You watch ole Tom!
GRAYSON'S BABY
The first snow sifted in through the
Gap that night, and in a ``shack'' of
one room and a low loft a man was
dead, a woman was sick to death, and
four children were barely alive; and
nobody even knew. For they were hill
people, who sicken, suffer, and sometimes
die, like animals, and make no
noise.
Grayson, the Virginian, coming down
from the woods that morning, saw the
big-hearted little doctor outside the door
of the shack, walking up and down,
with his hands in his pockets. He was
whistling softly when Grayson got near,
and, without stopping, pointed with his
thumb within. The oldest boy sat
stolidly on the one chair in the room,
his little brother was on the floor hard
by, and both were hugging a greasy
stove. The little girl was with her
mother in the bed, both almost out of
sight under a heap of quilts. The baby
was in a cradle, with its face uncovered,
whether dead or asleep Grayson could
not tell. A pine coffin was behind the
door. It would not have been possible
to add to the disorder of the room, and
the atmosphere made Grayson gasp.
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