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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:43:15 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:43:15 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/13933-0.txt b/13933-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b437e6d --- /dev/null +++ b/13933-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9225 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13933 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 13933-h.htm or 13933-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/9/3/13933/13933-h/13933-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/9/3/13933/13933-h.zip) + + + + + +IN OLD KENTUCKY + +A Story of the Bluegrass and the Mountains Founded on Charles T. Dazey's +Play + +by + +EDWARD MARSHALL and CHARLES T. DAZEY + +Illustrations By CLARENCE ROWE + +1910 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: SHE SAW THE STRANGER BREAK THROUGH THE UNDERGROWTH ABOUT +THE POOL.] + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. + +She saw the stranger break through the undergrowth +about the pool. (Frontispiece) + +A mighty leap had carried them beyond the blazing barrier. + +"No man can cross this bridge, unless--unless--" + +"Back! back! I'm a-comin' with Queen Bess!" + +"I'm standin' face to face with my own father's murderer--Lem Lindsay." + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +She was coming, singing, down the side of Nebo Mountain--"Old +Nebo"--mounted on an ox. Sun-kissed and rich her coloring; her flowing +hair was like spun light; her arms, bare to the elbows and above, might +have been the models to drive a sculptor to despair, as their muscles +played like pulsing liquid beneath the tinted, velvet skin of wrists and +forearms; her short skirt bared her shapely legs above the ankles +half-way to the knees; her feet, never pinched by shoes and now quite +bare, slender, graceful, patrician in their modelling, in strong +contrast to the linsey-woolsey of her gown and rough surroundings, were +as dainty as a dancing girl's in ancient Athens. + +The ox, less stolid than is common with his kind, doubtless because of +ease of life, swung down the rocky path at a good gait, now and then +swaying his head from side to side to nip the tender shoots of freshly +leaving laurel. She sang: + + "Woodpecker pecked as a woodpecker will, + Jim thought 'twas a knock on the door of the still, + He grabbed up his gun, and he went for to see, + The woodpecker laughed as he said: 'Jest me!'" + +She laughed, now, not at the song, which was purely automatic, but in +sheer joy of living on that wonderful June day in those marvellous +Kentucky mountains. Their loneliness did not depress her; indeed, to +her, they were not lonely, but peopled by a host of lifelong friends who +had greeted her at birth, and would, she had every reason to suppose, +speed her when her end came. Their majesty did not overwhelm her, +although she felt it keenly, and respected it and loved it with a +certain dear, familiar awe. And everywhere about her was the Spring. +Laurel blossomed at the trail's sides, filling the whole air with +fragrance; the tardier blueberry bushes crowding low about it had begun +to show the light green of their bursting buds; young ferns were pushing +through the coverlet of last autumn's leaves which had kept them snug +against the winter's cold, and were beginning to uncurl their delicate +and wondrous spirals; maple and beech were showing their new leaves. The +air was full of bird-notes--the plaintively pleading or exultantly +triumphant cries of the mating season's joy and passion. Filmy clouds, +like scattered, snowy ostrich plumes, floated, far, far up above her on +a sea of richest blue; a fainter blue of springtime haze dimmed the +depths of the great valley which a wide pass gave her vision of off to +the left--and she was rather glad of this, for the haze, while, +certainly, it hid from her much beauty, also hid the ugly scars which +man was making there on nature's face, the cuts and gashes with which +the builders of the new railway were marring the rich pasture lands. + +She turned from this to pleasanter and wilder prospects, close at hand, +as her path narrowed, and began to sing again in sheer joyousness of +spirit. + + "Mr. Woodpecker laughed as a woodpecker will, + As Jim stood lookin' out of the door of the still, + 'Mr. Jim,' he remarked, 'I have come for to ax + _Ef_ you'd give me a worm for my revenue tax'!" + +The placid ox, plodding slowly down the trail, did not swerve when the +bushes parted suddenly at one side, as she finished this verse of her +song, but Madge Brierly looked about with a quick alertness. The sound +of the rustling leaves and crackling twigs might mean a friend's +approach, they might mean the coming of one of the very enemies whom the +song had hinted at so lightly, but against whom all the people of the +mountains keep perpetual watch, they might even mean a panther, hungry +after his short rations of the winter and recklessly determined on a +meal at any cost. + +But it was Joe Lorey's face which greeted her as she abruptly turned to +see. His coon-skin cap, his jerkin and trousers of faded blue-jeans, his +high, rusty boots matched perfectly with his primitive environments. As +he appeared only the old-fashioned Winchester, which he carried cradled +in his crooked elbow, spoke of the Nineteenth century. His face, though +handsome in a crudely modelled way, had been weather-beaten into a +rough, semi-fierceness by the storms through which he had watched the +mountain-passes during the long winter for the raiders who were ever on +his trail. The slightly reddened lids of his dark, restless eyes, told +of long nights during which the rising fumes of moonshine whisky +stealthily brewing in his furtive still, cave-hidden, had made them +smart and sting. Even as, smilingly, he came up to the strangely mounted +maid, there was on his face the strong trace of that hunted look which +furtive consciousness of continual and unrelenting pursuit gives to the +lawbreaker--even to the lawbreaker who believes the laws he breaks are +wrong and to be violated without sin and righteously. + +"That you, Joe?" said the girl. "You skeered me." + +"Did I?" he replied, grinning broadly. "Didn't plan to." + +From far below there came the crash of bursting powder. Quick and lithe +as a panther the man whirled, ready with his rifle. The girl laughed. + +"Nothin' but the railroad blastin' down there in the valley," she said +with amusement. "Ain't you uset to that, yet?" + +"No," said he, "I ain't--an' never will be." + +His tone was definitely bitter. Never were the "sounds of progress more +ungraciously received than there among the mountains by the folk who +had, hedged in by their fastnesses, become almost a race apart, +ignorant of the outside world's progressions and distrustful and +suspicious of them. + +"Where you goin', Madge?" he asked, plodding on beside the lurching ox. + +"I ain't tellin'," she said briefly. "But you can go part ways--you can +go fur as th' pasture bars." + +"Why can't I go as fur as you go?" + +"Because," said she, and laughed. "I reckon maybe that th' water's +started to warm up down in the pool, ain't it?" she cried, and laughed +again. + +"Oh!" said he, a bit abashed, and evidently understanding. + +They did not pursue the subject. + +"What you got there?" he inquired, a few moments later, as they were +approaching the old pasture. He pointed to a package carefully wrapped +in a clean apron, which she hugged beneath her arm. + +"Spellin' book," said Madge, as, just before the bars she slid down from +her perch upon the ox. "I'm learnin'." + +His lip curled with the mountaineer's contempt for books and all they +have to teach. + +"What you want to _learn_ for?" + +He had gently shouldered her aside as she had stooped to raise the bars +back to position, and, with a certain crude gallantry, had done the task +himself. + +"Bleeged," she said briefly, and then, standing with one brown and +rounded arm upon the topmost rail, paused in consideration of an answer +to his question. + +The ox stopped, dully, close within the closed gap in the rough fence. +She went closer to him and patted his side kindly. "Go on, old Buck," +she said. "I'm through with you for quite a while. Go on and have some +fun or rest, whichever you like best. You certainly can stand a lot of +rest! And here is new spring grass, Buck. I should think you would be +crazy to git at it." + +As if he understood, the old ox turned away, and, slowly, with careful +searching for the newest and the tenderest of the forage blades which +had pushed up to meet the pleasant sunshine, showed he was well fed at +all times. + +"What do I want to learn for?" the girl repeated, returning to Joe's +question. "Why--why--I don't know, exactly. There's a longin' stirrin' +in me. + +"While you was over yon" (she waved her hand in a broad sweep to +indicate the mountain's other side). "I had to go down into town +after--after quite a lot of things." She looked at him somewhat +furtively, as if she feared this statement might give rise to some +unwelcome questioning, but it did not. "I saw what queer things they are +doin'--th' men that work there on that railroad buildin'. Wonderful +things, lots of 'em, and the bed-rock of 'em all was learnin'. I watched +a gang of 'em for near plum half a day. There wasn't a thing they did +that they didn't first read from a sheet of paper about. If they hadn't +had them sheets and if they couldn't read what had been written on 'em, +why, they couldn't never _build_ no railroad. And not only that--they +got all kinds of comfort out of it. They have their books that tell 'em +what other men have done before 'em, they have their newspapers that +tell 'em--_everyday_, Joe--what other men are doin', everywhere, fur as +th' earth is spread. + +"They _know_ things, them men do, and they're heaps happier because of +it." She paused, leaning on the old worn fence. + +"An' their wimmen knows things," she went on. "I'm goin' to, too. It's +th' greatest comfort that they've got. I'm goin' to _have_ that comfort, +Joe!" + +She patted the new spelling book as if it were a precious thing. + +"I'm goin' to have that comfort," she continued. "I'm goin' to know th' +ins an' outs o' readin' an'" (she sighed and paused a second, as if this +next seemed more appalling) "an' of writin'. Dellaw! That's hard! All +sorts of curves an' twists an' ups an' downs an' things, an' ev'ry one +means somethin'!" + +Joe looked at her, half in admiration, half in apprehension. "You goin' +to git too good fer these here mountings?" he inquired. + +She gazed about her with a little intake of the breath, a little sign of +ecstasy, of her appreciation of the wondrous view. + +"Too good for these here mountings?" she said thoughtfully. "Learnin' +couldn't make me that! It might show me how to love 'em more. Nothin' in +th' world, Joe, could make me love 'em less!" + +He became more definite, a bit insistent. It had been plain, for long, +that it had required some self-control for him to walk as he had walked, +close by her side, without some demonstration of his admiration for her, +to stand there with her at the bars without some sign that in her +presence he found happiness much greater than he had ever known, could +ever know, elsewhere. + +"You goin' to git too good fer--me?" he asked. + +She turned toward him impulsively. Great friendship shone frankly in her +fine eyes. On her face was that expression of complete and understanding +comradery which one child chum may show another. Almost she said as much +of him as she had said of the surrounding mountains, but there was that +upon his face which stopped her. It was too plain that friendship was +not what he wanted, would not satisfy him. There was a hungry yearning +in his eyes, mute, respectful, worshipful, not for comradery, but for a +closer tie. She had watched this grow in him within the recent months, +with worry and regret. It seemed to her a tragedy that their old +friendship should ever prove inadequate. + +"No," she answered gently, "I shall never get too good for you, Joe--for +any of my friends." + +He looked, almost with aversion, at the book she held so closely. He +distrusted books. Instinctively he felt them to be enemies. + +"If you get them there ideas about learnin', an' all that, you will!" he +gruffly said. "Leastways you'll be goin' off, some day an' leavin' +us--me, the mountings an'--an' all yer friends up here." + +An expression of great earnestness, of almost fierce intensity grew in +his face. "Madge," he said, "Madge Brierly, you're makin' a mistake! +You're plannin' things to take you off from here; you're plannin' things +to make you suffer, later on. You're gettin' bluegrass notions, an' +bluegrass notions never did no mounting-born no good." He stepped closer +to her. + +The latent fires in his approaching eyes were warning for her and she +stepped back hastily. "Joe Lorey, you behave yourself!" said she. "I--" + +"Can't ye see I love ye, Madge?" he asked, and then the fires died down, +leaving in his eyes the pleading, worried look alone. "Why, Madge, I--" + +She tried to make a joke of it. "Joe Lorey," she said, laughing, "I +reckon you're _plum_ crazy. An' you ain't givin' me a chance to do what +'twas that I come down for." + +"But--" + +"I ain't goin' to listen to another word, to-day," said she, and waved +him off. + +He went obediently, but slowly and unhappily, his rifle snuggling in +the crook of his left elbow, his heavy boots finding firm footing in the +rough and rocky trail as if by instinct of their own, without assistance +from his brain. A "revenuer," coming up, just then, to bother him about +his still and its unlawful product of raw whisky, would have met small +mercy at his hands. He would have been a bad man, then, to quarrel with. +His temper would have flared at slightest provocation. He would not let +it flare at her; but, unseeing any of the beauties which so vividly +appealed to her, the bitter foretaste of defeat was in his heart; and in +his soul was fierce revolt and disappointment. He had not the slightest +thought, however, of accepting this defeat as final. + +Madge watched him go with a look of keen distress upon her fresh and +beautiful young face. She must not let him say what he had almost said, +for she shrank from the thought of wounding him with the answer she felt +in her heart that she would have to make. He had slouched off, half-way +down the trail and out of sight, before she put the thoughts of the +unpleasant situation from her mind and turned again to the great matter +which had brought her there, that day. + +With a last glance at the gap in the rail fence, to make sure that it +had been carefully replaced, so that there could be no danger of finding +her ox gone when she returned, she started down the mountain, by a path +different from that which Joe had taken. + +She had not gone very far, when, from a clump of bunch-grass just in +front of her, only partly, yet, renewed by the new season, a hare hopped +awkwardly, endeavoring to make off. Its progress was one-sided, +difficult. + +Instantly she saw that it was wounded and with a little cry she ran +toward it and caught it. Instinctively the tiny animal seemed to +recognize her as a friend and ceased to struggle. One of its fore legs +had been broken, as she quickly saw. + +With a little exclamation of compassion, she sat down upon a hummock, +tore from her skirt a bit of cloth, found, on the ground, two twigs, +made of these crude materials rude splints and bandages, bound the +wounded creature, and sent it on its painful way again. She sighed as, +after having watched it for a moment, she arose. + +"Pears like us human bein's always was a-hurtin' somethin'," she +soliloquized, distressed. "Thar some chap has left that rabbit in misery +behind him, and here I've sent Joe Lorey down the mountain with a worse +hurt than it's got." She sighed. "It certain air a funny world!" she +said. + +The subject of the wounded rabbit did not leave her mind until she had +clambered down the rocky path half-way to the small stream which she +sought below. She was ever ready with compassion for the suffering, +especially for dumb and helpless suffering animals, and, besides, the +episode had puzzled her. Who was there in those mountains who would +_wound_ a rabbit? Joe might have shot one, as might any other of the +mountain dwellers who chanced to take a sudden fancy for a rabbit stew +for supper, but Joe nor any of the other natives would have left it +wounded and in suffering behind him. Too sure their markmanship, too +careful their use of ammunition, for such a happening as that. Trained +in the logic of the woods, the presence of the little suffering animal +was a proof to her that strangers were about. The people of the +mountains regard all strangers with suspicion. Half-a-dozen times she +stopped to listen, half-a-dozen times she started on again without +having heard an alien sound. Once, from the far distance, she did catch +a faint metallic clinking, as of the striking of a hammer against rock, +but it occurred once only, and she finally attributed it to the +mysterious doings of the railroad people in the valley. + +Down the path she sped, now, rapidly and eagerly. It was plain that +something which she planned to do when she reached her destination +filled her with anticipation of delight, for her red lips parted in a +smile of expectation as charming as a little child's, her breath came in +eager pantings not due wholly to the mere exertion of the rapid downward +climb. When, beyond a sudden turn in the rude trail, she suddenly saw +spread before her the smooth waters of a pool, formed by the creek in a +hill-pocket, she cried aloud with pleasure. + +"Ah," said she. "Ah! Now here we be!" + +But it was not at this first pool she stopped. Leaving the path she +skirted its soft edge, instead, and, after having passed down stream +some twenty yards or more, pushed her skilled way between the little +trees of a dense thicket and into a dim, shadowy woods chamber on +beyond, where lay another pool, velvety, en-dusked, save for the flicker +of the sunlight through dense foliage. + +Here her delight was boundless. She ran forward with the eagerness of a +thirsty bird, and, leaning on the bank, supported by bent arms, bent +down and drank with keenest relish of the cool spring waters gathered in +the "cove," then dabbled her brown slender fingers in the shining +depths, watching, with a smile, concentric, widening ripples as they +hurried out across the glassy surface, to the ferned bank beyond. A few +yards away a hidden cascade murmured musically. Through the sparse and +tender foliage of spring above her, the sunlight flickered in bright, +moving patches of golden brilliance, falling on the breast of her rough, +homespun gown, like decorations given by a fairy queen. Around the +water's edges budding plants and deep-hued mosses made a border lovely +everywhere, and for long spaces deep and soft as velvet pile. A thrush +called softly from the forest depths behind her. From the other side +his mate replied in a soft twittering that told of love and confidence +and comfort. A squirrel scampered up the trunk of a young beech, near +by, and sat in the first crotch to look down at her, chattering. A light +breeze sighed among the branches, swaying them in languorous rhythm, +rustling them in soft and ceaseless whisperings. + +All these familiar, pleasant sights and sounds delighted her. During the +long winter she had been shut away from this, her favorite spot among +the many lovely bits of wilderness about her, and now its every detail +filled her with a fresh and keen delight. She looked and listened +greedily, as happy as a city child, seated, for the first time in a +space of months, before a brightly lighted stage to watch a pantomime. A +dozen times she ran with little, bird-like cries to bend above some +opening wild-flower, a space she spent in watching two intently busy +king-birds, already fashioning their nest. Another squirrel charmed her +beyond measure by sitting, for a moment, on a limb to gaze at her in +bright-eyed curiosity, and then, with a swift run down the trunk, quite +near to her, as if entirely satisfied that he saw in her a certain +friend, scuttling to the water's edge for drink. She had never seen a +squirrel drink before--few people have--and she stood, as motionless as +might a maid of marble, watching him, until, having had his fill, he +gave his tail a saucy flirt and darted back to his beech fortress, to +sit again upon his limb and chatter gossip at her. + +After he had gone back to his tree she looked carefully about her. It +now became apparent that she had come there to the pool for some +especial purpose and that she wished to be quite sure of privacy before +she put it into execution, for she went first to the path by which she +had descended, there to listen long, intently, then, with a lithe spring +where the brook narrowed at the pool's mouth, to the other side, where, +at some distance in the forest, by another woods-path's edge, she stood +again, intent and harkening. + +Apparently quite satisfied that so far as human beings went her solitude +was quite complete, she returned, now, to the pool's edge and stood +gazing down upon its polished surface. Soon she dipped the toe of one +brown, slender foot into it, evidently prepared to draw back hastily in +case of too low temperature, but tempted, when she found the water warm, +she gently thrust the whole foot in, and then, gathering her skirt +daintily up to her knees, actually stepped into the water, wading with +little shrill screams of delight. + +For a moment she stood poised there, both hands busy with her skirt, +which was pulled back tight against her knees. Then, after another hasty +glance around, she sprang out upon the bank with a quick gesture of +determination, and, close by the thicket's edge, disrobed entirely and +came back to the water as lovely as the dream of any ancient sculptor, +as alluring as the finest fancy of the greatest painter who has ever +touched a brush. + +Slim, graceful, sinuous, utterly unconscious of her loveliness, but +palpitating with the sensuous joy of living, she might have been a wood +nymph, issuing vivid, vital, from the fancy of a mediaeval poet. The +sunlight flecked her beautiful young body with fluttering patches as of +palpitant gold leaf. The crystal water splashed in answer to the play of +her lithe limbs and fell about her as in showers of diamonds. Flowers +and ferns upon the pool's edge, caught by the little waves of overflow, +her sport sent shoreward, bowed to her as in a merry homage to her +grace, her fitness for the spot and for the sport to which she now +abandoned herself utterly, plunging gaily into the deepest waters of the +basin. From side to side of its narrow depths she sped rapidly, the +blue-white of the spring water showing her lithe limbs in perfect grace +of motion made mystically indefinite and shimmering by refraction +through the little rippling waves her progress raised. She raced and +strained, from the pure love of effort, as if a stake of magnitude +depended on her speed. + +Then, suddenly, this fever for fast movement left her and she slowed to +languorous movement, no less lovely. + +The trout, which had been frightened into hiding by the splashing of her +early progress, came timidly, again, from their dim lurking places, to +eye this new companion of the bath with less distrust, more curiosity. +With sinuous stroke, so slow it scarcely made a ripple, so strong it +sent her steadily and firmly on her zig-zag way, she swam, now, back and +forth, around about, from side to side and end to end in the deep pool, +with keen enjoyment, each movement a new loveliness, each second +bringing to her fascinating face some new expression of delight and +satisfaction. Behind her streamed her flowing hair, unbound and free to +ripple, fan-like, on the water; before her dainty chin a little wave +progressed, unbreaking, running back on either hand beside her, +V-shaped. Her hands rose in the water, caught it in cupped palms and +pushed it down and backward with the splashless pulsing thrust of the +truly expert swimmer. + +Only the warm blood of perfect health could have endured the temperature +of that shaded mountain pool so long, and soon even she felt its chill +gripping her young muscles, and, as unconscious of her wholly revealed +loveliness as any nymph of old mythology, scrambled from the water to +the bank and stood there where a shaft of comfortable sunshine found its +welcome way through rifted foliage above. To this she turned first one +bare shoulder, then the other, with as evident a sensuous delight as she +had shown when the cool water first closed over her. Then, throwing back +her head, she stood full in the brilliance, and, inhaling deeply, let +the sunlight fall upon the loveliness of her young chest. The delight of +this was far too great for voiceless pleasure, and her deep, rich +laughter rippled out as liquid and as musical as the tones of the tiny +waterfall above the pool. She raised a knee and then the other to let +the vitalizing sunlight fall upon them; then, with head drooped forward +on her breast, stood with her sturdy but delicious shoulders in its +shining path. Her happiness was perfect and she smiled continually, even +when she was not giving vent to audible expressions of enjoyment. + +Suddenly, however, this idyllic scene was interrupted. In the woods she +heard the crashing of an awkward footstep and a muttered word or two in +a strange voice, as might come from a lowlander whose face has suffered +from the sting of a back-snapping branch. + +For an instant she poised, frightened, on the bank. The intruder's +crashing progress was bringing him, as her ears plainly told her, +steadily in her direction. Panic-stricken, for a moment, she crouched, +hugging her bare limbs in an ecstasy of fear. To get her clothes and put +them on before he reached the pool would be impossible, a hasty glance +about her showed no cover thick enough to flee to. + +One concealment only offered perfect hiding--the very pool from which +she had so recently emerged. She poised to slip again into the water +noiselessly and then caught sight of her disordered clothing on the +bank. To leave it there would as certainly reveal her presence as to +remain on the bank herself! Hastily she gathered it and the new spelling +book into her arms, and, with not ten seconds of spare time to find the +cover which she so desperately needed, endeavored to slip quietly into +the pool again. + +Her certainty of movement failed her, this time, though, and one foot +slipped. Into the pool she went, half-falling, and with a splash which, +she was certain, would be audible a hundred yards away. Terrified anew +by this, she dived quickly to the bottom of the pool and with all a +trout's agility and fearlessness, her clothing and beloved book clasped +tight against her bosom by her crooked left arm, her right arm sending +her with rapid strokes, when she was quite submerged, the full length of +the pool to its far end. There a fallen tree, relic of some woodland +tempest of years gone by, extended quite from bank to bank, +moss-covered, half hidden by small rushes and a little group of other +water-plants. She dived beneath this log with the last atom of endurance +she possessed and rose, perforce, upon the other side, stifling her +gasps, but drawing in the air in long, luxurious breathings. With her +mouth not more than half-an-inch above the water and her feet upon hard +bottom, she crouched there, watching through the screen of plants, her +clothes and book still pressed against her breast. + +As she peered across the log between the rushes, she saw the stranger, +with a wary step, break through the undergrowth about the +pool--cautiously, expectantly. The water heaved a bit about her chin, +for her hidden chest was palpitating with the short, sharp intakes of a +chuckling laughter. + +"Thought I were a b'ar, most likely!" she thought merrily, quite certain +of the safety of her hiding place. "Some furriner." All strangers, in +the mountains, are spoken of as "foreigners" and regarded with a hundred +times the wonder and distrust shown in cities to the native of far +lands, remote. + +Her guess was shrewd. The stranger had plainly been attracted by the +sounds of her delighted splashing and had hurried up with rifle ready +for a shot at some big game. Now he stood upon the granite edges of the +pool, disappointed even in his instinctive search for footprints, with +only the slowly widening circles left upon the surface by her hurried +flight to show him that he had not wholly been mistaken in his thought +that something most unusual had recently occurred there in the "cove." +Eagerly his disappointed glance roved around the circling +thicket--nowhere did it see a sign. When it neared the place of her +concealment the hidden girl ducked, softly, making no undue commotion in +the swiftly running water at the pool's outlet, and the searching +glance passed on, quite unsuspecting, before her breath failed and her +head emerged again. + +"Confound it!" the deeply disappointed youth exclaimed. "I was dead +certain I heard something. I _did_ hear something, too." He sighed. "But +it is gone, now." + +At length he turned away in a bad temper, and presently she heard him +crashing awkwardly through brush and brake, departing. + +Shivering from her long submersion in the gelid waters of the mountain +stream, she cautiously emerged, struggling between light-hearted +laughter at the comedy of her escape and rueful worry about the fact +that she was not only deeply chilled but had no clothes which were not +wet. Her soaked spelling-book, also, gave her much concern. Before she +spread her clothing out in the sparse sunlight, she took the dripping +volume to the warmest little patch of brilliance on any of the rocks +surrounding, and, as she opened its leaves to catch the sunshine, +examined it with loving solicitude to find how badly it was damaged. + +"Fast color," she said happily, looking at the mighty letters of its +coarse black print. "Ain't faded none, nor run, a mite." This plainly +give her great relief. Deftly she turned each leaf, using the extremest +care to avoid tearing them, handling them with loving touch. Between +them she laid little pine cones, so that air might circulate among them +and assist the process of their drying. Then, having wrung her clothing +till her strong, brown, slender wrists ached, she spread that out in +turn, but on less favored rocks, and, as her feeling of security +increased, fell into an unconscious dance, born of the necessity of +warmth from exercise, but so full of grace, abandon, joy, that a poet +might have fancied her a river-nymph, tripping to the reed-born music of +the goat-hoofed Pan. + +When, later, she had slowly dressed, and was kneeling at the pool's +edge, using the now placid surface of the water as a mirror to assist +her in rough-fashioning her hair into a graceful knot, she heard again, +from a great distance, a metallic "tink, tink-tink," which had caught +her ear when she had first stood on the pool's edge. It came, she knew, +from far, however, and so did not rouse her apprehension, but, mildly, +it aroused her curiosity. + +"Hull kentry's 'full o' furriners," she mused. "That railroad buildin' +business in the valley brings 'em. Woods ain't private no more." Again +the tink, tink-tink. "Sounds like hammerin' on rocks," she thought. +"It's nearer than th' railroad builders, too. I wonder what--but then, +them furriners are wonderful for findin' out concernin' ev'rythin'." + +She hugged her pulpy spelling book against her breast with a little +shiver of determination. "_I'm_ goin' to l'arn, too," she said with firm +decision as she scrambled up the rough and rocky mountain path. + +For a time, as she progressed, her thoughts remained afield, wandering +in wonder of what that "furriner" might be up to with the tink-tink of +his hammer upon rocks. This soon passed, however, and they dwelt again +on the pool episode. + +She had never seen a man dressed as the stranger had been. A carefully +made shooting-jacket had covered broad and well-poised shoulders which +were free of that unlovely stoop which comes so early to the +mountaineer's. A peaked cap of similar material had shaded slightly a +broad brow with skin as white as hers and whiter. Beneath it, eyes, +which, although they were engaged in anxious search when she had seen +them, she knew could, upon occasion, twinkle merrily, had gazed, clear, +calm, and brown. A carefully trimmed mustache had hidden the man's upper +lip, but his chin, again a contrast to the mountaineers' whom she had +spent her life among, showed blue from constant and close shaving. Yet, +different as he was from her people of the mountains, as she recalled +that face she could not hate him or distrust him. + +She had never in her life seen any one in knickerbockers and leggins +before, and the memory of his amused her somewhat, yet she admitted to +herself that they had seemed quite "peart" as she peered at them through +the reeds. + +But it was the modern up-to-date Winchester which he had held, all +poised to fly up to the ready shoulder should he find the splashing +animal which had attracted his attention by its noise, which, next to +his handsome, clean-cut face, had most aroused her admiration. + +"Lordy! Joe'd give his eyes to hev a gun like that," she said. + +And then she made a pun, unconscious of what the outer world calls such +things, but quite conscious of its humor. "Thought I was a b'ar," she +chuckled. "Well, I certainly _was_ b'ar!" + +Feeling no further fear of any one, defiant, now that she was fully +clothed, of "furriners," rather hoping, as a matter of fact that she +might sometime meet this one again, she let her laugh ring out +unrestrained. A cat-bird answered it with a harsh cry; a blue-jay +answered him with a still harsher note. But then a brown thrush burst +into unaccustomed post-meridian song. Even his throbbing trills and +thrilling, liquid quaverings, had not more melody in them, however, than +had her ringing laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Her laugh, too, roused more than vagrant birds into attention. She had +emerged from the abrupt little valley and was entering upon a plateau +which had been left comparatively open by the removal of great trees, +sacrificed to furnish ties for the new railroad building in the +lowlands. The place was littered with the discarded tops of pines and +other woodland rubbish and seemed forlorn and wrecked. She swept her +eyes about with the glance of a proprietor, for Madge Brierly owned all +of this as well as most of the land through which the brook which +deepened into the pool of her adventure flowed. Indeed the girl was +counted rich among her fellows and owned, also, land down in the valley +on which she would not live, but which she rented for an annual sum to +her significant, although it would not have kept a lowland belle in +caramels. + +In the center of the disordered clearing just before her, was the person +who, like the birds, had been roused to keen attention by the maiden's +ringing laugh. She saw him first while he was peering here and there, +astonished, to learn whence the sound had come, and, with the +instinctive caution of the mountain-bred, she quickly stepped behind a +clump of laurel, through which she peered at him. + +He was a man of sixty years, or thereabouts, wiry, tough and well +preserved. His hair, of grizzled grey, was longer than most men wore +theirs, even among the mountains, where there are few conventionalities +in male attire. He was dressed in the ordinary garb of the Kentucky +planter of the better class--broad soft hat, flowing necktie, long +frock-coat, which formed a striking contrast to the coarse high-boots +into the tops of which his trousers had been tucked--and yet he hardly +seemed to her to belong to the class of gentlemen to which his dress +apparently assigned him. His face was coarse and hard, his eyes, as he +peered about in search of her, were "shifty," she assured herself. His +hands were large and crudely fashioned. + +"'Pears like 'most ev'ry one is roamin' 'round my land to-day," she +thought. "I wonder what _this_ one is up to, thar?" + +For fully fifteen minutes her curiosity remained unsatisfied, for, +startled by the ringing laugh, the stranger spent at least a quarter of +an hour in furtive peering, here and there, about the clearing, plainly +searching for the laughter. At no time, however, did he approach her +hiding place near enough to see her, and, finally, apparently satisfied +that his ears had fooled him, or that whoever it had been who had +disturbed him with the merry peal had gone away, he went back to his +work. + +Just what this work could be was what she waited curiously to see. She +felt not the least resentment of the trespass it involved, for the land +was wild, and on it, as elsewhere in the mountains, any one was free to +come and go who did not commit the foolishness of neglecting camp fires, +likely to start forests into blaze, or the supreme treachery of giving +information to the revenue officials about hidden stills. Her eager +curiosity was aroused, more by the mysterious nature of the stranger's +operations than by the fact that they were conducted on her land. + +Having satisfied himself that no one, now, was near, and, therefore, +that he was not watched, the unpleasantly mysterious old man went back +to the work which evidently had brought him hither. With utmost care he +moved about the place, scrutinizing outcropping rocks, and this, as they +were everywhere, meant a minute examination of the land. In his hand he +carried a small hammer, and, with this, now and then, after a careful +visual examination of a rock, he knicked it, here and there, +investigating carefully and even eagerly the scars he made, the bits of +rock which were clipped off, now and then even looking at the latter +through a magnifying glass, which he took for the purpose from a pocket +of his vest. + +She had watched these operations, fascinated, for, possibly, a full half +hour, despite the discomfort of damp clothing, which had begun to chill +her, when she saw signs of violent excitement on the old man's face and +in his actions, after he had chipped a rock, from which he first had had +to scrape a thin superstratum of light soil. + +Like a miner who has found the gold for which, for years, he has been +searching, he arose, with the tiny fragments in his hand, to look at +them with greedy eyes, in a more comfortable, upright posture. His face +had very plainly paled and in his eyes was an expression of such +avaricious eagerness and satisfaction as she had never seen before upon +a human countenance. + +Before he made a sound she knew that he had found that thing for which +he had been seeking. His grizzled countenance, intent as any alchemist's +of old upon his search, and, as its absorption grew, continually less a +pleasant face to contemplate, now twisted, suddenly, into an expression +of incredulous joy. He took the fragment he had been examining in both +his hands and held it close before his eyes. Then he made a minute +search of it with his little magnifying glass. Then he fell upon his +knees, and, with his clawlike fingers, scraped more earth from the rock +whence he had chipped it. + +Satisfied by what he saw there, after he had done this, he rose with a +new expression on his face--so crafty, so exultant, and, withal, so +evil, that Madge involuntarily shrank back to better screening in her +leafy hiding place. + +The old man, with sweeping movements of his heavily booted feet, swept +the thin earth he had scraped from the rock's surface back into its +place, thrust the fragments deep into his pocket, and started hurriedly +away, plainly greatly pleased, along the trail which led into the +valley. She watched him with a beating heart, much puzzled. + +What could it be that he had found, there, on her land? Visions of gold +mines and of diamonds, rose within her mind, crude, unformed, childish, +based on the imperfect knowledge she had gained of such things from the +story-tellers of the mountains. As mountain people go she was, already, +a rich woman, but now dreams of mightier wealth swept through her brain +tumultuously. Ah, she would buy happiness for all her friends when she +had, later on, unearthed the secret treasures of her backwoods clearing! +Maybe she would, sometime, have a _real silk dress_! + +She hurried forward in a stooping run to make examination of the place, +as soon as the old man had vanished down the mountain side, to see (she +thoroughly expected it) the glitter of bright gems or yellow gold +beneath the sand which he had with such care spread back upon the little +scar which he had made there in the earth. With trembling fingers she +pushed back the yellow earth, and found--nothing but black rock, +uncouth, and unattractive. + +She sat there on the ground in her damp skirts, too disappointed, for a +moment, to make an exclamation. In many ways the girl, although well +past her sixteenth year, was but a child. The reaction from the mighty +dreams of fortune she had built almost unnerved her. + +It was her native humor which now saved her. Instead of weeping she +burst into sudden laughter. + +"Dellaw!" said she, aloud. "Ain't I a fool? The man was just a crazy!" + +For some time she sat there in the rocky clearing amidst the litter of +pine-tops and small undergrowth, contemplating her own silliness with +keen amusement. + +"Why, he had me that stirred up," said she, "that I reckoned I was rich +a'ready!" + +But she put the joke aside, to be told upon herself when the first +chance came. Her long hiding in the thicket while she watched the queer +proceedings of the stranger had chilled her through and through. + +Close to the black rock which had so excited him and which she had +uncovered after he had gone, a little forked stick stood upright, and in +its fork, with one end slanted to the ground, a twig of green +witch-hazel still reposed. Beneath the twig a tiny spiral of arizing +smoke showed that here, with these primitive appliances, the treasure +seeker had prepared his dinner, later carefully covering his fire. + +"No matter how queer he was dressed, or what queer things he did," she +told herself, "he sure was mountain-born. This here's a mountain +fireplace, sartin sure." + +She broke dead branches from a pine-top, not far away, but still far +enough so that, with reasonable watching, it would not be endangered by +a fire built on this spot (the old man plainly had considered this when +he made the fire, for the place was almost the only one in all the +clearing free enough from dry pine branches to make fire building safe) +and laid them on the coals which he had buried, but which she now had +carefully uncovered. She would, she had decided, dry her clothes before +she started on the long, cool, woods-road climb up to her cabin. + +Kneeling by the coals and blowing on them, skillfully adjusting +splinters so that they would catch the draft, she soon had started a +small flame. Fed carefully, this grew rapidly. Within five minutes there +was burning on the site of the old man's little cooking-fire a cheerful +blaze of size. Its rushing warmth was very grateful to her, and she held +her hands out to it, then her feet, one after the other, with skirts +lifted daintily, so that her chilled limbs might catch the warmth. + +Invigorated by the pleasant heat, she once more yielded to the urgings +of the bounding spirit of rich youth within her. Even as she had sported +in the water ere the interloper came to interrupt her sylvan bath, now +she sported there about the fire in an impromptu dance, never for a +second uncouth, despite the fact that she was quite untrained; scarcely +less graceful than her merrymaking in the water, although then she had +not been, as now, hampered in her grace of movement by the unlovely +draperies of homespun linsey-woolsey. As she had been a water-nymph, so, +now, she might have been some Druid maid dancing by an altar fire. The +roughness of the ground did not annoy her--her feet had not known +dancing upon polished waxen wood; the lack of spectators did not deter +her--those whom she had learned to know and love, the mountains, trees, +the squirrels, and birds, were there. + +In the very midst of the abandon of this rustic symphony of movement, +the thought came to her that the precious spelling-book was lying on the +rock, near by, quite soaked, neglected. She sped to it and took it to +the fire's edge, where, opening its pages one by one, so that each would +get the warmth, she held it as close as she opined was safe. Having +dried it until she no longer feared the wetting it had had would +seriously harm its usefulness (the lovely smoothness of its magic leaves +was gone, alas! beyond recall) she paused there for a moment, herself +still far from dry, with a bare foot held out to the blaze, and studied +curiously one of the book's pages. + +Thereon the letters of the alphabet, large, ominous, suggestive to her +mind of nothing in the world but curlycues, loomed, mystifying. For the +first time it occurred to her that in securing the small volume she had +not, as she had thought to do, solved the problem of an education. The +characters, she saw to her dismay, meant nothing to her. In the absence +of a teacher she could not learn from them! + +Alas, alas! The matter was a tragedy to her. How could she have been so +stupid as to fail to think of this at first? She stood there with +flushed face, despairing, looking at the mystic symbols with slowly +sinking heart. + +Suddenly, though the crackling of the fire filled her ears, she was +aware, by some subtle sense, that she was now not wholly solitary there. +Without a sound to tell her, she was conscious that some other person +had within the moment come into the clearing. Hastily she looked about. +To her amazement, and, for a moment, to her great dismay, she saw, +standing on the clearing's edge, the young man who had, not long before, +unknowingly invaded her seclusion at the pool. + +Instantly her body became fiercely conscious. Prickling thrills, not due +to bonfire heat, shot over it. Shame sent the blood in mantling blushes +to her cheeks, although she tried to stop it. Why should she blush at +sight of him? True, she had been there in the water, bare as any +new-born babe, when he had reached the pool's edge--but he had not seen +her. To him she, quite undoubtedly, was a mere strange mountain maid, +unrecognized. Self-consciousness then was quite absurd. + +And this man was a stranger and was on her land. She must not forget her +mountain courtesy and fail to make him welcome. + +"Howdy," she said briefly. + +"Howdy, little girl?" said he, and looked at her and smiled. + +This form of address much amused her. She was not far beyond sixteen, +but sixteen is counted womanhood, there in the mountains, and often is +an age for wife--and motherhood as well. "Little girl," to her, seemed +laughable. But then she suddenly remembered that to stop their flapping, +when they were all soaked, against her ankles, she had pinned her skirts +up--and she was not tall. The mistake, perhaps, was natural. + +"Got a fire here?" he inquired, inanely, for the fire was very much in +evidence. + +"Looks like it, don't it?" she said somewhat saucily, but robbed the +comment of offense by smiling somewhat shyly at him as he stood there. + +He was better looking, she reflected, now that she had an unobstructed +view of him, even than he had appeared when she had peered at him from +her concealment behind the log and barricade of rushes. Of course he +was a "foreigner," and, therefore, a mere weakling, not to be considered +seriously as a specimen of sturdy manhood (how often had she heard the +mountain men speak of the lowlands men with scorn as weaklings?) but, +none the less, he interested and attracted her, even if he did not +inspire her with respect. + +He laughed. "It does," said he, "looks very much like it. Been burning +brush?" + +"No," she replied, "jest warmin' up a little." + +"Why, it's not cold." + +"I--I was wet." + +"_Wet?_" said he, astonished. + +She saw her slip, and flushed. "Fell in the crik," she answered briefly, +hastily and falsely. + +"Why, that's too bad," said he, with ready sympathy, unfeigned and real. + +All the time the girl was eying him through often-lowered lashes, and +the more she looked at him the more she felt that he was not, like many +"foreigners," to be distrusted and be held aloof. His clothes did not +suggest to her the "revenuer," although they certainly were different +from any she had ever seen before on man or beast (his knee breeches +gave her some amusement), and he was totally unarmed, having laid his +rifle down and left it at a distance, leaning against a stump. + +His hands and face were not sunburned--indeed, his hands were delicately +fashioned and much whiter than any she had ever seen before on man or +woman. His appearance certainly did not, to her, convey the thought of +strength--and manhood, there among the mountains, is thought to find its +first and last expression through its muscle; yet, for some reason, +although her first glance made her think he was a puny creature, she +neither scorned nor pitied him. He was, perhaps, too smoothly dressed, +too carefully shaved; the gun he had laid down so carelessly had too +much "bright work" on it--but on the whole, she liked him. A city maiden +might have well been dazzled by the really handsome chap. This simple +country girl was not--but, on the whole, she liked him. + +Her hand which held the spelling-book dropped, unconsciously, so that +the open pages of the volume were revealed, upside down, against her +knee. + +"Studying your lessons?" he inquired, quite casually, good-naturedly, +coming nearer. + +Again her disappointment rushed upon her. Impulsively she told him of +it. + +"Oh," said she, "I don't know how! I bought me this yere book down in +th' settlement, an' thought I'd learn things outen it. But how'm I goin' +to learn? I can't make nothin' out of it to get a start with." + +Instantly the pathos of this situation, not its humor, made appeal to +him. + +"Isn't there a school here?" he inquired. + +"Nearest school is twenty mile acrost, over on Turkey Creek," she said +briefly. "Oncet there was a nearer one, but teacher was a Hatfield, and +McCoys got him, of course. This was McCoy kentry 'fore they all got so +killed off. He ought to 'a' knowed better than come over here to teach." + +This casual reference to a famous feud--news of whose infamy had spread +far, far beyond the mountains which had hatched it--from the lips of one +so young and lovely (for he had long ago admitted to himself that as she +stood there she was lovelier than any being he had ever seen before) +appalled Frank Layson, son of level regions, graduate of Harvard, casual +sportsman, amateur mountaineer, who had come to look over his patrimony +and the country round about. + +"Ah--yes," said he, and frowned. And then: "It leaves you in hard luck, +though, doesn't it, if you want to learn and can't," said he. + +"It sartin does, for--oh, I _do_ hanker powerful to learn!" + +"May I stay here by the fire with you a while and get warm, too," he +asked. (The unaccustomed exercise of tramping through the mountains had +kept him in a fever heat all day.) + +"An' welcome," she said cordially, moving aside a bit, so that he could +approach without the circumnavigation of a mighty stump. + +He could not tell whether or not she had made note of many sweat-beads +on his brow and wondered at them on a chilly man. + +"Perhaps," said he, "I might, in a few minutes, show you a little about +what you want to know. I've been lucky. I have had a chance to learn." + +She liked the way he said it. There was no hint of superiority about it. +He was not "stuck up," in his claim of knowledge. He "had had a chance," +and took no credit to himself for it. This pleased her, won her +confidence--if, already, that had not been done by his frank face, in +spite of his fancy clothes and her assumption that he was a namby-pamby +weakling. + +"Oh--if you would!" she said, so eagerly that it seemed to him most +pitiful. + +So, five minutes later, when all her clothing save her heavy outer +skirt, had been quite dried there by the fire, and that same fire's +abounding warmth had sent his temperature up to high discomfort mark, +they sat down, side by side, upon a log, the spelling-book between them, +and he began the pleasant task of teaching her her A, B, Cs. + +"'A,'" said he, "is this one at the very start." + +"The peaked one," said she. + +"Yes, that one. + +"And 'B,'" he went on, much amused, but with a perfectly grave face, "is +this one with two loops fastened, so, to a straight stalk." + +"I know where thar _is_ a bee-tree," she remarked, irrelevantly. + +"It will help recall this in your mind," said he, maintaining perfect +gravity, "imagine it with two big loops of rope fastened to one side of +it--" + +"Rope wouldn't stick out that-a-way," said she, "it would just droop. +They'd have to be of somethin' stiffen" + +"Well--" said he, and tried to think of something. + +"You could use that railroad-iron that I saw 'em heat red-hot an' bend, +down in the valley," she suggested. + +"That's it," said he. "Two loops of railroad-iron fastened to a +bee-tree" (he pointed) "just as these loops, here, are fastened to the +straight black stem. That's 'B.'" + +"I won't forget," said she, her beautiful young brow puckered earnestly +as she stored the knowledge in her brain. + +"And this is 'C,'" said he. + +"'C,' 'C'" said she. "Jest take off one of th' loops an' use it by +itself." + +"That's so," said he. "And here is 'D'" + +"Cut off th' top th' tree," said she. "Just cut it plumb off, loop an' +all." + +He laughed. It was clear that she would be an earnest and quick-thinking +pupil to whomever had the task of giving her her education. + +As he looked at her, now, he for the first time fully realized her +beauty. He had known, from the first, that she was most attractive, most +unusual for a mountain maid; but now, laughing, although her head was +still bent to the book, her big eyes, sparkling with her merriment, +raised frankly to his face, were revelations to him. He had not seen +such eyes before, and all the old-time similes for deep-brown orbs +sprang instantly to mind. "Fathomless pools," "translucent amber"--no +simile would really describe them. Late hours had never dimmed them, +illness had never made them heavy, he was sure a lie had never made them +shift from their straight gaze for one short second. He had not seen +such eyes in cities! + +And from careful contemplation of the eyes, he kept on with a careful +contemplation of the other beauties of his fair and unexpected pupil. +Her homespun gown, always ill-shaped and now unusually protuberant in +spots, unusually tight in others, because of its late wetting and +impromptu, partial drying, could not hide the sylvan grave of her +small-boned and lissome figure, just budding into womanhood. Her feet, +crossed on the ground, were as patrician in their nakedness as any +bluegrass belle's in satin slippers. Her ankles, scratched by casual +thorns and already beginning to blush brown from the June sun's ardent +kisses, were as delicate as any he had ever seen enmeshed in silken +hose. Her hands, long, slender, taper-fingered, actually dainty, +although brown and roughened by hard labor, were, it seemed to him, +better fitted for the fingering of a piano's keys than for the coarse +and heavy tasks to which he knew they must be well accustomed. He gazed +at her in veritable wonder. How had she blossomed, thus, here in this +wilderness? + +"Where do you live?" he asked, interrupting their scholastic efforts. + +"Up thar," she pointed, and, above, he could just see the top of a +mud-and-stick chimney rise above a crag between the trees. + +"Have you brothers or sisters?" + +"Ain't got nobody," she answered, and to her face there came a look of +keen resentment rather than of sorrow or of resignation. "I'm all th' +feud left," she said simply. She looked at Layson quickly, wondering if +he would be surprised that she should not have fought and also died. +"Girl cain't fight alone, much," she went on, in hurried explanation, +or, rather, quick excuse. "I might take a shot if I should git a chanst, +but I ain't had none, an', besides, I guess it air plum wrong to kill, +even if there's blood scores to be settled up. I toted 'round a rifle +with me till last fall, but then I give it up. They won't git me--but +maybe you don't know what feuds are in the mountings, here." + +He was looking at her with new interest. All his life he had heard much +about the dreadful mountain feuds. As the bogey-man is used in Eastern +nurseries, so are the mountaineers used in the nurseries of old Kentucky +and of Tennessee to frighten children with. Their family fights, not +less persistent or less deadly than the enmities between the warring +barons of the Rhine in middle ages, form a magnificent foundation for +dire tales. + +"Yes," said he, "I know about the feuds, of course. But you--" + +It did not seem possible to him, even after her frank statements, that +this bright and joyous creature could in any way be joined to such a +bloody history as he knew the histories of some of these long feuds to +be. + +"It's been thirty years an' better," said the girl, "since the Brierlys +and Lindsays had some trouble about a claybank filly an' took to +shootin' one another--shootin' straight an' shootin' often an' to kill. +For years th' fight went on. They fired on sight, an' sometimes 'twas a +Lindsay went an' sometimes 'twas a Brierly. Bimeby there was just two +men left--my pappy an' Lem Lindsay. + +"One day Lem sent word to my pappy to meet him without no weepons an' +shake han's an' make it up." + +Her face took on a look of bitterness and hate which almost made her +hearer shiver, so foreign was it to the fresh, young brightness he had +watched till now. + +"My daddy come, at th' ap'inted time," she went on slowly, "but dad--he +knowed Lem Lindsay, an' never for a minute trusted him. He ast a friend +of his, Ben Lorey, to be a hidden witness. Ben hid behind a rock to +watch. 'Twas right near here--just over thar." She pointed. + +"Soon Lem, he come along, a-smilin' like a Judast, an', after some fine +speakin', as daddy offered him his hand, Lem whipped out a knife, +an'--an' struck it into my daddy's heart." + +The girl's recital had been tense, dramatic, not because she had tried +or thought to make it so--she had never learned not to be genuine--but +because of the real and tragic drama in the tale she told, the +matter-of-course way in which she told it. + +It made Layson shudder. What sort of people were these mountaineers who +went armed to friendly meetings and struck down the men whose hands they +offered to clasp? Where was the other man while his friend's enemy was +at this dreadful work? + +"But Lorey," said her fascinated listener, "the man who was in hiding as +a witness, made him pay for his outrageous act!" + +"No," said the girl, with drooping head. "He stepped out from behind the +rock where he was hidin', an' he pulled the trigger of his rifle. But +luck was dead against us that day. Wet powder--somethin'--nobody knows +what. The gun did not go off. Before he got it well down from his +shoulder so's to find out what it was that ailed it, Lem Lindsay was +upon him like a mountain lion--an' he laid him thar beside my daddy. He +didn't mean that there should be no witnesses." + +She paused so long that Layson was about to speak, feeling the silence +troublesome and painful, but before he had decided what to say in +comment on a tale so dreadful, she went on: + +"He didn't mean there should be no witnesses, Lem Lindsay didn't, but as +it happened there was two. My mother, me clasped in her arms, had stole +after my daddy, fearin' that somethin' wicked would come out o' that +there meetin' with his old-time enemy. She spoke up sudden, an' +surprised th' murderer, standin' there by th' two poor men he'd killed. +At first it scared him. I can't remember everythin' about that awful +day, but I can see Lem Lindsay's face as she screamed at him, just as +plain this minute as I seed it then. I'll never forget that look if I +live a thousand years! + +"At first he was struck dumb, but then that passed. He give a yell of +rage an' started toward us on th' run. She jumped, with me a-hinderin' +her. Like a mountain deer she run, in spite of that. She was lighter on +her feet than he was upon his, an' soon outdistanced him. He hadn't +stopped to pick his rifle up--he only had th' knife he'd done th' +killin' with, so he couldn't do what he'd 'a' liked to done--shoot down +a woman an' a baby! + +"We lived where I live now, alone, an' then, as now, there was a little +bridge that took th' footpath over th' deep gully. Them days was wicked +ones in these here mountains, an' daddy'd had that foot-bridge fixed so +it would raise. My mother just had time to pull it up, when we had +crossed, before Lem Lindsay reached there. He stopped, to keep from +fallin' in the gully, but stood there, shakin' his bare fist an' +swearin' that he'd kill us yet. But that he couldn't do. Folks was +mightily roused, and he had to leave th' mountings, then an' thar, an' +ain't been in 'em since, so far as anybody knows." + +Her brows drew down upon her eyes. Her sweet mouth hardened. "He'd +better _never_ come!" she added, grimly. + +After a moment's pause she went on, slowly: "So, now, here we be--Joe +Lorey, Ben's son, an' me. My mother died, you see, not very many years +after Lindsay'd killed my daddy. Seein' of it done, that way, had been +too much for her. I reckon seein' it would have killed me, too, if I'd +been more'n a baby, but I wasn't, an' lived through it. Ben's lived +here, workin' his little mounting farm, an'--an'--" + +She hesitated, evidently ill at ease, strangely stammering over an +apparently simple and unimportant statement of the condition of her +fellow orphan. She changed color slightly. Layson, watching her, decided +that the son of the one victim must be the sweetheart of the daughter of +the other, and would have smiled had not the very thought, to his +surprise, annoyed him unaccountably. Whether that was what had caused +her stammering, he could not quite decide, although he gave the matter +an absurd amount of thought. She went on quickly: + +"He's lived here, workin' of his little mounting farm an'--an'--an' +doin' jobs aroun', an' such, an' I've lived here, a-workin' mine, a +little, but not much. After my mother died there was some folks down in +th' valley took keer of me for a while, but then they moved away, an' I +was old enough to want things bad, an' what I wanted was to come back +here, where I could see th' place where mother an' my daddy had both +loved me an' been happy. I've got some land down in th' valley--fifty +acres o' fine pasture--but I never cared to live down there. Th' rent I +get for that land makes me rich--I ain't never wanted for a single thing +but just th' love an' carin' that my daddy an' my mother would 'a' give +me if that wicked man hadn't killed 'em both. For he _did_ kill my +mother, just as much as he killed daddy. She died o' that an' that +alone." + +Again she fell into a silence for a time, looking out at the tremendous +prospect spread before them, quite unseeing. + +"Oh," she went on, at length, her face again darkened by a frown, her +small hands clenched, every muscle of her lithe young body drawn as taut +as a wild animal's before a spring. "I sometimes feel as if I'd like to +do as other mountain women have been known to do when killin' of that +sort has blackened all their lives--I sometimes feel as if I'd like to +take a rifle in my elbow an' go lookin' for that man--go lookin' for him +in th' mountings, in th' lowlands, anywhere--even if I had to cross th' +oceans that they tell about, in order to come up with him!" + +Her voice had been intensely vibrant with strong passion as she said +this, and her quivering form told even plainer how deep-seated was the +hate that gave birth to her words. But soon she put all this excitement +from her and dropped her hands in a loose gesture of hopeless +relaxation. + +"But I know such thoughts are foolish," she said drearily. "He got away. +A girl can't carry on a feud alone, nohow. There's nothin' I can do." + +Again, now, with a passing thought, her features lighted as another +maiden's, whose young life had been cast by fate in gentler places might +have lighted at the thought of some great pleasure pending in the +future. + +"There is a chance, though," she said, with a fierce joy, "that Lem +Lindsay, if he is alive, 'll git th' bullet that he earned that day. Joe +Lorey's livin'--that's Ben's son--an' he--well, maybe, some time--ah, he +can shoot as straight as anybody in these mountings!" + +The look of a young tigress was on her face. + +It made the young man who was listening to her shudder--the look upon +her face, the voice with which she said "And he can shoot as straight as +anybody in these mountings!" For a second it revolted him. Then, +getting a fairer point of view, he smiled at her with a deep sympathy, +and waited. + +He had not to wait long before a gentler mood held dominance. It came, +indeed, almost at once. + +"No," she said slowly, "a girl can't carry on a feud alone, nohow.... +And, somehow, when I think of it most times, I really don't want to. +It's only now an' then I get stirred up, like this. Most times I'd +rather learn than--go on fightin' like we-all always have.... I'd rather +learn, somehow.... An'--an'--an' that's been mighty hard--_is_ mighty +hard" + +"You--haven't had much chance," said he, looking at her pityingly. + +She gave him a quick glance. Had she really thought he pitied her she +would have bitterly resented it. + +"Had th' same chance other mounting girls have," she said quickly, +defending, not herself, but her country and her people. + +She stood, now, at a distance from the fire, for it was blazing merrily, +but her face was flushed by its radiant heat, its lurid blaze made a +fine background for the supple, swaying beauty of her slim young body. +She raised her arms high, high above her head, with that same +genuineness of gesture, graceful and appealing, which he had seen in all +her movements from the first and then clasped them at her breast. + +"But oh," said she, "somehow, I want to learn, now, terrible!" + +"Let me help you while I'm in the mountains," he replied, impulsively. +"I'll be glad to help you every day." + +"Would you?" she said. "I would be powerful thankful!" Her bright eyes +expressed the gratitude she felt. + +While they had talked a strange paradox had come about there by the fire +without their notice. The long, black outcropping of rock against which +they had brought the old man's blaze to life, had, instead of keeping +the fire from spreading to the undergrowth, strangely permitted it to +pass. + +It was the girl who first discovered this. She sprang up from her place +with a startled exclamation. + +"Oh," said she, "th' fire is spreadin'!" + +He rose quickly to his feet. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +They were appalled by the predicament in which they found themselves. +The thing seemed quite mysterious. + +The rock against which the fire had been built was all aglow, as if it +had been heated in a furnace till red hot--strange circumstance; one +that would have fascinated Layson into elaborate investigation had he +had the time to think about it--and, beyond it, evidently communicated +through it as a link, the rustling leaves of the past autumn, their +surface layers sun-dried, were bursting into glittering little points of +flame all about the narrow ledge of rock on which they were standing. As +they gazed, before Layson could rush forward to stamp out these +sparkling perils, the fire had spread, as the girl, wise in the direful +ways of brush-fires, had known at once that it would spread, to the +encircling pine-tops, left in a tinder barricade about the clearing by +the sawyers and the axemen. + +"Oh," she said, distressed, "we're ketched!" + +Layson, less conscious of their peril because less well informed as to +the almost explosive inflammability of dry pine-tops, took the matter +less seriously. "We'll get out, all right," said he. "Don't worry." + +"There's times _to_ worry," said the girl, "an' this, I reckon--well, +it's one of 'em." + +As if to prove the truth of what she said, with a burst almost like that +of flame's leap along a powder-line, the fire caught one resinous +pine-top after another with a crackling rush which was not only +fearfully apparent to the eye, but also ominously audible. Within ten +seconds the pair were ringed by sound like that of crackling musketry +upon a battlefield, and by a pyrotechnic spectacle of terrifying +magnitude. Layson had heard guns pop in untrained volleys at State Guard +manoeuvres, and was instantly impressed by the amazing similarity of +sound, but he had never in his life seen anything to be compared to the +towering ring of flame-wall which almost instantly encircled them. He +lost, perhaps, a minute, in astonished contemplation of the situation. +Then realization of their peril burst upon him with a rush. To wait +there, where they were, too evidently meant certain death. Not only +would the pulsing heat from the pine-tops already burning soon become +unendurable, but there was enough of tindrous litter strewn about the +entire area of the little clearing to make it horribly apparent to him +that, in a moment, it would all become a bed of glittering flame. He +gazed at the menacing, encroaching fire, appalled. + +Madge, understanding the desperation of their situation even better than +he did, knowing, too, that a stranger could, indeed, scarce conceive the +deadly peril of it, was, at first, the cooler of the two. Her life there +in the mountains, where any man she knew might meet, and her own father +had met, death stalking with a rifle in his bended elbow, or a knife +clutched in his clenched hand, had given her a certain poise in time of +peril, an admirable self-control, quick wits, firm nerves. She felt that +there was small chance of escape, yet she was not visibly terrified, and +made no outcry. + +Had she been caught, thus, with a mountaineer (which scarcely could have +happened) she would have felt small apprehension. Learned in the perils +of the woods, heavy-booted, sturdy-legged, a native, like Joe Lorey, for +example, would, she felt quite certain, have been able to effect her +rescue. But the chances, she decided, were practically nil, with this +untrained "foreigner" as her companion. She had been told that +"bluegrass folks" were lacking in strong nerves and prone to panic if +real danger threatened. Barefooted as she was, there was little she, +herself, could do. She knew that she would quickly fall unconscious from +intolerable pain if she so much as tried to make a dash for safety. That +she was badly frightened she would have readily admitted, that she was +panic-stricken none who looked at her could, for a moment, dream. + +She glanced at Layson with a curiosity which was almost calm, as, for a +moment quite bewildered, he ran from side to side of their rapidly +narrowing space of safety, endeavoring to find a weak spot in the wall +of flames through which they might escape, but failing everywhere. For a +moment she thought that he had lost his head, and thus proved all too +true those tales which she had heard of "foreigners." It was almost as +one race gazing at another suffering ordeal in test, that she observed +his every movement, each detail of his facial play. While they had sat +there on the log, intent upon their work above her spelling-book, she +had wondered if the harsh, uncharitable mountain judgment of the +"foreigners" had not been too merciless. Now she felt that she began to +see its justification. The man, undoubtedly, she thought, showed an +unmanly panic. + +"No use tryin' to get out that-a-way," she said calmly. "You'd better--" + +Even as she spoke, and before her words could possibly have influenced +him, she saw a change come over him. The signs of fear, which had so +displeased her, faded from his actions and his facial play. Placed in +unusual, unexpected circumstances, for a second he had been bewildered, +but, as soon as opportunity had come for gathering of wits, he found +composure, coolness, nerve. She did not even finish out her sentence. +Instead, her thoughts turned to that acme of breeding, nerve, endurance +and high spirit dear to all Kentuckians, the race horse. "He's found his +feet!" she thought. + +The man impressed her, now, even more than when, with courtesy, such as +she had never known, tact which had maintained her comfort when she +might have felt humiliated, learning which to her seemed marvellous, he +had offered her the key to learning's mysteries upon the log. She saw +that he had quickly won a mighty victory over self. She thought of tales +which she had heard by mountain fireplaces about "bad men," who, when +they first had heard a bullet's song, had dodged and whitened, only to +recover quickly and be nerved to peril evermore thereafter. Her doubt of +Layson fell away completely. Instead of thinking of him as of one whose +manhood is inferior to that of the rough mountaineers she knew, perforce +she saw in him superiorities. There was not the least sign of +bragadocio, of counterfeit, about his new-found calm. It was, she +recognized at once, entirely genuine. "Rattled for a minute," she +thought, wisely, again amending her first judgment, "but cooler, now, +than cucumbers." + +She looked gravely at him as he moved about investigating, not +excitedly, alertly, full of the necessary business of escape. "Looks +bad, don't it?" she said gravely. "Like powder, them thar pine-tops." + +"Oh, we'll get out all right," he answered, easily, and now she felt a +comfort in the fact that he was intentionally minimizing danger to give +confidence to the supposed weakness of her sex. + +"Maybe so an' maybe not," said she, discovering, to her disgust, that it +was hard, now that he was showing strength, to keep the panic tremolo +from her own voice. + +The fire had, by this time, encircled them completely, and from a +hundred points was running in toward them on tinder lines of dry +pine-needles and old leaves, flashing at them viciously along the crisp, +dry surface of old moss and lichens on the rocks. A wind had suddenly +arisen, born, no doubt, of the fire's own mighty draft. Bits of blazing +light wood, small, burning branches, myriads of flaming oak leaves and +pine-cones were swept up from the ring of fire about them, in the +chimney of the blaze, to lose their impetus only at a mighty height, and +then fall slowly, threateningly down within the burning ring. So +plentiful were these little, vicious menaces, that, within another +minute, they were dodging them continually. + +He now took his place close by her side and gazed upon the spectacle, +calm-eyed, as if he found it interesting rather more than terrifying. + +"Oh, we'll get out, all right," said he, again. + +And then he turned to her in frank and unexcited inquiry. To her +increased disgust the sobs of growing fear convulsed her throat. She +fought them back and listened to his question. + +"You know more about woods-fires than I do," he said evenly. "Better +tell me what to do, eh?" + +This confession of his ignorance strengthened her growing confidence in +him instead of weakening it. The fact that he could ask advice so calmly +made her think that, probably, he would be calm in taking it if she +could offer it. It steadied her and helped her think. And then she saw +him spring, and, actually with a smile, strike in the air above her +head, diverting from its downward path which would have landed it upon +her, a flaming fragment of pine-top fully five feet long. He actually +laughed. + +"Like handball," he said cheerily. "Don't worry. I won't let anything +fall on you. You just--_think!_" + +Her panic, now, had vanished as by magic. Instantly she really _ceased_ +to worry. He would _not_ let fire fall on her. He would get her out of +that. She was certain of it. She _could_ think--calmly and with care. + +But she could not think of a way out--at least she could not think of a +way out for her. Barefooted as she was, she scarcely could expect to +find, even in her strong young body, strength enough to endure the pain +of treading, as she would be forced to if she made a dash, on an almost +unbroken bed of glowing coals and smouldering moss ten yards in width. +He, with his heavy boots, might manage it. Therefore there was hope for +him; but for her to try it would be madness. + +Had he been a sturdy mountaineer, she wofully reflected--having found a +detail of lowland inferiority which, she was quite certain, would not be +dispelled as had some others--he might, in such a desperate case, have +summoned strength to "tote" her through, although she scarcely thought +Joe Lorey, the best man whom she knew, could really do it; still there +would have been the possibility. But no weak-muscled "foreigner," +pap-nurtured in the lowlands, could, she knew, of course, accomplish +such a feat. It was fine to know things, as he did, but _muscle_ was +what counted now! In queer, impersonal reflection, born, doubtless, of a +dumb hysteria, she reflected bitterly upon the healthy weight of her own +mountain-nourished person. + +"If I was only like them triflin' bluegrass gals Joe tells about," she +thought, "made up of nothin' or a little less, it wouldn't be no trick +to tote me outen this; but dellaw! I'm just as much as that there ox of +mine feels right to carry when I got a couple bags o' grist on, back an' +front." + +She looked around the ring of fire, dull-eyed, disheartened. "Ain't no +use," said she, aloud. + +He seemed to almost lose his temper. "Use?" said he, "of course there's +use! You tell me where the best chance is and we'll fight out, all +right." + +She did not even answer; the situation seemed to her so wholly +hopeless. + +He acted, then, without further question. Hastily throwing the loop of +his gun over his shoulder, he crooked one arm beneath her +much-astonished knees, clasped another tight about her waist, and +started for the fire with a determined spring. + +"No, no; not there!" she screamed, astonished, terrified, and yet, +withal, delighted by the unexpected hardness of the muscles in the arms +which held her, the unexpected spring in the apparently not overburdened +limbs which bore them up, the unexpected nerve, determination of the +man's initiative. + +This "foreigner," it seemed, was not so weak, was not so namby-pamby as +his class had been described to be. She did not struggle in the circling +arms, she only made an explanation. + +"That's hard wood, burnin' there," said she. "Burnin' hard wood's harder +to break through an' hotter, too. Try some place where it's pine.... But +you can't never do it!" + +"Where?" said he. "Show me! You know, I don't." + +"Well--over thar," she said, and indicated, with a pointing hand, the +place in the encircling conflagration where passage seemed least +hopeless. + +At that moment fire blazed high there, but her knowing eye told her that +it was largely flaring needles, brittle twigs, and easily dissipated +cones which fed it. + +A few great springs, such as she now felt that the quivering, eager +limbs which held her, were possessed of the ability to make, might take +them through this flimsiest spot in the terrible barricade. The +crackling, burning branches of the dead pine-tops would be likely to +give way before them, not to trip them up, as oak would, to thrust them, +falling, on the bed of glowing coals fast forming on the ground. + +"Over thar," said she, again. "I reckon that's the best place--but you +cain't--" + +With the new respect the knowledge of his trained and ready muscles +brought to her, arose in her a towering admiration of him. When she +first had seen him, there beside the pool, she definitely had liked him; +while they had delved into the mysteries of the alphabet upon the log +his patient, willing, helpful kindness had increased her prepossession +in his favor. It was only when, after disaster had so swiftly, so +unexpectedly, descended on them and she had compared his body, made +apparently more slender in comparison to the rude-limbed mountaineers +she knew than it was really by tight-fitting knickerbockers and +golf-stockings and its well-cut shooting-jacket, that she had lost +confidence in him. But now his muscles, closing round her, seemed like +thews of steel. She had never heard of athletes, she did not dream that +muscle-building is a part of modern education--that alertness on the +baseball, polo, football fields, count quite as much, at least in +college popularity, as ready tongues and agile wits. The last fibres of +destroyed respect for him rebuilt themselves upon the minute. Her +confidence returned completely in a sudden flash--quicker than the magic +leapings of the fire about them. She knew that he would take her through +to safety. + +A thought occurred to her, for, suddenly, with the new respect for him +the knowledge of his trained and ready muscles gave her, arose a new +consideration for him, almost motherly. He would be breasting dreadful +peril in the passage of the flames--peril to his eyes and face and +clinging, tight-clasped hands especially. And round her limbs there was +the means of saving him, in part, from it. + +"You let me down for just a minute," she said briefly. "Just a minute. +Then I'll let you take me up an' carry me. An' you can _do_ it, too! +You're strong, ain't you?" + +Wondering, he released his hold on her, and she slid to her feet. Then, +with a quick movement, she unbuttoned the waistband of her outer skirt, +and, letting it slip down to the ground, stepped out of it. + +"Ain't it lucky I got wet?" said she, and smiled. "It ain't more'n half +dry yet. The under one is wet, too, and both of 'em are wool--and that +don't burn like cotton would. + +"Now pick me up again an' I'll just fix this +skirt--so--there--now--that's the way. Can you see, now? All right? +Well, it'll keep th' fire from catchin' in our hair, an' it'll save your +eyes." + +[Illustration: A MIGHTY LEAP HAD CARRIED THEM BEYOND THE BLAZING +BARRIER] + +He laughed. "That's fine!" said he, and, almost before she realized that +they were under way, a mighty leap had taken them close to the blazing +barrier, another one had landed them within its very midst, another one +had carried them beyond its greatest menace, another had delivered them +from actual peril, leaving them on ground where filmy grass, dead +leaves, dry needles, had blazed quickly, with a consuming flash, and, +utterly and almost instantly destroyed, had left behind them only thin, +hot ash, devoid of peril, scarce to be considered. + +But he did not let her feet touch ground again until they were even +beyond this. Finally, when they reached a rocky "barren," where the +little fire had found no fuel, she felt his tautened thews relax. + +Instantly she slipped from his encircling arms, and he began to whip the +flames in grass and little brush close to them with the dampened skirt. +Even on the little isle of safety they found it necessary, still, to +agilely avoid innumerable bits of floating "light-wood" brands, and, for +a time, to beat, beat at the hungry little flames around them, but, at +last, the danger was all over, and they stood there, looking at each +other, with a sense of great relief. He smiled, breathing hard, but not +exhausted. + +"Tight work, eh?" he said cheerfully. + +"Jest _wonderful_!" she answered, with a ready tribute. + +Then the memory of his embracing arm, the fact that her own arms had +been as tightly clasped about his neck, came to her with a rush, +although, while they had raced across the burning strip she had not +thought of these things. Shyness stirred in her almost as definitely as +it had while she lay hidden at the pool's mouth, watching him and +tingling with shamed thrills at thought of her amazing plight there. No +man had ever had his arms about her in her life before. + +But, even while she blushed and thrilled with this embarrassment, she +fought to put it from her. He, evidently, had not thought of it at all, +was, now, not thinking of it. What had been done had been a part of the +day's work, a quick move, made in an emergency, when nothing else would +serve. His attitude restored her own composure. + +And gratitude welled in her. She struggled to find words for it. + +"I--I'm much obleeged to you," were all she found, and she was conscious +of their most complete inadequacy. + +"No reason why you should be," he said gayly. "We got caught in a tight +place, that's all, and we helped one another out of it." + +She laughed derisively. "I helped _you_ out a lot, now didn't I?" she +asked. + +Again she made a survey of him, standing where he had been when he had +loosed his hold of her, unwearied, smiling, and she looked with actual +wonder. Good clothes and careful speech were not, of a necessity, the +outward signs of weaklings, it appeared! + +Joe Lorey, in a dozen talks with her, had told her that they were. She +did not understand that this had been a clumsy and short-sighted +strategy, that, finding her more difficult than other mountain +girls--the handsome, sturdy young hill-dweller had not been without his +conquests among the maidens of his kind; only Madge had baffled him--he +had feared that, now when the railroad building in the valley had +brought so many "foreigners" into the neighborhood, one of them might +fascinate her, and it had been to guard against this, as well as he was +able, that he had spoken slightingly of the whole class. He had +delighted in repeating to her tales belittling them, deriding them, and +she, of course, had quite believed his stories. + +But her experience with this one had not justified that point of view, +and the matter largely occupied her thoughts as they walked slowly +through the thickets of a bit of "second-growth" beyond the fire, which, +stopped by the rocky "barrens," was dying out behind them. Her +companion was, to her, an utterly new sort of being, not better trained +in mind alone, but better trained in body than any mountaineer she knew; +doubtless ignorant of many details of woods-life which would be known to +any child there in the mountains, but, on the other hand, even more +resourceful, daring, quick, than mountain men would have been, similarly +placed, and, to her amazement, physically stronger, too! + +The fact that he had shown himself more thoughtful of and courteous to +her than any other man had ever been before, made its impression, but a +slighter one. Hers were the instincts of true wisdom, and she valued +these things less than many of her city sisters might, although she +valued them, of course. She looked slyly, wonderingly at him. He was a +very pleasant, very admirable sort of creature--this visitor from the +unknown, outside world. She quite decided that she did not even think +his knickerbockers foolish, after all. + +For a moment, even now, she thrilled unpleasantly with a mean suspicion +that he might be a "revenuer," after all, and have done the good things +he had done as a part of that infernal craft which revenuers sometimes +showed when searching for the hidden stills where "moonshine" whisky is +illegally produced among the mountains; but she put this thought out of +her heart, indignantly, almost as quickly as it came to her. +Instinctively she felt quite certain that duplicity did not form any +portion of his nature. They had not been traitor's arms which had so +bravely (and so firmly) clasped her for the quick and risky dash across +that terrifying belt of fire! + +"No," said she, determined to give him fullest measure of due credit, "I +didn't help you none. I didn't help you none--an' you did what I don't +believe any other man I ever knew could do. I'm--" + +Again she paused, again at loss for words, again the quest failed +wholly. + +"I'm much obleeged," said she. + +Then, suddenly, the thought came to her of that other and less +prepossessing "foreigner" whom, that day, she had seen there in her +mountains. She described him carefully to Layson, and asked if he could +guess who he had been and what his business could have been. +Descriptions are a sorry basis for the recognition of a person thought +to be far miles away, a person unassociated in one's mind with the +surroundings he has suddenly appeared in; and, therefore, Layson, who +really knew the man and who, had he identified him with the unknown +visitor, would have been surprised, intensely curious, and, possibly, +suspicious, could offer her no clue to his identity. