"But 't ain't no differ, gran Mad," Valeria often sought to reassure +him. "I'll work some way out." + +And when he would irritably flout the possibility that she could do +aught to materially avert disaster she was wont to protest: "You jes' +watch _me. I'll_ find out some way. I be ez knowin' ez any old _owel_." + +Despite her slender physique and her recurrent heavy tasks the drear +doom of poverty with its multiform menace had cast no shadow on her +ethereal face, and her pensive dark gray eyes were full of serene +light as she met the visitor at the bars. A glimmer of mirth began to +scintillate beneath her long brown lashes, and she spoke first. "The +folks in the mountings air mighty nigh skeered out'n thar boots by yer +foolishness, Brent"--she sought to conserve a mien of reproof. "They +'low ez it war a manifestation of the Evil One." + +Brent laughed delightedly. "Warn't it prime?" he said. "But I never +expected ter work sech a scatteration of the crowd Thar skeer plumb +terrified _me_. I jes' set out with the nimblest, an' run from the devil +myself." + +"Won't them candidates fur office be mighty mad if they find out what it +war sure enough?" she queried anxiously. "They gin the crowd a barbecue +an' bran dance, an' arter all, the folks got quit of hevin' ter hear +them speak an' jaw about thar old politics an' sech." + +"Them candidates air hoppin' mad fur true," he admitted. "I been down +yander at Gilfillan's store in the Cove an' I hearn the loafers thar +talkin' powerful 'bout the strange happening. An' them candidates war +thar gittin' ready ter start out fur town in thar buggy. An' that thar +gay one--though now he seems ez sober ez that sour one--he said 't +warn't no devil. 'Twar jes' a ventriloquisk from somewhar--that's +jes' what that town man called it. But _I_ never said nuthin'. I kep' +powerful quiet." + +Brent Kayle was as vain a man as ever stood in shoe leather--even in the +midst of his absorption in his disclosure he could not refrain from a +pause to reflect on the signal success of his prank and laugh and plume +himself. + +"But old Gilfillan he loves ter believe ez the devil air hotfoot arter +other folks with a pitchfork, an' he axed how then did sech a man happen +ter be in the mountings 'thout none knowin' of it. An' that candidate, +the gay one, he say he reckon the feller kem from that circus what is +goin' fer show in Shaftesville termorrer--mebbe he hearn 'bout the +bran dance an' wanted ter hev some fun out'n the country folks. That +candidate say he hed hearn dozens o' ventriloquisks in shows in the big +towns--though this war about the bes' one he could remember. He said he +hed no doubt this feller is paid good money in the show, fur jes' sech +fool tricks with his voice--_good money!_" + +Valeria had listened in motionless amazement But he had now paused, +almost choking with his rush of emotion, his excitement, his sense of +triumph, and straight ensued a certain reluctance, a dull negation, a +prophetic recoil from responsibility that clogged his resolve. His eyes +roved uncertainly about the familiar domestic scene, darkening now, +duskily purple beneath the luminous pearly and roseate tints of the +twilight sky. The old woman was a-drowse on the porch of the rickety +little log-cabin beneath the gourd vines, the paralytic grandfather came +hirpling unsteadily through the doorway on his supporting crutch, his +pipe shaking in his shaking hand, while he muttered and mumbled to +himself--who knows what?--whether of terror of the future, or regret +for the past, or doubt and despair of to-day. The place was obviously +so meagre, so poverty-bitten, so eloquent of the hard struggle for mere +existence. If it had been necessary for Brent Kayle to put his hand to +the plow in its behalf the words would never have been spoken--but "good +money" for this idle trade, these facile pranks! + +"Vallie," he said impulsively, "I'm going ter try it--ef ye'll go with +me. Ef ye war along I'd feel heartened ter stand up an' face the crowd +in a strange place. I always loved ye better than any of the other +gals--shucks!