210 THE CAROLINA MOUNTAINS 
whence he can in safety give spirituous consolation 
to his brethren. 
The principal water-course of our Dark Corners 
is Vaughn's Creek, whose source is supposed to be in 
that lovely gap between Hogback and Rocky Spur, 
into which, as seen from Traumfest, the sun drops 
and disappears at the winter solstice, and whose up- 
per waters were once believed to be bristling with 
stills. Of course no outsider was supposed to go into 
the Dark Corners, but any one might follow that 
road winding along high up on Melrose Mountain 
to a certain point, where looking down he could see 
directly into the forbidden region. With what 
breathless curiosity you peer down there the first 
time! And what do you see? Did you not know it 
to be in the Dark Corners, you might suppose it to 
be a corner in some paradise. In the distance, on a 
mound and surrounded by tall trees, stands a large, 
old-fashioned house. Below it are cultivated fields 
covering the bottom of a little valley through which 
winds a stream, one of the numerous tributaries of 
Vaughn's Creek. Almost beneath you is a cabin with 
a tall tree shading it, the green fields beyond it merg- 
ing into those others. The term "dark," it is evi- 
dent, cannot refer to nature, for sunshine floods the 
place, its woods we are sure are fragrant, and its 
streams murmur with sweet voices, and there is not 
the slightest sign of wickedness anywhere — which 
is a little disappointing. This of course is only one 
very small portion of the Dark Corners, the rest 
being hidden behind wooded ridges. And this valley, 
