Tin Call of the
Cumbertands
By CMn Htrillc Back
With Dluatratiooa
II Ion Photographs of Scsncs
in the Play
(Ceerrista. wi. to w. J. w«a * Co.)
SYNOPSIS.
On Misery dhmk Sally Millar finds
Otorn Leacott, a landscape painter, un-
oonecloua. Jmm Purvy of tha Hollmm
elan has bMn shot and Samson to  u -
" of the crime. Bamaon danlaa It
breake tha truca In tha
% faud. Jim Hollman hunta
—.*da tha man who ahot Pur-
bloodhounda loaa tha twul at
ith'e door. Laacott dlaooveri
Bamaon. Whlla aketch-
   ....   on tha mountain, Tama-
rack dlaoovars lamaon to a jeering crowd
•f mountaineer*. lamaon thraahea him
bloodhounda
Tha bloodhi
v flouth'a <
him h tha "truca-bua-
who ahot Purvy. At Wile Mo-
ra dane* Bamaon tella tha South
that ho la going to leave tha
*" icott Koea homa to N«w
blda Splcer and Sally
and danouncaa
_
alan that ha
mountalna. Leacott
Tork. (lamaon bldi       
farawall and follow,. In New York tens-
ion atudja* art and learna much of cltr
  . tr
waya. Drannla Leacott perauadea Wil-
fred Horton. her dilettante lovar. to do a
maa'a work in the world.
CHAPTER IX.
Christmas came to Mleery wrapped
In | drab mantle of deaolatlon. At
the cabin of the Widow Miller Sally
was sitting alone before the logs. She
laid down the slate and spelling book,
over which her forehead bad been
strenuously puckered, and gased some-
what mournfully Into the blase. Sally
had a secret It was a secret which she
based oo a faint hope.
The cramped and distorted chlrog-
raphy on the slate was discouraging.
It was all proving very hard work. The
• girl gased for a time at something she
lkw in the embers, and then a faint
■mile came to her lips. By nait Christ-
pas she would surprise Samson with a
latter. It should be well written, and
every "hain't" should be an "Isn't."
, % 
The normal human mind is a res-
ervoir which fills at a rata of apeed
regulated by the number and caliber
of its feed pipes. Samson's mind had
loag been almost empty, and now from
go rrxfjat Bfwea# tha   '•« «f aaw
' things were rushing in upon It that
nnder their pressure it must fill fast,
or give away.
He was saved from hopeless com
plications of thought by a sanity
which was willing to assimilate with-
out too much effort to analyse. The
boy from Misery was presently less
biaarre to the eye than many of the
unkempt bohemlans he met in the life
of the studios, men who quarreled
garrulously over the end and aim of
Art which they spelled with a capi-
tal A—and, for the most part knew
nothing of. He retained, except with-
in a small circle of Intimates, a silence
that passed for taciturnity, and
aolemnlty of vlaage that was often
construed into surly egotism.
He still wore his hair long, and,
though hla conversation gradually
aloughed off much of Its idiom and
vulgarism, enough of the mountaineer
atood out to lend to his personality a
savor of tha crudely plctureaque.
Meanwhile he drew and read and
studied and walked, and every day's
advancement waa a forced march.
Leaoott tremendously Interested in his
experiment, began to fear that the
boy's too great aomberneaa of depo-
sition would defeat the very earnest
sees from whleh It sprang. Bo one
morning the landscape-maker called
on a friend whom ha rightly believed
to be the wisest man. and the great-
eat humorist In New York.
"I want your help," said Leacott
"I want you to meet a friend of mine
and take him under your wing in
fashion. He needs you."
The stout man's face clouded. A few
years ago he had been peddling his
manuscripts with the heart-sickness of
unaucceeeful middle age. Today men
oonpled his name with those of Kip
ling and Do Maupassant One of his
aattpathles was meeting people who
aought to lloniae him. Leaoott read
the expreaalon, and, before hla hpet
had time to object swept into his re-
cital.
At the end ha summarised:
"The arttet Is much like the setter
pup. if It's la him. It's aa instinctive
aa a dog's noee. But to become effi-
cient he must go a-field with a ateady
veteran of his own breed."
"I know!" The great man, who was
also the simple man. smiled remlnle-
cently. "Tbey tried to teach ma to
herd aheep when my nose waa itching
for bird country. Bring on your man
I want to know him ."