--whenst _ye_ war about I never knowed ez they war alive." + +Perhaps it was the after-glow of the sunset in the sky, but a crimson +flush sprang into her delicate cheek; her eyes were evasive, quickly +glancing here and there with an affectation of indifference, and she had +no mind to talk of love, she declared. + +But she should think of her gran'dad and gran'mam, he persisted. How +had she the heart to deprive them of his willing aid? He declared he had +intended to ask her to marry him anyhow, for she had always seemed +to like him--she could not deny this--but now was the auspicious +time--to-morrow--while the circus was in Shaftesville, and "good money" +was to be had to provide for the wants of her old grandparents. + +Though Valeria had flouted the talk of love she seemed his partisan +when she confided the matter to the two old people and their consent +was accorded rather for her sake than their own. They felt a revivifying +impetus in the thought that after their death Valeria would have a good +husband to care for her, for to them the chief grief of their loosening +hold on life was her inheritance of their helplessness and poverty. + +The courthouse in Shaftesville seemed a very imposing edifice to people +unaccustomed to the giddy heights of a second story. + +When the two staring young rustics left the desk of the county court +clerk and repaired to the dwelling of the minister of the Methodist +Church near by, with the marriage license just procured safely stowed +away in Brent's capacious hat, their anxieties were roused for a moment +lest some delay ensue, as they discovered that the minister was on the +point of sitting down to his dinner. He courteously deferred the meal, +however, and as the bride apologetically remarked after the ceremony +that they might have awaited his convenience were it not for the circus, +he imagined that the youthful couple had designed to utilize a round of +the menagerie as a wedding tour. The same thought was in the minds of +the metropolitan managers of the organization when presently the two +young wildings from the mountain fastness were ushered into their +presence, having secured an audience by dint of extreme persistence, +aided by a mien of mysterious importance. + +They found two men standing just within the great empty tent, for the +crowd had not as yet begun to gather. The most authoritative, who was +tall and portly, had the manner of swiftly disposing of the incident by +asking in a peremptory voice what he could do for them. The other, lean +and languid, looked up from a newspaper, in which he had been scanning +a flaming circus advertisement, as he stood smoking a cigar. He said +nothing, but concentrated an intent speculative gaze on the face of +Valeria, who had pulled off her faint green sunbonnet and in a flush of +eager hopefulness fanned with the slats. + +"Ventriloquist!" the portly man repeated with a note of surprise, +as Brent made known his gifts and his desire for an engagement. "Oh, +well--ventriloquism is a chestnut." + +Then with a qualm of pity, perhaps, for the blank despair that settled +down on the two young faces he explained: "Nothing goes in the circus +business but novelty. The public is tired out with ventriloquism. No +mystery about it now--kind of thing, too, that a clever amateur can +compass." + +Brent, hurled from the giddy heights of imminent achievement to the +depths of nullity, could not at once relinquish the glowing prospects +that had allured him. He offered to give a sample of his powers. He +would like to bark a few, he said; you couldn't tell him from a sure +enough dog; he could imitate the different breeds--hound-dog, bull-pup, +terrier--but the manager was definitely shaking his head. + +Suddenly his partner spoke. "The girl might take a turn!" + +"In the show?" the portly man said in surprise. + +"The Company's Una weighs two hundred pounds and has a face as broad as +a barn-door. She shows she is afraid of the lion when she stands beside +him in the street parade, and--curse him--he is so clever that he +knows it, no matter how he is doped. It incites him to growl at her +all through the pageant, and that simply queers the sweet peace of the +idea." + +"And you think this untrained girl could take her place!" + +"Why not? She couldn't do worse--and she _could_ look the part. See," he +continued, in as business-like way as if Valeria were merely a bale of +goods or deaf, "ethereal figure, poetic type of beauty, fine expression +of candor and serene courage. She has a look of open-eyed innocence--I +don't mean _ignorance_." He made a subtle distinction in the untutored +aspect of the two countenances before him. + +"Would you be afraid of the lion, child?" the stout man asked Valeria. +"He is chained--and drugged, too--in the pageant." + +It was difficult for the astonished Valeria to find her voice. "A lion?" +she murmured. "I never seen a lion." + +"No? Honest?" they both cried in amazement that such a thing could be. +The portly man's rollicking laughter rang out through the thin walls of +canvas to such effect that some savage caged beast within reach of the +elastic buoyant sound was roused to anger and supplemented it with a +rancorous snarl. + +Valeria listened apprehensively, with dilated eyes. She thought of the +lion, the ferocious