10 THE CAROLINA MOUNTAINS 
tween them and Traumfest, and also in South Caro- 
lina, lies one of those mysterious regions known as 
the " Dark Corners," into whose dread precincts one 
is warned with ominous head-shakings not to ven- 
ture, for here generations of moonshiners have car- 
ried on the distillation of corn whiskey in a fashion 
nominally secret, undoubtedly reprehensible, and 
very picturesque. 
The Southern sun that floods the mountains and 
beautifies the landscape has an irresistible influence 
over the people as well. No native thinks of disobey- 
ing its implicit command — ' * Thou shalt not hurry ' ' ; 
therefore the native-born of the Blue Ridge, no 
matter what else he may lack, is rich in time, a pos- 
session denied to the foreign invader who keeps his 
hoe in the tool-house where he can find it when he 
wants it. The mountain man leaves his in the field, 
and when he wants it, if he cannot find it, he drops 
the subject. That the ancient and honorable art of 
"settin' around" has been cultivated until it has 
grown into an integral part of life, you discover upon 
asking a mountain woman, who has waited in town 
half a day for some one to come, what she did with 
her time, and receive the illuminating reply, "Oh, I 
jest sot." 
That the sun in time conquers even the most 
vigorous newcomer is a fact plainly discernible in 
Traumfest, where the people may be divided into 
three classes : Northerners who are always in a hurry, 
Southerners who are never in a hurry, and North- 
erners in process of southernization, who are some- 
