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Show page 15 HIGH JOHN THE CONQUEROR Our tox-Tn i s near the home of t h e Doctor Cato, a sad, dry and f o r l o r n town in the southern pines, with even i t s name obscure, though some say i t was named for Cato's mother, a slave of the f i r s t s e t t l e r s . Others have i t that i t was named for the spring in the woods where One Eye Cato gets his drinking water, where jaybirds x / n i s t l e , and where clouds obscure the sun and then open up, as though on command of the root man himself. One afternoon, in the countryside, One Eye Cato swung his mattock again and got dox-m on h i s knees, like a bone-hunting dog. His long, horny clax-7S made contact with the root he was seeking, a root he had been seeking a l l h i s l i f e , High John! An icy c h i l l ran the flaky f l e s h ridging Cato's spine. He dug deeper, enough t o get f i n g e r g r i p s , and f e l t r i c h muck r e l e a se i t s t r e a s u r e. He remembered long ago, in the time of h i s youth, when he had sat before log embers, the x^ind moaning, himself spellbound. An o l d , old man had woven a wondrous t a l e . High John,- said the ancient story t e l l e r , was an e a r t h l y agent for both God and the Devil. Many would seek but few would find High John. Since t h a t dim, d i s t a n t n i g h t , One Eye Cato had followed t h e s i g n s , never doubting. Now he had i t , High John the Conqueror, Let people c a l l him names, rebuke him, scorn him, buy h i s medicine and wonder out loud x-Thether i t was clean. Now it did notyiuatLBi.1 IIn hnflvfound High John. *y |