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +That same "foreigner," for a "foreigner," was acting strangely. Surely +he was dressed in a garb hitherto almost unknown in the rough mountains, +certainly none of the mountaineers whom he had met (and he had met, with +plain unwillingness, a few, as he had climbed up to the rocky clearing +where his fire had blossomed so remarkably) had recognized him. But, +despite all this, it was quite plain that he was traveling through a +country of which he found many details familiar. Now and then a little +vista caught his view and held him for long minutes while he seemed to +be comparing its reality with pictures of it stored within his memory; +again he paused when he discovered that some whim of tramping +mountaineers or roaming cattle, some landslide born of winter frosts; +some blockade of trees storm-felled, had changed the course of an old +path. Always, in a case like this, he investigated carefully before he +definitely started on the new one. + +When he had first come into the neighborhood he had made his way with +caution, almost as if fearing to be seen, but now, after the bits of +rocks which he had taken from Madge Brierly's clearing, had slipped into +his pocket, he used double care in keeping from such routes as showed +the marks of many recent footsteps, in sly investigations to make sure +the paths he chose were clear of other wayfarers. His nerves evidently +on keen edge, he seemed to fear surprise of some unpleasant sort. Each +crackling twig, as he passed through the thickets, each rustling of a +frightened rabbit as it scuttled from his path, each whir of startled +grouse, or sudden call of nesting king-bird, made him pause cautiously +until he had quite satisfied himself that it meant nothing to be feared. +He was ever carefully alert for danger of some sort. + +But not even his continual alarms, his constant watchfulness, could keep +his mind away from the rough bits of rock which he had chipped from the +outcropping in the clearing. More than once, as he found convenient and +safe places--leafy nooks in rocky clefts, glades in dense, impenetrable +thickets--he took out the little specimens, turned them over in his +hands with loving touches, and gazed at them with an expression of +picturesquely avaricious joy. Had any witnessed this procedure they +would have found it vastly puzzling, for the specimens seemed merely +small, black stones and valueless. But once, while looking at them +lovingly, he burst into a harsh and hearty laugh as of great triumph, +quite involuntarily; but hushed it quickly, looking, then, about him +with an apprehensive glance. Each step he made was, in the main, a +cautious one, each pause he made was plainly to look at some familiar, +if some slightly altered, vista. + +It was quite clear that with the finding of the little bits of rock he +had achieved the errand which had brought him to the mountains, and that +now he roamed to satisfy his memory's curiosity. Smiles of recognition +constantly played upon his grim and grizzled face at sight of some old +path, some distant, mist-enshrouded crag, even some mighty pine or oak +which had for years withstood the buffeting of tempestuous storms; now +and then a little puzzled frown, added its wrinkles to the many which +already creased his brow, when, at some spot which he had thought to +find as he had left it, long ago, he discovered that time's changes had +been notable. + +Once only did the man become confused among the woods-paths (where a +stranger might have lost himself quite hopelessly in twenty minutes) and +that was at a point not far from where Madge Brierly and Layson had, on +their way up from the clearing, paused while she told her youthful +escort of the grim but simple tragedy of her feud-darkened childhood. +Before the old man reached this spot he had been traveling with puzzled +caution, for a time, across a slope rough-scarred by some not ancient +landslide which had changed the superficial contour of the +mountain-side. When, suddenly, he debouched upon the rocky crag, hung, a +rustic, natural platform above a gorgeous panorama of the valley, the +view came to him, evidently, as a sharp, a startling, most unpleasant +shock. + +That the place was quite familiar to him none who watched him would have +doubted, but no smiles of pleasant memories curved his thin, unpleasant +lips as he surveyed it. He did not pause there, happily, communing with +his memory in smiling reminiscence as he had at other points along the +way. Instead, as the great view burst upon his gaze, he started back as +if the outlook almost terrified him. He had been traveling astoop, +partly because the burden of his years weighed heavy on his shoulders, +partly as if his muscles had unconsciously reverted to the easy, +slouching, climbing-stoop of the Kentucky mountaineer. But at sight of +this especial spot his attitude changed utterly, the whole expression, +not of his face, alone, but of his body, altered. His stoop became a +crouch. His hands flew out before him as if, with them, he strove to +ward away the charming scene. His feet paused in their tracks, as if +struck helpless and immovable by what his eyes revealed to him. + +For a full moment, almost without moving, he stood there, fascinated by +some old association, plainly, for there was nothing in the prospect +which, to an actual stranger, would have seemed more notable than +details of a dozen other views which he had peered at through his +half-closed, weather-beaten eyes within the hour. Here, clearly, was the +arena of some great event in his past life--an arena which he gladly +would have never seen again. His face went pale beneath its coat of tan, +his shoulders trembled slightly as he tried to shrug them with +indifference to brace his courage up. Twice he started from the spot, +determined, evidently, to shut away the crowding and unpleasant +recollections it recalled to him, twice he returned to it, to carefully, +if with evident repugnance, make closer study of some detail of its +rugged picturesqueness. More than once, as he lingered there against his +will, his hands raised upward to his eyes as if to shut away from them +some vivid memory-picture, but each time they fell, with strangely +hopeless gesture. The picture which they strove to hide plainly was not +before his eyes in the actual scene, but painted in the brain behind +them and not to be shut out with screening, claw-curved fingers. + +The effect of this especial spot on the old man, indeed, was most +remarkable. His lips, as he stood gazing there, moved constantly as if +with words unspoken, and, once or twice, the crowding sentences found +actual but not articulate voice. Whenever this occurred he started, to +look about behind him as if he feared that some one, who might overhear, +had crept up upon him slyly. Finally, making absolutely certain that he +had not been observed by any human being, and evidently yielding to an +impulse almost irresistible, he went over the ground carefully, +examining each foot of the little rocky platform with not a loving, but +a fascinated observation. + +When he finally left the spot a striking change had come upon his +features. He had reached the place sly, cunning, and, withal, +triumphant, as if he had accomplished, that day, through securing the +small stones, some secret thing of a great import. His countenance, as, +at length, he went away, was not triumphant but half terrified. It was +as if some long-forgotten scene of horror had been brought before his +gaze again, to terrify and astonish him. + +His footsteps had been slow and leisurely, the footsteps of a +contemplative, if a surreptitious sightseer, but now they quickened +almost into running, and the intensely disagreeable effect of the +mysterious episode had not left him wholly, when, twenty minutes +afterward, he had mounted the rocky hill path by a precipitous climb and +found himself within a little, cupped inclosure in the rocks, secluded +enough and beautiful enough to be a fairies' dancing-floor. There, +again, he seemed to recognize old landmarks, but with fewer of +unpleasant memories connected with them. Plain curiosity glowed, now, in +his narrow, crafty eyes. + +"I wonder," he exclaimed, "if it's here yet." + +As he spoke his glance flashed swiftly to the far side of the little +glade, where, on the face of a dense thicket, a trained eye, such as +his, might mark a spot where bushes had been often parted with extreme +care not to do them injury and thus reveal the fact that through them +lay a thoroughfare. Noting this with a wry smile of malicious +satisfaction, he started slowly toward the spot. + +The caution of his movements was redoubled, now. While he had worked, +back in the clearing, cooking his simple noonday meal and chipping off +the little specimens of rock, he had shown that he wished not to have +his strange activities observed. On the mountain paths he had plainly +been most anxious not to run across chance wayfarers who might ask +questions, or (the possibility was most remote, but still a possibility) +remember him of old. He had been merely cautious, though, not definitely +fearful. + +Now, however, actual and obsessive dread showed plainly on his face and +in his movements. Such a fear would have induced most men to abandon any +enterprise which was not fraught with compelling necessity; with him +insistent curiosity seemed to counterbalance it. The man's face, rough, +hard, cruel, was, withal, unusually expressive; its deep lines were more +than ordinarily mobile, and every one of them, as he proceeded, +soft-footed as a cat, amazingly lithe and supple for his years, as +competent to find his way unseen through a woods country as an Indian, +showed that irresistible and fiercely inquisitive impulse was +offsetting in his mind a deadly apprehension. + +In one way only, though, in spite of the accelleration of his eager +curiosity, did he drop his guard, at all, and this was quite apparently +the direct result of high excitement. That he had dropped it he was +clearly quite unconscious, but when his lips moved, now, they more than +once let fall articulate words. + +"Ef th' old still's thar ..." they said at one time; then, after a long +pause devoted to worming troublous way through tangled areas of +windfall, they muttered, in completion of the sentence: "... it'll be +th' son that's runnin' it." Another busy silence, and: "Thar was a girl +... th' daughter of...." + +Either a spasmodic contraction of the throat at mere thought of the +name--a grimace, almost of pain, which suddenly convulsed the old man's +evil face might well have made a stranger think that his muscles had +rebelled--or an unusually difficult struggle across a fallen tree-trunk +prevented further speech, as, probably, it prevented for the time, +consecutive further thought of old-time memories. His mind was tensely +concentrated on the work of climbing through the tangle of dead trunks +and branches, and, when he had accomplished the hard passage, was turned +wholly from the things which he had been considering by a slight +crackling, as of some one stepping on a brittle twig, at a distance in +advance of him. + +Instantly he was on his guard, showing signs quite unmistakable of +deadly fear. He shrank back into the thicket with the speed and silence +of a frightened animal. + +The panic which had seized him soon had passed, however, for, within a +few short seconds it was clear to him that the noise which he had heard +had not been made by any one suspicious of his presence or a-search for +him. + +Peering cautiously between the slender boles of crooked mountain-laurel +bushes, he soon found a vantage point from which he could see on beyond +the densely woven foliage, and, to his astonishment, found, before he +had thought, possible that he had progressed so far, that he had already +reached the place he sought. Memory had made the way to it a longer one +than it was really, and, in spite of the delays caused by his advancing +age and awkward muscles, long unaccustomed to the work of threading +mountain paths, he had traveled faster than he thought. + +Not fifty feet away from him, separated from the thicket he was hiding +in but by a narrow stretch of mountain sward, he saw, among the mountain +side's disordered rocks, the carefully masked entrance to a cave. + +An untrained eye would never have made note of the few signs which made +it clear to him, at once, that this cave was, as it had been long years +before when he had known it well, a place of frequent call for footsteps +skilled in mountain cunning. No path was worn to its rough entrance, +but, here and there, a broken grass-blade, in another place a pebble +recently dislodged from its accustomed hollow, elsewhere a ragged bit of +paper, torn from a tobacco-package, proved to him that, although hidden +in the wilderness of old Mount Nebo's scarred and inaccessible sides, +this spot was yet one often visited by many men. + +A grim smile stirred the leathern folds of his old cheeks. + +"Thar yet," he thought, "an' doin' business yet." + +Again, after he had worked about to get a better view. + +"Best-hidden still in these here mountings. Revenuers never _will_ get +run of it." + +The place had a mighty fascination for him, as if it might have played a +tremendous part in long-gone passages of his own life. As he stood +gazing at it cautiously, the mountaineer seemed definitely to emerge +from his low-country dress and superficial "bluegrass" manner, fastened +on him by long years of usage. Old expressions of not only face but +muscles came clearly to the front. Now, no person watching him, could +ever for a moment doubt that he was mountain-born and mountain-bred, if +they but knew the ear-marks of that people--almost a race apart. The +sight of the old cave-mouth plainly stirred in him a horde of memories +not wholly pleasant. Leathern as his face was, it none the less showed +his emotions with remarkable lucidity now that he was off his guard. Now +sly cunning dominated it, with, possibly, a touch left of the early fear +to flavor it. + +"I bet a hundred revenuers in these mountains have looked for that there +still," he thought, "an' no one ever found it, yet. Forty years it's +been thar--through three generations o' th' Loreys--damn 'em!--an' no +one's ever squealed on 'em. I ... wonder...." + +A look of vicious craft and malice wholly drove away the searching +curiosity which had possessed the old man's features. For a time he +plainly planned some work of bitter vengefulness. Then, with shaking +head, he evidently abandoned the enticing thought. + +"Too resky," he concluded, and edged a little nearer to the thicket's +edge. "Might stir up old--" + +He paused suddenly, alert and keenly listening. From another path than +that by which he had approached the place there came the sound of voices +raised in talk and laughter. He easily identified them, to his great +surprise, as those of some young mountain-girl and some young bluegrass +gentleman. Their tones and accents told this story plainly. Surprised +and curious, he went farther, his head bent, with study of the voices, +peering, meanwhile, through the thicket's tangle to get sight of them +as soon as they appeared within the clearing. Suddenly he dropped his +jaw in blank amazement. + +"Frank Layson!" he exclaimed. + +The girl's voice he did not recognize, but knew, of course, from its +peculiar accent, that it was some mountain maiden's. + +"Well!" he exclaimed beneath his breath in absolute astonishment. "I +didn't think it of Frank Layson! What would Barbara--" + +The pair emerged, now, from a gully by-path, and came into view. He +tightly shut his jaws and watched them with a peering, eager curiosity. + +A moment later, and by her wonderful resemblance to her dead mother, he +recognized the girl. + +She, above all people, must not know that he was there, even if she only +thought him to be Horace Holton, newcomer among the bluegrass gentry in +the valley. His plans had been laid carefully, and for her to find them +out would almost certainly upset them all. He was far from anxious to +meet Layson, there among the mountains, for it would mean awkward +questioning, but he was doubly anxious to avoid a meeting with the girl, +first because she owned the land on which he had secured the bits of +rock then nestling in his pocket, and, second, because she was the +daughter of-- + +His thoughts were interrupted, for, for a second, he thought they must +have seen him, so definite was their approach straight toward the +thicket where he hid. He crouched, frightened. It would be a very +awkward matter to be found there by them, and, besides, he did not know +who might be out of sight within the hidden still. It was quite possible +that there might lurk a deadly enemy. He must worm back through the +thicket with great caution, and, following the secluded ways which he +had traversed in his coming, get back to the railroad camp, where was +safety. + +He stepped backward hastily, and, in so doing, trod upon a rotten +branch. He had not been as cautious as he had intended, and this +mis-step unbalanced him and sent him to the ground, with a tremendous +crashing of the brittle twigs and dead-wood. + +Springing to his feet while the young people, startled by the great +disturbance, paused where they were standing, for an instant, he hurried +back into the hidden, thicket-bordered path, now using all his +recrudescent skill of silent woods-progression, and made complete +escape, leaving them not sure that the disturbance had been caused by +human blundering and not some vagrant beast's. + +Madge held back, but Layson hurried to the thicket, with gun raised +ready for a shot. + +Just then, from the carefully concealed cave-entrance, came Joe Lorey, +rifle poised for trouble, eyes gleaming fiercely, evidently keyed to +meet a raid by revenuers. + +It was plain enough that he believed the noise which had disturbed, +alarmed him, had been made by this young sportsman. Indeed, as he who +really had caused the uproar was, now, well on a cautious backward way +along the path by which he had come up, and the girl and Layson were the +only folk in sight, the young moonshiner's mistake was natural. + +Madge, almost as much disturbed as Lorey was by the crashing in the +thickets, was looking in the direction whence the noise had come, and, +at first, did not see him. When she did she smiled at him, and called to +him, but, absorbed in study of the bluegrass youth who had so suddenly +appeared there in his secret place among the mountains in company with +the girl whom he, himself, adored, Joe did not answer her, at first. +When he did it was with nothing more than a curt nod. He was astonished +and alarmed to see her in such company. + +After that curt nod he waited for no explanation, but, like a shadow, +slipped into a thicket, disappearing instantly. No Indian from Cooper's +tales could have more instantly obliterated all trace of himself, could +have more quickly, noiselessly, mysteriously disappeared amongst the +greenery, than did this mountaineer. His movements, made with the +instinctive cunning of the woodsman and with muscles trained not only by +wild life there in the mountains to speed, endurance and exactitude, +but by many an hour of stealthy stalking of the "revenuers" sent to +search out his moonshine still, raid it, take him prisoner, were almost +magically active, cautious, furtive and effective. + +For an instant Madge herself, accustomed to the native's skill in +woodcraft, as she was, gazed after him, astonished by the magic of his +disappearance, and, at first, piqued not a little by his scanty +courtesy. Then realizing that the mountaineer was, possibly, quite +justified in feeling grave suspicions of the stranger who was with +her--of any stranger coming thus, without a herald to the mountains--she +turned again to Layson, and, with her hand lightly guiding him by touch +as delicate, almost, as a wind-blown leaf's upon his sleeve, led him to +the nearest mountain path and on, toward a point whence she could +clearly point out to him the way to his own camp. + +And, suddenly, her own heart throbbed with worry. Had she not done wrong +in bringing this unknown and, therefore, this mysterious stranger so +close upon the heart of Lorey's secret? She had chosen the path +thoughtlessly. She realized that, now, and much regretted it. The man +had wholly won her confidence, but had it been considerate or fair to +Joe, her lifelong friend, or to the other people of the mountains who +had things to hide from strangers, to be quite so frank with him in her +revelation of the byways of the wilderness? + +Between the mountain-dwellers and the people of the lowlands never +could exist real confidence or friendship. From her babyhood she had +been taught to feel suspicion of all strangers: that was, indeed, first +article in the creed of all folk mountain-born. Why had she so freely +dropped her mantle of reserve before _this_ stranger? That he had saved +her from the bush-fire was excuse for her own gratitude, but was it +valid reason for exposing her best friends to danger at his hands, if +they proved treacherous? The revenuers, she had been informed, were men +of devilish craft, unscrupulous cunning. Might not this youth with the +fine clothes, the splendid manner, the great learning, the soft voice, +the quick resource and the undoubted bravery, very well be one of them? + +She had once heard a mountain preacher draw a picture of the devil, +which made him most attractive and in the same way that this youth was +most attractive. Certain of the sympathies of his rough hearers, the man +had painted Beelzebub with broad, rough, verbal strokes, as a bluegrass +gentleman intent on the destruction of the honor, independence, liberty +of mountaineers. The mountaineer has never and will never understand +what right the government of state or nation has to interfere with +whatsoe'er he does on his own land with his own corn in his own still. +Just why he has no right to manufacture whiskey without paying taxes on +the product he really fails to comprehend. He regards the "revenuer" as +the representative of acute and cruel injustice and oppression. When he +"draws a bead" on one he does it with no such thoughts as common +murderers must know when they shoot down their enemies. He does not +think such killings are crude murder, any more than he regards feud +killings as assassinations. + +With such ideas Madge had been, to some extent, imbued. With feud +feeling she was quite in sympathy--had not she lost her loved ones +through its awful work? Could she ever have revenge on those who had +thus bereaved her through any means save similar assassination? + +And certainly the revenuers were her enemies, for they were the foemen +of her friends. If this young man should be a revenuer she might have +done a harm incalculable by guiding him along the secret mountain byways +which they had been travelling. + +Her heart was in her throat from worry, for an instant. Had she, whose +very soul was fiercely loyal to the mountains and their people, been the +one to show an enemy the way into their citadel? Had she, bound +especially to Joe Lorey, not only by the ties of lifelong friendship but +by that other comradeship which had grown out of mutual wrongs and +mutual hatred of Ben Lindsay (not dimmed, a whit, by the mere fact that, +terrified, he had, years ago fled from the mountains), done Joe the +greatest wrong of all by leading this fine stranger to the very +entrance of his hidden still? _Was_ he a revenuer in disguise? + +The magnitude of her possible indiscretion filled her with alarm. That +crashing in the bushes back of them might have been made by some +associate of his, who had trailed them at a distance, ready to give +assistance, if needs be, or, in case all things went right and the +bolder man who had gone first and fallen into the great luck of an +acquaintance with her had no need of help, to corroborate his +observations, help him to scheme the way by which to make attack upon +the still when the time for it should come. + +As she considered all these possibilities, quite reasonable to her +suspicious mind, she shuddered. + +But then, as she went slowly down the mountain path beside the stranger +she looked up and caught the frank calm glances of his eyes. + +Surely there was nothing of cowardice such as would fool a trusting girl +into betrayal of her friends, in them; surely there was not the low +craft of a spy in them; surely their clear and unexcited gaze was not +that of a keen hunter, unscrupulously on the trail of human game, who +has just learned through the innocent indiscretion of a girl who trusted +him, the secret of its covert. + +As she looked at him she was convinced of two things, vastly comforting. +One was that Layson had no knowledge of the still; that, untrained to +mountain ways and unsuspicious, he had not even guessed at the secret +of the little hidden place among the mountains. Another was--and this +gave her, although she could have scarcely explained why, a greater +comfort than the first had--that had he had that knowledge he would not +have used it meanly. + +She thrilled pleasantly with the complete conviction that the man whom +she had liked so much at first sight, the man who had shown such pluck +in saving her from fire, the man who had exhibited such thoughtfulness +and helpfulness in starting her upon the rocky path toward education, +was true and fair and fine--was, in the curt language of the mountains, +"decent." + +When she left him at the foot of the rough path which wound up to the +cabin where she lived alone, she had quite recovered confidence in him. +She eagerly assented to his suggestion that they meet again, the +following day, for the continuation of her studies. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Their next lesson was in a new school-room. The clearing where they had +had their first, was, now, charred and blackened, not attractive, after +the small fire; so, after going to it, the following day to look it over +with that interest with which the man who has escaped from peril seeks +again, the scene of it in curiosity, they found another glade wherein to +carry on their delving after knowledge of the ABC's. + +There, beneath a canopy of arching branches and the sky, between +rustling walls of greenery pillared by the mighty boles of forest trees, +they had the second lesson of the course which was to open up to Madge +the magic realm of books and of the learning hidden in them. + +Nor did her investigations now, confine themselves, entirely to the +things the small book taught. She questioned Layson about a thousand +things less dry and matter-of-fact than shape of printed symbols and the +manner of their combination in the printed word. Life, life--that was to +her, as it has ever been to all of us, the most fascinating thing. Here +was one who had come from far, mysterious realms which she had vaguely +heard about in winter-evening gossip at the mountain-cabin firesides; +realms where men were courteous to women, careful in their speech; where +women did not work, but sat on silken chairs with black menials ready to +their call to serve their slightest wish; where maidens were not clad as +she was clad, and every woman she had ever known was clad, in calico or +linsey-woolsey homespun, but richly, wondrously, in silks and satins, +laces, beaded gew-gaws. In her imagination's picture, the maids and +matrons of the bluegrass were as marvellous, as fascinating, as are the +fairies and the sprites of Anderson and Grimm to girls more fortunately +placed. No tale of elf born from a cleft rock, touched by magic wand, +ever more completely fascinated any big-eyed city child, than did the +tales which Layson told her--commonplace and ordinary to his mind: mere +casual account of routine life--about his family and friends down in the +bluegrass, the enchanted region separated from them where they sat by a +hundred miles or so of rugged hills and billowing forests. Her eager +questions especially drew from him with a greed insatiable account of +all the gayeties of that mysterious existence. + +"And that aunt of yours--Muss Aluth--Aluth--" + +"Miss Alathea Layson?" he inquired, and smiled. + +"Yes; what queer names the women have, down there! Is she pretty? Does +_she_ dress in silks and satins, too, like the girls that go to them big +dances?" + +He laughed. "None of them are always dressed in silks and satins," he +replied. "Perhaps I've given you a wrong idea. We work down there, as +hard, perhaps, as you do here, but we have more things to work with. +Don't get the notion, little girl, that all these things which I have +told you of are magic things which surely will bring happiness! There is +no more of that, I reckon, in the bluegrass than there is here in the +mountains. Silks and satins don't make happiness, balls and garden-fetes +don't make it. A girl who's sobbing in a ball gown can be quite as +miserable as you would be, unhappy in your homespun." + +She was impatient of his moralizing. "I know that," she said. "Dellaw, +don't you suppose I've got some sense? But it ain't _quite_ true, +neither. Maybe if I was going to be unhappy I'd be just as much so in a +silk dress as I would in this here cotton one that I've got on; but I +guess there's times when I'd be happier in the silk than I _would_ be in +this. My, I wisht I had one!" + +He looked at her appraisingly. She would, he thought, be wondrous +beautiful if given the accessories which girls more fortunate had at +their hand. Beautiful, she was, undoubtedly, without them; with them she +would be--he almost caught his breath at thought of it--sensational! + +Mentally he ran over all the girls he knew in a swift survey of memory. +Not one of them, he thought, could really compare with her. Even Barbara +Holton, with her haughty, big featured, strikingly handsome face, +although she had attracted him in days passed, seemed singularly +unattractive to him, now. + +While he sat, musing thus, almost forgetful of the puzzling ABC, she +gazed off across the valley dreamily, the ABC's as far from her. It was +a lovely prospect of bare crag and wooded slope, green fields and +low-hung clouds, with, at its center, here and there the silver of the +stream which, back among the forest trees, supplied the water to the +hidden pool where she had watched him, furtively, the first time she had +ever seen him. But it was not of the fair prospect that the girl was +thinking. The coming of the stranger had brought into her life a hundred +new emotions, ten thousand puzzling guesses at the life which lay beyond +and could produce such men as he. Were all men in the bluegrass like +Frank Layson--courteous, considerate, and as strong and active as the +best of mountaineers? If so--what a splendid place for women! She was +sure that men like him were never brutal to their wives and daughters, +sisters, mothers, as the mountaineers too often are; she was certain +that they did not craze themselves with whisky and terrify and beat +their families; she was sure that when one loved a girl the courtship +must be all sweet gentleness and happiness and joy, not like the quick +succession of mad love-making and fierce quarrels which had +characterized the heart-affairs that she had watched, there in the +mountains. + +She, herself, had had no love-affairs. Instinctively she had held +herself aloof from the ruck of the young mountain-men, neither she nor +they knew why, unless it was because she owned the valley land and so +was what the mountain folk called rich. Most of them had tried to pay +her court, but none of them, save Joe, had in the least attracted her, +and she had let them know this (strangely) without arousing too much +anger. + +Now she had one suitor, only, who was at all persistent--Joe. She had +sometimes thought she loved him. Now she knew, quite certainly, that she +did not, and, in a vague way, was sorry for him, for she was quite +certain of his love for her. It never once occurred to her that she was +rapidly falling in love with the young man by her side. She had not +thought of him as being socially superior: the spirit of independence, +of equality of men, is nowhere stronger, even in this land of +independence and equality, than it is among the mountains of the +Cumberland; but she knew he was most wise. Had not the puzzling symbols +in the spelling-book been, to him, as simple matters? She knew that he +was gentle-hearted, for the kindness of his acts proved that. She knew +that he was, really, a gentleman, for his manner was so perfectly +considerate, so ever kind. She did not realize that she was thinking of +him as a lover; but she dreamed, there, of the girls down in the +bluegrass and wondered how it must seem to them to have lovers such as +he. She could but very vaguely speculate as to their emotions or +appearance, but her speculations on both points, vague as they might be, +made her suffer strangely and cast queer, furtive little side-glances at +him. In her heart were stirrings of keen jealousy of these distant +maidens, but this she did not realize. + +She broke into his revery with: "Don't you know any women, down there, +but your aunt?" + +"Er--what?" + +"Don't you know any women, down there, but your aunt?" + +"Why, yes," said he, and laughed. "I know a lot of women, down there; +lots and lots of women, certainly." + +"All them that go to balls, and such?" + +"Many of them." + +"Do you like to dance with them?" + +"Oh, yes; of course." + +"Tell me--all about the things they wear." This was not quite the +question she had started out to ask, but an answer to it might be very +interesting. + +She settled comfortably back upon the boulder she had chosen as a seat, +her hands clasped about one knee, her face turned toward him eagerly, +her eyes sparkling with keen zest. + +But he looked at her, appalled. "Why," said he, "why--I don't believe I +can. I know they always seem to be most charming in appearance, but just +how they work the magic _I_ don't know." + +"Can't you tell me nothing?" Her voice showed bitter disappointment. She +unclasped the hands about her knee and sat dejected on the boulder. She +gave him not the slightest hint of it, but, suddenly, a plan had come +into her mind. + +He looked at her regretfully. "Perhaps you'd better question me," said +he. Maybe I can scare up details if you'll let me know just what you +wish to hear about." + +"How are their dresses made?" she asked. + +"Oh, skirt, and waist, and so on," he airily replied. + +She made a gesture of impatience. "Well, then, how is the skirt made? +Tell me that. Tell me everything that you remember about skirts. Are +they loose as mine, or tighter?" She rose and stood before him, in her +scant drapery of homespun, turning slowly, so that he might see. + +It was very clever. Instantly it brought to mind the last girls he had +seen down in the lowlands at a lawn-party, with their wide and much +beruffled skirts. + +"Oh, they're looser," he said gravely. "Much, much looser. Why, they are +as big around as that!" He made a sweeping, circular gesture with his +arms. + +"What for trimmings do they have?" + +"Oh, all sorts of things--ruffles, frills, embroidery and laces." + +"What's embroidery?" + +He tried to tell her, but he did not make it very clear, and, realizing +that he had done quite his best although he had not done so very well, +she sighed and dropped that detail of the subject. But she knew what +frills and ruffles were. + +"And how about their waists?" said she. "Like mine, are they?" + +He looked, appraisingly, at the loose basque, which, because of the +budding beauty of her form rather than because of any merit of its own, +had seemed to him most charming and attractive. Close examination did +not show this to be the case. It was a crude garment, certainly, of +crude material, crude cut, crude make. The beauty all was in the +wearer's soft young curves and lissome grace. + +"No," he answered, honestly, "they're not like that. In the summer, and +for evenings--such as dances and the like--they are cut low at the neck. +And they are tighter." + +"I suppose," said she, "they wear them things that they call corsets, +under 'em. I've heard of 'em--I saw one, once--but I ain't never had +one. Maybe I had better get one." + +He spoke hastily. At that moment, as he gazed at her slim grace, +undulant, untrammelled and as willowy as a spring sapling's, it seemed +to him that it would be a sacrilege to confine it in the stiff rigidity +of such artificialities as corsets. It seemed a bit indelicate, to him, +to talk to her about such matters, but her guilelessness was so real and +he was so assured of his own innocence, that he did what he could to +make things clear to her. He descanted with some eloquence upon the +wickedness of lacing, the ungracefulness of artificial forms and the +beauty of her own wholly natural grace. + +"I'm glad you think I'm pretty," she said frankly, plainly greatly +pleased, "but I reckon I'd be prettier if I had one of them there +corsets." + +His protests to the contrary were not convincing, in the least. + +So the lessons from the book did not go so very far that day. + +"Furbelows have always interested females, I suppose," said he, "but I +didn't really think you'd lose your interest in spelling-books because +of them." + +"I ain't lost interest in spelling-books," she said. "I ain't lost +interest, at all. After I've studied good and hard I can read all about +such things in the picture-papers that Mom Liza has down to the store. +They've got all kinds of pictures in 'em--all of fancy gowns and hats +and things like that. She showed one to me, once, but all I could make +out was just the pictures, and she couldn't manage to make out much +more. She can read the names on all the letters comin' to the +post-office, for there's only three folks ever gets 'em, but she ain't +what you'd really call a scholar." + +He laughed heartily. "So, even in the mountains, here, they take the +fashion papers, do they?" + +"No; she don't pay for 'em," she gravely answered. "They're always +marked with red ink, 'Sample Copy,' so she says; but they send 'em ev'ry +once a while. If you're in th' post-office, you get a lot o' things, +like that--all sorts o' picture-papers, an' cards, all printed up in +pretty colors, to tell what medicines to take when you get sick." + +"Ah, patent-medicine advertisements." + +"Yes; that's what she calls 'em, an' she's read me some powerful amazin' +stories out of 'em--them as was in short words--of folks that rose up +almost from th' dead! They're wonderful!" + +"They are, indeed!" + +"But what I always liked th' best was them there papers tellin' about +clo'es." + +"Eternal feminine!" + +"I don't know what you mean by that, but they are mighty peart, some o' +them dresses pictured out in them there papers." + +"I've not the least doubt of it." + +"And I suppose they are th' kind th' girls you know, down in th' +bluegrass, wear for ev'ry day!" she sighed. + +He looked at her in quick compassion and in protest. + +"Madge," he said, "please listen to me. It's not dress that makes the +woman, any more than it is coats that make the man. You would like me +just as well if I were dressed in homespun, wouldn't you?" + +"That's different." + +"It isn't; it's not, a bit." + +"Laws, yes! It's--oh--heaps different!" She nodded her lovely head in +firm conviction. "It's heaps different and I'm goin' to know more about +such things as clo'es. I ain't plumb _poverty_ poor, like lots o' folks, +here in th' mountings. I got land down in th' valley I get rent +from--fifty dollars, every year! I'm goin' to find out about such +things." + +He looked at her, almost worried. It would be a pity, he thought +instantly, for this charming child of nature to become sophisticated and +be fashionably gowned; but, of course, he made no protest. + +"You can learn a little something about such things if you stay right +here," said he. "I'm going to have visitors, sometime before the +summer's over, at my camp. My aunt, Miss Alathea, will be here, and our +old friend, Colonel Sandusky Doolittle. He's a great horseman." + +Instantly the girl showed vivid interest, not, as he had thought she +would, in his aunt, Miss Alathea, but in the Colonel from the +Bluegrass, who also was a horseman. + +"Horseman, is he?" she exclaimed, her eyes alight. + +"Yes; he's famous as a judge of horses." + +"At them races that they tell about? Oh, I'd like to see one of them +races!" + +"Yes, he goes to races, everywhere, although he always means to stop +immediately after the next one. It has been the races which have kept +him poor and kept him single." + +"How've they kept him poor?" + +He told her about betting, while she listened, wide-eyed with amazement +at the mention of the sums involved. + +"How've they kept him single?" + +"He's been in love with my Aunt Alathea for a good many years, but she +won't marry him until he keeps his promise to avoid the race-tracks." + +"What makes your aunt hate hawsses?" + +"Oh, she loves good horses, but the Colonel always bets, and, as I have +said, it keeps him poor. It's the gambling that she hates, and not the +horses. Every year he plans to keep away from all horse-racing for her +sake; every year he tries to do it, but quite fails." + +She laughed heartily. "An' she thinks he loves th' races more than he +does her?" she asked. Then, more soberly: "I don't know's I blame her, +none. When's she comin'? I'll be powerful glad to see her." + +"I don't know just when she's coming, but she's promised me to have the +Colonel bring her up here. I want to have her see the beauty of the +mountains." + +"I'll like him, sure, whether I like her or not." + +He was astonished. "But you said you would be sure to love her!" + +"Uh-huh; but I'd be surer to like anyone who is as fond of hawsses as +you say he is. Why, when I ride--" + +"I didn't know you ever rode a horse. I've only seen you on your ox." + +"Poor old Buck! It's true, I have been ridin' him, when I felt lazy, +lately, but my pony--ah, that's _fun_!" + +"Where is he?" + +They had started strolling down the trail and were near the pasture +bars, where she had left Joe Lorey on the morning of her bath, after +having ridden down to them upon her ox. + +She hurried to them, now, and, leaning over them, puckered her red lips +and sent a shrill, clear whistle out across the pasture. Immediately +from a thicket-tangle at the far end of the half-cleared lot appeared a +shaggy pony, limping wofully, but with ears pricked forward as a sign of +welcome to his mistress. + +"Come on, Little Hawss!" she called. "Come on! It hurts, I know, for +you to step, but come on, just th' same. I got a turnip for you." + +She turned to Layson with an explanation. "He's lame, poor Little Hawss +is. Don't know's he'll ever get all right ag'in." + +"Oh!" said Layson. "And I didn't even know you had a horse." Horses are +less common in the mountains than are oxen, although nearly every +mountain farm has one, for riding. Oxen, though, are the section's +draught-animals. + +"Didn't think I had a hawss?" she said, and laughed. "I'd _die_ without +a hawss! Why, they say, here in the mountains, that I'm a good rider. +I've raced all the boys and beat 'em on my Little Hawss." + +She petted the affectionate, uncouth little beast and fed him slowly, +lovingly. "Little Hawss, before he hurt his hoof, was sure-footed as a +deer. Didn't have to be afraid to run him anywhere, on any kind of road +at any time of day or night," said she. "Never stumbled, never missed +the way, and, while he don't _look_ much--he never did--he could just +carry _me_ to suit me! But--well, I don't know as he will ever carry me +again!" + +Layson, himself a great horse lover, went up to the shaggy little beast +and petted him. The pony knew a friend instinctively and rubbed his nose +against the rough sleeve of his jacket while he munched the turnip. + +Madge stooped and lifted the poor beast's crippled foot. + +"Looks bad, don't it?" she said anxiously, asking Frank's opinion as an +expert. + +He looked the bad foot over carefully and shook his head. + +"Madge, I am afraid it does," said he. "But wait until the Colonel +comes. He'll tell you what to do. No man knows horses better than the +Colonel does. + +"I've never told you of my horse, have I?" he asked. + +"Why, no; you got one, too?" + +He drew a long breath of enthusiasm at the mere thought of his greatest +treasure. "Such a mare," said he, "as rarely has been seen, even in +Kentucky. She's famous now and going to be more so. She's the very apple +of my eye." + +The girl looked at him wide-eyed with a fascinated interest. "What color +is she?" + +"Black as night." + +"And gentle?" + +"Ah, gentle as a dove with friends; but she's not gentle if she happens +to dislike a man or woman! Why, if she hates you, keep away from her. +She'll side-step with a cunning that would fool the wisest so's to get a +chance for a left-handed kick; she'll bite; she'll strike with her +forefeet the way a human fighter would." + +"Oh!" said the girl. "Ain't it a pity she's so ugly?" + +"I said she's gentle with her friends. She'd no more kick at me than I +would kick at her. She knows it. She's intelligent beyond most +horseflesh." + +"Has she ever won in races?" + +"She's won in small events, and great things are expected of her by more +folk than I when she gets going on the larger tracks. I'm counting on +her for good work this year, after I go home again." + +"Ah," sighed the girl, carried quite away by his excited talk about his +favorite, "how I'd love to see her run!" + +"It's poetry," he granted; "the true poetry of motion." + +"And this Cunnel--Cunnel--" + +"Colonel Doolittle?" + +"Uh-huh. Will he help me, do you s'pose, to get my Little Hawss cured of +his lameness?" + +"You may count on that." + +"Who else is comin' here to see you?" she inquired, as they left Little +Hawss wistfully agaze at them across the old log fence. + +Layson, for no reason he could think of, felt a bit uncomfortable, as he +replied. He temporized before he really told her of what worried him. + +"Well," said he, "there'll be old Neb--" + +"Who's he?" + +"A servant who has been in our family for years. He is a fine old +darkey and we love him--everyone of us." + +"And will he be all?" + +"No; I understand that Mr. Horace Holton, also, will come with the +party. Mr. Holton and his daughter." + +It is possible that he may have flushed a little, as he spoke about this +matter, or there may have been some slight hint of the unusual in his +voice. At any rate, the notice of the girl was instantly attracted. + +"Daughter?" she inquired. + +"Yes," said Frank, "his daughter Barbara." + +"How old is she?" Madge's curiosity had been aroused at once. + +"About your age." + +She was delighted. "And will I surely see her?" + +"Yes; of course." + +"Do you suppose she'll like me?" + +Layson, from what he knew of Barbara Holton, scarcely thought she would. +He could not make his fancy paint a picture of the haughty lowlands +beauty showing much consideration for this little mountain waif; but he +did not say so. He answered hesitatingly, and she noticed it. + +"You don't think she'll like me!" she exclaimed. + +"I didn't say so. Certainly she'll like you. Who could help it, Madge?" +He smiled. It did not seem to him, as his eyes studied her, that anybody +of sound sense could. + +She sighed. "A woman could." She spoke with an instinctive wisdom which +her isolated life among the crags and peaks had not deprived her of. "A +woman always can. But, my, I hope she will!" + +"She will," said Frank. "She will. And my dear Aunt--oh, you will love +her." + +"Miss Aluth--Aluth--?" She stopped, questioningly, still bothered by the +name. + +"Miss Alathea," he prompted. "She'll like you and you'll love her." + +The girl smiled happily. "Uh-huh." Her acquiescence was immediate. +"Reckon maybe I'll love _her_, all right, and I _hope_ the other will +come true, too." Suddenly she was stricken with a fear. "But she won't, +though--dressed the way I be!" + +"What you wear would make no difference to my Aunt Alathea," Frank +protested, "any more than it would make to Colonel Doolittle." + +She did not speak again for quite a time, walking along the narrow +mountain-path with eyes fixed, but unseeing, on the trail. It was plain +that in her mind grave problems were being closely studied. + +"Maybe," she said, at length, "I won't be so very _awful_ as you +_think_!" + +They had reached the path which led first to the bridge across the +mountain-chasm making the rock on which her cabin stood an island, and +then, across this draw-bridge, to the cabin itself. She waved a gay and +unexpected good-bye to him. + +He felt strangely robbed. He had expected another half-hour with her. +It astonished him to learn through this tiny disappointment how +agreeable the little mountain maid's society had come to be. + +He was wakeful that night till a later hour than usual. + +Somehow he was not as thoroughly delighted as he felt that he should be +by the prospect of his guests' arrival. His journey to the mountains and +his sojourn there had been considered rather foolish by his friends, but +he had wished to make quite sure that what was said about the wild +mountain lands which formed the greater portion of his patrimony--that +they were practically valueless--was true, ere he gave up all hope of +profiting from them. + +The building of the railroad through the valley had imbued him with some +hope that they might not prove to be as useless as they had been thought +to be, and it had been that which had induced him, at the start, to make +the journey. + +Once arrived he had found the mountain air delightful, the fishing fine, +the shooting all that could be wished, and had enjoyed these to their +full, investigating, meanwhile, his rough property; but as he lay there +in his shack of logs and puncheons he acknowledged to himself that it +was none of these things which now made the mountains so attractive. It +was the nymph of the woods pool, the mountain-side Europa on her bull, +his little pupil of the alphabet, in plain reality, who now held him to +the wilderness. + +He wondered just what this could mean. Could it be possible that he was +thinking seriously of the little maid _in that way_? + +He almost laughed at the idea, there alone in the woods cabin, with the +stars in their deep velvet canopy twinkling through the window at him +and the glow of his cob pipe for company. + +But his laugh was not too genuine. He found himself, to his amazement, +comparing Madge, the mountain girl, with Barbara Holton, the elegant +daughter of the lowlands, and finding many points in favor of the little +rustic maiden. He wondered just how serious his attentions to fair +Barbara had been thought to be by her, her father, Horace Holton, and by +other people. There were many things about Madge Brierly, which, as he +sat there, reflective, he found admirable, besides her vivid, vigorous +young beauty. He could not bring himself, as he sat thinking of the two +girls, widely separated as they were in the great social plane, unevenly +matched as they had been in early training, to admit that the whole +advantage was upon the side of Barbara Holton. + +And above him, in her lonely little cabin on the towering rock, upon all +sides of which the mountain-torrent, making it an isle of safety for her +there in the wilderness, roared rythmically, the mountain maiden who so +occupied his thoughts was busy with her crude wardrobe. + +In complete dissatisfaction she put aside, at length, every garment of +her own which she possessed as unsuitable for the great day when she was +to meet the bluegrass gentlefolk. + +Then, remembering suddenly an old chest which held her mother's wedding +finery, she strained her fine young muscles as she dragged it out of +storage; and sitting on the floor beside it where the great blaze of +pine-knots in the big "mud-and-broke-rock" fireplace lighted it and her +with flickering brilliance, she went through it with reverent fingers, +searching, searching for such garments and such adornments as it might +hold to make her fit to meet the friends of the young lowlander who had +captured her imagination with his bravery, resource and courtesy. + +There were a few things in the chest which pleased her, and she smiled +as she discovered them, smiled as she tried them on, smiled as she saw +the image wearing them in the cracked mirror by the side of the big +fireplace. She had to make experiments with dripping tallow dips before +she got a light which would enable her to get the full effect of an +ornate old poke-bonnet which was the chief treasure from the chest, but +finally she did so, and exclaimed in pleasure as she managed it. + +It was, indeed, a charming picture which she saw there in the glass--a +face with rosy cheeks, bright eyes, red lips set off with softly waving +auburn hair and framed delightfully in the old arch of shirred red +silk--and when she took it off, at last, she was convinced that one, at +least, of her big problems had been solved. She had a bonnet, certainly, +which was as lovely as the finest thing that any bluegrass belle could +wear. There was not the slightest doubt that all its shirring was of +real, _real_ silk! She had run her fingers over it caressingly, +delighted by its sheen and gloss when she had been a little girl; now +she fondled it with loving touch, high hopes. Surely no young lady +visitor, even from the far off and to her mysterious bluegrass could +have anything much finer than that bonnet with its silken facings! She +tied the wide strings underneath her chin in a great, flaring bow, and +peeped forth from the cavernous depths of the arched "poke" with quite +unconscious coquetry, flirting, with the keenest relish and most +completely childish pleasure with the charming creature whom she saw +reflected on the little mirror's cracked, imperfect surface. + +It was while she stood thus, innocently coquetting with her own +delightful picture, that a great plan for the plenishment of her +otherwise imperfect wardrobe popped into her active, searching mind. +Carefully she considered this, first before the glass and then, with +feet crossed and clasped hands between her knees, before the roaring +fire of resinous pine-knots in the old fireplace. + +Having finally decided that it was a good one, she went about the cabin +seeing to the fastenings of doors and windows, wholly unafraid despite +her solitude. There was but one way of approaching this, her fastness in +the rocks, and the bridge, had been drawn up for the night. Safe she was +as any Rhenish baron in his moated stronghold. + +Conscious that a busy day was looming large before her, she now blew out +her candles and crept into her little curtained bed, to dream, there, +vividly, of haughty beauties from the bluegrass staring in astonishment +as they first glimpsed the beauty of a little mountain girl in such a +gorgeous outfit as they had not in all their pampered lives conceived; +of lovely aunts who smiled with pleasure when they saw their handsome +nephews step up to this splendid maiden and take her hands in theirs; of +wondrous youths--ah, these images were never absent from the scenes her +fancy painted!--who scorned the haughty bluegrass beauties in favor of +the freckled little fists of those same brilliant mountain maidens, and, +lo! by taking those same freckled fists in theirs, removed the freckles +and the callouses of work as if by magic, making them as white and +fine--aye, whiter, finer!--than the haughty bluegrass beauty's. And in +her dreams, too, was a gallant horseman, wise in equine ways, who came +to her with handsome chargers trailing from fair-leather lead straps to +present her with the thoroughbreds because her little, shaggy pony +limped. + +Queer fancies of the strange life of the lowlands which he had +described to her, flashed, also, through her ignorant but active brain +in fascinating visions. She thought she saw the houses on the tops of +houses which he had described to her, in efforts to assist her to +imagine structures more elaborate than the little, single storied cabins +which were all that she had ever seen. Strange conceptions of the +railroad, with its monstrous engines puffing smoke and fire would have +been terrifying had there not been, ever at her side as dreams revealed +them, a stalwart youth in corduroys to bear her from their path through +rings of burning thickets. + +Again she trembled in imagination at the thought of meeting the fine +ladies who would be dressed with such elaboration and impressive +elegance; but each time, when her dream seemed actually to lead her to +them, there he was to help her through the great ordeal with heartening +smiles and comforting suggestions. + +Her sleep was restless, but delightful. Once she woke and left her bed +to peer out of the window, wondering if, by chance, she might not +glimpse a light in Layson's camp far down the mountain-side. She was +disappointed when she found she could not, but went back to bed to find +there further compensating dreams. + +There might have been still greater compensation for her had she known +that at the very moment when she peered out through the darkness, +looking for some vagrant glimmer of a light from Layson's camp, he had, +himself, just gone back to his cabin after having stood a long time +staring through the darkness toward her own small cabin in its fastness. + +He was thinking, thinking, thinking. The little mountain maid had +strangely fascinated the highly cultivated youth from the far bluegrass. +He did not know quite what to make of the queer way in which her fresh +and lovely, girlish face, obtruded itself constantly into his thoughts. +And as for the haughty bluegrass belle whom poor Madge dreaded so--he +did not think of her, at all, save, possibly, with half acknowledged +annoyance at the fact that she was coming to spy out his wilderness and +those who dwelt therein. He would have been a little happier if he could +have remained there, undisturbed, for a time longer. + +Day had not dawned when Madge awoke. The sun, indeed, had just begun to +poke the red edge of his disc above Mount Nebo, when, having built her +fire and cooked her frugal breakfast, she loosed the rope which held the +crude, small draw-bridge up and lowered the rickety old platform until +it gave a pathway over the deep chasm and carried her to the mainland, +ready for the journey to the distant cross-roads store. + +Dew, sparkling like cut diamonds, cool as melting ice, was everywhere in +the brilliant freshness of the morning; the birds were busy with their +gossip and their foraging, chattering greetings to her as she passed; in +her pasture her cow, Sukey, had not risen yet from her comfortable night +posture when she reached her. The animal looked up gravely at her, +chewing calmly on her cud, plainly not approving, quite, of such a very +early call. While the girl sat on the one-legged stool beside her, +sending white, rich, fragrant streams into the resounding pail, her +shaggy Little Hawss limped up, nosing at her pocket for a turnip, which +he found, of course, abstracted cleverly and munched. + +Having finished with the cow she set the milk in a fence-corner to wait +for her return, and, when she left the lot, the pony followed her, +making a difficult, limping way along the inside of the rough +stump-fence until he came to a cross barrier. Then, as he saw that she +was going on and leaving him behind, he nickered lonesomely, and, +although she planned, that day to accomplish many, many things, and, in +consequence, was greatly pressed for time, she went back to him and +petted him a moment and then found another turnip for him in her pocket. + +The journey which began, thus, with calls on her four-footed friends, +was solitary, afterward, although in the narrow road-bed, here and +there, she saw impressions of preceding footsteps, big and deep. They +aroused her curiosity, and with keen instinct of the woods she studied +one of them elaborately. Rising from her pondering above it she decided +that Joe Lorey had gone on before her, and wondered what could possibly +have sent him down the trail so early in the morning. When she noted +that his trail turned off at the cross-roads which might lead to +Layson's camp (or other places) her heart sank for a moment. She +realized how bitterly the mountaineer felt toward the bluegrass youth +whom he considered his successful rival and she hoped that trouble would +not come of it. She did not love Joe Lorey as he wished to have her love +him, but she had a very real affection for him, none the less. +And--and--she did--she did--she _did_--this morning she acknowledged +it!--love Layson. The matter worried her, somewhat. Trouble between the +men was more than possible, she knew; but, on reflection, she decided +that Joe had not been bound for Layson's camp, but, by a short cut, to +the distant valley. This alone would have explained his very early +start. He was not one to seek to take his enemy while sleeping, and she +knew and knew he knew that the lowlander slept late. Lorey would not do +a thing dishonorable. She put the thought of trouble that day from her, +therefore, yielding gladly to the joyous and absorbing magic of the +growing, splendid morning. + +The rising sun, with its ever changing spectacle, exhilerating, +splendid, awe-inspiring, there among the mountains, raised her spirits +as she travelled, and drove gloomy thoughts away as it drove off the +brooding mists which clung persistently, tearing themselves to tattered +ribbons ere they would loose their hold upon the peaks beyond the valley +and behind her. + +A feeling of elation grew in her--elation born of her abounding health, +fine youth, the glory of the scene, the high intoxication of first love. + +She beguiled the way with mountain ballads, paused, here and there, to +pluck some lovely flower, accumulating, presently, a nosegay so enormous +as to be almost unwieldy, whistled to the birds and smiled as they sent +back their answers, laughed at the fierce scolding of a squirrel on a +limb, heard the doleful wailing of young foxes and crept near enough +their burrow to see them huddled in the sand before it, waiting eagerly +for their foraging mother and the breakfast she would bring. + +When the trail crossed a clear brook she paused upon the crude, low +bridge and watched the trout dart to and fro beneath it; where it +debouched upon a hill-side of commanding view she stopped there, +breathing hard from sheer enjoyment of the glory of the prospect spread +before her in the valley. + +She was very happy, as she almost always was of summer mornings. The +mountain air, circulating in her young and sturdy lungs, was almost as +intoxicating as strong wine and made the blood leap through her +arteries, thrill through her veins. + +The worries of the night before seemed, for a time, to have been +groundless. She ceased to fear her meeting with the bluegrass gentlefolk +and looked forward to it with real confidence and pleasure. Her +confidence in Layson was abounding, and she assured herself till the +thought became conviction that he never would permit her to subject +herself to anything which properly could be humiliating. + +The problem of her garb, too, began to seem far less insoluble than it +had seemed the night before. She felt certain, as she travelled with her +springing step, that she would find it possible to meet creditably the +great emergency with what she had at home and could discover at the +little general-store which she was bound for. + +When she reached the tiny, mud-chinked structure at the cross-roads, +though, and caught her first glimpse of its lightly burdened shelves, +her heart sank for an instant. Could it be possible that from its stock +she would be able to select material with which she could compete with +folk from the far bluegrass in elegance of garb? + +But after she had made investigation and had interested in her project +the lank mountain-woman who presided at the counter, she lost fear of +the result. Together they made careful study of the fashion-papers which +the woman had preserved and which the girl had, the night before, +remembered with such vividness. Through discussion and reiterated +reassurance from her friend, she finally arrived at the decision that +with what she had at hand at home and what she could buy here, she could +prepare herself to meet the elegant lowlanders with a fairly ample +rivalry. + +There were few bolts of cloth, of whatever quality or character in the +pitiful little general-store's stock which both women did not finger +speculatively that morning; there was not a piece of pinchbeck jewelry +in the small showcase which they did not study carefully. Especially +Madge dwelt on combs, for Layson, once, had mentioned combs as parts of +the adornment of the women whom he knew. There in the mountains young +girls did not wear them, save of the "circular" variety, designed to +hold back "shingled" tresses. But from underneath a box of faded +gum-drops and the store's one carton of cigars, came some of imitation +tortoise-shell, gilt ornamented, of the sort old ladies sometimes stuck +into their hirsute knots for mountain "doings" of great elegance, and +the best of these Madge bought. Also she bought lace--great quantities +of it, although, even after she had made the purchase, she had some +doubt of just what she would do with it; she also had some doubt about +its quality, for in the chest at home there had been lace, ripped from +her mother's wedding gown, of far different and more convincing texture +and design. She realized, however, that what was there must be what must +suffice and purchased nearly all the woman had of cheap, machine-made +mesh and home-worked, coarse-threaded tatting. + +She could not manage gloves. The store had never had gloves in its stock +designed for anything but warmth, and, although Layson had explained to +her, in answer to her curious pleadings, that the girls he knew down in +the bluegrass sometimes wore gloves covering their bare arms to the +elbows, she gave up the hope of finding anything of that sort without a +visit to the distant valley town, and this was quite impossible, now +that her pony had gone lame, so she sighed and gave up gloves entirely. + +But she bought ribbons by the bolt, some gay silk-handkerchiefs, a +little of the less obtrusive of the jewelry, and needles, thread and +such small trifles by the score to be utilized in making alterations in +the finery from her dead mother's treasure chest at home there in the +mountain cabin. It was with heart not quite so doubtful of her own +ability to shine a bit, that, after she had borrowed every fashion-plate +the woman owned (many of them ten years old; not one of them of later +date than five years previous), she set out upon the long and weary +homeward way. + +Instinctively as she progressed she searched the soft mud in the +shadowed places of the road, the soft sand wherever it appeared, for +signs that those great foot-marks which she had thought she could +identify as Lorey's in the morning, had returned while she was at the +store. Nowhere was there any trace that this had happened, and again she +thrilled with apprehension. Almost she made a detour by the road which +led to Layson's camp to make quite sure that all was right with the +young "foreigner," but this idea she abandoned as much because she felt +that such a visit would necessitate an explanation which she would +dislike to make, as because her many burdens would have made the way a +long and difficult one to tread. How could she tell Layson that Joe +Lorey might resent his helping her to study, might resent the other +hours which they had spent so pleasantly among the mountain rocks and +forest trees together, might, in short, be jealous of him? + +Her shy, maiden soul revolted at the thought and perforce she gave +investigation up, her thoughts, finally, turning from the really remote +chance of a difficulty between the men to the pleasanter task of +carrying on her planning for new gowns and small accessories of finery. + +The homeward way was longer than the journey down had been, because of +her new burdens and the frequently steep mountain slopes which she must +climb, but she travelled it without much thought of this. + +Never in her life had come excitement equal to that which possessed her +as she thought about the visitors, longed to make a good impression and +not shame her friend, wondered how the bluegrass ladies would be +dressed, would talk, would act, and what they all would think of her. +She had decided, in advance, that she would like Miss Alathea, aunt of +her woodland instructor; she knew positively that she would like the +doughty colonel, lover of god horses, barred from racing by his love for +Frank's inexorable aunt. + +But the other members of the party he had told about--the Holtons--she +was not so sure that she would care for them. Frank, himself, when he +had told her of them, had spoken of the father without much enthusiasm, +and she felt quite sure that she could never like the daughter. She had +noticed, she believed, that when it came to talk of her her friend had +hesitated with embarrassment. Could it be possible that this young lady +who had had the chances she, herself, had been denied, for education and +for everything desirable, would seem to him, when she appeared upon the +scene, less lovely, less desirable, than a simple little mountain maid +like poor Madge Brierly? The thought seemed quite incredible and the +worry of it quite absorbed her for a time and drove away forebodings +about the possible hatred of Joe Lorey for Layson and his possible +expression of resentment. She even ceased her wonderings about the +footsteps which had gone down the road, that morning, and which, so far +as she could see, had not come back again. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +They were, indeed, the great imprints of Joe Lorey's hob-nailed boots, +quite as she suspected. Long before the sun had risen the young +mountaineer, distressed by worries which had made his night an almost +sleepless one, had risen and wandered from his little cabin, lonelier in +its far solitude, even than the girl's. For a time he had crouched upon +a stump beneath the morning stars with lowering brows, sunk deep in +harsh, resentful thought, forgetful of the falling dew, the chill of the +keen mountain air, of everything, in fact, save the gnawing apprehension +that the "foreigner," who had invaded this far mountain solitude might, +with his better manners, infinitely better education and divers other +devilish wiles of the low country, snatch from him the prize which he +had grown up longing to possess. + +The youthful mountaineer's distress was not without its pathos. He loved +the girl, had loved her since they had been toddling children playing in +the hills together. Never for an instant had his firm devotion to her +wandered to any other of the mountain girls; never for an instant had +he had any hope but that of, some day, winning her. That he recognized +the real superiority of Layson made his worry the more tragic, for it +made it the more hopeless. + +A dull resentment thrilled him, not only against this man, but against +the whole tribe of his people, who were, in these uncomfortable days, +invading the rough country which, to that time, had been the undisputed +domain of the mountaineer. He thought with bitterness about the growing +valley towns, which he had sometimes visited on court days when some +mountain man had been haled there to trial for moonshining or for a feud +"killing." He did not understand those lowland people who assumed the +right to dictate to him and his kind as to the lives which they should +lead in their own country, and he hated them instinctively. Vaguely he +felt the greater power which education and a rubbing of their elbows +with the progress of the world had given them and definitely resented +it. Scotch highlander never felt a greater hatred and distrust of +lowland men than does the highlander of the old Cumberlands feel for the +people who have claimed the rich and fertile bottom lands, filled the +towns which have sprung up there, established the prosperity which has, +through them, advanced the state. The mountain men of Tennessee and of +Kentucky are almost as primitive, to-day, as were their forefathers, +who, early in the great transcontinental migration, dropped from its +path and spread among the hills a century ago, rather than continue with +the weary march to more fertile, fabled lands beyond. + +It had not been, as Madge had feared, his definite hatred of Frank +Layson which had started him upon the road so early in the morning, but, +rather, an unrest born of the whole problem of the "foreigners'" +invasion of the mountains. His restless discontent with Layson's +presence had left him ready for excitement over wild tales told in store +and cabin of what the young man's fellows were doing in the valley. He +had determined to go thither for himself, to see with his own eyes the +wonder-workers, although he hated both the wonders and the men who were +accomplishing them. + +What did the mountain-country want of railroads? What did it want of +towns? The railroads would but bring more interlopers and in the towns +they would foregather, arrogant in their firm determination to force +upon the men who had first claimed the country their artificial rules +and regulations. Timid in their fear of those they sought to furtively +dislodge and of the rough love these men showed of a liberty including +license, they would huddle in their storied buildings, crowd in their +trammelled streets, work and worry in their little offices absurdly, +harmfully to the rights of proper men. Like other mountaineers Joe had +small realization of the advantages of easy interchange of thought and +the quick commerce which come with aggregation. He thought the +concentration of the townsfolk was a sign of an unmanly dread of those +first settlers whom they wished to drive away unjustly, subjugate and +ruin. + +Throughout the mountains blazed a fierce resentment of the railroad +builders' presence and their work; in no heart did it burn more fiercely +than in poor Joe Lorey's, for the fear obsessed him that a member of the +army of invaders had succeeded in depriving him of the last chance of +getting that which, among all things on earth, he longed for most--Madge +Brierly's love. He did not stop to think that before the "foreigner" had +come the girl had more than once refused to marry him, begging him to +remain her good, kind friend. Such episodes, in those days, had not in +the least disheartened him. He had always thought that in the end the +girl _would_ "have him." But now he was convinced his chance was gone, +his last hope vanished. The "foreigner" had fascinated Madge, made him +look cheap and coarse, uncouth and undesirable. + +As he had walked along the roads which, later in the morning, Madge had +followed, he had frowned blackly at the sunrise and the waking birds, +kicked viciously at little sticks and stones which chanced along his +way. Never a smile had he for chattering squirrel or scampering +chipmunk; fierce, repellant was the brown brow of the mountaineer, +despite the glory of the morning, and black the heart within him with +sheer hatred of Frank Layson and the class he represented. + +His journey was much longer than the girl's, for it did not end till he +had reached the rude construction camp of the advancing railroad +builders in the valley far below the little mountain-store. There he +gazed at what was going on with a child's wonder, which, at first, +almost made him lose his memory of what he thought his wrongs, but, +later, aggravated it by emphasizing in his mind his own great ignorance. + +Through a tiny temporary town of corrugated iron shanties, crude +log-and-brush and rough-plank sheds, white canvas tents, ran the raw, +heaped earth of the embankment. About it swarmed a thousand swarthy +laborers, chattering in a tongue less easy to his ears than the harsh +scoldings of the squirrels he had seen while on his way. Back behind +them stretched two lines of shining rails, which, even as he watched, +advanced, advanced on the embankment, being firmly spiked upon their +cross-ties so as to form a highway for the cars which brought more dirt, +more dirt, more dirt to send the raw embankment on ahead of them. + +At first the puffing, steam-spitting, fire-spouting locomotive with its +deafening exhaust and strident whistle, clanging bell and glowing +fire-box actually frightened him. As he stood close by the track and it +came on threateningly, he backed away, his rifle held in his crooked +arm, ready for some great emergency, he knew not what. A laborer laughed +at him, and his hands instinctively took firmer grip upon the rifle. The +laborer stopped laughing. + +Some lessons of the temper of the mountaineers already had been learned +along the line of that new railroad, and, driven from his wrath by the +appearance of new marvels, Joe, at greater distance, sat upon a stump +and watched, wide-eyed, and undisturbed, unridiculed. + +For a long time his resentment wholly drowned itself in wonder at the +puzzle of the engines, the mechanism of the dump-cars, the wondrous +working of the small steam crane which lifted rails from flat-cars, and, +as a strong man guided them, dropped them with precision at the time and +place decided on beforehand. He noted how the men worked in great gangs, +subject to the orders of one "boss," a phenomenon of organization he had +never seen before, with unwilling admiration. + +But presently, from a point well in advance of that where rails already +had been laid and upon which his attention had been concentrated because +of the machinery there, there came a mighty boom of dynamite. It +startled him so greatly that he sprang up, bewildered, ready for +whatever might be coming, but wholly at a loss as to just what the +threatening danger might be. His fright gave rise to jeering laughter +from the men who had been watching with a covert eye the rough, +determined looking mountaineer, squatting on the stump with rifle on +his arm. He turned on them so fiercely that they shrank back, terrified +by the look they saw in his grey eyes. + +Then, noting that the noise had not appalled them in the least and +assuming that what was surely safe for them was safe enough for him, he +sauntered down the line, attempting to seem careless in his walk, until +he reached the gang which was busy at destruction of a high, obstructive +cropping of grey granite. + +For hours he sat there watching them with curiosity. He saw them pierce +the rocks with hammered drills; he saw them then put in a small, round, +harmless looking paper cylinder which, of course, he knew held something +like gunpowder; he saw them tamp it down with infinite care, leaving +only a protruding fuse; he saw them light the fuse and scamper off to a +safe distance while he watched the sputtering sparks run down the fuse, +pause at the tamping, then, having pierced it, disappear. The great +explosions which succeeded were, at first, a little hard upon his +nerves, but he saw that those who compassed them did not flinch when +they came, and, after he had dodged ridiculously at the first, received +the second with a greater calm, keyed himself to almost motionless +reception of the third, and managed to sit listening to the fourth with +self-possession quite as great as theirs, his face impassive and his +frame immovable. + +He noted with amazement the great force of the infernal power the +burning fuses loosed, and knew, instinctively, that the explosive was a +stronger one than that with which he had been thoroughly familiar since +his earliest childhood--gunpowder. He wondered mightily what it could +be, and, finally, summoned courage to inquire of one of the swart +laborers. + +These were the first words he had spoken that day, and, although the man +was courteous enough in answering, "Dynamite," he thought he saw a smile +upon his face of veiled derision, and resented it so fiercely that +instead of thanking him he gave him a black look and sauntered off. But +he had learned what the explosive was; before he went away he had seen +it used in half-a-dozen ways and had a visual demonstration of the +necessity for caution in its handling. One of the young and cocky +engineers, whom he so hated, dropped by dread mischance a heavy hammer +on a stick of it, and the resulting turmoil left him lying torn and +mangled on the rocks. + +Lorey felt small sympathy for the man's suffering, although he never had +seen any human being mutilated thus before. Many a man he had seen lying +with a clean hole through his forehead, the neat work of a definitely +aimed bullet; assassination and the spectacles it carried with it could +not worry him: his childhood and young manhood had been passed where +"killings" were too frequent; the man, like all the others there at +work, was his enemy, and he sorrowed for him not at all; but this +tearing, mangling laceration of human flesh and bone was horrifying to +him. + +Later, though, a certain comfort came to him from it. The whole scene +had impressed him and depressed him. He remembered what Madge Brierly +had said about the engineers with their blue paper plans and their +ability to read from them and work by them. He saw them at their work, +and the spectacle made him feel inferior, which had never happened in +his free, untrammeled life of mountain independence before. There were a +dozen men about the work of the same type as Layson's, and their calm +cocksureness as they directed all these mysteries amazed him, +overwhelmed him, made him feel a sense of littleness and unimportance +which was maddening. Why should they know all these things when he, Joe +Lorey, who had lived a decent life according to his lights, had labored +with his muscles as theirs could not labor if they tried to force them +to, had lived upon rough fare and in rough places while they had had +such "fancinesses" as he saw spread before them at their mess-tent +dinner (and crude fare enough it seemed to them, no doubt) knew none of +them? He could see no justice in such matters and resented them with +bitter heart. If their own infernal powder had killed one of them he +would not mourn. He tried to look back at the accident with +satisfaction. + +Had he gone down to that crude construction camp without the jealousy +of Layson in his heart, he might, possibly, have merely gazed in wonder +at the cleverness of all this work, despite his mountaineer's resentment +of the coming of the interlopers; but, with that resentment in his heart +to nag and worry him, he achieved, before the day was over, a real +hatred of the class and of each individual in it. Layson had come up +there to his country to rob him of the girl he loved; now these men were +coming with their railroad to change the aspect of the land he had been +born to and grown up in, making it a strange place, unfamiliar, +unwelcoming and crowded. He hated every one of them, he hated the new +railroad they were building, he hated their new-fangled and mysterious +machinery which puzzled him with intricate devices and appalled him with +its power of fire and steam. + +By the time the afternoon was two hours old he was in a state of sullen +fury, silent, morose, miserable on the stump which he had chosen as his +vantage point for observation. More than once an engineer looked at him +with plain admiration of his mammoth stature in his eyes; many a +town-girl, seeing him, like a statue of The Pioneer upon a fitting +pedestal, made furtive eyes at him, for he was handsome and attractive +in his rough ensemble; but he paid no heed to any of them. He was giving +his mind over to consideration of his grievance against these men who +came, with steam and pick and shovel, dynamite and railroad iron, +invading his domain. + +He thought about his secret still, hidden in its mountain fastness, and +realized that this new stage of settlement's inexorable march meant +danger to it; he thought about the game which roamed the hills and +realized that with the coming of the crowd it would soon scatter, never +to return; he thought about the girl up there, his companion in +adversity, his fellow sufferer from mutual wrong, the one thing which he +had had to love, the shining prize which it had been his sole ambition +to possess for life; he thought of her and then about the man, who +(product of the same advantages which made these men before him clever +with their blue-prints and their puffling monsters) had come there +searching profit from the land which he had never loved or lived on, +and, seeing Madge, had, Joe thoroughly believed, exerted every wile of a +superior experience to win her from him by fair means or foul. He +thought of them and hated all of them! + +He was a most unhappy mountaineer who sat there on the stump, impassive +and morose as the sun progressed upon its journey toward the western +horizon. All the organized activity in the scene about him filled him +with resentment and despair. In the hills he ever felt his strength: +they had presented in his whole lifetime few problems which he could not +cope with, conquer; but here in that construction camp he felt weak, +incompetent, saw full many a puzzling matter which he could not +understand. He watched the scene with bitter but with almost hopeless +eyes. These new forces working here at railroad building, working in the +hills to rob him of the girl he loved, seemed pitilessly strong and +terribly mysterious. He never had felt helpless in all his life, before. +It made him grind his teeth with rage. + +But, though it angered him, the tense activity of the construction camp +was fascinating, too. Especially was his attention held spellbound by +the ruthless work of the advancing blasting gangs. What power lay hidden +in those tiny sticks of dynamite! How lightly one of them had tossed +that poor unfortunate in air and left him lying mangled, broken, +helpless on the ground when it had spent its fury! _What a weapon one of +them would make, upon occasion_! + +This thought grew rapidly in his depressed and agitated mind. What a +weapon, what a weapon! Presently the blasting gangs and what they did +absorbed his whole attention. He no longer paid the slightest heed to +the puffing locomotives, busy with their dump-cars, to the mysterious +steam-shovel, to the hand cars with their pumping, flying passengers. +The dynamite was greater than the greatest of them. One stick of it, if +properly applied, would blow a locomotive into junk, would tear a +dump-car, with its massive iron-work and grinding wheels, apart and +leave mere splinters! + +His thoughts roamed back to his home mountains and pondered on the +probable effect of this incursion on his personal affairs. Not satisfied +with tearing up the placid valley, these foreigners would, presently, +invade the very mountains in their turn. He saw the doom of that small, +hidden still which had been his father's secret, years ago, was now his +secret from the prying eyes of law and progress. That the "revenuers," +soon or late, would get it, now that their allies were building steel +highways to swarm on, was inevitable. His heart beat fast with a new +anger, anticipatory of their coming to his fastness. + +Lying not six feet from him as he sat there thinking bitterly of all +these things, the foreman of the blasting gang had gingerly deposited a +dozen sticks of dynamite upon a soft cushion of grey blankets. Joe +looked at them as they lay there, innocent and unimpressive. If he had +some of them in the hills and the revenuers came to raid his still-- + +The thought sprang into being in his mind with lightning quickness and +grew there with mushroom growth. Never in his life had Lorey stolen +anything, although the government would have classed him as a criminal +because he owned that hidden still. His standards, in some things, were +different from yours and mine, but he had never stolen anything and +scorned as low beyond the power of words to tell a man who would. But +now temptation came to him. He wanted some of that explosive. Should he +buy it, its purchase by a mountaineer would certainly attract attention +and might thus precipitate the very thing he wished to ward away--a +watch of him, and, through that espionage, discovery of his secret place +among the hills. And were not the railroad and the men who owned it +robbing him by their progression into his own country? They were robbing +him of peace and quiet, of the possibility of living on the life he had +been born to and had learned to love! One of the class which fostered +him was robbing him, he feared with a great fear, of the sweet girl whom +he loved better than he loved his life. Surely it would be no sin, no +act of real dishonesty for him to slip down from his stump when none was +looking and secure a stick or two of the explosive! + +Speciously he argued this out in his mind and reached the wrong +conclusion which he wished to reach. + +If he could but get one of those sticks of dynamite! When progress came, +as, now, he felt convinced it would, to drive him from his mountains and +the still which made life possible to him, he could meet it, at the +start, with one of its own weapons. That, even though he had a hundred +such, he could fight the fight successfully, could, in the end, find +triumph, he did not for an instant think. The might of the encroaching +army had impressed him, and he knew that, soon or late, he would be +forced to yield to it; but he coveted those sticks of dynamite. One of +them would give him some slight power, at least. He acknowledged to +himself that he would steal one if he got the chance, despite his innate +hatred of all pilferers. Such theft would merely be the taking of an +unimportant tribute from the power which would, eventually, claim much, +indeed, from him. + +From the distance came the screaming whistle of a locomotive pulling in +along the newly built roadway to eastward. It was followed by a flurry +of excitement among all the men at work around about him. + +"There comes the mail," he heard one handsome young chap shout. + +He wore a suit like that which Joe had learned to hate because Frank +Layson wore it. + +This youth started running down the track, bright-eyed, expectant, and a +dozen others ran to follow him, leaving blue-prints, their surveyors' +instruments and other tokens of their mysterious might of education, +lying unheeded on the ground behind them. There was much excitement. +Even the rough laborers stopped delving at their tasks for a few +minutes, to straighten from their work and stand, with curious eyes +agaze down-track. + +In the distance Joe saw smoke arise above the tops of the invaded +forest-trees. Then he heard the growing clangor of a locomotive's bell, +then other whistling and the approaching rumble of steel wheels upon +steel rails, the groan of brake shoes gripping, the rattle of contracted +couplings, the impact of car-bumpers. + +The excitement grew among the working gangs. Even the laborers left +their tasks and started down the rough surface of the new embankment +toward the place, a quarter-of-a-mile away, where the train would stop +at the end of the crude ballasting. + +Lorey sat there on his stump, apparently impassive, watching all this +flurry with resentful, discontented eyes. He himself was infinitely +curious about the coming train; but he could not bring himself to go to +see it. He had never seen a railway train, but it somehow seemed to him +that if he hurried with the rest to meet this one it would mean a +certain sacrifice of dignity in the face of the invading conqueror. He +sat there, grimly wondering what it might be like, what the people whom +it brought were like, until, suddenly, he discovered that he was alone. +The last workman yielding to temptation, free from supervision for the +moment, had run down the bank to meet the train, get mail, see who had +come. Lying not a dozen feet away from Joe on their grey blanket were +the sticks of dynamite. + +Lithe, quick and silent as one of the mountain wild-cats he had so often +trailed through his domain, he slipped down from his stump, caught up a +stick of the explosive, tucked it carefully into his game-bag, took his +place again upon the stump, impassive, calm, apparently quite unexcited. + +When the men came trooping back, opening letters, tearing wrappers from +their newspapers, gossipping, he still sat on the stump as they had left +him. Not one of them suspected that he once had left it. + +"Bright and lively as a cigar-store Indian," he heard one care-free +youth exclaim as he went by him. + +He did not know what the man meant; he had never seen a cigar-store +Indian; but he knew a jibe was meant. It did not anger him, as it would +have done, a few moments earlier. Now he had exacted his small tribute. +They could stare at him and jibe, if they were so inclined. Hidden +carefully there in his game-bag was one of their own weapons for their +fight against the wilderness, which, in course of time, might be a +weapon of the wilderness in fighting against some of them. + +Presently he climbed down from the stump and strolled back along the raw +embankment toward the little group still standing near the train which +had arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The young moonshiner stiffened instantly as he neared the group of newly +arrived travellers, for the first word he heard from them was the name +of him whom, among all foreigners, he hated with most bitterness. An old +darky, plainly the servant of the party, and such a darky as the +mountain country had never seen before, was inquiring of a bystander +where he could find "Marse" Frank Layson. + +The man of whom he asked the question had not the least idea, nor had +anyone about the railroad working. Most of the men had never heard of +Layson, and the few who had become acquainted with him through chance +meetings since he had been stopping in his cabin in the mountains, knew +most indefinitely where the place was located. Lorey could have quickly +given the information, but had no thought of doing so. He stood, +instead, staring at the party with wondering but not good-natured eyes, +and said no word. He certainly was not the one to do a favor to his +rival or his rival's friends. + +The group of strangers were thrown into confusion by the difficulty of +getting news of him they sought, and, while they discussed the matter, +Lorey had a chance to study them. He stood upon the rough plank +platform, leaning on his rifle, with the game-bag and its burden of +purloined explosive hanging slouchily beneath one arm, his coon-skin cap +down well upon his eyes, those eyes, half closed, gazing at the +newcomers with all the curiosity which they would have shown at sight of +savages from some far foreign shore. + +He was not the only one about the temporary railroad station who eyed +the group with curiosity and interest. Two of the travellers were ladies +from the bluegrass and scarcely one of all the natives lingering about +the workings had ever seen a lady from the bluegrass, while, to the +young surveyors and the group of civil engineers who had, for months, +been exiled by their work among the mountains from all association with +such lovely creatures, it was a joy to stand apart and covertly gaze at +them. Many a young fellow, months away from home, who had grasped the +newspapers and letters which had come in with the other mail with eager +fingers, anxious to devour their contents, had, after the two ladies had +descended from the train, almost forgotten his anxiety to get the news +from home, and stood there, now, with opened letters in his hands, +unread. + +The ladies were very worthy of attention, too. Miss Alathea Layson, the +elder of the two, was slight, beautifully groomed despite the long and +dirty trip on rough cars over the crude road-bed of a newly graded +railway. A woman whose thirtieth birthday had been left behind some +years before, she still had all the brightness and vivacity of the +twenties in her carriage and her manner. Her voice, as it drifted to the +young moonshiner, was a new experience to him--soft, well modulated, +cultivated, it was of a sort which he had never heard before, and, while +it seemed to him affected, nevertheless thrilled him with an +unacknowledged admiration. + +It was she who showed the greatest disappointment about the general +ignorance concerning Layson's whereabouts, and that voice made +instantaneous and irresistible appeal to the older men among the party +of engineers and surveyors, who, finding an excuse in her discomfiture, +flocked about her, hats off, backs bent in humble bows, proffering +assistance, three deep in the circle. + +The other lady traveller, whom Miss Alathea called Miss Barbara, more +especially attracted the attention of the younger men, and, as they +stood aloof to gaze at her, held such mountain dwellers as were near, +paralyzed with wonder and admiration. Nothing so brilliantly beautiful +as she in form, carriage, face, coloring or dress had ever been seen +there in the little valley. + +She was a florid girl of twenty, or, perhaps, of twenty-one or two. Her +eyes were the obtrusive feature of her face, and she used them with a +freedom which held callow youth spellbound. Her gown was more +pretentious than that of her more elderly companion. This, of course, +was justified by the difference between their ages; but there seemed to +be, beyond this, a flaunting gayety about it and her manner which were +not, in the eyes of the older and wiser men among the group who watched, +justified by anything. It would have been a hard thing for the most +critical of them to have definitely mentioned just what forced this +strong impression on their minds, but it was forced upon them very +quickly. One of them, a cute and keen observer as he was, of many years +experience, decided the moot point, though, and whispered his decision +to a grizzled man (the engineer in charge of the whole enterprise upon +that section of construction) who stood next him. + +"The elder one is of the old-time Southern aristocracy," he said. "The +younger one is one of the newcomers--her father has made money and she +is breaking in by means of it." + +His companion nodded, realizing that the guess was shrewd and justified, +even if it might, conceivably, be inaccurate. + +"She certainly is very striking," he said, nodding, "but the elder one +is the aristocrat." + +The other member of the party was a big man, nearing fifty, with a broad +face on which geniality was written in its every line, wearing the +wide-brimmed Southern hat, typical long frock-coat with flaring skirts, +black trousers, somewhat pegged, and boots of an immaculate brilliance. + +His voice was loud, hearty and attractive, as he made inquiries, here +and there, about the young man whom they had hoped to find in waiting +for them at the station, although they had arrived, owing to the +exigencies of travel by a new road, not yet officially opened to +traffic, a day before they had expected to. + +"I suh," said this gentleman, "am Cunnel Doolittle--Cunnel Sandusky +Doolittle, and am looking for this lady's nephew, Mr. Layson, suh. If +you can tell me where the youngster is likely to be runnin', now, you +will put me under obligations, suh." + +None, however, knew just how Layson could be reached. Most of them knew +him or had heard of him, but they were not certain just where his camp +in the mountains was located. + +"I regret, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel, turning to the disappointed +lady at his side, after having completed his inquiries, "that there is +no good hotel heah. If there were a good hotel heah, I would take you to +it, ma'am, and make you comfortable. Then, ma'am, I would search this +country and I'd find him in short order. He probably did not receive my +letter saying that we would arrive to-day and not to-morrow." + +One of the engineers proffered to the ladies the use of his own canvas +quarters till some course of action should have been decided on, an +offer which was gratefully accepted. + +Soon afterward inquiries by the Colonel brought out definite information +as to the exact location of Frank's camp. A railway teamster, also, it +appeared, was starting in that direction after ties and offered to +transport a messenger as far as he was going, directing him, then, so +that he could not lose his way. Old Neb, the darky, thereupon, was +started on the search. + +He was a different sort of negro from any which the mountain folk had +ever seen, and wore more airs than his "white folks." Dressed in a black +frock-coat as ornate as the Colonel's, although its bagging shoulders +showed that it had been a gift and not made for him, his hat was a silk +tile, a bit too large, and in one hand was a gold-headed cane on which +he leaned as his old legs limped under him. Among the mountaineers about +he was an object of the keenest curiosity, although down in the +bluegrass, where old family negroes frequently were let to grow into a +childish dignity of manner after years of faithful service and were not +disturbed in their ideas of their own importance, he would have been +regarded as merely an amusing infant of great age, reaping a reward for +by-gone merits in the careful consideration and indulgence now extended +to him. His inordinate vanity of his personal appearance and his dignity +might have given rise to smiles, down there; here there were those upon +the platform who laughed loudly as he walked away, boasting +vaingloriously, although he evidently feared the trip with the rough +teamster, that he would find "young Marse Frank" in a jiffy and have him +there in no time. + +It was while the aged negro was climbing somewhat difficultly to the +side of the good-natured railroad teamster who had promised to give him +a lift upon his way and then supply directions for his further progress, +that Joe Lorey, who had been an interested spectator of the affair, +contemptuous, amused by the old darky, saw, coming through the crowd +behind him and well beyond the range of the newly arrived strangers, the +roughly dressed, mysterious old man whom he had seen, once or twice, up +in the mountains, whom Madge had seen, tapping with his little hammer at +the rocks. Lorey looked toward him with a face which scowled +instinctively. He disliked the man, as he disliked all foreigners who +dared invasion of his wilderness; he would have feared him, too, had he +known that it had really been him and not young Layson and Madge Brierly +who had made the noise there in the thicket which had disturbed him, +that day, when, armed to meet a raid of revenuers, he had rushed out +from his still to find the girl and the young bluegrass gentleman in a +close company which worried him almost as much as the appearance of the +officers, in fact, could have done. + +He was a "foreigner," this old man with the manner of the mountains, +and, sometimes, their speech, for he wore bluegrass clothes; therefore +he was one to be classed with the others in his bitter hatred. He was +standing almost in his path, and, by stepping to one side, could have +saved him a small detour round a pile of boxed supplies; but he did not +move an inch, stiffening, instead, delighted at obstructing him. + +The old man, as he went around, looked sharply at him, and then smiled, +almost as if he recognized him and could read his thoughts; almost as if +he realized the man's instinctive hate; almost as if he felt a +certainty, deep in his soul, that so great was the disaster hovering +above the mountaineer that it would be scarcely worth his own while, +now, even to think resentfully of this small insult. + +A moment later, though, and the expression of his face had changed +completely. The first glimpse of the new come party standing, now, deep +in discussion of the railway work, before the engineer's white, +hospitable tent, made him start back in amazement. + +For an instant he stood wavering, as if he were considering the plan of +trying to depart without approaching them or being seen by them, but +then he shrugged his shoulders and advanced, trying to show upon his +face surprised good-nature. + +"Wall, Colonel Doolittle!" he cried. "And you, Miss Layson, and--why, +there's Barbara!" + +"_Father!"