394 OUR SOUTHERN HIGHLANDERS
ple see their first railroad train at Berea.) And
it is a joy to welcome the mountain girl who
comes back after having taught her first school,
bringing the money to pay her debts and buy her
first comfortable outfit-including rubbers and
suitable underclothing-and perhaps bringing
with her a younger sister. Such a girl exerts a
great influence in her school and mountain
home. An enthusiastic mountaineer described
an example in this wise: ' I tell yeou hit teks
a moughty resolute gal ter do what that thar
gal has done. She got, I reckon, about the tough-
est deestric' in the ceounty, which is sayin' a
good deal. An' then fer boardin'-place-well,
there warn't much choice. There was one house,
with one room. But she kep right on, an' yeou
would hev thought she was havin' the finest kind
of a time, ter look at her. An' then the last day,
when they was sayin' their pieces and sich, some
sorry fellers come in thar full o' moonshine an'
shot their revolvers. I'm a-tellin' ye hit takes a
moughty resolute gal."
  The great need of our mountaineers to-day is
trained leaders of their own. The future of
Appalachia lies mostly in the hands of those
resolute native boys and girls who win the edu-
cation fitting them for such leadership. Here
is where the nation at large is summoned by a