After they had returned home and had dinner John Calvin started for his accustomed aerie overlooking the valley and Dorothy waited to be called; then seeing she was forgotten, followed slowly after, up the narrow path; too hurt to call out and too anxious to follow to be piqued into remaining.
The little girl of the valley, half way up and nearly out of breath, stumbled, and slightly hurt, cried out with pain. The boy looked round, saw and ran back, saying: “O Dorothy! I did not know you would care to come. Let me have your hand and help you. I will show you the big valley and tell you what I see beyond.”
Hand in hand they finished the ascent; and on the top in the very center of the great rock he made a heap of pine straw, where they sat side by side; the boy blue eyed and golden haired, birth-marked by his Anglo-Saxon ancestry, and the girl carrying from the centuries past her Norman birthright of brown eyes and dark tresses. As they sat, looking down upon the valley, her dark curls, tousled by the wind, played tag with his golden locks.
How different the two children were. Dorothy’s eyes and thoughts were of the valley, which the distance transformed into toyland. The houses suited the people, who were tiny dolls. The cattle as they came from the barns looked like the tiny creatures of a toy ark. These she talked about in a chirpy, rambling way; but the boy, mind-marked by his forebears, did not hear. He sat and gazed into the May-blue sky, blotted at intervals [pg 108] with fluffy, half transparent clouds, wind rolled from the Blue Ridge towards the Alleghanies.
He began to talk of them: “The clouds are the chariots of the angels and if you watch closely you may see them driving with reins of gold. Above the clouds, if you look hard and pray the while, you may see the face of God. The angels watch over us; and if we do something we should not they drop a tear to wipe out the deed. Sometimes the tears miss their mark and fall into the sea, and they become pearls. The little shell fish which live upon the bottom where it is dark gather and store these treasures in their homes, because in passing from sky to sea they have taken into their hearts the colors of the rainbow and the sun. When the Son of God was nailed upon the cross, the angels hiding their faces lost track of earth and drove their chariots far out to sea, where, in the dark, undisturbed depths the sad old shell fish dwell; and as they traveled most of them were too sad even for tears; but a few great tears were shed and fell great, perfect pearls into the sea. These the old shell fish found and gathered up. Once in many years one of these old fellows is torn from his moorings in the darkness of the deep and washed towards the shore. A fisherman gathers in and opens the old moss grown shell and, finding the pearl, is very glad—‘Wherefore, do ye spend money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which satisfieth not. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me; hear and you shall live.’”
The boy turned towards the girl; and saw an Indian with uplifted tomahawk standing over her ready to strike. The girl looking up, saw too, and cowering in terror, crept close to the boy. He, without fear or hesitancy, [pg 109] rose and on tiptoe reached up and took him by the arm. So they stood for several moments; then the Indian, strangely moved by the face of the boy, in which there with neither fear nor anger but calm confidence that he would not strike, lowered his arm and smiled; and the boy smiled back.
The Indian, a Mingo chief, who spoke a little English said: “No hurt little boy and girl but they must come with Logan.” He called the two braves who stood guard at the foot of the rock and ordered them to take up the children. The boy uttered no sound, but the little girl whimpered for her mother.
They were carried hastily over the mountain and by the time the stars came out were on the head waters of the Kanawha. Resting for an hour or more, until the moon rose over the tree tops, they traveled an old trail far into the night and, camping, slept until the first light of day; then on again until they reached the mouth of Meadow Creek, where they breakfasted on venison and parched corn. Then while Logan destroyed all evidences of the camp the other two dragged a canoe from the willows and paddled to a projecting rock, from which the party embarked.
As they were leaving a small black dog with a bark of joy ran up and jumped into the canoe. It was Jerry, christened Jeremiah when a puppy by Mr. Campbell, because he was given to much lamentation; later the name had been changed to Jerry at the suggestion of the boy’s grandfather.
The dog as the canoe left the bank gave a couple of sharp barks which were answered by some one from the woods. One of the Indians, lifting the dog out of the canoe, silently placed it in the water; knowing that if he killed it the children would cry out. They paddled hastily [pg 110] along the shore screened by the willows. The dog for a moment swam after them, then turned and swam back to the rock.