_ said the girl, in absolute amazement, hurrying toward him. + +"Ah, Mr. Holton!" said Miss 'Lethe, bowing to him as the Colonel, +plainly not too greatly pleased by the necessity for doing so, advanced +toward him with extended hand. + +"What brings you all up here?" asked Holton, after the greetings had +been said. + +"We came up to see Frank and the beauties of his long-forgotten land," +Miss 'Lethe answered, in her softly charming voice. "He has property up +here, you know, which has been for years a family possession, but which +has been considered valueless, or almost so. When he learned that this +new railway was to pass quite close to it, he decided to investigate it +carefully and see just what it really amounted to." + +Holton smiled a little wryly as she completed her explanation. "He's +stayed here, studyin' it, a long time, ain't he?" + +"Yes," Miss Alathea answered. "When he once reached here he seemed to +find new beauties in the country every day. He wrote us the most glowing +letters of it, and these letters and--and--other things, decided me to +come and see him and the property he is so fond of. The Colonel was +polite enough to volunteer as escort, your daughter to come as a +companion." + +Holton winked mysteriously at Colonel Doolittle. "You come at the right +time," said he. "I'll have some things to tell you of this country and +just what the railroad's going to do for it if you should care to +listen." + +The Colonel's eyes, plainly those of one who read the tale of character +upon the faces of the people whom he met, looked at him with no great +favor, but he smiled. "We've already learned some things which have +astonished us," he said. Then, though, despite the fact that his remark +had greatly aroused Holton's curiosity, evidently, he changed the +subject somewhat abruptly, and turned grandiosely to Miss 'Lethe. + +"May I offuh you my ahm, ma'am, for a little stroll about heah?" he +inquired. "The greatest disadvantage which I see about this country is +the lack of level places big enough to put a race-track in, ma'am. So +far as I can see from lookin' round me, casual like, you couldn't run a +quahtuh, heah, without eitheh goin' up a hill or comin' down one." + +"_Isn't_ it rough!" said Barbara, with a gesture of aversion which +seemed a bit affected. + +Holton looked at her with what was plainly admiration. It was clear +enough that, in a way, he was fond of his showy daughter. He ran his eye +with satisfaction over her costume, from head to foot, and nodded. + +"You ain't never seen much of rough life, now have you, Barbara?" He +turned, then, to Miss Alathea. "These young folks, raised the way we +raise 'em, nowadays, get thinkin' that the whole world has been +smoothed out for their treadin'--an' they ain't far wrong. We _do_ +smooth out the world for 'em. Now, there's your nephew, Frank; he--" + +"Oh, he _likes_ it, here, as I have said," she answered. + +"But it is so--_uncouth_" said Barbara, plainly for the benefit of one +or two admiring youths from the surveying party, who were standing near. +"And some of the people look so absolutely vicious--some of the natives, +I mean, of course, you know. Now look at that young fellow, over there!" + +The girl had nodded toward Joe Lorey, who was standing not far off, +observing them with an unwavering and disapproving, almost definitely +hostile stare. + +"He looks," the girl went on, "as if he hated us and would be glad to do +us harm. So violent!" + +"He's from up the mountains," one of the young engineers said, glancing +toward him. "It's funny how those mountain people _all_ hate us. You +see, they say, the hills around about here are all full of moonshiners +and they believe the coming of the railroad will bring with it law and +order and that when that comes, of course, their living will be gone." + +"Moonshiners?" said Barbara. "Pray, what are moonshiners?" + +Her father grimly smiled again. He knew that she knew quite as well what +moonshiners were as any person in the group, but her affected ignorance +of rough things and rough men amused him. + +"Distillers of corn whisky who refuse to pay their taxes to the +government," the youth replied. "The revenue officials have had dreadful +times with them, here in the Cumberland, for years. Sometimes they have +really bloody battles with them, when they try to make a raid." + +"How terrible!" said Barbara, and shuddered carefully. She looked again +at Lorey, who, conscious that he was the subject of their conversation +and resentful of it, stared back boldly and defiantly. "And do you think +that he--that very young man there--can possibly have ever actually +_killed_ a man?" + +The engineer laughed heartily. "That he may _possibly_ have killed a +man," said he, "there is no doubt. I don't know that he has, however, +and it is most improbable. I don't even know that he's a moonshiner." + +Among the others who had left the train, which, now, had been switched +off to a crude side-track, the cars left there and the locomotive +started at the handling of dirt-dump-cars, were two tall, sunburned +strangers, whom Miss Alathea, who had noted them as she did everyone, +had classed as engineers or surveyors, but who had not, when they had +arrived, mingled with the other men employed on the construction of the +railroad. While the young man and Barbara were talking about +moonshiners, one of them had drifted near and he gave them a keen +glance at the first mention of the word. Now he turned, but turned most +casually, to follow with his own, their glances at Joe Lorey. Then he +sauntered off, and, as he passed Holton, seemed to exchange meaning +glances with him. + +Soon afterward Lorey turned away. The day was getting on toward noon. +The long tramp back to his lonely cabin in the mountains would consume +some hours. The sight of all these strangers, all this work on the new +railroad worried him, made him unhappy, added to and multiplied the +apprehension which for weeks had filled his heart about Madge Brierly +and young Layson. He battled with a mixture of emotions. There was no +ounce of cowardice, in Joe. Never had he met a situation in his life +before which he had feared or which had proved too strong for him. All +his battles, so far, and they had been many and been various, as was +inevitable from the nature of his secret calling, had resulted in full +victories for his mighty strength of body or his quick foot, certain +hand, keen knowledge of the mountains and the woods resource and wit +that went with these; but now things seemed to baffle him. His soul was +struggling against acknowledgment of it, while his mind continually told +him it was true. Everything seemed, now, to be against him. + +He knew, but would not admit, even to himself, that the march of +progress must inevitably drive out of existence the still hidden in his +cave and make the marketing of its illicit product doubly hazardous, +nay, quite impossible. He knew that he must give it up; he realized that +real good sense would send him home, that day, to bury the last trace of +it in some spot where it never could be found again. But his stubborn +soul revolted at the thought of being beaten, finally, by this +civilization which he hated; he would not admit, even in his mind, that +it had bested him, or could ever best him. He ground his teeth and +pressed his elbow down against the stock of his long rifle with a force +which ground the gun into his side until it hurt him. He would never +give up, never! Let them try to get him if they could, these lowlanders! +He would not be afraid of them. His father had not been--and he would +never be. + +And there was a voice within him which kept whispering as did the one +which counselled the abandonment of his illegal calling, the abandonment +of that other effort, infinitely dearer to him, to win Madge Brierly's +love and hand in marriage. His common-sense assured him that she was not +made for such as he, that, while she had been born there in the +mountains there were delicacies, refinements in her which would make her +mating with his rude and uncouth strength impossible, would make it +cruelly unhappy for her, even should it come about. But this voice he +steadfastly declined to listen to, even more emphatically than he did to +that which counselled caution in his calling. Again he ground his +teeth. His heels, when they came down upon the rocky mountain trails up +which he soon was climbing, fell on the slopes so heavily that, +constantly, his progress was followed by the rattle of small stones down +the inclined path behind him, constant little landslides. And, at +ordinary times, Joe Lorey, awkward as he looked to be, could scale a +sloping sand-bank without sending down a sliding spoonful to betray the +fact that he was moving on it to the wild things it might startle. + +Heavily he resolved within his soul, against his own best judgment, to +keep up both fights and win. + +The dynamite which he had stolen and which nestled in his game-sack +comforted him, although he did not know how he would use it. Many times, +as he worked through the narrow trails, jumped from stepping-stone to +stepping-stone in crossing mountain-streams, pulled himself up steep and +rocky slopes by clutching swaying branches, or rough-angled boulders, he +let his left hand slip down to the side of the old game-sack, where, +through the soft leather, he could plainly feel the smooth, terrific +cylinder. + +He swore a mighty mountain oath that none of the advancing forces ever +should win victory of him. If the revenuers ever tried to get him, let +God help them, for they would need help; if Frank Layson stole his girl +from him, then let God help him, also, for even more than would the +revenuers the young bluegrass gentleman would need assistance from some +mighty power. + +But a fate was closing on Joe Lorey which all his uncouth strength could +not avert. As he had left the railway those two men whom simple-minded +Miss Alathea had supposed were engineers, but who had not mingled with +the throng of railway builders had looked at Horace Holton for +confirmation of their guess. In a quick glance, so keen that they could +not mistake its meaning so instantaneous that none else could suspect +that the three men were even casual acquaintances, he had told them they +had guessed aright. + +They sauntered off and disappeared in the direction whence the +mountaineer had gone, and, though his feet were well accustomed to the +trails and were as expert in their climbing as any mountaineer's for +miles, these men proved more expert; though his ear was as acute as a +wild animal's, so silently they moved that never once a hint that they +were following, ever following behind him, reached it; their endurance +was as great as his, their woods-craft was as sly as his. + +A fate was closing on Joe Lorey. The march of civilization was, indeed, +advancing toward his mountain fastnesses at last. And nothing stays the +march of civilization. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +The afternoon was waning as Joe climbed a sudden rise and saw before him +Layson's camp. + +Through a cleft in the guardian range the sun's rays penetrated red and +fiery. Already the quick chill of the coming evening had begun to +permeate the air. A hawk, sailing from a day of foraging among the +hen-yards of the distant valley, flew heavily across the sky, burdened +with plunder for its little ones, nested at the top of a black stub on +the mountain-side. Squirrels were home-going after a busy day among the +trees. The mournful barking of young foxes, anxious for their dinners, +thrilled the air with sounds of woe. Among the smaller birds the early +nesters were already twittering in minor among the trees and thickets; a +mountain-eagle cleft the air in the hawk's trail, so high that only a +keen eye could have caught sight of him. Daylight insects were beginning +to abate their clamor, while their fellows of the night were tuning for +the evening concert. Mournfully, and very faintly, came a locomotive's +wail from the far valley. + +Joe Lorey paused grimly in his progress to stare at the rough shack +which housed the man he hated. He was no coward, and he would not take +advantage of the loneliness and isolation of the spot to do him harm +surreptitiously, but vividly the thought thrilled through him that +someday he would assail him. Smoke was curling from the mud-and-stick +chimney of the little structure, and he smiled contemptuously as he +thought of how the bluegrass youth was doubtless pottering, within, +getting ready to go down into the valley to greet his fine friends and +be greeted. He had no doubt that long ere this the aged negro had +reached him with the news of their arrival. He wondered, with a fierce +leap of hope, if, possibly, their coming might not be the signal for the +man's departure from the country where he was not wanted. + +This hope keenly thrilled him, for a moment, but, an instant later, +when, through the small window, he saw the youth seat himself, alone, +before a blazing fire of logs, stretch out his legs and lounge in the +comfort of the blaze, it left him. He wondered if Layson did not intend +to go down at all to meet his friends. + +Just then his quick ear caught the sound of stumbling, hurried +footsteps, plainly not a mountaineer's, down in the rough woodland, +below. Instantly his muscles tautened, instantly he brought his rifle to +position; but he soon let it fall again and smiled, perhaps, for the +first time that day. + +"Lawsy! Lawsy!" he could hear a scared voice muttering. "Lawsy, I is +los', fo' suah!" + +His smile broadened to a wide, malicious grin of satisfaction. The black +messenger who had been started with the news, evidently had not fared +well upon the way, and was, but now, arriving. "It's that nigger +wanderin' around up hyar," he mused. And then: "I'm goin' to have some +fun with him." + +Silently he slipped down the path by which he had so recently ascended, +and, at a good distance from the cabin, but still well in advance of the +unhappy negro, hid behind a rock, awaiting his approach. + +Old Neb, advancing, scared tremendously, was talking to himself in a +loud, excited voice. + +"Oh, golly!" he exclaimed. "Dis am a pretty fix for a bluegrass cullud +gemman! Dis am a pretty fix--los', los' up heah, in de midst of wolves +an' painters!" + +Joe, from behind his rock, wailed mournfully in startling imitation of a +panther's call. + +The darkey almost fell prone in his fright. "Name o' goodness!" he +exclaimed. "Wha' dat? Oh--oh--dere's a painter, now!" + +Joe called again, more mournfully, more ominously than before. + +Neb's fright became a trembling panic. "Hit's a-comin' closer!" he +exclaimed. "I feel as if de debbil's gwine ter git me!" He stooped and +started on a crouching run directly toward the rock behind which Joe was +hiding. + +As the old man would have passed, Joe jumped out from his ambush, and, +bringing his right hand down heavily upon the darky's shoulder, emitted +a wild scream, absolutely terrifying in its savage ferocity. With a howl +Neb dropped upon his knees, praying in an ecstasy of fear. + +"Oh, good Mister Painter, good Mister Debbil--" he began. + +Inasmuch as he was not devoured upon the instant, he finally ventured to +look up and Joe laughed loudly. + +So great was the relief of the old negro that he did not think of anger. +A sickly smile spread slowly on his face. "De Lawd be praised!" he said. +"Why, hit's a man!" + +"Reckon I am," said Joe. "Generally pass for one." Then, although he +knew quite well just why the man had come, from whom, for whom, he asked +sternly to confuse him: "What _you_ doin' in these mountings?" + +"I's lookin' fo' my massa, young Marse Frank Layson, suh," Neb answered +timidly. + +"You needn't to go fur to find him," Lorey answered bitterly. "You +needn't to go fur to find him." + +The old negro looked at him, puzzled and frightened by his grim tone and +manner. + +"Why--why--" he began. "Is it hereabouts he hunts fo' deer? He wrote +home he was findin' good spo't in the mountains, huntin' deer." + +Joe's mouth twitched ominously, involuntarily. The mere presence of Old +Neb, there, was another evidence of the great advantage, which, he began +to feel with hopeless rage, the man who had stolen that thing from him +which he prized most highly, had over him. The negro was his servant. +Servants meant prosperity, prosperity meant power. Backwoodsman as he +was, Joe Lorey knew that perfectly. His face gloomed in the twilight. + +"Yes," he answered bitterly, "it's here he has been huntin'--huntin' +deer--the pootiest deer these mountings ever see." Of course the old +negro did not understand the man's allusion. He was puzzled by the +speech; but Joe went on without an explanation: "But thar is danger in +sech huntin'. Your young master, maybe, better keep a lookout for +his-self!" + +His voice trembled with intensity. + +In the meantime Layson was still seated thoughtfully before his fire of +crackling "down-wood," busy with a thousand speculations. Just what +Madge Brierly, the little mountain girl, meant to him, really, he could +not quite determine. He knew that he had been most powerfully attracted +to her, but he did not fail to recognize the incongruity of such a +situation. He had never been a youth of many love-affairs. Perhaps his +regard for horses and the "sport of kings" had kept him from much +travelling along the sentimental paths of dalliance with the fair sex. +Barbara Holton, back in the bluegrass country, had been almost the only +girl whom he had ever thought, seriously, of marrying, and he had not, +actually, spoken, yet, to her about it. When he had left the lowlands +for the mountains he had meant to, though, when he returned. There were +those, he thought, who believed them an affianced couple. Now he +wondered if they ever would be, really, and if, without actually +speaking, he had not led her to believe that he would speak. He was +astonished at the thrill of actual fear he felt as he considered the +mere possibility of this. + +The news which had been brought to him by mail that upon the morrow he +would see the girl again, in company with his Aunt and Colonel +Doolittle, had focussed matters in his mind. Did he really love the +haughty, bluegrass beauty? He was far from sure of it, as he sat there +in the little mountain-cabin, although he had been certain that he did +when he had left the lowlands. + +It seemed almost absurd, even to his young and sentimental mind, that +one in his position should have lost his heart to an uneducated girl +like Madge, but he definitely decided that, at any rate, he had never +loved the other girl. If it was not really love he felt for the small +maiden of the forest-fire and spelling-book, it surely was not love he +felt for the brilliant, showy, bluegrass girl. + +He was reflecting discontentedly that he did not know exactly what he +felt or what he wanted, when he heard Joe Lorey's startling imitation of +the panther's cry, outside, and, rising, presently, when careful +listening revealed the fact that the less obtrusive sound of human +voices followed what had seemed to be the weird, uncanny call of the +wild-beast, he went to the door and opened it, so that he could better +listen. + +Joe and the negro had not been in actual view of Layson's cabin, up to +that time. A rocky corner, rising at the trail's side, had concealed it. +Now they stepped around this and the lighted door and windows of the +little structure stood out, despite increasing darkness, plainly in +their view. + +Almost instantly old Neb recognized the silhouette of Layson's figure +there against the fire-light from within. + +"Marse _Frank_!" he cried. "Marse _Frank!_" + +Layson, startled by the unexpected sound of the familiar voice there in +the wilderness, rushed from the door, took Neb's trembling hand and led +him to the cabin. + +"Neb, old Neb!" he cried. "By all that's wonderful! How did you get here +alone? I thought you all were to come up to-morrow. Where is Aunt +'Lethe, and the Colonel, and--and--" + +Neb, his troubles all forgotten as quickly as a child's, stood wringing +his young master's hand with extravagant delight. Joe Lorey disappeared +like a flitting shadow of the coming night. + +"Dey're all down at de railroad, suh," said Neb. "Dey're all down at de +railroad. Got heah a day befo' dey t'ought dey would, suh, an' sent me +on ahead to let you know. I been wanderin' aroun' fo' a long time +a-tryin' fo' to fin' yo'. Dat teamster what gib me a lif', he tol' me +dat de trail war cleah from whar he dropped me to yo' cabin, but I +couldn't fin' it, suh, an' I got los'." + +"And the others all are waiting at the railroad for me? I was going down +to meet them to-morrow." + +"Dey don't expect you till to-morrow, now, suh. Ev'rybody tol' 'em that +you couldn't git dar till to-morrow. I reckon dey'll be com'fable. Fo'ty +men was tryin' fo' to make 'em so when _I_ lef." The old darky laughed. +"Looked like dat dem chaps wat's layin' out dat railroad, dar, ain't +seen a woman's face fo' yeahs an' yeahs, de way dey flocked aroun'. Ev'y +tent in de destruction camp war at deir suhvice in five minutes." + +Frank was busy at the fire with frying-pan and bacon. The old negro was +worn out. The young man disregarded his uneasy protests and made him sit +in comfort while he cooked a supper for him. + +"So you got lost! Who finally set you straight? I heard you talking, +there, with someone." + +"A young pusson, suh," said Neb, with dignity. Lorey had befriended him, +he knew, at last; but he had scared him into panic to begin with. "A +young pusson, suh," he said, "what made me think he was a paintuh, suh, +to staht with. Made me think he was a paintuh, suh, or else de debbil, +wid his howlin'." + +Layson laughed long and heartily. "Must have been Joe Lorey," he +surmised. "I heard that cry and thought, myself, it was a panther. He's +the only one on earth, I guess, who can imitate the beasts so well. +Where is he, now?' + +"Lawd knows! I see him dar, close by me, den I seed you in de doah, an' +when I looked aroun' ag'in, he had plumb faded clean away!" + +"They're wonderful, these mountaineers, with their woods-craft." + +"Debbil craf, mo' like," said Neb, a bit resentful, still. + +Frank smiled at the thought of his dear Aunt, precise and elegant, +compelled to spend the night in a construction camp beneath +white-canvas. + +"What did Aunt 'Lethe think about a night in tents?" he asked. + +"Lawd," said Neb, plainly trying to gather bravery for something which +he wished to say, "I didn't ax huh. Too busy with my worryin'." + +"Worrying at what, Neb?" + +"Oveh dat Miss Holton an' her father." + +"Mr. Holton didn't come, too, did he?" + +"No; he didn't come wid us, suh; but he met us dar down by de railroad. +Wasn't lookin' for him, an' I guess he wasn't lookin', jus' exactly, to +see us. But he was dar an' now he's jus' a membuh of ouah pahty, suh, as +good as Cunnel Doolittle. Hit don't seem right to me, suh; no suh, hit +don't seem right to me." + +"Why, Neb!" + +"An' dat Miss Barbara! She was dead sot to see you, an' Miss 'Lethe was +compelled to ax her fo' to come along. She didn't mean to, fust off; no +suh. But she had to, in de end. Den I war plumb beat when I saw Mister +Holton stalkin' up dat platfohm like he owned it an' de railroad an' de +hills, and de hull yearth. But he's bettuh heah dan down at home, Marse +Frank. He don't _belong_ down in de bluegrass." + +"I'm afraid you are impertinent, Neb. Don't meddle. You always have been +prejudiced against Barbara and her father." + +The old negro answered quickly, bitterly. "I ain't likely to fuhgit," +said he, "dat de only blow dat evuh fell upon my back was from his han'! +I guess you rickollick as well as I do. He cotch me coon-huntin' on his +place an' strung me up. He'd jes' skinned me dar alive if you-all hadn't +heered my holler in' an' run in." + +Layson was uneasy at the turn the talk had taken. "That was years ago, +Neb," he expostulated. + +"Don't seem yeahs ago to me, suh. Huh! De only blow dat evuh fell upon +my back! But yo' snatched dat whip out of his ban' an' den yo' laid it, +with ev'y ounce of stren'th war in yo', right acrost his face!" + +Layson, unwilling to be harsh with the old man and forbid him to say +more, ostentatiously busied himself, now, about the table with the +frying-pan and other dishes, hoping, thus, to discourage further talk of +this sort. + +"No, suh," Neb went on with shaking head, "I jus' nachelly don' like +him. Don't like _either_ of 'em. An' he, Marse Frank, he nevuh _will_ +fuhgit dat blow, an' don't you think he will!" + +"That's all over, long ago," said Frank, as he put the finishing touches +on the old man's supper. "And what had Barbara to do with it? She can't +help what her father does." + +Neb drew up to the table with a continuously shaking head. For months he +had desired to speak his mind to his young master, but had never dared +to take so great a liberty. Now the unusual circumstances they were +placed in, the fact that he had been lost in the mountains in his +service and half scared to death, imbued him with new boldness. + +"She kain't he'p what he does, suh, no," said he. "But listen, now, +Marse Frank, to po' ol' Neb. De pizen vine hit don't b'ar peaches, an' +nightshade berries--dey ain't hulsome, eben ef dey're pooty." + +"Neb, stop that!" Layson commanded sharply. + +The old negro half slipped from the chair in which he had been sitting +wearily. Once he had started on the speech which he had made his mind +up, months ago, that, some day, he would screw his courage up to, he +would not be stopped. + +"Oh, honey," he exclaimed, holding out his tremulous old hands in a +gesture of appeal, while the fire-light flickered on a face on which +affection and real sincerity were plain, "I's watched ovuh you evuh +sence yo' wuh a baby, an' when I see dat han'some face o' hers was +drawin' of yo' on, it jus' nigh broke my ol' brack heaht, it did. It +did, Marse Frank, fo' suah." + +The young man could not reprimand the aged negro. He knew that all he +said came from the heart, a heart as utterly unselfish and devoted in +its love as human heart could be. + +"Oh, pshaw, Neb!" he said soothingly. "Don't worry. Perhaps I did go +just a bit too far with Barbara--young folks, you know!--but that's all +over, now." Again he wondered most uncomfortably if this were really +true, again his mind made its comparisons between the bluegrass girl and +sweet Madge Brierly. "There's no danger that Woodlawn will have any +other mistress than my dear Aunt 'Lethe for many a long year," he +concluded rather lamely. + +The emotion of the ancient darky worried him. It was proof that evidence +of a love affair with Barbara Holton had been plain to every eye, he +thought. + +Neb now slid wholly from the chair and dropped upon his knees close by +the youth he loved, grasping his hand and pressing it against his +faithful heart. + +"Oh, praise de Lawd, Marse Frank; oh, praise de Lawd!" he cried. + +Old Neb slept with an easier heart, that night, than had throbbed in his +old black bosom since the probability that Barbara Holton would be a +member of the party which was to visit his young master in the +mountains, had first begun to worry him. But long after he had found +unconsciousness on the boughs-and-blanket bed which he had fashioned for +himself under Frank's direction, Layson, himself, was wandering beneath +the stars, thinking of the problem that beset him. + +He was sorry Barbara was coming to the mountains. Why had his Aunt +'Lethe brought her? What would that dear lady think about Madge Brierly, +wood-nymph, rustic phenomenon? What had Horace Holton been doing in the +mountains, secretly, to have been surprised, discomfited as Neb had said +he was, at sight of the Colonel, Miss 'Lethe and his daughter? + +But before he had finished the pipe which he had carried into the crisp +air of the sharp mountain night for company, his thought had left the +Holtons and were seeking (as they almost always were, these days and +nights), his little pupil of the spelling-book, his little burden of the +brush-fire flight. He looked across the mountain-side toward where her +lonely cabin hid in its secluded fastness. There was a late light +to-night ashine from its small window. + +"She'll like her," he murmured softly in the night. "She'll _love_ her. +Aunt 'Lethe'll understand!" + +And then he wondered just exactly what it was that he felt so very +certain his Aunt 'Lethe would be sure to understand. He did not +understand, himself, precisely what had happened to him, his life-plans, +heart-longings. + +Strolling there beneath the stars he gave no thought to poor Joe Lorey, +until, like a night-shadow, the moonshiner stalked along the trail and +passed him. Layson called to him good-naturedly, but the mountaineer +gave him no heed. Frank stood, gazing after him in the soft darkness, in +amazement. Then a quick, suspicious thrill shot through him. The man was +bound up the steep trail toward Madge's cabin. Presently he heard him +calling. He went slowly up the trail, himself. + +The girl came quickly from her cabin in answer to the shouting of the +mountaineer. + +"What is it, Joe?" she asked. + +"I want a word with you. I've come a purpose," Lorey answered sullenly. + +The girl was almost frightened by his manner. She had never seen him in +this mood; he had never come to her, alone, at night, before. "Well, +Joe, you'll have to wait," said she. "I've got some things to do, +to-night." Her sewing was not yet half finished. + +Standing on her little bridge, she held with one hand to the worn old +rope by means of which she presently would pull it up. She did not take +Joe very seriously; in the darkness she could not see the grim +expression of his brow, the firm set of his jaw, the clenched hands, one +of which was pressed against the game sack with his powerful plunder +hidden in it. She laughed and tried to joke, for, even though she did +not guess how serious he was, her heart had told her that some day, ere +long, there must of stern necessity be a full understanding between her +and the mountaineer, and that he would go from her, after it, with a +sore heart. In the past she had not wished to marry him, but she had +never definitely said, even to herself, that such a thing was quite +impossible for all time to come. Now she knew that this was so, although +she would not acknowledge, even to herself, the actual reason for this +certainty. No; she could never marry Joe. She hoped that, he would never +again beg her to. + +"Come back some other time, when I ain't quite so busy," she said trying +to speak jokingly. "Tomorrow, or nex' week, or Crismuss." + +He stood gazing at her sourly. "I'll come sooner," he said slowly. +"Sooner. An' hark ye, Madge, if that thar foreigner comes in atween us, +I'm goin' to spile his han'some face forever!" + +"What nonsense you do talk!" the girl exclaimed, but her heart sank +with apprehension as the man stalked down the path. She did not pull the +draw-bridge up, at once, but stood there, gazing after him, disturbed. + +Again he met Layson, still strolling slowly on the trail, busy with +confusing thoughts, puffing at his pipe. The mountaineer did not call +out a greeting, but stepped out of the trail, for Frank to pass, without +a word. + +"Why, Joe," said Layson, "I didn't see you. How are you?" He held out +his hand. + +The mountaineer said nothing for an instant, then he straightened to his +lank full height and held his own hand close against his side. "No," he +said, "I can't, I can't." + +Layson was astonished. He peered at him. "Why, Joe!" said he; and then: +"See here--what have I ever done to you?" + +Joe turned on him quickly. "Done?" he cried. "Maybe nothin', maybe +everythin'." He paused dramatically, unconscious of the fierce +intentness of his gaze, the lithe aggressiveness of his posture. "But I +warns you, now--you ain't our kind! Th' mountings ain't no place for +you. The sooner you gits out of 'em, the better it'll be fer you." + +Layson stood dumbfounded for a moment. Then he would have said some +further word, but the mountaineer, his arm pressed tight against that +old game-sack, stalked down the trail. Suddenly Layson understood. + +"Jealous, by Jove!" he said. "Jealous of little Madge!" Slowly he turned +about, puffing fiercely at his pipe, his thoughts a compound of hot +anger and compassion. + +Madge, filled with dread of what her disgruntled mountain suitor might +be led to do by his black mood, had not yet re-crossed her draw-bridge, +but was standing by it, listening intently, when she heard Layson's +footsteps nearing. Her heart gave a great throb of real relief. She had +not exactly feared that trouble really would come between the men, +but--Lorey came of violent stock and his face had been dark and +threatening. + +She saw Layson long before he knew that she was there. + +"Oh," she cried, relieved, "that you?" + +He hurried to her. "I thought you mountain people all went early to your +beds," said he, and laughed, "but I met Joe Lorey on the trail and here +you are, standing by your bridge, star-gazing." + +Of course she would not tell him of her worries. She took the loophole +offered by his words and looked gravely up at the far, spangled sky. +"Yes," said she, "they're mighty pretty, ain't they?" + +Layson was in abnormal mood. The prospect of his Aunt's arrival, the +certainty that something more than he had thought had come out of his +mountain sojourn, the fact that he was sure that he regretted Barbara +Holton's coming, old Neb's arrival, and his raking up of ancient scores +against the lowland maiden's father, his meeting with Joe Lorey and the +latter's treatment of him, had wrought him to a pitch of mild +excitement. The girl looked most alluring as she stood there in the +moonlight. + +"My friends are in the valley and are coming up to-morrow," he said to +her. "Do you know that this may be the last time I shall ever see you +all alone?" + +She gasped. He had not hinted at a thing like that before. "You ain't +going back with them, are you?" she asked, her voice a little tremulous +from the shock of the surprise. "You ain't going back with them--never +to come hyar no more, are you?" + +He stepped nearer to her. "Why, little one," he asked, "would you care?" + +"Care?" she said with thrilling voice, and then, gaining better +self-control, tried to appear indifferent. "Why should I?" she said +lightly. "I ain't nothin' to you and you ain't nothin' to me." + +His heart denied her words. "Don't say that!" he cried. "You don't know +how dear you've grown to me." He stepped toward her with his arms +outstretched. He almost reached her and he knew, and she knew, +instinctively, that if he had he would have kissed her. + +[Illustration: "NO MAN CAN CROSS THIS BRIDGE, UNLESS--UNLESS,--"] + +She shrank back like a startled fawn, when his foot was almost on the +bridge that spanned the chasm between them and her cabin. + +"Don't you dare to touch me!" she said fiercely. + +She sped back upon the little bridge, and, when he would have followed, +held her hand up with a gesture of such native dignity, offended +womanhood, that he stopped where he was, abashed. + +"No--no, sir; you can't cross this bridge," said she. "No man ever can, +unless--unless--" + +Almost sobbing, now, she left the sentence incomplete; and then: "Oh, +you wouldn't dared act so to a bluegrass girl! But I know what's right +as well as them. It don't take no book-learnin' to tell me as how a kiss +like that you planned for me would be a sign that really you care for me +no more than for the critters that you hunt an' kill for pastime up hyar +among the mountings." + +He would have given much if he had never done the foolish thing. He +stood there with lowered eyes, bent head, abashed, discomfited. + +"An' I 'lowed you were my friend!" said she. + +Now he looked up at her and spoke out impulsively: "And so I am, Madge, +really! I was ... wrong. Forgive me!" + +She dropped her hands with a weary change of manner. "Well, I reckon I +will," said she. "You've been too kind and good for me to bear a grudge +ag'in you; but ... but ... Well, maybe I had better say good-night." + +She walked slowly back across the bridge without another word, pulled +on its rope and raised it, made the rope fast and slowly disappeared +within her little cabin. + +"Poor child!" said he, and turned away. "I was a brute to wound her." + +As he went down the trail, darkening, now, as the moon slid behind the +towering mountain back of him, his heart was in a tumult. "After all," +he reflected, "education isn't everything. All the culture in the world +wouldn't make her more sincere and true. She has taught _me_ a lesson I +shan't soon forget." + +His thoughts turned, then, to the girl who would come up with the party +on the following day. + +"I--wonder! Was there ever, really, a time when I loved Barbara?... If +so, that time has gone, now, never to return." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +His visitors took Layson by surprise, next morning. They had started +from the valley long before he had supposed they would. + +Holton saw him first and nudged his daughter, who was with him. They +were well ahead of Miss Alathea and the Colonel, who had been unable to +keep up with them upon the final sharp ascent of the foot-journey from +the wagon-road. The old man grinned unpleasantly. He had rather vulgar +manners, often annoying to his daughter, who had had all the advantages +which, in his rough, mysterious youth, he had been denied. + +"Thar he is, Barb; thar he is," he said, not loudly. Miss Alathea and +the Colonel, following close behind, were a restraint on him. + +The girl's face was full of eagerness as she saw the man they sought. He +was busy polishing a gun, but that his thoughts were occupied with +something less mechanical and not wholly pleasant the slight frown upon +his face made evident. "Mr. Layson! Frank!" she cried. + +The young man turned, on hearing her, and hurried toward her and her +father with his hands outstretched in welcome. He was not overjoyed to +have the old man visit him, just then; he was even doubtful of the +welcome which his heart had for the daughter; but he was a southerner +and in the gentle-born southerner real hospitality is quite instinctive. + +"Mr. Holton--Barbara," said he. "I am delighted. Welcome to the +mountains." He grasped their hands in hearty greeting. "But where are +Aunt Alathea and the Colonel?" + +Holton tried to be as cordial as his host. That he was very anxious to +appear agreeable was evident. "Oh, them slow-pokes?" he said, laughing. +"We didn't wait for them. We pushed on ahead. We reckoned as you would +be glad to see us." + +"And so I am." + +"One in particular, maybe," Holton answered, with a crude attempt at +badinage. He glanced archly from the young man to his daughter. + +"Father!" she exclaimed, a bit annoyed, and yet not too unwilling that +the fact that she and Layson were acknowledged sweethearts should be at +once established. + +"Oh, I ain't been blind," said Holton, gaily, going much farther than +she wished him to. "I've cut _my_ eye-teeth!" + +Then he turned to Layson with an awkward lightness. "Barbara told me +what passed between you two young folks afore you come up to the +mountings," he explained. And then, with further elephantine airyness: +"I say, jest excuse me--reckon I'm in the way." He made a move as if to +hurry off. + +Layson was not pleased. The old man was annoying, always, and now, after +the long revery of the night before about Madge Brierly, this attitude +was doubly disconcerting. "Not at all, Mr. Holton," he said, somewhat +hastily. "I'm sure we'd rather you'd remain. Are you sure the others are +all right?" + +"Close behind us." + +"I'll go and make sure that they do not lose their way." + +Holton looked at his daughter in a blank dismay after the youth had +started down the hill. "I say, gal," said he, "there's somethin' wrong +here!" + +She was inclined to blame him for the deep discomforture she felt. "Why +couldn't you let us alone?" she answered angrily. "You've spoiled +everything!" + +The old man looked at her, with worry on his face. "Didn't you tell me +'t was as good as settled? You said you were dead sure he meant to make +you his wife." + +She was still petulant, blaming him for Layson's unexpected lack of +warmth. "Yes, but you needn't have interfered!" + +Holton was intensely puzzled, worried, almost frightened. He was as +anxious to have this young man for a son-in-law as his daughter was to +have him for a husband. Her marriage into such a celebrated bluegrass +family as the Laysons were, would firmly fix her social status, no +matter how precarious it might be now, and the match would be of great +advantage to him in a business way, as well. He stood there, thinking +deeply, very much displeased. + +"There's somethin' more nor me has come between you," he said finally, +his face flushing with a deep resentment. "I tell you, gal, what I +believed at first, deep in my heart, air true. He was only triflin' with +you. Them aristocrats down in the bluegrass don't hold us no better than +the dust beneath their feet, even if we have got money. It's _family_ +that counts with them. Didn't he lay his whip acrost my face, once, as +if I was a nigger?" His wrath was rising. "And now he shows that he was +only triflin' with you with no real intentions of doin' as we thought he +would!" The man was tremulous with wrath. "Oh, I'll be even with him!" + +Barbara was greatly worried by the situation. All her life, despite the +fact that she was beautiful, despite the fact that her father was a rich +man--richer, by a dozen times, than many of the people for whose +friendship she longed vainly--she had vaguely felt that there was an +invisible gulf between her and the girls with whom she came in contact +at the exclusive schools to which she had been sent, between her and +the gentlefolk with whom, in some measure, she had mixed since she had +left school-walls. "Father," she asked anxiously, "why do people look +down on us so?" + +He faced her with a worried look, as if he feared that she might guess +at something which he wished should remain hidden. "They say I made my +money tradin' in niggers," he replied, at length. "Well, what of it? +Didn't I have the right?" + +"Are you sure there's nothing else?" + +He seemed definitely startled. "Girl, what makes you ask?" + +"Because sometimes memories come to me." + +"Memories of what?" + +"Of--my childhood," she said slowly, "of passes among +mountains--mountains much like these." + +He regarded her uneasily. "Oh, sho, gal!" he exclaimed, trying to make +light of it. "Reckon you've been dreamin'. You were never hyar before." + +But she looked about her, unconvinced, and, when she spoke, spoke +slowly, evidently trying to recall with definite clarity certain things +which flitted through her mind as vague impressions only. "Why does +everything seem so familiar, here, then, as if I had just wakened in my +true surroundings after a long sleep in which I had had dreams?" There +was, suddenly, a definite accusation in her eyes. "Father, you are +trying to deceive me! I was once a child, here in these very +mountains!" She stared about intently. + +The speech had an amazing effect on the old man. He stepped close to +her. "Hush!" said he, imperatively. "Don't you dare speak such a word +ag'in!" + +She peered into his eyes. "There _is_ a secret, then! We lived here, +long ago!" + +"Stop, I tell you!" he commanded. "Don't hint at such things, for your +life." He dropped his voice to hoarse whisper. "Suppose I did live hyar, +once. I was a smooth-faced youngster, then; my own mother wouldn't know +me, now." + +The sound of voices coming up the mountain-trail interrupted the +dramatic scene. + +"Sh!" said he. "They're comin'!" + +Frank was piloting his Aunt and Colonel Doolittle. "This way, Aunt +'Lethe," they could hear him say. + +An instant later he appeared, leading the way up the steep trail. His +Aunt, Neb and the Colonel followed him. + +"Now, Aunt 'Lethe," he said gaily, "you can rest at last. Colonel, I can +welcome you in earnest. This is, indeed, a pleasure." + +The Colonel was puffing fiercely from the hard work of the climb, but +his broad face glowed with pleasure. He took a long, full breath of the +exhilerating mountain air. "Pleasure? It's a derby-day, sir, +metaphorically speaking." As he rested he eyed the youngster with +approval. "Frank," said he, "you've grown to be the very image of my old +friend, Judge Layson. Ah, five years have made their changes in us +all--except Miss 'Lethe." He bowed gallantly in her direction, and she +gaily answered the salute. + +Barbara advanced, enthusiastically, looking at the Colonel with arch +envy in her eyes. "Five years you've been in Europe, surrounded by the +nobility. Oh, Colonel, what happiness!" + +He shook his head. "Happiness away from old Kentucky, surrounded by a +lot of numb-skulls who couldn't mix a fancy drink to save their lives, +who know nothing of that prismatic, rainbow-hued fountain of youth, a +mint-julep? Ah!" + +"But, Colonel," said the girl, "the masterpieces of art!" + +"Give me," said he, "the masterpieces of Mother Nature--the bright-eyed, +rose-cheeked, cherry-lipped girls of old Kentucky!" + +There was a general laugh. The Colonel's gallantry was ever-blooming. +Frank applauded and the ladies bowed. + +"By the way, Frank," said the Colonel, after they had been made +comfortable in a merry group before the cabin-door, "where is that +particular masterpiece of Nature which you've written us so much about? +Where is the--Diana?" + +Miss Alathea smiled at her somewhat worried nephew. "The 'phenomenon,'" +said she. + +"According to Neb, who told us of her as we worked up that steep +trail," said Barbara, "the 'deer.'" She laughed, not too good naturedly +Neb, who was standing waiting orders near, grinned broadly. + +"Neb, you rascal!" exclaimed Frank. + +"Come, where is she, Frank; where is she?" asked the Colonel. + +The youth was not too much embarrassed, but he gave a quick, side-glance +at Barbara. "She is probably getting ready to receive you," he replied. +"I told her I expected you and she's been very much excited over it." + +"Adding to nature's charms the mysteries of art," the Colonel said, +approvingly. "We shall expect to be overwhelmed. And, meantime, while +we're waiting, we might as well explain to you the business which has +brought us up here." + +His face showed him to be the bearer of good news. He rose, excitedly, +and went to Frank, to put his hand upon his shoulder. "Now, my boy, keep +cool, keep cool! I tell you, Frank, it's the biggest thing out. It'll +make a millionaire of you as sure as Fate before the next five years +have passed!" + +Layson was taken wholly by surprise. No one had in the least prepared +him for anything of this sort. He had supposed the party had come up to +see him merely for the pleasure of the trip. "I don't understand," said +he. + +"Keep cool, keep cool!" the Colonel urged. "It is colossal, +metaphorically. You see, I was over there in Europe, promoting a South +American mine, when I happened to see in a Kentucky paper that the +Georgetown Midland was to be put through these mountains near the land +your father bought. That land, my boy, is rich in coal and iron!" + +The young man's face shone with delight. "He always said so!" he +exclaimed. "I meant, sometime, to investigate." + +"I've saved you the trouble. I came back on the next steamer, organized +a syndicate in New York City, sent an expert out to carefully look into +things, and, on his report, a company is willing to put in a $200,000 +plant to develop your land. All you've got to do is to take $25,000 +worth of stock and let your coal-land stand for as much more." + +The youth's face fell. "Twenty-five thousand dollars!" he exclaimed. +"Why, Colonel, I have not one fifth of it!" + +"Ah," said the Colonel, smiling, "but here, like a good angel, comes in +your dear Aunt 'Lethe!" He smiled at her. "Isn't it so, Miss 'Lethe?" + +Frank spoke up quickly. "Surely," he exclaimed to her as she advanced +toward him, with smiles, "you know I'd never take your money!" + +"You must, Frank," she insisted. "The Colonel says it is the chance of a +lifetime." + +"Why, Auntie, it's your whole fortune. I wouldn't risk it." + +"But you could pay it all back in a month." + +"How?" he asked, not understanding in the least. + +"By selling Queen Bess." + +He flinched. The thought had not occurred to him. "Sell Queen Bess!" +said he. "The prettiest, the fastest mare in all Kentucky! Never!" + +"My boy," said the Colonel, "the odds are far too heavy--a million +against the mare. You can't stand 'em." + +"Oh, Frank," said his Aunt, impulsively, "if you'll only take the money +and give up racing!" + +He laughed. Miss Alathea's strong prejudice against the race-tracks was +proverbial. "So that's what you're after!" he exclaimed. "You dear old +schemer!" + +"With your impulsive, generous nature, racing is sure to ruin you." + +The Colonel looked first at Frank with ardent sympathy aglow in his +eyes; then, after a hasty glance at Miss Alathea, he quickly changed the +meaning of his look and spoke admonishingly. "The voice of wisdom!" he +exclaimed. "Ah, Frank, from what I hear I judge you're too much of a +plunger--like a young fellow I once knew who thought he could win a +fortune on the race-track." He began, now, to speak very seriously. "He +was in love with the prettiest and sweetest girl in old Kentucky, but +he wished to wait till he could get that fortune, and he chased it here +and there, looking for it mostly on the race-tracks, until he had more +grey hairs than he had ever hoped to have dollars; he chased it till his +dream of happiness had slipped by, perhaps forever. My boy, the +race-track is a delusion and a snare." + +Miss Alathea looked at him with pleased surprise. "Colonel, your +sentiments astonish and delight me." + +"How can you refuse," the Colonel said, "when such a woman asks? For one +who loves you, you should give those pleasures up without a pang." + +In the pause that followed he reflected on the history of the youth to +whom he had referred, for that young man was himself. He had loved Miss +Alathea twenty years, but the Goddess Chance had kept him, all that +time, too poor to ask her hand in marriage. His heart beat with elation +as he realized that, possibly, the scheme which he had come there to the +mountains to propose to Frank, might remedy the evils of the situation. + +Frank had been thinking deeply. "But what certainty is there," he +inquired, "that I can sell Queen Bess at such a price?" + +Now the Colonel spoke with animation. "Absolute. I've a written offer +from the Dyer brothers to take her for twenty-five thousand dollars, if +she is delivered, safe and sound, on the morning she's to run in the +Ashland Oaks. It's a dead sure thing, my boy. You can't refuse." + +The young man hesitated, still. "I'll investigate, and--well, I'll see." +He walked away, deep in thought. + +The Colonel turned from him to Miss Alathea. "Miss 'Lethe, congratulate +yourself. The victory is won." + +Frank turned upon his heel and spoke to Holton. "What do you think of +this investment?" he inquired. + +"Wal," said Holton, "I think it's a blamed good thing. I'd only like the +chance to go into it, myself." He went closer to the youth and spoke in +an instinctively low tone. "By the way, this gal, hyar, Madge Brierly, +owns fifty acres o' land down there in the valley, that's bound to be +wuth money. Like enough, with your help, I could buy it for a song. I'll +make it all right with you. What do you say? Is it a bargain, Layson?" +He held out his hand, evidently with no thought but that the +questionable offer would be snapped up at once. + +Layson drew back angrily. "No," he replied. + +Holton, seeing that he had made a serious mistake, tried to correct it. +"Oh, shucks, now! I didn't mean no harm. That's only business." + +Layson was intensely angered. "I won't waste words on you," he said, +"but think twice before you make me such a proposition again." + +Holton's wrath rose vividly. "Damn him!" he muttered as he walked away. +"I'll pay him back for that! I'll get that gal's land in spite of him, +and I won't stop at that. I'll pay him back for ... everythin'! I'll +teach him what it air to stir the hate o' hell in a man's heart!" + +Barbara, distressed anew by this unpleasant episode, had started to go +after him, when the weird cry of an owl, a long drawn, tremulous: +"Hoo-oo-oo!" came from somewhere in the forest, close at hand. It +startled her. "Heavens!" said she. "What's that?" + +Neb, who also had been startled at the first penetrating, weird call, +bethought himself, now, and answered her: "It's de deah." + +"The phenomenon!" exclaimed Miss Alathea. + +"The Diana!" said the Colonel, looking at Frank slyly. + +"Yes; she's coming," Frank said gaily, and then, looking down the path, +started violently. "Heavens, she's coming!" + +The Colonel, who also had looked down the path, hurriedly approached +him, feigning worry. "Frank, I haven't got 'em again, have I?" + +Madge approached them slowly in the quaint, old-fashioned costume she +had resurrected from the chests of her dead mother's finery and re-made, +very crudely, in accordance with the fashion-plates which she had found +down at the cross-roads store. The result of her contriving was a +startling mixture of fashions widely separated as to periods. Her +untutored taste had mixed colors clashingly. Her unskilled fingers had +sewed very bunchy seams. + +The girl was much embarrassed: it required the last ounce of her bravery +to advance. Before she actually reached the little group, she half hid, +indeed, behind a tree. It was from this shelter that she called her +greeting: "Howdy, folks, howdy!" + +Frank went toward her with an outstretched hand. "Come, Madge," said he, +encouragingly. + +"Reckon I'll have to," she assented, with a bashful smile and took a +step or two reluctantly. But she had never seen folk dressed at all as +were these visitors from the famed bluegrass, and her courage again +faltered. Instantly she realized how wholly her own efforts to be +elegant had failed. She hung back awkwardly, pathetically. + +"Don't be nervous, Madge; just be yourself," Frank urged her. + +"Free and easy? Well, I'll try; but I'm skeered enough to make me wild +and reckless." + +Frank led her forward, while she made a mighty effort to accept the +situation coolly. "These are my friends, Madge. Let me introduce you." + +She got some grip upon herself and smiled. "Ain't no need. Know 'em all +by your prescription." With a mighty effort she approached the Colonel. +"Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, howdy!" + +The Colonel was delighted. Her knowledge of his name was flattering. He +had forgotten her strange costume the moment his glance had caught her +wonderful, deep eyes. "Howdy, howdy!" he said heartily, shaking her hand +vigorously. "Why, this is real Kentucky style!" It won't take _us_ long +to get acquainted." + +"Know all about you now," she said. "Great hossman. Colonel, I'll have a +race with you, sometime." + +"What, you ride?" said the delighted Colonel. + +"Ride! Dellaw!" said she, with, now, unembarrassed animation. The +subject was that one, of all, which made her most quickly forget +everything beside. "Why, me and my pony takes to racin' like a pig to +carrots. Before he lamed himself, whenever th' boys heard us clatterin' +down th' mounting, they laid to race us back. Away we went, then, +clickity-clip, up th' hills and around th' curves--an' I allus won." + +The Colonel realized with a great joy that he had found a kindred +spirit. "Shake again!" he said to her, after further most congenial +talk, and then turned to Frank. "My boy, you're right. She _is_ a +phenomenon--a thoroughbred, even if she hasn't any pedigree." + +Up to this time the ladies had remained somewhat in the background, +watching the young mountain girl as the Colonel drew her out. + +Madge now turned to Frank, but looked at Barbara. "Is that the young +lady from the bluegrass?" The girl was hurt and really offended by the +stranger's aloof manner. "Looks like she can't see common folks." + +"That is Miss Barbara." He led the mountain girl toward her. "Barbara, +this is my friend--er--Madge." He was, himself, a little disconcerted. + +The maiden from the lowlands bowed, but said no word. For an instant +Madge shrank back, but then she advanced with an unusual boldness. Her +spirit was aroused. + +"Howdy, Miss Barbarous, howdy!" she exclaimed and held her hand out to +the handsomely dressed girl. + +But Miss Barbara was annoyed by the whole happening. She felt that this +uncultivated country girl was getting far too much attention. The +child's unconscious pun upon her name infuriated her. She did not answer +her, but raised a lorgnette and stared at her. + +Madge was ready with an instant sympathy. "Oh, that's why you couldn't +see, poor thing! Spectacles at your age!" Whether she really thought +this was the case, not even Frank could tell by looking at her. + +Miss Holton was incensed. The haughty treatment she had planned to, give +the mountain girl had not had the results she had expected. "There's +nothing whatever the matter with my eyes!" she exclaimed hastily. + +"Wouldn't think you'd need a machine to help you star-gaze at folks, +then," said the mountain girl. "But maybe it's the fashion in the +bluegrass." + +Frank hurried up with Holton, planning a diversion. "This is Mr. Holton, +Madge." + +"Howdy, sir," said she, and then started in astonishment. "Ain't I seen +your face before, sir?" + +"Wal, I reckon not," said Holton most uneasily. "I was never hyar in +these hyar mountings afore." + +She stepped closer to him, gazing straight at his grey eyes. They seemed +strangely to recall the very distant past, she knew not how. There were +other things about him which seemed much more immediately familiar, +although his more elaborate garb prevented her, for the moment, from +recognizing him as the stranger with the hammer, who had, that day of +the forest-fire, been tap-tapping on the rocks upon her pasture-land. +"Your eyes seem to bring something back." She plainly paled. She knew +that their suggestion was a dreadful one, but could not make it +definite. + +Miss Alathea noted her agitation instantly, and hurried to her side. +"Poor child, what is the matter?" + +Madge had regained control of her features, which, for an instant, had +shown plain horror. "Tain't nothin', ma'am. It couldn't be. It's all +over now." She smiled gratefully at Miss Alathea. "An' you're his aunt, +ain't you? I'd know you for his kin, anywhere. Why, somehow, you remind +me of my lost mother." + +"Thank you, my dear. You must be very lonely, up here all alone." + +"I am, sometimes," said the girl, "but I have lots of fun, too. The +woods are full of friends. Th' birds an' squirrels ain't afraid o' me. +They seem to think I'm a wild thing, like 'em." + +"It's true," said Frank, with an admiring, cheering look at the little +country girl. "Their confidence in her is wonderful." + +The bluegrass girl's annoyance was increasing. She had come up to the +mountains thinking that, among such crude surroundings, her gowns and +the undoubted beauty they adorned, would hold the center of the stage, +and by contrast, hold Layson quite enthralled; but here, instead, was a +brown-faced country maid in grotesque, homemade costume, attracting most +of his attention. She was conscious that by showing her discomfiture she +was not strengthening her own position, but she could not hide it, could +not curb her tongue. + +"A rider of races," said she; "a tamer of animals! What accomplishments! +Do you actually live here, all alone?" + +"Come," said Madge, determined to be pleasant, "and I'll show you." She +led the bluegrass girl to a convenient point from which her cabin was in +sight. + +"In that little hut!" said Barbara, not impressed as Madge had +innocently thought she would be. "Shocking!" + +The girl was angered, now. "So sorry I didn't have your opinion afore! +But, maybe, you wouldn't think it were so awful, if you knowed how +'twere I come to live there." + +Frank had written something of the poor girl's tragic story to his aunt. +She was all interest. "Won't you tell us, please?" she asked. + +Holton seemed to show a strange disinclination to listen to the +narrative. "Ain't got no time for stories," he objected. "Gettin' late." + +"We'll take time, then," said Frank. + +"Go on, little one," urged Colonel Doolittle. "We're listening." + +Impressed and touched by the sympathy in the horseman's tone and the +interest in Miss Alathea's eyes, Madge told with even greater force and +more effect than when she had related it to Layson the story of the +tragedy which had robbed her at a blow of father and of mother, the +black, dreadful tale of merciless assassination which had left her +orphaned in the mountains. Her audience attended, spellbound, even the +disgruntled and unsympathetic Barbara listening with unwilling +fascination. Only Holton turned away, with a gesture of impatience. He +plainly did not wish to waste time on the girl. Or was it that? He +seemed to be uneasy as he walked to and fro upon the rock-ledge near +them, whence, had he cared for it, he could have had a gorgeous view of +mountain scenery. But, although he said, as plainly as he could without +actual rudeness, that the girl and her sad tale of tragedy were not +worth attention, he was not successful in his efforts wholly to refuse +to listen to her. + +"Infamous!" said Miss Alathea, when the child had finished. + +"And that scoundrel has gone free!" exclaimed the Colonel, in disgust. + +"_That's_ how I come to live alone, here," Madge went on, addressing +Barbara, particularly. The girl had made her feel it necessary to offer +some defense. "After my mammy died I didn't have no place to go, an' so +I just stayed on here, an' th' bridge my daddy built for his protection +I have kept for mine. Maybe he has told you of it." She indicated Frank. +They nodded. + +"And nothing has been heard of the infernal traitor, all these years?" +the Colonel asked. + +"He left the mountings when he found how folks was feelin'--they'd have +shot him, like a dog, on sight. But it don't make no differ where he +goes; it don't make a bit of differ where he goes." + +"What do you mean by that?" the Colonel asked, and as he spoke, Holton, +suddenly intent, paused in his pacing of the ledge to listen. + +"I mean, no matter where he goes he'll have to pay for it, come soon, +come late. Th' day air sure to come when Joe, Ben Lorey's son, 'll meet +him face to face an' make him answer for his crime!" + +"God-speed to him!" exclaimed the Colonel, fervently. + +Madge, in a gesture full of drama, although quite unconscious, raised +her head, looking off into the vastness of the mountains, her hands +thrust straight down at her sides and clenched, her shoulders squared, +her chest heaving with a mighty intake. The little mountain-girl, as she +stood there, thrilling with her longing for revenge, with prayers that +some day the sinner might be punished for his dreadful crime, made an +impressive figure. + +"Come soon or late!" she sighed. "Come soon or late!" + +The party watched her, fascinated, till Holton took his daughter's arm +and urged her, uneasily, out of the little group. + +Later Madge asked the Colonel to go with her to the pasture lot and take +a look at Little Hawss. Gladly he went with her, tenderly this expert in +Kentucky racers, the finest horses in the world, examined the shaggy +little pony's hoof. He told Madge what to do for him and promised to +send up a lotion with which to bathe the injured foot, although he +gently warned her that she must not hope that Little Hawss would ever do +much racing up and down the mountain trails again. She choked, when he +said this, and the horseman's heart went out to her. + +"Little one," said the Colonel, as the party was preparing to go down +the mountain, "you're a thoroughbred, and Colonel Sandusky Doolittle is +your friend from the word 'go.'" He took her hand in his and smiled down +into her eyes. + +Then, turning to Miss 'Lethe: "Do you know, Miss 'Lethe, there's +something about this little girl that puts me in mind of you, when I +first met you? You remember?" + +"Ah, Colonel, that was twenty years ago--the day I was eighteen." + +"And I was twenty-five. Now I'm forty-five and you--" + +"Colonel!" + +"Are still eighteen.' He bowed, impressively, with that charming, +gallant smile which was peculiar to him. + +"Aren't you going down with us, Frank?" asked Barbara, looking at the +youth with plain surprise when she noted that he lingered when she and +her father were ready for the start. + +"I wish to speak to Madge, a moment. I'll overtake you." + +The bluegrass beauty looked at him, wrath blazing in her eyes, then +turned away with tossing head. + +"Good-bye," said Madge, and held her hand out to her. + +Barbara paid no attention to the small, brown hand, but, instead, opened +her parasol almost in the face of the astonished mountain-girl, who +jumped back, startled. "Oh, very well," said Barbara to Frank. + +Madge turned to him, the softness of the mood engendered by her talk +with the Colonel and Miss 'Lethe all gone, now. Her face was flushed +with anger. "Dellaw!" said she. "Thought she was goin' to shoot!" + +Now Barbara spoke haughtily. "Good afternoon, Miss Madge. You have +entertained us wonderfully, wonderfully." + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +It was late on an afternoon several days after the party from the +bluegrass had gone down from the mountains when Layson, with a letter of +great import in his pocket sought Madge Brierly. + +He was very happy, as, a short time before he reached her isolated +cabin, he stepped out to the edge of that same ledge where Horace Holton +had found the view too full of memories for comfort, to look off across +the lovely valley spread before, below him. There were no memories of +struggle and bloodshed to arise between him and that view and for a time +he gloried in it with that bounding, pulsating appreciation which can +come to us in youth alone, as his eyes swept the fair prospect of wooded +slope and rugged headland, stream-ribbon, mountain-meadow, billowy +forest. Then, with a deep breath of the wondrous air of the old +Cumberlands, which added a physical exhileration almost intoxicating to +the pleasure of the thoughts which filled his mind, he went slowly up +the rugged twisting path to Madge's cabin. There, standing by the +bridge he called, and, presently, the girl appeared. + +He smiled at her. He did not wish to tell her, too quickly, of the news +the letter held. + +The girl was still full of the visit and the visitors. They had seemed +to her, reared as she had been in the rough seclusion of the mountains, +like denizens of another, wondrously fine world, come to glimpse her in +her crude one, for a few hours, and then gone back to their own glorious +abiding place. + +She did not admit it to herself, but they had left behind them +discontent with the life she knew, her lack of education, almost +everything with which, in days gone by, she had been so satisfied. + +Layson, watching her as she approached, was tempted to enjoy her as she +was, for a few minutes, before telling her the news which, young and +inexperienced as he was, he yet knew, instinctively, would change her +for all time. + +"Well," he said, "how did you like them, Madge?" + +The girl sat upon a stump and looked off across the valley. Her hands +were clasped upon one knee, as she reflected, the fading sunlight +touched her hair with sheening brilliance, her eyes, at first, were +dreamy, happy. + +"Oh, I loved your aunt!" said she. "She made me think of my own +mammy.... She made me think of my own mammy." + +"And she was quite as much in love with you." + +"Was she?... And Cunnel Doolittle! Ain't he _splendid_? And how he do +know hosses! Wouldn't I _love_ to see some of them races that he told +about? Wouldn't I love to have a chance to learn how to become a lady +like your aunt? She's just the sweetest thing that ever lived." + +"And ... and ... Miss Barbara?" said Layson, with a little mischief in +his wrinkling eyelids. + +The girl shrugged herself together haughtily upon her stump. He had seen +lowlands girls use almost the same gesture when, in drawing-rooms, some +topic had come up which they did not wish to talk about. + +"Huh! Her!" said Madge and would have changed the subject had he let +her. + +"Really?" he asked, wickedly. "Didn't you like her?" + +"I ain't sayin' much," said Madge, "because she's different from me, has +had more chance, is better dressed, knows more from books an' so on, an' +it might seem like I was plumb jealous of her. Maybe I am, too. But, +dellaw! Her with her pollysol! When she opened it that way at me I +thought it war a gun an' she war goin' to fire! Maybe I ain't had no +learnin' in politeness, but it seems to me I would a been a little more +so, just the same, if I'd been in her place. She don't like me, she +don't, an' I--why, I just _hates_ her! Her with her ombril up, an' not a +cloud in sight!" + +Layson looked at her and laughed. The letter in his pocket made it seem +probable that she would not need, in future, to submit to such +humiliations as the bluegrass girl had put upon her, so his merriment +could not be counted cruel. + +"Jealous of her?" he inquired, quizzically. + +She sat in deep thought for a moment and then frankly said: "I reckon +so; a leetle, teeny mite. Maybe it has made me mean in thinkin' of her, +ever since." + +"You're honest, anyway," said he, "and I shall tell you something that +will comfort you. She was as jealous of you as you were of her." + +"_She_ was!" the girl exclaimed, incredulous, surprised. "Of _me_?" +You're crazy, ain't you?" + +"Not a bit." + +"What have _I_ got to make _her_ jealous?" + +"A lot of things. You've beauty such as hers will never be--" + +"Dellaw!" said Madge, incredulously. She had no knowledge of her own +attractiveness. "Don't you start in makin' fun o' me." + +"I'm not making fun of you. You're very beautiful--my aunt said so, the +Colonel said so, and _I've_ known it, all along." + +No one had ever said a thing like this to her, before. She looked keenly +at him, weighing his sincerity. When she finally decided that he really +meant what he had said, she breathed a long sigh of delight. + +"They said that I--was _beautiful_!" + +"They did, and, little girl, you are; and you have more than beauty. You +have health and strength such as a bluegrass girl has never had in all +the history of women." + +"Oh, yes," said she, "I'm strong an' well--but--but--" + +"But what?" + +"But what?" she quoted bitterly. "But I ain't got no eddication. What +does strength and what does what you tell me is my beauty count, when I +ain't got no eddication? Why--why--I looked plumb _foolish_ by the side +of her! You think I don't know that my talk sounds rough as rocks +alongside hers, ripplin' from her lips as smooth as water? You think I +don't know that I looked like a scare-crow in all them clo'es I had +fixed up so careful, when she come on with her gowns made up for her by +_dressmakers_? Why--why--I never _see_ a dressmaker in all my life! I +never even see one!" + +"Well," said he, and looked at her with a slow smile, "there probably +will be no reason why you may not see as many as you like, in years to +come," + +She was amazed. "This some sort o' joke?" + +"No, Madge. How would you like to be rich?" + +"Me?... Rich? Oh ... oh, I'd like it. _Then_ I could go down in th' +bluegrass, study, l'arn, an'--I could do a heap o' good aroun' hyar, +too" She sighed. "But thar never was nobody rich in these hyar mountings +an' I reckon thar never will be." + +"Perhaps you may be," said the youth, and there was a serious quality in +his voice which made her start and then lean forward on her stump to +gaze at him with searching, eager eyes. + +"Your land down in the valley," he went on, "may contain coal and iron +enough to give you a fortune. Now there are bad men in this world, and I +want you to promise me to sell it to nobody without first coming to me +for advice." + +"Promise?" said the girl, the wonder all ashine in her big eyes. "In +course I'll promise that. But is there r'ally a chance of it?" + +"There really is." + +"Oh, if I only knowed, for shore! Seems like I couldn't wait!" + +"You shall know, to-night, or, maybe, sooner. I have the engineers +report, but I must study it out carefully and make sure what boundaries +he means. I'm almost certain they include your land. As soon as I find +out I'll come back here and call to you and let you know." + +"I reckon you won't have to call! I'll be watchin' for you every +minute." + +"Well, I'm off. But remember what I said about letting anyone buy any of +your land from you. Don't sell an inch, don't give an option at +whatever price, to anyone without consulting me." + +When he had left, the girl still sat there, dreaming on her stump after +she had watched him out of sight. + +The news that she might become rich had stirred her deeply for a moment, +but, soon she wondered if riches, really, would mean everything, and +decided that they would not. + +"Somehow," she mused, "somehow I don't care much about it, not +unless--unless--oh, I can't think of nothin' in th' world but him! An' +he says he's goin' to go away, never to return no more!... Other folks +has gone away, afore, but it didn't seem to hurt my heart like this. I +wonder what is ailin' me." + +Her thought turned back to that half-bitter, half-delightful moment when +he had tried to kiss her at the bridge. "Why, even then," she mused, +"thar were somethin' seemed to draw me to him in spite o' myself. Never +felt anythin' like it afore. It war--just as if I war asleep, all over, +an' never wanted to wake up! I wonder if I wish he warn't comin' back, +to-night--not half so much, I reckon, as I wish he warn't never goin' +away!" + +She left her resting place upon the stump, and, torn by varying +emotions, found a place upon the trail where she could look off to his +camp. She was standing there, leaning listlessly against a tree, when +the sound of someone coming made her turn her head. She saw Joe Lorey. + +"Madge," said he, approaching, "I wants a word with you," + +She did not wish to talk with him. Her mind was far too busy with its +thoughts of Layson, its dismay at the prospect of his departure. "No +time, Joe; it's too late," said she. She started to go by him toward her +little bridge. + +But he was not inclined to be put off. The mountaineer's slow mind had +been at work with his great problem and he had quite determined that he +would take some action, definite and unmistakable, without delay. He had +leaned his ever-present rifle up against a stump, had laid the old +game-sack, still burdened with the stolen dynamite, upon the ground, +close to it, and was prepared to talk the matter out, to one end or the +other. He loved her with the fierce love of the primitive man; his +rising wrath against the circumstances amidst which he seemed to be so +powerless had made him sullen and suspicious; mountain life, continual +defiance of the law, unceasing watchfulness for "revenuers," does not +teach a man to be smooth-mannered, half-way in his methods. He made a +move as if to catch her arm; she darted by him, running straight toward +the old game-sack. + +That burden in the game-sack had been a constant horror to him ever +since he had first stolen it down at the railroad workings. The mighty +evidence of the power of the explosive which had been shown to him when +it had torn and mangled its poor victim there, had filled him with a +terror of it, although it had also filled him with determination to make +use of that great power if necessary. But now, as he saw her running, +light-footed, lovely, toward the bag which held it, running in exactly +the right way to stumble on it if a mis-step chanced, his heart sprang +to his throat. What if the dire explosive he had planned to use upon his +enemies should prove to be the death of the one being whom he loved? He +sprang toward her with the mighty impulse of desperate muscles spurred +by a panic-stricken mind and caught her, roughly, just before her foot +would have touched and spurned the game-sack. + +"Stop!" he cried, in desperation. + +She was amazed that he should take so great a liberty. She stopped, +perforce, but, after she had stopped, she stood there trembling with hot +anger. "Joe Lorey," she exclaimed, "you dare!" + +Now he was all humility as he let his hand fall from her arm. "It was +for your sake, Madge," said he. "A stumble on that sack--it mout have +sent us both to Kingdom Come!" + +She looked at him incredulously, then down at the sack. "That old +game-sack? Why, Joe, you're plumb distracted!" + +"I'm in my senses, yet, I tell you," he persisted. "T'other day I went +down where they're blastin' for th' railroad. I see 'em usin' +dynamighty, down thar, an' I watched my chance an', when it come, I +slipped one o' th' bombs into that game-sack. Ef you'd chanced to kick +it--" + +She was impressed. "Dynamighty bombs? Dellaw! What's dynamighty bombs?" + +"It's a giant powder, a million times stronger nor mine." He reached +into the sack and, with cautious fingers, took out the cartridge and the +fuse, exhibiting them to her. "See here. I seed 'em take a bomb no +bigger nor this one, an' light a fuse like this, an' when it caught it +ennymost shook down a mounting! I seed a poor chap what war careless +with one, an' when they picked him up, why--" + +"Don't, Joe!" said the girl, looking at the cartridge with the light of +horror shining in her eyes. "What you doin' with such devil's stuff?" + +"I got it for th' revenuers," he said frankly. The mountaineers of the +old Cumberland, to this day, make no secret of their deadly hatred for +the agents of the government excise. "They're snoopin' 'round th' +mountings, an' if they find my still I plan to blow it into nothin', an' +them with it." + +She recoiled from him. "No, no, Joe; you'd better gin th' still up, nor +do such work as that!" + +"I'll never gin it up!" said he, with a set face. "It's mine; it war my +father's long before me. There's only one thing could ever make me gin +it up." + +"What's that?" The girl was still spellbound by the fascination of the +dynamite which she had come so near to treading on. Her eyes were fixed +upon the cartridge in his hand with horror, wonder. + +He stepped closer to her. "I mout gin it up for you!" + +"For me?" + +"You know I've loved ye sence ye were that high," said he, and measured +with his hand a very little way up the side of the old stump. "Many a +time I've listened hyar to your evenin' hymn, an' thought I'd rather +hear you singin' in my home than hear th' angels singin' in th' courts +o' Heaven. Say th' word, Madge--say you'll be my little wife!" + +The girl was woe fully affected. Her eyes filled and her bosom heaved +with feeling. It cut her to the soul to have to hurt this playmate of +her babyhood, defender of her youth, companion of her budding womanhood; +their lives had been linked, too, by the great tragedy which, years ago, +had orphaned both of them. But, of late, she had felt sure that she +could never marry him. She would not admit, even to herself, just why +this was; but it was so. "No, no, Joe; it can never be," she said. + +He knew! "And why?" said he, his face blackening with bitter feeling, +his brows contracting fiercely. "Because that furriner from the blue +grass has come atween us!" + +Madge, surprised that he should guess the secret which she had scarcely +admitted, even to herself, was, for a second, frightened by his +keenness. Had she shown her feelings with such freedom? But she quickly +regained self-control and answered with a clever counterfeit of +lightness. "Him? Oh, sho! He'd never think o' me that way!" + +"Mebbe so," said Joe, "but I know you think more o' th' books he teaches +you from than o' my company. From th' thickets borderin' th' clearin' +where you've studied, I've watched you settin' thar with him, wen I'd +give th' world to be thar in his place. Why, I'd ennymost gin up my life +for one kiss, Madge!" He looked at her with pitiful love and longing in +his eyes; but this soon changed to a sort of mad determination. "I'll +have it, too!" he cried, advancing toward her. + +She was amazed, not in the least dismayed. Indeed the episode took from +the moment some of its emotional strain. That he should try to do this +utterly unwarrantable thing took a portion of the weight of guilty +feeling from her heart. It had been pressing heavily there. "You +shan't!" she cried. "Careful, Joe Lorey!" + +She eluded him with ease and ran across her little bridge. He paused, a +second, in astonishment, and, as he paused, she grasped the rope and +pulled the little draw up after her. + +"Look out, Joe; it air a hundred feet, straight down!" she cried, as +she saw that the baffled mountaineer was trembling on the chasm's edge, +as if preparing for a spring. "Good night, Joe. Take my advice--gin up +th' still, an' all thought of makin' a wife of a girl as ain't willin'." + +Half laughing and half crying she ran up the path which wound about +among the thickets on the rocky little island where her rough cabin +stood, secure, secluded. + +The mountaineer stood, baffled, on the brink of the ravine. Much +loneliness among the mountains, where there was no voice but his own to +listen to, had given him the habit of talking to himself in moments of +excitement. + +"Gone! Gone!" he said. "Gone laughin' at me!" He clenched his fists. +"And it is him as has come atween us!" He turned slowly from the place, +picked up his rifle, slung the game-sack, saggin with the weight of the +dynamite, across his shoulder by its strap, and started from the place. + +He had gone but a short distance, though, before he stopped, +considering. Murder was in Joe Lorey's heart. + +"She said he war comin' back," he sullenly reflected. "I'll ... lay for +him, right hyar." + +He looked cautiously about. His quick ear caught the sound of footsteps +coming up the trail. + +"Somebody's stirrin', now," he said. "Oh, if it's only him!" + +He slipped behind a rock to wait in ambush. + +But it was not his enemy who came, now, along the trail. Horace Holton, +held to the mountains by his mysterious business, had left the others of +the party to go home alone, as they had come, and returned to the +neighborhood which housed the girl who owned the land he coveted. + +Joe, suspicious of him, as the mountaineer who makes his living as a +moonshiner, is, of course, of every stranger who appears within his +mountains, stepped forward, suddenly, his rifle in his hand and ready to +be used. He had no idea that the man had been a member of the party from +the bluegrass. + +"Halt, you!" he cried. