The Young Mountaineers

A figure appearing between two moonlit cliffs throws the Creyshaw household into alarm. Jonas believes he has seen a ghost at Old Daddy's Window, a natural opening above a steep ravine. His sons, Tad and Si, listen to the adults' fears, while their elderly grandfather responds to the news with an unexpected demand for his horse. This opening gives Charles Egbert Craddock's mountain stories a mixture of suspense, family friction and dry humor.

Set in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee, the collection follows people whose log cabins, fields and lonely roads lie close to dramatic cliffs and wooded slopes. In another episode, Barney Pratt's welcome for arriving visitors turns to bewilderment when a sheriff places him under arrest. A scrap of coat and a missing button become troubling evidence, while his friend Nick wrestles with guilt. Regional speech and closely observed landscapes make these tales useful reading for anyone interested in mountain life, local beliefs and the pressures of friendship.