isa-normaladvance-1913-00202

Description:	202THE NORMAL ADVANCEWi)t ii>jprig of ©ogtooobLEO MARY SWISHERIT AGAR RAUDER, the only Rauder left* -*■ since the outbreak of the feud the nightbefore, her tall, gaunt, calicoed figure still unbent, despite the work and grim troubles ofalmost fifty years, stood in the door of hermountain cabin looking intently down into thedarkening village below. Her great dog-likeeyes seemed to search into the very buildingsfor something she could not find.Finally, a small boy came running up thepath. She started eagerly forward and askedtremulously, What news, Davey?Theyre goin to string em fore the armymen come, mam, Davey explained excitedly,and the other Hawkins men skipped.Hagar did not move nor speak. Davey stoodfirst on one foot and then on the other, lookinganxiously about for an escape. As he edgedslowly away from her, Hagar, with an effort,said, Take this bucket of dew-berries with you,Davey—and—and—much obliged, and turnedslowly toward her door.Say, Davey began hesitatingly, holding thebucket of berries tightly in both hands, Say-why did—have you put Jim in the groundyet?Hagar stopped, the lines about her mouthbecame more tense, the eyes looked almost hard.I dug the grave and put him in myself thismorning, she answered slowly, as thoughspeaking to the coming night. He was mylast boy.Tears came into Daveys sympathetic eyesand rolled down his sun-burned cheeks. Heclumsily unpinned a sprig of dogwood from hisragged blouse and handed it to her. Stick itin a shell, he said, and, suddenly, not knowing what to do with himself in the midst ofgrief, bolted down the path.Hagar took the offering silently, but her eyesbecame tender. With a last look at the disappearing messenger, she slowly walked, headerect, to the rear of the cabin. She went by thefirst two graves, where her eldest sons lay stopped at her husbands grave only to trampdown a mole hill, and passed on to the freshlythrown up mound, where the last victim of thefeud lay.With lingering hands she rearranged theshells to make a place for the tribute andsmoothed the clods.Suddenly she straightened up. Oh Lord,why not five graves instead of four? Thedarkness and the mountain seemed to vanish.Instead of stars and the pale moon above,myriads of electric lights were shining insteadof graves on each side of her, high buildingsreached into the sky and instead of standingon the clay of her mountain, she was walking,dazed, on a paved street. In her fancy, shewas led into a great door, through huge rooms,and numberless halls, and then—she came to asmall, dark room with the number forty-six onthe door, and she went in to see her dying son,who wore the number forty-six on his stripedsuit. The image of his face was stamped inher memory forever. The bright, merry eyeshad become hard and had a glint in them, thelaughing mouth was now harsh, the rosy cheekswere sunken and pallid. As she had enteredthe room, he had died, never seeing her. Hehad died by his own hand, the hopelessness ofthe life punishment had overcome him. Hehad simply revenged his fathers death. Hehad done the right, she knew he had upheldthe honor of the Rauders the law had steppedin, taken him from her, killed him. sent forher, and given her this memory.Three shrill blasts of a whistle resoundedand echoed through the mountains. Hagarstarted, her face paled, she involuntarilyclenched her hands. How manv times she had
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34647
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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