Then, and all in a flash, Harry understood. The mind of the old woman
dreaming in the sun had returned to the far past, and she was seeing
again with the eyes of her girlhood.
"I'm not Henry Ware, Aunt Susan," he said, "but I'm proud to say that
I'm his great-grandson. My name is Kenton, Harry Kenton."
The wrinkled forefinger sank, but the light in her eyes did not die.
"Henry Ware, Harry Kenton!" she murmured. "The same blood, and the
spirit is the same. It does not matter. Come into our house and rest
after your long journey."
Still erect, she stood on one side and pointed to the open door.
Jarvis laughed, but it was a laugh of relief rather than amusement.
"She shorely took you, Harry, for your great-grandfather, Henry Ware,
the mighty woodsman and Injun fighter that later on became governor
of the state. I guess you look as he did when he was near your age.
I've heard her tell tales about him by the mile. Aunt Suse, you know,
is more'n a hundred, an' she's got the double gift o' lookin' forrard
an' back'ard. Come on in, Harry, this house will belong to you now,
an' ef at times she thinks you're the great governor, or the boy that
Governor Ware was before he was governor, jest let her think it."
With the wrinkled forefinger still pointing a welcome toward the open
door Harry went into the house. He spent two days in the hospitable
home of Samuel Jarvis. He would have limited the time to a single day,
because Richmond was calling to him very strongly now, but it was
necessary to buy a good horse for the journey by land, and Jarvis would
not let him start until he had the pick of the region.
The first evening after their arrival they sat on the porch of the
mountain home. Ike's mother was with them, but old Aunt Suse had
already gone to bed. Throughout the day she had called Harry sometimes
by his own name and sometimes "governor," and she had shown a wonderful
pride whenever he ran to help her, as he often did.
The twilight was gone some time. The bright stars had sprung out in
groups, and a noble moon was shining. A fine, misty, silver light,
like gauze, hung over the valley, tinting the high green heads of the
near and friendly mountains, and giving a wonderful look of softness and
freshness to this safe nook among the peaks and ridges. Harry did not
wonder that Jarvis and Ike loved it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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