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Holton, full of scheming, was returning up the trail after having said +good-bye to Barbara, Miss Alathea and the Colonel at the railway in the +valley, climbing steadily and skillfully, without much thought of his +surroundings. The locality, familiar to him years before (although he +had at great pains indicated to everyone but Barbara that it was wholly +strange to him) showed but superficial change to his searching, +reminiscent eyes. His feet had quickly fallen into the almost automatic +climbing-stride of the born mountaineer, and his thoughts had gradually +absorbed themselves in memories of the past. Joe Lorey's sudden command +to halt was somewhat startling, therefore, even to his iron nerves. +Instinctively and instantly he heeded the gruff order. + +Dusk was falling and he could not very clearly see the moonshiner, at +first, as he stepped from behind the shelter of his rock. He moved +slowly on, a step or two, hands half raised to show that they did not +hold weapons, recovering quickly from the little shock of the surprise, +planning an explanation to whatever mountaineer had thought his coming +up the trail at that hour a suspicious circumstance. That he was one of +Layson's friends from the low-country would, he thought, be proof enough +that he was not an enemy of mountain-folk. Layson, he knew, was +generally regarded with good will by the shy dwellers in this +wilderness. + +But when he clearly saw Joe Lorey's face a thrill shot through him far +more lasting than the little tremor born, at first, of the command to +halt. + +He had not seen the youth before. Joe, half jealous, half contemptuous, +of Layson's fine friends from the bluegrass, had kept out of their +sight, although he had watched them furtively from covert almost +constantly; and, it chanced, had not been so much as mentioned by either +Frank or Madge while the party from the bluegrass lingered at the camp, +save when Madge told the tragic story of her childhood while Holton +stood aloof, for reasons of his own, hearing but imperfectly. + +Now the unexpected sight of the young man, for some reasons, made the +old one gasp in horror. There was that about the face, the attitude, the +very way the lithe moonshiner held his gun, which made him seem, to the +astonished man whom he had halted, like a grim vision from the past. "My +God!" he thought. "Can the dead have come to life?" + +For an instant he went weak. His blood chilled and the quick beating of +his heart changed the deep breathing of his recent swinging stride into +short, sharp gasps. + +It was only for an instant, though. His life had not been one to teach +him to falter long in the face of an emergency. Quickly he regained +poise and reasoned calmly. + +"No," he thought, "it's Joe, Ben Lorey's son. Th' father's layin' where +he has been, all these years. I'm skeery as a girl." + +Joe advanced upon him truculently. "Say," he demanded, "what's yer name +an' what ye want here?" His ever ready rifle nested in the crook of his +left arm, his brow was threatening, his mouth was firmly set an instant +after he had spoken. + +Holton, recovering himself quickly, spoke calmly, propitiatingly. "My +name's Holton. I want to see th' gal as lives up yander. Want to buy her +land of her." + +Lorey, satisfied by this explanation that the stranger was not a +government agent, as he had, at first suspected, relaxed his tense +rigidity of muscles. From fear of revenuers his disturbed mind returned +quickly to the bitterness of his resentment of what he thought Madge +Brierly's infatuation for the young lowlander. + +"It's too late," he said. "Thar's only one man as she'd let down that +bridge for, now--th' man I thought ye might be--Frank Layson." + +Holton, quick to see the possibility of gaining an advantage, realizing +from the young man's tone that he was certainly no friend of Layson's, +guessing, with quick cunning, at what the situation was, decided that +the thing for him to do was to reveal the fact that, in his heart, he, +also, hated Layson. + +"So ye took me for a revenuer or Frank Layson, eh?" said he. "I know +what th' mountings think o' revenuers, an' I reckon, from yer handlin' +o' that rifle, that you're no friend o' Layson's." + +Joe, full of the fierce bitterness of his resentment, was ready to +confide in anyone his hatred of the "furriner" who had come up and won +the girl he loved. He let the barrel of his rifle slip between his +fingers till its stock was resting on the ground. + +"I hates him as I hates but one man in th' world!" he said, with bitter +emphasis. + +"Who's that?" said Holton, thoughtlessly, although, an instant +afterward, he was sorry that he had pursued the subject. + +"Lem Lindsay," Lorey answered; "him as killed my father. Frank Layson's +come between me an' Madge Brierly, an' he's got to cl'ar my tracks!" His +voice thrilled with the intensity of his emotion, and, suddenly, he +caught his rifle up, again, into his crooked elbow, where it rested +ready for quick usage. "If you plans to warn him--" he began. + +"Warn him!" said the older man, with a bitterness, real or +counterfeited, whichever it might be, as fierce as that which rang in +the young moonshiner's own voice, "I hate him as much as you. I'd rather +warn you." + +"Warn me o' what?" Lorey had begun to lose suspicion of the stranger. +If, really, he hated Layson, he might make of him a useful ally. + +"Your name's Lorey," Holton answered, with his keen eyes fixed intently +on those of the man who stood there, tensely listening to him, "an' yo' +keep a still." + +Now Lorey again caught his rifle quickly in both hands; his face showed +new apprehension, and a terrible determination, desperate and dreadful. +If this stranger knew about the still, was it not certain that he was a +government spy and therefore worthy of quick death? + +"Keerful!" he said menacingly. "Hyar in th' mountings that word's worth +your life!" The youth, with frowning brow and glittering, wolfish eyes, +stood facing Holton like an animal at bay, with what amounted to a +threat of murder on his lips. + +"I'm speakin' it for your own good," the old man answered, throwing into +his voice as much of frankness as he could command. "I tell you that th' +revemooers have got word about your still." + +"Then somebody's spied an' told 'em." + +Here was Holton's chance. The vicious scheme came to him in a flash. +Layson he hated fiercely; this youth he hated fiercely. What plan could +be better than to set the one to hunt the other? If Lorey should kill +Layson it would remove Layson from his path and make his way clear to +the purchase of Madge Brierly's coal-lands at a small fraction of their +value. And, having killed him, Lorey would, of course, be forced to flee +the country, for the hue and cry would be far-reaching. Such a killing +never would be passed over as an ordinary mountain murder generally is +by the authorities. Thus, at once, he might be rid of the young +bluegrass gentleman he hated and the young mountaineer he feared. + +"You're right," said he. "Somebody's spied an' told 'em. Somebody as +stumbled on yore still while he was huntin'." + +Lorey looked at him, wide-eyed, infuriated. Instantly he quite believed +what Holton said. It dove-tailed with his own grim hate of Layson that +Layson should hate him and try to work his ruin by giving information to +the revenuers. "Somebody huntin'!" he exclaimed. "Frank Layson! Say it, +say it!" + +"Promise you'll never speak my name?" said Holton. He had no wish to be +mixed up in the tragic matter, and he knew, instinctively, that if Joe +Lorey gave his word, moonshiner and lawbreaker as he was, it would be +kept to the grim end. + +"I promise it, if it air th' truth you're tellin' me," said Lorey. + +"It's true, then," Holton answered. "You can see for your own self that +I'm a stranger hyar. I couldn't a' knowed o' th' still exceptin' through +Frank Layson." + +The simple, specious argument to Lorey was convincing. "It air true," he +admitted slowly. "Nobody else would a' gin ye th' word." The angry youth +paused in black, murderous thought. "He air a-comin' hyar, to-night," he +went on presently. "I heered him tell Madge Brierly that he war comin' +back, this evenin'. You better--maybe you had better git along." He had +no wish for witnesses to what he planned, now, to accomplish, when +Layson should come back to Madge, as he had promised, with the +engineer's report upon her coal lands. + +Holton nodded, grimly satisfied that he had planted a suspicion which +might flower into his own revenge. That blow which Layson had delivered +on his face, in the old days, had left a scar upon his soul, and now +that the young man seemed likely to add to this unforgotten injury the +new one of retiring from the field as suitor for his daughter, and, +further, interfering with his plans to rob Madge Brierly of her coal +lands, his hatred of him had become intense, insatiable. What better +fortune could he wish than to pit this mountain youth, whom, also, for a +reason carried over from dark days in his past life, he hated, against +the young man from the bluegrass whom he hated no less bitterly? + +"Go by _that_ path, thar," said Lorey, suddenly, and pointing, as Holton +started to return by the direct route he had followed as he came. "It +air round-about, but it'll lead you to th' valley. I'll run no risk o' +your warnin' him." + +"Don't you be skeered," said Holton. "I'll keep mum, no matter what +happens." + +With a grim smile he started down the path which the mountaineer had +pointed out. + +"Laid his whip acrost my face!" he muttered as he went. "Trifled with my +gal! Him an' Ben Lorey's son--let 'em fight it out! I'm so much th' +better off." + +And Lorey, slipping back into the shadow of a rock, after he had made +quite certain that the stranger was following his directions, was +reflecting, bitterly: "He's come atween me an' th' gal I love! He's put +th' revenoo hounds upon my track! Oh, if he had a dozen lives, I'd have +'em all!" + +For ten alert and watchful minutes, which seemed to stretch to hours, he +crouched there, waiting, waiting, waiting, for the coming of the man he +hated. During five of these he listened to the sounds of Holton's +downward progress, brought to his keen ear on the soft breezes of the +young night. There came the crackling of a twig, the thud, thud, thud +of a dislodged stone bounding down the slope, the rustle of leaves as +the old man shuffled through a pocket of them gathered in the lea of +some protruding rock by vagrant winds. Then all was still. He did not +guess that Holton had been anxious that these sounds should reach him; +that he had stumbled down the trail with awkward feet with no thought in +his mind but to be certain that the sounds should reach him. Such was +the case, however, and, after he felt sure that the crouching +mountaineer above must be convinced that he had gone on to the valley, +the old man turned, catlike, re-ascended with a skill as great as +Lorey's own, and, with not a sound to warn the mountaineer that he had +retraced any of his steps, took cautious place behind a rock upon the +very edge of the open space where, when Layson came, he felt quite sure +a tragedy would be enacted. + +Then Layson came blithely up the trail. He had gone through the +engineer's report with care. The coal prospects included the girl's +land. He was full of rare elation at thought of the good luck which had +descended on the little mountain-maid, full of pleasant plans for a +bright future from none of which she was omitted. + +His dreams were rudely interrupted as Joe Lorey stepped ominously from +behind the rock where he had waited for him. + +"Hold up your hands!" the mountaineer commanded, with his rifle +levelled at the advancing youth. + +"Joe Lorey!" exclaimed Layson. + +"You know what air between us. Your time air come. If you want to pray, +do it quick, for my finger air itchin' to pull th' trigger." + +Layson's blood and breeding told, in this emergency. He did not flinch a +whit. "I'm ready," he said calmly. "I'm not afraid to die, though it's +hard to meet death at the hands of a coward." + +"Coward!" said the mountaineer, amazed. "You call me that?" + +"The man who shoots another in cold blood, giving him no chance for his +life, deserves no better name." + +This appealed to Lorey. So had his father died--at the hands of one who +killed him in cold blood, giving him no chance for his life. "You shan't +die callin' me that!" he cried. He leaned his rifle against a nearby +rock, threw his knife upon the ground beside it, pulled off his coat, +and thus, unarmed, advanced upon his enemy. "We're ekal now," he said +with grim intensity, and pointed to the chasm through which ran the +stream which made Madge Brierly's refuge an island. "That gully air a +hundred feet straight down," he said, "an' its bottom air kivered with +rocks. When we're through, your body or mine'll lay there. Air you +ready?" + +Holton, tense with excitement, was watching every move of the two men +from his hidden vantage point. Upon his face was the expression of an +animal of prey. + +"Ready!" said Frank, quietly. + +It was a terrific struggle which ensued. The trained muscles of the +lowland athlete were matched against the lithe thews of the mountaineer +so evenly that, for a time, there was doubt of what the outcome might +be. Holton, watching, watching, thrilled with every second of it. Little +he cared which man won; the best thing which possibly could happen, for +his own good, he reflected, would be that both should crash down to the +bottom of the gully locked in one of their bear-hugs, to fall together +on the jagged rocks below. The fierce breathing of the contestants, the +shuffle of their struggling feet upon the ground, the occasional +involuntary groan from one man or the other as his adversary crushed him +in embrace so painful that an exclamation could not be suppressed, were +all music to the ears of the old man behind the rock. Both youths were +perils to him. Let them kill each other. He would be the gainer, +whatever the outcome of the battle. + +Suddenly Frank's foot slipped on a rolling pebble. Instantly Lorey had +taken advantage of the mishap, and, with a quick wrench, thrown him +crashing to the earth. He lay there, scarcely breathing, utterly +unconscious. + +The mountaineer bent over him, ready to meet the first sign of revival +with renewed attack, his bloodshot eyes strained on the face of the +young man upon the ground. Then, anxious to be satisfied that his +prostrate enemy was not feigning, he knelt by him and peered into his +face, placed his hand upon his chest above his heart, felt his pulse +with awkward fingers. He wondered, now, if he had not killed him, +outright, for Frank's head had struck the ground with a terrific impact. +But Layson's nostrils soon began to dilate and contract with a spasmodic +breathing. He still lived. + +Rendered careless by the excitement of the moment, Joe again yielded to +the habit engendered by much solitude and spoke his thoughts aloud. + +"It'll be long afore he'll stir," he muttered. "I'll throw him down into +th' gully." + +He rose, and, going to the side of the ravine, peered over with a +fearful curiosity at the brawling torrent, cut into foam-ribbons by a +horde of knife-edged rocks. Then he went to Layson and stretched out his +hand to grasp his shoulder. + +Occurred a psychological phenomenon. He found his courage fail at +thought of laying hands upon the man as he was stretched there helpless. + +"I--I can't touch him!" he exclaimed. "It'd be--why, it'd be like +handlin' th' dead!" + +He drew back, nonplussed, ashamed of his own timidity, yet unable to +overcome it. He had felled the man and meant to kill him, yet, now, he +could not bring himself to lay a hand upon him. + +The thought then flashed into his mind of the dreadful contents of his +old game-sack. + +"Th' bomb," he said. "Th' dynamighty bomb that I was savin' for th' +revenuers! Let that finish out th' man as set 'em onto me!" + +He took the bomb from the old sack with trembling fingers, laid it by +Frank's side and, with a match which flickered because the hands which +held it were unsteady as a palsied man's, set fire to the fuse. Then he +drew off to one side. + +"Now, burn!" he said, with set teeth and lowering brow. "Burn! Burn!" + +For a second he stood there, watching the sparking sputter of the powder +as it slowly ate its way along the little paper tube. Then, suddenly, a +dreadful thought occurred to him. The girl! What if Madge Brierly should +come to meet the lowlander before the bomb exploded, should see him +lying there, should hurry to him, frightened, and get there just in time +to-- + +He shuddered. He must protect the girl he loved! She could reach the +side of the endangered man only by means of the small bridge. But one +rope held it in position above the deep, precipitous-sided gully. + +He raised his rifle to his shoulder. It was a hard shot, one which most +men would have deemed impossible, but there was a star in line. He +fired. The bridge crashed down, a ruin, the severed rope now dangling +limply, freed of the burden it had held for many years. + +"She's safe!" said he. + +For another instant he stood studying the spluttering fuse. From what he +had seen at the railroad workings he knew it was destined to burn long +enough so that many workmen could get out of danger before the spark +reached the strong explosive in the cartridge. He need not hurry. + +"In three minutes it'll all be ended," he reflected. "He's as helpless +as a baby; he can't strike back, now; it's no more nor he deserves. I'm +goin'." + +He straightened up and would have hurried off, had not, at just that +moment, the sweet voice of the girl he loved rung through the brooding, +fragrant evening air, in song. + +It brought him to himself, it filled him with a horrified realization of +the foulness of the deed which he was contemplating. + +"No--no!" said he. "Why, I'd be the coward that he called me!" + +He hurried to the fuse and, with trembling eagerness, stamped out the +spark which, now, was creeping close indeed to that point where it would +have blossomed into the terrifying flower of death. + +"I'll fight him ag'in," he said; and then, addressing the now +extinguished fuse, the harmless cartridge of explosive: "You lie thar +and prove ter him I ain't no coward!" + +He hurried down the trail. + +Holton, vastly disappointed, crept out from his hiding place. "The +fool!" he muttered. "Oh, the fool! That thar little spark would a' put +me even an' made me safe fer life! An' it war lighted--it war lighted!" + +His regret was keen. He raged there like a madman robbed of his intended +prey. Then, suddenly: + +"But--who'll believe him when he says he put it out? I'll--do it!" + +He hastily took out a match, struck it, relighted the dead fuse. + +"It'll be his work, not mine!" he thought, exultantly, as he paused to +see that the fuse would surely burn. + +As he turned to hasten from the spot he caught a glimpse of something +white across the gully at the thresh-hold of the girl's cabin. For a +second this was terrifying, but he quickly regained poise. The bridge +was gone. She could not reach the side of the endangered man to save +him, she could not reach the mainland to pursue him and discover his +identity. He fled. + +The girl was worried by the long delay in Layson's coming. For fully +half an hour she had been listening for his cheery hail--that hail which +had, of late, come to mean so much to her--as she worked about her +household tasks. The last words he had said to her had hinted at such +unimagined possibilities of riches, of education, of delirious delights +to come, that her impatience was but natural; and, besides this, Joe's +words had worried her. She did not think the mountaineer would ever +really let his jealousy lead him to a foul attack upon his rival, but +his words had worried her. She stood upon her doorstep, hand above her +eyes, and peered across the gorge toward where the trail debouched into +the little clearing. + +Nothing was in sight there, and her gaze wandered along the little rocky +field, in aimless scrutiny. Finally it chanced upon the prostrate form +of the young man. + +"What's that lyin' thar?" she thought, intensely startled. And then, +after another moment's peering: "Why, it's Mr. Frank!" + +She was amazed and frightened. Then her eye caught the little sputtering +of sparks along the fuse. It further startled her. + +"It's Mr. Frank and somethin's burnin' close beside him!" + +Suspicion flashed into her mind like lightning, followed, almost +instantly, by firm conviction. + +"It's a fuse," she cried, "an' thar by him is th' bomb! It's Joe Lorey's +work! Oh, oh--" + +She sprang down the rough path toward the place where, ever since she +could remember, the little bridge had swung. Now, though, it was gone. + +"The bridge!" she cried. "The bridge! It's gone! I can't cross! I've got +to see him die!" + +Her frantic eyes caught sight of the frayed rope, dangling from the +firm supports which had so long held up the bridge by means of it. +Instantly her quick mind saw the only chance there was to save the man +whom, now, she knew she loved. She sprang for the rope and caught it, +gave herself a mighty push with both her agile feet, and, hanging above +certain death if hold should fail or rope break, swung across the chasm +and found foothold on the mainland. + +In another second she was at the side of the unconscious man. Another +and she had the cartridge, sputtering fuse and all, in her right hand, +another and the deadly thing was hurtling to the bottom of the deep +ravine, whence an almost immediately ensuing crashing boom told her that +she had not arrived a moment sooner than had been essential to the +salvation of the man she loved. + +She knelt by Frank, pulled his head up to her knee, chafed at his +insensate hands, and called to him wildly, fearing that he was dead. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Joe Lorey was unhappy in his mountains. After the visiting party had +gone down from Layson's camp, and, in course of time, Layson himself had +followed them because of the approach of the great race which was to +make or mar his fortunes, the man breathed easier, although their coming +and the subsequent events had made, he knew, impressions on his life +which never could be wiped away. He hated Layson none the less because +he had departed. He argued that he had not gone until he viciously had +stolen that thing which he, Lorey, valued most: the love of beautiful +Madge Brierly. He brooded constantly upon this, neglecting his small +mountain farm, spending almost all his time at his illegal trade of +brewing untaxed whisky in his hidden still, despite the girl's continual +urgings to give up the perilous occupation before it was too late. He +had told her that he would, if she would marry him; now that she would +not, he told her surlily that he would continue to defy the law even if +he knew that every "revenuer" in the state was on his trail. He was +conscious that there was real danger; he believed that Layson knew about +the still and that the bitter enmity resulting from the fight which had +so nearly proved his death might prompt him to betrayal of the secret; +but with the stubbornness of the mountaineer he clung doggedly to his +illegal apparatus in the mountain-cave, kept doggedly at the illegal +work he did with it. It was characteristic of the man, his forbears and +his breed in general, that, now, when he knew that deadly danger well +might threaten, he sent more moonshine whisky from the still than ever +had gone from it in like length of time, either in his father's day or +his. + +That his actual and only dangerous enemy was Holton, he did not, for an +instant, guess. He knew of not the slightest reason why this stranger +should include him in the hatred he had sworn he felt for Layson--that +hatred which, he had assured him, was as bitter as his own. He would +have been as much astonished as dismayed had he known that Holton's +almost instant action, upon arriving at the county-seat, had been to +make a visit to the local chief of the Revenue-Service--cautiously, at +night, for to be known as an informer might have cost his life at other +hands than Lorey's, would have made the mountain for far miles blaze +vividly with wrath against him. + +So, defiant of the man he thought to be his foe, unconscious of the +hatred of the man who really was, Lorey was working in his still when a +small boy, sent up from a cabin far below, dashed, breathless, to him +with the news that revenue-men were actually upon their way in his +direction. He had scarcely time to put his fire out, hide the lighter +portions of his apparatus and flee to a safe hiding-place, nearby, +before, clambering with lithe skill and caution almost equal to his own +along the rocky pathways of the mountain-side, armed like soldiers +scouting in a hostile country, cool-eyed as Indians, hard-faced as +executioners, they actually appeared. + +For a time, as Lorey watched their progress from his covert, he held his +rifle levelled, held his finger on its trigger, determined to kill them +in their tracks; and it was no thrill of mercy for the men or fear of +consequences to himself which saved their lives. It was rather that he +did not wish further to risk his liberty until he had had opportunity to +glance along the gleaming barrel of his rifle as it was pointed at Frank +Layson's heart. + +After the men had gone he went back to his still to view the ruins they +had left behind them. His wrath was terrible. Madge, who had, of course, +learned what had happened almost instantly, for the still was scarcely +out of hearing of her cabin, tried vainly to console, to calm him. He +turned on her with a rage of which, in all her life among hot-tempered +mountaineers, she had never seen the equal, and chokingly swore +vengeance on the man who had given the information which had resulted +in the raid. + +"They come straight to th' still," he told her, "never falterin', never +wonderin' if, maybe, they was on th' right path. Ev'ry inch o' th' hull +way had been mapped out for 'em, an' they didn't make a mis-step from +th' valley to th' very entrance o' th' cave. I'll git th' chap that +planned their course out for 'em thataway! I'll git 'im, Madge! I'll git +'im, sure!" + +Her heart sank in her breast like lead. She knew perfectly whom Lorey +meant. She knew as perfectly that Layson never had informed upon the +moonshiner, but she also knew that Heaven itself could not, then, +convince the man of that. + +"Who do you mean you'll git, Joe?" she faltered, hoping against hope +that she was wrong in her suspicions. + +"You know well enough," he answered. "Who would I mean but that damn' +furriner, Frank Layson? He warn't satisfied with comin' here an' +stealin' you away from me! He had to put th' revenuers on th' track o' +th' old still that was my dad's afore me, an' has been th' one thing, +siden you, I've ever keered fer in my life." + +"You're wrong, Joe," she insisted. "You're shore wrong. Frank Layson'd +never do a coward's trick like that!" + +"He done it!" Lorey answered doggedly. "He done it, an' as there is a +God in Heaven he air goin' to pay th' price fer doin' it!" + +With that he stalked off down the trail, his rifle held as ever in the +crook of his elbow, his brows as black as human brows could be. + +For a time she sat there on a rock, gazing after him, half-stupefied, +with eyes wide, terror-stricken. What could a mere girl do to avert the +dreadful tragedy impending? Tireless as he was, she knew that he could +keep upon the trail for twenty-four hours without a pause, and that such +travelling, with the lifts which he would get from mountain teamsters, +would take him to the home of the man whose life he had determined to +snuff out at any hazard. Beside herself with fright for Frank, she sped +back to her cabin, took what food was ready-cooked and could be bundled +up to carry on the journey, put on her heaviest shoes and started for +the door. But, suddenly, the thought flashed through her mind that, even +as Joe Lorey was bound down the trails to meet his rival, so would she +be bound down them to meet her own. She could not bear the thought of +facing Barbara Holton, clad, as she was now, in rough, half-shapeless, +mountain-homespun. She made another bundle, larger than the one which +held her food, by many times, and, when she finally set off, this bundle +held the finery which she had so laboriously prepared in the mad hope of +rivaling the work of the bluegrass belle's accomplished city +dressmakers. + +Down in the bluegrass home of the ancient Layson family all was +excitement in anticipation of the race which was to mean so much to the +fortunes of the young master of the fine old mansion which, with +pillared porticos and mighty chimneys, dominated the whole section. +Layson's heart was filled with confidence whenever he went to the +stables to view the really startling beauty of the lovely animal on +which his hope was pinned; it sunk into despair, when, seated in his +study in the house, away from her, he counted up the cost of all which +he would lose if she did not run first in the great race. + +None but the Colonel, Miss Alathea and himself had an idea of the real +magnitude of the stakes dependant on Queen Bess. Upon the glossy +shoulders of the lovely mare rested, indeed, a great burden of +responsibility. If she won she would not only secure the large purse for +the owner, but be salable for a price which would enable him to take +advantage, fully, of the offer which the syndicate had made to develop +his coal lands. If she failed--well, the fortunes of the house of Layson +would be seriously shattered. + +No wonder, then, that Uncle Neb, in whom his master's confidence was +absolute, had strict injunctions closely to guard the mare. The faithful +negro watched her with a vigilance which was scarcely less unremitting +in the daytime than it was at night when he slept upon the very straw +which bedded her. + +Miss Alathea, intensely prejudiced against horse-racing and the gambling +which invariably goes with it, by the Colonel's wasted life and her own +ensuing loneliness, nevertheless prayed night and day that Queen Bess +would be victorious, for Frank had finally refused, point-blank, to let +her risk her fortune in the scheme for the development of his +coal-lands, and so, if the mare lost and the eastern firm refused to +purchase her at the large price which would enable him to join the +syndicate, his great chance would be gone. Perhaps not once in the +world's history had any maiden-lady, constitutionally opposed to betting +and the race-track, given as much thought to an impending contest +between horses on which great sums were certain to be won and lost, as +Miss Alathea did, these days. + +And if Miss Alathea was excited, what should be said about the gallant +Colonel? Every day he visited the Layson place; every day he scrutinized +the mare with wise and anxious eyes; every day he from his soul assured +her owner and her owner's aunt that it was quite impossible that she +should lose; every day he cautioned Neb, her guardian, to let no human +being, whom he did not know and whom he and his master had not every +cause to trust implicitly, approach the splendid beast. Wise in the ways +of race-tracks and the unscrupulous men who have, unfortunately, thrown +the sport of kings into sad disrepute, he feared some treachery +continually. + +Neb scarcely left the stable-yard, by day, unless the mare went with +him, by night he slept so that he could, by reaching out a wrinkled, +ebon hand, actually touch her glossy hide. He fed her himself with oats +and hay which he examined with the utmost care before they found her +manger or her rack; he watered her himself with water from a well within +the stable and guarded by locked doors, drawn in a pail which, +invariably, he rinsed with boiling water before he filled it up for her. +No drugs should reach that mare if _he_ could help it! None but himself +or his "Marse Frank" was under any circumstances permitted to get on her +back. If watchfulness could possibly preserve the mare unharmed and in +fine shape until the day of the great race, Neb plainly meant to see +that this was done. Even the amateur brass-band and glee-club into which +he had organized the stable-boys and other negro lads about the place, +and of which he acted as drum-major--the proudest moment of his life +were when he donned the moth-eaten old shako which was his towering +badge of leadership--must practice nowhere save within the stable-yard, +where he could train them and, at the same time, keep watchful eyes upon +Queen Bess' quarters. + +The negroes, young and old, about the place, indeed, were wild with +their enthusiasm for the mare. The day before the race a delegation of +them, full of eagerness, met Neb as he came out of the stable. + +"Say, Unc Neb," said one of them, "we-all's made a pool." + +"Pool on de races?" + +"Uh-huh! An' we-all wants to know jes' what we ought to put ouah money +on." + +They well knew what he would say. + +"Queen Bess, fo' suah," he answered, to their vast delight. "Queen Bess +ebery time. She's fit to run fo' huh life." + +The boys accepted the suggestion with a shout, and he was about to enter +into one of the long dissertations on the strong points of his equine +darling, when he was informed that some stranger was approaching. He +peered down the road with his old eyes, but could not recognize the +visitor. + +"Who is it?" he asked one of the black lads. + +"Marse Holton." + +"Marse Holton!" he repeated dryly. "Run along, now, honiest. Unc' Neb +gwine be busy. I won't hab dat ar Marse Holton pryin' round dat mare. +Hoodoo her fo' suah." He sidled to the stable door, and, careful to see +that his bent body hid the operation from the coming visitor, turned the +key in the big lock. The key he then slipped into his capacious trousers +pocket. + +"Hello, Neb," said Holton, affably, as he came up. + +"Ebenin', suh." Neb added nothing to this greeting and went +nonchalantly to a distant bench to sit down on it carelessly. + +"I say, Neb," said Holton, "I expect to do a little betting, so I +thought I'd jest drop over and take a look at Layson's mare." + +Neb sat immovable upon his bench. At first, indeed, he did not even +speak, but, finally, he looked at Holton calmly, took the key out of his +pocket, tossed it in the air, caught it as it came down, put it back +into his pocket and dryly said: "T'ink not, suh." + +Holton, paying no attention to him, had gone on to the stable-door and +tried it. Finding it to be fast locked, he turned back toward the +darkey. "The door's locked, Neb," he said. + +"Knowed dat afore, suh," Neb replied. + +Holton was nettled by his nonchalance. "Open that door!" he ordered. + +"Not widout Marse Holton's ohduhs, suh," Neb answered calmly. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Holton, angrily. + +"Jus' what I say, suh." + +Holton made a slightly threatening movement toward him, but Neb did not +even wink. + +"Don't git riled, suh--bad fo' de livuh, suh." + +Holton, now, was very angry. "Look here," he said, advancing on the aged +negro angrily. "Do you dare insult a friend and neighbor of Mr. Layson?" + +Neb slowly rose and answered with some dignity: "I dares obey Marse +Frank's plain ohduhs, suh. Dat mare represents full twenty-fi' thousan' +dolluhs to him" (Neb rolled the handsome figures lovingly upon his +tongue), "an' dere's thousan's more'll be bet on huh to-morruh." He +looked at Holton with but thinly veiled contempt. "Plenty men 'u'd risk +deir wuthless lives to drug huh." + +"Oh, shucks!" said Holton, trying to control his temper because of his +great eagerness to get in to the mare. "She would be safe with me; you +know it." + +"I knows Marse Frank hab barred ebery window an' sealed ebery doah but +dis one, an' gib me ohduhs to let no one in 'cept he is by. I stan's by +dem ohduhs while dere's bref in my ol' body." + +Holton was infuriated. "It's lucky for you I'm not your master!" + +"Dat's what I t'ink, suh." + +"If you _was_ my nigger, I'd teach you perliteness with a black-snake +whip! I'll see what Layson'll say to such sass as you've gin me. Jest +you wait till you hear from him." + +Neb was not impressed by the man's wrath. "Huhd from him afoah, suh. Oh, +I'll wait, I'll wait." + +He went up to the stable-door, unlocked it and stood in the open portal. +Holton would have followed him, but Neb began to close the door. + +"You'll wait, too, suh," said the negro, grinning, "on de outside, +suh." + +He closed and locked the door on the inside. + +Holton was beside himself with wrath. "Damn him! Damn him!" he +exclaimed. "Damn him and damn his proud young puppy of a master! I'll +ruin him! I'll set my foot on him and smash him, yet!" + +Baffled, he walked down the drive. + +"There's a way," he told himself. "It's bold and risky, but nobody'll +suspicion me. I've kept straight here in the bluegrass. The mountains +and all as ever knowed me thar are far away!" + +But all who had known him in the mountains were not as far away as he +supposed. Even as he spoke a dusty, weary figure in worn homespun, +carrying a mammoth bundle, limping sadly upon bruised and blistered +feet, came through the shrubbery, approaching the great stables from the +far side of the big house-lot. Holton looked at this wayfarer with +amazement. + +"Madge Brierly!" he cried. "Gal, what are you a-doin' here?" + +"Don't know's I've got any call to tell you," Madge replied, almost as +much astonished at the sight of him as he had been at sight of her. Then +she smiled roguishly at him. "Maybe you'll find out, though." + +"I tell you this ain't no place for you," he admonished her. "Lordy! +They takes up folks that looks like you, for vagrants. Take my advice, +turn back to the mountings." + +She looked at him with that same smile, still unimpressed. + +For no reason which he could have well explained the man was almost +panic-stricken in his keen anxiety to get the girl away from the old +Layson homestead and the possibility of meeting those who dwelt therein. + +"Here, if you'll go," he added, and thrust his hand into his pocket, +"I'll give you money--money to help you on your way." + +Still she smiled at him with that aggravating, meaning smile; that smile +which he could by no means fathom and of which she scarcely knew the +meaning. "No," she said, "I don't want your money. You couldn't hire me +to leave the bluegrass till I've seen Frank Layson." + +Seeing that she was determined, unable to conjecture what she had come +down for, realizing, upon second thought, that it was most improbable +that she had any tale to tell of him, he reluctantly gave way. "As you +will, then," he said slowly. "But let me warn you that you won't be +welcome hyar. You'll learn the difference between the mounting and the +bluegrass folks. You'd better think it over and turn back." + +"I'll not," said she. + +As he walked disgustedly away she watched him curiously. "I wonder why +he is so sot on makin' me go back?" she mused. "Maybe he air right in +sayin' that I won't be welcome; but I'll do my duty, just th' same!" + +Neb came out from the stable. The girl saw him with delight. "Dellaw!" +she said. "How tired I be! Howdy, Uncle Neb; howdy!" + +"Sakes alive!" he cried. "It's de frenomenom, come down frum de +mountains! Howdy, honey, howdy!" He hurried toward her and saw that she +was near to tears from weariness and the strain of what she had gone +through and what she had to tell. "Why, chil', what's de mattuh?" + +"Pebble in my shoe," she answered, and busied herself as if removing +one. "All right in a minute. This air a long way from th' mountings." + +"Honey, you don't mean you _walked_!" + +"Had to. Wings ain't growed, yet. Say; I've come to bring a word to Mr. +Frank. Is he to home?" She motioned toward the stable, which was the +finest building she had ever seen. + +"Yes; but he don't lib dar, honey." + +"Don't he? Who does, then?" + +"Queen Bess." + +"Queen Bess!" The girl was thunderstruck; her worry choked her. She knew +Frank owned a blooded mare, but did not know her name, and she had but +vaguely heard of queens. "Well--air she to home?" + +"Yes; an' Marse Frank, an' Miss 'Lethe, an' Miss Barbara's comin', purty +soon, to see huh." + +"Miss Barbarous!" said Madge, aroused by the mere mention of the girl +who, from the start, she had recognized, instinctively, as her real +enemy. It had been thought of her, alone, which had made her bear the +weary burden of the bundle on the long journey from the mountains. "I'd +like to fix a little, 'fore she comes. I got some idees o' fashion from +her, when she was up thar, an' I been workin' ev'ry minute I could +spare, since then, on a new dress. Ain't thar some place I can go to +fashion up before they come?" + +The old negro was acutely sympathetic. He disliked Miss Barbara and +liked the mountain girl. His old black head, thick as it was, sometimes, +had quickly recognized the fact that Barbara regarded Madge as one to be +despised, humiliated, while his master treated her with much +consideration and thought highly of her. He did not like the daughter of +Horace Holton any better than he liked the man himself. If he could help +the mountain girl he would. The only place where she could possibly find +privacy, without going to the house, was in the stable with the +race-horse. He would have trusted no one else on earth with her; to +distrust Madge, however, did not once occur to him. + +"Missy," he said slowly, "I reckon you can go right in dar wid Queen +Bess." + +She was a bit appalled. "Maybe she wouldn't like it," she objected. + +"She won't keer if you don't go too close." + +"I'm kinder 'feared." + +"Don't gib her no chance to kick. You's all right, den." + +"Kick!" said the girl, amazed. Kicking did not seem to her to fit the +character of queens. + +Neb unlocked the stable door. "Or bite," he added. + +"Bite! Dellaw!" the girl exclaimed, still more amazed. How little she +had learned of royalty up in the mountains! + +The aged negro threw the door wide open. "Go in, honey, now; go in," he +said. + +"I'm skeered!" she said, and tiptoed to the stable door. She peered in +cautiously. Then she turned and faced him with much-puzzled eyes. "I +don't see nothin' but a hoss," she said. + +"Uh-huh; dat's Queen Bess." Old Neb stood chuckling, looking at her. + +"Queen Bess is Mister Frank's race-hoss!" she cried, delighted by the +revelation. "Well, now, I feel to home." She went into the stable with +her bundle, half-closed the door and then peeped out at Neb. "You won't +let any one come in?" + +He held the key up reassuringly. "Don't you see I's got de key, honey?" + +"I'd feel safer if I had that key myself," said she, and snatched it +from him. An instant later and the door was closed and locked on the +inside. + +Neb was alarmed. He had disobeyed plain orders in letting her go in at +all. For him to let that key out of his possession was a further +violation which he feared to be responsible for. He pounded on the door. +"Open de doah, honey," he implored. "I mus' hab dat key!" + +"All right," said she, "soon's I am dressed." + +He fell back from the door dismayed. "De Lawd help me!" he groaned. +"What's I gwine ter do? An' I war so mighty firm 'bout dat key wid Marse +Holton!" He paced the space before the stable door in agitation. "But I +reckon she'll be t'rough befo' Marse Frank comes," he comforted himself. + +She was not, though. While Neb still paced the stable yard in acute +worry, Frank, Miss Alathea, Barbara and Holton came toward him in a +laughing group. He almost fainted. + +"Here we are, Neb," his master cried, "ready for a look at Queen Bess." + +"Yessah, yessah, pwesently!" Neb stammered, and would have paled had +nature made provision for such exhibition of his feelings. "I jus' +nachelly hab got to speak to dem ar stable boys a minute, fust. Jus' +'scuse me fo' a minute, suh." He vanished hurriedly, hoping that by this +diversion he could gain a little time for Madge and for himself. + +Layson gazed after him with some astonishment, then went and tried the +stable door. "Of course the door's locked," he explained, annoyed, "but +he'll be back here in a minute." + +Miss Alathea smiled. The attitude of the young master toward the aged +negro often was amusing to her. She liked to watch the constant evidence +of that rare affection which formed an inseparable bond between them. + +Suddenly she heard the crunching of a man's heavy footsteps on the +gravel, back of them. Turning, she saw that the newcomer was the +Colonel, and the Colonel in great haste. This was most impressive, for +the Colonel did not often hurry. + +"Here comes the Colonel, Frank," she said, "and see how he is hurrying!" + +"Something's up," her nephew answered, "when the Colonel hurries." Then, +as the horseman came up to them: "Why, Colonel, what's the matter?" + +"A shock! A regular shock! As I came from Lexington, just now, I saw you +standing here, so I sent the boy on with the buggy and cut across to +meet you. Just as I passed the thicket by the spring I caught a glimpse +of a man, who then vanished like a ghost, but I swear that man was that +lank mountaineer, Joe Lorey, and that he tried to keep out of my sight." + +"Joe Lorey!" Frank exclaimed. "What can he want down here?" + +"Who knows? Maybe to finish the work he began in the mountains." + +"More than likely," Holton ventured. "A rifleshot in the back, or a +match touched to a building." + +"_I_ don't believe it," Frank said stoutly. "The man who laid down his +weapons to give me a fair, square fight, wouldn't stoop to things like +that." + +"'Pears to me the man who fired that bomb 'u'd do most anythin'," said +Holton. + +"That was in a fit of anger. Lorey swore to Madge that he thought better +of his impulse to do murder, stamped upon the burning fuse, and believed +that he had put it out, and I believe him." + +He saw, now, that his aunt was badly frightened, and cautioned the other +men. "Not another word about him, now, at any rate, or Aunt 'Lethe won't +once close her eyes to-night." + +"Well," said the Colonel, quite agreeing with him and hastening to +change the subject, "here's something much more interesting, anyway. A +letter from the Company. Looks official and important." + +Frank took the letter, opened it and gazed at it in some dismay. "I +should think so," he exclaimed. "An assessment of $15,000 on my stock." + +"Fifteen thousand devils!" + +"No; fifteen thousand dollars." + +The Colonel took the letter from his hand and looked at it with worried +eyes. "And you've got to meet it, Frank, or lose what you've put in." + +Miss Alathea went to her nephew anxiously. "You'll sell Queen Bess, now, +won't you?" she implored. "You could pay it then. Best sell her." + +The young man stood there, deep in worried thought. "If I were quite +convinced of the Company's good faith in everything, I'd risk it all, +even the loss of Woodlawn, my old home," he answered. + +Neb now appeared from around a corner of the stable, evidently having +decided that the girl had had enough time for her toilet, or afraid to +wait another minute. His appearance created a diversion. + +"Here, Neb," said Frank, "we've had enough nonsense. Let's see Queen +Bess, now." + +Neb looked anxiously for signs that Madge was ready to see visitors, he +listened at the door. He saw no sign, he heard no signal. He was scared, +but he was faithful to his promise to the girl. He planted his old back +against the door. "Now de trouble am commencin'!" he assured himself. + +Holton looked at him with a sour smile. "I hope," he said to Frank, +"that you'll have better luck nor me. Neb wouldn't open that door for +me." + +"Dem was yo' ohduhs, suh," said Neb, appealing to his master. + +"An' he was powerful sassy in the bargain," Holton went on, full of +malice, hoping to make Neb suffer for defying him. + +Layson, however, much as he was now annoyed by the old darky's +hesitation about opening the stable door for him, himself, did not +propose to chide him for having kept his trust and held it closed to +others. "You mustn't mind Neb," he said to Holton. "He's a privileged +character around here. I had told him to admit no one, and, as usual, he +obeyed my orders blindly." + +"Yes, suh," Neb declared, delighted, "went it blind, suh." + +"His obedience," his master went on boastingly, "is really phenomenal. +He wouldn't open that door for anybody. He'd guard the key with his own +life." He turned to Neb. "Wouldn't you, now, Neb?" + +Neb was disconcerted. It was true enough that from most people he +certainly would have guarded that key with his life. But at that moment +there was one within the stable from whom he had _not_ guarded it. +"Yes--yessah!" he said hesitantly. And as he said it he would have given +anything he had if he could have laid his hands upon that self-same key. + +Frank smiled at him. "But I suppose you'll let _me_ have a look at her." + +"Yes--yessuh--in a--in a minute, suh." + +Layson was annoyed. "Why not at once?" He was beginning to be +frightened. Could something Neb was trying to hide have happened to the +mare? + +"Bekase--bekase--" Ned stammered, "well, to tell de trufe, suh, bekase I +is afeared she ain't quite dressed." + +"Not dressed! The mare not dressed! Have you lost your senses? Open that +door--quick!" + +"Marse Frank, I cain't. I nachully jus' cain't." + +Holton was enjoying this. "You see," he said, "he won't open it for +nobody. Not even for th' man as owns it an' th' mare behind it." + +"Give me the key!" said Frank. + +"De key--de key--" Neb stammered. + +"I said the key!" + +The old negro advanced pitifully. "Fo' de lawd, Marse Frank, I hasn't +got it!" + +"He'd guard it with his life!" said Holton, with deep sarcasm. + +"Where is it?" Frank demanded. + +"In dar," said Neb, and pointed to the stable. + +Layson, astonished and annoyed beyond the power of words by the old +negro's strange performance, fearful of the safety of his mare, entirely +puzzled, sprang toward the stable window and was about to pull himself +up by the ledge so that he might look in. + +Neb seized him and pulled him from the aperture with a desperate agility +which strained his aged limbs. "Fo' de Lawd's sake, now, Marse Frank," +he cried, "don't yo' dare look t'rough dat stable winder!" + +Frank, now, was badly frightened. "Is there some one in there with Queen +Bess?" he asked. + +"A young pusson to see you, suh," Neb admitted. + +"And you let that person have the key?" + +"No, suh; it were taken from me." + +Layson was in panic. "Heaven knows," he exclaimed, "what can have +happened here!" He rushed to the stable door and pounded on it with his +fists. "Open at once, or I'll break in the door," he cried. + +Neb, now, had gone up to the window and looked through it with desperate +glance. What he saw was reassuring. He turned back toward his master +smiling. "Hol' on, Marse Frank, de young pusson am a-comin' out," he +said. + +"Well," said Layson, threateningly, "I'm ready for him." He braced +himself to spring upon some malefactor. + +The door opened and Madge appeared before their astonished eyes, garbed +in a gown which she had fashioned after that which Barbara had worn up +in the hills. + +"Madge!" cried Frank, amazed. + +The Colonel, laughing, approached the girl with outstretched hand; Neb, +relieved, dived through the stable door; Miss Alathea, who had been +under a great strain while the dramatic little scene had been in +progress, dropped limply on Neb's bench. + +Madge, with a retentive memory of the way Miss "Barbarous" had greeted +her back in the mountains, stepped toward that much-astonished maiden, +opened her red parasol straight in her face, and courtesied to the rest. + +"Howdy, folks; howdy!" she said, happily. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +The party stood, nonplussed. Frank was first to show signs of recovery, +and, after a moment of completely dazed astonishment, advanced to Madge +with hand outstretched. Her appearance, astonishing as it had been, had +been as great a relief as he had ever known in all his life. Neb's worry +and insubordination had filled him with the keenest apprehension. But he +had no doubts of Madge. If she had been there with the mare, the mare +was certainly all right, no matter how puzzling the affair might seem to +be upon its surface. + +"Why, little one, this is, indeed, a great surprise and pleasure!" he +exclaimed, with sincere gallantry. + +Madge looked at him with doubtful eyes, from which the doubt, however, +was fast clearing. "Oh, say; are you-uns r'ally glad to see me?" + +"No one could be more welcome," he assured her, and the honest pleasure +in his eyes convinced her that he did not speak for mere politeness' +sake. + +And now Miss Alathea, recovering from the shock of all that had preceded +the girl's unexpected appearance, went to her cordially. "We are more +than glad, my child," she told her. + +"Glad's no name for it," the gallant Colonel said, advancing in his +turn. + +There could be no doubt of the sincerity of any one who, thus far, had +expressed a welcome for her; but the voice which now came coldly from +Miss Barbara was less convincing. She did not approach the mountain +girl, but sat somewhat superciliously upon a bench and spoke frigidly. +"It is an unexpected pleasure." + +Madge, not trained to hide her feelings under softened words, turned on +her angrily. "Humph! I wasn't askin' you," she said. Then, to the +others: "I didn't know but what my droppin' in, permiskus like--" + +"A Kentuckian's friends," said Frank, "are always welcome." + +"Friends from the word go, remember," said the Colonel. + +"Thankee, Colonel," said the girl. "We'll have that race, some day; but +I won't ride agin you if you ride Queen Bess. Oh, wouldn't I like to see +her go!" + +"So you shall," said Frank. "Neb, is she ready?" + +"Yessuh; all saddled, sur, an' bridled." + +"Oh, let me bring her out," cried Madge. "I'd love to." + +"Lawsy, honey," said the negro, "you couldn't bring her out. She's dat +fretful an' dat nervous dat she'd kill yo', suah." + +"Get out, Neb!" Madge cried, scornfully. "I ain't afeard of her. Wild +things allays has made friends with me. I've never seen a horse so +skeery that I couldn't manage him--couldn't make him foller me." + +She pushed the hesitating Neb out of her path and went into the stable. + +Layson, who was for the moment, at a distance, had not heard all her +talk with Neb, but saw her as she went into the stall where none but he, +himself, and Neb, dared go, and it was stable talk that, soon or late, +Queen Bess would prove to be a man killer! + +"Neb, stop her! She'll be killed!" he cried. + +Neb ran, as fast as his old legs would carry him, into the stable; Frank +hurried to the stable door. + +"Madge! Madge!" he cried, and then: "Why--look! The mare is following +her as might a kitten!" + +He stepped aside and Madge came from the stable with Queen Bess behind +her, ears pricked forward eagerly as she kept her eyes on Madge's pursed +up, cooing lips, head dropped, neck stretched in graceful fashion, +lifting her dainty feet as proudly as ever did the queen whom she was +named for. + +"Come on, you beauty!" the girl cried. "Oh, it would be like heaven to +ride you; and I could do it, too!" + +"Take her to the track, Neb," Layson ordered. "I'll follow and give her +her exercise." + +Madge, unable to resist the impulse which was thrilling her with +longing, motioned Neb away as he approached to take the mare. "Go 'way! +Go 'way!" she said. Then, to the mare: "Come on, you dear, come on." She +went on slowly, while the mare, in calm docility, trailed after her. The +spectators, who knew the beast, gazed spellbound. + +Constantly the girl's pleased eyes were on the beautiful creature +following. Never had she seen so perfect an animal; never had she known +one giving such plain signs of high intelligence. The mare's big eyes, +broad forehead, delicate muzzle, arching neck, strong withers, mighty +flanks, and slender ankles marked her, to the veriest novice, a +thoroughbred of thoroughbreds; her docile and obedient march showed what +seemed like an almost magic power in the delighted mountain maid. Every +drop of blood in the girl's body tingled with excitement, all her +muscles thrilled with mad desire to mount the wondrous beast and be away +as on the wind's wings. She could imagine what the mare's long strides +would be, she could imagine how exhilerating she would find the steady, +perfect motion of the mighty back. + +"Oh, I can't stand it!" she exclaimed, at length. "I've got to do it!" + +She paused, and eagerly the mare stepped up to her, nuzzleing her +caressing hand. Then, with a bound, the girl was on the graceful +creature's back, landing in her place as lightly as a wind-blown +thistle-down, as gracefully as a fairy horsewoman. + +"Heavens!" cried Barbara. "She's on Queen Bess!" + +"She'll be killed!" Miss Alathea screamed, in terror. + +The Colonel, only, recognized her instantly as a born horsewoman. His +expert eye observed with rare delight the ease with which she mounted, +the perfect poise with which she found her seat, the absolute adjustment +of her lithe young motions to the movements of the mare beneath her from +the very moment she had reached her back. + +"No danger; she rides like a centaur." + +With the others he had stopped, with eyes for nothing but the girl +before them and the splendid animal she rode. "Ah, what a jockey she +would make!" + +Barbara liked this exhibition of the mountain girl's abilities no better +than she had liked anything which Madge had done. Her lip curled +somewhat scornfully. "What a pity that her sex should bar her from that +vocation!" she said coldly. + +She turned to Frank, who was watching Madge with startled eyes, worried +as to the result of this mad prank on both the girl and mare. + +"Frank," said Barbara, "what a figure she will make to-night at your +lawn-party! How your friends will laugh at her!" + +Layson cast a quick, sharp glance at her. She was not advancing her own +cause by trying, thus, to ridicule the mountain maiden. "I'll run the +risk," he said. "She is my guest, you know, and, as such, will surely be +given every consideration and courtesy by all." + +"Oh, certainly," said Barbara, seeing that she had gone, perhaps, too +far. "If you wish it. I should be glad to please you, once again." + +"Nothing could please me more than to have you show her what kindnesses +you can. I know she will feel strange and worried." + +Madge, sitting Queen Bess with an ease and grace which that intelligent +mare had never found in any other rider, and, now, far from them at the +other end of the great training-field, absorbed the youth's delighted +glances. + +"Can't you forget her for an instant?" exclaimed Barbara. "You haven't +been at all the same since you came back from the mountains! Once we +were always together. Now I never see you unless I come over here; and +no matter what I do, you don't seem to care." + +Layson was uneasy. He had been aware, for a long time, that, sooner or +later, a complete understanding of his changed feelings toward this +girl, must, in some way, be accomplished. Now seemed a good time for +it, yet he hesitated at the thought of it. But the thing had to be gone +through with. "I know I used to play the tyrant, Barbara; but it wasn't +a pleasant role, and I was always half-ashamed of it." + +The girl flared into a passion. "What do you mean?" + +"Barbara, I have had no right to go so far, no right to ask so much of +you. From the bottom of my heart I beg forgiveness. Let us forget it all +and just be friends again." And, even as he spoke, his eyes were +wandering toward the girl whom Queen Bess had so utterly surrendered to. +The mare, known since she had first been saddled, as a terror to all +riders, was carrying her as gently as the veriest country hack had ever +borne an old lady from the farm to market. + +Barbara saw where his attention was, and resentment thrilled her. +"Friends? Never! Frank Layson, I believe I hate you!" + +"Oh, very well," said he, plainly not too much impressed, "if you want +to be unreasonable, why, of course--" + +The girl was frightened at the length to which she had permitted her +ill-temper to carry her. "Oh, no, Frank," she hastily corrected, "I +didn't mean that. Of course I am your friend." + +"Thank you, Barbara," said he, with a calmness which was maddening to +her. "I am sure we understand each other, now." And then, still further +maddening her: "I must go now, and look after Madge and dear Queen +Bess. I never should forgive myself if anything should happen to the +girl. But nothing will. See how splendidly she rides!" + +The girl upon the horse, as if conscious of his anxiety about her, now +turned her mount back toward the field-end where the onlookers were +loosely grouped and came toward them at a slow and gentle canter--a gait +which none had ever seen Queen Bess take before, when a stranger was +upon her back. She leaped from the mare by Layson's side, and Neb, ever +anxious for the welfare of his equine darling, began work without delay +at rubbing Queen Bess down. + +"Reckon you'll never forgive me," Madge apologized to Layson, "but I +just couldn't help it. Never even saw a mare like her, afore. My pony's +no-whar alongside of her. I felt like an angel sittin' on a cloud an' +sailin' straight to heaven!" She turned and petted the black beauty. +"Oh, you darling!" + +"Got to take her in, now," Neb said, preparing to lead the mare away. He +spoke apologetically as if the girl had rights which, now, should be +consulted. He had never made a like concession in the past to anyone +except his master. + +"Go 'way, go 'way," said Madge, taking the reins from his black hand. +"Ain't no use o' leadin' her--you jest watch her foller me!" + +She looped the reins about the mare's arched neck, started off, and, +without so much as flicking her long tail, Queen Bess fell in behind, +obedient to her cooing, murmurous calls. + +Frank laughed. "If," he said to the whole party, "you wish to have a +look at the mare's quarters, I think Neb will now admit us." + +All but the Colonel started toward the stable, but he hesitated, looking +toward Miss Alathea. While the others had been spellbound by the girl +and horse, he, the most enthusiastic horseman of them all, had been +divided in attention between them and the lady whose notice he +attracted, now, by means of sundry hems and haws. + +"Miss 'Lethe, just a moment," he said softly. She paused and then went +up to him. He held out a newspaper, suddenly at a loss for words, now +that there was a prospect of a moment with her wholly uninterrupted. +"Here," said he, a little panicky, "is a full account of the revival, +sermon and all. Make your hair stand on end to read it." + +She took the paper, undeceived by his small subterfuge to gain +attention, but interested, as she always was in such things, in the +account of the revival. "This really is interesting." She sat down on +the bench, as they reached the stable-yard again, and pored above the +newspaper. + +In the meantime the Colonel tried to screw his courage to the sticking +point. "Colonel Sandusky Doolittle," he adjured himself, "if you don't +say it now, then you forever hold your peace, that's all!" He went to +his buggy, which had been brought to the stable yard, and from +underneath its seat took a box containing a bouquet of sweet, +old-fashioned flowers. Miss Alathea, absorbed in the account of the +revival, did not notice him at all. "This will do the business," he +reflected. "Now, Sandusky Doolittle, keep cool, keep cool!" Nervously, +as he gazed at her, his fingers worked among the flowers, dismembering +them unconsciously. "A Kentucky Colonel," he was saying to himself in +scorn, "afraid of a woman!" His fingers tore the flowers with new +activity as his nervousness increased, making sad work with the +magnificent bouquet. "Of course she is an angel," he reflected, and +then, with a grim humor, "or will be before I ask her, if I wait another +twenty years! But I shall ask her, I shall ask her!" He stepped toward +her boldly, but paused before her in a wordless panic when he had +approached within a yard. "Heavens!" he thought. "My heart is going at a +one-forty gait and the jockey's lost the reins. I'll be over the fence +in another minute if I don't hold tight! But I have got to do it, this +time." He dropped the stems of the flowers, still bound together by +their lengths of wide white ribbon, into the elaborate box from which, +so lately, he had taken them in their uninjured beauty, not noting the +sad wreck which his too nervous fingers had produced, put on the cover +and approached still nearer. With the box held toward her bashfully, he +managed, then, another step or two. "Miss 'Lethe," he said stammering, +"lawn party to-night--bouquet for you--brought it from Lexington--for +you--for you, you know." + +The Colonel never was embarrassed save when he was endeavoring to +propose marriage to Miss Alathea and he always was embarrassed then. She +recognized the situation from the mere tone of his voice and looked up +hopefully. + +"Oh, Colonel, how kind!" said she, as she held delighted hands out for +the box. "I know it is beautiful." + +"It was quite the best I could do, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel. + +"You have such splendid taste! I'm sure it's lovely." She opened the box +and looked, expectantly, within. "Why, Colonel," she cried, +disappointed, "where are--where are the flowers?" + +"Why--why--why," he stammered, and then saw the mutilated blossoms on +the ground around him. "Why, I don't know--don't know," said he. "'Don't +ask me." + +She was rummaging among the stems, nonplussed. "Why, here's a note!" she +said. + +"Thank heaven!" the Colonel thought, "the note's there yet!" Then, +growing bold: "Miss 'Lethe, if you've a kindly feeling for me in your +heart, read that note; but don't you get excited; keep cool, keep cool!" + +"Why, certainly," said she. "I see no cause for excitement." She +unfolded the note and read, aloud, and very slowly, for the Colonel's +hand was not too easy to decipher. "'My dear, dear Miss 'Lethe: Woman +without her man is a savage.'" She looked up, naturally astonished by +this unusual statement. "Why, Colonel," she exclaimed, "what can you +mean by saying woman is a savage without her man?" + +He stood appalled for just a second and then realized the error into +which his ardor had misled him. "Great Scott!" he cried. "I forgot to +put in the commas! It ought to read this way: 'Woman, without her, man +is a savage.' Go on, Miss 'Lethe, please go on." + +She read again: "'I feel that it is time for me to become civilized--in +other words, to come in out of the wet. To me you have been, for twenty +years, the embodiment of woman's truth, purity and goodness. But +constitutional timidity and chronic financial depression, due to the +race-track, have hitherto kept me silent.'" Miss 'Lethe looked up at him +with a strange expression on her face. "Colonel," she exclaimed, "what +does this mean?" + +"Go on, Miss 'Lethe," was the answer, "please go on, go on." He made a +mighty effort to secure control of his unruly nerves, and, almost +unconsciously, while her head was bent above the note, took a small +flask from his pocket and imbibed from it. It steadied him. + +She read again: "'I am convinced that my interest in the company will +yield me a competence; accordingly, behold me at your feet!'" + +Miss 'Lethe looked down somewhat mischievously. She did not see the +Colonel where his note declared he would be. She glanced again at the +paper in her hands and saw a word which, at first, had quite escaped +attention. "'Metaphorically,'" she read, and then the signature: +"'Colonel Sandusky Doolittle.'" + +"Colonel!" she exclaimed. + +"Miss 'Lethe," he replied, and, discovering that the flask was still in +plain view in his hand, slipped it into his sidepocket upside down. + +"Colonel, put that bottle right side up and listen to me," she said +calmly. "Do you really love me?" + +"Do I love you? With a fervor--er--a--passion--er--will you excuse me if +I smoke?" He took a black cigar from his vest pocket, in another effort +to control his nerves, and lighted it as might an automatic smoker. + +"I am going to put you to the proof," said she. "Could you, for my sake, +come down from ten cigars a day to five?" + +The Colonel was dismayed. "To five cigars a day! Impossible!" He caught +himself. That scarcely was the way to answer the request of the woman he +adored so fervently. "I mean," he hastily corrected, "is--is that all?" +He made a motion as if to throw away the weed he had just lighted, but +thought better of it. "I will make the descent to-morrow," he said +earnestly. + +"Could you restrict yourself to three mint-julips, daily?" + +"Three! A man couldn't live on three! He'd have to--have to take such +poisons as--as cold water into his system." + +"Remember, Colonel, I would mix them." + +"That settles it! Three goes!" He fervently reached toward her, plainly +planning to embrace her. + +"Wait, Colonel," she exclaimed, "there is one more condition. Could you, +for my sake, promise never to enter another race-track?" + +He started back from her in horror. "Never enter another race-tack! I, +Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, known everywhere, from Maine to California, +as a plunger, give up the absorbing passion of my life!" + +"Remember what you said to Frank," said she. "'It's a delusion and a +snare.' But, of course, if you think more of a delusion than you do of +me--" + +"No; hang it!" cried the Colonel, "I think more of you. Twenty +years--the longest race on record and a win in sight! I'll not lose by a +balk at the finish! I promise you, Miss 'Lethe, on the honor of a +Kentuckian." + +"Then, Colonel, I must confess, I have loved you, also, for every one +of those long twenty years." + +"Twenty years!" He turned his head aside and muttered: "What a damned +fool I have been!" Then, to her, he said, exultantly: "Aha! A neck +ahead!" + +It is difficult to say what would have happened, then, if Madge, Holton, +Barbara and Frank had not come from the stable, chattering about Queen +Bess. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +Joe Lorey, mad with wrath, his heart filled with the lust of killing for +revenge, infuriated to the point where he felt need of neither food nor +sleep, yet made less rapid time down the rough mountain paths than had +the girl. Love-lent wings are swifter than an impulse born of hatred and +resentment can be. She had flown upon such wings to save the man who +filled her innocent thoughts with longing; Joe had gone clumsily, +despite his cunning as a mountaineer, for leaden, murderous thoughts had +weighed him down, hampering the quickness of his wit, delaying his fleet +feet, confusing the alertness of his watchfulness for faint-limned +trails, loose areas perilous of slides upon steep slopes. Indeed, though +hate had driven him, Joe Lorey never in his life had made so very slow a +journey to the bluegrass as that which he had started on from his +wrecked still, with hatred of Frank Layson, who he thought had viciously +betrayed him, blazing in his heart. + +Hours after the light-footed girl, spurred by her fear for one whom she +but dimly guessed that she had learned to love, had arrived at the +bluegrass mansion and been welcomed by the owner of Queen Bess, the +mountaineer reached the confines of the splendid farm, and lurked there, +waiting for night-fall to make his entrance into the house grounds safe. + +The rough youth's mental state was pitiable. Tragedy had pursued him, +almost from his life's beginning, he reflected, as he furtively awaited +opportunity for the revenge which he had planned. The fierce feud of the +mountains had robbed him of his parents, and, with them, of the best +years of his youth; the rough life of the mountains had robbed his +strong young manhood of those opportunities which, he dimly realized, +might have made him different and better; when love for sweet Madge +Brierly had come to him, Fate had brought up from the bluegrass the +young stranger, who, with his superior learning, polished manner and +smooth speech, had found the conquest of the girl (Joe bitterly +reflected) all too easy; and finally had come the crowning, black +disaster--the betrayal of his still to the agents of the government, its +destruction and his transformation from a free man of the mountains into +a furtive outlaw. + +He could not see that life held anything but gloom for him--black, +impenetrable, ever thickening. He had but one thing left to live for--a +revenge as dark as were the wrongs which he had suffered. + +He knew that government agents have shrewd wits, keen eyes, strong arms, +and never let a moonshiner escape if, through any strategy, they may +bring about his capture; he knew that since the discovery and +destruction of his still he was a marked man; so it was nearing dusk +when, after intensely cautious and immensely skilful manoeuvering +against discovery, he actually entered the Layson grounds. + +The long, exciting afternoon, full of Queen Bess, a certain sense of +triumph over Barbara Holton, the extent of which she could not guess, +countless thrills of gratitude and exultation born of the kindness and +consideration shown her by Miss Alathea and the Colonel, had sped away +before Madge realized that it had been half-spent. Now, though, the +deepening twilight warned her of the flight of time and told her that +she must, perforce, perform the task for which she had descended from +the mountains. + +All the others except Frank had drifted toward the house, and she had +hung behind for the express purpose of getting private speech with him, +when she had the day's first opportunity. + +"Mr. Frank," said she, "afore we go into th' house I got a word to say +to you as I don't want nobody but you to hear." + +A quick glance at her face showed him that what she had to say was, +really, of great importance, for her lovely mouth was serious, her deep +eyes were full of worry, her smooth brow was nearer to real frowning +than he had ever seen it. + +"Why, Madge, what is the matter?" + +She put her hand upon his arm, turning her sweet face up to him with a +revelation of solicitude which, had she known how plain it was, she +would have hidden at all hazard. "It may mean life or death to you," she +told him solemnly. + +"Life or death to me, little girl? What are you talking of?" said he, +almost incredulous. + +"Joe Lorey's still were raided by the revenuers after you come down!" + +"It can't be possible!" + +"It is. It lies in ruins and in ashes an' he is hidin' out among th' +mountings, somewhars, in danger, ev'ry minute, of arrest an', then, of +prison. 'Twas all he had in th' wide world." + +"Poor fellow! I am sorry," said Layson, with quick sympathy. "I'll see +what can be done. And you say he's hiding out up in the mountains?" + +She hesitated. "I said so, but I reckon it ain't true, exactly. It was +that that made me hurry down to speak to you. Some say as how he has +come down into th' bluegrass to find th' man as gin th' word. It is a +crime as never is forgiven in th' mountings." + +As she spoke, unseen, behind them, a dark, slouching, furtive figure +slipped across an open space and took a crouching stand behind a tree +near by. Had they listened without speech they might have heard the +heavy breathing of the very man of whom they spoke, might have heard the +sharp click of the lock of his long rifle as he brought its hammer to +full cock. Had they turned about they might have seen the blue glint of +the day's last light upon that rifle's barrel, which was levelled +straight at Layson's heart. But they saw none of these things nor heard +a sound. + +"Who does he think betrayed him?" Layson asked, with deep interest, but +no trace of guilty knowledge, thrilling in his voice. + +Madge hesitated. Then she blurted out the truth. "Who?" she repeated, +"Why--why you! _YOU_--YOU!" + +The rifle barrel steadied to its mark, the finger curled to press upon +the trigger. + +"Why, Madge," said Layson, earnestly, "I didn't even know he had a +still! I swear it!" + +There was an honest ring in the youth's voice which could not be +mistaken. + +"I knowed it warn't your doin'," the girl said with a great sigh of +relief. + +And as she spoke the rifle barrel slowly fell. + +"I knowed it warn't your doin', but Joe'll never believe it. Night an' +day you'll have to be close on your guard. There's no tellin' what +minute your life may be in danger." + +"I don't believe it of Joe Lorey," Layson answered earnestly. "We +fought, and he fought fair." + +After they had gone, Joe crept out from his hiding place among the +shrubbery and looked after them with puzzled, pain-filled eyes, like a +great animal's. + +"If they'd only knowed that I war standin' in th' shadder there!" he +mused. "If he hadn't spoke them words I'd pulled th' trigger, but he +spoke up like as ef 't war true an' I jest couldn't do it." + +A cautious footstep on the close-knit sward, which would have been +inaudible to any ear less keen than his, attracted his attention, +suddenly, and he slipped back to his leafy hiding-place. Peering from +the covert he saw Holton coming. The man was furtive, apprehensive in +his every movement, suspicion breeding. When Joe stepped out from his +thicket boldly, to confront him, the ex-slave-dealer fell back, +frightened. + +"Hello, sir," was Joe's laconic greeting. + +"Joe Lorey!" exclaimed Holton. + +"That's me," Joe boldly granted. He peered at him so closely that Holton +shrank away from him, involuntarily. "And you--why you're the man as gin +th' word that Frank Layson had warned th' revenooers of my still." + +"I told ye for yer good," said Holton, clearly recognizing that his +position was unfortunate. "An' recollect you promised not to tell anyone +my name." + +Joe nodded gravely. "While I believe ye told th' truth I'll keep my +word," he answered. "But I wants to tell you that I heered Frank Layson +deny it, hyar, to-night, an' it sounded like he war speakin' th' plain +truth. See hyar, sir, you nearly egged me on to doin' murder." He +reached forward and seized Holton by the shoulder roughly, with a grasp +so powerful that the old man, though he was of sturdy frame and mighty +muscle, knew that he was helpless in the grip. "Now look me in th' face. +Tell me as you vally your own life--war it truth or lies, you told me?" + +"It war th' truth," said Holton, doggedly; "th' truth an' nothin' else." + +Joe shook his head incredulously. "I'd like better proof nor your word, +stranger, for, some way, your voice it don't ring true, nor yer eye look +honest." + +"I'll gin ye th' proof," said Holton desperately. "Ye know that I war +never near yer still. Layson told me it war in th' wall of a +ravine--Hangin' Rock Ravine--an' a big oak stood in front of it an' hid +the mouth o' th' cave. Thar, do ye believe me, now?" + +Joe nodded, slowly, thoughtfully. "No man as lived up in th' mountings +would have told ye." He considered ponderously for a moment. "Yes, I +reckon that I'll have to take yer word. 'T was him as done it." + +"Of course it war," said Holton, and then, perhaps, a bit too eagerly: +"an' you'll make him pay for it?" + +"Yes," said Joe, "but I've another score to settle, first, another man +to find--Lem Lindsay." + +Holton was plainly startled, although Joe could not guess just why he +should be. "Lem Lindsay!" he exclaimed. + +"Yes; the man as murdered my father. I've had word of him, at last. I've +heard as how he war seen, years ago, in New Orleans--he war a +nigger-trader, then--an' that he's come up in th' bluegrass country, +since, like enough under another name." He looked at Holton eagerly. "I +say, sir, you don't know a man like that, do you?" + +Holton spoke a little hurriedly. "No, no; there ain't no man like that +in these parts." + +"It don't make no differ whar he bides," said Joe. "Soon or late our +paths'll cross an' bring us face to face. When he struck down my father +it war sealed and signed above that he war to fall by my hand; an' +there's a feelin' in my heart that that hour air drawin' nigh." He +nodded and then turned away. "Good-night, stranger." + +Holton was thoroughly alarmed. Many things distressed him. He could +plainly see that his daughter's love-affair with Layson had gone wrong, +he realized that there was little chance that he could buy Madge +Brierly's coal lands at anything but a fair value, and now--to fall by +his hand! + +"I'll make that false," he muttered, "Why, I've got to do it!" + +He moved away among the trees, but stopped in frequent thought as he +progressed. + +"They'll lay the crime on Lorey," he reflected, after he had laid his +plan. "They'll hunt him down and lynch him and I shall be safe. +Layson'll be ruined, he'll have to sell Woodlawn, and my gal'll be th' +missus there, in spite of him. I've got to do it." + +Like a shadow of the night he hurried through the grounds until he +reached the stable where Queen Bess was thought to be secure. + +"Every window barred, every door is sealed but this!" he cunningly +reflected as he paused at the front entrance. + +With frantic haste, lest he should be discovered at the work, he piled +brush from a near refuse pile against the door and stuffed wisps of +grass and hay into the bottom of the heap. Into this tinder pile he +thrust a lighted match and disappeared, just as Madge came to the bench +where she had paused when she first came to Woodlawn, early in the +afternoon. + +It was plain enough, from her dejected looks and listless attitude, that +the dance had given her no pleasure, but, on the contrary, had filled +her with distress. + +"I couldn't stand it thar, no longer," she was thinking, bitterly. "I +war jest a curiosity, like a wild woman. Miss Barbarous poked fun at me +till I war plumb afraid I'd fly at her like a wild-cat, so I jest +slipped away. Oh, I see, now, as I never seed afore; the differ that +there is 'twixt Mr. Frank an' me! An' I know, now, what 't is air ailin' +me. I loves him. Oh, I loves him better nor my life! But it can't never +be." She dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. "Good-bye, good, +kind, Mr. Frank, good-bye!" She stretched her arms out toward the +mansion she had lately left, where lights were twinkling gaily, whence +sounds of music now came faintly to her ears. "You'll soon forget the +little mounting girl. You'll never know she loved you. I'm goin' +back--back to the old mountings." + +As she rose an ominous crackling caught her ear and held her at +attention, then, in a horrid flash, the fire blazed out among the hay +and brush which Holton had piled up against the stable door. + +"Oh, oh!" she cried. "Th' stable is burnin'! Fire! Fire! Fire! Neb, are +you in there? Don't you hear me, Neb? Th' stable air on fire!" + +Neb's voice came from the dim interior, muffled and skeptical. "What +dat?" he said. "Don't want no foolishness 'round heah. I's ahmed." + +"It's me, Neb, me," she cried. "Th' stable 's burnin', Neb!" + +"Gorramighty!" she heard Neb exclaim, now in a voice expressive of great +fright. "Dat's so, dat's so! Quick, honey, open up de doah!" + +Madge was working at the biggest log which Holton had thrust against +the door to feed the blaze. The flames and smoke surged 'round her as +she struggled with the unwieldy thing, her hands grasped, more than +once, live coals, without making her release her hold. Once or twice the +bursting flames, swung hither and swung yon by the light, vagrant +breezes of the night and the drafts born of the fire, itself, flared +straight toward her face, and, to save her hair, which, once igniting, +would, she knew, make further work impossible, she had to draw back for +a second; but each time, as she saw another chance, she sprang again to +the desperate task. At last, after a dozen efforts, she had thrust the +blazing log so far from the already burning door that Neb could push it +open. He stumbled out, his old hands held before him, gropingly, +half-suffocated. + +"Neb, you ain't hurt," said she. + +"You go ring dat bell," said he, pointing to a standard bearing at its +top an ornamental iron crotch in which a big plantation bell was swung. +"Soon's I get my bref from all dat smoke I'll go back an' git Queen +Bess." + +The girl sprang to the rope and soon the bell was ringing out a wild +alarm. + +"Hurry, Neb!" she cried. "Oh, hurry! Th' fire's a-gainin', ev'ry second! +Hurry!" + +Neb dashed back into the stable upon trembling limbs, while, without a +pause, the girl kept up the clangor of alarm. Her eyes were ever on the +door through which the faithful black had disappeared, watching +anxiously to see him come out with the mare. + +But second after second--seconds which seemed to her like hours--went by +and he did not appear again. Her heart began to beat with frantic fears +that Neb, himself, as well as the superb animal which she had already +learned to love, had fallen victim to the fire, when, at last, he +stumbled from the door. + +"'Tain't no use," he said, as he weakly staggered up to her. "It kain't +be done. Queen Bess am crazy wid de fiah. She jes' won't come out! I +cain't _git_ huh to come out." He sobbed. "An' she am all dat Marse +Frank hab on earth!" Beside himself he ran off toward the house, +shouting for his master wildly. + +"All he has on earth!" the girl exclaimed, the bell-rope falling from +relaxing hands. An instant she stood there in thought, horrified at the +idea of the catastrophe which threatened Layson. Then: "I'll save her! +She will follow me!" + +Without a second's hesitation, with no thought for her own safety, she +drew her skirts about her tightly, wrapped her shawl around her head to +save her hair and dashed through the growing flames about the +stable-door, into the inferno which now raged within the structure, just +as Neb, running with a lurching step, but with a speed remarkable in +one so old and stiffened by rheumatic pains, dashed back to the scene of +the disaster, in advance of Frank, the Colonel, Holton, Miss Alathea and +the other inmates of the house, guests, servants, all. + +[Illustration: "BACK! BACK! I'M A-COMIN' WITH QUEEN BESS!"] + +Without a word, as he approached, Frank pulled off his coat, evidently +preparing for a desperate dash through the now roaring flames to rescue +his beloved mare. Then, bracing himself for a great spring through the +lurid barrier, he cried, "I'll save her!" and would have leaped into the +flaming entrance if Neb had not caught his arm with desperate grip. + +"No, honey," the old negro cried, "yo' shan't go in!" + +The Colonel joined the negro in restraining the half-crazed owner of +Queen Bess. "It's no use, Frank," said he. "We'll not let you go in." + +They dragged the struggling youth back from the fire just as, to their +amazement, an exultant voice rang from the inside of the burning +building. "Back! Back!" it cried. "I'm a-comin' with Queen Bess!" + +An instant later Madge sprang out through the flames, followed by the +mare, about whose head the mountain girl had wrapped her shawl. + +"Come, girl! Come, girl!" said Madge, alert of eye, cool-witted, +soothing. + +As docilely as she had followed her that afternoon, the mare stepped +through the blazing door and out into the stable-yard. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Lexington was in a wild state of excitement on the morning of the year's +great race, the Ashland Oaks. In a private parlor of the Phoenix Hotel +the two men who were, perhaps, most deeply interested of all in it, were +weary of their speculations after they had gone, for the thousandth +time, over every detail of possible prophecy and speculation. The +Colonel sat beside a table upon which stood a "long" glass from which +protruded, and in which nestled fragrant mint-leaves. At the bottom of +the glass there lingered, yet, the good third of a julep. + +"There's one capital thing about a mint-julep," he said comfortably, and +smacked appreciative lips. "One always suggests another." He drained his +glass and rose. At the other side of the room was the bell-button. His +finger was extended and about to touch it when he stopped to think. "No! +Great heavens!" said he. "That makes my third, already, and I'm as dry +as the desert of Sahara." He sat down again, an air of martyrdom upon +his face. "Ah, well, Miss 'Lethe's worth it. I say, Frank, anything new +in the extra?" + +The youthful owner of Queen Bess, to whom it seemed as if almost life +itself were staked on the result of the coming contest at the track, +lowered, with a nervous hand, for an instant only, the newspaper he had +been poring over. + +"Only this," he said, and slowly read: "'Queen Bess is still the +favorite for the Ashland Oaks. The report that she was injured in the +fire by which her stable was burned, proves to be a canard. Her owner +declares her to be unhurt and in fine condition.'" + +The Colonel nodded his approval. "That's what I've telegraphed the Dyer +brothers. I'm sure they won't refuse to take her when they know the +facts in the case. It was a close shave, though. If it hadn't been for +that little thoroughbred from the mountains--" + +"When she rushed into the flames, last night, wasn't she magnificent!" +said Frank, flushing with enthusiasm. "And when she came out, leading +Queen Bess to safety, she looked like an angel!" + +The Colonel coughed in deprecation. "The simile's off, a little bit, +ain't it? Angels are not supposed to come out of the flames." + +"At least, Colonel, you'll admit that she's the best and bravest little +girl you ever knew." + +The Colonel smiled. "Yes; but, my boy, this enthusiasm is alarming." He +laughed outright. "It seems to indicate another conflagration, with +Cupid as the incendiary." + +The youth colored. "Oh, nonsense!" + +"Be more careful, Frank," his friend urged, becoming serious. "She's a +dear, simple little thing, not used to the ways of the world. Don't let +her get too fond of you." + +"What do you mean?" + +"See here, my boy. I know you young fellows don't want an old fool, like +me, interfering with your affairs, but I've taken that little girl right +to my heart. I tell you, Frank, she's too brave and true to be trifled +with. She's not that kind." + +Layson flushed hotly. The intimation, even from the Colonel, was more +than he could bear with patience. "Stop!" he cried. "You've said enough. +What you mean to insinuate is false!" + +The Colonel rose, embarrassed. The youth's earnestness astonished him. +Could it be possible that this scion of an ancient bluegrass family, +this leader of the younger set in one of the most exclusive circles in +Kentucky, could really be thinking seriously of that untutored +mountain-girl? "My boy, forgive me!" he exclaimed. "I--I didn't +understand. I never dreamed there could be anything--er--serious. I +thought, of course--" + +Frank paced the floor with nervous tread. Other things than the +impending contest for the Ashland Oaks had been worrying him of late. +Since he had left the mountains there had scarcely been a moment, waking +or sleeping, when the face of the sweet mountain girl who had fascinated +him among her rocks and forests, and had come down to the bluegrass to +save not only his life but the life of his beloved mare, had not been +vividly before him. Untutored she might be, uncouth of speech, unlearned +in all those things, in fact, which the women he had known had ever held +most valuable, but her compensating virtues had begun to take upon +themselves their actual values--values so overwhelming in their +magnitude that her few lackings grew to seem continually less important +in his mind. + +"Never mind, Colonel," he said slowly, "you can't say anything to me but +what I've said, over and over again, to myself. I know she's ignorant +and uncultured. I know what it would mean if I should marry her. If I +were to choose for a wife a fashionable girl, whose life is centered in +the luxury which surrounds her, the world would smile approval; but for +Madge, with her true, brave heart and noble thoughts, there would be +only sneers and insults because she happened to be born up there in the +mountains. That is the kind of people we are down here in the +bluegrass." He smiled, somewhat bitterly. "And I--well, I'm too much +like the rest to need any warning--too much of a coward to think of +making her my wife." + +He sat, dejectedly, in a chair by the long table, and, with face held +between his hands and elbows planted on the board, looked across it, +through the open window, out into the thronging street with gloomy +eyes. For days he had been fighting battle after battle with himself. He +could not make his mind up as to what he ought to do. He knew he loved +the mountain-girl, but--but-- + +"There, there, my boy, I'm sorry," said the Colonel, sympathetically, +apologetically. "Let's drop the subject. The ladies will be here, soon. +Before they come I'll step over to the office and get the answer from +the Dyer Brothers." He rose, looking at his watch. "It's nearly time it +was here. They were to wire promptly. I'll bring it to you as soon as it +comes." He went to Frank and put his hand upon his shoulder +comfortingly. "Don't worry, my boy. It will all come out, all right. +Ahem! I mean there's nothing the matter with the mare and the sale will +go through." + +"I hope so," said Frank, rising without much show of energy. He was +clearly on the edge of real discouragement. "If it doesn't--and that +assessment to be met--ah, well! What's the use of worrying? It doesn't +help the matter any." He walked slowly to the window and looked out. +"Here come Madge and Aunt 'Lethe," he announced, "through with their +shopping at last. How different Madge looks from the little +mountain-girl I first knew!" He turned and faced the Colonel. "Ah, if +the world knew her as I do--" + +The Colonel left the room, bound for the telegraph-office, just before a +shrill scream came from the corridor, without, startling Layson greatly. + +"Oh, dellaw!" the frightened voice said. "Le' me out! Le' me out!" + +He recognized the voice, at once, as belonging to the girl whom he had +been discussing with the Colonel, and it was so full of terror that he +rushed quickly to the door, prepared to rescue her from some dire peril. + +"What can be the matter?" he thought, frightened. + +At the door he met Madge, white of face and startled, coming in. + +"Why, Madge! What is it?" + +She leaned against the writing-table, gasping. It was plain enough that +she had been greatly frightened. + +"Wait till I git my breath," she said; and then: "They got us into a +little room, and, all of a sudden, we started skallyhootin' fer th' +roof--room an' all!" + +Frank fell back, relieved, and trying not to show amusement. + +"That was the elevator," he explained. "A machine to carry you upstairs +and save you the work of climbing." + +"Dellaw!" exclaimed the girl, not yet entirely calm. "As if I couldn't +walk! Thought we was blowed up by another dynamighty bomb!" + +Miss Alathea entered hurriedly, looking about the room, in evident +distress. At sight of Madge she gave a great sigh of relief. "My dear, +I'm so sorry you were frightened!" + +The girl laughed nervously, pulling herself together. "I understand, +now, Miss 'Lethe, and I'm as cool as a cucumber." + +There was a group of darkies at the door, and, suddenly, they all began +to grin. Miss 'Lethe knew the sign. + +"The Colonel's coming," she said positively. "Their faces show it. Look +at them?" + +Her guess proved a true prophecy. The Colonel, plainly busy with +absorbing thoughts, was striding along the uneven old brick sidewalk, +seeing nothing, hearing nothing, when the crowd of darkies, sure of his +good-nature, beneficiaries from past favors, many times, surrounded him, +beseeching him for tips upon the coming races. Very different were these +city darkies from the respectful negroes of the Kentucky plantations of +the time. They swarmed about him in an insistent horde. + +"Who gwine win dat race, Marse Cunnel? Who gwine win dat race?" they +chorussed. + +He stopped and beamed at them good-naturedly. + +"Who's going to win?" said he. "Queen Bess, of course." + +He joined the group, inside, with a bundle in one hand and an open +telegram in the other. "Good morning, ladies. Miss 'Lethe, you're +looking fresh and blooming as you used to twenty years ago." He tried to +catch himself, but failed. "As fresh and blooming," he corrected, "as +usual, Miss 'Lethe." His bow was very courtly and her own no less so. + +"Frank, my boy," said he, turning to the youthful owner of Queen Bess, +"I've got their answer, and it's all right." + +Frank had been acutely worried. There had been some question of the sale +of the mare to the Dyer Brothers before the fire; now that this disaster +had occurred and stories had been started, as, of course, he knew they +must have been, about injuries to her, there might be, he had feared, +good reason to expect the celebrated horsemen to withdraw their +proposition. The Colonel's news, therefore, was very welcome. + +"They take the mare?" he asked, all eagerness." + +"N-o," began the Colonel, "but--" + +Frank's face fell, instantly, and his shoulders drooped despairingly. +"Then it's all wrong." + +"Not yet," said the Colonel, "score again." He raised the telegram and +read from it: "'Can't take mare without positive proof that she's all +right. Let her run in the Ashland Oaks, to-day. If she wins, we take +her.'" The Colonel looked up beamingly. "Do you hear? They take her!" + +The condition which, now, the Dyer brothers made, when, before this, +they had made none, bothered Frank. The telegram did not elate him quite +as much as the old horseman had supposed it would. "Ah, if she wins!" +said he. + +Miss Alathea spoke up, eagerly. "Oh, Frank, of course she'll win." + +"She's _got_ to win!" exclaimed the Colonel with much emphasis. + +Frank was in a pessimistic mood. "I'm not so sure," said he, a little +gloomily. The strain of the past days had been a hard trial for the +youth. "If that imp of a jockey, Ike, should get in range of a whiskey +bottle--however, he has promised not to leave his room." + +The Colonel laughed. "Ike leave his room?" he said. "You're right--he +won't; but it will not be his promise that will keep him from it. He +couldn't leave it if he would." + +"Why not?" inquired Miss 'Lethe. + +"Because," the Colonel answered, "I have got his clothes!" + +"His clothes!" said Frank, astonished. + +"Yes--a Napoleonic device. When I went to see him, this morning, I found +him in bed. I knew how it might be if he got out, so I saw to it that +his meals would reach him promptly, and borrowed the one suit of clothes +he brought with him, under pretence of needing them to help me order a +new jockey-suit for him to wear in the great race. I've been fair about +it, too--I've got the new clothes for him." He pointed to the bundle +which he had just brought in. "They're in there--and they'll not +disgrace Queen Bess. They're the best I could get." + +Frank, less interested in the clothes than in the fact that the jockey, +now, was quite secure against temptation, sighed with satisfaction. +"Then he's safe," said he. + +The Colonel nodded, notably well satisfied with his performance. Miss +Alathea, shocked, as she tried to be, by all this business, adjunct of +gambling, every bit of it, yet smiled admiringly at the big horseman. +Only Madge, learned, through much experience with mountaineers, whose +greatest curse is whisky, in the ways of men addicted to its use, was +not convinced that all was surely well. + +"I'd keep a watch on him, just the same," she said. Now that she +understood the vast importance of this race to Layson her whole heart +was wrapped up in its fortunes. "When a man wants whisky he gener'ly +finds a way to git it." + +"You're right, Madge," Frank agreed. "I think I'll go and look after +him, now." + +He started toward the door just as a knock sounded on it. When he opened +it he found Horace Holton standing waiting for admittance. The man +seemed to be excited. + +"I don't want to intrude, sar," said the ex-merchant in slaves, "but I +come to tell you what you'd orter know. Th' news of th' fire, last +night, hev set ev'rybody wild. They're lookin' to you, sar, to sw'ar out +a warrant for Joe Lorey an' set th' sheriff on his track." + +Frank came back into the room with the old man, worried by the news +which he had brought. He had been thinking of this very matter and he +was not at all convinced that he wished to swear a warrant out for +Lorey. Finally, after a few seconds of silent and deep thought, he shook +his head. "I want more proof, first," he declared. + +Holton was astonished and ill-pleased. "What more proof d' ye want?" he +asked. "Ain't it as plain as day that he come down from th' mountings to +get even with you for th' raidin' of his still? Who else would 'a' done +it?" + +Madge was listening with flushed face and frowning brow. She did not, +for a second, think Joe Lorey was the culprit. Her suspicions had not +wholly crystalized, but she had known the mountain-boy since she had +known anyone, and she could not believe that he would fire a building in +which was confined a dumb and helpless creature. She knew him to be +quite as fond of animals as she was. She believed Holton, also, had some +ulterior reason, which she did not fathom, then, for trying to fasten +suspicion on the lad. In her earnestness, as she considered these +things, she stepped close to the old man, almost truculently. "That's +what I mean to find out," she declared. "Who else done it." + +Holton was angered by her manner and her opposition. He had not expected +to meet any difficulty in the execution of his plan to throw the blame +of the outrageous crime at Woodlawn, on the shoulders of the +mountaineer. "What have you got to do with it?" he angrily demanded. + +She was not impressed by his quick show of temper. "Reckon I've got as +much to do with it as you hev," she replied. "Joe Lorey wouldn't never +plan to burn a helpless dumb critter. He ain't no such coward." + +"Who else had a call to do it?" said the old man, placed, unexpectedly, +on the defensive. "Who else war an enemy of Mr. Layson's?" + +Madge spoke slowly. She was not sure, at all, whom she was accusing; her +suspicions were indefinite, obscure, but they were taking form within +her mind. "Thar's one as I knows on," she slowly answered. "It's th' one +as told Joe Lorey that Mr. Frank had set th' revenuers onto him." Her +conviction strengthened as she spoke, and, as she continued, she looked +Holton firmly in the eye and spoke with emphasis. "Show me th' man as +told that lie, an' I'll show you th' scoundrel as tried to burn Queen +Bess!" + +Layson liked the spirit of her warm defense of her old friend, and, +himself, knew enough about the moonshiner to make it seem quite +reasonable. He knew that Joe was a crude creature, but believed, and had +good reason to believe, that he had his code of honor which he would +abide by at all cost. It was impossible for him to feel convinced that +this would have permitted him to set fire to the stable. "Madge, I +believe you're right," said he. + +Holton was nonplussed. Things were not going as he had expected and had +wished them to, at all. "Oh, shore, it war Joe Lorey," he protested. "It +couldn't 'a' been nobody else. I warns you, here an' now, Layson, that +ef you don't set th' law after him he'll be lynched before to-morrer +night." + +Layson was a little angered by the man's persistence. "I'll see that +that doesn't happen," he replied, "and I'll leave no stone unturned to +find the scoundrel who really did the deed, and have him punished. But +I'm not certain that the man will prove to be Joe Lorey." + +Holton, angry, baffled and astonished, left the room, with a maddening +conviction growing in his mind that things were going wrong and would +continue to go wrong. He almost regretted, now, that he had yielded to +the impulse to set fire to the stable. If Layson would not let him throw +suspicion where he had intended it should fall, then one part of his +plan would have failed utterly: he would not have put Joe Lorey, who, at +liberty, must ever be a peril to him, from his path; and, furthermore, +if they kept on with investigation, in the end they might--they +might--but he would not let himself believe that, by any possibility, +the real truth could come out. He assured himself as he stepped out into +the crowded street that he was safe, whether or not the crime was ever +fastened on Joe Lorey. + +Layson, after Holton left, looked around upon the party with a worried +eye. "I can't take this matter up, yet," he declared. "Until the race is +over I can think of nothing else. Colonel, I'll look after Ike, and then +we'll be off to the track." + +"So we will, my boy," the Colonel answered, "so we will. Ah, what a race +it will be!" As Frank went out, the horseman rubbed his hands with keen +anticipations of delight. + +"Oh, Colonel," exclaimed Madge, brought back by this turn in the +conversation to contemplation of the most exciting prospect which had +ever been before her, "won't we have fun?" + +"Won't we?" said the Colonel, very happily. + +But then Miss Alathea spoke. She had listened to all the talk about the +fire, the incendiary, the pursuit, and its dreadful possibilities of +lynching, with the keenest of distress. Now the Colonel's calm +declaration that, presently, they would be off to the race-track which +he had sworn forever to taboo, shifted her mind suddenly from those +unpleasant topics. + +"Colonel!" she exclaimed, in pained astonishment. "Do you forget your +promise?" + +"Er--er--" the old horseman began and became speechless. + +Madge was all excitement. "Mr. Frank has told me all about it," she said +gaily. "I kin see it, now--th' grand-stand filled with folks, th' +jockeys ridin' in their bright colors, th' horses a-champin' an' +a-pullin' at their bits--an' then--th' start!" The girl had dreamed +about such scenes before she had so much as guessed that she might ever +witness one, and now, when she was actually about to go out to the +track, herself, and with her own eyes gaze upon the greatest race which +old Kentucky had known for many a year, it seemed too good to be true. +Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, her feet danced as if they might be in +the stirrups, her hands clutched on imaginary reins. "All off together, +a-goin' like th' lightnin'!" she exclaimed. "Queen Bess a-lyin' back an' +lettin' th' others do th' runnin', Ike never touchin' her with whip nor +spur until th' last, an' then jest liftin' her in as if she had wings!" + +"Stop! Stop!" cried the Colonel. "Not another word, or I'll drop dead in +my tracks!" Then, cautiously, to Madge: "I say, little one, couldn't you +let me have a word alone with Miss 'Lethe?" + +The girl nodded wisely. "I understand," said she; and then, with a quick +glance at Miss Alathea, who was not attending, and an earnest and +imploring look at the poor Colonel: "Whatever you do don't you forget +that we are goin' to th' races!" She left the room. + +Forget! The Colonel was not likely to forget about those races! He was +in deep misery of mind. "Miss 'Lethe?" he said timidly. + +"Yes, Colonel," said the charming lady, turning toward him. + +"Miss 'Lethe, have you the remotest idea of the agony I'm suffering?" + +"Why, Colonel, what's the matter? Aren't you well?" Miss 'Lethe's keen +anxiety was instantaneous. + +"Yes--yes--I'm well--that is, I am now, but I shouldn't wonder if I'd be +dead before night. Miss 'Lethe, when we made our little arrangement, +yesterday, I didn't know that the sale of the mare, your twenty-five +thousand dollars, the assessment on Frank's stock, everything was going +to depend upon this race. I tell you, if I don't see it, I'm liable to +an attack of heart-disease." + +"Ah, Colonel," said she, sadly, "I see where your heart really is!" + +"With you, Miss 'Lethe, always with you," he urgently assured her; but +there was pleading in his eyes which really was pitiful. + +"Remember your solemn promise." + +"But one little race," he begged. "That wouldn't count, would it? And +then swear off forever." + +"No, Colonel; no," she firmly answered, "for if you yield, this time, +I'll know that in the race for your affections the horse is first, the +woman second." + +The Colonel sank dejectedly into a chair. "I can't permit you to think +that," said he. "I'll--keep my promise." + +She went to him, delighted. "Ah, I was sure you would," said she. "Now I +can go and finish my shopping in peace. It's all for your good, +Colonel--for your good." With a happy smile she left him there, alone. + +"For my good!" exclaimed the Colonel, ruefully. "That's what the teacher +used to say, but the hickory smarted, just the same. Of course Miss +'Lethe is first--but--but--the horse is a strong second!" + +To add to the man's agony, Madge, now, returned, dressed and ready for +the most exciting moments of her life. "I'm all ready, Colonel," she +said eagerly. "Think we'll have good seats? I do hope I'll be whar I kin +see!" + +He would not, yet, disappoint the child; he would not, yet,--he could +not--admit that he, himself, was to meet with such a bitter +disappointment. "You'll see, all right," he told her, "and so will I." +But, after a second's thought he added: "I will if I can hire a +balloon!" + +They heard Neb's excited voice out in the corridor, and, an instant +later, the old darkey hurried in. Immediately the Colonel knew, from his +appearance, that something had gone seriously wrong. + +"What is it, Neb; what is it?" he demanded. + +"Fo' de Lawd, sech news!" said Neb. "Sech news!" + +"Neb, Neb, what's the matter?" Madge asked, frightened by his manner. + +"Somebody," said the negro, "done gone smuggle in a bottle o' whiskey to +dat mis'able jockey, Ike, an' he am crazy drunk!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +"Drunk!" cried the Colonel, shocked inexpressibly. "And the race this +afternoon!" + +"Marse Frank said you was to come, suh, an' help sobuh him." + +Madge approached the Colonel anxiously. "Yes; sober him, if you have to +turn him inside out!" + +"'Fraid he's done on bofe sides, missy; drunk cl'ar t'rough," said Neb. + +The Colonel grasped his hat. "We'll try, we'll try," he said. "Oh, +whisky, whisky! What a pity anyone can get too much of so good a thing!" + +"I neber could, suh," Neb replied, "but dat 'ar jockey--" + +They hurried out together. + +Madge was in intense distress. She knew what this might mean. If Queen +Bess could not run--and she could not, certainly, without a jockey--the +Dyer Brothers would not buy her, probably; and if she were not sold in +time, then Layson would be quite unable to meet the assessment on his +stock in the coal-mining company. She was by no means certain what this +was, or what the reason for it, but she had heard talk of it and knew +that it was very serious. Almost beside herself with her anxiety, she +could do nothing save sit there and wait for news. The entrance, even of +Barbara Holton, who came in, now, was a relief to her overtaxed nerves. + +"Say," said she, admitting Barbara nearer to good-fellowship than she +had ever done before, "I reckon you have heered the news--Ike's +drunk--dead drunk!" + +Barbara regarded her excitement with a careful calm. She, herself, had +been excited by the news when it had reached her, but a moment since, +but she would not let this girl know that. Her role was to endeavor to +force the mountain girl back into what she thought her place, at any +cost. + +"Yes, I've heard," said she, "and it's too late to get another jockey, +so Queen Bess can't run." + +She had formed a plan, deep in her mind, and had sought the +mountain-girl with the skilful scheme. + +"Then Mr. Frank is goin' to be ruined!" Madge exclaimed, dejectedly. + +"Not unless you wish it," Barbara replied, looking straight into her +eyes. + +"Dellaw! Me wish that? Just you tell me what you mean!" + +The bluegrass girl stood looking at the mountain maiden with appraising +eye for a few seconds. Then she crossed the room and stood close by her +side, while she tapped upon the table nervously with her carefully +gloved fingers. + +"If this sale fails, as it seems it must," she said, slowly, "it rests +with you whether my father will advance the money to pay the assessment +on that stock of Mr. Layson's." + +"Your father give him the money?" Madge said in astonishment. "Well, I'd +never thought o' that! But what have I got to do about it?" + +The situation was a hard one, even for the self-possession of the +lowlands girl, who had inherited her father's coolness in emergency as +well as some other traits less desirable. Her color rose and she tried, +earnestly, to gather words which would express the thought she had in +mind without including a confession of the weakness of her own position. +This she could not, do, however. She walked over to the window, gazed +from it, for a moment, at the passing crowds, and then returned to +Madge, to tell her bluntly: "I want you to go away from here." + +"Me go away? What for?" + +It was impossible, Barbara now discovered, to make her meaning wholly +clear, without some measure of humiliation. The first thing that was, +obviously, necessary was a statement of facts as they were, and this +must include confession of her own sore weakness. She hesitated, trying +to avoid it, but when she quite decided that it could not be helped, +plunged on with a perfect frankness. What she wished was immediately to +gain her point. If she must eat a bit of humble pie in order to +accomplish this, why, she would eat it, much as she disliked the diet. + +"Can't you see that it is you who stand between Frank and me?" she +cried. "If it hadn't been for you, I should have been his promised wife! +If you will go away and never see him again, I can win him back." + +Madge was dumbfounded. The cold and utter selfishness of the girl's +proposal was astounding. She looked at Barbara with eyes in which +incredulous amazement gave way, slowly, to an expression of chill +wonder. "Say, you don't seem to squander many thoughts on other people! +S'posin' I happen to love him a little, myself!" + +Barbara laughed scornfully. Sprung from low stock, herself, but reared +in luxury, she had the most complete contempt for anyone whom +circumstances had denied advantages such as she had known. "You--_you_ +love him!" she exclaimed. + +The words had slipped from Madge's lips without forethought, and, +instantly, she very much regretted them; but, now that she had uttered +them she did not so much as think of trying to recall them or deny their +truth. "Yes, and I ain't ashamed of it," said she. "I _do_ love him--a +thousand times better nor you ever dreamed of." + +"What good will it do you?" asked her rival, coldly. "You don't suppose +he'll ever think of making you his wife! Why, look at the difference +between you and me!" + +"Yes," said Madge, sarcastically, "there _is_ a powerful sight of +differ! You'd be willin' to ruin' him to win him, while I'd be willin' +to gin up my happiness to save him!" + +Barbara, more in earnest than she ever had been in her life before, took +a quick step toward the mountain girl. "Then prove it by going away," +said she, "and I will see that my father advances Frank Layson the money +he needs." She looked at her eagerly. "Do you promise?" + +"No," said Madge, with firm decision. "No; I won't." + +"Then it is you who will ruin him." + +While they had been talking an idea had sprung to sudden flower in +Madge's mind. It was a daring, an unheard of plan that had occurred to +her. There were details of it which filled her with shrinking. She knew +that if she put it into practice, and it ever became generally known, +she would be the talk of Lexington and that not all that talk would be +complimentary. She knew that, after she had carried out the plan, even +the man for whom she thought of doing it might look at her with scorn. +But it was the only plan which her alert and anxious brain could find +which promised anything at all. And if it won, perhaps--perhaps--he +might not scorn her! At any rate it was a sacrifice, and sacrifice for +him was an attractive thought to her. + +"Me ruin him?" she said to Barbara. "Don't you be too sure! There is a +shorter and a better way nor yours, to save him, an' I'm goin' to try +it!" + +The bluegrass girl, astonished, would have questioned her, but Madge +waited for no questioning. Without another word she hurried from the +room, in a mad search for Colonel Doolittle. + + * * * * * + +From the country round about for miles the planters had come into +Lexington upon their blooded mounts, their wives, daughters, +sweethearts, riding in great carriages. Now and then a vehicle, coming +from some far-away plantation, was drawn by a gay four-in-hand, and the +drivers of such equipages, negroes always, showed a haughty scorn of +their black fellow-men who travelled humbly on the backs of mules, or +trudged the long and dusty way on foot. Gorgeous were the costumes of +the ladies whom the carriages conveyed; elegant the dress of the gay +gentlemen who rode beside the vehicles on prancing steeds, gallant +escorts of Kentucky's lovely womanhood, prepared, especially, to watch +the carriage-horses when the town was reached and guard against +disasters due to their encounter with such disturbing and unusual things +as crowds, brass-bands and other marvels of a great occasion. + +Everywhere upon the sidewalks people swarmed like ants, delighted with +the calm perfection of the day, the magnetism of the crowds, the blare +of martial music, the novelty of passing strangers, and, above all, by +the prospect of the great race which, for weeks, had been the theme of +conversation everywhere throughout the section. + +In the spacious corridors and big bar-rooms of the city's hostelries the +rich men of the section vied with flashily dressed strangers, in +magnitude of wagers, and the gambling fever spread from these important +centers to the very alleys of the negro quarters. Poor indeed was the +old darkey who could not find two-bits to wager on the race; small, +indeed, the piccaninny who was not wise enough in the sophisticated ways +of games of chance to lay a copper with a comrade or to join a pool by +means of which he and his fellows were enabled to participate in more +important methods of wooing fickle Fortune. + +Here and there and everywhere were the piccaninnies from Woodlawn, the +Layson place, crying the virtues of the mare they worshipped and her +owner whom they each and everyone adored, boasting of the wagers they +had made, strutting in the consciousness that ere the moment for the +great race came "Unc" Neb would gather them together to add zest to the +occasion with their brazen instruments and singing. The "Whangdoodles" +were the envy of every colored lad in town who was not of their high +elect, and created, about noon, a great diversion upon one of the main +streets, by gathering, when they were quite certain that their leader +could by no means get at them, and singing on a corner for more coppers +to be wagered on Queen Bess. The shower of coin which soon rewarded +their smooth, well-trained harmonies, burned holes in their pockets, +too, until it was invested in the only things which, on this day, the +lads thought worth the purchasing--tickets on the race in which the +wondrous mare would run. + +Through the gay crowd old Neb was wandering, disconsolate, burdened with +the melancholy news of the defection of the miserable jockey, looking, +everywhere, for Miss Alathea Layson, but without success. He stopped +upon a corner, weary of the search and of the woe which weighed him +down. + +"Marse Frank," he muttered, "say I war to tell Miss 'Lethe de bad news; +but he didn't tell me how to find a lady out shoppin'. Needle in a +haystack ain't nawthin'! Reckon 'bout de bes' dat I kin do is stand heah +on dis cohnuh an' cotch huh when she comes back to de hotel." + +He stood there for fully fifteen minutes, peering in an utter desolation +of woe, at every passing face, but finding nowhere that one which he +sought. Then, at a distance, he saw the Colonel coming. The expression +on the horseman's face amazed him and filled him with an instant hope +that something had turned up to rob the situation of the horror which +had darkened it, for him, ever since he had discovered that the jockey +had disgraced himself. + +"Dar come Marse Cunnel," he exclaimed, in his astonishment, "_a-lookin' +mighty happy_! Dat ain't right, now; dat ain't right, unduh de +succumstances." + +He hurried to the Colonel, who, instead of seeming sorrowful, +discouraged, wroth, beamed at him with a genial eye. + +"What's the matter, Neb?" he asked. "You look like a funeral!" + +"Dat's de way I feel, suh; wid no jockey fo' Queen Bess an' Marse Frank +good as ruined." + +"Neb," said the Colonel, coolly, "you don't mean to be a liar, but you +are one." + +"What?" cried the darkey in delight. "Oh Marse Cunnel, call me anyt'ing +ef tain't so about de mare!" + +"Of course it isn't," said the Colonel happily. "I have found a jockey, +Neb; a jockey." + +"Praise de Lawd!" cried the old negro. + +"One of the best," the Colonel went on, gaily. "Just come in from +the--from the east. I engaged him at once, so you get word to Frank. In +five minutes we'll be on our way out to the track." + +Neb's spirits had instantly revived. Six inches droop was gone from his +old shoulders. "It'll be de grandest race eber run in ol' Kentucky! +Lawsy, Cunnel, won't it tickle you to death to see Queen Bess romp in a +winnuh?" + +Instantly the Colonel's high elation faded. More than the droop which +had been in Neb's shoulders now oppressed the horseman's. His face +clouded. "There _he_ goes, too!" he cried. "Neb, another word like that +and I shall brain you! Do you hear me? I--I shan't be there!" + +"Not be dar!" Neb exclaimed. "Kain't swaller dat, suh. Ef you should +miss dat race, why, you'd drop daid." + +"I believe you, Neb--believe you. I say, Neb, look here. I have promised +on the honor of a Kentuckian, never to enter another race-track. I must +keep my word; but, for the Lord's sake, isn't there a knot-hole, that +you know of, somewhere in the fence, which would let me see the race +without going inside?" + +Neb knew that race-track as he knew the plot of hard-trodden ground +before the little cabin where he had been born back of the big house out +at Woodlawn. Many a race had he seen surreptitiously when he had not +funds to buy admission to the track. He grinned, remembering talk which +he had heard between the Colonel and Miss 'Lethe, and understanding, +now. He laughed. "Oh, I yi!" he cried. "Marse Cunnel, dar ain't +nobody'll git ahead of you! You bet dar is a knot-hole, not fur off frum +de gran'-stan', neither, an' a tree, too, you could climb, stan's mighty +handy." + +The Colonel groaned. "I climb a tree to peek above a race-track fence!" +said he. "No; never. They'd think I was trying to save my admission +fee! The knot-hole will have to do for me, Neb. You've saved me. Heaven +bless you! Have a cigar--they're good." + +"T'ankee, suh," said Neb, reaching for the weed the Colonel now held +toward him. "Lawsy, ain't dat jus' a whoppuh? Whah you-all git sech +mon'sous big cigahs as dat?" + +"I'm only smoking half as many, now, so I get 'em double size," the +Colonel answered, sighing but not wholly miserable. + +Neb did not see the humor of this detail. He was thinking of the race +and of Queen Bess. "Hooray fo' de Cunnel!" he exclaimed, irrelevantly, +to a little group of colored men who had been gathering. "Whatever he +says yo' kin gamble on. Lawsy, ain't I glad I's got my money on Queen +Bess? Golly, won't Marse Holton jes' feel cheap when he done heahs dis +news? Seen him down dar in de pool-room, not so long ago, a-puttin' up +his money plumb against Queen Bess. Goin' to lose it, suah, he will." He +went off, muttering, and shaking his old head. "Somehow I jes' feels it +in mah bones dat he ain't true to Marse Frank, yessuh. If I evah fin's +it out fo' suah, I'll jes' _paralyse_ him!" + +He had quite forgotten that he had come out to find Miss Alathea, and +was not looking for her when he actually stumbled into her. + +"Why, Neb, what are you doing?" she said, recoiling. + +"Pahdon, pahdon, please, Miss 'Lethe," said the negro. "I was thinkin' +of de sweet bimeby an' waitin' fo' to tell de news to you--fust dat Ike +got drunk an' Marse Frank war gwine hab to scratch de mare--" + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Then Frank--why, he'll lose everything!" + +"Hol' on, Miss 'Lethe; dat de fust half, only. Secon' half am dat Marse +Cunnel found a jockey an' Queen Bess am gwine ter run." + +"Bless his heart!" she cried. "I wonder if it's wrong for me to pray +that that jockey will win." She looked, almost embarrassed at the aged +negro for a moment, and then, mustering up courage, said: "Neb, look +here. I'm ashamed to acknowledge so much interest in a horse-race, but +it seems as if I can't wait to hear of the result." + +"Lawsy, I don't blame you, none; feel dat way mahse'f." + +"I must know the result the instant the race is decided." + +"Send yo' wuhd right off, Miss 'Lethe." + +"Oh, I can't wait for that. Neb, I never did such a thing before and +never will again, and, even now, I won't enter a race-track; but, Neb, +isn't there some place outside the fence where I could watch the race +without actually going in?" + +Neb doubled up in silent laughter. The old negro was enjoying life, +exceedingly, on this, the day, which, for a time, had seemed so full of +gloom. The white folks were quite at his mercy. "You bet dar is," said +he, "a knot-hole not fur f'm de gran'-stan', an' a tree what you could +climb, right handy." + +Miss Alathea was not favorable to the thought of climbing trees, and +said so. "No, no; the knot-hole will be far better for me." + +"But, Miss 'Lethe, why, de Cunnel--" + +She did not let him make his explanation. "Sh! Sh!" she hissed. "Not a +word of this to him, or anyone! Will you show me, when the time comes?" + +"Oh, I'll show you," Neb replied, and before he had a chance to add a +word she had hurried off into the crowd. + +"I war gwine to tell her dat de Cunnel'd be dar, too, but she wouldn't +wait to heah. Wal, I reckon she'll jes' fin' 'im when she git dar." + +Down the street his piccaninny band came straggling, looking for him. + +"Hol' on, chillun; hol' on," he cried, and joined them. "Now yo' lissen. +Yo' is not to make a squawk until the end of de Ashlan' Oaks. Yo's to +sabe yo' bref to honuh ouah Queen Bess. If she wins, yo' staht in +playin' 'Dixie' as yo' nevuh played afo'. If she loses yo's to play, +real slow an' mo'nful, 'Massa's in de Col', Col', Groun'.'" + +In the meantime the Colonel, in a quiet spot, had joined the jockey who +had been discovered to take the place of drunken Ike. The unknown rider +was wrapped closely in an ulster, from beneath which riding boots, +unusually small, peeped, now and then, as the feet within them moved +somewhat nervously about. + +"All right, are you?" he inquired. + +"I ain't afeared," the jockey answered, "but I'm powerful nervous. Never +had on clo'es like these before, an'--don't you look at me!" + +Strange talk, this was, for the jockey who was soon to ride Queen Bess +for the capture of the Ashland Oaks and the salvation of the fortune of +the house of Layson! + +"Don't look at you!" said the Colonel, in expostulation, and, in the +next sentence, revealed a secret which he was guarding carefully from +everyone. "See here, little girl, you've got to face thousands and not +wince, and you can't ride in that overcoat, either." + +But the jockey wrapped the coat still tighter. "Oh, sho! That can't make +no differ--just a little coat!" + +"I tell you it's impossible. It would give the game away at once. Come, +take it off. Practice up on me." + +The jockey shivered nervously. "Reckon I will hev to. Say, turn your +back till I am ready." + +The Colonel turned his back, somewhat impatiently. The time was getting +short. "All right, but hurry up." + +The jockey pulled the long coat partly off, then, in a panic, shrugged +it on again. "Oh, now, you're lookin'!" + +"Not a wink," declared the Colonel. + +"Wal, here goes!" This time the coat came wholly off and the jockey who +had been discovered to take the place of drunken Ike stood quite +revealed. The voice which warned the Colonel of this was a faint and +faltering one. "Now," it said timidly. + +The Colonel turned. "Hurrah!" + +The jockey held the coat up in a panic. + +"See here, now--none o' that!" the Colonel warned. "Give it to me." He +reached his hand out for the coat, and, reluctantly, the jockey let him +take it. + +There stood the trimmest and most graceful figure ever garbed in racing +blouse, knickers, boots and cap, with flushed face, dilating, frightened +eyes and hands not a little tremulous. The girl who had told Barbara +Holton that she would not hesitate to make a sacrifice to save the man +she loved was making one--a very great one--the sacrifice of what, her +whole life long, she had considered fitting woman's modesty. Queen Bess +must win and there was no one else to ride her. The mountain-girl shrank +from the thought of going, thus, before a multitude, as shyly as would +the most highly educated and most socially precise girl in the +grand-stand, near, which, now, was filling with the gallantry and +beauty of Kentucky; but she did not let her nervous tremors conquer her. +There was no other way to save the day for Layson, and, somehow, the day +must certainly be saved. + +The Colonel, now, spoke very seriously as she stood there, shrinking +from his gaze. There was not a smile upon his face. It was plain that he +regarded the whole matter with the utmost gravity. + +"Now, little one, you begin to realize what this means," said he. +"Or--no, you don't and I've got to be square with you if it spoils the +prettiest horse-race ever seen in old Kentucky. I tell you, my dear +child, we're mighty particular about our women, down here in the +bluegrass. We'd think it an eternal shame and a disgrace forever for one +of them to ride a public race in a costume like the one that you have +on, and it would mean not less than social ruin to the man that married +her. If anyone should find it out, what you are going to do might stand +between you and your happiness. I'm warning you because I know I ought +to. Think it over and then tell me if you're willing to face it--willing +to take all the risks." + +"I don't need to think it over," Madge said firmly. "I said as I'd gin +up my happiness to save him, an' I will. Colonel, I've got on my +uniform, I've enlisted for th' war, an' I am goin' to fight it through!" + +"A thoroughbred!" he cried. "A thoroughbred, and I always said it of +you. Come on, little one." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Brilliant as a garden of flowers was the grand-stand where the fairest +of old Kentucky's wondrous women were as numerous as were her gallant +men; full of handsome figures were the lawns, where old Kentucky's youth +and manhood strolled and smoked and gossipped of the day's great race to +come; like an ebon sea in storm was the great crowd of blacks which in +certain well-defined limits crowded to the rail about the track. The +blare of the band kept the air a-tremble almost constantly, the +confused, uneven murmur of a great crowd filled the pauses between +brazen outbursts. Everywhere was life and gayety, intense excitement, as +the moment for the starting of the famous Ashland Oaks approached. The +cries of the book-makers rose, strident, from the betting-ring; on the +tracks the jockeys, exercising or trying out their mounts, were, each +after his own kind, preparing for the struggle of their lives; +stable-boys, and the hundred other species of race-track hangers-on +which swarm at such times to the front, were everywhere in evidence; +touts with shifty eyes slipped, here and there, among the sightseers, +looking for some credulous one who might be willing to pay well for +doubtful information. Every minute amidst the throng the words "Queen +Bess" might be heard at any chosen point, as the crowd gossipped eagerly +about the horse which had been looked on as the favorite, but which, +many positively now declared, had been so injured in the fire that she +would run but poorly in the race which, it had been thought, would be +the most sensational effort of her life. + +Frank, nervous and excited, stood in the paddock, watch in hand, with +old Neb by his side. + +"Why doesn't that jockey come?" he asked, for the hundredth time, almost +beside himself with worry as the moments slipped away. + +"He'll come, Marse Frank," said Neb. "You kin gamble on de Cunnel." + +"If I only knew what kind of a jockey he is!" Then, as Horace Holton +came up, smiling greetings: "Holton, how's the betting?" + +"Can't you hear?" said Holton, as a vagrant breeze brought to their ears +bits of the vocal tumult from the betting-ring. + +"Ten to nine against Queen Bess," Frank heard a voice call loudly, +although the crowd's great murmur made the words come indistinctly to +his ears. "Even on Catalpa," was the next penetrating cry, and then: +"Two to one, Evangeline!" + +The young owner shuddered. Could it be possible that Neb was right and +that the Colonel's jockey would appear on time, or were the dire +predictions of defeat which, he knew, were being made everywhere around +him, true prophecies? Tales of all but fatal injuries to the handsome +mare had been freely circulated, and, despite denials in the newspapers, +were still alive, and these he knew to be quite false; but he knew of +the other dire disaster--the defection of his jockey--of which the crowd +was also well aware. He had not the slightest doubt that if Queen Bess +should run at all she would do all that her best friends expected of her +and more; but it seemed to him a possibility that he would find it +necessary, at the last minute, to withdraw her from the race entirely, +for sheer lack of a rider. + +Again the breeze brought from the betting-ring the loud shouts of the +book-makers. The message that they told was most depressing to the +worried owner. + +"Why, this morning she was the favorite," he said, "and now the odds are +all against her!" + +Holton nodded. "On the strength o' this jockey as nobody knows. Got any +money on, yourself, Layson?" + +"Not a cent. I've enough at stake, already." + +Holton smiled unpleasantly, intimating that Frank's lack of betting on +his horse was proof positive that the worst tales told were true. "That +settles it. The bookies are right. Th' mare's no chance with a new +jockey, an' you know it." + +"If I were betting," said Frank angrily, "I'd back her with every dollar +that I have on earth." + +Holton smiled at him unpleasantly. "I say she can't win and you know +it." He waited for some answer from the anxious owner, but received +none. Then, taking out his check-book: "See here--I'll bet you +five-thousand even against her!" + +Frank, annoyed but helpless, shook his head. "I haven't the money," he +admitted. + +"You ain't got the sand!" said Holton, aggravatingly. + +Frank turned from him angrily, and old Neb, who had listened, stepped +quickly up to him. "Marse Frank," he pleaded, "don' yo' let dat +white-trash bluff yo'!" The old darkey's voice was tremulous, his eyes +were moist with feeling for his humiliated master. A great resolve +thrilled through him. "See heah, honey, I's be'n sabin' all mah life. +I's got a pile o' money in de bank. Take it all, now, honey, an' bet it +on Queen Bess." + +Frank shook his head, but smiled at the old darkey, touched alike by his +devotion to himself and confidence in the mare they both loved. "No, no, +Neb; not your money," he replied. He stood in deep thought, for a +moment, tapping the ground nervously with worried foot. "But I'll back +the mare for all _I'm_ worth!" he finally declared. "If she loses, I'm a +ruined man, anyway." He turned, now, to Holton. "Holton," he said, +"I've got just three thousand dollars in the bank. I'll put it all on +Queen Bess against your five-thousand." + +It seemed, almost, as if Holton had been waiting for this offer, for his +smile broadened as he found that he had goaded Layson into making it. +"I'll take it," he said quickly, and then, turning to the crowd about +them, among which were some of the state's best citizens, he added: +"Gentlemen, you're witnesses. Three-thousand against five-thousand on +Queen Bess." + +They nodded, and not one of them but looked at Layson with +commiseration, as at a man foredoomed to bitter disappointment. + +Neb, however, grinned at Holton impishly. "Yes; you'll look mighty sick +when yo' hab to pay it, too." + +From the judge's stand rang out the silvery notes of a quavering +bugle-call, and Holton smiled unpleasantly. + +"The call to th' post," said he, "an' whar's your jockey?" + +"He'll be here on time," said Frank, voicing a confidence which it was +hard for him to feel. He turned, then, to the darkey. "Neb, bring out +Queen Bess." + +The excitement, all around them, was intensifying, every minute. +Jockeys, now, were mounting their horses, and riding off for the short +canter to the judges' stand. As each appeared in view of the great +crowd in and about the grand-stand a mighty shout arose. + +Holton's smile was broadening. "If that jockey doesn't show up mighty +quick," he sneered, "you're out of the race." + +Just as he spoke old Neb returned, with the superb mare behind him, +saddled, bridled, ready for the race, fretting at her bit, impatient of +the crowds and noise. + +"Who knows whether he's coming, at all?" said Holton, a bit dashed at +sight of the fine mare's superb condition, but still sneering. "Nobody's +seen him." + +Neb looked off toward the weighing-room. "Yo' 're wrong," he shouted, +capering with amazing spryness for one whose limbs were old and stiff, +"fo' heah he comes!" + +Every member of the party turned, in haste, to look in the direction +whence Neb pointed. + +They saw a slight, graceful figure, dressed in the brilliant colors of +the Layson stable, which, without so much as glancing at them, ran to +Queen Bess and took a place upon the far side of the mare, where, +stooping as if to look carefully to the saddle-girths, its face was +quickly hidden. But, even as the jockey stooped, one of his hands held +out to Frank, across the saddle, a little folded paper. + +Without paying much attention to the jockey, Layson took this note and +hastily unfolded it. "It's from the Colonel," he announced. "I knew +he'd never fail me." + +Then he read, aloud, so all might hear: + +"This will be handed to you by a jockey I have just engaged. He comes +from the east and is highly recommended. I know his endorser. Regretting +that the promise of a Kentuckian prevents me from being with you, I am +yours regretfully, on the outside, SANDUSKY DOOLITTLE." + +"It's all right!" Frank shouted, gleefully, and then, to the strange +jockey: "Quick, on the mare and off to the post!" + +Without a word, without a second's pause, Madge, for the unknown jockey +was, of course, the little mountain girl, jumped upon Queen Bess and +hastily rode off, to be greeted, with a mighty outburst of cheering and +applause as the favorite appeared before the waiting crowds in +unmistakably fine condition and mounted by a rider whose every movement +showed a perfect knowledge of the work and complete sympathy with the +beautiful animal he rode. + + * * * * * + +Doomed by his promise on the honor of a gentleman to Miss Alathea, to +witnessing the race from the outside, if he witnessed it at all, Colonel +Sandusky Doolittle, fully aware of the unusual interest of the moments, +some account of which has just been made, was sunk in melancholy after +he had sent Madge through the magic portals, with explicit instructions +as to exactly what to do when once she was safe inside. He was breathing +hard from the mere exertion of preventing his unruly feet from running +to the gate, of keeping his unruly hand from diving deep into his pocket +for the entrance fee. These preventions he accomplished, though, without +once really weakening, and was safe at a good distance from the tempting +gate when the crowd within began to shout as the horses were brought +out. + +"There, they're bringing out the horses!" he exclaimed, unhappily. He +set his jaws as might one who, with a great effort, abstains from food +when famishing. "I didn't go in!" he muttered. "I've kept my word, +though it has nearly finished me!" + +Anxiously, if hurriedly, he searched along the fence for the knot-hole +Neb had told him of. Twice, in his great eagerness, he passed it by, +but, on the third inspection he discovered it, and placed his eye to it. +In a moment he backed away, dejectedly. "I can't see worth a cent!" he +bitterly complained. "It's not hole enough for me!" Lost, in his +disappointment, even to shame for the wretched pun, he straightened up, +surveying his immediate surroundings. + +Close by was the tree which Neb had also spoken of. He examined it with +an appraising eye, then looked about to see what spectators were near. +No one was in sight save a pair of piccaninnies, down the fence a +hundred yards or so, with eyes glued to other knot-holes or to cracks. + +"To the deuce with dignity!" he cried. "I'll just inspect that tree." + +He was doing this with care, when, breathless and eager, a lady hurried +toward him. As the tree intervened between them he did not see her +coming, nor did she note his presence. It would have been quite plain to +anyone who had observed her that she was engaged upon a quest much like +that which he had pursued, for she carefully inspected each plank in the +high fence, as, slowly and cautiously lest she should pass unheeded that +which she was seeking eagerly, she made her way in his direction. + +"Everybody's at the races," she thought, comforting herself. "I'm +perfectly safe. No one in the world will see me.... But where _is_ that +blessed knot-hole?" + +Suddenly her eye chanced on it, and, an instant later, was applied to +it, the while the Colonel paused, with his back to her, still anxiously +inspecting the tree. + +"Ah!" said Miss Alathea, aloud, as she caught a glimpse of something +interesting inside the fence. + +Instantly the Colonel turned and looked down at her, startled. Then: "A +woman!" he exclaimed, beneath his breath. "A woman at my knot-hole!" + +Firmly determined to maintain his right he sternly approached her. + +"Madam!" he exclaimed, as incensed by her usurpation of the knot-hole +as he would have been, at ordinary times, by theft of watch or +pocket-book, and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. + +She shrank back from the knot-hole, startled and indignant. "Sir!" she +cried, and then, as he recognized her, she turned and saw who had +addressed her. + +"Colonel Sandusky Doolittle!" she exclaimed, amazed. + +"Miss Alathea Layson!" cried the Colonel, equally amazed, at first, but +winding up his gesture of surprise with a low and courtly bow. + +"Colonel, what are you doing here?" + +"Madame," he countered, "what are _you_ doing here?" + +Miss Alathea's dignity forsook her. "Colonel," she confessed, "I +couldn't wait to hear the result." + +"No more could I," he somewhat sheepishly admitted. + +"But I didn't enter the race-track," she explained in haste. + +"I was equally firm." + +"And Neb told me of this knot-hole." + +"The rascal--he told me of it, too." + +"Colonel," she said, smiling, "we must forgive each other. If you really +must look, there is the knot-hole." + +"No, Miss 'Lethe," he said gallantly, "_I_ resign the knot-hole to you. +I shall climb the tree." Without delay (for sounds from the barrier's +far side hinted to his practiced ear that matters of much moment were +progressing, there) he scrambled with much more difficulty than dignity +into the spreading crotch. + +"Oh, be careful Colonel!" Miss Alathea cried, alarmed. "Don't break your +neck!" But she added, as an afterthought: "But be sure to get where you +can see." + +"Ah, what a gallant sight!" he cried as he found himself in a position +whence he could command a view of the exciting scene within the barrier. +"There's Catalpa ... and Evangeline ... and ... yes, there is Queen +Bess!" + +A burst of cheering rose from the crowd within. + +Miss Alathea was on tip-toe with excitement. "What's that?" she begged. + +"A false start," he answered, scarcely even glancing down at her. +"They'll make it this time, though," he added, and she could see his +knuckles whiten with the strain as he gripped a rough limb of the tree +with vise-like fingers. + +A moment later and the shouting became a very tempest of sound. + +"They're off!" he cried, staring through his field glasses in an +excitement which promised, if he did not curb it, to send him tumbling +from his shaky foothold. "Oh, what a splendid start!" + +"Who's ahead?" inquired Miss Alathea, very much excited. "Colonel, who's +ahead?" + +"Catalpa sets the pace, the others lying well back." + +"Why doesn't Queen Bess come to the front?" Miss Alathea cried, as if he +were to blame for the disquieting news he had reported to her. "Oh," she +exclaimed, to the Colonel's great astonishment, "if I were only on that +mare!" + +"At the half," the Colonel shouted, beside himself with worry, +"Evangeline takes the lead ... Catalpa next ... the rest are bunched." + +Miss Alathea, at the moment, was trying to see satisfactorily, through +the very knot-hole which the Colonel had abandoned. She sprang from it +hastily, however, and to the foot of the tree which acted as his +pedestal, when he exclaimed: + +"Oh, great heavens! There's a fall ... a jam ... and Queen Bess is left +behind three lengths!" He leaned so far out that he heard the limb +beneath him crack, and, in hastening to a firmer footing, almost lost +his balance. This startled him, and, for an instant, took his eager gaze +away from the struggling horses on the track within, but he quickly +regained poise. "She hasn't the ghost of a show!" he cried, +disheartened. "Look! Look!" + +Miss Alathea hugged the tree and looked, not at the horses, for that was +quite impossible, but up at him with wide, imploring eyes. + +"She's at it again, though, now!" he cried. "It's beyond anything +mortal, but she's gaining ... gaining!" + +Miss Alathea's excitement now was every bit as great as his. She had +never seen a race in all her life, yet, now, she performed there at the +foot of the great tree, a series of evolution not unlike those of many a +"rooter" at the track within. She jumped up and down upon her toe's, +clenched her hands and cried: "Oh, keep it up! Keep it up!" + +"At the three-quarters she's only five lengths behind the leader and +still gaming!" cried the Colonel, in excited optimism. + +Miss Alathea could no longer endure the agony of waiting on the ground +for his reports. Instead she tried to scramble to his side, but, +failing, utterly, to accomplish this unaided, held her hands up to him, +crying: "Oh, pull, pull! I can't stand it! I've just got to see!" + +The Colonel turned upon his perch and looked down at her, smiling. +"Coming up, Miss 'Lethe?" he inquired. "All right, don't break your +neck, but get where you can see." Hastily he gave her such assistance as +his absorbed attention to the events within the fence permitted, and, +with a wild scramble, she found herself close by his side, holding half +to him, half to a curving branch. + +"Look! Look!" he cried, again. "In the stretch! Her head is at Catalpa's +crupper ... now at her saddle-bow ... but she can't gain another inch. +Still ... yes ... yes ... she lifts her! See!... See!... Great God! She +wins!" + +Within the fence wild pandemonium broke loose. The crowd went mad with +shouting. Hats, handkerchiefs, canes, umbrellas, flew into the air as if +blown upward by the mad explosion of the crowd's enthusiasm. The band +was playing "Dixie." + +Frank and Neb rushed forward to lift from the winner the victorious +jockey, who by such superb riding as that track had never seen before, +had snatched victory from defeat after the mare had been delayed in the +bad pocket which, from his distant point of survey, had alarmed the +Colonel. The jockey eluded them, however and, with face averted, hurried +with the splendid mare back to the paddock, and there disappeared, +disregarding the crowd's wild shouts of acclamation. + +Holton stood near Frank, white-faced and angry. Old Neb, as he ran +beside Queen Bess, looked back at him and grinned. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Miss Alathea, on the day after the great race, sat waiting for the +Colonel in the handsome old library of Woodlawn, worrying about her +unconventionalities of the preceding day. When she heard his voice, out +in the hall, telling Neb to carry certain bundles into the library and +knew, of course, that he would follow after them almost immediately, her +heart throbbed fiercely in her bosom. She shrank back into a window +recess, too embarrassed to face him without first pausing to gather up +her courage. + +"Put 'em there, Neb," said the Colonel, pointing to the table, and then, +after the packages had been arranged to suit him: "Here, take this, and +drink to the jockey that rode Queen Bess." + +"T'ankee, Marse Cunnel, t'ankee," Neb replied, pocketing the tip. "Oh, +warn't it gran'? An' yo' climbed de tree, arter all!" + +"Sh! Clear out, you rascal!" + +Neb did not go at once, but, with the boldness of an old and privileged +retainer, stood there, chuckling. "Climbed de tree!" he gurgled. "An' +so did Miss 'Lethe!" + +With this he slapped his knee, and, laughing boisterously, left the room +as the embarrassed lady of the house stepped out of her concealment. + +"Ah, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel, "good morning." + +"I expected you back from Lexington last night, Colonel." She looked at +him reproachfully. + +"Stayed over to celebrate, my dear," the Colonel answered. "Stayed to +celebrate the victory." With a beaming face he advanced upon the lady, +plainly planning an embrace. + +But she eluded him. "Wait a moment, Colonel. On what did you celebrate?" + +The Colonel laughed. "Oh, I didn't forget. I celebrated on ginger-ale +and soda-pop." + +Miss Alathea smiled with happy satisfaction. She eluded him no longer, +but, herself, went to him and bestowed the kiss. + +"I doubt if my stomach ever recovers from the insult," said the Colonel, +delighted by the kiss but remembering the mildness of the beverages +which had marked his jubilation. "Miss 'Lethe, a julep--a +mint-julep--before I perish." + +With a smile she crossed the room to where, upon the side-board (a +side-board is an adjunct of all well-regulated libraries in old +Kentucky), a snowy damask cloth concealed glorious somethings. With a +graceful sweep she took it from them and revealed three juleps in their +glory of green-crowns. "Look, Colonel!" + +"Three! Great heavens!" the Colonel cried, delighted. He took one and +disposed of it in haste. + +"I mixed them myself," Miss 'Lethe said. + +The Colonel drank another, but less rapidly. + +"Remember," she said, warningly, "three and no more!" + +"Yes, yes," he granted. "I must save the other one." It was difficult to +sip it, for Miss Alathea's juleps were like nectar to his thirsty +palate, but he restrained himself and drank of this last ambrosial glass +with great deliberation, trying to make it last as long as possible. + +"What are all those bundles, Colonel?" asked Miss Alathea, pointing to +the packages which old Neb had brought in. + +"They're for Madge. She bought them yesterday." He sighed. "Ah, will you +ever forget yesterday?" + +"Oh, don't speak of it!" + +"Can't help it." The Colonel waxed enthusiastic at the mere memory of +the great occasion. "Whoopee!" he cried. "What a race it was!" + +"To think," said Miss Alathea, "that I--_I_--should enter a race-track!" + +"To think that _I_--should stay out of one!" + +"It was all your fault, Colonel," said Miss Alathea. "In your excitement +after the race you grasped my hand and I was compelled to follow." + +"How strange!" exclaimed the Colonel, slowly, with a slight smile +tickling at the corners of his mouth. "At times I fancied you were in +the lead, I following." + +"Colonel," said the lady slowly, "perhaps I might as well confess. I've +made a discovery. The sin isn't so much in looking at the horses +run--it's in betting on them. That's where souls are lost." + +"And likewise money," said the Colonel, nodding, gravely. + +"So, Colonel, if you'll promise not to bet, I've no objection to your +attending the races in moderation." + +In delighted amazement the Colonel forgot that that last julep could be +brought to a quick end by hurried management and took a hasty and a +mammoth swallow. "What!" he cried. "Can I believe it? Miss 'Lethe, +you're an angel! It's the last drop in my cup of happiness!" + +Miss Alathea shyly smiled--smiled, indeed, a bit shame-facedly. "There's +one condition, Colonel--that you take me along--yes, to watch over you." + +"Take you with me?" said the Colonel. He paused in puzzled contemplation +of her for an instant. "Oh, I catch on. You'll go with the children to +see the animals!" He laughed. "You rather like it." He became +enthusiastic. "No more knot-holes or trees for us! At last--two souls +with but a single thought, two hearts that beat when Queen Bess won! +Here's to our future happiness!" + +He raised the glass and would have drunk from it, but, now, alas! the +glass was empty. It surprised and grieved him, but, when Miss Alathea +held her hand out, quietly, for the vessel which had held the final +julep but which now held it no longer, he yielded it up gracefully nor +asked her to refill it. + +As Miss Alathea placed the empty glass upon the side-board Madge entered +from the hallway. She ran up to the Colonel. "I heard you'd come," she +said, "an' couldn't wait. Say, air it all fixed about Queen Bess?" + +"Fixed?" cried the gallant horseman. "Well I should remark! Queen Bess +is sold and paid for and a draft for the assessment forwarded to the +Company. Inside of a year Frank will have the income of a prince." + +"All," said Miss Alathea, "owing to that mysterious jockey who +disappeared immediately after the race. Oh, I'd like to kiss that boy!" + +"If you did, I should not be jealous," said the Colonel with an air of +generosity. + +"Miss 'Lethe, kiss me. Won't I do as well?" Madge asked, going to her. + +Miss Alathea kissed her, but was still thinking of the unknown jockey, +who, in the nick of time, had come from nowhere, materialized from +nothing, to save the day for Frank by riding Queen Bess to victory. "I +feel as if I must know his name," she said. "Madge, help me persuade the +Colonel to tell us." She went to him and petted him. "Colonel, you will +not refuse me!" + +Madge looked at him apprehensively, warningly. "An' I reckon you won't +refuse me, Colonel." Then, going close to him, she whispered: "Remember, +mum's the word!" + +"Away, you tempters, away!" the Colonel cried, and waved them from him. +"It's a professional secret, and I've promised to keep it on the honor +of a Kentucky gentleman--just as I promised you, Miss 'Lethe." + +"As you promised me? That's enough, Colonel--not another word!" + +Madge nodded, smilingly. "That's right, Colonel. Mustn't break your +word." Just then she caught sight of the bundles which the Colonel had +had Neb bring in. "Oh, are them my bundles, Colonel?" + +"Every one of them." + +The girl hurried to the mysteriously fascinating packages and began +investigation of their contents. "Thank ye, thank ye!" she exclaimed, +while she was busy with the wrappings. "Awful good of you to bring 'em." +Then, to Miss Alathea in explanation: "Things I bought yesterday, Miss +'Lethe, all by myself. Jus' went wild. Reckon I'll let you an' th' +Colonel see 'em." She took a large, dressed doll out of its wrappings. +"Look at that!" + +"What a beauty!" cried the Colonel. + +"Can talk, too." Madge pressed the wondrous puppet's shirred silk chest. +"Ma-ma," it cried. "Ma-ma." + +"Never had nothin' but a rag-doll, myself," the girl went on, delighted +by their approval of this automatic wonder. "'Tain't for me. It's for a +little girl as lives up in th' mountings." + +From the doll she turned to an amazing jumping-jack, the next treasure +taken from the packages. She pulled the toy's animating strings and +watched its antics with delight. "Mos' as lively as a Kentucky Colonel +climbin' a tree," said she, and laughed roguishly at the horseman. "Oh, +I heard of it; I heard of it." + +The Colonel tried in vain to protest, Madge's laughter kept up merrily, +as she took an old-fashioned carpet-sack from quite the biggest of the +bundles and began to pack her purchases in it, until the Colonel and +Miss Alathea left the room, gaily protesting at her ridicule. + +Instantly all of the signs of high elation vanished from the girl's +face. She drooped. Left alone, it quickly became plain that her recent +animation had been forced, unreal. "Well I guess I'd better not open up +th' other bundles," she said listlessly. "I'll pack 'em as they be. It's +time I started too. I'm goin' back to the mountings." Softly she hummed +the air the darkies had been singing when she came into the room. + + "Weep no more, my lady, oh, weep no more to-day, + I will sing one song of my old Kentucky home, + Then my old Kentucky home, good-night!" + +There was infinite pathos in her half-unconscious rendition of the +plaintive, darkey melody. To the mountain girl the moment was full of +sadness. She had come down from her mountains to save the man she loved +from the assassin's bullet and had saved him, not from that alone, but +from a crushing blow to hope and fortune. Her work was done. All that +now was left to her was to go back to her little cabin, hiding the +secret of her love for him in her sore heart, enshrining, there, the +memory of every minute she had ever passed with him as holy memories to +comfort her in days to come. Melancholy thoughts pressed on her hard. + +Frank entered. + +He stopped short in the doorway, looking with amazement at her work of +packing for departure. + +"Why, Madge!" said he. "What does this mean? Packing up! Surely you're +not going away!" There was a thrill of real distress in his pleasant, +vibrant voice which comforted her. + +"Yes, I'm going back to th' mountings. I was ... goin' afore, but I +couldn't miss that hoss-race." + +"Madge," he cried impulsively, "you must not and you shall not go. I +cannot bear to think of you wasting your life in the lonely mountains. +Madge, your land will make you rich, and with your brightness you could +study and learn. Education will make you an ornament to any society." + +She shook her head. "As fur as I can see," said she, "society ain't what +it is cracked up to be. I don't seem to have no hankerin' after it. Oh, +o' course, I'd like to have all this softness an' pootiness around me, +always; I'd like to go out in th' world an' see th' wonders as I've +heard of; but I don't think that 'u'd satisfy me. I'd still be hankerin' +an' thirstin' arter somethin' that I couldn't have. There's been a +feelin' in my heart, ever sence I come here, that'll take th' air o' th' +mountings to cl'ar away. Like enough, up there among th' wild things +that love me, amongst th' rocks an' hills, I'll find th' rest an' peace +I ain't had since I come away." + +The youth looked at her with wide, worried eyes. He had not thought the +situation out in any very careful detail; but he had, at no time, +contemplated her immediate departure. Now that it seemed imminent it +brought his feelings to a focus, showed him, instantly, that he could +not bear to have this mountain maiden who had done so much for him thus +vanish from his life. A realization that he loved her deeply, tenderly, +unchangeably rushed over him. That she was a child of nature, uneducated +and unaccustomed to the world he knew became a matter of but small +importance to him as he stood there watching her, while, sadly but +deliberately, she kept on with her work of packing in the carpet-bag her +small possessions and the many gifts which she had purchased in the city +for the children of her "mountings." That the world which he had ever +thought his world might laugh at her and ridicule him if he married her +he knew, but, suddenly, this seemed of little consequence. The errors in +her education could be readily corrected and her heart and instincts +were more nearly right, already, than those of any lowland girl whom he +had ever known. + +"Madge," he cried, "I cannot give you up! I love you!" + +The girl's hands stopped their busy work among the bundles. Her cheeks +paled and her lips parted to a gasping little intake of breath. It had +not, once, occurred to her modest, self-sacrificing mind that, even as +the bluegrass gentleman had found her heart and taken it forever and +forever to be his own, no matter where she was or how great might the +distance be which separated them, so, also, had his heart really and +forever passed to her, the simple, unlettered and untrained little +maiden of the wilderness. It seemed impossible, incredible. + +"You love me!" + +"Yes, I love you as I never have, as I never can love any other woman. +Madge, dearest, I want you for my wife!" + +The great desire, the certainty that if he did not win her then all +other triumphs would be empty, meaningless, had come suddenly upon him, +but it had come with overwhelming force. His voice was vibrant with a +passion which surprised himself. + +"No, no; it can never be!" she said tremulously. Her heart was in a +turmoil, her hands trembled with excitement. Ah, it was hard for her to +put away from her the brilliant vista which had opened there before her +startled eyes! But she was sure that she must do it; that if she loved +this man she must forswear him for his own dear sake. What right had +she, a mountain-girl, to come down there to the bluegrass to shame him +in the face of friends and foes by her ignorance and awkwardness? Her +heart yearned toward him with a warmth and fervor which she had not +known as possible to human longings, but--no, no, for his sake she must +give him up, as, for his sake, she had made the long, desperate journey +from the mountains to save him from Joe Lorey's bullet, as, for his +sake, shrinking and dismayed, conscious that in doing it she might very +well be sacrificing his respect for her, she had donned the blouse and +breeches of a jockey, yesterday, to ride his mare to victory when none +other had been there to save the day for him. That had been a sacrifice +almost beyond the power of words to tell--a sacrifice of modesty; now +came an even greater one, but one which, none the less, must certainly +be made. "No, no," said she again, "it can never, never be!" + +"But I want you--just as you are! What do I care for the world, without +you, or for what it says, so long as you are mine?" + +A flood of bitterness rushed to her heart. Ah, why, why, had fate made +it so necessary that, to save him, she must do what, yesterday, she had +been forced to do! + +"You're thinkin' of my ignorance, an' such," she said, with sad eyes +bent upon the gifts which, now, although she looked at them, she did not +see and had forgotten. "But there's more nor that as stands between us, +Mr. Frank." + +"You mean you don't love me?" + +"No, no; oh, what air th' use o' denyin' it? I love you! It's that--it's +that that drives me from you, an' that breaks--my--heart!" + +He went close to her and tried to take her hands in his. "Madge, dear," +he said softly, "I want you to listen to me. I tell you I shall not let +any foolish pride or any fears for the future stand in the way of our +happiness. When I thought, a moment ago, that I might lose you forever, +I saw what my life would be without you; and, now that I know you love +me, nothing shall come between us. Madge, dear heart, I want you to put +your hand in mine." + +She drew away, but it was plain that she was sorely tempted. "Ah, if I +only dared!" said she. + +"Come, Madge, darling!" he said fervently, opening his arms to fold her +to his heart. + +"No, no," she said, "it wouldn't be right." The Colonel's words: "We'd +think it an eternal shame and a disgrace for one of our women to ride a +race in a costume such as you have on," rang in her mind and filled her +with despair. "The Colonel said--" she began, weakly. + +"Oh, damn the Colonel!" Frank cried angrily, wondering why any one +should meddle with his heart-affairs. + +And as he spoke the Colonel entered hurriedly, evidently bearing news of +import. + +Startled by the young man's earnest words, he stopped short in +astonishment. "Why--what's that, sir?" he exclaimed amazed, and then, +seeing clearly that he had broken in upon a fervent sentimental +situation and unwilling to believe that Frank could really have meant +him when he had been so emphatic, turned his thoughts, again, to the +news which had brought him in such haste. + +"I say," he said, excitedly, "I've been cross-examining that rascal, +Ike, and I've found out who smuggled the whiskey to him." + +"Who was it?" Madge and Frank cried almost in unison. + +"That double-distilled, three-ply scoundrel, Horace Holton," said the +Colonel, angrily. + +"Holton!" Frank exclaimed. "I wouldn't have believed it!" + +"I would," Madge commented. + +"I'll find him and settle with him for it!" Frank angrily exclaimed. + +"I'm afraid that's easier said than done," the Colonel answered, "but +I'm with you, and we'll do our best." + +Through the windows came the noise of baying hounds. It instantly +attracted their attention, as it ever will that of Kentuckians. "What's +that? A fox-hunt?" + +Frank had hurried to the window and was looking out. "No," he answered, +in incredulous amazement, "it's Holton and his gang. They're hunting Joe +Lorey with dogs!" + +Madge hurried to his side, distressed beyond the power of words to tell. +"Oh, oh!" she cried. "They're coming this way, and--and--who's that?" + +As she spoke Joe Lorey dashed up, breathless to the window. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +The moonshiner stood there, pathetic in his beaten strength before them. + +"They're huntin' me with dogs!" he said. "They're goin' to string me up +without justice or mercy!" + +Madge hurried to his side. "Joe, they shan't do it!" she exclaimed, and +took his hand. + +"It'll take more nor you to save me, little one," he said, and smiled +down at her pitifully. "There's no hope for me, now. That's why I've +come hyar, to say to you all, afore I die, that I am innocent o' firin' +th' stable." He threw back his shoulders and stood before them, +impressive and convincing. "Afore God, I am innocent!" + +Frank looked at him with eyes which, as they gazed, altered their +expression. He had thought the man quite possibly guilty of a vicious +act--a foul attempt to burn a helpless animal in order to obtain revenge +upon the man who owned her. But as he gazed he could not doubt that he +was speaking simple truth. "Joe," he said impulsively, "I believe you!" + +Joe turned to him with gratitude plain upon his face. "You believe +me--arter all that's passed?" He looked straight into the eyes of the +young man he had hated, with a searching, earnest gaze. "Then," he said, +after a second's pause, "I believe as what you said, that night, war +true. It war never you as ruined me." He held his hand out to the man +whom, not so long ago, he had wished, with all his heart, to kill. + +Frank grasped it with a hearty grip, just as the terrifying baying of +the hounds approached the house. + +"Frank, they're coming here!" the Colonel cried, excited. + +Joe turned away from Frank, looking here and there like a hunted animal. +"Oh, it's hard to die afore I've met Lem Lindsay!" he said hopelessly. +It was quite plain that he considered his fate sealed. + +Even as he spoke Holton and half-a-dozen others sprang to the broad +gallery which fronted the whole room. Holton was plainly the leader of +the party, for when he motioned all the others back, they obeyed his +signal without protest, while he, himself, peered eagerly in through a +wide, open window. + +Frank, angered beyond measure by this bold intrusion, would have sprung +toward him, to attack him, had not the Colonel waved him back. + +"Frank, my boy," said he, "keep cool, keep cool!" + +As he spoke, without apology, Holton stepped through the window into +the room, itself. + +"Layson," he said curtly, "I'm a committee o' one to ask if you'll turn +over that man, an' make no trouble." He jerked a thumb toward Joe. + +Layson was wrathful at the man's intrusion; he had been impressed by +what the fugitive had said. "No," he answered, hotly. "Joe Lorey's in my +house, under my protection, and, by the eternal, you shan't lay a hand +on him!" + +The Colonel smiled, delighted. "Kentucky blood!" he cried. "I'll back +you to a finish!" + +He ranged himself by Frank, and Madge, as belligerent as either of them, +hurried, also, to his side. + +"I'm with you, Colonel," she exclaimed, with the spirit of the +mountain-bred, "and we'll win ag'in, as we did once before!" + +Joe saw this with distress. Layson's generosity had softened him. He +knew, perfectly, by this time, that Madge was not for him, and her +spirit in joining his defenders--the very men whom he had thought his +enemies--touched him deeply. The realization came to him with a quick +rush that he had wronged the bluegrass folk whom he had hated with such +bitterness. He looked first at those who wished to take him prisoner and +make him suffer for a crime of which he was not guilty, and then at his +defenders, who had every reason to doubt him, but still, without a +question, had accepted his own plea of innocence. He had already made +these people trouble. Now was his opportunity to save them from an +awkward situation and, perhaps, a perilous one. There might be shooting +if he offered to resist or let these good friends attempt to defend him. +That would endanger them, and, worse, endanger Madge. "I'll go. I don't +want to make no trouble," he said hastily. + +Holton nodded with approval. He wished to take the man as quickly and as +simply as he could. Every complication which could be avoided would make +less probable discovery of the fact that he, himself, and not the +fugitive young mountaineer, was the real culprit. + +"That's sensible," he said, "for them men, out thar, are bound to hev +you, by fair means or foul." + +"Those men will listen to reason," Frank said with a determination which +disconcerted the ex-slave dealer. "They shall hear me!" He stepped +toward the open window. "Colonel, come with me." Without waiting for him +he stepped to the gallery outside. + +The Colonel started to go also, but, seeing that Holton, too, was about +to hurry out, paused long enough to go up to him threateningly. "Don't +you dare to follow!" he warned him. "We'll play this hand alone." The +man fell back and the Colonel kept his eyes on him as, slowly, he joined +Frank on the gallery. + +Holton's discomfiture lasted but a moment. As soon as the Colonel had +passed out of sight he got his wits back and looked threateningly at +Madge and the mountaineer. "We'll see about that," he declared +viciously, and, making a movement of his hand which indicated that he +must be armed, although he had not shown a weapon, so far, moved toward +another window which also opened on the gallery. + +But he had not counted on old Neb. The darkey found in this emergency +the opportunity for which he had been waiting many years. Lapse of time +had never dulled his keen resentment of the blow the man had struck him; +now it was with keen delight that he stepped out of the shadow just +outside the window, with a carelessly held pistol in his hand, which +somehow appeared to cover Holton. "De Cunnel said you'd please stay +heah, suh," he said placidly; but the pistol gave his words an emphasis +which could not be mistaken. + +Holton paled with rage, but did not take another forward step. + +As he fell back Joe Lorey spoke. The murmur of the mob outside, incited, +he well knew, to hunger for his life, and the loud voices of the Colonel +and of Frank, raised in expostulation, made an accompaniment for what he +had to say to Holton, and that he still was in grave danger made his +attitude more menacing, his words more impressive. + +"Yes," he said to Holton, while Madge gazed, spellbound, "you hold on. +I've a word to say to you." + +"Say it, then, and say it quick," said Holton, trying to make his tone +contemptuous. + +"I'll say it quick, and I'll say it plain. You know as it war never me +as fired that stable. You war there an' saw me leave afore th' fire. +It's yer place to cl'ar me. Why air you a-houndin' me to my death?" + +Holton was uncomfortable. "Them men out thar believe ye guilty. It ain't +my work," he said. + +The mountaineer was not deceived. He knew this man to be his enemy, +although he knew no reason for his hatred. "It's you as air settin' 'em +on," he said, "as you set me on Frank Layson when you told me that lie +ag'in him in th' mountings." + +Madge had listened, speechless, during this dramatic scene, but stood +watching it, alert and ready to lend aid to her friend, if opportunity +arose. Now, at Joe's words, she started forward. + +"Was it him as told you?" she inquired, amazed. + +Joe did not answer her, but continued to face Holton and address him. "I +believed you," he went on, "because I thought you couldn't a-knowed o' +th' still except through him; but since he never told you, it air proof +to me that you have been in these here mountings, sometime, afore." +Strange suspicions were glittering from his hostile eyes as he faced the +now thoroughly alarmed man who, a moment since, had been the blustering +bully. + +"I tell you I were never thar!" said Holton hurriedly. + +"Then how did you know of th' cave an' the oak?" said Joe, accusingly. +The glitter of suspicion in his eyes was growing brighter every second. +"It's plain to me as how you've passed many a day thar in them +mountings. Thar's somethin' bound up in yer past as has egged you on +ag'in me. I wants to know what that thing is--I wants to know just who +an' what ye air!" + +"It's easy enough to show who Horace Holton is," the man said, +blustering, but he was very ill at ease. "What do I care what you want?" +And then he made a slip. "You can't bring no proof--" he began, but +caught himself. + +Madge had been watching him with new intentness. The excitement of the +moment may have sharpened the girl's wits, or, possibly, its hint of +peril may have brought to Holton's face some detail of expression, +which, during recent weeks, had not before appeared upon it. + +"But I kin," she said, slowly. "I war right in what I thought when I +first saw you in th' mountings. I _had_ seen your face afore!" + +"Don't you dare say that!" cried Holton, stepping toward her angrily. +The man who had been the accuser, was, strangely, now, quite plainly, +half at bay. + +"That look ag'in!" the girl said, studying his face. "That look war +printed on my baby brain!" + +"Silence, I say!" cried Holton, now badly frightened. He had not +counted on this recognition. + +"Never!" the girl said boldly. She was certain, now, as she looked at +him, that the suspicion which had flashed into her mind was accurate. +Her cheeks paled and she stepped toward him with set face, clenched +hands. Every fibre in her thrilled with horror of him, every drop of +blood in her young body cried for vengeance on him. "I'll rouse th' +world ag'in ye!" she exclaimed, so tensely that even Lorey looked at her +with alarmed amazement. "I'll rouse th' world ag'in ye, for I'm standin' +face to face with my own father's murderer--Lem Lindsay!" + +"Lem Lindsay!" said Joe, wonderingly, and then, with the expression on +his face of a wild-beast about to spring upon his prey: "At last!" + +Holton shrank away from them in terror which he could not hide. His +bravado was all gone. He was, no longer, the accuser, but, with the +mention of that name, had changed places with Joe Lorey and become the +fugitive, shrinking, alarmed. + +"'Sh! Don't speak that name!" he pleaded. He made no effort at denial. +There was that in the girl's eyes which told him that her recognition +had been absolute. "I've been hidin' it for years." He spoke pleadingly. +"Look hyar. I've got everythin' that heart can wish. Joe Lorey, I'll +save you from them men. I'll sw'ar I saw you leave the stable afore th' +fire begun." He moved his eyes from one of the accusing faces to the +other, terrified. "I'll make ye both rich if you'll never speak that +name ag'in!" + +[Illustration: "I'M STANDIN' FACE TO FACE WITH MY OWN FATHER'S +MURDERER--LEM LINDSAY"] + +"Your weight in gold would make no differ!" Joe cried menacingly. "Lem +Lindsay, it air Heaven's work that's given you into my hands!" He went +toward him slowly, menacingly, with his strong fingers working with +desire to clutch his shrinking throat. "It air Heaven's will as you +should meet your fall through Ben Lorey's son!" + +Holton, desperate, gathered courage for a last effort to escape from the +net which he had woven to his own undoing. With a quick movement he drew +from his belt, where his long coat had concealed its presence, hitherto, +a gleaming knife, and, with it upraised, rushed at Joe viciously. "I'm a +free man, yet," he cried, "an' I'm a-goin' to stay free!" + +Joe, alert, calm-eyed, cool-witted, waited for him with a hand upraised +to catch his wrist, with muscles braced to meet the fierce attack. + +Madge rushed to the window, calling loudly: "Colonel! Mr. Frank!" + +But Holton and Joe Lorey were, by that time, locked in a desperate grip +and struggling with the energy of men battling for their lives. Twisting +and straining, each striving with the last ounce of energy within him to +get the better of the other, they plunged across the room and out into +the hall. + +Just as Frank and the Colonel hurried in, a shot was heard and then a +heavy fall. An instant later Joe came to the door. + +"Heaven's will are done!" he said, quite simply. + +Layson rushed toward him, but paused, aghast, looking off through the +open door. "Joe, you've killed him!" he exclaimed. + +"An' I had a right!" said Joe, now strangely calm. "When he killed my +father it were ordained that he should fall by my hands. I ain't afeared +to stand my trial." + +"The men outside have promised," Layson said, dismayed by this new and +terrible complication, "that you shall have a fair trial on the other +charge. They've gone, now, for the sheriff. But this charge," he looked +toward the door which led into the hall, "will be more serious!" + +"I can clear him of 'em both," said Madge. "I'll sw'ar th' killin' was +in self-defense; I'll sw'ar that Holton owned, before me, that he saw +Joe leave th' stable afore th' fire." + +"He saw him!" exclaimed Frank, astonished. "What was Holton doing +there?" + +"Oh, don't you see?" said Madge. "He war your enemy--th' man as told Joe +th' lie ag'in you in th' mountings, th' man as tried to burn Queen +Bess." + +The Colonel had entered, quickly, from the gallery, and stood listening, +amazed and fascinated. Now, after a moment's pause to think the matter +out, he advanced to Joe with outstretched hand. For the man who had +been guilty of that vile mischief he felt no regret, for the man who +had, in a fair fight and with good reason, shot him down, he felt full +sympathy. "Tried to burn Queen Bess!" he cried. "Joe, the jury'll clear +you without leaving their seats! Come, my boy--the sheriff's here, and +you will have to go with him; but don't you worry. I'll see you +through." + +Joe stood, thinking, with bowed head and frowning brow. Suddenly he +looked up and cast his eyes about upon the company. "Before I goes, I +wants to say a word to Madge," said he, and turned to her with an +impressive earnestness. "Little one, don't you never fret about me, no +more." He took her hand and she gave it to him gladly. "I see, now, as +you was never made for me." He took a step toward Frank and led her to +him. "I see whar your heart is, an' I puts your hand in his." With bowed +head he relinquished the brown hand of the mountain-girl whom he had +loved since childhood, to the outstretched hand of the young +"foreigner," whom he no longer looked at with the hatred which had so +long thrilled his heart. "And--now I says good-bye. God bless you both!" + +He went out, slowly, with the Colonel. + +"Madge, he's right," said Frank, "this little hand is mine." + +He would have clasped her in his arms, but, finally, she held him off. + +"No, no," said she, "not till you know my secret. It was I who rode +Queen Bess," + +"You rode Queen Bess!" + +The Colonel was re-entering the room. "But the world will never know +it," he said gallantly, "on the honor of a Kentuckian." + +Frank's smile was radiant. "If it did, I should say: 'Here, Madge, in my +arms, is your shelter from the world.'" He drew her to him gently. +"Madge, my little wife!" + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13933 *** diff --git a/13933-h/13933-h.htm b/13933-h/13933-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0cd6799 --- /dev/null +++ b/13933-h/13933-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10624 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of In Old Kentucky, by Edward Marshall and Charles T. Dazey</title> + <style type="text/css"> + /*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ + <!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: 2%; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 {text-align: center; /* all headings centered */} + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY { background:#ffffff; + color:black; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + font-size:1.1em; + margin-top:100px; + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align:justify} + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + .fontnorm {font-size:1.1em} + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + a:link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:#ff0000} + pre {font-size: 8pt;} + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13933 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, In Old Kentucky, by Edward Marshall and +Charles T. Dazey, Illustrated by Clarence Rowe</h1> +<hr class="full" noshade> + + <a name="Illus_1"></a> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_1.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_1.jpg" + alt= + "<i> Frontispiece</i> She saw the stranger break through the undergrowth" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4><i>Frontispiece</i>: She saw the stranger break through + the<br> + undergrowth about the pool.</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <h1>IN OLD KENTUCKY</h1><br> + + + <h3>A Story of the Bluegrass and the Mountains<br> + Founded On Charles T. Dazey's Play</h3> + + <h4>By</h4> + + <h2>EDWARD MARSHALL and CHARLES T. DAZEY</h2><br> + + + <h4>Illustrations By CLARENCE ROWE</h4><br> + + <h5>1910</h5><br> + <br> + <br> + <center><hr></center> + <br> +<br> + + + <h2>CONTENTS<br></h2><br> + + <h3>Chapter: [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_I"> I </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_II"> II </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_III"> III </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_IV"> IV </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_V"> V </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_VI"> VI </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_VII"> VII </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_VIII"> VIII </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_IX"> IX </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_X"> X </a>]<br> + <br> + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XI"> XI </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XII"> XII </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"> XIII </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"> XIV </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XV"> XV </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"> XVI </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"> XVII </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"> XVIII </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"> XIX </a>]<br></h3><br> + <br> + + + <h2>ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + + <center> + <table> + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_1"><span class="fontnorm">She + saw the stranger break through the undergrowth + about the pool.</span></a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_2"><span class="fontnorm">A + mighty leap had carried them beyond the blazing + barrier.</span></a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_3"><span class="fontnorm">"No + man can cross this bridge, + unless—unless—"</span></a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_4"><span class= + "fontnorm">"Back! back! I'm a-comin' with Queen + Bess!"</span></a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_5"><span class="fontnorm">"I'm + standin' face to face with my own father's + murderer—Lem Lindsay."</span></a></td> + </tr> + </table> + </center><br> + <br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <br> + <a name="IN_OLD_KENTUCKY"></a> + + <h2>IN OLD KENTUCKY</h2><br> + <br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_I"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER I.</h2><br> + + + <p>She was coming, singing, down the side of Nebo + Mountain—"Old Nebo"—mounted on an ox. Sun-kissed + and rich her coloring; her flowing hair was like spun light; + her arms, bare to the elbows and above, might have been the + models to drive a sculptor to despair, as their muscles played + like pulsing liquid beneath the tinted, velvet skin of wrists + and forearms; her short skirt bared her shapely legs above the + ankles half-way to the knees; her feet, never pinched by shoes + and now quite bare, slender, graceful, patrician in their + modelling, in strong contrast to the linsey-woolsey of her gown + and rough surroundings, were as dainty as a dancing girl's in + ancient Athens.</p> + + <p>The ox, less stolid than is common with his kind, doubtless + because of ease of life, swung down the rocky path at a good + gait, now and then swaying his head from side to side to nip + the tender shoots of freshly leaving laurel. She + sang:</p><span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Woodpecker pecked as + a woodpecker will,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Jim thought 'twas a knock on + the door of the still,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">He grabbed up his gun, and he + went for to see,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">The woodpecker laughed as he + said: 'Jest me!'"</span><br> + + + <p>She laughed, now, not at the song, which was purely + automatic, but in sheer joy of living on that wonderful June + day in those marvellous Kentucky mountains. Their loneliness + did not depress her; indeed, to her, they were not lonely, but + peopled by a host of lifelong friends who had greeted her at + birth, and would, she had every reason to suppose, speed her + when her end came. Their majesty did not overwhelm her, + although she felt it keenly, and respected it and loved it with + a certain dear, familiar awe. And everywhere about her was the + Spring. Laurel blossomed at the trail's sides, filling the + whole air with fragrance; the tardier blueberry bushes crowding + low about it had begun to show the light green of their + bursting buds; young ferns were pushing through the coverlet of + last autumn's leaves which had kept them snug against the + winter's cold, and were beginning to uncurl their delicate and + wondrous spirals; maple and beech were showing their new + leaves. The air was full of bird-notes—the plaintively + pleading or exultantly triumphant cries of the mating season's + joy and passion. Filmy clouds, like scattered, snowy ostrich + plumes, floated, far, far up above her on a sea of richest + blue; a fainter blue of springtime haze dimmed the depths of + the great valley which a wide pass gave her vision of off to + the left—and she was rather glad of this, for the haze, + while, certainly, it hid from her much beauty, also hid the + ugly scars which man was making there on nature's face, the + cuts and gashes with which the builders of the new railway were + marring the rich pasture lands.</p> + + <p>She turned from this to pleasanter and wilder prospects, + close at hand, as her path narrowed, and began to sing again in + sheer joyousness of spirit.</p><span style= + "margin-left: 3em;">"Mr. Woodpecker laughed as a woodpecker + will,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">As Jim stood lookin' out of the + door of the still,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Mr. Jim,' he remarked, 'I have + come for to ax</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Ef</i> you'd give me a worm + for my revenue tax'!"</span><br> + + + <p>The placid ox, plodding slowly down the trail, did not + swerve when the bushes parted suddenly at one side, as she + finished this verse of her song, but Madge Brierly looked about + with a quick alertness. The sound of the rustling leaves and + crackling twigs might mean a friend's approach, they might mean + the coming of one of the very enemies whom the song had hinted + at so lightly, but against whom all the people of the mountains + keep perpetual watch, they might even mean a panther, hungry + after his short rations of the winter and recklessly determined + on a meal at any cost.</p> + + <p>But it was Joe Lorey's face which greeted her as she + abruptly turned to see. His coon-skin cap, his jerkin and + trousers of faded blue-jeans, his high, rusty boots matched + perfectly with his primitive environments. As he appeared only + the old-fashioned Winchester, which he carried cradled in his + crooked elbow, spoke of the Nineteenth century. His face, + though handsome in a crudely modelled way, had been + weather-beaten into a rough, semi-fierceness by the storms + through which he had watched the mountain-passes during the + long winter for the raiders who were ever on his trail. The + slightly reddened lids of his dark, restless eyes, told of long + nights during which the rising fumes of moonshine whisky + stealthily brewing in his furtive still, cave-hidden, had made + them smart and sting. Even as, smilingly, he came up to the + strangely mounted maid, there was on his face the strong trace + of that hunted look which furtive consciousness of continual + and unrelenting pursuit gives to the lawbreaker—even to + the lawbreaker who believes the laws he breaks are wrong and to + be violated without sin and righteously.</p> + + <p>"That you, Joe?" said the girl. "You skeered me."</p> + + <p>"Did I?" he replied, grinning broadly. "Didn't plan to."</p> + + <p>From far below there came the crash of bursting powder. + Quick and lithe as a panther the man whirled, ready with his + rifle. The girl laughed.</p> + + <p>"Nothin' but the railroad blastin' down there in the + valley," she said with amusement. "Ain't you uset to that, + yet?"</p> + + <p>"No," said he, "I ain't—an' never will be."</p> + + <p>His tone was definitely bitter. Never were the "sounds of + progress more ungraciously received than there among the + mountains by the folk who had, hedged in by their fastnesses, + become almost a race apart, ignorant of the outside world's + progressions and distrustful and suspicious of them.</p> + + <p>"Where you goin', Madge?" he asked, plodding on beside the + lurching ox.</p> + + <p>"I ain't tellin'," she said briefly. "But you can go part + ways—you can go fur as th' pasture bars."</p> + + <p>"Why can't I go as fur as you go?"</p> + + <p>"Because," said she, and laughed. "I reckon maybe that th' + water's started to warm up down in the pool, ain't it?" she + cried, and laughed again.</p> + + <p>"Oh!" said he, a bit abashed, and evidently + understanding.</p> + + <p>They did not pursue the subject.</p> + + <p>"What you got there?" he inquired, a few moments later, as + they were approaching the old pasture. He pointed to a package + carefully wrapped in a clean apron, which she hugged beneath + her arm.</p> + + <p>"Spellin' book," said Madge, as, just before the bars she + slid down from her perch upon the ox. "I'm learnin'."</p> + + <p>His lip curled with the mountaineer's contempt for books and + all they have to teach.</p> + + <p>"What you want to <i>learn</i> for?"</p> + + <p>He had gently shouldered her aside as she had stooped to + raise the bars back to position, and, with a certain crude + gallantry, had done the task himself.</p> + + <p>"Bleeged," she said briefly, and then, standing with one + brown and rounded arm upon the topmost rail, paused in + consideration of an answer to his question.</p> + + <p>The ox stopped, dully, close within the closed gap in the + rough fence. She went closer to him and patted his side kindly. + "Go on, old Buck," she said. "I'm through with you for quite a + while. Go on and have some fun or rest, whichever you like + best. You certainly can stand a lot of rest! And here is new + spring grass, Buck. I should think you would be crazy to git at + it."</p> + + <p>As if he understood, the old ox turned away, and, slowly, + with careful searching for the newest and the tenderest of the + forage blades which had pushed up to meet the pleasant + sunshine, showed he was well fed at all times.</p> + + <p>"What do I want to learn for?" the girl repeated, returning + to Joe's question. "Why—why—I don't know, exactly. + There's a longin' stirrin' in me.</p> + + <p>"While you was over yon" (she waved her hand in a broad + sweep to indicate the mountain's other side). "I had to go down + into town after—after quite a lot of things." She looked + at him somewhat furtively, as if she feared this statement + might give rise to some unwelcome questioning, but it did not. + "I saw what queer things they are doin'—th' men that work + there on that railroad buildin'. Wonderful things, lots of 'em, + and the bed-rock of 'em all was learnin'. I watched a gang of + 'em for near plum half a day. There wasn't a thing they did + that they didn't first read from a sheet of paper about. If + they hadn't had them sheets and if they couldn't read what had + been written on 'em, why, they couldn't never <i>build</i> no + railroad. And not only that—they got all kinds of comfort + out of it. They have their books that tell 'em what other men + have done before 'em, they have their newspapers that tell + 'em—<i>everyday</i>, Joe—what other men are doin', + everywhere, fur as th' earth is spread.</p> + + <p>"They <i>know</i> things, them men do, and they're heaps + happier because of it." She paused, leaning on the old worn + fence.</p> + + <p>"An' their wimmen knows things," she went on. "I'm goin' to, + too. It's th' greatest comfort that they've got. I'm goin' to + <i>have</i> that comfort, Joe!"</p> + + <p>She patted the new spelling book as if it were a precious + thing.</p> + + <p>"I'm goin' to have that comfort," she continued. "I'm goin' + to know th' ins an' outs o' readin' an'" (she sighed and paused + a second, as if this next seemed more appalling) "an' of + writin'. Dellaw! That's hard! All sorts of curves an' twists + an' ups an' downs an' things, an' ev'ry one means + somethin'!"</p> + + <p>Joe looked at her, half in admiration, half in apprehension. + "You goin' to git too good fer these here mountings?" he + inquired.</p> + + <p>She gazed about her with a little intake of the breath, a + little sign of ecstasy, of her appreciation of the wondrous + view.</p> + + <p>"Too good for these here mountings?" she said thoughtfully. + "Learnin' couldn't make me that! It might show me how to love + 'em more. Nothin' in th' world, Joe, could make me love 'em + less!"</p> + + <p>He became more definite, a bit insistent. It had been plain, + for long, that it had required some self-control for him to + walk as he had walked, close by her side, without some + demonstration of his admiration for her, to stand there with + her at the bars without some sign that in her presence he found + happiness much greater than he had ever known, could ever know, + elsewhere.</p> + + <p>"You goin' to git too good fer—me?" he asked.</p> + + <p>She turned toward him impulsively. Great friendship shone + frankly in her fine eyes. On her face was that expression of + complete and understanding comradery which one child chum may + show another. Almost she said as much of him as she had said of + the surrounding mountains, but there was that upon his face + which stopped her. It was too plain that friendship was not + what he wanted, would not satisfy him. There was a hungry + yearning in his eyes, mute, respectful, worshipful, not for + comradery, but for a closer tie. She had watched this grow in + him within the recent months, with worry and regret. It seemed + to her a tragedy that their old friendship should ever prove + inadequate.</p> + + <p>"No," she answered gently, "I shall never get too good for + you, Joe—for any of my friends."</p> + + <p>He looked, almost with aversion, at the book she held so + closely. He distrusted books. Instinctively he felt them to be + enemies.</p> + + <p>"If you get them there ideas about learnin', an' all that, + you will!" he gruffly said. "Leastways you'll be goin' off, + some day an' leavin' us—me, the mountings an'—an' + all yer friends up here."</p> + + <p>An expression of great earnestness, of almost fierce + intensity grew in his face. "Madge," he said, "Madge Brierly, + you're makin' a mistake! You're plannin' things to take you off + from here; you're plannin' things to make you suffer, later on. + You're gettin' bluegrass notions, an' bluegrass notions never + did no mounting-born no good." He stepped closer to her.</p> + + <p>The latent fires in his approaching eyes were warning for + her and she stepped back hastily. "Joe Lorey, you behave + yourself!" said she. "I—"</p> + + <p>"Can't ye see I love ye, Madge?" he asked, and then the + fires died down, leaving in his eyes the pleading, worried look + alone. "Why, Madge, I—"</p> + + <p>She tried to make a joke of it. "Joe Lorey," she said, + laughing, "I reckon you're <i>plum</i> crazy. An' you ain't + givin' me a chance to do what 'twas that I come down for."</p> + + <p>"But—"</p> + + <p>"I ain't goin' to listen to another word, to-day," said she, + and waved him off.</p> + + <p>He went obediently, but slowly and unhappily, his rifle + snuggling in the crook of his left elbow, his heavy boots + finding firm footing in the rough and rocky trail as if by + instinct of their own, without assistance from his brain. A + "revenuer," coming up, just then, to bother him about his still + and its unlawful product of raw whisky, would have met small + mercy at his hands. He would have been a bad man, then, to + quarrel with. His temper would have flared at slightest + provocation. He would not let it flare at her; but, unseeing + any of the beauties which so vividly appealed to her, the + bitter foretaste of defeat was in his heart; and in his soul + was fierce revolt and disappointment. He had not the slightest + thought, however, of accepting this defeat as final.</p> + + <p>Madge watched him go with a look of keen distress upon her + fresh and beautiful young face. She must not let him say what + he had almost said, for she shrank from the thought of wounding + him with the answer she felt in her heart that she would have + to make. He had slouched off, half-way down the trail and out + of sight, before she put the thoughts of the unpleasant + situation from her mind and turned again to the great matter + which had brought her there, that day.</p> + + <p>With a last glance at the gap in the rail fence, to make + sure that it had been carefully replaced, so that there could + be no danger of finding her ox gone when she returned, she + started down the mountain, by a path different from that which + Joe had taken.</p> + + <p>She had not gone very far, when, from a clump of bunch-grass + just in front of her, only partly, yet, renewed by the new + season, a hare hopped awkwardly, endeavoring to make off. Its + progress was one-sided, difficult.</p> + + <p>Instantly she saw that it was wounded and with a little cry + she ran toward it and caught it. Instinctively the tiny animal + seemed to recognize her as a friend and ceased to struggle. One + of its fore legs had been broken, as she quickly saw.</p> + + <p>With a little exclamation of compassion, she sat down upon a + hummock, tore from her skirt a bit of cloth, found, on the + ground, two twigs, made of these crude materials rude splints + and bandages, bound the wounded creature, and sent it on its + painful way again. She sighed as, after having watched it for a + moment, she arose.</p> + + <p>"Pears like us human bein's always was a-hurtin' somethin'," + she soliloquized, distressed. "Thar some chap has left that + rabbit in misery behind him, and here I've sent Joe Lorey down + the mountain with a worse hurt than it's got." She sighed. "It + certain air a funny world!" she said.</p> + + <p>The subject of the wounded rabbit did not leave her mind + until she had clambered down the rocky path half-way to the + small stream which she sought below. She was ever ready with + compassion for the suffering, especially for dumb and helpless + suffering animals, and, besides, the episode had puzzled her. + Who was there in those mountains who would <i>wound</i> a + rabbit? Joe might have shot one, as might any other of the + mountain dwellers who chanced to take a sudden fancy for a + rabbit stew for supper, but Joe nor any of the other natives + would have left it wounded and in suffering behind him. Too + sure their markmanship, too careful their use of ammunition, + for such a happening as that. Trained in the logic of the + woods, the presence of the little suffering animal was a proof + to her that strangers were about. The people of the mountains + regard all strangers with suspicion. Half-a-dozen times she + stopped to listen, half-a-dozen times she started on again + without having heard an alien sound. Once, from the far + distance, she did catch a faint metallic clinking, as of the + striking of a hammer against rock, but it occurred once only, + and she finally attributed it to the mysterious doings of the + railroad people in the valley.</p> + + <p>Down the path she sped, now, rapidly and eagerly. It was + plain that something which she planned to do when she reached + her destination filled her with anticipation of delight, for + her red lips parted in a smile of expectation as charming as a + little child's, her breath came in eager pantings not due + wholly to the mere exertion of the rapid downward climb. When, + beyond a sudden turn in the rude trail, she suddenly saw spread + before her the smooth waters of a pool, formed by the creek in + a hill-pocket, she cried aloud with pleasure.</p> + + <p>"Ah," said she. "Ah! Now here we be!"</p> + + <p>But it was not at this first pool she stopped. Leaving the + path she skirted its soft edge, instead, and, after having + passed down stream some twenty yards or more, pushed her + skilled way between the little trees of a dense thicket and + into a dim, shadowy woods chamber on beyond, where lay another + pool, velvety, en-dusked, save for the flicker of the sunlight + through dense foliage.</p> + + <p>Here her delight was boundless. She ran forward with the + eagerness of a thirsty bird, and, leaning on the bank, + supported by bent arms, bent down and drank with keenest relish + of the cool spring waters gathered in the "cove," then dabbled + her brown slender fingers in the shining depths, watching, with + a smile, concentric, widening ripples as they hurried out + across the glassy surface, to the ferned bank beyond. A few + yards away a hidden cascade murmured musically. Through the + sparse and tender foliage of spring above her, the sunlight + flickered in bright, moving patches of golden brilliance, + falling on the breast of her rough, homespun gown, like + decorations given by a fairy queen. Around the water's edges + budding plants and deep-hued mosses made a border lovely + everywhere, and for long spaces deep and soft as velvet pile. A + thrush called softly from the forest depths behind her. From + the other side his mate replied in a soft twittering that told + of love and confidence and comfort. A squirrel scampered up the + trunk of a young beech, near by, and sat in the first crotch to + look down at her, chattering. A light breeze sighed among the + branches, swaying them in languorous rhythm, rustling them in + soft and ceaseless whisperings.</p> + + <p>All these familiar, pleasant sights and sounds delighted + her. During the long winter she had been shut away from this, + her favorite spot among the many lovely bits of wilderness + about her, and now its every detail filled her with a fresh and + keen delight. She looked and listened greedily, as happy as a + city child, seated, for the first time in a space of months, + before a brightly lighted stage to watch a pantomime. A dozen + times she ran with little, bird-like cries to bend above some + opening wild-flower, a space she spent in watching two intently + busy king-birds, already fashioning their nest. Another + squirrel charmed her beyond measure by sitting, for a moment, + on a limb to gaze at her in bright-eyed curiosity, and then, + with a swift run down the trunk, quite near to her, as if + entirely satisfied that he saw in her a certain friend, + scuttling to the water's edge for drink. She had never seen a + squirrel drink before—few people have—and she + stood, as motionless as might a maid of marble, watching him, + until, having had his fill, he gave his tail a saucy flirt and + darted back to his beech fortress, to sit again upon his limb + and chatter gossip at her.</p> + + <p>After he had gone back to his tree she looked carefully + about her. It now became apparent that she had come there to + the pool for some especial purpose and that she wished to be + quite sure of privacy before she put it into execution, for she + went first to the path by which she had descended, there to + listen long, intently, then, with a lithe spring where the + brook narrowed at the pool's mouth, to the other side, where, + at some distance in the forest, by another woods-path's edge, + she stood again, intent and harkening.</p> + + <p>Apparently quite satisfied that so far as human beings went + her solitude was quite complete, she returned, now, to the + pool's edge and stood gazing down upon its polished surface. + Soon she dipped the toe of one brown, slender foot into it, + evidently prepared to draw back hastily in case of too low + temperature, but tempted, when she found the water warm, she + gently thrust the whole foot in, and then, gathering her skirt + daintily up to her knees, actually stepped into the water, + wading with little shrill screams of delight.</p> + + <p>For a moment she stood poised there, both hands busy with + her skirt, which was pulled back tight against her knees. Then, + after another hasty glance around, she sprang out upon the bank + with a quick gesture of determination, and, close by the + thicket's edge, disrobed entirely and came back to the water as + lovely as the dream of any ancient sculptor, as alluring as the + finest fancy of the greatest painter who has ever touched a + brush.</p> + + <p>Slim, graceful, sinuous, utterly unconscious of her + loveliness, but palpitating with the sensuous joy of living, + she might have been a wood nymph, issuing vivid, vital, from + the fancy of a mediaeval poet. The sunlight flecked her + beautiful young body with fluttering patches as of palpitant + gold leaf. The crystal water splashed in answer to the play of + her lithe limbs and fell about her as in showers of diamonds. + Flowers and ferns upon the pool's edge, caught by the little + waves of overflow, her sport sent shoreward, bowed to her as in + a merry homage to her grace, her fitness for the spot and for + the sport to which she now abandoned herself utterly, plunging + gaily into the deepest waters of the basin. From side to side + of its narrow depths she sped rapidly, the blue-white of the + spring water showing her lithe limbs in perfect grace of motion + made mystically indefinite and shimmering by refraction through + the little rippling waves her progress raised. She raced and + strained, from the pure love of effort, as if a stake of + magnitude depended on her speed.</p> + + <p>Then, suddenly, this fever for fast movement left her and + she slowed to languorous movement, no less lovely.</p> + + <p>The trout, which had been frightened into hiding by the + splashing of her early progress, came timidly, again, from + their dim lurking places, to eye this new companion of the bath + with less distrust, more curiosity. With sinuous stroke, so + slow it scarcely made a ripple, so strong it sent her steadily + and firmly on her zig-zag way, she swam, now, back and forth, + around about, from side to side and end to end in the deep + pool, with keen enjoyment, each movement a new loveliness, each + second bringing to her fascinating face some new expression of + delight and satisfaction. Behind her streamed her flowing hair, + unbound and free to ripple, fan-like, on the water; before her + dainty chin a little wave progressed, unbreaking, running back + on either hand beside her, V-shaped. Her hands rose in the + water, caught it in cupped palms and pushed it down and + backward with the splashless pulsing thrust of the truly expert + swimmer.</p> + + <p>Only the warm blood of perfect health could have endured the + temperature of that shaded mountain pool so long, and soon even + she felt its chill gripping her young muscles, and, as + unconscious of her wholly revealed loveliness as any nymph of + old mythology, scrambled from the water to the bank and stood + there where a shaft of comfortable sunshine found its welcome + way through rifted foliage above. To this she turned first one + bare shoulder, then the other, with as evident a sensuous + delight as she had shown when the cool water first closed over + her. Then, throwing back her head, she stood full in the + brilliance, and, inhaling deeply, let the sunlight fall upon + the loveliness of her young chest. The delight of this was far + too great for voiceless pleasure, and her deep, rich laughter + rippled out as liquid and as musical as the tones of the tiny + waterfall above the pool. She raised a knee and then the other + to let the vitalizing sunlight fall upon them; then, with head + drooped forward on her breast, stood with her sturdy but + delicious shoulders in its shining path. Her happiness was + perfect and she smiled continually, even when she was not + giving vent to audible expressions of enjoyment.</p> + + <p>Suddenly, however, this idyllic scene was interrupted. In + the woods she heard the crashing of an awkward footstep and a + muttered word or two in a strange voice, as might come from a + lowlander whose face has suffered from the sting of a + back-snapping branch.</p> + + <p>For an instant she poised, frightened, on the bank. The + intruder's crashing progress was bringing him, as her ears + plainly told her, steadily in her direction. Panic-stricken, + for a moment, she crouched, hugging her bare limbs in an + ecstasy of fear. To get her clothes and put them on before he + reached the pool would be impossible, a hasty glance about her + showed no cover thick enough to flee to.</p> + + <p>One concealment only offered perfect hiding—the very + pool from which she had so recently emerged. She poised to slip + again into the water noiselessly and then caught sight of her + disordered clothing on the bank. To leave it there would as + certainly reveal her presence as to remain on the bank herself! + Hastily she gathered it and the new spelling book into her + arms, and, with not ten seconds of spare time to find the cover + which she so desperately needed, endeavored to slip quietly + into the pool again.</p> + + <p>Her certainty of movement failed her, this time, though, and + one foot slipped. Into the pool she went, half-falling, and + with a splash which, she was certain, would be audible a + hundred yards away. Terrified anew by this, she dived quickly + to the bottom of the pool and with all a trout's agility and + fearlessness, her clothing and beloved book clasped tight + against her bosom by her crooked left arm, her right arm + sending her with rapid strokes, when she was quite submerged, + the full length of the pool to its far end. There a fallen + tree, relic of some woodland tempest of years gone by, extended + quite from bank to bank, moss-covered, half hidden by small + rushes and a little group of other water-plants. She dived + beneath this log with the last atom of endurance she possessed + and rose, perforce, upon the other side, stifling her gasps, + but drawing in the air in long, luxurious breathings. With her + mouth not more than half-an-inch above the water and her feet + upon hard bottom, she crouched there, watching through the + screen of plants, her clothes and book still pressed against + her breast.</p> + + <p>As she peered across the log between the rushes, she saw the + stranger, with a wary step, break through the undergrowth about + the pool—cautiously, expectantly. The water heaved a bit + about her chin, for her hidden chest was palpitating with the + short, sharp intakes of a chuckling laughter.</p> + + <p>"Thought I were a b'ar, most likely!" she thought merrily, + quite certain of the safety of her hiding place. "Some + furriner." All strangers, in the mountains, are spoken of as + "foreigners" and regarded with a hundred times the wonder and + distrust shown in cities to the native of far lands, + remote.</p> + + <p>Her guess was shrewd. The stranger had plainly been + attracted by the sounds of her delighted splashing and had + hurried up with rifle ready for a shot at some big game. Now he + stood upon the granite edges of the pool, disappointed even in + his instinctive search for footprints, with only the slowly + widening circles left upon the surface by her hurried flight to + show him that he had not wholly been mistaken in his thought + that something most unusual had recently occurred there in the + "cove." Eagerly his disappointed glance roved around the + circling thicket—nowhere did it see a sign. When it + neared the place of her concealment the hidden girl ducked, + softly, making no undue commotion in the swiftly running water + at the pool's outlet, and the searching glance passed on, quite + unsuspecting, before her breath failed and her head emerged + again.</p> + + <p>"Confound it!" the deeply disappointed youth exclaimed. "I + was dead certain I heard something. I <i>did</i> hear + something, too." He sighed. "But it is gone, now."</p> + + <p>At length he turned away in a bad temper, and presently she + heard him crashing awkwardly through brush and brake, + departing.</p> + + <p>Shivering from her long submersion in the gelid waters of + the mountain stream, she cautiously emerged, struggling between + light-hearted laughter at the comedy of her escape and rueful + worry about the fact that she was not only deeply chilled but + had no clothes which were not wet. Her soaked spelling-book, + also, gave her much concern. Before she spread her clothing out + in the sparse sunlight, she took the dripping volume to the + warmest little patch of brilliance on any of the rocks + surrounding, and, as she opened its leaves to catch the + sunshine, examined it with loving solicitude to find how badly + it was damaged.</p> + + <p>"Fast color," she said happily, looking at the mighty + letters of its coarse black print. "Ain't faded none, nor run, + a mite." This plainly give her great relief. Deftly she turned + each leaf, using the extremest care to avoid tearing them, + handling them with loving touch. Between them she laid little + pine cones, so that air might circulate among them and assist + the process of their drying. Then, having wrung her clothing + till her strong, brown, slender wrists ached, she spread that + out in turn, but on less favored rocks, and, as her feeling of + security increased, fell into an unconscious dance, born of the + necessity of warmth from exercise, but so full of grace, + abandon, joy, that a poet might have fancied her a river-nymph, + tripping to the reed-born music of the goat-hoofed Pan.</p> + + <p>When, later, she had slowly dressed, and was kneeling at the + pool's edge, using the now placid surface of the water as a + mirror to assist her in rough-fashioning her hair into a + graceful knot, she heard again, from a great distance, a + metallic "tink, tink-tink," which had caught her ear when she + had first stood on the pool's edge. It came, she knew, from + far, however, and so did not rouse her apprehension, but, + mildly, it aroused her curiosity.</p> + + <p>"Hull kentry's 'full o' furriners," she mused. "That + railroad buildin' business in the valley brings 'em. Woods + ain't private no more." Again the tink, tink-tink. "Sounds like + hammerin' on rocks," she thought. "It's nearer than th' + railroad builders, too. I wonder what—but then, them + furriners are wonderful for findin' out concernin' + ev'rythin'."</p> + + <p>She hugged her pulpy spelling book against her breast with a + little shiver of determination. "<i>I'm</i> goin' to l'arn, + too," she said with firm decision as she scrambled up the rough + and rocky mountain path.</p> + + <p>For a time, as she progressed, her thoughts remained afield, + wandering in wonder of what that "furriner" might be up to with + the tink-tink of his hammer upon rocks. This soon passed, + however, and they dwelt again on the pool episode.</p> + + <p>She had never seen a man dressed as the stranger had been. A + carefully made shooting-jacket had covered broad and + well-poised shoulders which were free of that unlovely stoop + which comes so early to the mountaineer's. A peaked cap of + similar material had shaded slightly a broad brow with skin as + white as hers and whiter. Beneath it, eyes, which, although + they were engaged in anxious search when she had seen them, she + knew could, upon occasion, twinkle merrily, had gazed, clear, + calm, and brown. A carefully trimmed mustache had hidden the + man's upper lip, but his chin, again a contrast to the + mountaineers' whom she had spent her life among, showed blue + from constant and close shaving. Yet, different as he was from + her people of the mountains, as she recalled that face she + could not hate him or distrust him.</p> + + <p>She had never in her life seen any one in knickerbockers and + leggins before, and the memory of his amused her somewhat, yet + she admitted to herself that they had seemed quite "peart" as + she peered at them through the reeds.</p> + + <p>But it was the modern up-to-date Winchester which he had + held, all poised to fly up to the ready shoulder should he find + the splashing animal which had attracted his attention by its + noise, which, next to his handsome, clean-cut face, had most + aroused her admiration.</p> + + <p>"Lordy! Joe'd give his eyes to hev a gun like that," she + said.</p> + + <p>And then she made a pun, unconscious of what the outer world + calls such things, but quite conscious of its humor. "Thought I + was a b'ar," she chuckled. "Well, I certainly <i>was</i> + b'ar!"</p> + + <p>Feeling no further fear of any one, defiant, now that she + was fully clothed, of "furriners," rather hoping, as a matter + of fact that she might sometime meet this one again, she let + her laugh ring out unrestrained. A cat-bird answered it with a + harsh cry; a blue-jay answered him with a still harsher note. + But then a brown thrush burst into unaccustomed post-meridian + song. Even his throbbing trills and thrilling, liquid + quaverings, had not more melody in them, however, than had her + ringing laughter.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_II"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER II</h2><br> + + + <p>Her laugh, too, roused more than vagrant birds into + attention. She had emerged from the abrupt little valley and + was entering upon a plateau which had been left comparatively + open by the removal of great trees, sacrificed to furnish ties + for the new railroad building in the lowlands. The place was + littered with the discarded tops of pines and other woodland + rubbish and seemed forlorn and wrecked. She swept her eyes + about with the glance of a proprietor, for Madge Brierly owned + all of this as well as most of the land through which the brook + which deepened into the pool of her adventure flowed. Indeed + the girl was counted rich among her fellows and owned, also, + land down in the valley on which she would not live, but which + she rented for an annual sum to her significant, although it + would not have kept a lowland belle in caramels.</p> + + <p>In the center of the disordered clearing just before her, + was the person who, like the birds, had been roused to keen + attention by the maiden's ringing laugh. She saw him first + while he was peering here and there, astonished, to learn + whence the sound had come, and, with the instinctive caution of + the mountain-bred, she quickly stepped behind a clump of + laurel, through which she peered at him.</p> + + <p>He was a man of sixty years, or thereabouts, wiry, tough and + well preserved. His hair, of grizzled grey, was longer than + most men wore theirs, even among the mountains, where there are + few conventionalities in male attire. He was dressed in the + ordinary garb of the Kentucky planter of the better + class—broad soft hat, flowing necktie, long frock-coat, + which formed a striking contrast to the coarse high-boots into + the tops of which his trousers had been tucked—and yet he + hardly seemed to her to belong to the class of gentlemen to + which his dress apparently assigned him. His face was coarse + and hard, his eyes, as he peered about in search of her, were + "shifty," she assured herself. His hands were large and crudely + fashioned.</p> + + <p>"'Pears like 'most ev'ry one is roamin' 'round my land + to-day," she thought. "I wonder what <i>this</i> one is up to, + thar?"</p> + + <p>For fully fifteen minutes her curiosity remained + unsatisfied, for, startled by the ringing laugh, the stranger + spent at least a quarter of an hour in furtive peering, here + and there, about the clearing, plainly searching for the + laughter. At no time, however, did he approach her hiding place + near enough to see her, and, finally, apparently satisfied that + his ears had fooled him, or that whoever it had been who had + disturbed him with the merry peal had gone away, he went back + to his work.</p> + + <p>Just what this work could be was what she waited curiously + to see. She felt not the least resentment of the trespass it + involved, for the land was wild, and on it, as elsewhere in the + mountains, any one was free to come and go who did not commit + the foolishness of neglecting camp fires, likely to start + forests into blaze, or the supreme treachery of giving + information to the revenue officials about hidden stills. Her + eager curiosity was aroused, more by the mysterious nature of + the stranger's operations than by the fact that they were + conducted on her land.</p> + + <p>Having satisfied himself that no one, now, was near, and, + therefore, that he was not watched, the unpleasantly mysterious + old man went back to the work which evidently had brought him + hither. With utmost care he moved about the place, scrutinizing + outcropping rocks, and this, as they were everywhere, meant a + minute examination of the land. In his hand he carried a small + hammer, and, with this, now and then, after a careful visual + examination of a rock, he knicked it, here and there, + investigating carefully and even eagerly the scars he made, the + bits of rock which were clipped off, now and then even looking + at the latter through a magnifying glass, which he took for the + purpose from a pocket of his vest.</p> + + <p>She had watched these operations, fascinated, for, possibly, + a full half hour, despite the discomfort of damp clothing, + which had begun to chill her, when she saw signs of violent + excitement on the old man's face and in his actions, after he + had chipped a rock, from which he first had had to scrape a + thin superstratum of light soil.</p> + + <p>Like a miner who has found the gold for which, for years, he + has been searching, he arose, with the tiny fragments in his + hand, to look at them with greedy eyes, in a more comfortable, + upright posture. His face had very plainly paled and in his + eyes was an expression of such avaricious eagerness and + satisfaction as she had never seen before upon a human + countenance.</p> + + <p>Before he made a sound she knew that he had found that thing + for which he had been seeking. His grizzled countenance, intent + as any alchemist's of old upon his search, and, as its + absorption grew, continually less a pleasant face to + contemplate, now twisted, suddenly, into an expression of + incredulous joy. He took the fragment he had been examining in + both his hands and held it close before his eyes. Then he made + a minute search of it with his little magnifying glass. Then he + fell upon his knees, and, with his clawlike fingers, scraped + more earth from the rock whence he had chipped it.</p> + + <p>Satisfied by what he saw there, after he had done this, he + rose with a new expression on his face—so crafty, so + exultant, and, withal, so evil, that Madge involuntarily shrank + back to better screening in her leafy hiding place.</p> + + <p>The old man, with sweeping movements of his heavily booted + feet, swept the thin earth he had scraped from the rock's + surface back into its place, thrust the fragments deep into his + pocket, and started hurriedly away, plainly greatly pleased, + along the trail which led into the valley. She watched him with + a beating heart, much puzzled.</p> + + <p>What could it be that he had found, there, on her land? + Visions of gold mines and of diamonds, rose within her mind, + crude, unformed, childish, based on the imperfect knowledge she + had gained of such things from the story-tellers of the + mountains. As mountain people go she was, already, a rich + woman, but now dreams of mightier wealth swept through her + brain tumultuously. Ah, she would buy happiness for all her + friends when she had, later on, unearthed the secret treasures + of her backwoods clearing! Maybe she would, sometime, have a + <i>real silk dress</i>!</p> + + <p>She hurried forward in a stooping run to make examination of + the place, as soon as the old man had vanished down the + mountain side, to see (she thoroughly expected it) the glitter + of bright gems or yellow gold beneath the sand which he had + with such care spread back upon the little scar which he had + made there in the earth. With trembling fingers she pushed back + the yellow earth, and found—nothing but black rock, + uncouth, and unattractive.</p> + + <p>She sat there on the ground in her damp skirts, too + disappointed, for a moment, to make an exclamation. In many + ways the girl, although well past her sixteenth year, was but a + child. The reaction from the mighty dreams of fortune she had + built almost unnerved her.</p> + + <p>It was her native humor which now saved her. Instead of + weeping she burst into sudden laughter.</p> + + <p>"Dellaw!" said she, aloud. "Ain't I a fool? The man was just + a crazy!"</p> + + <p>For some time she sat there in the rocky clearing amidst the + litter of pine-tops and small undergrowth, contemplating her + own silliness with keen amusement.</p> + + <p>"Why, he had me that stirred up," said she, "that I reckoned + I was rich a'ready!"</p> + + <p>But she put the joke aside, to be told upon herself when the + first chance came. Her long hiding in the thicket while she + watched the queer proceedings of the stranger had chilled her + through and through.</p> + + <p>Close to the black rock which had so excited him and which + she had uncovered after he had gone, a little forked stick + stood upright, and in its fork, with one end slanted to the + ground, a twig of green witch-hazel still reposed. Beneath the + twig a tiny spiral of arizing smoke showed that here, with + these primitive appliances, the treasure seeker had prepared + his dinner, later carefully covering his fire.</p> + + <p>"No matter how queer he was dressed, or what queer things he + did," she told herself, "he sure was mountain-born. This here's + a mountain fireplace, sartin sure."</p> + + <p>She broke dead branches from a pine-top, not far away, but + still far enough so that, with reasonable watching, it would + not be endangered by a fire built on this spot (the old man + plainly had considered this when he made the fire, for the + place was almost the only one in all the clearing free enough + from dry pine branches to make fire building safe) and laid + them on the coals which he had buried, but which she now had + carefully uncovered. She would, she had decided, dry her + clothes before she started on the long, cool, woods-road climb + up to her cabin.</p> + + <p>Kneeling by the coals and blowing on them, skillfully + adjusting splinters so that they would catch the draft, she + soon had started a small flame. Fed carefully, this grew + rapidly. Within five minutes there was burning on the site of + the old man's little cooking-fire a cheerful blaze of size. Its + rushing warmth was very grateful to her, and she held her hands + out to it, then her feet, one after the other, with skirts + lifted daintily, so that her chilled limbs might catch the + warmth.</p> + + <p>Invigorated by the pleasant heat, she once more yielded to + the urgings of the bounding spirit of rich youth within her. + Even as she had sported in the water ere the interloper came to + interrupt her sylvan bath, now she sported there about the fire + in an impromptu dance, never for a second uncouth, despite the + fact that she was quite untrained; scarcely less graceful than + her merrymaking in the water, although then she had not been, + as now, hampered in her grace of movement by the unlovely + draperies of homespun linsey-woolsey. As she had been a + water-nymph, so, now, she might have been some Druid maid + dancing by an altar fire. The roughness of the ground did not + annoy her—her feet had not known dancing upon polished + waxen wood; the lack of spectators did not deter + her—those whom she had learned to know and love, the + mountains, trees, the squirrels, and birds, were there.</p> + + <p>In the very midst of the abandon of this rustic symphony of + movement, the thought came to her that the precious + spelling-book was lying on the rock, near by, quite soaked, + neglected. She sped to it and took it to the fire's edge, + where, opening its pages one by one, so that each would get the + warmth, she held it as close as she opined was safe. Having + dried it until she no longer feared the wetting it had had + would seriously harm its usefulness (the lovely smoothness of + its magic leaves was gone, alas! beyond recall) she paused + there for a moment, herself still far from dry, with a bare + foot held out to the blaze, and studied curiously one of the + book's pages.</p> + + <p>Thereon the letters of the alphabet, large, ominous, + suggestive to her mind of nothing in the world but curlycues, + loomed, mystifying. For the first time it occurred to her that + in securing the small volume she had not, as she had thought to + do, solved the problem of an education. The characters, she saw + to her dismay, meant nothing to her. In the absence of a + teacher she could not learn from them!</p> + + <p>Alas, alas! The matter was a tragedy to her. How could she + have been so stupid as to fail to think of this at first? She + stood there with flushed face, despairing, looking at the + mystic symbols with slowly sinking heart.</p> + + <p>Suddenly, though the crackling of the fire filled her ears, + she was aware, by some subtle sense, that she was now not + wholly solitary there. Without a sound to tell her, she was + conscious that some other person had within the moment come + into the clearing. Hastily she looked about. To her amazement, + and, for a moment, to her great dismay, she saw, standing on + the clearing's edge, the young man who had, not long before, + unknowingly invaded her seclusion at the pool.</p> + + <p>Instantly her body became fiercely conscious. Prickling + thrills, not due to bonfire heat, shot over it. Shame sent the + blood in mantling blushes to her cheeks, although she tried to + stop it. Why should she blush at sight of him? True, she had + been there in the water, bare as any new-born babe, when he had + reached the pool's edge—but he had not seen her. To him + she, quite undoubtedly, was a mere strange mountain maid, + unrecognized. Self-consciousness then was quite absurd.</p> + + <p>And this man was a stranger and was on her land. She must + not forget her mountain courtesy and fail to make him + welcome.</p> + + <p>"Howdy," she said briefly.</p> + + <p>"Howdy, little girl?" said he, and looked at her and + smiled.</p> + + <p>This form of address much amused her. She was not far beyond + sixteen, but sixteen is counted womanhood, there in the + mountains, and often is an age for wife—and motherhood as + well. "Little girl," to her, seemed laughable. But then she + suddenly remembered that to stop their flapping, when they were + all soaked, against her ankles, she had pinned her skirts + up—and she was not tall. The mistake, perhaps, was + natural.</p> + + <p>"Got a fire here?" he inquired, inanely, for the fire was + very much in evidence.</p> + + <p>"Looks like it, don't it?" she said somewhat saucily, but + robbed the comment of offense by smiling somewhat shyly at him + as he stood there.</p> + + <p>He was better looking, she reflected, now that she had an + unobstructed view of him, even than he had appeared when she + had peered at him from her concealment behind the log and + barricade of rushes. Of course he was a "foreigner," and, + therefore, a mere weakling, not to be considered seriously as a + specimen of sturdy manhood (how often had she heard the + mountain men speak of the lowlands men with scorn as + weaklings?) but, none the less, he interested and attracted + her, even if he did not inspire her with respect.</p> + + <p>He laughed. "It does," said he, "looks very much like it. + Been burning brush?"</p> + + <p>"No," she replied, "jest warmin' up a little."</p> + + <p>"Why, it's not cold."</p> + + <p>"I—I was wet."</p> + + <p>"<i>Wet?</i>" said he, astonished.</p> + + <p>She saw her slip, and flushed. "Fell in the crik," she + answered briefly, hastily and falsely.</p> + + <p>"Why, that's too bad," said he, with ready sympathy, + unfeigned and real.</p> + + <p>All the time the girl was eying him through often-lowered + lashes, and the more she looked at him the more she felt that + he was not, like many "foreigners," to be distrusted and be + held aloof. His clothes did not suggest to her the "revenuer," + although they certainly were different from any she had ever + seen before on man or beast (his knee breeches gave her some + amusement), and he was totally unarmed, having laid his rifle + down and left it at a distance, leaning against a stump.</p> + + <p>His hands and face were not sunburned—indeed, his + hands were delicately fashioned and much whiter than any she + had ever seen before on man or woman. His appearance certainly + did not, to her, convey the thought of strength—and + manhood, there among the mountains, is thought to find its + first and last expression through its muscle; yet, for some + reason, although her first glance made her think he was a puny + creature, she neither scorned nor pitied him. He was, perhaps, + too smoothly dressed, too carefully shaved; the gun he had laid + down so carelessly had too much "bright work" on it—but + on the whole, she liked him. A city maiden might have well been + dazzled by the really handsome chap. This simple country girl + was not—but, on the whole, she liked him.</p> + + <p>Her hand which held the spelling-book dropped, + unconsciously, so that the open pages of the volume were + revealed, upside down, against her knee.</p> + + <p>"Studying your lessons?" he inquired, quite casually, + good-naturedly, coming nearer.</p> + + <p>Again her disappointment rushed upon her. Impulsively she + told him of it.</p> + + <p>"Oh," said she, "I don't know how! I bought me this yere + book down in th' settlement, an' thought I'd learn things outen + it. But how'm I goin' to learn? I can't make nothin' out of it + to get a start with."</p> + + <p>Instantly the pathos of this situation, not its humor, made + appeal to him.</p> + + <p>"Isn't there a school here?" he inquired.</p> + + <p>"Nearest school is twenty mile acrost, over on Turkey + Creek," she said briefly. "Oncet there was a nearer one, but + teacher was a Hatfield, and McCoys got him, of course. This was + McCoy kentry 'fore they all got so killed off. He ought to 'a' + knowed better than come over here to teach."</p> + + <p>This casual reference to a famous feud—news of whose + infamy had spread far, far beyond the mountains which had + hatched it—from the lips of one so young and lovely (for + he had long ago admitted to himself that as she stood there she + was lovelier than any being he had ever seen before) appalled + Frank Layson, son of level regions, graduate of Harvard, casual + sportsman, amateur mountaineer, who had come to look over his + patrimony and the country round about.</p> + + <p>"Ah—yes," said he, and frowned. And then: "It leaves + you in hard luck, though, doesn't it, if you want to learn and + can't," said he.</p> + + <p>"It sartin does, for—oh, I <i>do</i> hanker powerful + to learn!"</p> + + <p>"May I stay here by the fire with you a while and get warm, + too," he asked. (The unaccustomed exercise of tramping through + the mountains had kept him in a fever heat all day.)</p> + + <p>"An' welcome," she said cordially, moving aside a bit, so + that he could approach without the circumnavigation of a mighty + stump.</p> + + <p>He could not tell whether or not she had made note of many + sweat-beads on his brow and wondered at them on a chilly + man.</p> + + <p>"Perhaps," said he, "I might, in a few minutes, show you a + little about what you want to know. I've been lucky. I have had + a chance to learn."</p> + + <p>She liked the way he said it. There was no hint of + superiority about it. He was not "stuck up," in his claim of + knowledge. He "had had a chance," and took no credit to himself + for it. This pleased her, won her confidence—if, already, + that had not been done by his frank face, in spite of his fancy + clothes and her assumption that he was a namby-pamby + weakling.</p> + + <p>"Oh—if you would!" she said, so eagerly that it seemed + to him most pitiful.</p> + + <p>So, five minutes later, when all her clothing save her heavy + outer skirt, had been quite dried there by the fire, and that + same fire's abounding warmth had sent his temperature up to + high discomfort mark, they sat down, side by side, upon a log, + the spelling-book between them, and he began the pleasant task + of teaching her her A, B, Cs.</p> + + <p>"'A,'" said he, "is this one at the very start."</p> + + <p>"The peaked one," said she.</p> + + <p>"Yes, that one.</p> + + <p>"And 'B,'" he went on, much amused, but with a perfectly + grave face, "is this one with two loops fastened, so, to a + straight stalk."</p> + + <p>"I know where thar <i>is</i> a bee-tree," she remarked, + irrelevantly.</p> + + <p>"It will help recall this in your mind," said he, + maintaining perfect gravity, "imagine it with two big loops of + rope fastened to one side of it—"</p> + + <p>"Rope wouldn't stick out that-a-way," said she, "it would + just droop. They'd have to be of somethin' stiffen"</p> + + <p>"Well—" said he, and tried to think of something.</p> + + <p>"You could use that railroad-iron that I saw 'em heat + red-hot an' bend, down in the valley," she suggested.</p> + + <p>"That's it," said he. "Two loops of railroad-iron fastened + to a bee-tree" (he pointed) "just as these loops, here, are + fastened to the straight black stem. That's 'B.'"</p> + + <p>"I won't forget," said she, her beautiful young brow + puckered earnestly as she stored the knowledge in her + brain.</p> + + <p>"And this is 'C,'" said he.</p> + + <p>"'C,' 'C'" said she. "Jest take off one of th' loops an' use + it by itself."</p> + + <p>"That's so," said he. "And here is 'D'"</p> + + <p>"Cut off th' top th' tree," said she. "Just cut it plumb + off, loop an' all."</p> + + <p>He laughed. It was clear that she would be an earnest and + quick-thinking pupil to whomever had the task of giving her her + education.</p> + + <p>As he looked at her, now, he for the first time fully + realized her beauty. He had known, from the first, that she was + most attractive, most unusual for a mountain maid; but now, + laughing, although her head was still bent to the book, her big + eyes, sparkling with her merriment, raised frankly to his face, + were revelations to him. He had not seen such eyes before, and + all the old-time similes for deep-brown orbs sprang instantly + to mind. "Fathomless pools," "translucent amber"—no + simile would really describe them. Late hours had never dimmed + them, illness had never made them heavy, he was sure a lie had + never made them shift from their straight gaze for one short + second. He had not seen such eyes in cities!</p> + + <p>And from careful contemplation of the eyes, he kept on with + a careful contemplation of the other beauties of his fair and + unexpected pupil. Her homespun gown, always ill-shaped and now + unusually protuberant in spots, unusually tight in others, + because of its late wetting and impromptu, partial drying, + could not hide the sylvan grave of her small-boned and lissome + figure, just budding into womanhood. Her feet, crossed on the + ground, were as patrician in their nakedness as any bluegrass + belle's in satin slippers. Her ankles, scratched by casual + thorns and already beginning to blush brown from the June sun's + ardent kisses, were as delicate as any he had ever seen + enmeshed in silken hose. Her hands, long, slender, + taper-fingered, actually dainty, although brown and roughened + by hard labor, were, it seemed to him, better fitted for the + fingering of a piano's keys than for the coarse and heavy tasks + to which he knew they must be well accustomed. He gazed at her + in veritable wonder. How had she blossomed, thus, here in this + wilderness?</p> + + <p>"Where do you live?" he asked, interrupting their scholastic + efforts.</p> + + <p>"Up thar," she pointed, and, above, he could just see the + top of a mud-and-stick chimney rise above a crag between the + trees.</p> + + <p>"Have you brothers or sisters?"</p> + + <p>"Ain't got nobody," she answered, and to her face there came + a look of keen resentment rather than of sorrow or of + resignation. "I'm all th' feud left," she said simply. She + looked at Layson quickly, wondering if he would be surprised + that she should not have fought and also died. "Girl cain't + fight alone, much," she went on, in hurried explanation, or, + rather, quick excuse. "I might take a shot if I should git a + chanst, but I ain't had none, an', besides, I guess it air plum + wrong to kill, even if there's blood scores to be settled up. I + toted 'round a rifle with me till last fall, but then I give it + up. They won't git me—but maybe you don't know what feuds + are in the mountings, here."</p> + + <p>He was looking at her with new interest. All his life he had + heard much about the dreadful mountain feuds. As the bogey-man + is used in Eastern nurseries, so are the mountaineers used in + the nurseries of old Kentucky and of Tennessee to frighten + children with. Their family fights, not less persistent or less + deadly than the enmities between the warring barons of the + Rhine in middle ages, form a magnificent foundation for dire + tales.</p> + + <p>"Yes," said he, "I know about the feuds, of course. But + you—"</p> + + <p>It did not seem possible to him, even after her frank + statements, that this bright and joyous creature could in any + way be joined to such a bloody history as he knew the histories + of some of these long feuds to be.</p> + + <p>"It's been thirty years an' better," said the girl, "since + the Brierlys and Lindsays had some trouble about a claybank + filly an' took to shootin' one another—shootin' straight + an' shootin' often an' to kill. For years th' fight went on. + They fired on sight, an' sometimes 'twas a Lindsay went an' + sometimes 'twas a Brierly. Bimeby there was just two men + left—my pappy an' Lem Lindsay.</p> + + <p>"One day Lem sent word to my pappy to meet him without no + weepons an' shake han's an' make it up."</p> + + <p>Her face took on a look of bitterness and hate which almost + made her hearer shiver, so foreign was it to the fresh, young + brightness he had watched till now.</p> + + <p>"My daddy come, at th' ap'inted time," she went on slowly, + "but dad—he knowed Lem Lindsay, an' never for a minute + trusted him. He ast a friend of his, Ben Lorey, to be a hidden + witness. Ben hid behind a rock to watch. 'Twas right near + here—just over thar." She pointed.</p> + + <p>"Soon Lem, he come along, a-smilin' like a Judast, an', + after some fine speakin', as daddy offered him his hand, Lem + whipped out a knife, an'—an' struck it into my daddy's + heart."</p> + + <p>The girl's recital had been tense, dramatic, not because she + had tried or thought to make it so—she had never learned + not to be genuine—but because of the real and tragic + drama in the tale she told, the matter-of-course way in which + she told it.</p> + + <p>It made Layson shudder. What sort of people were these + mountaineers who went armed to friendly meetings and struck + down the men whose hands they offered to clasp? Where was the + other man while his friend's enemy was at this dreadful + work?</p> + + <p>"But Lorey," said her fascinated listener, "the man who was + in hiding as a witness, made him pay for his outrageous + act!"</p> + + <p>"No," said the girl, with drooping head. "He stepped out + from behind the rock where he was hidin', an' he pulled the + trigger of his rifle. But luck was dead against us that day. + Wet powder—somethin'—nobody knows what. The gun did + not go off. Before he got it well down from his shoulder so's + to find out what it was that ailed it, Lem Lindsay was upon him + like a mountain lion—an' he laid him thar beside my + daddy. He didn't mean that there should be no witnesses."</p> + + <p>She paused so long that Layson was about to speak, feeling + the silence troublesome and painful, but before he had decided + what to say in comment on a tale so dreadful, she went on:</p> + + <p>"He didn't mean there should be no witnesses, Lem Lindsay + didn't, but as it happened there was two. My mother, me clasped + in her arms, had stole after my daddy, fearin' that somethin' + wicked would come out o' that there meetin' with his old-time + enemy. She spoke up sudden, an' surprised th' murderer, + standin' there by th' two poor men he'd killed. At first it + scared him. I can't remember everythin' about that awful day, + but I can see Lem Lindsay's face as she screamed at him, just + as plain this minute as I seed it then. I'll never forget that + look if I live a thousand years!</p> + + <p>"At first he was struck dumb, but then that passed. He give + a yell of rage an' started toward us on th' run. She jumped, + with me a-hinderin' her. Like a mountain deer she run, in spite + of that. She was lighter on her feet than he was upon his, an' + soon outdistanced him. He hadn't stopped to pick his rifle + up—he only had th' knife he'd done th' killin' with, so + he couldn't do what he'd 'a' liked to done—shoot down a + woman an' a baby!</p> + + <p>"We lived where I live now, alone, an' then, as now, there + was a little bridge that took th' footpath over th' deep gully. + Them days was wicked ones in these here mountains, an' daddy'd + had that foot-bridge fixed so it would raise. My mother just + had time to pull it up, when we had crossed, before Lem Lindsay + reached there. He stopped, to keep from fallin' in the gully, + but stood there, shakin' his bare fist an' swearin' that he'd + kill us yet. But that he couldn't do. Folks was mightily + roused, and he had to leave th' mountings, then an' thar, an' + ain't been in 'em since, so far as anybody knows."</p> + + <p>Her brows drew down upon her eyes. Her sweet mouth hardened. + "He'd better <i>never</i> come!" she added, grimly.</p> + + <p>After a moment's pause she went on, slowly: "So, now, here + we be—Joe Lorey, Ben's son, an' me. My mother died, you + see, not very many years after Lindsay'd killed my daddy. + Seein' of it done, that way, had been too much for her. I + reckon seein' it would have killed me, too, if I'd been more'n + a baby, but I wasn't, an' lived through it. Ben's lived here, + workin' his little mounting farm, an'—an'—"</p> + + <p>She hesitated, evidently ill at ease, strangely stammering + over an apparently simple and unimportant statement of the + condition of her fellow orphan. She changed color slightly. + Layson, watching her, decided that the son of the one victim + must be the sweetheart of the daughter of the other, and would + have smiled had not the very thought, to his surprise, annoyed + him unaccountably. Whether that was what had caused her + stammering, he could not quite decide, although he gave the + matter an absurd amount of thought. She went on quickly:</p> + + <p>"He's lived here, workin' of his little mounting farm + an'—an'—an' doin' jobs aroun', an' such, an' I've + lived here, a-workin' mine, a little, but not much. After my + mother died there was some folks down in th' valley took keer + of me for a while, but then they moved away, an' I was old + enough to want things bad, an' what I wanted was to come back + here, where I could see th' place where mother an' my daddy had + both loved me an' been happy. I've got some land down in th' + valley—fifty acres o' fine pasture—but I never + cared to live down there. Th' rent I get for that land makes me + rich—I ain't never wanted for a single thing but just th' + love an' carin' that my daddy an' my mother would 'a' give me + if that wicked man hadn't killed 'em both. For he <i>did</i> + kill my mother, just as much as he killed daddy. She died o' + that an' that alone."</p> + + <p>Again she fell into a silence for a time, looking out at the + tremendous prospect spread before them, quite unseeing.</p> + + <p>"Oh," she went on, at length, her face again darkened by a + frown, her small hands clenched, every muscle of her lithe + young body drawn as taut as a wild animal's before a spring. "I + sometimes feel as if I'd like to do as other mountain women + have been known to do when killin' of that sort has blackened + all their lives—I sometimes feel as if I'd like to take a + rifle in my elbow an' go lookin' for that man—go lookin' + for him in th' mountings, in th' lowlands, anywhere—even + if I had to cross th' oceans that they tell about, in order to + come up with him!"</p> + + <p>Her voice had been intensely vibrant with strong passion as + she said this, and her quivering form told even plainer how + deep-seated was the hate that gave birth to her words. But soon + she put all this excitement from her and dropped her hands in a + loose gesture of hopeless relaxation.</p> + + <p>"But I know such thoughts are foolish," she said drearily. + "He got away. A girl can't carry on a feud alone, nohow. + There's nothin' I can do."</p> + + <p>Again, now, with a passing thought, her features lighted as + another maiden's, whose young life had been cast by fate in + gentler places might have lighted at the thought of some great + pleasure pending in the future.</p> + + <p>"There is a chance, though," she said, with a fierce joy, + "that Lem Lindsay, if he is alive, 'll git th' bullet that he + earned that day. Joe Lorey's livin'—that's Ben's + son—an' he—well, maybe, some time—ah, he can + shoot as straight as anybody in these mountings!"</p> + + <p>The look of a young tigress was on her face.</p> + + <p>It made the young man who was listening to her + shudder—the look upon her face, the voice with which she + said "And he can shoot as straight as anybody in these + mountings!" For a second it revolted him. Then, getting a + fairer point of view, he smiled at her with a deep sympathy, + and waited.</p> + + <p>He had not to wait long before a gentler mood held + dominance. It came, indeed, almost at once.</p> + + <p>"No," she said slowly, "a girl can't carry on a feud alone, + nohow.... And, somehow, when I think of it most times, I really + don't want to. It's only now an' then I get stirred up, like + this. Most times I'd rather learn than—go on fightin' + like we-all always have.... I'd rather learn, somehow.... + An'—an'—an' that's been mighty hard—<i>is</i> + mighty hard"</p> + + <p>"You—haven't had much chance," said he, looking at her + pityingly.</p> + + <p>She gave him a quick glance. Had she really thought he + pitied her she would have bitterly resented it.</p> + + <p>"Had th' same chance other mounting girls have," she said + quickly, defending, not herself, but her country and her + people.</p> + + <p>She stood, now, at a distance from the fire, for it was + blazing merrily, but her face was flushed by its radiant heat, + its lurid blaze made a fine background for the supple, swaying + beauty of her slim young body. She raised her arms high, high + above her head, with that same genuineness of gesture, graceful + and appealing, which he had seen in all her movements from the + first and then clasped them at her breast.</p> + + <p>"But oh," said she, "somehow, I want to learn, now, + terrible!"</p> + + <p>"Let me help you while I'm in the mountains," he replied, + impulsively. "I'll be glad to help you every day."</p> + + <p>"Would you?" she said. "I would be powerful thankful!" Her + bright eyes expressed the gratitude she felt.</p> + + <p>While they had talked a strange paradox had come about there + by the fire without their notice. The long, black outcropping + of rock against which they had brought the old man's blaze to + life, had, instead of keeping the fire from spreading to the + undergrowth, strangely permitted it to pass.</p> + + <p>It was the girl who first discovered this. She sprang up + from her place with a startled exclamation.</p> + + <p>"Oh," said she, "th' fire is spreadin'!"</p> + + <p>He rose quickly to his feet.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_III"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER III</h2><br> + + + <p>They were appalled by the predicament in which they found + themselves. The thing seemed quite mysterious.</p> + + <p>The rock against which the fire had been built was all + aglow, as if it had been heated in a furnace till red + hot—strange circumstance; one that would have fascinated + Layson into elaborate investigation had he had the time to + think about it—and, beyond it, evidently communicated + through it as a link, the rustling leaves of the past autumn, + their surface layers sun-dried, were bursting into glittering + little points of flame all about the narrow ledge of rock on + which they were standing. As they gazed, before Layson could + rush forward to stamp out these sparkling perils, the fire had + spread, as the girl, wise in the direful ways of brush-fires, + had known at once that it would spread, to the encircling + pine-tops, left in a tinder barricade about the clearing by the + sawyers and the axemen.</p> + + <p>"Oh," she said, distressed, "we're ketched!"</p> + + <p>Layson, less conscious of their peril because less well + informed as to the almost explosive inflammability of dry + pine-tops, took the matter less seriously. "We'll get out, all + right," said he. "Don't worry."</p> + + <p>"There's times <i>to</i> worry," said the girl, "an' this, I + reckon—well, it's one of 'em."</p> + + <p>As if to prove the truth of what she said, with a burst + almost like that of flame's leap along a powder-line, the fire + caught one resinous pine-top after another with a crackling + rush which was not only fearfully apparent to the eye, but also + ominously audible. Within ten seconds the pair were ringed by + sound like that of crackling musketry upon a battlefield, and + by a pyrotechnic spectacle of terrifying magnitude. Layson had + heard guns pop in untrained volleys at State Guard manoeuvres, + and was instantly impressed by the amazing similarity of sound, + but he had never in his life seen anything to be compared to + the towering ring of flame-wall which almost instantly + encircled them. He lost, perhaps, a minute, in astonished + contemplation of the situation. Then realization of their peril + burst upon him with a rush. To wait there, where they were, too + evidently meant certain death. Not only would the pulsing heat + from the pine-tops already burning soon become unendurable, but + there was enough of tindrous litter strewn about the entire + area of the little clearing to make it horribly apparent to him + that, in a moment, it would all become a bed of glittering + flame. He gazed at the menacing, encroaching fire, + appalled.</p> + + <p>Madge, understanding the desperation of their situation even + better than he did, knowing, too, that a stranger could, + indeed, scarce conceive the deadly peril of it, was, at first, + the cooler of the two. Her life there in the mountains, where + any man she knew might meet, and her own father had met, death + stalking with a rifle in his bended elbow, or a knife clutched + in his clenched hand, had given her a certain poise in time of + peril, an admirable self-control, quick wits, firm nerves. She + felt that there was small chance of escape, yet she was not + visibly terrified, and made no outcry.</p> + + <p>Had she been caught, thus, with a mountaineer (which + scarcely could have happened) she would have felt small + apprehension. Learned in the perils of the woods, heavy-booted, + sturdy-legged, a native, like Joe Lorey, for example, would, + she felt quite certain, have been able to effect her rescue. + But the chances, she decided, were practically nil, with this + untrained "foreigner" as her companion. She had been told that + "bluegrass folks" were lacking in strong nerves and prone to + panic if real danger threatened. Barefooted as she was, there + was little she, herself, could do. She knew that she would + quickly fall unconscious from intolerable pain if she so much + as tried to make a dash for safety. That she was badly + frightened she would have readily admitted, that she was + panic-stricken none who looked at her could, for a moment, + dream.</p> + + <p>She glanced at Layson with a curiosity which was almost + calm, as, for a moment quite bewildered, he ran from side to + side of their rapidly narrowing space of safety, endeavoring to + find a weak spot in the wall of flames through which they might + escape, but failing everywhere. For a moment she thought that + he had lost his head, and thus proved all too true those tales + which she had heard of "foreigners." It was almost as one race + gazing at another suffering ordeal in test, that she observed + his every movement, each detail of his facial play. While they + had sat there on the log, intent upon their work above her + spelling-book, she had wondered if the harsh, uncharitable + mountain judgment of the "foreigners" had not been too + merciless. Now she felt that she began to see its + justification. The man, undoubtedly, she thought, showed an + unmanly panic.</p> + + <p>"No use tryin' to get out that-a-way," she said calmly. + "You'd better—"</p> + + <p>Even as she spoke, and before her words could possibly have + influenced him, she saw a change come over him. The signs of + fear, which had so displeased her, faded from his actions and + his facial play. Placed in unusual, unexpected circumstances, + for a second he had been bewildered, but, as soon as + opportunity had come for gathering of wits, he found composure, + coolness, nerve. She did not even finish out her sentence. + Instead, her thoughts turned to that acme of breeding, nerve, + endurance and high spirit dear to all Kentuckians, the race + horse. "He's found his feet!" she thought.</p> + + <p>The man impressed her, now, even more than when, with + courtesy, such as she had never known, tact which had + maintained her comfort when she might have felt humiliated, + learning which to her seemed marvellous, he had offered her the + key to learning's mysteries upon the log. She saw that he had + quickly won a mighty victory over self. She thought of tales + which she had heard by mountain fireplaces about "bad men," + who, when they first had heard a bullet's song, had dodged and + whitened, only to recover quickly and be nerved to peril + evermore thereafter. Her doubt of Layson fell away completely. + Instead of thinking of him as of one whose manhood is inferior + to that of the rough mountaineers she knew, perforce she saw in + him superiorities. There was not the least sign of bragadocio, + of counterfeit, about his new-found calm. It was, she + recognized at once, entirely genuine. "Rattled for a minute," + she thought, wisely, again amending her first judgment, "but + cooler, now, than cucumbers."</p> + + <p>She looked gravely at him as he moved about investigating, + not excitedly, alertly, full of the necessary business of + escape. "Looks bad, don't it?" she said gravely. "Like powder, + them thar pine-tops."</p> + + <p>"Oh, we'll get out all right," he answered, easily, and now + she felt a comfort in the fact that he was intentionally + minimizing danger to give confidence to the supposed weakness + of her sex.</p> + + <p>"Maybe so an' maybe not," said she, discovering, to her + disgust, that it was hard, now that he was showing strength, to + keep the panic tremolo from her own voice.</p> + + <p>The fire had, by this time, encircled them completely, and + from a hundred points was running in toward them on tinder + lines of dry pine-needles and old leaves, flashing at them + viciously along the crisp, dry surface of old moss and lichens + on the rocks. A wind had suddenly arisen, born, no doubt, of + the fire's own mighty draft. Bits of blazing light wood, small, + burning branches, myriads of flaming oak leaves and pine-cones + were swept up from the ring of fire about them, in the chimney + of the blaze, to lose their impetus only at a mighty height, + and then fall slowly, threateningly down within the burning + ring. So plentiful were these little, vicious menaces, that, + within another minute, they were dodging them continually.</p> + + <p>He now took his place close by her side and gazed upon the + spectacle, calm-eyed, as if he found it interesting rather more + than terrifying.</p> + + <p>"Oh, we'll get out, all right," said he, again.</p> + + <p>And then he turned to her in frank and unexcited inquiry. To + her increased disgust the sobs of growing fear convulsed her + throat. She fought them back and listened to his question.</p> + + <p>"You know more about woods-fires than I do," he said evenly. + "Better tell me what to do, eh?"</p> + + <p>This confession of his ignorance strengthened her growing + confidence in him instead of weakening it. The fact that he + could ask advice so calmly made her think that, probably, he + would be calm in taking it if she could offer it. It steadied + her and helped her think. And then she saw him spring, and, + actually with a smile, strike in the air above her head, + diverting from its downward path which would have landed it + upon her, a flaming fragment of pine-top fully five feet long. + He actually laughed.</p> + + <p>"Like handball," he said cheerily. "Don't worry. I won't let + anything fall on you. You just—<i>think!</i>"</p> + + <p>Her panic, now, had vanished as by magic. Instantly she + really <i>ceased</i> to worry. He would <i>not</i> let fire + fall on her. He would get her out of that. She was certain of + it. She <i>could</i> think—calmly and with care.</p> + + <p>But she could not think of a way out—at least she + could not think of a way out for her. Barefooted as she was, + she scarcely could expect to find, even in her strong young + body, strength enough to endure the pain of treading, as she + would be forced to if she made a dash, on an almost unbroken + bed of glowing coals and smouldering moss ten yards in width. + He, with his heavy boots, might manage it. Therefore there was + hope for him; but for her to try it would be madness.</p> + + <p>Had he been a sturdy mountaineer, she wofully + reflected—having found a detail of lowland inferiority + which, she was quite certain, would not be dispelled as had + some others—he might, in such a desperate case, have + summoned strength to "tote" her through, although she scarcely + thought Joe Lorey, the best man whom she knew, could really do + it; still there would have been the possibility. But no + weak-muscled "foreigner," pap-nurtured in the lowlands, could, + she knew, of course, accomplish such a feat. It was fine to + know things, as he did, but <i>muscle</i> was what counted now! + In queer, impersonal reflection, born, doubtless, of a dumb + hysteria, she reflected bitterly upon the healthy weight of her + own mountain-nourished person.</p> + + <p>"If I was only like them triflin' bluegrass gals Joe tells + about," she thought, "made up of nothin' or a little less, it + wouldn't be no trick to tote me outen this; but dellaw! I'm + just as much as that there ox of mine feels right to carry when + I got a couple bags o' grist on, back an' front."</p> + + <p>She looked around the ring of fire, dull-eyed, disheartened. + "Ain't no use," said she, aloud.</p> + + <p>He seemed to almost lose his temper. "Use?" said he, "of + course there's use! You tell me where the best chance is and + we'll fight out, all right."</p> + + <p>She did not even answer; the situation seemed to her so + wholly hopeless.</p> + + <p>He acted, then, without further question. Hastily throwing + the loop of his gun over his shoulder, he crooked one arm + beneath her much-astonished knees, clasped another tight about + her waist, and started for the fire with a determined + spring.</p> + + <p>"No, no; not there!" she screamed, astonished, terrified, + and yet, withal, delighted by the unexpected hardness of the + muscles in the arms which held her, the unexpected spring in + the apparently not overburdened limbs which bore them up, the + unexpected nerve, determination of the man's initiative.</p> + + <p>This "foreigner," it seemed, was not so weak, was not so + namby-pamby as his class had been described to be. She did not + struggle in the circling arms, she only made an + explanation.</p> + + <p>"That's hard wood, burnin' there," said she. "Burnin' hard + wood's harder to break through an' hotter, too. Try some place + where it's pine.... But you can't never do it!"</p> + + <p>"Where?" said he. "Show me! You know, I don't."</p> + + <p>"Well—over thar," she said, and indicated, with a + pointing hand, the place in the encircling conflagration where + passage seemed least hopeless.</p> + + <p>At that moment fire blazed high there, but her knowing eye + told her that it was largely flaring needles, brittle twigs, + and easily dissipated cones which fed it.</p> + + <p>A few great springs, such as she now felt that the + quivering, eager limbs which held her, were possessed of the + ability to make, might take them through this flimsiest spot in + the terrible barricade. The crackling, burning branches of the + dead pine-tops would be likely to give way before them, not to + trip them up, as oak would, to thrust them, falling, on the bed + of glowing coals fast forming on the ground.</p> + + <p>"Over thar," said she, again. "I reckon that's the best + place—but you cain't—"</p> + + <p>With the new respect the knowledge of his trained and ready + muscles brought to her, arose in her a towering admiration of + him. When she first had seen him, there beside the pool, she + definitely had liked him; while they had delved into the + mysteries of the alphabet upon the log his patient, willing, + helpful kindness had increased her prepossession in his favor. + It was only when, after disaster had so swiftly, so + unexpectedly, descended on them and she had compared his body, + made apparently more slender in comparison to the rude-limbed + mountaineers she knew than it was really by tight-fitting + knickerbockers and golf-stockings and its well-cut + shooting-jacket, that she had lost confidence in him. But now + his muscles, closing round her, seemed like thews of steel. She + had never heard of athletes, she did not dream that + muscle-building is a part of modern education—that + alertness on the baseball, polo, football fields, count quite + as much, at least in college popularity, as ready tongues and + agile wits. The last fibres of destroyed respect for him + rebuilt themselves upon the minute. Her confidence returned + completely in a sudden flash—quicker than the magic + leapings of the fire about them. She knew that he would take + her through to safety.