Bainson was told nothing of the be-
nevolent conspiracy, but one evening
shortly later he found himself sitting
at a cafe table with his sponsor and
a stout man. slmost as e^ent as him
aalf The stout man responded with
something like churlish taciturnity
to the half-dosen men and womea who | Adrienno Leacott wae In Europe.
fttr« over with flatteries But later. Soon she would return and Horton
when the trio was left alone, his face meant to show that he had not buried
brightened, and he turned to the boy his talent
from Misery. I * *
"Does Billy Conrad still keep store For eight months Samson's Ufa had
at Stag boner run In the steady ascent of gradual
Samson started and his gase fell in climbing, but In the four months from
amaiement At the mention of the the first of August to the first of De-
name he saw a cross-roads store with cember, the pace of his existence sud-
rough mulea hitched to fence palings, denly quickened He left off drawing
It was a picture of home, and here waa from plaster casts and want Into a
man who had been there! With life class.
glowing eyes the boy dropped uncon- In this period Samson had hia first
sclously bach Into the vernacular of acquaintanceship with women, except
bills. those he had known from childhood—
"Hev yo been thar, strangerr and hia first acquaintance with the
The writer nodded, and sipped hla men who were not of hia own art
whisky. world.
"Not for some year*, though." he Tony Collasso waa an Italian illue-
confessed, as he drifted ioto remtola- trator who 'odged and painted In
cence, which to 8ameon was like wa- studio-apartments In Washington
tor to a parched throat Square, South. His companions were
When they left the cafe the boy varloua. numbering among them
felt as though he were taking leave group of tboee pygmy celebrltlee of
of an old and tried friend. By homely whom one has never heard until by
methods, this unerring diagnoetlclan chance he meets them, and of whom
of the human soul had been reading their Intimates speak as of Immortals,
him. liking him. and making him feel a To Collasso's studio Samson waa
heart-warming sympathy. called one night by telephone. He
It waa not until much later that had eometlmes gone there before to
Samson realised how these two really alt tor an hour, chiefly as a listener,
great men had adopted blip as their while the man from Sorrento bewailed
"little brother" that he might have fate with his coterie, and denounced
their shoulder-touch to march by. And all forms of government over Insipid
it was without his realisation, too, Chlantl
that they laid upon him the Imprint I But tonight he entered the door to
of their own characters and phlloao- find himself in the midst of a gay and
Phy, boisterous party. The room was al-
1 ready thickly fogged with smoke, snd
"I have come, not to quarrel with you, I a dosen men and women, singing
but to try to dissuade you." The Hon. snatches of current airs, were Inter-
Mr Wlckliffe bit savagely at hla cigar estlng themselves over a chafing dish,
and gave a despairing spread to his | The crowd was typical. A few very
well-manicured hands. "You stand in minor writers and artists, a model or
danger of becoming the most cordially two, and several women who had
hated man In New York-hated by the thinking parts In current Broadway
most powerful combinations in New productions.
york   At eleven o'clock the guests of honor
Wilfred Horton leaned back in a "rived to *wt"lcab J ™ey Mr„
swivel chair and put his feet up on his William Farblsh and Miss Winifred
desk. For a while he seemed Interested Starr. Having come as they explained.
his own silk socks dlrect from the theater where M,M
"It's very kind of you to warn me," I Starr danced in the first row. they
he said, quietly
The Hon. Mr. Wlckliffe rose In ex-
in I
asperation and paced the floor. The I "tlnctlve disfavor for the pair, that
smoke from his black cigar went bo- both were, in a way. handsome. Col-
fore him in vicious puffs. Finally be l ««o drew him aside to whisper Un-
stopped and leaned glaring on the portMtly:
ub]e "Make yourself agreeable to Farblsh.
"Your family baa always beeo con- He. is received in the most exclusive
servative. When you succeeded to the -oclety, and la a connoisseur of art
fortune you ahowed no aymptoms of U ha takes a fancy to you. he will
this mania. In God's name, what has  «t you up ^ the best clubs l think
changed your I "11 him a landscape."
