distance. Now, the infernal belching
clamor broke in his very ears, stunning him. He quivered under the
impact, stricken to the soul for seconds of shock. But the few
careless eyes that chanced to scan the mountaineer noted no faltering
in face or form. He stood to all appearance serenely, easily poised,
his attitude replete with the grace of physical power, his mouth
firmly closed, his widely-set eyes unwavering. Even the cudgel, and
the black bag still dangling from it, could not offset a certain aloof
dignity that masked distress by stern effort of will.

Nothing further occurred for a little to afflict the traveler's
unaccustomed nerves, and he soon found himself pleasurably absorbed in
contemplation of the novel surroundings. The boat was nearing the
Norfolk landing when his eyes fell on a dog, held in leash by a young
woman. Both the beast and its mistress commanded his instant
attention, in which wonder was the chief emotion. The dog itself was a
Boston bull-terrier, which was a canine species wholly strange to the
mountaineer's experience, limited as it had been to hounds and
mongrels of unanalyzable genealogy. The brute's face had an uncanny
likeness to a snub-nosed, heavy-jowled "boomer" whom Zeke detested,
and he eyed the creature askance by reason of the resemblance.

"Hit's plumb man-faced," was his verdict. "I shore prefer 'em jest
plain dawg." His eyes went then from the leash to the girl holding it,
and he hardly restrained a gasp, in which admiration was mingled with
amazement. The ordinary observer would have seen only a pretty girl,
of the fluffy blond type, smartly tailored in blue serge, with the
skirt decorously slit. But Zeke saw a vision from another world than
that of the slatternly mountain women, whose toil left them neither
opportunity nor ambition for nicety in dress, which, indeed, was
finally prohibited by ignorance as well as poverty. This girl stood
out in startling relief, marvelous revelation from the new world he
was entering. Slowly, with concentration, the young man scrutinized
the vision, noting every detail, from the natty turban with its
swaying feather wand to the daintily pointed ties, above which were to
be glimpsed trim silk-clad ankles. Yet, the novel charm of her failed
utterly to disturb the loyalty of his heart. His hungry soul found
exquisite satisfaction in the spectacle of feminine refinement thus
presented for the first time, but his devotion to the roughly garbed