well apart as foundations for the swaying body, the antiquated
rifle on which he leaned, all seemed to be the very antithesis of mental
advancement.

The Colonel, on the other hand, had not been impressed by the clothes;
or, at any rate, he had been more impressed by something which robbed
them of their oddity. His observing eyes were fixed with growing
interest on the purposeful face still thrust forward, and for a moment
they were startled by something uncanny, something back of a normal
human enthusiasm. It was only for a moment, only for a fleeting glimpse
through the dilating pupils which shot defiance out at him; but in that
moment he would have sworn that he had seen enthusiasm gone mad.

And yet, so brief had been the glimpse, that his conscious feeling was
but of charm, inspired by the primal strength of this wild and
unconquerable thing before him. The restive swaying of the body brought
to the old gentleman's mind an incident he once had seen at a circus,
when an elephant, fretted by its ankle chain, rocked from foot to foot
in sullen disquiet. He pictured an ankle chain on this well made youth
before him now, the ankle chain of ignorance, and a wave of pity made
him resolve to be the means of breaking it.

"If that is what you want, Dale," he gently said, "you shall have it,
all that you can store away." And he smiled at the flush of pleasure
which followed his words. "I'll talk to you about it this afternoon," he
added. "Let us now hurry; we must reach the horses."

CHAPTER VII

DALE DAWSON'S PHILOSOPHY

Passing out to the road, the Colonel being somewhat in advance, Bob laid
his hand on Dale's shoulder.

"There are lots of things to be learned out of schools, as well as in,"
he said, falling into step, "and some of them I can teach you better
than Miss Jane. You mustn't hesitate to ask me, nor be put
out--offended, I mean--if I volunteer things for your own good.
Understand?"

"Hit seems thar hain't nuthin' but goodness down hyar," the mountaineer
murmured.

"How about that cabin behind us?" the young planter laughed.

"Shucks, he hain't yo' kind," Dale said in a tone of deep disgust. "He
belongs moh ter my people, I reckon, than ter yourn."

"Why shouldn't your people and my people be the same?" Bob asked. "We're
the same stock, and live in the same State, and speak the same
language."

"Three chestnuts come outen the same burr," Dale slowly answered, "but
ye hain't never seed all