"I hope I havn grown up," explained The girl waa talking rapidly and
the young man, with an unruffled I loudly. She had at once taken the
swaddling center of tha^spom, and her laughter
rang in free and egotistical peala
smile. "Om can'j wear i
*lufties*16refer, Vouknow."
were In evening dress Samson men-
tally acknowledged, though with in-
The attorney for an Instant softened above the other voices.
his manner as he looked Into the "Come, said the host "1 'ball pre-
stralght-gazlng, unafraid eyea of his sent you."
client The boy shook hands, gating with
"I've known you from your baby- his usual directness Into the show-
hood. I advised your father before girl's large and deeply-penciled eyaa.
you were born. You have, by the Farblsh, standing at one side with
chance of birth, come Into the control his hands In his pockets, looked on
of great wealth. The world of finance with an air of slightly bored detach-
la of delicate balance Squabbles In ment
certain dlrectoratea may throw the His dress, his mannerisms, his bear-
Street Into panic. Suddenly you log, were all those of the man who has
emerge from decent quiet and run overatudled his part. They were too
amuck In the china shop, bellowing perfect too obviously rehearsed
and tossing your horns. You make through years of social climbing, but
war on those whose Interests are your that *u a defect Samson was not
own. You seem bent on hari-kari, yet prepared to recognise.
You have toya enough to amuse. Why Someone had naively complimented
couldn't you stay putr Miss Btarr on tha leopard-skin cloak
"They weren't the right things. she had just thrown from her shapely
Tbey were, aa you say. toya." The shoulders, and she turned promptly
smile faded and Horton's chin set and vivaciously to the flatterer.
Itself for a moment as ha added: "It is nice, Isn't ltT" she prattled.
'If you don't think I'm going to atay | 'it may look a little up-atage for a girl
"I've heard George Lesoott speak of
you," he said, genially. "I've rather a
fancy for being among the discover
era of men of talent Wa must see
more of eacu other."
Samson left tha party early, and
with a sense of disgust
Several days later, 8amson waa
alone in Lesoott's studio. It was n ear-
ing twilight and ha had laid aalda a
volume of Da Maupaasant wboae sim-
ple power had beguiled ilm. The door
opened, and he aaw the figure of a
woman on the threahold. The boy
ioae somewhat shyly from his seat
and stood looking at her. She was aa
richly dreased as Miss Starr had bean,
bat there waa the same difference as
between the colors of the sunset sky
and the exaggerated daube of Collaa-
so's landscape. She atood at the door
a moment and then came forward
with her hand outatretcbad.
"This Is Mr. 8outh, isn't ltr aha
asked, with a frank friendliness in
ber voice.
"Yes. ma'am, that> my name."
"I'm Adrianne Leacott" said tha
girl. "I thought Id find my brother
here. I stopped by to drive him up-
town."
Samson had hesitatingly taken the
gloved hand, and ita grasp was firm
and strong despite Its ridiculous
smallnees.
"I reckon he'll be back oreaently.'
The boy was in doubt as to the proper
procedure. This waa "Lescott's studio,
and he was not certain whether or not
It lay in his province to invite Los*
cott's sister to take possession of It
Possibly, he ought to withdraw. Is
ideas of social usages were very vague.
"Then, I think I'll wait" announced
the girl. She threw off her fur coat
and took a seat before the open grate.
The chair was large, and swallowed
her up.
Samson wanted to look at ber. and
was afraid that this would be impolite.
He reallied that he lad seen no
real ladles, except on the street, and
now he had the opportunity.
"I'm glad of this chance to meet
you, Mr. South," said the girl with a
smile that found ita way to the boy's
heart. After all, there was sincerity
In "foreign" women. "George talks of
you so much that I feel as if I'd known
you all the while. Don't you think I
might claim friendship with George's
friends T"
Samson had no answer. He wished
to say something equally oordlal, but
the old Instinct against effualvaness
tied his tongue.
"I owe right smart to George Los-
cott" he told her, gravely.
"That's not answering my question,
she laughed. "Do you consent tc be-
ing friends with ma?"
