When we rode horseback we
often went in a southerly direction to the least
populated part of town where the streets were narrow and crooked,
and woodroads led off into great stretches of wilderness. As already
mentioned, there was some-thing a little eerie about the upper section
of Highland Street. I got this feeling at a very
young age as I watched Mr. Schwartz, with his full black beard, walking
briskly down the street to- wards our driveway, kicking
little stones aside and muttering something unintelligible to himself.
Then, upon reaching our driveway, he would turn around and walk home
again. He always kept his hands behind his back, pounding the fist of
one into the cup of the other in rhythm with his footsteps. The
above charac-teristics as well as his glassy eyes revealed an
unfortunate mental condition which I was too young to understand.
Another sinister feature of upper Highland Street was
Mrs. Leadbetter, dressed in shabby black clothes and looking
like a miniature witch. She trudged along the road, grunting and |