d on each
side of me were magnificent stretches of timber that the world needs
and that is growing scarce."

"Much profit thet does me," Lone Stacy laughed dryly. "Down at Uncle
Israel's store thar's a dollar bill thet looks like hit's a-layin' on
ther counter--but when ye aims to pick hit up ye discarns thet hit's
pasted under ther glass. Thet coal an' timber of mine air pasted ter
ther wrong side of Cedar Mounting."

"And why? Because there are few roads and fewer schools. It's less the
cost and difficulties of building wagon roads than something else that
stands in the way. It's the laurel."

"The laurel?" repeated Lone Stacy, but the preacher nodded
comprehendingly, and the visitor went on:

"Yes. The laurel. I've been in Central American jungles where men died
of fever because the thick growth held and bred the miasma. Here the
laurel holds a spirit of concealment. If there wasn't a bush in all
these hills big enough to hide a man, the country would be thrown open
to the markets of the world. It's the spirit of hiding--that locks life
in and keeps it poor."

"I presume ye means on account of ther blockade licker," replied the
host, "but thet don't tech ther root of ther matter. How erbout ther
fields thet stand on end; fields thet kain't be plowed an' thet ther
rains brings down on yore head, leavin' nuthin 'thar but ther rock?"

Henderson had the power of convincing words, abetted by a persuasive
quality of voice. As a mountain man he preached his faith in the future
of the hills. He spoke of the vineyards of Madeira where slopes as
incorrigibly steep as these were redeemed by terracing. He talked of
other lands that were being exhausted of resources and turning greedy
eyes upon the untapped wealth of the Cumberlands. He painted the
picture glowingly and fervently, and Turner Stacy, listening, bent
forward with a new fire in his eyes: a fire which Kinnard Towers did
not fail to mark.

"When ther railroad taps us," interpolated Lone Stacy, in a pause,
"mebby we kin manage ter live. Some says ther road aims ter cross Cedar
Mounting."

"Don't deceive yourself with false hopes," warned the visitor. "This
change must be brought about from inside--not outside. The coming of
the railroad lies a decade or two away. I've investigated that question
pretty thoroughly and I know. The coal-fields are so large that
railroads can still, for a long time to come, choose the less expensive
routes. Cedar Mountain balks th