[ Never before had the ring of an ax echoed in Silent Valley ]

[ "See all fools ain't dead yit," he observed ]

[ The memory of that race for life is still vividly terrifying ]

[ Every fall I watched Mr. and Mrs. Peg at their repairs ]

[ They turned tail and came racing back, straight toward me ]

[ Out of the dust of years, we dug the history of a buried past ]

A MOUNTAIN BOYHOOD

CHAPTER ONE

GOING WEST