creature that she had never seen. She thought of the +massive strong woman who knew and feared him. Then she remembered the +desolate old grandparents and their hopeless, helpless poverty. "I'll +resk the lion," she said with a tremulous bated voice. + +"That's a brave girl," cried the manager. + +"I hev read 'bout Daniel's lions an' him in the den," she explained. "An' +Daniel hed consid'ble trust an' warn't afeard--an' mebbe I won't be +afeard nuther." + +"Daniel's Lions? Daniel's Lions?" the portly manager repeated +attentively. "I don't know the show--perhaps in some combination now." +For if he had ever heard of that signal leonine incident recorded in +Scripture he had forgotten it. "Yes, yes," as Valeria eagerly appealed +to him in behalf of Brent, "we must try to give Hubby some little stunt +to do in the performance--but _you_ are the ticket--a sure winner." + +Of course the public knew, if it chose to reflect, that though +apparently free the lion was muzzled with a strong steel ring, and every +ponderous paw was chained down securely to the exhibition car; it may +even have suspected that the savage proclivities of the great beast were +dulled by drags. But there is always the imminent chance of some failure +of precaution, and the multitude must needs thrill to the spectacle of +intrepidity and danger. Naught could exceed the enthusiasm that greeted +this slim, graceful Una a few days later in the streets of a distant +city, as clad in long draperies of fleecy white she reclined against +a splendid leonine specimen, her shining golden hair hanging on her +shoulders, or mingling with his tawny mane as now and again she let her +soft cheek rest on his head, her luminous dark gray eyes smiling down +at the cheering crowds. This speedily became the favorite feature of the +pageant, and the billboards flamed with her portrait, leaning against +the lion, hundreds of miles in advance of her triumphal progress. + +All this unexpected success presently awoke Brent's emulation--so far he +had not even "barked a few." A liberal advance on his wife's salary had +quieted him for a time, but when the wonders of this new life began +to grow stale--the steam-cars, the great cities, the vast country the +Company traversed--he became importunate for the opportunity of display. +He "barked a few" so cleverly at a concert after the performance +one evening that the manager gave him a chance to throw the very +considerable volume of sound he could command into the jaws of one of +the lions. "Let Emperor speak to the people," he said. Forthwith he +wrote a bit of rodomontade which he bade Brent memorize and had the +satisfaction soon to hear from the lion-trainer, to whom was intrusted +all that pertained to the exhibition of these kings of beasts, that the +rehearsal was altogether satisfactory. + +An immense audience was assembled in the great tent. The soaring dome +of white canvas reflected the electric light with a moony lustre. The +display of the three rings was in full swing. That magic atmosphere +of the circus, the sense of simple festivity, the crises of thrilling +expectancy, the revelation of successive wonders, the diffusive delight +of a multitude not difficult to entertain--all were in evidence. +Suddenly a ponderous cage was rolled in; the band was playing liltingly; +the largest of the lions within the bars, a tawny monster, roused up and +with head depressed and switching tail paced back and forth within +the restricted limits of the cage, while the others looked out with +motionless curiosity at the tiers of people. Presently with a long +supple stride the gigantic, blond Norwegian trainer came lightly across +the arena--a Hercules, with broad bare chest and arms, arrayed in +spangled blue satin and white tights that forbade all suspicion of +protective armor. At a single bound he sprang into the cage, while +Brent, garbed in carnation and white, stood unheralded and unremarked +close by outside among the armed attendants. There seemed no need of +precaution, however, so lightly the trainer frolicked with the savage +creatures. He performed wonderful acrobatic feats with them in which one +hardly knew which most to admire, the agility and intrepidity of the +man or the supple strength and curious intelligence of the beasts. He +wrestled with them; he leaped and rolled among them; he put his head +into their terrible full-fanged jaws--but before springing forth he +fired his pistols loaded with blank cartridges full in their faces; +for the instant the coercion of his eye was pretermitted every one +treacherously bounded toward him, seeking to seize him before he could +reach the door. Then Emperor, as was his wont, flung himself in