"Miss—" began the boy. Then, real-
ixlng that in New York this form of
address Is hardly complete, he hast-
ened to add: "Miss Lescott I've been
here over nine months now, and I'm
lust beginning to realise what a rube
cause ha ahunned meetings
stranger* Until his edacatloo had ad-1
vanced further, ha wished to atoMl
social embarraeamenta He knew |
that sho liked him, and realised thai
It was bocauae he was a-aew and virile
type, and tor that reason a diversion—
a sort of human novelty. 8he Uked
him, too, because It was rare for a
man to offer her friendship without
making love, and she was certain ho
would not make Iota He Uked her
for the same reaaons that avery one
alae did—because aha waa heraalf. Of
late, too, he had met a number of
men at Leecott's club. lie waa mod-
eetly surprised to find that though
hla attitude on these occasions waa
always that of one sitting in the back'
ground, the men aeemed to Uha htm,
and. when they said. "Bee you again."
at parting, it was with the convincing
manner of real friendlineaa
One wonderful afternoon In Octo-
ber. when the distances were mist-
hung. and the skies very olear, Bam-
aon sat across the table from Adrienne
Lescott at a road house on the Bound.
The sun had set through great cloud
battalions massed against the weat,
and the horlson was fading Into dark-
ness through a base like aah of rolpa.
She had picked him up on tha Ave--
nue, and taken him Into her ear for
a short spin but the afternoon hhd
beguiled them, luring them oo a little
farther, and still a little tardier. When
they were a score of mUes from Man-
put—watch me.'
"Why do you have to make
to be chronically Insurgent f"
"Because"—the young man, who had
waked up, spoke slowly—"I am read-
who hasn't got a line to read Into
the piece, but these days one must
get the spot-light or be a dead one.
It reminds me of a little run-In I had
with Graddy—he's our stage-director,
lng a certain writing on the wall The you know." She paussd, awaiting tha
time Is not far off when, unless wa invitation to proceed, and, having re-
regulate a number of mattera from calved It, went gayly forward. "1 was
within we shall be regulated from ten minutes late, one day, for reheara-
wlthout" al, and Graddy came up with that sar
"Take for Instance this newspaper castlc manner of his, and said: 'Miss
war you've Inaugurated on the police," Starr, 1 dont doubt you are a perfect-
grumbled the corporation lawyer. "It'a ly nice girl, and all that, but it rather
less dangerous to the public than gets my goat to figure out how, on
these financial crusadee, but decidedly a salary of fifteen dollars a week,
more so for yourself. Tou are re- you come to rehearsals in a million
garded as a dangerous agitator, a mar dollars' worth of clothes, rldlug In a
plot! I tell you. Wlnfred, aside from limousine—and ten minutes lata!"*
all other considerations the thing Is 8he broke off with the eager little
perilous to yourself. You are riding expression of awaiting applause, and,
for a fall. Theae men whom you are having been satisfied, she added: "1
whipping out of public life will turn was afraid that waan't going to get a
on you." laugh, after alL"
"8o I hear. Here'a a letter I got this She glanced Inquiringly ct Samson,
morning—unsigned. That la, I thought who had not smiled, and who stood
It was here. Well, no matter. It ioohlng pusalod.
warns me that 1 have less than three "A penny for your thoughts, Mr.
months to Uva unleaa I call off my I South, from down South," aha chal-
dogs." longed.
It la nld that the new convert la "' guess I'm sort of Ilka Mr. Grad-
aver the most extreme fanatlo. Wll- dy," said the boy, alowly. "I waa Just
fred Horton had promised to put on wondering how you do do It"
his working clothes, and he bad done He spohe with perfect seriousness.
It with rechless disregard for conse- and. after a moment, the girl broke
quences. At first he was simply obey- lato prolonged peal of laughter,
lng Adrienne's orders; but soon he "Oh. you are delicious!" she ex-
found himself playing the game for claimed "If 1 could do the Ingenue
the game's sake Political overlorda, llhe that, believe me, I'd make soms
sssalled as unfaithful servant* showed hit." She came over, and, laying a
their teeth From some hidden, but hand on each of the boy's shoulder's
unfailing, source terribly sure and dl kissed him Ughtly on the cheek,
rect evidence of guilt was being gath- "That's for a droll boy!" she said,
ared. For Wilfred Horton. who wae "That's the best line 1'ta heard pulled
demanding a day of reckoning and lately."
spending great sums of money to gat Farblsh was smiling In quiet amuse-
lt there wae a prospect of things do- moot He tapped the mountaineer on
lag. | tht-. shoulder.
am. 1 havent no—" Again, he broke
off, and laughed at himself. "1 mean,
1 haven t any idea of proper manners,
and so I'm, as wo would say down
home, 'plumb sheered' of ladles.''
As he accused himself. Samson was
looking at her with unblinking direct-
ness; and she met bis glance with
eyes that twinkled.