</p> + + <p>A thought occurred to her, for, suddenly, with the new + respect for him the knowledge of his trained and ready muscles + gave her, arose a new consideration for him, almost motherly. + He would be breasting dreadful peril in the passage of the + flames—peril to his eyes and face and clinging, + tight-clasped hands especially. And round her limbs there was + the means of saving him, in part, from it.</p> + + <p>"You let me down for just a minute," she said briefly. "Just + a minute. Then I'll let you take me up an' carry me. An' you + can <i>do</i> it, too! You're strong, ain't you?"</p> + + <p>Wondering, he released his hold on her, and she slid to her + feet. Then, with a quick movement, she unbuttoned the waistband + of her outer skirt, and, letting it slip down to the ground, + stepped out of it.</p> + + <p>"Ain't it lucky I got wet?" said she, and smiled. "It ain't + more'n half dry yet. The under one is wet, too, and both of 'em + are wool—and that don't burn like cotton would.</p> + + <p>"Now pick me up again an' I'll just fix this + skirt—so—there—now—that's the way. Can + you see, now? All right? Well, it'll keep th' fire from + catchin' in our hair, an' it'll save your + eyes."</p><a name="Illus_2"></a> <br> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_2.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_2.jpg" + alt="A mighty leap ... beyond the blazing barrier" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4>A mighty leap had carried them beyond the blazing + barrier</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <p>He laughed. "That's fine!" said he, and, almost before she + realized that they were under way, a mighty leap had taken them + close to the blazing barrier, another one had landed them + within its very midst, another one had carried them beyond its + greatest menace, another had delivered them from actual peril, + leaving them on ground where filmy grass, dead leaves, dry + needles, had blazed quickly, with a consuming flash, and, + utterly and almost instantly destroyed, had left behind them + only thin, hot ash, devoid of peril, scarce to be + considered.</p> + + <p>But he did not let her feet touch ground again until they + were even beyond this. Finally, when they reached a rocky + "barren," where the little fire had found no fuel, she felt his + tautened thews relax.</p> + + <p>Instantly she slipped from his encircling arms, and he began + to whip the flames in grass and little brush close to them with + the dampened skirt. Even on the little isle of safety they + found it necessary, still, to agilely avoid innumerable bits of + floating "light-wood" brands, and, for a time, to beat, beat at + the hungry little flames around them, but, at last, the danger + was all over, and they stood there, looking at each other, with + a sense of great relief. He smiled, breathing hard, but not + exhausted.</p> + + <p>"Tight work, eh?" he said cheerfully.</p> + + <p>"Jest <i>wonderful</i>!" she answered, with a ready + tribute.</p> + + <p>Then the memory of his embracing arm, the fact that her own + arms had been as tightly clasped about his neck, came to her + with a rush, although, while they had raced across the burning + strip she had not thought of these things. Shyness stirred in + her almost as definitely as it had while she lay hidden at the + pool's mouth, watching him and tingling with shamed thrills at + thought of her amazing plight there. No man had ever had his + arms about her in her life before.</p> + + <p>But, even while she blushed and thrilled with this + embarrassment, she fought to put it from her. He, evidently, + had not thought of it at all, was, now, not thinking of it. + What had been done had been a part of the day's work, a quick + move, made in an emergency, when nothing else would serve. His + attitude restored her own composure.</p> + + <p>And gratitude welled in her. She struggled to find words for + it.</p> + + <p>"I—I'm much obleeged to you," were all she found, and + she was conscious of their most complete inadequacy.</p> + + <p>"No reason why you should be," he said gayly. "We got caught + in a tight place, that's all, and we helped one another out of + it."</p> + + <p>She laughed derisively. "I helped <i>you</i> out a lot, now + didn't I?" she asked.</p> + + <p>Again she made a survey of him, standing where he had been + when he had loosed his hold of her, unwearied, smiling, and she + looked with actual wonder. Good clothes and careful speech were + not, of a necessity, the outward signs of weaklings, it + appeared!</p> + + <p>Joe Lorey, in a dozen talks with her, had told her that they + were. She did not understand that this had been a clumsy and + short-sighted strategy, that, finding her more difficult than + other mountain girls—the handsome, sturdy young + hill-dweller had not been without his conquests among the + maidens of his kind; only Madge had baffled him—he had + feared that, now when the railroad building in the valley had + brought so many "foreigners" into the neighborhood, one of them + might fascinate her, and it had been to guard against this, as + well as he was able, that he had spoken slightingly of the + whole class. He had delighted in repeating to her tales + belittling them, deriding them, and she, of course, had quite + believed his stories.</p> + + <p>But her experience with this one had not justified that + point of view, and the matter largely occupied her thoughts as + they walked slowly through the thickets of a bit of + "second-growth" beyond the fire, which, stopped by the rocky + "barrens," was dying out behind them. Her companion was, to + her, an utterly new sort of being, not better trained in mind + alone, but better trained in body than any mountaineer she + knew; doubtless ignorant of many details of woods-life which + would be known to any child there in the mountains, but, on the + other hand, even more resourceful, daring, quick, than mountain + men would have been, similarly placed, and, to her amazement, + physically stronger, too!</p> + + <p>The fact that he had shown himself more thoughtful of and + courteous to her than any other man had ever been before, made + its impression, but a slighter one. Hers were the instincts of + true wisdom, and she valued these things less than many of her + city sisters might, although she valued them, of course. She + looked slyly, wonderingly at him. He was a very pleasant, very + admirable sort of creature—this visitor from the unknown, + outside world. She quite decided that she did not even think + his knickerbockers foolish, after all.</p> + + <p>For a moment, even now, she thrilled unpleasantly with a + mean suspicion that he might be a "revenuer," after all, and + have done the good things he had done as a part of that + infernal craft which revenuers sometimes showed when searching + for the hidden stills where "moonshine" whisky is illegally + produced among the mountains; but she put this thought out of + her heart, indignantly, almost as quickly as it came to her. + Instinctively she felt quite certain that duplicity did not + form any portion of his nature. They had not been traitor's + arms which had so bravely (and so firmly) clasped her for the + quick and risky dash across that terrifying belt of fire!</p> + + <p>"No," said she, determined to give him fullest measure of + due credit, "I didn't help you none. I didn't help you + none—an' you did what I don't believe any other man I + ever knew could do. I'm—"</p> + + <p>Again she paused, again at loss for words, again the quest + failed wholly.</p> + + <p>"I'm much obleeged," said she.</p> + + <p>Then, suddenly, the thought came to her of that other and + less prepossessing "foreigner" whom, that day, she had seen + there in her mountains. She described him carefully to Layson, + and asked if he could guess who he had been and what his + business could have been. Descriptions are a sorry basis for + the recognition of a person thought to be far miles away, a + person unassociated in one's mind with the surroundings he has + suddenly appeared in; and, therefore, Layson, who really knew + the man and who, had he identified him with the unknown + visitor, would have been surprised, intensely curious, and, + possibly, suspicious, could offer her no clue to his + identity.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER IV</h2><br> + + + <p>That same "foreigner," for a "foreigner," was acting + strangely. Surely he was dressed in a garb hitherto almost + unknown in the rough mountains, certainly none of the + mountaineers whom he had met (and he had met, with plain + unwillingness, a few, as he had climbed up to the rocky + clearing where his fire had blossomed so remarkably) had + recognized him. But, despite all this, it was quite plain that + he was traveling through a country of which he found many + details familiar. Now and then a little vista caught his view + and held him for long minutes while he seemed to be comparing + its reality with pictures of it stored within his memory; again + he paused when he discovered that some whim of tramping + mountaineers or roaming cattle, some landslide born of winter + frosts; some blockade of trees storm-felled, had changed the + course of an old path. Always, in a case like this, he + investigated carefully before he definitely started on the new + one.</p> + + <p>When he had first come into the neighborhood he had made his + way with caution, almost as if fearing to be seen, but now, + after the bits of rocks which he had taken from Madge Brierly's + clearing, had slipped into his pocket, he used double care in + keeping from such routes as showed the marks of many recent + footsteps, in sly investigations to make sure the paths he + chose were clear of other wayfarers. His nerves evidently on + keen edge, he seemed to fear surprise of some unpleasant sort. + Each crackling twig, as he passed through the thickets, each + rustling of a frightened rabbit as it scuttled from his path, + each whir of startled grouse, or sudden call of nesting + king-bird, made him pause cautiously until he had quite + satisfied himself that it meant nothing to be feared. He was + ever carefully alert for danger of some sort.</p> + + <p>But not even his continual alarms, his constant + watchfulness, could keep his mind away from the rough bits of + rock which he had chipped from the outcropping in the clearing. + More than once, as he found convenient and safe + places—leafy nooks in rocky clefts, glades in dense, + impenetrable thickets—he took out the little specimens, + turned them over in his hands with loving touches, and gazed at + them with an expression of picturesquely avaricious joy. Had + any witnessed this procedure they would have found it vastly + puzzling, for the specimens seemed merely small, black stones + and valueless. But once, while looking at them lovingly, he + burst into a harsh and hearty laugh as of great triumph, quite + involuntarily; but hushed it quickly, looking, then, about him + with an apprehensive glance. Each step he made was, in the + main, a cautious one, each pause he made was plainly to look at + some familiar, if some slightly altered, vista.</p> + + <p>It was quite clear that with the finding of the little bits + of rock he had achieved the errand which had brought him to the + mountains, and that now he roamed to satisfy his memory's + curiosity. Smiles of recognition constantly played upon his + grim and grizzled face at sight of some old path, some distant, + mist-enshrouded crag, even some mighty pine or oak which had + for years withstood the buffeting of tempestuous storms; now + and then a little puzzled frown, added its wrinkles to the many + which already creased his brow, when, at some spot which he had + thought to find as he had left it, long ago, he discovered that + time's changes had been notable.</p> + + <p>Once only did the man become confused among the woods-paths + (where a stranger might have lost himself quite hopelessly in + twenty minutes) and that was at a point not far from where + Madge Brierly and Layson had, on their way up from the + clearing, paused while she told her youthful escort of the grim + but simple tragedy of her feud-darkened childhood. Before the + old man reached this spot he had been traveling with puzzled + caution, for a time, across a slope rough-scarred by some not + ancient landslide which had changed the superficial contour of + the mountain-side. When, suddenly, he debouched upon the rocky + crag, hung, a rustic, natural platform above a gorgeous + panorama of the valley, the view came to him, evidently, as a + sharp, a startling, most unpleasant shock.</p> + + <p>That the place was quite familiar to him none who watched + him would have doubted, but no smiles of pleasant memories + curved his thin, unpleasant lips as he surveyed it. He did not + pause there, happily, communing with his memory in smiling + reminiscence as he had at other points along the way. Instead, + as the great view burst upon his gaze, he started back as if + the outlook almost terrified him. He had been traveling astoop, + partly because the burden of his years weighed heavy on his + shoulders, partly as if his muscles had unconsciously reverted + to the easy, slouching, climbing-stoop of the Kentucky + mountaineer. But at sight of this especial spot his attitude + changed utterly, the whole expression, not of his face, alone, + but of his body, altered. His stoop became a crouch. His hands + flew out before him as if, with them, he strove to ward away + the charming scene. His feet paused in their tracks, as if + struck helpless and immovable by what his eyes revealed to + him.</p> + + <p>For a full moment, almost without moving, he stood there, + fascinated by some old association, plainly, for there was + nothing in the prospect which, to an actual stranger, would + have seemed more notable than details of a dozen other views + which he had peered at through his half-closed, weather-beaten + eyes within the hour. Here, clearly, was the arena of some + great event in his past life—an arena which he gladly + would have never seen again. His face went pale beneath its + coat of tan, his shoulders trembled slightly as he tried to + shrug them with indifference to brace his courage up. Twice he + started from the spot, determined, evidently, to shut away the + crowding and unpleasant recollections it recalled to him, twice + he returned to it, to carefully, if with evident repugnance, + make closer study of some detail of its rugged picturesqueness. + More than once, as he lingered there against his will, his + hands raised upward to his eyes as if to shut away from them + some vivid memory-picture, but each time they fell, with + strangely hopeless gesture. The picture which they strove to + hide plainly was not before his eyes in the actual scene, but + painted in the brain behind them and not to be shut out with + screening, claw-curved fingers.</p> + + <p>The effect of this especial spot on the old man, indeed, was + most remarkable. His lips, as he stood gazing there, moved + constantly as if with words unspoken, and, once or twice, the + crowding sentences found actual but not articulate voice. + Whenever this occurred he started, to look about behind him as + if he feared that some one, who might overhear, had crept up + upon him slyly. Finally, making absolutely certain that he had + not been observed by any human being, and evidently yielding to + an impulse almost irresistible, he went over the ground + carefully, examining each foot of the little rocky platform + with not a loving, but a fascinated observation.</p> + + <p>When he finally left the spot a striking change had come + upon his features. He had reached the place sly, cunning, and, + withal, triumphant, as if he had accomplished, that day, + through securing the small stones, some secret thing of a great + import. His countenance, as, at length, he went away, was not + triumphant but half terrified. It was as if some long-forgotten + scene of horror had been brought before his gaze again, to + terrify and astonish him.</p> + + <p>His footsteps had been slow and leisurely, the footsteps of + a contemplative, if a surreptitious sightseer, but now they + quickened almost into running, and the intensely disagreeable + effect of the mysterious episode had not left him wholly, when, + twenty minutes afterward, he had mounted the rocky hill path by + a precipitous climb and found himself within a little, cupped + inclosure in the rocks, secluded enough and beautiful enough to + be a fairies' dancing-floor. There, again, he seemed to + recognize old landmarks, but with fewer of unpleasant memories + connected with them. Plain curiosity glowed, now, in his + narrow, crafty eyes.</p> + + <p>"I wonder," he exclaimed, "if it's here yet."</p> + + <p>As he spoke his glance flashed swiftly to the far side of + the little glade, where, on the face of a dense thicket, a + trained eye, such as his, might mark a spot where bushes had + been often parted with extreme care not to do them injury and + thus reveal the fact that through them lay a thoroughfare. + Noting this with a wry smile of malicious satisfaction, he + started slowly toward the spot.</p> + + <p>The caution of his movements was redoubled, now. While he + had worked, back in the clearing, cooking his simple noonday + meal and chipping off the little specimens of rock, he had + shown that he wished not to have his strange activities + observed. On the mountain paths he had plainly been most + anxious not to run across chance wayfarers who might ask + questions, or (the possibility was most remote, but still a + possibility) remember him of old. He had been merely cautious, + though, not definitely fearful.</p> + + <p>Now, however, actual and obsessive dread showed plainly on + his face and in his movements. Such a fear would have induced + most men to abandon any enterprise which was not fraught with + compelling necessity; with him insistent curiosity seemed to + counterbalance it. The man's face, rough, hard, cruel, was, + withal, unusually expressive; its deep lines were more than + ordinarily mobile, and every one of them, as he proceeded, + soft-footed as a cat, amazingly lithe and supple for his years, + as competent to find his way unseen through a woods country as + an Indian, showed that irresistible and fiercely inquisitive + impulse was offsetting in his mind a deadly apprehension.</p> + + <p>In one way only, though, in spite of the accelleration of + his eager curiosity, did he drop his guard, at all, and this + was quite apparently the direct result of high excitement. That + he had dropped it he was clearly quite unconscious, but when + his lips moved, now, they more than once let fall articulate + words.</p> + + <p>"Ef th' old still's thar ..." they said at one time; then, + after a long pause devoted to worming troublous way through + tangled areas of windfall, they muttered, in completion of the + sentence: "... it'll be th' son that's runnin' it." Another + busy silence, and: "Thar was a girl ... th' daughter + of...."</p> + + <p>Either a spasmodic contraction of the throat at mere thought + of the name—a grimace, almost of pain, which suddenly + convulsed the old man's evil face might well have made a + stranger think that his muscles had rebelled—or an + unusually difficult struggle across a fallen tree-trunk + prevented further speech, as, probably, it prevented for the + time, consecutive further thought of old-time memories. His + mind was tensely concentrated on the work of climbing through + the tangle of dead trunks and branches, and, when he had + accomplished the hard passage, was turned wholly from the + things which he had been considering by a slight crackling, as + of some one stepping on a brittle twig, at a distance in + advance of him.</p> + + <p>Instantly he was on his guard, showing signs quite + unmistakable of deadly fear. He shrank back into the thicket + with the speed and silence of a frightened animal.</p> + + <p>The panic which had seized him soon had passed, however, + for, within a few short seconds it was clear to him that the + noise which he had heard had not been made by any one + suspicious of his presence or a-search for him.</p> + + <p>Peering cautiously between the slender boles of crooked + mountain-laurel bushes, he soon found a vantage point from + which he could see on beyond the densely woven foliage, and, to + his astonishment, found, before he had thought, possible that + he had progressed so far, that he had already reached the place + he sought. Memory had made the way to it a longer one than it + was really, and, in spite of the delays caused by his advancing + age and awkward muscles, long unaccustomed to the work of + threading mountain paths, he had traveled faster than he + thought.</p> + + <p>Not fifty feet away from him, separated from the thicket he + was hiding in but by a narrow stretch of mountain sward, he + saw, among the mountain side's disordered rocks, the carefully + masked entrance to a cave.</p> + + <p>An untrained eye would never have made note of the few signs + which made it clear to him, at once, that this cave was, as it + had been long years before when he had known it well, a place + of frequent call for footsteps skilled in mountain cunning. No + path was worn to its rough entrance, but, here and there, a + broken grass-blade, in another place a pebble recently + dislodged from its accustomed hollow, elsewhere a ragged bit of + paper, torn from a tobacco-package, proved to him that, + although hidden in the wilderness of old Mount Nebo's scarred + and inaccessible sides, this spot was yet one often visited by + many men.</p> + + <p>A grim smile stirred the leathern folds of his old + cheeks.</p> + + <p>"Thar yet," he thought, "an' doin' business yet."</p> + + <p>Again, after he had worked about to get a better view.</p> + + <p>"Best-hidden still in these here mountings. Revenuers never + <i>will</i> get run of it."</p> + + <p>The place had a mighty fascination for him, as if it might + have played a tremendous part in long-gone passages of his own + life. As he stood gazing at it cautiously, the mountaineer + seemed definitely to emerge from his low-country dress and + superficial "bluegrass" manner, fastened on him by long years + of usage. Old expressions of not only face but muscles came + clearly to the front. Now, no person watching him, could ever + for a moment doubt that he was mountain-born and mountain-bred, + if they but knew the ear-marks of that people—almost a + race apart. The sight of the old cave-mouth plainly stirred in + him a horde of memories not wholly pleasant. Leathern as his + face was, it none the less showed his emotions with remarkable + lucidity now that he was off his guard. Now sly cunning + dominated it, with, possibly, a touch left of the early fear to + flavor it.</p> + + <p>"I bet a hundred revenuers in these mountains have looked + for that there still," he thought, "an' no one ever found it, + yet. Forty years it's been thar—through three generations + o' th' Loreys—damn 'em!—an' no one's ever squealed + on 'em. I ... wonder...."</p> + + <p>A look of vicious craft and malice wholly drove away the + searching curiosity which had possessed the old man's features. + For a time he plainly planned some work of bitter vengefulness. + Then, with shaking head, he evidently abandoned the enticing + thought.</p> + + <p>"Too resky," he concluded, and edged a little nearer to the + thicket's edge. "Might stir up old—"</p> + + <p>He paused suddenly, alert and keenly listening. From another + path than that by which he had approached the place there came + the sound of voices raised in talk and laughter. He easily + identified them, to his great surprise, as those of some young + mountain-girl and some young bluegrass gentleman. Their tones + and accents told this story plainly. Surprised and curious, he + went farther, his head bent, with study of the voices, peering, + meanwhile, through the thicket's tangle to get sight of them as + soon as they appeared within the clearing. Suddenly he dropped + his jaw in blank amazement.</p> + + <p>"Frank Layson!" he exclaimed.</p> + + <p>The girl's voice he did not recognize, but knew, of course, + from its peculiar accent, that it was some mountain + maiden's.</p> + + <p>"Well!" he exclaimed beneath his breath in absolute + astonishment. "I didn't think it of Frank Layson! What would + Barbara—"</p> + + <p>The pair emerged, now, from a gully by-path, and came into + view. He tightly shut his jaws and watched them with a peering, + eager curiosity.</p> + + <p>A moment later, and by her wonderful resemblance to her dead + mother, he recognized the girl.</p> + + <p>She, above all people, must not know that he was there, even + if she only thought him to be Horace Holton, newcomer among the + bluegrass gentry in the valley. His plans had been laid + carefully, and for her to find them out would almost certainly + upset them all. He was far from anxious to meet Layson, there + among the mountains, for it would mean awkward questioning, but + he was doubly anxious to avoid a meeting with the girl, first + because she owned the land on which he had secured the bits of + rock then nestling in his pocket, and, second, because she was + the daughter of—</p> + + <p>His thoughts were interrupted, for, for a second, he thought + they must have seen him, so definite was their approach + straight toward the thicket where he hid. He crouched, + frightened. It would be a very awkward matter to be found there + by them, and, besides, he did not know who might be out of + sight within the hidden still. It was quite possible that there + might lurk a deadly enemy. He must worm back through the + thicket with great caution, and, following the secluded ways + which he had traversed in his coming, get back to the railroad + camp, where was safety.</p> + + <p>He stepped backward hastily, and, in so doing, trod upon a + rotten branch. He had not been as cautious as he had intended, + and this mis-step unbalanced him and sent him to the ground, + with a tremendous crashing of the brittle twigs and + dead-wood.</p> + + <p>Springing to his feet while the young people, startled by + the great disturbance, paused where they were standing, for an + instant, he hurried back into the hidden, thicket-bordered + path, now using all his recrudescent skill of silent + woods-progression, and made complete escape, leaving them not + sure that the disturbance had been caused by human blundering + and not some vagrant beast's.</p> + + <p>Madge held back, but Layson hurried to the thicket, with gun + raised ready for a shot.</p> + + <p>Just then, from the carefully concealed cave-entrance, came + Joe Lorey, rifle poised for trouble, eyes gleaming fiercely, + evidently keyed to meet a raid by revenuers.</p> + + <p>It was plain enough that he believed the noise which had + disturbed, alarmed him, had been made by this young sportsman. + Indeed, as he who really had caused the uproar was, now, well + on a cautious backward way along the path by which he had come + up, and the girl and Layson were the only folk in sight, the + young moonshiner's mistake was natural.</p> + + <p>Madge, almost as much disturbed as Lorey was by the crashing + in the thickets, was looking in the direction whence the noise + had come, and, at first, did not see him. When she did she + smiled at him, and called to him, but, absorbed in study of the + bluegrass youth who had so suddenly appeared there in his + secret place among the mountains in company with the girl whom + he, himself, adored, Joe did not answer her, at first. When he + did it was with nothing more than a curt nod. He was astonished + and alarmed to see her in such company.</p> + + <p>After that curt nod he waited for no explanation, but, like + a shadow, slipped into a thicket, disappearing instantly. No + Indian from Cooper's tales could have more instantly + obliterated all trace of himself, could have more quickly, + noiselessly, mysteriously disappeared amongst the greenery, + than did this mountaineer. His movements, made with the + instinctive cunning of the woodsman and with muscles trained + not only by wild life there in the mountains to speed, + endurance and exactitude, but by many an hour of stealthy + stalking of the "revenuers" sent to search out his moonshine + still, raid it, take him prisoner, were almost magically + active, cautious, furtive and effective.</p> + + <p>For an instant Madge herself, accustomed to the native's + skill in woodcraft, as she was, gazed after him, astonished by + the magic of his disappearance, and, at first, piqued not a + little by his scanty courtesy. Then realizing that the + mountaineer was, possibly, quite justified in feeling grave + suspicions of the stranger who was with her—of any + stranger coming thus, without a herald to the + mountains—she turned again to Layson, and, with her hand + lightly guiding him by touch as delicate, almost, as a + wind-blown leaf's upon his sleeve, led him to the nearest + mountain path and on, toward a point whence she could clearly + point out to him the way to his own camp.</p> + + <p>And, suddenly, her own heart throbbed with worry. Had she + not done wrong in bringing this unknown and, therefore, this + mysterious stranger so close upon the heart of Lorey's secret? + She had chosen the path thoughtlessly. She realized that, now, + and much regretted it. The man had wholly won her confidence, + but had it been considerate or fair to Joe, her lifelong + friend, or to the other people of the mountains who had things + to hide from strangers, to be quite so frank with him in her + revelation of the byways of the wilderness?</p> + + <p>Between the mountain-dwellers and the people of the lowlands + never could exist real confidence or friendship. From her + babyhood she had been taught to feel suspicion of all + strangers: that was, indeed, first article in the creed of all + folk mountain-born. Why had she so freely dropped her mantle of + reserve before <i>this</i> stranger? That he had saved her from + the bush-fire was excuse for her own gratitude, but was it + valid reason for exposing her best friends to danger at his + hands, if they proved treacherous? The revenuers, she had been + informed, were men of devilish craft, unscrupulous cunning. + Might not this youth with the fine clothes, the splendid + manner, the great learning, the soft voice, the quick resource + and the undoubted bravery, very well be one of them?</p> + + <p>She had once heard a mountain preacher draw a picture of the + devil, which made him most attractive and in the same way that + this youth was most attractive. Certain of the sympathies of + his rough hearers, the man had painted Beelzebub with broad, + rough, verbal strokes, as a bluegrass gentleman intent on the + destruction of the honor, independence, liberty of + mountaineers. The mountaineer has never and will never + understand what right the government of state or nation has to + interfere with whatsoe'er he does on his own land with his own + corn in his own still. Just why he has no right to manufacture + whiskey without paying taxes on the product he really fails to + comprehend. He regards the "revenuer" as the representative of + acute and cruel injustice and oppression. When he "draws a + bead" on one he does it with no such thoughts as common + murderers must know when they shoot down their enemies. He does + not think such killings are crude murder, any more than he + regards feud killings as assassinations.</p> + + <p>With such ideas Madge had been, to some extent, imbued. With + feud feeling she was quite in sympathy—had not she lost + her loved ones through its awful work? Could she ever have + revenge on those who had thus bereaved her through any means + save similar assassination?</p> + + <p>And certainly the revenuers were her enemies, for they were + the foemen of her friends. If this young man should be a + revenuer she might have done a harm incalculable by guiding him + along the secret mountain byways which they had been + travelling.</p> + + <p>Her heart was in her throat from worry, for an instant. Had + she, whose very soul was fiercely loyal to the mountains and + their people, been the one to show an enemy the way into their + citadel? Had she, bound especially to Joe Lorey, not only by + the ties of lifelong friendship but by that other comradeship + which had grown out of mutual wrongs and mutual hatred of Ben + Lindsay (not dimmed, a whit, by the mere fact that, terrified, + he had, years ago fled from the mountains), done Joe the + greatest wrong of all by leading this fine stranger to the very + entrance of his hidden still? <i>Was</i> he a revenuer in + disguise?</p> + + <p>The magnitude of her possible indiscretion filled her with + alarm. That crashing in the bushes back of them might have been + made by some associate of his, who had trailed them at a + distance, ready to give assistance, if needs be, or, in case + all things went right and the bolder man who had gone first and + fallen into the great luck of an acquaintance with her had no + need of help, to corroborate his observations, help him to + scheme the way by which to make attack upon the still when the + time for it should come.</p> + + <p>As she considered all these possibilities, quite reasonable + to her suspicious mind, she shuddered.</p> + + <p>But then, as she went slowly down the mountain path beside + the stranger she looked up and caught the frank calm glances of + his eyes.</p> + + <p>Surely there was nothing of cowardice such as would fool a + trusting girl into betrayal of her friends, in them; surely + there was not the low craft of a spy in them; surely their + clear and unexcited gaze was not that of a keen hunter, + unscrupulously on the trail of human game, who has just learned + through the innocent indiscretion of a girl who trusted him, + the secret of its covert.</p> + + <p>As she looked at him she was convinced of two things, vastly + comforting. One was that Layson had no knowledge of the still; + that, untrained to mountain ways and unsuspicious, he had not + even guessed at the secret of the little hidden place among the + mountains. Another was—and this gave her, although she + could have scarcely explained why, a greater comfort than the + first had—that had he had that knowledge he would not + have used it meanly.</p> + + <p>She thrilled pleasantly with the complete conviction that + the man whom she had liked so much at first sight, the man who + had shown such pluck in saving her from fire, the man who had + exhibited such thoughtfulness and helpfulness in starting her + upon the rocky path toward education, was true and fair and + fine—was, in the curt language of the mountains, + "decent."</p> + + <p>When she left him at the foot of the rough path which wound + up to the cabin where she lived alone, she had quite recovered + confidence in him. She eagerly assented to his suggestion that + they meet again, the following day, for the continuation of her + studies.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_V"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER V</h2><br> + + + <p>Their next lesson was in a new school-room. The clearing + where they had had their first, was, now, charred and + blackened, not attractive, after the small fire; so, after + going to it, the following day to look it over with that + interest with which the man who has escaped from peril seeks + again, the scene of it in curiosity, they found another glade + wherein to carry on their delving after knowledge of the + ABC's.</p> + + <p>There, beneath a canopy of arching branches and the sky, + between rustling walls of greenery pillared by the mighty boles + of forest trees, they had the second lesson of the course which + was to open up to Madge the magic realm of books and of the + learning hidden in them.</p> + + <p>Nor did her investigations now, confine themselves, entirely + to the things the small book taught. She questioned Layson + about a thousand things less dry and matter-of-fact than shape + of printed symbols and the manner of their combination in the + printed word. Life, life—that was to her, as it has ever + been to all of us, the most fascinating thing. Here was one who + had come from far, mysterious realms which she had vaguely + heard about in winter-evening gossip at the mountain-cabin + firesides; realms where men were courteous to women, careful in + their speech; where women did not work, but sat on silken + chairs with black menials ready to their call to serve their + slightest wish; where maidens were not clad as she was clad, + and every woman she had ever known was clad, in calico or + linsey-woolsey homespun, but richly, wondrously, in silks and + satins, laces, beaded gew-gaws. In her imagination's picture, + the maids and matrons of the bluegrass were as marvellous, as + fascinating, as are the fairies and the sprites of Anderson and + Grimm to girls more fortunately placed. No tale of elf born + from a cleft rock, touched by magic wand, ever more completely + fascinated any big-eyed city child, than did the tales which + Layson told her—commonplace and ordinary to his mind: + mere casual account of routine life—about his family and + friends down in the bluegrass, the enchanted region separated + from them where they sat by a hundred miles or so of rugged + hills and billowing forests. Her eager questions especially + drew from him with a greed insatiable account of all the + gayeties of that mysterious existence.</p> + + <p>"And that aunt of yours—Muss + Aluth—Aluth—"</p> + + <p>"Miss Alathea Layson?" he inquired, and smiled.</p> + + <p>"Yes; what queer names the women have, down there! Is she + pretty? Does <i>she</i> dress in silks and satins, too, like + the girls that go to them big dances?"</p> + + <p>He laughed. "None of them are always dressed in silks and + satins," he replied. "Perhaps I've given you a wrong idea. We + work down there, as hard, perhaps, as you do here, but we have + more things to work with. Don't get the notion, little girl, + that all these things which I have told you of are magic things + which surely will bring happiness! There is no more of that, I + reckon, in the bluegrass than there is here in the mountains. + Silks and satins don't make happiness, balls and garden-fetes + don't make it. A girl who's sobbing in a ball gown can be quite + as miserable as you would be, unhappy in your homespun."</p> + + <p>She was impatient of his moralizing. "I know that," she + said. "Dellaw, don't you suppose I've got some sense? But it + ain't <i>quite</i> true, neither. Maybe if I was going to be + unhappy I'd be just as much so in a silk dress as I would in + this here cotton one that I've got on; but I guess there's + times when I'd be happier in the silk than I <i>would</i> be in + this. My, I wisht I had one!"</p> + + <p>He looked at her appraisingly. She would, he thought, be + wondrous beautiful if given the accessories which girls more + fortunate had at their hand. Beautiful, she was, undoubtedly, + without them; with them she would be—he almost caught his + breath at thought of it—sensational!</p> + + <p>Mentally he ran over all the girls he knew in a swift survey + of memory. Not one of them, he thought, could really compare + with her. Even Barbara Holton, with her haughty, big featured, + strikingly handsome face, although she had attracted him in + days passed, seemed singularly unattractive to him, now.</p> + + <p>While he sat, musing thus, almost forgetful of the puzzling + ABC, she gazed off across the valley dreamily, the ABC's as far + from her. It was a lovely prospect of bare crag and wooded + slope, green fields and low-hung clouds, with, at its center, + here and there the silver of the stream which, back among the + forest trees, supplied the water to the hidden pool where she + had watched him, furtively, the first time she had ever seen + him. But it was not of the fair prospect that the girl was + thinking. The coming of the stranger had brought into her life + a hundred new emotions, ten thousand puzzling guesses at the + life which lay beyond and could produce such men as he. Were + all men in the bluegrass like Frank Layson—courteous, + considerate, and as strong and active as the best of + mountaineers? If so—what a splendid place for women! She + was sure that men like him were never brutal to their wives and + daughters, sisters, mothers, as the mountaineers too often are; + she was certain that they did not craze themselves with whisky + and terrify and beat their families; she was sure that when one + loved a girl the courtship must be all sweet gentleness and + happiness and joy, not like the quick succession of mad + love-making and fierce quarrels which had characterized the + heart-affairs that she had watched, there in the mountains.</p> + + <p>She, herself, had had no love-affairs. Instinctively she had + held herself aloof from the ruck of the young mountain-men, + neither she nor they knew why, unless it was because she owned + the valley land and so was what the mountain folk called rich. + Most of them had tried to pay her court, but none of them, save + Joe, had in the least attracted her, and she had let them know + this (strangely) without arousing too much anger.</p> + + <p>Now she had one suitor, only, who was at all + persistent—Joe. She had sometimes thought she loved him. + Now she knew, quite certainly, that she did not, and, in a + vague way, was sorry for him, for she was quite certain of his + love for her. It never once occurred to her that she was + rapidly falling in love with the young man by her side. She had + not thought of him as being socially superior: the spirit of + independence, of equality of men, is nowhere stronger, even in + this land of independence and equality, than it is among the + mountains of the Cumberland; but she knew he was most wise. Had + not the puzzling symbols in the spelling-book been, to him, as + simple matters? She knew that he was gentle-hearted, for the + kindness of his acts proved that. She knew that he was, really, + a gentleman, for his manner was so perfectly considerate, so + ever kind. She did not realize that she was thinking of him as + a lover; but she dreamed, there, of the girls down in the + bluegrass and wondered how it must seem to them to have lovers + such as he. She could but very vaguely speculate as to their + emotions or appearance, but her speculations on both points, + vague as they might be, made her suffer strangely and cast + queer, furtive little side-glances at him. In her heart were + stirrings of keen jealousy of these distant maidens, but this + she did not realize.</p> + + <p>She broke into his revery with: "Don't you know any women, + down there, but your aunt?"</p> + + <p>"Er—what?"</p> + + <p>"Don't you know any women, down there, but your aunt?"</p> + + <p>"Why, yes," said he, and laughed. "I know a lot of women, + down there; lots and lots of women, certainly."</p> + + <p>"All them that go to balls, and such?"</p> + + <p>"Many of them."</p> + + <p>"Do you like to dance with them?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, yes; of course."</p> + + <p>"Tell me—all about the things they wear." This was not + quite the question she had started out to ask, but an answer to + it might be very interesting.</p> + + <p>She settled comfortably back upon the boulder she had chosen + as a seat, her hands clasped about one knee, her face turned + toward him eagerly, her eyes sparkling with keen zest.</p> + + <p>But he looked at her, appalled. "Why," said he, "why—I + don't believe I can. I know they always seem to be most + charming in appearance, but just how they work the magic + <i>I</i> don't know."</p> + + <p>"Can't you tell me nothing?" Her voice showed bitter + disappointment. She unclasped the hands about her knee and sat + dejected on the boulder. She gave him not the slightest hint of + it, but, suddenly, a plan had come into her mind.</p> + + <p>He looked at her regretfully. "Perhaps you'd better question + me," said he. Maybe I can scare up details if you'll let me + know just what you wish to hear about."</p> + + <p>"How are their dresses made?" she asked.</p> + + <p>"Oh, skirt, and waist, and so on," he airily replied.</p> + + <p>She made a gesture of impatience. "Well, then, how is the + skirt made? Tell me that. Tell me everything that you remember + about skirts. Are they loose as mine, or tighter?" She rose and + stood before him, in her scant drapery of homespun, turning + slowly, so that he might see.</p> + + <p>It was very clever. Instantly it brought to mind the last + girls he had seen down in the lowlands at a lawn-party, with + their wide and much beruffled skirts.</p> + + <p>"Oh, they're looser," he said gravely. "Much, much looser. + Why, they are as big around as that!" He made a sweeping, + circular gesture with his arms.</p> + + <p>"What for trimmings do they have?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, all sorts of things—ruffles, frills, embroidery + and laces."</p> + + <p>"What's embroidery?"</p> + + <p>He tried to tell her, but he did not make it very clear, + and, realizing that he had done quite his best although he had + not done so very well, she sighed and dropped that detail of + the subject. But she knew what frills and ruffles were.</p> + + <p>"And how about their waists?" said she. "Like mine, are + they?"</p> + + <p>He looked, appraisingly, at the loose basque, which, because + of the budding beauty of her form rather than because of any + merit of its own, had seemed to him most charming and + attractive. Close examination did not show this to be the case. + It was a crude garment, certainly, of crude material, crude + cut, crude make. The beauty all was in the wearer's soft young + curves and lissome grace.</p> + + <p>"No," he answered, honestly, "they're not like that. In the + summer, and for evenings—such as dances and the + like—they are cut low at the neck. And they are + tighter."</p> + + <p>"I suppose," said she, "they wear them things that they call + corsets, under 'em. I've heard of 'em—I saw one, + once—but I ain't never had one. Maybe I had better get + one."</p> + + <p>He spoke hastily. At that moment, as he gazed at her slim + grace, undulant, untrammelled and as willowy as a spring + sapling's, it seemed to him that it would be a sacrilege to + confine it in the stiff rigidity of such artificialities as + corsets. It seemed a bit indelicate, to him, to talk to her + about such matters, but her guilelessness was so real and he + was so assured of his own innocence, that he did what he could + to make things clear to her. He descanted with some eloquence + upon the wickedness of lacing, the ungracefulness of artificial + forms and the beauty of her own wholly natural grace.</p> + + <p>"I'm glad you think I'm pretty," she said frankly, plainly + greatly pleased, "but I reckon I'd be prettier if I had one of + them there corsets."</p> + + <p>His protests to the contrary were not convincing, in the + least.</p> + + <p>So the lessons from the book did not go so very far that + day.</p> + + <p>"Furbelows have always interested females, I suppose," said + he, "but I didn't really think you'd lose your interest in + spelling-books because of them."</p> + + <p>"I ain't lost interest in spelling-books," she said. "I + ain't lost interest, at all. After I've studied good and hard I + can read all about such things in the picture-papers that Mom + Liza has down to the store. They've got all kinds of pictures + in 'em—all of fancy gowns and hats and things like that. + She showed one to me, once, but all I could make out was just + the pictures, and she couldn't manage to make out much more. + She can read the names on all the letters comin' to the + post-office, for there's only three folks ever gets 'em, but + she ain't what you'd really call a scholar."</p> + + <p>He laughed heartily. "So, even in the mountains, here, they + take the fashion papers, do they?"</p> + + <p>"No; she don't pay for 'em," she gravely answered. "They're + always marked with red ink, 'Sample Copy,' so she says; but + they send 'em ev'ry once a while. If you're in th' post-office, + you get a lot o' things, like that—all sorts o' + picture-papers, an' cards, all printed up in pretty colors, to + tell what medicines to take when you get sick."</p> + + <p>"Ah, patent-medicine advertisements."</p> + + <p>"Yes; that's what she calls 'em, an' she's read me some + powerful amazin' stories out of 'em—them as was in short + words—of folks that rose up almost from th' dead! They're + wonderful!"</p> + + <p>"They are, indeed!"</p> + + <p>"But what I always liked th' best was them there papers + tellin' about clo'es."</p> + + <p>"Eternal feminine!"</p> + + <p>"I don't know what you mean by that, but they are mighty + peart, some o' them dresses pictured out in them there + papers."</p> + + <p>"I've not the least doubt of it."</p> + + <p>"And I suppose they are th' kind th' girls you know, down in + th' bluegrass, wear for ev'ry day!" she sighed.</p> + + <p>He looked at her in quick compassion and in protest.</p> + + <p>"Madge," he said, "please listen to me. It's not dress that + makes the woman, any more than it is coats that make the man. + You would like me just as well if I were dressed in homespun, + wouldn't you?"</p> + + <p>"That's different."</p> + + <p>"It isn't; it's not, a bit."</p> + + <p>"Laws, yes! It's—oh—heaps different!" She nodded + her lovely head in firm conviction. "It's heaps different and + I'm goin' to know more about such things as clo'es. I ain't + plumb <i>poverty</i> poor, like lots o' folks, here in th' + mountings. I got land down in th' valley I get rent + from—fifty dollars, every year! I'm goin' to find out + about such things."</p> + + <p>He looked at her, almost worried. It would be a pity, he + thought instantly, for this charming child of nature to become + sophisticated and be fashionably gowned; but, of course, he + made no protest.</p> + + <p>"You can learn a little something about such things if you + stay right here," said he. "I'm going to have visitors, + sometime before the summer's over, at my camp. My aunt, Miss + Alathea, will be here, and our old friend, Colonel Sandusky + Doolittle. He's a great horseman."</p> + + <p>Instantly the girl showed vivid interest, not, as he had + thought she would, in his aunt, Miss Alathea, but in the + Colonel from the Bluegrass, who also was a horseman.</p> + + <p>"Horseman, is he?" she exclaimed, her eyes alight.</p> + + <p>"Yes; he's famous as a judge of horses."</p> + + <p>"At them races that they tell about? Oh, I'd like to see one + of them races!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, he goes to races, everywhere, although he always means + to stop immediately after the next one. It has been the races + which have kept him poor and kept him single."</p> + + <p>"How've they kept him poor?"</p> + + <p>He told her about betting, while she listened, wide-eyed + with amazement at the mention of the sums involved.</p> + + <p>"How've they kept him single?"</p> + + <p>"He's been in love with my Aunt Alathea for a good many + years, but she won't marry him until he keeps his promise to + avoid the race-tracks."</p> + + <p>"What makes your aunt hate hawsses?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, she loves good horses, but the Colonel always bets, + and, as I have said, it keeps him poor. It's the gambling that + she hates, and not the horses. Every year he plans to keep away + from all horse-racing for her sake; every year he tries to do + it, but quite fails."</p> + + <p>She laughed heartily. "An' she thinks he loves th' races + more than he does her?" she asked. Then, more soberly: "I don't + know's I blame her, none. When's she comin'? I'll be powerful + glad to see her."</p> + + <p>"I don't know just when she's coming, but she's promised me + to have the Colonel bring her up here. I want to have her see + the beauty of the mountains."</p> + + <p>"I'll like him, sure, whether I like her or not."</p> + + <p>He was astonished. "But you said you would be sure to love + her!"</p> + + <p>"Uh-huh; but I'd be surer to like anyone who is as fond of + hawsses as you say he is. Why, when I ride—"</p> + + <p>"I didn't know you ever rode a horse. I've only seen you on + your ox."</p> + + <p>"Poor old Buck! It's true, I have been ridin' him, when I + felt lazy, lately, but my pony—ah, that's + <i>fun</i>!"</p> + + <p>"Where is he?"</p> + + <p>They had started strolling down the trail and were near the + pasture bars, where she had left Joe Lorey on the morning of + her bath, after having ridden down to them upon her ox.</p> + + <p>She hurried to them, now, and, leaning over them, puckered + her red lips and sent a shrill, clear whistle out across the + pasture. Immediately from a thicket-tangle at the far end of + the half-cleared lot appeared a shaggy pony, limping wofully, + but with ears pricked forward as a sign of welcome to his + mistress.</p> + + <p>"Come on, Little Hawss!" she called. "Come on! It hurts, I + know, for you to step, but come on, just th' same. I got a + turnip for you."</p> + + <p>She turned to Layson with an explanation. "He's lame, poor + Little Hawss is. Don't know's he'll ever get all right + ag'in."</p> + + <p>"Oh!" said Layson. "And I didn't even know you had a horse." + Horses are less common in the mountains than are oxen, although + nearly every mountain farm has one, for riding. Oxen, though, + are the section's draught-animals.</p> + + <p>"Didn't think I had a hawss?" she said, and laughed. "I'd + <i>die</i> without a hawss! Why, they say, here in the + mountains, that I'm a good rider. I've raced all the boys and + beat 'em on my Little Hawss."</p> + + <p>She petted the affectionate, uncouth little beast and fed + him slowly, lovingly. "Little Hawss, before he hurt his hoof, + was sure-footed as a deer. Didn't have to be afraid to run him + anywhere, on any kind of road at any time of day or night," + said she. "Never stumbled, never missed the way, and, while he + don't <i>look</i> much—he never did—he could just + carry <i>me</i> to suit me! But—well, I don't know as he + will ever carry me again!"</p> + + <p>Layson, himself a great horse lover, went up to the shaggy + little beast and petted him. The pony knew a friend + instinctively and rubbed his nose against the rough sleeve of + his jacket while he munched the turnip.</p> + + <p>Madge stooped and lifted the poor beast's crippled foot.</p> + + <p>"Looks bad, don't it?" she said anxiously, asking Frank's + opinion as an expert.</p> + + <p>He looked the bad foot over carefully and shook his + head.</p> + + <p>"Madge, I am afraid it does," said he. "But wait until the + Colonel comes. He'll tell you what to do. No man knows horses + better than the Colonel does.</p> + + <p>"I've never told you of my horse, have I?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"Why, no; you got one, too?"</p> + + <p>He drew a long breath of enthusiasm at the mere thought of + his greatest treasure. "Such a mare," said he, "as rarely has + been seen, even in Kentucky. She's famous now and going to be + more so. She's the very apple of my eye."</p> + + <p>The girl looked at him wide-eyed with a fascinated interest. + "What color is she?"</p> + + <p>"Black as night."</p> + + <p>"And gentle?"</p> + + <p>"Ah, gentle as a dove with friends; but she's not gentle if + she happens to dislike a man or woman! Why, if she hates you, + keep away from her. She'll side-step with a cunning that would + fool the wisest so's to get a chance for a left-handed kick; + she'll bite; she'll strike with her forefeet the way a human + fighter would."</p> + + <p>"Oh!" said the girl. "Ain't it a pity she's so ugly?"</p> + + <p>"I said she's gentle with her friends. She'd no more kick at + me than I would kick at her. She knows it. She's intelligent + beyond most horseflesh."</p> + + <p>"Has she ever won in races?"</p> + + <p>"She's won in small events, and great things are expected of + her by more folk than I when she gets going on the larger + tracks. I'm counting on her for good work this year, after I go + home again."</p> + + <p>"Ah," sighed the girl, carried quite away by his excited + talk about his favorite, "how I'd love to see her run!"</p> + + <p>"It's poetry," he granted; "the true poetry of motion."</p> + + <p>"And this Cunnel—Cunnel—"</p> + + <p>"Colonel Doolittle?"</p> + + <p>"Uh-huh. Will he help me, do you s'pose, to get my Little + Hawss cured of his lameness?"</p> + + <p>"You may count on that."</p> + + <p>"Who else is comin' here to see you?" she inquired, as they + left Little Hawss wistfully agaze at them across the old log + fence.</p> + + <p>Layson, for no reason he could think of, felt a bit + uncomfortable, as he replied. He temporized before he really + told her of what worried him.</p> + + <p>"Well," said he, "there'll be old Neb—"</p> + + <p>"Who's he?"</p> + + <p>"A servant who has been in our family for years. He is a + fine old darkey and we love him—everyone of us."</p> + + <p>"And will he be all?"</p> + + <p>"No; I understand that Mr. Horace Holton, also, will come + with the party. Mr. Holton and his daughter."</p> + + <p>It is possible that he may have flushed a little, as he + spoke about this matter, or there may have been some slight + hint of the unusual in his voice. At any rate, the notice of + the girl was instantly attracted.</p> + + <p>"Daughter?" she inquired.</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Frank, "his daughter Barbara."</p> + + <p>"How old is she?" Madge's curiosity had been aroused at + once.</p> + + <p>"About your age."</p> + + <p>She was delighted. "And will I surely see her?"</p> + + <p>"Yes; of course."</p> + + <p>"Do you suppose she'll like me?"</p> + + <p>Layson, from what he knew of Barbara Holton, scarcely + thought she would. He could not make his fancy paint a picture + of the haughty lowlands beauty showing much consideration for + this little mountain waif; but he did not say so. He answered + hesitatingly, and she noticed it.</p> + + <p>"You don't think she'll like me!" she exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"I didn't say so. Certainly she'll like you. Who could help + it, Madge?" He smiled. It did not seem to him, as his eyes + studied her, that anybody of sound sense could.</p> + + <p>She sighed. "A woman could." She spoke with an instinctive + wisdom which her isolated life among the crags and peaks had + not deprived her of. "A woman always can. But, my, I hope she + will!"</p> + + <p>"She will," said Frank. "She will. And my dear + Aunt—oh, you will love her."</p> + + <p>"Miss Aluth—Aluth—?" She stopped, questioningly, + still bothered by the name.</p> + + <p>"Miss Alathea," he prompted. "She'll like you and you'll + love her."</p> + + <p>The girl smiled happily. "Uh-huh." Her acquiescence was + immediate. "Reckon maybe I'll love <i>her</i>, all right, and I + <i>hope</i> the other will come true, too." Suddenly she was + stricken with a fear. "But she won't, though—dressed the + way I be!"</p> + + <p>"What you wear would make no difference to my Aunt Alathea," + Frank protested, "any more than it would make to Colonel + Doolittle."</p> + + <p>She did not speak again for quite a time, walking along the + narrow mountain-path with eyes fixed, but unseeing, on the + trail. It was plain that in her mind grave problems were being + closely studied.</p> + + <p>"Maybe," she said, at length, "I won't be so very + <i>awful</i> as you <i>think</i>!"</p> + + <p>They had reached the path which led first to the bridge + across the mountain-chasm making the rock on which her cabin + stood an island, and then, across this draw-bridge, to the + cabin itself. She waved a gay and unexpected good-bye to + him.</p> + + <p>He felt strangely robbed. He had expected another half-hour + with her. It astonished him to learn through this tiny + disappointment how agreeable the little mountain maid's society + had come to be.</p> + + <p>He was wakeful that night till a later hour than usual.</p> + + <p>Somehow he was not as thoroughly delighted as he felt that + he should be by the prospect of his guests' arrival. His + journey to the mountains and his sojourn there had been + considered rather foolish by his friends, but he had wished to + make quite sure that what was said about the wild mountain + lands which formed the greater portion of his + patrimony—that they were practically valueless—was + true, ere he gave up all hope of profiting from them.</p> + + <p>The building of the railroad through the valley had imbued + him with some hope that they might not prove to be as useless + as they had been thought to be, and it had been that which had + induced him, at the start, to make the journey.</p> + + <p>Once arrived he had found the mountain air delightful, the + fishing fine, the shooting all that could be wished, and had + enjoyed these to their full, investigating, meanwhile, his + rough property; but as he lay there in his shack of logs and + puncheons he acknowledged to himself that it was none of these + things which now made the mountains so attractive. It was the + nymph of the woods pool, the mountain-side Europa on her bull, + his little pupil of the alphabet, in plain reality, who now + held him to the wilderness.</p> + + <p>He wondered just what this could mean. Could it be possible + that he was thinking seriously of the little maid <i>in that + way</i>?</p> + + <p>He almost laughed at the idea, there alone in the woods + cabin, with the stars in their deep velvet canopy twinkling + through the window at him and the glow of his cob pipe for + company.</p> + + <p>But his laugh was not too genuine. He found himself, to his + amazement, comparing Madge, the mountain girl, with Barbara + Holton, the elegant daughter of the lowlands, and finding many + points in favor of the little rustic maiden. He wondered just + how serious his attentions to fair Barbara had been thought to + be by her, her father, Horace Holton, and by other people. + There were many things about Madge Brierly, which, as he sat + there, reflective, he found admirable, besides her vivid, + vigorous young beauty. He could not bring himself, as he sat + thinking of the two girls, widely separated as they were in the + great social plane, unevenly matched as they had been in early + training, to admit that the whole advantage was upon the side + of Barbara Holton.</p> + + <p>And above him, in her lonely little cabin on the towering + rock, upon all sides of which the mountain-torrent, making it + an isle of safety for her there in the wilderness, roared + rythmically, the mountain maiden who so occupied his thoughts + was busy with her crude wardrobe.</p> + + <p>In complete dissatisfaction she put aside, at length, every + garment of her own which she possessed as unsuitable for the + great day when she was to meet the bluegrass gentlefolk.</p> + + <p>Then, remembering suddenly an old chest which held her + mother's wedding finery, she strained her fine young muscles as + she dragged it out of storage; and sitting on the floor beside + it where the great blaze of pine-knots in the big + "mud-and-broke-rock" fireplace lighted it and her with + flickering brilliance, she went through it with reverent + fingers, searching, searching for such garments and such + adornments as it might hold to make her fit to meet the friends + of the young lowlander who had captured her imagination with + his bravery, resource and courtesy.</p> + + <p>There were a few things in the chest which pleased her, and + she smiled as she discovered them, smiled as she tried them on, + smiled as she saw the image wearing them in the cracked mirror + by the side of the big fireplace. She had to make experiments + with dripping tallow dips before she got a light which would + enable her to get the full effect of an ornate old poke-bonnet + which was the chief treasure from the chest, but finally she + did so, and exclaimed in pleasure as she managed it.</p> + + <p>It was, indeed, a charming picture which she saw there in + the glass—a face with rosy cheeks, bright eyes, red lips + set off with softly waving auburn hair and framed delightfully + in the old arch of shirred red silk—and when she took it + off, at last, she was convinced that one, at least, of her big + problems had been solved. She had a bonnet, certainly, which + was as lovely as the finest thing that any bluegrass belle + could wear. There was not the slightest doubt that all its + shirring was of real, <i>real</i> silk! She had run her fingers + over it caressingly, delighted by its sheen and gloss when she + had been a little girl; now she fondled it with loving touch, + high hopes. Surely no young lady visitor, even from the far off + and to her mysterious bluegrass could have anything much finer + than that bonnet with its silken facings! She tied the wide + strings underneath her chin in a great, flaring bow, and peeped + forth from the cavernous depths of the arched "poke" with quite + unconscious coquetry, flirting, with the keenest relish and + most completely childish pleasure with the charming creature + whom she saw reflected on the little mirror's cracked, + imperfect surface.</p> + + <p>It was while she stood thus, innocently coquetting with her + own delightful picture, that a great plan for the plenishment + of her otherwise imperfect wardrobe popped into her active, + searching mind. Carefully she considered this, first before the + glass and then, with feet crossed and clasped hands between her + knees, before the roaring fire of resinous pine-knots in the + old fireplace.</p> + + <p>Having finally decided that it was a good one, she went + about the cabin seeing to the fastenings of doors and windows, + wholly unafraid despite her solitude. There was but one way of + approaching this, her fastness in the rocks, and the bridge, + had been drawn up for the night. Safe she was as any Rhenish + baron in his moated stronghold.</p> + + <p>Conscious that a busy day was looming large before her, she + now blew out her candles and crept into her little curtained + bed, to dream, there, vividly, of haughty beauties from the + bluegrass staring in astonishment as they first glimpsed the + beauty of a little mountain girl in such a gorgeous outfit as + they had not in all their pampered lives conceived; of lovely + aunts who smiled with pleasure when they saw their handsome + nephews step up to this splendid maiden and take her hands in + theirs; of wondrous youths—ah, these images were never + absent from the scenes her fancy painted!—who scorned the + haughty bluegrass beauties in favor of the freckled little + fists of those same brilliant mountain maidens, and, lo! by + taking those same freckled fists in theirs, removed the + freckles and the callouses of work as if by magic, making them + as white and fine—aye, whiter, finer!—than the + haughty bluegrass beauty's. And in her dreams, too, was a + gallant horseman, wise in equine ways, who came to her with + handsome chargers trailing from fair-leather lead straps to + present her with the thoroughbreds because her little, shaggy + pony limped.</p> + + <p>Queer fancies of the strange life of the lowlands which he + had described to her, flashed, also, through her ignorant but + active brain in fascinating visions. She thought she saw the + houses on the tops of houses which he had described to her, in + efforts to assist her to imagine structures more elaborate than + the little, single storied cabins which were all that she had + ever seen. Strange conceptions of the railroad, with its + monstrous engines puffing smoke and fire would have been + terrifying had there not been, ever at her side as dreams + revealed them, a stalwart youth in corduroys to bear her from + their path through rings of burning thickets.</p> + + <p>Again she trembled in imagination at the thought of meeting + the fine ladies who would be dressed with such elaboration and + impressive elegance; but each time, when her dream seemed + actually to lead her to them, there he was to help her through + the great ordeal with heartening smiles and comforting + suggestions.</p> + + <p>Her sleep was restless, but delightful. Once she woke and + left her bed to peer out of the window, wondering if, by + chance, she might not glimpse a light in Layson's camp far down + the mountain-side. She was disappointed when she found she + could not, but went back to bed to find there further + compensating dreams.</p> + + <p>There might have been still greater compensation for her had + she known that at the very moment when she peered out through + the darkness, looking for some vagrant glimmer of a light from + Layson's camp, he had, himself, just gone back to his cabin + after having stood a long time staring through the darkness + toward her own small cabin in its fastness.</p> + + <p>He was thinking, thinking, thinking. The little mountain + maid had strangely fascinated the highly cultivated youth from + the far bluegrass. He did not know quite what to make of the + queer way in which her fresh and lovely, girlish face, obtruded + itself constantly into his thoughts. And as for the haughty + bluegrass belle whom poor Madge dreaded so—he did not + think of her, at all, save, possibly, with half acknowledged + annoyance at the fact that she was coming to spy out his + wilderness and those who dwelt therein. He would have been a + little happier if he could have remained there, undisturbed, + for a time longer.</p> + + <p>Day had not dawned when Madge awoke. The sun, indeed, had + just begun to poke the red edge of his disc above Mount Nebo, + when, having built her fire and cooked her frugal breakfast, + she loosed the rope which held the crude, small draw-bridge up + and lowered the rickety old platform until it gave a pathway + over the deep chasm and carried her to the mainland, ready for + the journey to the distant cross-roads store.</p> + + <p>Dew, sparkling like cut diamonds, cool as melting ice, was + everywhere in the brilliant freshness of the morning; the birds + were busy with their gossip and their foraging, chattering + greetings to her as she passed; in her pasture her cow, Sukey, + had not risen yet from her comfortable night posture when she + reached her. The animal looked up gravely at her, chewing + calmly on her cud, plainly not approving, quite, of such a very + early call. While the girl sat on the one-legged stool beside + her, sending white, rich, fragrant streams into the resounding + pail, her shaggy Little Hawss limped up, nosing at her pocket + for a turnip, which he found, of course, abstracted cleverly + and munched.</p> + + <p>Having finished with the cow she set the milk in a + fence-corner to wait for her return, and, when she left the + lot, the pony followed her, making a difficult, limping way + along the inside of the rough stump-fence until he came to a + cross barrier. Then, as he saw that she was going on and + leaving him behind, he nickered lonesomely, and, although she + planned, that day to accomplish many, many things, and, in + consequence, was greatly pressed for time, she went back to him + and petted him a moment and then found another turnip for him + in her pocket.</p> + + <p>The journey which began, thus, with calls on her four-footed + friends, was solitary, afterward, although in the narrow + road-bed, here and there, she saw impressions of preceding + footsteps, big and deep. They aroused her curiosity, and with + keen instinct of the woods she studied one of them elaborately. + Rising from her pondering above it she decided that Joe Lorey + had gone on before her, and wondered what could possibly have + sent him down the trail so early in the morning. When she noted + that his trail turned off at the cross-roads which might lead + to Layson's camp (or other places) her heart sank for a moment. + She realized how bitterly the mountaineer felt toward the + bluegrass youth whom he considered his successful rival and she + hoped that trouble would not come of it. She did not love Joe + Lorey as he wished to have her love him, but she had a very + real affection for him, none the less. And—and—she + did—she did—she <i>did</i>—this morning she + acknowledged it!—love Layson. The matter worried her, + somewhat. Trouble between the men was more than possible, she + knew; but, on reflection, she decided that Joe had not been + bound for Layson's camp, but, by a short cut, to the distant + valley. This alone would have explained his very early start. + He was not one to seek to take his enemy while sleeping, and + she knew and knew he knew that the lowlander slept late. Lorey + would not do a thing dishonorable. She put the thought of + trouble that day from her, therefore, yielding gladly to the + joyous and absorbing magic of the growing, splendid + morning.</p> + + <p>The rising sun, with its ever changing spectacle, + exhilerating, splendid, awe-inspiring, there among the + mountains, raised her spirits as she travelled, and drove + gloomy thoughts away as it drove off the brooding mists which + clung persistently, tearing themselves to tattered ribbons ere + they would loose their hold upon the peaks beyond the valley + and behind her.</p> + + <p>A feeling of elation grew in her—elation born of her + abounding health, fine youth, the glory of the scene, the high + intoxication of first love.</p> + + <p>She beguiled the way with mountain ballads, paused, here and + there, to pluck some lovely flower, accumulating, presently, a + nosegay so enormous as to be almost unwieldy, whistled to the + birds and smiled as they sent back their answers, laughed at + the fierce scolding of a squirrel on a limb, heard the doleful + wailing of young foxes and crept near enough their burrow to + see them huddled in the sand before it, waiting eagerly for + their foraging mother and the breakfast she would bring.</p> + + <p>When the trail crossed a clear brook she paused upon the + crude, low bridge and watched the trout dart to and fro beneath + it; where it debouched upon a hill-side of commanding view she + stopped there, breathing hard from sheer enjoyment of the glory + of the prospect spread before her in the valley.</p> + + <p>She was very happy, as she almost always was of summer + mornings. The mountain air, circulating in her young and sturdy + lungs, was almost as intoxicating as strong wine and made the + blood leap through her arteries, thrill through her veins.</p> + + <p>The worries of the night before seemed, for a time, to have + been groundless. She ceased to fear her meeting with the + bluegrass gentlefolk and looked forward to it with real + confidence and pleasure. Her confidence in Layson was + abounding, and she assured herself till the thought became + conviction that he never would permit her to subject herself to + anything which properly could be humiliating.</p> + + <p>The problem of her garb, too, began to seem far less + insoluble than it had seemed the night before. She felt + certain, as she travelled with her springing step, that she + would find it possible to meet creditably the great emergency + with what she had at home and could discover at the little + general-store which she was bound for.</p> + + <p>When she reached the tiny, mud-chinked structure at the + cross-roads, though, and caught her first glimpse of its + lightly burdened shelves, her heart sank for an instant. Could + it be possible that from its stock she would be able to select + material with which she could compete with folk from the far + bluegrass in elegance of garb?</p> + + <p>But after she had made investigation and had interested in + her project the lank mountain-woman who presided at the + counter, she lost fear of the result. Together they made + careful study of the fashion-papers which the woman had + preserved and which the girl had, the night before, remembered + with such vividness. Through discussion and reiterated + reassurance from her friend, she finally arrived at the + decision that with what she had at hand at home and what she + could buy here, she could prepare herself to meet the elegant + lowlanders with a fairly ample rivalry.</p> + + <p>There were few bolts of cloth, of whatever quality or + character in the pitiful little general-store's stock which + both women did not finger speculatively that morning; there was + not a piece of pinchbeck jewelry in the small showcase which + they did not study carefully. Especially Madge dwelt on combs, + for Layson, once, had mentioned combs as parts of the adornment + of the women whom he knew. There in the mountains young girls + did not wear them, save of the "circular" variety, designed to + hold back "shingled" tresses. But from underneath a box of + faded gum-drops and the store's one carton of cigars, came some + of imitation tortoise-shell, gilt ornamented, of the sort old + ladies sometimes stuck into their hirsute knots for mountain + "doings" of great elegance, and the best of these Madge bought. + Also she bought lace—great quantities of it, although, + even after she had made the purchase, she had some doubt of + just what she would do with it; she also had some doubt about + its quality, for in the chest at home there had been lace, + ripped from her mother's wedding gown, of far different and + more convincing texture and design. She realized, however, that + what was there must be what must suffice and purchased nearly + all the woman had of cheap, machine-made mesh and home-worked, + coarse-threaded tatting.</p> + + <p>She could not manage gloves. The store had never had gloves + in its stock designed for anything but warmth, and, although + Layson had explained to her, in answer to her curious + pleadings, that the girls he knew down in the bluegrass + sometimes wore gloves covering their bare arms to the elbows, + she gave up the hope of finding anything of that sort without a + visit to the distant valley town, and this was quite + impossible, now that her pony had gone lame, so she sighed and + gave up gloves entirely.</p> + + <p>But she bought ribbons by the bolt, some gay + silk-handkerchiefs, a little of the less obtrusive of the + jewelry, and needles, thread and such small trifles by the + score to be utilized in making alterations in the finery from + her dead mother's treasure chest at home there in the mountain + cabin. It was with heart not quite so doubtful of her own + ability to shine a bit, that, after she had borrowed every + fashion-plate the woman owned (many of them ten years old; not + one of them of later date than five years previous), she set + out upon the long and weary homeward way.</p> + + <p>Instinctively as she progressed she searched the soft mud in + the shadowed places of the road, the soft sand wherever it + appeared, for signs that those great foot-marks which she had + thought she could identify as Lorey's in the morning, had + returned while she was at the store. Nowhere was there any + trace that this had happened, and again she thrilled with + apprehension. Almost she made a detour by the road which led to + Layson's camp to make quite sure that all was right with the + young "foreigner," but this idea she abandoned as much because + she felt that such a visit would necessitate an explanation + which she would dislike to make, as because her many burdens + would have made the way a long and difficult one to tread. How + could she tell Layson that Joe Lorey might resent his helping + her to study, might resent the other hours which they had spent + so pleasantly among the mountain rocks and forest trees + together, might, in short, be jealous of him?</p> + + <p>Her shy, maiden soul revolted at the thought and perforce + she gave investigation up, her thoughts, finally, turning from + the really remote chance of a difficulty between the men to the + pleasanter task of carrying on her planning for new gowns and + small accessories of finery.</p> + + <p>The homeward way was longer than the journey down had been, + because of her new burdens and the frequently steep mountain + slopes which she must climb, but she travelled it without much + thought of this.</p> + + <p>Never in her life had come excitement equal to that which + possessed her as she thought about the visitors, longed to make + a good impression and not shame her friend, wondered how the + bluegrass ladies would be dressed, would talk, would act, and + what they all would think of her. She had decided, in advance, + that she would like Miss Alathea, aunt of her woodland + instructor; she knew positively that she would like the doughty + colonel, lover of god horses, barred from racing by his love + for Frank's inexorable aunt.</p> + + <p>But the other members of the party he had told + about—the Holtons—she was not so sure that she + would care for them. Frank, himself, when he had told her of + them, had spoken of the father without much enthusiasm, and she + felt quite sure that she could never like the daughter. She had + noticed, she believed, that when it came to talk of her her + friend had hesitated with embarrassment. Could it be possible + that this young lady who had had the chances she, herself, had + been denied, for education and for everything desirable, would + seem to him, when she appeared upon the scene, less lovely, + less desirable, than a simple little mountain maid like poor + Madge Brierly? The thought seemed quite incredible and the + worry of it quite absorbed her for a time and drove away + forebodings about the possible hatred of Joe Lorey for Layson + and his possible expression of resentment. She even ceased her + wonderings about the footsteps which had gone down the road, + that morning, and which, so far as she could see, had not come + back again.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER VI</h2><br> + + + <p>They were, indeed, the great imprints of Joe Lorey's + hob-nailed boots, quite as she suspected. Long before the sun + had risen the young mountaineer, distressed by worries which + had made his night an almost sleepless one, had risen and + wandered from his little cabin, lonelier in its far solitude, + even than the girl's. For a time he had crouched upon a stump + beneath the morning stars with lowering brows, sunk deep in + harsh, resentful thought, forgetful of the falling dew, the + chill of the keen mountain air, of everything, in fact, save + the gnawing apprehension that the "foreigner," who had invaded + this far mountain solitude might, with his better manners, + infinitely better education and divers other devilish wiles of + the low country, snatch from him the prize which he had grown + up longing to possess.</p> + + <p>The youthful mountaineer's distress was not without its + pathos. He loved the girl, had loved her since they had been + toddling children playing in the hills together. Never for an + instant had his firm devotion to her wandered to any other of + the mountain girls; never for an instant had he had any hope + but that of, some day, winning her. That he recognized the real + superiority of Layson made his worry the more tragic, for it + made it the more hopeless.</p> + + <p>A dull resentment thrilled him, not only against this man, + but against the whole tribe of his people, who were, in these + uncomfortable days, invading the rough country which, to that + time, had been the undisputed domain of the mountaineer. He + thought with bitterness about the growing valley towns, which + he had sometimes visited on court days when some mountain man + had been haled there to trial for moonshining or for a feud + "killing." He did not understand those lowland people who + assumed the right to dictate to him and his kind as to the + lives which they should lead in their own country, and he hated + them instinctively. Vaguely he felt the greater power which + education and a rubbing of their elbows with the progress of + the world had given them and definitely resented it. Scotch + highlander never felt a greater hatred and distrust of lowland + men than does the highlander of the old Cumberlands feel for + the people who have claimed the rich and fertile bottom lands, + filled the towns which have sprung up there, established the + prosperity which has, through them, advanced the state. The + mountain men of Tennessee and of Kentucky are almost as + primitive, to-day, as were their forefathers, who, early in the + great transcontinental migration, dropped from its path and + spread among the hills a century ago, rather than continue with + the weary march to more fertile, fabled lands beyond.</p> + + <p>It had not been, as Madge had feared, his definite hatred of + Frank Layson which had started him upon the road so early in + the morning, but, rather, an unrest born of the whole problem + of the "foreigners'" invasion of the mountains. His restless + discontent with Layson's presence had left him ready for + excitement over wild tales told in store and cabin of what the + young man's fellows were doing in the valley. He had determined + to go thither for himself, to see with his own eyes the + wonder-workers, although he hated both the wonders and the men + who were accomplishing them.</p> + + <p>What did the mountain-country want of railroads? What did it + want of towns? The railroads would but bring more interlopers + and in the towns they would foregather, arrogant in their firm + determination to force upon the men who had first claimed the + country their artificial rules and regulations. Timid in their + fear of those they sought to furtively dislodge and of the + rough love these men showed of a liberty including license, + they would huddle in their storied buildings, crowd in their + trammelled streets, work and worry in their little offices + absurdly, harmfully to the rights of proper men. Like other + mountaineers Joe had small realization of the advantages of + easy interchange of thought and the quick commerce which come + with aggregation. He thought the concentration of the townsfolk + was a sign of an unmanly dread of those first settlers whom + they wished to drive away unjustly, subjugate and ruin.</p> + + <p>Throughout the mountains blazed a fierce resentment of the + railroad builders' presence and their work; in no heart did it + burn more fiercely than in poor Joe Lorey's, for the fear + obsessed him that a member of the army of invaders had + succeeded in depriving him of the last chance of getting that + which, among all things on earth, he longed for + most—Madge Brierly's love. He did not stop to think that + before the "foreigner" had come the girl had more than once + refused to marry him, begging him to remain her good, kind + friend. Such episodes, in those days, had not in the least + disheartened him. He had always thought that in the end the + girl <i>would</i> "have him." But now he was convinced his + chance was gone, his last hope vanished. The "foreigner" had + fascinated Madge, made him look cheap and coarse, uncouth and + undesirable.</p> + + <p>As he had walked along the roads which, later in the + morning, Madge had followed, he had frowned blackly at the + sunrise and the waking birds, kicked viciously at little sticks + and stones which chanced along his way. Never a smile had he + for chattering squirrel or scampering chipmunk; fierce, + repellant was the brown brow of the mountaineer, despite the + glory of the morning, and black the heart within him with sheer + hatred of Frank Layson and the class he represented.</p> + + <p>His journey was much longer than the girl's, for it did not + end till he had reached the rude construction camp of the + advancing railroad builders in the valley far below the little + mountain-store. There he gazed at what was going on with a + child's wonder, which, at first, almost made him lose his + memory of what he thought his wrongs, but, later, aggravated it + by emphasizing in his mind his own great ignorance.</p> + + <p>Through a tiny temporary town of corrugated iron shanties, + crude log-and-brush and rough-plank sheds, white canvas tents, + ran the raw, heaped earth of the embankment. About it swarmed a + thousand swarthy laborers, chattering in a tongue less easy to + his ears than the harsh scoldings of the squirrels he had seen + while on his way. Back behind them stretched two lines of + shining rails, which, even as he watched, advanced, advanced on + the embankment, being firmly spiked upon their cross-ties so as + to form a highway for the cars which brought more dirt, more + dirt, more dirt to send the raw embankment on ahead of + them.</p> + + <p>At first the puffing, steam-spitting, fire-spouting + locomotive with its deafening exhaust and strident whistle, + clanging bell and glowing fire-box actually frightened him. As + he stood close by the track and it came on threateningly, he + backed away, his rifle held in his crooked arm, ready for some + great emergency, he knew not what. A laborer laughed at him, + and his hands instinctively took firmer grip upon the rifle. + The laborer stopped laughing.</p> + + <p>Some lessons of the temper of the mountaineers already had + been learned along the line of that new railroad, and, driven + from his wrath by the appearance of new marvels, Joe, at + greater distance, sat upon a stump and watched, wide-eyed, and + undisturbed, unridiculed.</p> + + <p>For a long time his resentment wholly drowned itself in + wonder at the puzzle of the engines, the mechanism of the + dump-cars, the wondrous working of the small steam crane which + lifted rails from flat-cars, and, as a strong man guided them, + dropped them with precision at the time and place decided on + beforehand. He noted how the men worked in great gangs, subject + to the orders of one "boss," a phenomenon of organization he + had never seen before, with unwilling admiration.</p> + + <p>But presently, from a point well in advance of that where + rails already had been laid and upon which his attention had + been concentrated because of the machinery there, there came a + mighty boom of dynamite. It startled him so greatly that he + sprang up, bewildered, ready for whatever might be coming, but + wholly at a loss as to just what the threatening danger might + be. His fright gave rise to jeering laughter from the men who + had been watching with a covert eye the rough, determined + looking mountaineer, squatting on the stump with rifle on his + arm. He turned on them so fiercely that they shrank back, + terrified by the look they saw in his grey eyes.</p> + + <p>Then, noting that the noise had not appalled them in the + least and assuming that what was surely safe for them was safe + enough for him, he sauntered down the line, attempting to seem + careless in his walk, until he reached the gang which was busy + at destruction of a high, obstructive cropping of grey + granite.</p> + + <p>For hours he sat there watching them with curiosity. He saw + them pierce the rocks with hammered drills; he saw them then + put in a small, round, harmless looking paper cylinder which, + of course, he knew held something like gunpowder; he saw them + tamp it down with infinite care, leaving only a protruding + fuse; he saw them light the fuse and scamper off to a safe + distance while he watched the sputtering sparks run down the + fuse, pause at the tamping, then, having pierced it, disappear. + The great explosions which succeeded were, at first, a little + hard upon his nerves, but he saw that those who compassed them + did not flinch when they came, and, after he had dodged + ridiculously at the first, received the second with a greater + calm, keyed himself to almost motionless reception of the + third, and managed to sit listening to the fourth with + self-possession quite as great as theirs, his face impassive + and his frame immovable.