baffled +fury against the bars and stood erect and shook them in his wrath. + +All at once, to the astonishment of the people, he spoke, voicing a +plaintive panegyric on liberty and protesting his willingness to barter +all the luxury of his captivity for one free hour on the desert sands. + +Surprise, absolute, unqualified, reigned for one moment. But a +circus-going crowd is uncannily quick. The audience perceived a certain +involuntary element of the entertainment. A storm of cat-calls ensued, +hisses, roars of laughter. For the place was the city of Glaston, the +Company being once more in East Tennessee, and the lion spoke the old +familiar mountain dialect so easily recognizable in this locality. Even +a _lapsus linguae_, "you uns." was unmistakable amidst the high-flown +periods. Although the ventriloquism was appreciated, the incongruity +of this countrified jargon, held in great contempt by the townfolks, +discounted Emperor's majesty and he was in ludicrous eclipse. + +Behind the screening canvas the portly manager raged; "How dare you make +that fine lion talk like a 'hill-Billy' such as yourself--as if he were +fresh caught in the Great Smoky Mountains!" he stormed at the indignant +ventriloquist. The other partners in the management interfered in +Brent's behalf; they feared that the proud mountaineer, resenting the +contemptuous designation "hill-Billy" might withdraw from the Company, +taking his wife with him, and the loss of Valeria from the pageant would +be well nigh irreparable, for her ethereal and fragile beauty as Una +with her lion had a perennial charm for the public. The management +therefore assumed the responsibility for the linguistic disaster, having +confided the rehearsal to a foreigner, for the Norwegian lion-trainer +naively explained that to him it seemed that all Americans talked alike. + +A course in elocution was recommended to Brent by the managers, and he +fell in with this plan delightedly, but after two or three elementary +bouts with the vowel sounds, long and short, consonants, sonant and +surd, he concluded that mere articulation could be made as laborious as +sawing wood, and he discovered that it was incompatible with his +dignity to be a pupil in an art in which he had professed proficiency. +Thereafter his accomplishment rusted--to the relief of the +management--although he required that Valeria should be described in the +advertisements as the wife of "the _celebrated ventriloquist_, Mr. Brent +Kayle," thus seeking by faked notoriety to secure the sweets of fame, +without the labor of achievement. + +Valeria had welcomed the pacific settlement of the difficulty, because +her "good money" earned in the show so brightened and beautified the +evening of life for the venerable grandparents at home. For their sake +she had conquered her dread of the lion in the pageant. Indeed she had +found other lions in her path that she feared more--the glitter and +gauds of her tinsel world, the enervating love of ease, the influence of +sordid surroundings and ignoble ideals. But not one could withstand the +simple goodness of the unsophisticated girl. They retreated before the +power of her fireside traditions of right thinking and true living which +she had learned in her humble mountain home. + +It had come to be a dwelling of comfortable aspect, cared for in the +absence of the young couple by a thrifty hired housekeeper, a widowed +cousin, and here they spent the off-seasons when the circus company went +into winter quarters. Repairs had been instituted, several rooms were +added, and a wide veranda replaced the rickety little porch and gave +upon a noble prospect of mountain and valley and river. Here on sunshiny +noons in the good Saint Martin's summer the old gran'dad loved to sit, +blithe and hearty, chirping away the soft unseasonable December days. +Sometimes in the plenitude of content he would give Valeria a meaning +glance and mutter "Oh, leetle _Owel!_ Oh, leetle _Owel!_" and then break +into laughter that must needs pause to let him wipe his eyes. + +"Yes, Vallie 'pears ter hev right good sense an' makes out toler'ble +well, considerin'," her husband would affably remark, "though of course +it war _me_ ez interduced her ter the managers, an' she gits her main +chance in the show through my bein' a celebrated ventriloquisk." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Una Of The Hill Country, by +Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNA OF THE HILL COUNTRY *** + +***** This file should be named 23550.txt or 23550.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/5/5/23550/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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