Mr. South." sho said, "1 know all
about manners, ahd you know all
about a hundred real thinga that I
want to know. 8uppose wa begin
teaching each other?"
Samson's face lighted with tha rev-
oluUonlslng effect that a emilo can
bring only to faaturea customarily
solemn.
Miss Leecott" he said, "lat'a call
that a trade-but you're gattin' all
the worst of It To start with, you
might give ma a lesson right now In
how a feller ought to act when he*a
talkln' to a lady—how I ought to act
with you!
Her laugh made tha situation as
easy as an old shoo.
Ten minutes later, Lescott entered.
"Well." he said, with * smile, "shall
1 Introduce you people, or have you
already done it for yourselves!"
"Oh," Adrienne assured him, "Mr.
South and 1 are old friends." As she
left the room, sho turned and added:
"The second lesson had better bo at
my house. If I telephone you some
day when we can have the school-room
to ourselves, will you come up?"
Samson grinned and forgot to be
bashful as ha replied:
Til oome a-kltln'!"
CHAPTER X.
Early that year, the touch of autumn
came to tho air. Often, returning at
sundown from tha afternoon life class,
Samson felt the lure of Its melancholy
swsetneea, and paused on one of tha
Washington Square benches, with
many vague things sUrring In his
mind. Ha fait with a stronger throb
the surety of young, but qulchenlng.
abilities within himself. Partly. It waa
the charm of Indian summer, partly
a sense of growing with the daya. but,
also, though he bad not as yet realised
that It was the new friendship Into
which Adrienne had admitted blm,
and the new experience of franh cam-
araderie with a woman not as a mem-
ber of an Inferior ssx, but as an equal
companion of brain and soul. He had
aaan ber often, and usually alone, be-
"I Wae Thinking of My People,"
hattan^ the car had suddenly brohen
down. It would, the chauffeur told
them, be the matter of an hour to
effect repairs, so the girl, explaining
to tha boy that this event gave the
affair the aspect of adventure, turned v
and led tne way, on foot to the near
eat road house. )
"Wo will telephone that wo shall
Di lata, and then have dinner." aba
laughed. "And for me to have dinner
with you alono, unchaperoned at a
country inn, la by New Tork standards
delightfully unconventional. It borders
on wickedness." Then, since th|ir at-
titude toward each other was so
friendly and innocent they botb
laughed. Tbey had dined under the
trees of an old manor house, built a
century ago, and now converted Into
an Inn, and they had enjoyed them-
selves because It eeemed to them
pleasingly paradoxical that they ahould
find In a place aeemlngly so shabby-
genteel a cuisine and service of such
excellence. Neither of them had ever ,
been there before, and neither of them
hnew that the reputation of this estab-
lishment was In its own way wide—
and unsavory.
The repairs did not go aa smoothly
as the chauffeur had expected, and.
when be had finished, he waa hungry.
So, eleven o'clock found them aUll
chatting at their table on the lighted
lawn. After awhile, they fall silent
and Adrienne noticed that her com-
panion'* face had become deeply, al-
moot painfully set and that his gase
waa tensely focused on herself.
"What Is It, Mr. South?" she de-
manded.
The young man began to apeak,
in a steady, self-accusing voice
"1 was sitting here, Ioohlng at you."
he aaid, bluntly. "I waa thinhlng
how fine you are In every way; how
there is as much difference In the tex-
ture of men and women as there la in
the texture of clothea. From that
automobile cap you wear to your allp-
pera and stockings, you are clad in
silk. From your brain to the tone of
your voice, you are woven of human
silk. I've learned lately that sllh Isn't
weak, but strong. They make tha
beat balloons of It" He paused and
laughed, but his face again became
sober. "1 waa thinhlng, too, of your
mother. She must be sixty, but she's
a young woman. Her faoe la smooth
and unwrinkled, and her heart la stiU
In bloom. At ths same age. Oeorge
pon't bo much older than he Is now."
The compliment waa so obviously
not Intended as compliment at all
that the girl flushed with pleaaura.
"Then," went on Samson, his fhoe
slowly drawing with pain. "I was
thinhlng of my own people. My
mother was about forty wben sha
died. She was an old woman My
father was forty three, lie was an old
man. I was thinking how thev with-
ered under their drudgery—and oi the
monstrous Injustice of It sll
(TO uic continuum