</p> + + <p>He noted with amazement the great force of the infernal + power the burning fuses loosed, and knew, instinctively, that + the explosive was a stronger one than that with which he had + been thoroughly familiar since his earliest + childhood—gunpowder. He wondered mightily what it could + be, and, finally, summoned courage to inquire of one of the + swart laborers.</p> + + <p>These were the first words he had spoken that day, and, + although the man was courteous enough in answering, "Dynamite," + he thought he saw a smile upon his face of veiled derision, and + resented it so fiercely that instead of thanking him he gave + him a black look and sauntered off. But he had learned what the + explosive was; before he went away he had seen it used in + half-a-dozen ways and had a visual demonstration of the + necessity for caution in its handling. One of the young and + cocky engineers, whom he so hated, dropped by dread mischance a + heavy hammer on a stick of it, and the resulting turmoil left + him lying torn and mangled on the rocks.</p> + + <p>Lorey felt small sympathy for the man's suffering, although + he never had seen any human being mutilated thus before. Many a + man he had seen lying with a clean hole through his forehead, + the neat work of a definitely aimed bullet; assassination and + the spectacles it carried with it could not worry him: his + childhood and young manhood had been passed where "killings" + were too frequent; the man, like all the others there at work, + was his enemy, and he sorrowed for him not at all; but this + tearing, mangling laceration of human flesh and bone was + horrifying to him.</p> + + <p>Later, though, a certain comfort came to him from it. The + whole scene had impressed him and depressed him. He remembered + what Madge Brierly had said about the engineers with their blue + paper plans and their ability to read from them and work by + them. He saw them at their work, and the spectacle made him + feel inferior, which had never happened in his free, + untrammeled life of mountain independence before. There were a + dozen men about the work of the same type as Layson's, and + their calm cocksureness as they directed all these mysteries + amazed him, overwhelmed him, made him feel a sense of + littleness and unimportance which was maddening. Why should + they know all these things when he, Joe Lorey, who had lived a + decent life according to his lights, had labored with his + muscles as theirs could not labor if they tried to force them + to, had lived upon rough fare and in rough places while they + had had such "fancinesses" as he saw spread before them at + their mess-tent dinner (and crude fare enough it seemed to + them, no doubt) knew none of them? He could see no justice in + such matters and resented them with bitter heart. If their own + infernal powder had killed one of them he would not mourn. He + tried to look back at the accident with satisfaction.</p> + + <p>Had he gone down to that crude construction camp without the + jealousy of Layson in his heart, he might, possibly, have + merely gazed in wonder at the cleverness of all this work, + despite his mountaineer's resentment of the coming of the + interlopers; but, with that resentment in his heart to nag and + worry him, he achieved, before the day was over, a real hatred + of the class and of each individual in it. Layson had come up + there to his country to rob him of the girl he loved; now these + men were coming with their railroad to change the aspect of the + land he had been born to and grown up in, making it a strange + place, unfamiliar, unwelcoming and crowded. He hated every one + of them, he hated the new railroad they were building, he hated + their new-fangled and mysterious machinery which puzzled him + with intricate devices and appalled him with its power of fire + and steam.</p> + + <p>By the time the afternoon was two hours old he was in a + state of sullen fury, silent, morose, miserable on the stump + which he had chosen as his vantage point for observation. More + than once an engineer looked at him with plain admiration of + his mammoth stature in his eyes; many a town-girl, seeing him, + like a statue of The Pioneer upon a fitting pedestal, made + furtive eyes at him, for he was handsome and attractive in his + rough ensemble; but he paid no heed to any of them. He was + giving his mind over to consideration of his grievance against + these men who came, with steam and pick and shovel, dynamite + and railroad iron, invading his domain.</p> + + <p>He thought about his secret still, hidden in its mountain + fastness, and realized that this new stage of settlement's + inexorable march meant danger to it; he thought about the game + which roamed the hills and realized that with the coming of the + crowd it would soon scatter, never to return; he thought about + the girl up there, his companion in adversity, his fellow + sufferer from mutual wrong, the one thing which he had had to + love, the shining prize which it had been his sole ambition to + possess for life; he thought of her and then about the man, who + (product of the same advantages which made these men before him + clever with their blue-prints and their puffling monsters) had + come there searching profit from the land which he had never + loved or lived on, and, seeing Madge, had, Joe thoroughly + believed, exerted every wile of a superior experience to win + her from him by fair means or foul. He thought of them and + hated all of them!</p> + + <p>He was a most unhappy mountaineer who sat there on the + stump, impassive and morose as the sun progressed upon its + journey toward the western horizon. All the organized activity + in the scene about him filled him with resentment and despair. + In the hills he ever felt his strength: they had presented in + his whole lifetime few problems which he could not cope with, + conquer; but here in that construction camp he felt weak, + incompetent, saw full many a puzzling matter which he could not + understand. He watched the scene with bitter but with almost + hopeless eyes. These new forces working here at railroad + building, working in the hills to rob him of the girl he loved, + seemed pitilessly strong and terribly mysterious. He never had + felt helpless in all his life, before. It made him grind his + teeth with rage.</p> + + <p>But, though it angered him, the tense activity of the + construction camp was fascinating, too. Especially was his + attention held spellbound by the ruthless work of the advancing + blasting gangs. What power lay hidden in those tiny sticks of + dynamite! How lightly one of them had tossed that poor + unfortunate in air and left him lying mangled, broken, helpless + on the ground when it had spent its fury! <i>What a weapon one + of them would make, upon occasion</i>!</p> + + <p>This thought grew rapidly in his depressed and agitated + mind. What a weapon, what a weapon! Presently the blasting + gangs and what they did absorbed his whole attention. He no + longer paid the slightest heed to the puffing locomotives, busy + with their dump-cars, to the mysterious steam-shovel, to the + hand cars with their pumping, flying passengers. The dynamite + was greater than the greatest of them. One stick of it, if + properly applied, would blow a locomotive into junk, would tear + a dump-car, with its massive iron-work and grinding wheels, + apart and leave mere splinters!</p> + + <p>His thoughts roamed back to his home mountains and pondered + on the probable effect of this incursion on his personal + affairs. Not satisfied with tearing up the placid valley, these + foreigners would, presently, invade the very mountains in their + turn. He saw the doom of that small, hidden still which had + been his father's secret, years ago, was now his secret from + the prying eyes of law and progress. That the "revenuers," soon + or late, would get it, now that their allies were building + steel highways to swarm on, was inevitable. His heart beat fast + with a new anger, anticipatory of their coming to his + fastness.</p> + + <p>Lying not six feet from him as he sat there thinking + bitterly of all these things, the foreman of the blasting gang + had gingerly deposited a dozen sticks of dynamite upon a soft + cushion of grey blankets. Joe looked at them as they lay there, + innocent and unimpressive. If he had some of them in the hills + and the revenuers came to raid his still—</p> + + <p>The thought sprang into being in his mind with lightning + quickness and grew there with mushroom growth. Never in his + life had Lorey stolen anything, although the government would + have classed him as a criminal because he owned that hidden + still. His standards, in some things, were different from yours + and mine, but he had never stolen anything and scorned as low + beyond the power of words to tell a man who would. But now + temptation came to him. He wanted some of that explosive. + Should he buy it, its purchase by a mountaineer would certainly + attract attention and might thus precipitate the very thing he + wished to ward away—a watch of him, and, through that + espionage, discovery of his secret place among the hills. And + were not the railroad and the men who owned it robbing him by + their progression into his own country? They were robbing him + of peace and quiet, of the possibility of living on the life he + had been born to and had learned to love! One of the class + which fostered him was robbing him, he feared with a great + fear, of the sweet girl whom he loved better than he loved his + life. Surely it would be no sin, no act of real dishonesty for + him to slip down from his stump when none was looking and + secure a stick or two of the explosive!</p> + + <p>Speciously he argued this out in his mind and reached the + wrong conclusion which he wished to reach.</p> + + <p>If he could but get one of those sticks of dynamite! When + progress came, as, now, he felt convinced it would, to drive + him from his mountains and the still which made life possible + to him, he could meet it, at the start, with one of its own + weapons. That, even though he had a hundred such, he could + fight the fight successfully, could, in the end, find triumph, + he did not for an instant think. The might of the encroaching + army had impressed him, and he knew that, soon or late, he + would be forced to yield to it; but he coveted those sticks of + dynamite. One of them would give him some slight power, at + least. He acknowledged to himself that he would steal one if he + got the chance, despite his innate hatred of all pilferers. + Such theft would merely be the taking of an unimportant tribute + from the power which would, eventually, claim much, indeed, + from him.</p> + + <p>From the distance came the screaming whistle of a locomotive + pulling in along the newly built roadway to eastward. It was + followed by a flurry of excitement among all the men at work + around about him.</p> + + <p>"There comes the mail," he heard one handsome young chap + shout.</p> + + <p>He wore a suit like that which Joe had learned to hate + because Frank Layson wore it.</p> + + <p>This youth started running down the track, bright-eyed, + expectant, and a dozen others ran to follow him, leaving + blue-prints, their surveyors' instruments and other tokens of + their mysterious might of education, lying unheeded on the + ground behind them. There was much excitement. Even the rough + laborers stopped delving at their tasks for a few minutes, to + straighten from their work and stand, with curious eyes agaze + down-track.</p> + + <p>In the distance Joe saw smoke arise above the tops of the + invaded forest-trees. Then he heard the growing clangor of a + locomotive's bell, then other whistling and the approaching + rumble of steel wheels upon steel rails, the groan of brake + shoes gripping, the rattle of contracted couplings, the impact + of car-bumpers.</p> + + <p>The excitement grew among the working gangs. Even the + laborers left their tasks and started down the rough surface of + the new embankment toward the place, a quarter-of-a-mile away, + where the train would stop at the end of the crude + ballasting.</p> + + <p>Lorey sat there on his stump, apparently impassive, watching + all this flurry with resentful, discontented eyes. He himself + was infinitely curious about the coming train; but he could not + bring himself to go to see it. He had never seen a railway + train, but it somehow seemed to him that if he hurried with the + rest to meet this one it would mean a certain sacrifice of + dignity in the face of the invading conqueror. He sat there, + grimly wondering what it might be like, what the people whom it + brought were like, until, suddenly, he discovered that he was + alone. The last workman yielding to temptation, free from + supervision for the moment, had run down the bank to meet the + train, get mail, see who had come. Lying not a dozen feet away + from Joe on their grey blanket were the sticks of dynamite.</p> + + <p>Lithe, quick and silent as one of the mountain wild-cats he + had so often trailed through his domain, he slipped down from + his stump, caught up a stick of the explosive, tucked it + carefully into his game-bag, took his place again upon the + stump, impassive, calm, apparently quite unexcited.</p> + + <p>When the men came trooping back, opening letters, tearing + wrappers from their newspapers, gossipping, he still sat on the + stump as they had left him. Not one of them suspected that he + once had left it.</p> + + <p>"Bright and lively as a cigar-store Indian," he heard one + care-free youth exclaim as he went by him.</p> + + <p>He did not know what the man meant; he had never seen a + cigar-store Indian; but he knew a jibe was meant. It did not + anger him, as it would have done, a few moments earlier. Now he + had exacted his small tribute. They could stare at him and + jibe, if they were so inclined. Hidden carefully there in his + game-bag was one of their own weapons for their fight against + the wilderness, which, in course of time, might be a weapon of + the wilderness in fighting against some of them.</p> + + <p>Presently he climbed down from the stump and strolled back + along the raw embankment toward the little group still standing + near the train which had arrived.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER VII</h2><br> + + + <p>The young moonshiner stiffened instantly as he neared the + group of newly arrived travellers, for the first word he heard + from them was the name of him whom, among all foreigners, he + hated with most bitterness. An old darky, plainly the servant + of the party, and such a darky as the mountain country had + never seen before, was inquiring of a bystander where he could + find "Marse" Frank Layson.</p> + + <p>The man of whom he asked the question had not the least + idea, nor had anyone about the railroad working. Most of the + men had never heard of Layson, and the few who had become + acquainted with him through chance meetings since he had been + stopping in his cabin in the mountains, knew most indefinitely + where the place was located. Lorey could have quickly given the + information, but had no thought of doing so. He stood, instead, + staring at the party with wondering but not good-natured eyes, + and said no word. He certainly was not the one to do a favor to + his rival or his rival's friends.</p> + + <p>The group of strangers were thrown into confusion by the + difficulty of getting news of him they sought, and, while they + discussed the matter, Lorey had a chance to study them. He + stood upon the rough plank platform, leaning on his rifle, with + the game-bag and its burden of purloined explosive hanging + slouchily beneath one arm, his coon-skin cap down well upon his + eyes, those eyes, half closed, gazing at the newcomers with all + the curiosity which they would have shown at sight of savages + from some far foreign shore.</p> + + <p>He was not the only one about the temporary railroad station + who eyed the group with curiosity and interest. Two of the + travellers were ladies from the bluegrass and scarcely one of + all the natives lingering about the workings had ever seen a + lady from the bluegrass, while, to the young surveyors and the + group of civil engineers who had, for months, been exiled by + their work among the mountains from all association with such + lovely creatures, it was a joy to stand apart and covertly gaze + at them. Many a young fellow, months away from home, who had + grasped the newspapers and letters which had come in with the + other mail with eager fingers, anxious to devour their + contents, had, after the two ladies had descended from the + train, almost forgotten his anxiety to get the news from home, + and stood there, now, with opened letters in his hands, + unread.</p> + + <p>The ladies were very worthy of attention, too. Miss Alathea + Layson, the elder of the two, was slight, beautifully groomed + despite the long and dirty trip on rough cars over the crude + road-bed of a newly graded railway. A woman whose thirtieth + birthday had been left behind some years before, she still had + all the brightness and vivacity of the twenties in her carriage + and her manner. Her voice, as it drifted to the young + moonshiner, was a new experience to him—soft, well + modulated, cultivated, it was of a sort which he had never + heard before, and, while it seemed to him affected, + nevertheless thrilled him with an unacknowledged + admiration.</p> + + <p>It was she who showed the greatest disappointment about the + general ignorance concerning Layson's whereabouts, and that + voice made instantaneous and irresistible appeal to the older + men among the party of engineers and surveyors, who, finding an + excuse in her discomfiture, flocked about her, hats off, backs + bent in humble bows, proffering assistance, three deep in the + circle.</p> + + <p>The other lady traveller, whom Miss Alathea called Miss + Barbara, more especially attracted the attention of the younger + men, and, as they stood aloof to gaze at her, held such + mountain dwellers as were near, paralyzed with wonder and + admiration. Nothing so brilliantly beautiful as she in form, + carriage, face, coloring or dress had ever been seen there in + the little valley.</p> + + <p>She was a florid girl of twenty, or, perhaps, of twenty-one + or two. Her eyes were the obtrusive feature of her face, and + she used them with a freedom which held callow youth + spellbound. Her gown was more pretentious than that of her more + elderly companion. This, of course, was justified by the + difference between their ages; but there seemed to be, beyond + this, a flaunting gayety about it and her manner which were + not, in the eyes of the older and wiser men among the group who + watched, justified by anything. It would have been a hard thing + for the most critical of them to have definitely mentioned just + what forced this strong impression on their minds, but it was + forced upon them very quickly. One of them, a cute and keen + observer as he was, of many years experience, decided the moot + point, though, and whispered his decision to a grizzled man + (the engineer in charge of the whole enterprise upon that + section of construction) who stood next him.</p> + + <p>"The elder one is of the old-time Southern aristocracy," he + said. "The younger one is one of the newcomers—her father + has made money and she is breaking in by means of it."</p> + + <p>His companion nodded, realizing that the guess was shrewd + and justified, even if it might, conceivably, be + inaccurate.</p> + + <p>"She certainly is very striking," he said, nodding, "but the + elder one is the aristocrat."</p> + + <p>The other member of the party was a big man, nearing fifty, + with a broad face on which geniality was written in its every + line, wearing the wide-brimmed Southern hat, typical long + frock-coat with flaring skirts, black trousers, somewhat + pegged, and boots of an immaculate brilliance.</p> + + <p>His voice was loud, hearty and attractive, as he made + inquiries, here and there, about the young man whom they had + hoped to find in waiting for them at the station, although they + had arrived, owing to the exigencies of travel by a new road, + not yet officially opened to traffic, a day before they had + expected to.</p> + + <p>"I suh," said this gentleman, "am Cunnel + Doolittle—Cunnel Sandusky Doolittle, and am looking for + this lady's nephew, Mr. Layson, suh. If you can tell me where + the youngster is likely to be runnin', now, you will put me + under obligations, suh."</p> + + <p>None, however, knew just how Layson could be reached. Most + of them knew him or had heard of him, but they were not certain + just where his camp in the mountains was located.</p> + + <p>"I regret, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel, turning to the + disappointed lady at his side, after having completed his + inquiries, "that there is no good hotel heah. If there were a + good hotel heah, I would take you to it, ma'am, and make you + comfortable. Then, ma'am, I would search this country and I'd + find him in short order. He probably did not receive my letter + saying that we would arrive to-day and not to-morrow."</p> + + <p>One of the engineers proffered to the ladies the use of his + own canvas quarters till some course of action should have been + decided on, an offer which was gratefully accepted.</p> + + <p>Soon afterward inquiries by the Colonel brought out definite + information as to the exact location of Frank's camp. A railway + teamster, also, it appeared, was starting in that direction + after ties and offered to transport a messenger as far as he + was going, directing him, then, so that he could not lose his + way. Old Neb, the darky, thereupon, was started on the + search.</p> + + <p>He was a different sort of negro from any which the mountain + folk had ever seen, and wore more airs than his "white folks." + Dressed in a black frock-coat as ornate as the Colonel's, + although its bagging shoulders showed that it had been a gift + and not made for him, his hat was a silk tile, a bit too large, + and in one hand was a gold-headed cane on which he leaned as + his old legs limped under him. Among the mountaineers about he + was an object of the keenest curiosity, although down in the + bluegrass, where old family negroes frequently were let to grow + into a childish dignity of manner after years of faithful + service and were not disturbed in their ideas of their own + importance, he would have been regarded as merely an amusing + infant of great age, reaping a reward for by-gone merits in the + careful consideration and indulgence now extended to him. His + inordinate vanity of his personal appearance and his dignity + might have given rise to smiles, down there; here there were + those upon the platform who laughed loudly as he walked away, + boasting vaingloriously, although he evidently feared the trip + with the rough teamster, that he would find "young Marse Frank" + in a jiffy and have him there in no time.</p> + + <p>It was while the aged negro was climbing somewhat + difficultly to the side of the good-natured railroad teamster + who had promised to give him a lift upon his way and then + supply directions for his further progress, that Joe Lorey, who + had been an interested spectator of the affair, contemptuous, + amused by the old darky, saw, coming through the crowd behind + him and well beyond the range of the newly arrived strangers, + the roughly dressed, mysterious old man whom he had seen, once + or twice, up in the mountains, whom Madge had seen, tapping + with his little hammer at the rocks. Lorey looked toward him + with a face which scowled instinctively. He disliked the man, + as he disliked all foreigners who dared invasion of his + wilderness; he would have feared him, too, had he known that it + had really been him and not young Layson and Madge Brierly who + had made the noise there in the thicket which had disturbed + him, that day, when, armed to meet a raid of revenuers, he had + rushed out from his still to find the girl and the young + bluegrass gentleman in a close company which worried him almost + as much as the appearance of the officers, in fact, could have + done.</p> + + <p>He was a "foreigner," this old man with the manner of the + mountains, and, sometimes, their speech, for he wore bluegrass + clothes; therefore he was one to be classed with the others in + his bitter hatred. He was standing almost in his path, and, by + stepping to one side, could have saved him a small detour round + a pile of boxed supplies; but he did not move an inch, + stiffening, instead, delighted at obstructing him.</p> + + <p>The old man, as he went around, looked sharply at him, and + then smiled, almost as if he recognized him and could read his + thoughts; almost as if he realized the man's instinctive hate; + almost as if he felt a certainty, deep in his soul, that so + great was the disaster hovering above the mountaineer that it + would be scarcely worth his own while, now, even to think + resentfully of this small insult.</p> + + <p>A moment later, though, and the expression of his face had + changed completely. The first glimpse of the new come party + standing, now, deep in discussion of the railway work, before + the engineer's white, hospitable tent, made him start back in + amazement.</p> + + <p>For an instant he stood wavering, as if he were considering + the plan of trying to depart without approaching them or being + seen by them, but then he shrugged his shoulders and advanced, + trying to show upon his face surprised good-nature.</p> + + <p>"Wall, Colonel Doolittle!" he cried. "And you, Miss Layson, + and—why, there's Barbara!"</p> + + <p>"<i>Father!"</i> said the girl, in absolute amazement, + hurrying toward him.</p> + + <p>"Ah, Mr. Holton!" said Miss 'Lethe, bowing to him as the + Colonel, plainly not too greatly pleased by the necessity for + doing so, advanced toward him with extended hand.</p> + + <p>"What brings you all up here?" asked Holton, after the + greetings had been said.</p> + + <p>"We came up to see Frank and the beauties of his + long-forgotten land," Miss 'Lethe answered, in her softly + charming voice. "He has property up here, you know, which has + been for years a family possession, but which has been + considered valueless, or almost so. When he learned that this + new railway was to pass quite close to it, he decided to + investigate it carefully and see just what it really amounted + to."</p> + + <p>Holton smiled a little wryly as she completed her + explanation. "He's stayed here, studyin' it, a long time, ain't + he?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," Miss Alathea answered. "When he once reached here he + seemed to find new beauties in the country every day. He wrote + us the most glowing letters of it, and these letters + and—and—other things, decided me to come and see + him and the property he is so fond of. The Colonel was polite + enough to volunteer as escort, your daughter to come as a + companion."</p> + + <p>Holton winked mysteriously at Colonel Doolittle. "You come + at the right time," said he. "I'll have some things to tell you + of this country and just what the railroad's going to do for it + if you should care to listen."</p> + + <p>The Colonel's eyes, plainly those of one who read the tale + of character upon the faces of the people whom he met, looked + at him with no great favor, but he smiled. "We've already + learned some things which have astonished us," he said. Then, + though, despite the fact that his remark had greatly aroused + Holton's curiosity, evidently, he changed the subject somewhat + abruptly, and turned grandiosely to Miss 'Lethe.</p> + + <p>"May I offuh you my ahm, ma'am, for a little stroll about + heah?" he inquired. "The greatest disadvantage which I see + about this country is the lack of level places big enough to + put a race-track in, ma'am. So far as I can see from lookin' + round me, casual like, you couldn't run a quahtuh, heah, + without eitheh goin' up a hill or comin' down one."</p> + + <p>"<i>Isn't</i> it rough!" said Barbara, with a gesture of + aversion which seemed a bit affected.</p> + + <p>Holton looked at her with what was plainly admiration. It + was clear enough that, in a way, he was fond of his showy + daughter. He ran his eye with satisfaction over her costume, + from head to foot, and nodded.</p> + + <p>"You ain't never seen much of rough life, now have you, + Barbara?" He turned, then, to Miss Alathea. "These young folks, + raised the way we raise 'em, nowadays, get thinkin' that the + whole world has been smoothed out for their treadin'—an' + they ain't far wrong. We <i>do</i> smooth out the world for + 'em. Now, there's your nephew, Frank; he—"</p> + + <p>"Oh, he <i>likes</i> it, here, as I have said," she + answered.</p> + + <p>"But it is so—<i>uncouth</i>" said Barbara, plainly + for the benefit of one or two admiring youths from the + surveying party, who were standing near. "And some of the + people look so absolutely vicious—some of the natives, I + mean, of course, you know. Now look at that young fellow, over + there!"</p> + + <p>The girl had nodded toward Joe Lorey, who was standing not + far off, observing them with an unwavering and disapproving, + almost definitely hostile stare.</p> + + <p>"He looks," the girl went on, "as if he hated us and would + be glad to do us harm. So violent!"</p> + + <p>"He's from up the mountains," one of the young engineers + said, glancing toward him. "It's funny how those mountain + people <i>all</i> hate us. You see, they say, the hills around + about here are all full of moonshiners and they believe the + coming of the railroad will bring with it law and order and + that when that comes, of course, their living will be + gone."</p> + + <p>"Moonshiners?" said Barbara. "Pray, what are + moonshiners?"</p> + + <p>Her father grimly smiled again. He knew that she knew quite + as well what moonshiners were as any person in the group, but + her affected ignorance of rough things and rough men amused + him.</p> + + <p>"Distillers of corn whisky who refuse to pay their taxes to + the government," the youth replied. "The revenue officials have + had dreadful times with them, here in the Cumberland, for + years. Sometimes they have really bloody battles with them, + when they try to make a raid."</p> + + <p>"How terrible!" said Barbara, and shuddered carefully. She + looked again at Lorey, who, conscious that he was the subject + of their conversation and resentful of it, stared back boldly + and defiantly. "And do you think that he—that very young + man there—can possibly have ever actually <i>killed</i> a + man?"</p> + + <p>The engineer laughed heartily. "That he may <i>possibly</i> + have killed a man," said he, "there is no doubt. I don't know + that he has, however, and it is most improbable. I don't even + know that he's a moonshiner."</p> + + <p>Among the others who had left the train, which, now, had + been switched off to a crude side-track, the cars left there + and the locomotive started at the handling of dirt-dump-cars, + were two tall, sunburned strangers, whom Miss Alathea, who had + noted them as she did everyone, had classed as engineers or + surveyors, but who had not, when they had arrived, mingled with + the other men employed on the construction of the railroad. + While the young man and Barbara were talking about moonshiners, + one of them had drifted near and he gave them a keen glance at + the first mention of the word. Now he turned, but turned most + casually, to follow with his own, their glances at Joe Lorey. + Then he sauntered off, and, as he passed Holton, seemed to + exchange meaning glances with him.</p> + + <p>Soon afterward Lorey turned away. The day was getting on + toward noon. The long tramp back to his lonely cabin in the + mountains would consume some hours. The sight of all these + strangers, all this work on the new railroad worried him, made + him unhappy, added to and multiplied the apprehension which for + weeks had filled his heart about Madge Brierly and young + Layson. He battled with a mixture of emotions. There was no + ounce of cowardice, in Joe. Never had he met a situation in his + life before which he had feared or which had proved too strong + for him. All his battles, so far, and they had been many and + been various, as was inevitable from the nature of his secret + calling, had resulted in full victories for his mighty strength + of body or his quick foot, certain hand, keen knowledge of the + mountains and the woods resource and wit that went with these; + but now things seemed to baffle him. His soul was struggling + against acknowledgment of it, while his mind continually told + him it was true. Everything seemed, now, to be against him.</p> + + <p>He knew, but would not admit, even to himself, that the + march of progress must inevitably drive out of existence the + still hidden in his cave and make the marketing of its illicit + product doubly hazardous, nay, quite impossible. He knew that + he must give it up; he realized that real good sense would send + him home, that day, to bury the last trace of it in some spot + where it never could be found again. But his stubborn soul + revolted at the thought of being beaten, finally, by this + civilization which he hated; he would not admit, even in his + mind, that it had bested him, or could ever best him. He ground + his teeth and pressed his elbow down against the stock of his + long rifle with a force which ground the gun into his side + until it hurt him. He would never give up, never! Let them try + to get him if they could, these lowlanders! He would not be + afraid of them. His father had not been—and he would + never be.</p> + + <p>And there was a voice within him which kept whispering as + did the one which counselled the abandonment of his illegal + calling, the abandonment of that other effort, infinitely + dearer to him, to win Madge Brierly's love and hand in + marriage. His common-sense assured him that she was not made + for such as he, that, while she had been born there in the + mountains there were delicacies, refinements in her which would + make her mating with his rude and uncouth strength impossible, + would make it cruelly unhappy for her, even should it come + about. But this voice he steadfastly declined to listen to, + even more emphatically than he did to that which counselled + caution in his calling. Again he ground his teeth. His heels, + when they came down upon the rocky mountain trails up which he + soon was climbing, fell on the slopes so heavily that, + constantly, his progress was followed by the rattle of small + stones down the inclined path behind him, constant little + landslides. And, at ordinary times, Joe Lorey, awkward as he + looked to be, could scale a sloping sand-bank without sending + down a sliding spoonful to betray the fact that he was moving + on it to the wild things it might startle.</p> + + <p>Heavily he resolved within his soul, against his own best + judgment, to keep up both fights and win.</p> + + <p>The dynamite which he had stolen and which nestled in his + game-sack comforted him, although he did not know how he would + use it. Many times, as he worked through the narrow trails, + jumped from stepping-stone to stepping-stone in crossing + mountain-streams, pulled himself up steep and rocky slopes by + clutching swaying branches, or rough-angled boulders, he let + his left hand slip down to the side of the old game-sack, + where, through the soft leather, he could plainly feel the + smooth, terrific cylinder.</p> + + <p>He swore a mighty mountain oath that none of the advancing + forces ever should win victory of him. If the revenuers ever + tried to get him, let God help them, for they would need help; + if Frank Layson stole his girl from him, then let God help him, + also, for even more than would the revenuers the young + bluegrass gentleman would need assistance from some mighty + power.</p> + + <p>But a fate was closing on Joe Lorey which all his uncouth + strength could not avert. As he had left the railway those two + men whom simple-minded Miss Alathea had supposed were + engineers, but who had not mingled with the throng of railway + builders had looked at Horace Holton for confirmation of their + guess. In a quick glance, so keen that they could not mistake + its meaning so instantaneous that none else could suspect that + the three men were even casual acquaintances, he had told them + they had guessed aright.</p> + + <p>They sauntered off and disappeared in the direction whence + the mountaineer had gone, and, though his feet were well + accustomed to the trails and were as expert in their climbing + as any mountaineer's for miles, these men proved more expert; + though his ear was as acute as a wild animal's, so silently + they moved that never once a hint that they were following, + ever following behind him, reached it; their endurance was as + great as his, their woods-craft was as sly as his.</p> + + <p>A fate was closing on Joe Lorey. The march of civilization + was, indeed, advancing toward his mountain fastnesses at last. + And nothing stays the march of civilization.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2><br> + + + <p>The afternoon was waning as Joe climbed a sudden rise and + saw before him Layson's camp.</p> + + <p>Through a cleft in the guardian range the sun's rays + penetrated red and fiery. Already the quick chill of the coming + evening had begun to permeate the air. A hawk, sailing from a + day of foraging among the hen-yards of the distant valley, flew + heavily across the sky, burdened with plunder for its little + ones, nested at the top of a black stub on the mountain-side. + Squirrels were home-going after a busy day among the trees. The + mournful barking of young foxes, anxious for their dinners, + thrilled the air with sounds of woe. Among the smaller birds + the early nesters were already twittering in minor among the + trees and thickets; a mountain-eagle cleft the air in the + hawk's trail, so high that only a keen eye could have caught + sight of him. Daylight insects were beginning to abate their + clamor, while their fellows of the night were tuning for the + evening concert. Mournfully, and very faintly, came a + locomotive's wail from the far valley.</p> + + <p>Joe Lorey paused grimly in his progress to stare at the + rough shack which housed the man he hated. He was no coward, + and he would not take advantage of the loneliness and isolation + of the spot to do him harm surreptitiously, but vividly the + thought thrilled through him that someday he would assail him. + Smoke was curling from the mud-and-stick chimney of the little + structure, and he smiled contemptuously as he thought of how + the bluegrass youth was doubtless pottering, within, getting + ready to go down into the valley to greet his fine friends and + be greeted. He had no doubt that long ere this the aged negro + had reached him with the news of their arrival. He wondered, + with a fierce leap of hope, if, possibly, their coming might + not be the signal for the man's departure from the country + where he was not wanted.</p> + + <p>This hope keenly thrilled him, for a moment, but, an instant + later, when, through the small window, he saw the youth seat + himself, alone, before a blazing fire of logs, stretch out his + legs and lounge in the comfort of the blaze, it left him. He + wondered if Layson did not intend to go down at all to meet his + friends.</p> + + <p>Just then his quick ear caught the sound of stumbling, + hurried footsteps, plainly not a mountaineer's, down in the + rough woodland, below. Instantly his muscles tautened, + instantly he brought his rifle to position; but he soon let it + fall again and smiled, perhaps, for the first time that + day.</p> + + <p>"Lawsy! Lawsy!" he could hear a scared voice muttering. + "Lawsy, I is los', fo' suah!"</p> + + <p>His smile broadened to a wide, malicious grin of + satisfaction. The black messenger who had been started with the + news, evidently had not fared well upon the way, and was, but + now, arriving. "It's that nigger wanderin' around up hyar," he + mused. And then: "I'm goin' to have some fun with him."</p> + + <p>Silently he slipped down the path by which he had so + recently ascended, and, at a good distance from the cabin, but + still well in advance of the unhappy negro, hid behind a rock, + awaiting his approach.</p> + + <p>Old Neb, advancing, scared tremendously, was talking to + himself in a loud, excited voice.</p> + + <p>"Oh, golly!" he exclaimed. "Dis am a pretty fix for a + bluegrass cullud gemman! Dis am a pretty fix—los', los' + up heah, in de midst of wolves an' painters!"</p> + + <p>Joe, from behind his rock, wailed mournfully in startling + imitation of a panther's call.</p> + + <p>The darkey almost fell prone in his fright. "Name o' + goodness!" he exclaimed. "Wha' dat? Oh—oh—dere's a + painter, now!"</p> + + <p>Joe called again, more mournfully, more ominously than + before.</p> + + <p>Neb's fright became a trembling panic. "Hit's a-comin' + closer!" he exclaimed. "I feel as if de debbil's gwine ter git + me!" He stooped and started on a crouching run directly toward + the rock behind which Joe was hiding.</p> + + <p>As the old man would have passed, Joe jumped out from his + ambush, and, bringing his right hand down heavily upon the + darky's shoulder, emitted a wild scream, absolutely terrifying + in its savage ferocity. With a howl Neb dropped upon his knees, + praying in an ecstasy of fear.</p> + + <p>"Oh, good Mister Painter, good Mister Debbil—" he + began.</p> + + <p>Inasmuch as he was not devoured upon the instant, he finally + ventured to look up and Joe laughed loudly.</p> + + <p>So great was the relief of the old negro that he did not + think of anger. A sickly smile spread slowly on his face. "De + Lawd be praised!" he said. "Why, hit's a man!"</p> + + <p>"Reckon I am," said Joe. "Generally pass for one." Then, + although he knew quite well just why the man had come, from + whom, for whom, he asked sternly to confuse him: "What + <i>you</i> doin' in these mountings?"</p> + + <p>"I's lookin' fo' my massa, young Marse Frank Layson, suh," + Neb answered timidly.</p> + + <p>"You needn't to go fur to find him," Lorey answered + bitterly. "You needn't to go fur to find him."</p> + + <p>The old negro looked at him, puzzled and frightened by his + grim tone and manner.</p> + + <p>"Why—why—" he began. "Is it hereabouts he hunts + fo' deer? He wrote home he was findin' good spo't in the + mountains, huntin' deer."</p> + + <p>Joe's mouth twitched ominously, involuntarily. The mere + presence of Old Neb, there, was another evidence of the great + advantage, which, he began to feel with hopeless rage, the man + who had stolen that thing from him which he prized most highly, + had over him. The negro was his servant. Servants meant + prosperity, prosperity meant power. Backwoodsman as he was, Joe + Lorey knew that perfectly. His face gloomed in the + twilight.</p> + + <p>"Yes," he answered bitterly, "it's here he has been + huntin'—huntin' deer—the pootiest deer these + mountings ever see." Of course the old negro did not understand + the man's allusion. He was puzzled by the speech; but Joe went + on without an explanation: "But thar is danger in sech huntin'. + Your young master, maybe, better keep a lookout for + his-self!"</p> + + <p>His voice trembled with intensity.</p> + + <p>In the meantime Layson was still seated thoughtfully before + his fire of crackling "down-wood," busy with a thousand + speculations. Just what Madge Brierly, the little mountain + girl, meant to him, really, he could not quite determine. He + knew that he had been most powerfully attracted to her, but he + did not fail to recognize the incongruity of such a situation. + He had never been a youth of many love-affairs. Perhaps his + regard for horses and the "sport of kings" had kept him from + much travelling along the sentimental paths of dalliance with + the fair sex. Barbara Holton, back in the bluegrass country, + had been almost the only girl whom he had ever thought, + seriously, of marrying, and he had not, actually, spoken, yet, + to her about it. When he had left the lowlands for the + mountains he had meant to, though, when he returned. There were + those, he thought, who believed them an affianced couple. Now + he wondered if they ever would be, really, and if, without + actually speaking, he had not led her to believe that he would + speak. He was astonished at the thrill of actual fear he felt + as he considered the mere possibility of this.</p> + + <p>The news which had been brought to him by mail that upon the + morrow he would see the girl again, in company with his Aunt + and Colonel Doolittle, had focussed matters in his mind. Did he + really love the haughty, bluegrass beauty? He was far from sure + of it, as he sat there in the little mountain-cabin, although + he had been certain that he did when he had left the + lowlands.</p> + + <p>It seemed almost absurd, even to his young and sentimental + mind, that one in his position should have lost his heart to an + uneducated girl like Madge, but he definitely decided that, at + any rate, he had never loved the other girl. If it was not + really love he felt for the small maiden of the forest-fire and + spelling-book, it surely was not love he felt for the + brilliant, showy, bluegrass girl.</p> + + <p>He was reflecting discontentedly that he did not know + exactly what he felt or what he wanted, when he heard Joe + Lorey's startling imitation of the panther's cry, outside, and, + rising, presently, when careful listening revealed the fact + that the less obtrusive sound of human voices followed what had + seemed to be the weird, uncanny call of the wild-beast, he went + to the door and opened it, so that he could better listen.</p> + + <p>Joe and the negro had not been in actual view of Layson's + cabin, up to that time. A rocky corner, rising at the trail's + side, had concealed it. Now they stepped around this and the + lighted door and windows of the little structure stood out, + despite increasing darkness, plainly in their view.</p> + + <p>Almost instantly old Neb recognized the silhouette of + Layson's figure there against the fire-light from within.</p> + + <p>"Marse <i>Frank</i>!" he cried. "Marse <i>Frank!</i>"</p> + + <p>Layson, startled by the unexpected sound of the familiar + voice there in the wilderness, rushed from the door, took Neb's + trembling hand and led him to the cabin.</p> + + <p>"Neb, old Neb!" he cried. "By all that's wonderful! How did + you get here alone? I thought you all were to come up + to-morrow. Where is Aunt 'Lethe, and the Colonel, + and—and—"</p> + + <p>Neb, his troubles all forgotten as quickly as a child's, + stood wringing his young master's hand with extravagant + delight. Joe Lorey disappeared like a flitting shadow of the + coming night.</p> + + <p>"Dey're all down at de railroad, suh," said Neb. "Dey're all + down at de railroad. Got heah a day befo' dey t'ought dey + would, suh, an' sent me on ahead to let you know. I been + wanderin' aroun' fo' a long time a-tryin' fo' to fin' yo'. Dat + teamster what gib me a lif', he tol' me dat de trail war cleah + from whar he dropped me to yo' cabin, but I couldn't fin' it, + suh, an' I got los'."</p> + + <p>"And the others all are waiting at the railroad for me? I + was going down to meet them to-morrow."</p> + + <p>"Dey don't expect you till to-morrow, now, suh. Ev'rybody + tol' 'em that you couldn't git dar till to-morrow. I reckon + dey'll be com'fable. Fo'ty men was tryin' fo' to make 'em so + when <i>I</i> lef." The old darky laughed. "Looked like dat dem + chaps wat's layin' out dat railroad, dar, ain't seen a woman's + face fo' yeahs an' yeahs, de way dey flocked aroun'. Ev'y tent + in de destruction camp war at deir suhvice in five + minutes."</p> + + <p>Frank was busy at the fire with frying-pan and bacon. The + old negro was worn out. The young man disregarded his uneasy + protests and made him sit in comfort while he cooked a supper + for him.</p> + + <p>"So you got lost! Who finally set you straight? I heard you + talking, there, with someone."</p> + + <p>"A young pusson, suh," said Neb, with dignity. Lorey had + befriended him, he knew, at last; but he had scared him into + panic to begin with. "A young pusson, suh," he said, "what made + me think he was a paintuh, suh, to staht with. Made me think he + was a paintuh, suh, or else de debbil, wid his howlin'."</p> + + <p>Layson laughed long and heartily. "Must have been Joe + Lorey," he surmised. "I heard that cry and thought, myself, it + was a panther. He's the only one on earth, I guess, who can + imitate the beasts so well. Where is he, now?'</p> + + <p>"Lawd knows! I see him dar, close by me, den I seed you in + de doah, an' when I looked aroun' ag'in, he had plumb faded + clean away!"</p> + + <p>"They're wonderful, these mountaineers, with their + woods-craft."</p> + + <p>"Debbil craf, mo' like," said Neb, a bit resentful, + still.</p> + + <p>Frank smiled at the thought of his dear Aunt, precise and + elegant, compelled to spend the night in a construction camp + beneath white-canvas.</p> + + <p>"What did Aunt 'Lethe think about a night in tents?" he + asked.</p> + + <p>"Lawd," said Neb, plainly trying to gather bravery for + something which he wished to say, "I didn't ax huh. Too busy + with my worryin'."</p> + + <p>"Worrying at what, Neb?"</p> + + <p>"Oveh dat Miss Holton an' her father."</p> + + <p>"Mr. Holton didn't come, too, did he?"</p> + + <p>"No; he didn't come wid us, suh; but he met us dar down by + de railroad. Wasn't lookin' for him, an' I guess he wasn't + lookin', jus' exactly, to see us. But he was dar an' now he's + jus' a membuh of ouah pahty, suh, as good as Cunnel Doolittle. + Hit don't seem right to me, suh; no suh, hit don't seem right + to me."</p> + + <p>"Why, Neb!"</p> + + <p>"An' dat Miss Barbara! She was dead sot to see you, an' Miss + 'Lethe was compelled to ax her fo' to come along. She didn't + mean to, fust off; no suh. But she had to, in de end. Den I war + plumb beat when I saw Mister Holton stalkin' up dat platfohm + like he owned it an' de railroad an' de hills, and de hull + yearth. But he's bettuh heah dan down at home, Marse Frank. He + don't <i>belong</i> down in de bluegrass."</p> + + <p>"I'm afraid you are impertinent, Neb. Don't meddle. You + always have been prejudiced against Barbara and her + father."</p> + + <p>The old negro answered quickly, bitterly. "I ain't likely to + fuhgit," said he, "dat de only blow dat evuh fell upon my back + was from his han'! I guess you rickollick as well as I do. He + cotch me coon-huntin' on his place an' strung me up. He'd jes' + skinned me dar alive if you-all hadn't heered my holler in' an' + run in."</p> + + <p>Layson was uneasy at the turn the talk had taken. "That was + years ago, Neb," he expostulated.</p> + + <p>"Don't seem yeahs ago to me, suh. Huh! De only blow dat evuh + fell upon my back! But yo' snatched dat whip out of his ban' + an' den yo' laid it, with ev'y ounce of stren'th war in yo', + right acrost his face!"</p> + + <p>Layson, unwilling to be harsh with the old man and forbid + him to say more, ostentatiously busied himself, now, about the + table with the frying-pan and other dishes, hoping, thus, to + discourage further talk of this sort.</p> + + <p>"No, suh," Neb went on with shaking head, "I jus' nachelly + don' like him. Don't like <i>either</i> of 'em. An' he, Marse + Frank, he nevuh <i>will</i> fuhgit dat blow, an' don't you + think he will!"</p> + + <p>"That's all over, long ago," said Frank, as he put the + finishing touches on the old man's supper. "And what had + Barbara to do with it? She can't help what her father + does."</p> + + <p>Neb drew up to the table with a continuously shaking head. + For months he had desired to speak his mind to his young + master, but had never dared to take so great a liberty. Now the + unusual circumstances they were placed in, the fact that he had + been lost in the mountains in his service and half scared to + death, imbued him with new boldness.</p> + + <p>"She kain't he'p what he does, suh, no," said he. "But + listen, now, Marse Frank, to po' ol' Neb. De pizen vine hit + don't b'ar peaches, an' nightshade berries—dey ain't + hulsome, eben ef dey're pooty."</p> + + <p>"Neb, stop that!" Layson commanded sharply.</p> + + <p>The old negro half slipped from the chair in which he had + been sitting wearily. Once he had started on the speech which + he had made his mind up, months ago, that, some day, he would + screw his courage up to, he would not be stopped.</p> + + <p>"Oh, honey," he exclaimed, holding out his tremulous old + hands in a gesture of appeal, while the fire-light flickered on + a face on which affection and real sincerity were plain, "I's + watched ovuh you evuh sence yo' wuh a baby, an' when I see dat + han'some face o' hers was drawin' of yo' on, it jus' nigh broke + my ol' brack heaht, it did. It did, Marse Frank, fo' suah."</p> + + <p>The young man could not reprimand the aged negro. He knew + that all he said came from the heart, a heart as utterly + unselfish and devoted in its love as human heart could be.</p> + + <p>"Oh, pshaw, Neb!" he said soothingly. "Don't worry. Perhaps + I did go just a bit too far with Barbara—young folks, you + know!—but that's all over, now." Again he wondered most + uncomfortably if this were really true, again his mind made its + comparisons between the bluegrass girl and sweet Madge Brierly. + "There's no danger that Woodlawn will have any other mistress + than my dear Aunt 'Lethe for many a long year," he concluded + rather lamely.</p> + + <p>The emotion of the ancient darky worried him. It was proof + that evidence of a love affair with Barbara Holton had been + plain to every eye, he thought.</p> + + <p>Neb now slid wholly from the chair and dropped upon his + knees close by the youth he loved, grasping his hand and + pressing it against his faithful heart.</p> + + <p>"Oh, praise de Lawd, Marse Frank; oh, praise de Lawd!" he + cried.</p> + + <p>Old Neb slept with an easier heart, that night, than had + throbbed in his old black bosom since the probability that + Barbara Holton would be a member of the party which was to + visit his young master in the mountains, had first begun to + worry him. But long after he had found unconsciousness on the + boughs-and-blanket bed which he had fashioned for himself under + Frank's direction, Layson, himself, was wandering beneath the + stars, thinking of the problem that beset him.</p> + + <p>He was sorry Barbara was coming to the mountains. Why had + his Aunt 'Lethe brought her? What would that dear lady think + about Madge Brierly, wood-nymph, rustic phenomenon? What had + Horace Holton been doing in the mountains, secretly, to have + been surprised, discomfited as Neb had said he was, at sight of + the Colonel, Miss 'Lethe and his daughter?</p> + + <p>But before he had finished the pipe which he had carried + into the crisp air of the sharp mountain night for company, his + thought had left the Holtons and were seeking (as they almost + always were, these days and nights), his little pupil of the + spelling-book, his little burden of the brush-fire flight. He + looked across the mountain-side toward where her lonely cabin + hid in its secluded fastness. There was a late light to-night + ashine from its small window.</p> + + <p>"She'll like her," he murmured softly in the night. "She'll + <i>love</i> her. Aunt 'Lethe'll understand!"</p> + + <p>And then he wondered just exactly what it was that he felt + so very certain his Aunt 'Lethe would be sure to understand. He + did not understand, himself, precisely what had happened to + him, his life-plans, heart-longings.</p> + + <p>Strolling there beneath the stars he gave no thought to poor + Joe Lorey, until, like a night-shadow, the moonshiner stalked + along the trail and passed him. Layson called to him + good-naturedly, but the mountaineer gave him no heed. Frank + stood, gazing after him in the soft darkness, in amazement. + Then a quick, suspicious thrill shot through him. The man was + bound up the steep trail toward Madge's cabin. Presently he + heard him calling. He went slowly up the trail, himself.</p> + + <p>The girl came quickly from her cabin in answer to the + shouting of the mountaineer.</p> + + <p>"What is it, Joe?" she asked.</p> + + <p>"I want a word with you. I've come a purpose," Lorey + answered sullenly.</p> + + <p>The girl was almost frightened by his manner. She had never + seen him in this mood; he had never come to her, alone, at + night, before. "Well, Joe, you'll have to wait," said she. + "I've got some things to do, to-night." Her sewing was not yet + half finished.</p> + + <p>Standing on her little bridge, she held with one hand to the + worn old rope by means of which she presently would pull it up. + She did not take Joe very seriously; in the darkness she could + not see the grim expression of his brow, the firm set of his + jaw, the clenched hands, one of which was pressed against the + game sack with his powerful plunder hidden in it. She laughed + and tried to joke, for, even though she did not guess how + serious he was, her heart had told her that some day, ere long, + there must of stern necessity be a full understanding between + her and the mountaineer, and that he would go from her, after + it, with a sore heart. In the past she had not wished to marry + him, but she had never definitely said, even to herself, that + such a thing was quite impossible for all time to come. Now she + knew that this was so, although she would not acknowledge, even + to herself, the actual reason for this certainty. No; she could + never marry Joe. She hoped that, he would never again beg her + to.</p> + + <p>"Come back some other time, when I ain't quite so busy," she + said trying to speak jokingly. "Tomorrow, or nex' week, or + Crismuss."</p> + + <p>He stood gazing at her sourly. "I'll come sooner," he said + slowly. "Sooner. An' hark ye, Madge, if that thar foreigner + comes in atween us, I'm goin' to spile his han'some face + forever!"</p> + + <p>"What nonsense you do talk!" the girl exclaimed, but her + heart sank with apprehension as the man stalked down the path. + She did not pull the draw-bridge up, at once, but stood there, + gazing after him, disturbed.</p> + + <p>Again he met Layson, still strolling slowly on the trail, + busy with confusing thoughts, puffing at his pipe. The + mountaineer did not call out a greeting, but stepped out of the + trail, for Frank to pass, without a word.</p> + + <p>"Why, Joe," said Layson, "I didn't see you. How are you?" He + held out his hand.</p> + + <p>The mountaineer said nothing for an instant, then he + straightened to his lank full height and held his own hand + close against his side. "No," he said, "I can't, I can't."</p> + + <p>Layson was astonished. He peered at him. "Why, Joe!" said + he; and then: "See here—what have I ever done to + you?"</p> + + <p>Joe turned on him quickly. "Done?" he cried. "Maybe nothin', + maybe everythin'." He paused dramatically, unconscious of the + fierce intentness of his gaze, the lithe aggressiveness of his + posture. "But I warns you, now—you ain't our kind! Th' + mountings ain't no place for you. The sooner you gits out of + 'em, the better it'll be fer you."</p> + + <p>Layson stood dumbfounded for a moment. Then he would have + said some further word, but the mountaineer, his arm pressed + tight against that old game-sack, stalked down the trail. + Suddenly Layson understood.</p> + + <p>"Jealous, by Jove!" he said. "Jealous of little Madge!" + Slowly he turned about, puffing fiercely at his pipe, his + thoughts a compound of hot anger and compassion.</p> + + <p>Madge, filled with dread of what her disgruntled mountain + suitor might be led to do by his black mood, had not yet + re-crossed her draw-bridge, but was standing by it, listening + intently, when she heard Layson's footsteps nearing. Her heart + gave a great throb of real relief. She had not exactly feared + that trouble really would come between the men, but—Lorey + came of violent stock and his face had been dark and + threatening.</p> + + <p>She saw Layson long before he knew that she was there.</p> + + <p>"Oh," she cried, relieved, "that you?"</p> + + <p>He hurried to her. "I thought you mountain people all went + early to your beds," said he, and laughed, "but I met Joe Lorey + on the trail and here you are, standing by your bridge, + star-gazing."</p> + + <p>Of course she would not tell him of her worries. She took + the loophole offered by his words and looked gravely up at the + far, spangled sky. "Yes," said she, "they're mighty pretty, + ain't they?"</p> + + <p>Layson was in abnormal mood. The prospect of his Aunt's + arrival, the certainty that something more than he had thought + had come out of his mountain sojourn, the fact that he was sure + that he regretted Barbara Holton's coming, old Neb's arrival, + and his raking up of ancient scores against the lowland + maiden's father, his meeting with Joe Lorey and the latter's + treatment of him, had wrought him to a pitch of mild + excitement. The girl looked most alluring as she stood there in + the moonlight.</p> + + <p>"My friends are in the valley and are coming up to-morrow," + he said to her. "Do you know that this may be the last time I + shall ever see you all alone?"</p> + + <p>She gasped. He had not hinted at a thing like that before. + "You ain't going back with them, are you?" she asked, her voice + a little tremulous from the shock of the surprise. "You ain't + going back with them—never to come hyar no more, are + you?"</p> + + <p>He stepped nearer to her. "Why, little one," he asked, + "would you care?"</p> + + <p>"Care?" she said with thrilling voice, and then, gaining + better self-control, tried to appear indifferent. "Why should + I?" she said lightly. "I ain't nothin' to you and you ain't + nothin' to me."</p> + + <p>His heart denied her words. "Don't say that!" he cried. "You + don't know how dear you've grown to me." He stepped toward her + with his arms outstretched. He almost reached her and he knew, + and she knew, instinctively, that if he had he would have + kissed her.</p><a name="Illus_3"></a> <br> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_3.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_3.jpg" + alt="No man can cross this bridge, unless" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4>"No man can cross this bridge, + unless—unless,—"</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <p>She shrank back like a startled fawn, when his foot was + almost on the bridge that spanned the chasm between them and + her cabin.</p> + + <p>"Don't you dare to touch me!" she said fiercely.</p> + + <p>She sped back upon the little bridge, and, when he would + have followed, held her hand up with a gesture of such native + dignity, offended womanhood, that he stopped where he was, + abashed.</p> + + <p>"No—no, sir; you can't cross this bridge," said she. + "No man ever can, unless—unless—"</p> + + <p>Almost sobbing, now, she left the sentence incomplete; and + then: "Oh, you wouldn't dared act so to a bluegrass girl! But I + know what's right as well as them. It don't take no + book-learnin' to tell me as how a kiss like that you planned + for me would be a sign that really you care for me no more than + for the critters that you hunt an' kill for pastime up hyar + among the mountings."</p> + + <p>He would have given much if he had never done the foolish + thing. He stood there with lowered eyes, bent head, abashed, + discomfited.</p> + + <p>"An' I 'lowed you were my friend!" said she.</p> + + <p>Now he looked up at her and spoke out impulsively: "And so I + am, Madge, really! I was ... wrong. Forgive me!"</p> + + <p>She dropped her hands with a weary change of manner. "Well, + I reckon I will," said she. "You've been too kind and good for + me to bear a grudge ag'in you; but ... but ... Well, maybe I + had better say good-night."</p> + + <p>She walked slowly back across the bridge without another + word, pulled on its rope and raised it, made the rope fast and + slowly disappeared within her little cabin.</p> + + <p>"Poor child!" said he, and turned away. "I was a brute to + wound her."</p> + + <p>As he went down the trail, darkening, now, as the moon slid + behind the towering mountain back of him, his heart was in a + tumult. "After all," he reflected, "education isn't everything. + All the culture in the world wouldn't make her more sincere and + true. She has taught <i>me</i> a lesson I shan't soon + forget."</p> + + <p>His thoughts turned, then, to the girl who would come up + with the party on the following day.</p> + + <p>"I—wonder! Was there ever, really, a time when I loved + Barbara?... If so, that time has gone, now, never to + return."</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER IX</h2><br> + + + <p>His visitors took Layson by surprise, next morning. They had + started from the valley long before he had supposed they + would.</p> + + <p>Holton saw him first and nudged his daughter, who was with + him. They were well ahead of Miss Alathea and the Colonel, who + had been unable to keep up with them upon the final sharp + ascent of the foot-journey from the wagon-road. The old man + grinned unpleasantly. He had rather vulgar manners, often + annoying to his daughter, who had had all the advantages which, + in his rough, mysterious youth, he had been denied.</p> + + <p>"Thar he is, Barb; thar he is," he said, not loudly. Miss + Alathea and the Colonel, following close behind, were a + restraint on him.</p> + + <p>The girl's face was full of eagerness as she saw the man + they sought. He was busy polishing a gun, but that his thoughts + were occupied with something less mechanical and not wholly + pleasant the slight frown upon his face made evident. "Mr. + Layson! Frank!" she cried.</p> + + <p>The young man turned, on hearing her, and hurried toward her + and her father with his hands outstretched in welcome. He was + not overjoyed to have the old man visit him, just then; he was + even doubtful of the welcome which his heart had for the + daughter; but he was a southerner and in the gentle-born + southerner real hospitality is quite instinctive.</p> + + <p>"Mr. Holton—Barbara," said he. "I am delighted. + Welcome to the mountains." He grasped their hands in hearty + greeting. "But where are Aunt Alathea and the Colonel?"</p> + + <p>Holton tried to be as cordial as his host. That he was very + anxious to appear agreeable was evident. "Oh, them slow-pokes?" + he said, laughing. "We didn't wait for them. We pushed on + ahead. We reckoned as you would be glad to see us."</p> + + <p>"And so I am."</p> + + <p>"One in particular, maybe," Holton answered, with a crude + attempt at badinage. He glanced archly from the young man to + his daughter.</p> + + <p>"Father!" she exclaimed, a bit annoyed, and yet not too + unwilling that the fact that she and Layson were acknowledged + sweethearts should be at once established.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I ain't been blind," said Holton, gaily, going much + farther than she wished him to. "I've cut <i>my</i> + eye-teeth!"</p> + + <p>Then he turned to Layson with an awkward lightness. "Barbara + told me what passed between you two young folks afore you come + up to the mountings," he explained. And then, with further + elephantine airyness: "I say, jest excuse me—reckon I'm + in the way." He made a move as if to hurry off.</p> + + <p>Layson was not pleased. The old man was annoying, always, + and now, after the long revery of the night before about Madge + Brierly, this attitude was doubly disconcerting. "Not at all, + Mr. Holton," he said, somewhat hastily. "I'm sure we'd rather + you'd remain. Are you sure the others are all right?"</p> + + <p>"Close behind us."</p> + + <p>"I'll go and make sure that they do not lose their way."</p> + + <p>Holton looked at his daughter in a blank dismay after the + youth had started down the hill. "I say, gal," said he, + "there's somethin' wrong here!"</p> + + <p>She was inclined to blame him for the deep discomforture she + felt. "Why couldn't you let us alone?" she answered angrily. + "You've spoiled everything!"</p> + + <p>The old man looked at her, with worry on his face. "Didn't + you tell me 't was as good as settled? You said you were dead + sure he meant to make you his wife."</p> + + <p>She was still petulant, blaming him for Layson's unexpected + lack of warmth. "Yes, but you needn't have interfered!"</p> + + <p>Holton was intensely puzzled, worried, almost frightened. He + was as anxious to have this young man for a son-in-law as his + daughter was to have him for a husband. Her marriage into such + a celebrated bluegrass family as the Laysons were, would firmly + fix her social status, no matter how precarious it might be + now, and the match would be of great advantage to him in a + business way, as well. He stood there, thinking deeply, very + much displeased.</p> + + <p>"There's somethin' more nor me has come between you," he + said finally, his face flushing with a deep resentment. "I tell + you, gal, what I believed at first, deep in my heart, air true. + He was only triflin' with you. Them aristocrats down in the + bluegrass don't hold us no better than the dust beneath their + feet, even if we have got money. It's <i>family</i> that counts + with them. Didn't he lay his whip acrost my face, once, as if I + was a nigger?" His wrath was rising. "And now he shows that he + was only triflin' with you with no real intentions of doin' as + we thought he would!" The man was tremulous with wrath. "Oh, + I'll be even with him!"</p> + + <p>Barbara was greatly worried by the situation. All her life, + despite the fact that she was beautiful, despite the fact that + her father was a rich man—richer, by a dozen times, than + many of the people for whose friendship she longed + vainly—she had vaguely felt that there was an invisible + gulf between her and the girls with whom she came in contact at + the exclusive schools to which she had been sent, between her + and the gentlefolk with whom, in some measure, she had mixed + since she had left school-walls. "Father," she asked anxiously, + "why do people look down on us so?"</p> + + <p>He faced her with a worried look, as if he feared that she + might guess at something which he wished should remain hidden. + "They say I made my money tradin' in niggers," he replied, at + length. "Well, what of it? Didn't I have the right?"</p> + + <p>"Are you sure there's nothing else?"</p> + + <p>He seemed definitely startled. "Girl, what makes you + ask?"</p> + + <p>"Because sometimes memories come to me."</p> + + <p>"Memories of what?"</p> + + <p>"Of—my childhood," she said slowly, "of passes among + mountains—mountains much like these."</p> + + <p>He regarded her uneasily. "Oh, sho, gal!" he exclaimed, + trying to make light of it. "Reckon you've been dreamin'. You + were never hyar before."</p> + + <p>But she looked about her, unconvinced, and, when she spoke, + spoke slowly, evidently trying to recall with definite clarity + certain things which flitted through her mind as vague + impressions only. "Why does everything seem so familiar, here, + then, as if I had just wakened in my true surroundings after a + long sleep in which I had had dreams?" There was, suddenly, a + definite accusation in her eyes. "Father, you are trying to + deceive me! I was once a child, here in these very mountains!" + She stared about intently.</p> + + <p>The speech had an amazing effect on the old man. He stepped + close to her. "Hush!" said he, imperatively. "Don't you dare + speak such a word ag'in!"</p> + + <p>She peered into his eyes. "There <i>is</i> a secret, then! + We lived here, long ago!"</p> + + <p>"Stop, I tell you!" he commanded. "Don't hint at such + things, for your life." He dropped his voice to hoarse whisper. + "Suppose I did live hyar, once. I was a smooth-faced youngster, + then; my own mother wouldn't know me, now."</p> + + <p>The sound of voices coming up the mountain-trail interrupted + the dramatic scene.</p> + + <p>"Sh!" said he. "They're comin'!"</p> + + <p>Frank was piloting his Aunt and Colonel Doolittle. "This + way, Aunt 'Lethe," they could hear him say.</p> + + <p>An instant later he appeared, leading the way up the steep + trail. His Aunt, Neb and the Colonel followed him.</p> + + <p>"Now, Aunt 'Lethe," he said gaily, "you can rest at last. + Colonel, I can welcome you in earnest. This is, indeed, a + pleasure."</p> + + <p>The Colonel was puffing fiercely from the hard work of the + climb, but his broad face glowed with pleasure. He took a long, + full breath of the exhilerating mountain air. "Pleasure? It's a + derby-day, sir, metaphorically speaking." As he rested he eyed + the youngster with approval. "Frank," said he, "you've grown to + be the very image of my old friend, Judge Layson. Ah, five + years have made their changes in us all—except Miss + 'Lethe." He bowed gallantly in her direction, and she gaily + answered the salute.</p> + + <p>Barbara advanced, enthusiastically, looking at the Colonel + with arch envy in her eyes. "Five years you've been in Europe, + surrounded by the nobility. Oh, Colonel, what happiness!"</p> + + <p>He shook his head. "Happiness away from old Kentucky, + surrounded by a lot of numb-skulls who couldn't mix a fancy + drink to save their lives, who know nothing of that prismatic, + rainbow-hued fountain of youth, a mint-julep? Ah!"</p> + + <p>"But, Colonel," said the girl, "the masterpieces of + art!"</p> + + <p>"Give me," said he, "the masterpieces of Mother + Nature—the bright-eyed, rose-cheeked, cherry-lipped girls + of old Kentucky!"</p> + + <p>There was a general laugh. The Colonel's gallantry was + ever-blooming. Frank applauded and the ladies bowed.</p> + + <p>"By the way, Frank," said the Colonel, after they had been + made comfortable in a merry group before the cabin-door, "where + is that particular masterpiece of Nature which you've written + us so much about? Where is the—Diana?"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea smiled at her somewhat worried nephew. "The + 'phenomenon,'" said she.</p> + + <p>"According to Neb, who told us of her as we worked up that + steep trail," said Barbara, "the 'deer.'" She laughed, not too + good naturedly Neb, who was standing waiting orders near, + grinned broadly.</p> + + <p>"Neb, you rascal!" exclaimed Frank.</p> + + <p>"Come, where is she, Frank; where is she?" asked the + Colonel.</p> + + <p>The youth was not too much embarrassed, but he gave a quick, + side-glance at Barbara. "She is probably getting ready to + receive you," he replied. "I told her I expected you and she's + been very much excited over it."</p> + + <p>"Adding to nature's charms the mysteries of art," the + Colonel said, approvingly. "We shall expect to be overwhelmed. + And, meantime, while we're waiting, we might as well explain to + you the business which has brought us up here."</p> + + <p>His face showed him to be the bearer of good news. He rose, + excitedly, and went to Frank, to put his hand upon his + shoulder. "Now, my boy, keep cool, keep cool! I tell you, + Frank, it's the biggest thing out. It'll make a millionaire of + you as sure as Fate before the next five years have + passed!"</p> + + <p>Layson was taken wholly by surprise. No one had in the least + prepared him for anything of this sort. He had supposed the + party had come up to see him merely for the pleasure of the + trip. "I don't understand," said he.</p> + + <p>"Keep cool, keep cool!" the Colonel urged. "It is colossal, + metaphorically. You see, I was over there in Europe, promoting + a South American mine, when I happened to see in a Kentucky + paper that the Georgetown Midland was to be put through these + mountains near the land your father bought. That land, my boy, + is rich in coal and iron!"</p> + + <p>The young man's face shone with delight. "He always said + so!" he exclaimed. "I meant, sometime, to investigate."</p> + + <p>"I've saved you the trouble. I came back on the next + steamer, organized a syndicate in New York City, sent an expert + out to carefully look into things, and, on his report, a + company is willing to put in a $200,000 plant to develop your + land. All you've got to do is to take $25,000 worth of stock + and let your coal-land stand for as much more."</p> + + <p>The youth's face fell. "Twenty-five thousand dollars!" he + exclaimed. "Why, Colonel, I have not one fifth of it!"</p> + + <p>"Ah," said the Colonel, smiling, "but here, like a good + angel, comes in your dear Aunt 'Lethe!" He smiled at her. + "Isn't it so, Miss 'Lethe?"</p> + + <p>Frank spoke up quickly. "Surely," he exclaimed to her as she + advanced toward him, with smiles, "you know I'd never take your + money!"</p> + + <p>"You must, Frank," she insisted. "The Colonel says it is the + chance of a lifetime."</p> + + <p>"Why, Auntie, it's your whole fortune. I wouldn't risk + it."</p> + + <p>"But you could pay it all back in a month."</p> + + <p>"How?" he asked, not understanding in the least.</p> + + <p>"By selling Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>He flinched. The thought had not occurred to him. "Sell + Queen Bess!" said he. "The prettiest, the fastest mare in all + Kentucky! Never!"</p> + + <p>"My boy," said the Colonel, "the odds are far too + heavy—a million against the mare. You can't stand + 'em."</p> + + <p>"Oh, Frank," said his Aunt, impulsively, "if you'll only + take the money and give up racing!"</p> + + <p>He laughed. Miss Alathea's strong prejudice against the + race-tracks was proverbial. "So that's what you're after!" he + exclaimed. "You dear old schemer!"</p> + + <p>"With your impulsive, generous nature, racing is sure to + ruin you."</p> + + <p>The Colonel looked first at Frank with ardent sympathy aglow + in his eyes; then, after a hasty glance at Miss Alathea, he + quickly changed the meaning of his look and spoke + admonishingly. "The voice of wisdom!" he exclaimed. "Ah, Frank, + from what I hear I judge you're too much of a + plunger—like a young fellow I once knew who thought he + could win a fortune on the race-track." He began, now, to speak + very seriously. "He was in love with the prettiest and sweetest + girl in old Kentucky, but he wished to wait till he could get + that fortune, and he chased it here and there, looking for it + mostly on the race-tracks, until he had more grey hairs than he + had ever hoped to have dollars; he chased it till his dream of + happiness had slipped by, perhaps forever. My boy, the + race-track is a delusion and a snare."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea looked at him with pleased surprise. "Colonel, + your sentiments astonish and delight me."</p> + + <p>"How can you refuse," the Colonel said, "when such a woman + asks? For one who loves you, you should give those pleasures up + without a pang."</p> + + <p>In the pause that followed he reflected on the history of + the youth to whom he had referred, for that young man was + himself. He had loved Miss Alathea twenty years, but the + Goddess Chance had kept him, all that time, too poor to ask her + hand in marriage. His heart beat with elation as he realized + that, possibly, the scheme which he had come there to the + mountains to propose to Frank, might remedy the evils of the + situation.</p> + + <p>Frank had been thinking deeply. "But what certainty is + there," he inquired, "that I can sell Queen Bess at such a + price?"</p> + + <p>Now the Colonel spoke with animation. "Absolute. I've a + written offer from the Dyer brothers to take her for + twenty-five thousand dollars, if she is delivered, safe and + sound, on the morning she's to run in the Ashland Oaks. It's a + dead sure thing, my boy. You can't refuse."</p> + + <p>The young man hesitated, still. "I'll investigate, + and—well, I'll see." He walked away, deep in thought.</p> + + <p>The Colonel turned from him to Miss Alathea. "Miss 'Lethe, + congratulate yourself. The victory is won."</p> + + <p>Frank turned upon his heel and spoke to Holton. "What do you + think of this investment?" he inquired.</p> + + <p>"Wal," said Holton, "I think it's a blamed good thing. I'd + only like the chance to go into it, myself." He went closer to + the youth and spoke in an instinctively low tone. "By the way, + this gal, hyar, Madge Brierly, owns fifty acres o' land down + there in the valley, that's bound to be wuth money. Like + enough, with your help, I could buy it for a song. I'll make it + all right with you. What do you say? Is it a bargain, Layson?" + He held out his hand, evidently with no thought but that the + questionable offer would be snapped up at once.</p> + + <p>Layson drew back angrily. "No," he replied.</p> + + <p>Holton, seeing that he had made a serious mistake, tried to + correct it. "Oh, shucks, now! I didn't mean no harm. That's + only business."</p> + + <p>Layson was intensely angered. "I won't waste words on you," + he said, "but think twice before you make me such a proposition + again."</p> + + <p>Holton's wrath rose vividly. "Damn him!" he muttered as he + walked away. "I'll pay him back for that! I'll get that gal's + land in spite of him, and I won't stop at that. I'll pay him + back for ... everythin'! I'll teach him what it air to stir the + hate o' hell in a man's heart!"</p> + + <p>Barbara, distressed anew by this unpleasant episode, had + started to go after him, when the weird cry of an owl, a long + drawn, tremulous: "Hoo-oo-oo!" came from somewhere in the + forest, close at hand. It startled her. "Heavens!" said she. + "What's that?"</p> + + <p>Neb, who also had been startled at the first penetrating, + weird call, bethought himself, now, and answered her: "It's de + deah."</p> + + <p>"The phenomenon!" exclaimed Miss Alathea.</p> + + <p>"The Diana!" said the Colonel, looking at Frank slyly.</p> + + <p>"Yes; she's coming," Frank said gaily, and then, looking + down the path, started violently. "Heavens, she's coming!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel, who also had looked down the path, hurriedly + approached him, feigning worry. "Frank, I haven't got 'em + again, have I?"</p> + + <p>Madge approached them slowly in the quaint, old-fashioned + costume she had resurrected from the chests of her dead + mother's finery and re-made, very crudely, in accordance with + the fashion-plates which she had found down at the cross-roads + store. The result of her contriving was a startling mixture of + fashions widely separated as to periods. Her untutored taste + had mixed colors clashingly. Her unskilled fingers had sewed + very bunchy seams.</p> + + <p>The girl was much embarrassed: it required the last ounce of + her bravery to advance. Before she actually reached the little + group, she half hid, indeed, behind a tree. It was from this + shelter that she called her greeting: "Howdy, folks, + howdy!"</p> + + <p>Frank went toward her with an outstretched hand. "Come, + Madge," said he, encouragingly.</p> + + <p>"Reckon I'll have to," she assented, with a bashful smile + and took a step or two reluctantly. But she had never seen folk + dressed at all as were these visitors from the famed bluegrass, + and her courage again faltered. Instantly she realized how + wholly her own efforts to be elegant had failed. She hung back + awkwardly, pathetically.</p> + + <p>"Don't be nervous, Madge; just be yourself," Frank urged + her.</p> + + <p>"Free and easy? Well, I'll try; but I'm skeered enough to + make me wild and reckless."</p> + + <p>Frank led her forward, while she made a mighty effort to + accept the situation coolly. "These are my friends, Madge. Let + me introduce you."</p> + + <p>She got some grip upon herself and smiled. "Ain't no need. + Know 'em all by your prescription." With a mighty effort she + approached the Colonel. "Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, + howdy!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel was delighted. Her knowledge of his name was + flattering. He had forgotten her strange costume the moment his + glance had caught her wonderful, deep eyes. "Howdy, howdy!" he + said heartily, shaking her hand vigorously. "Why, this is real + Kentucky style!" It won't take <i>us</i> long to get + acquainted."</p> + + <p>"Know all about you now," she said. "Great hossman. Colonel, + I'll have a race with you, sometime."</p> + + <p>"What, you ride?" said the delighted Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Ride! Dellaw!" said she, with, now, unembarrassed + animation. The subject was that one, of all, which made her + most quickly forget everything beside. "Why, me and my pony + takes to racin' like a pig to carrots. Before he lamed himself, + whenever th' boys heard us clatterin' down th' mounting, they + laid to race us back. Away we went, then, clickity-clip, up th' + hills and around th' curves—an' I allus won."</p> + + <p>The Colonel realized with a great joy that he had found a + kindred spirit. "Shake again!" he said to her, after further + most congenial talk, and then turned to Frank. "My boy, you're + right. She <i>is</i> a phenomenon—a thoroughbred, even if + she hasn't any pedigree."</p> + + <p>Up to this time the ladies had remained somewhat in the + background, watching the young mountain girl as the Colonel + drew her out.</p> + + <p>Madge now turned to Frank, but looked at Barbara. "Is that + the young lady from the bluegrass?" The girl was hurt and + really offended by the stranger's aloof manner. "Looks like she + can't see common folks."</p> + + <p>"That is Miss Barbara." He led the mountain girl toward her. + "Barbara, this is my friend—er—Madge." He was, + himself, a little disconcerted.</p> + + <p>The maiden from the lowlands bowed, but said no word. For an + instant Madge shrank back, but then she advanced with an + unusual boldness. Her spirit was aroused.</p> + + <p>"Howdy, Miss Barbarous, howdy!" she exclaimed and held her + hand out to the handsomely dressed girl.</p> + + <p>But Miss Barbara was annoyed by the whole happening. She + felt that this uncultivated country girl was getting far too + much attention. The child's unconscious pun upon her name + infuriated her. She did not answer her, but raised a lorgnette + and stared at her.</p> + + <p>Madge was ready with an instant sympathy. "Oh, that's why + you couldn't see, poor thing! Spectacles at your age!" Whether + she really thought this was the case, not even Frank could tell + by looking at her.</p> + + <p>Miss Holton was incensed. The haughty treatment she had + planned to, give the mountain girl had not had the results she + had expected. "There's nothing whatever the matter with my + eyes!" she exclaimed hastily.</p> + + <p>"Wouldn't think you'd need a machine to help you star-gaze + at folks, then," said the mountain girl. "But maybe it's the + fashion in the bluegrass."</p> + + <p>Frank hurried up with Holton, planning a diversion. "This is + Mr. Holton, Madge."</p> + + <p>"Howdy, sir," said she, and then started in astonishment. + "Ain't I seen your face before, sir?"</p> + + <p>"Wal, I reckon not," said Holton most uneasily. "I was never + hyar in these hyar mountings afore."</p> + + <p>She stepped closer to him, gazing straight at his grey eyes. + They seemed strangely to recall the very distant past, she knew + not how. There were other things about him which seemed much + more immediately familiar, although his more elaborate garb + prevented her, for the moment, from recognizing him as the + stranger with the hammer, who had, that day of the forest-fire, + been tap-tapping on the rocks upon her pasture-land. "Your eyes + seem to bring something back." She plainly paled. She knew that + their suggestion was a dreadful one, but could not make it + definite.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea noted her agitation instantly, and hurried to + her side. "Poor child, what is the matter?"</p> + + <p>Madge had regained control of her features, which, for an + instant, had shown plain horror. "Tain't nothin', ma'am. It + couldn't be. It's all over now." She smiled gratefully at Miss + Alathea. "An' you're his aunt, ain't you? I'd know you for his + kin, anywhere. Why, somehow, you remind me of my lost + mother."</p> + + <p>"Thank you, my dear. You must be very lonely, up here all + alone."</p> + + <p>"I am, sometimes," said the girl, "but I have lots of fun, + too. The woods are full of friends. Th' birds an' squirrels + ain't afraid o' me. They seem to think I'm a wild thing, like + 'em."</p> + + <p>"It's true," said Frank, with an admiring, cheering look at + the little country girl. "Their confidence in her is + wonderful."</p> + + <p>The bluegrass girl's annoyance was increasing. She had come + up to the mountains thinking that, among such crude + surroundings, her gowns and the undoubted beauty they adorned, + would hold the center of the stage, and by contrast, hold + Layson quite enthralled; but here, instead, was a brown-faced + country maid in grotesque, homemade costume, attracting most of + his attention. She was conscious that by showing her + discomfiture she was not strengthening her own position, but + she could not hide it, could not curb her tongue.</p> + + <p>"A rider of races," said she; "a tamer of animals! What + accomplishments! Do you actually live here, all alone?"</p> + + <p>"Come," said Madge, determined to be pleasant, "and I'll + show you." She led the bluegrass girl to a convenient point + from which her cabin was in sight.</p> + + <p>"In that little hut!" said Barbara, not impressed as Madge + had innocently thought she would be. "Shocking!"</p> + + <p>The girl was angered, now. "So sorry I didn't have your + opinion afore! But, maybe, you wouldn't think it were so awful, + if you knowed how 'twere I come to live there."</p> + + <p>Frank had written something of the poor girl's tragic story + to his aunt. She was all interest. "Won't you tell us, please?" + she asked.</p> + + <p>Holton seemed to show a strange disinclination to listen to + the narrative. "Ain't got no time for stories," he objected. + "Gettin' late."</p> + + <p>"We'll take time, then," said Frank.</p> + + <p>"Go on, little one," urged Colonel Doolittle. "We're + listening."</p> + + <p>Impressed and touched by the sympathy in the horseman's tone + and the interest in Miss Alathea's eyes, Madge told with even + greater force and more effect than when she had related it to + Layson the story of the tragedy which had robbed her at a blow + of father and of mother, the black, dreadful tale of merciless + assassination which had left her orphaned in the mountains. