THE FORKS OF PIGEON RIVER 281 
straight to It? To what better use could one put the 
attribute of reason? 
With what pleasure one remembers those walks to 
Henson Cove, with Its friendly people and Its pictur- 
esque houses, In which still linger Interesting old 
customs, old counterpanes, and old looms. Is Me- 
lissa Meese still weaving In Henson Cove? Can one 
still see charming coverlets In the home of Mrs. 
Nancy Blaylock? Who was It told us that "when a 
few funerals are made In this country the old weav- 
ers are all gone"? Is that picturesque cabin yet 
standing under Pizen Cove Top? And do they still 
have to guard against the "mllk-sick" over there In 
Pizen Cove? 
It was In this region that one first saw a "milk- 
sick pen," and heard of the curious sickness which, 
attacking cattle that eat grass or leaves In certain 
well-defined spots, through the milk poisons the 
people, sometimes fatally. What causes this strange 
illness no one seems to know, the vegetation In these 
places being the same as elsewhere; but what the 
people do know is just where these poisonous spots 
are, so that when you see a little space fenced off 
anywhere in the mountains for no apparent reason, 
you will generally be right In concluding it to be a 
"milk-sick" spot. 
Dutch Cove, also under Sugar Top, but separated 
from Henson Cove by a pathless ridge. Is considera- 
bly farther from Garden Creek, from which It Is 
reached by a trail over the mountains. Larger and 
more thickly settled than Henson Cove, it has a road 
