Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 edition. Excerpt: ... "Heh, boy!" I cried, from my perch on a pile of railroad ties; "Hey, there! Where's 'Gallows Elm'?" The country stillness was so intense that the call carried well, and the youthful fisherman, bare-footed and in picturesque attire, reluctantly pulled his line from the little river and ran toward me. "What's that," he called, "Wh'd you say?" "Gallows Elm," I replied--"don't you know about the wonderful old elm?" and then, because he was lost in bewilderment, I added--"You see, boy, I've found the old church and the monument, but now I'm after that particular old elm tree that has such a reputation--and aren't there any other historic old places around here?" The boy straightened himself and looked me squarely in the eyes: "No," he said, "we hain't got none now--but we're goin' to build some." "Good for you and for your principles, old man," I answered, but, as I 'viewed the landscape o'er, ' a fervent hope entered my heart that the demon of progress would never get started on this quiet, sleepy old place. Just a tiny hamlet set down in the green valley; the shining track of the railroad crossed by the trolley line, that followed the highway, over the hills forming a center about which clustered a few modest homes, the genera! store, the hotel, the postoffice, and the picturesque little station. Very peaceful and remote from the city it seemed; a place in which to rest and let thoughts wander on pleasant themes. Even a team of oxen in a nearby meadow took life with placid unconcern, lazily following their master's lead, and pulling the harrow through the soft mold. Such is Elms ford now, but places sometimes resemble people, in that the quiet ones have known a turbulent past. Before the morning was over I found a man who had been born and...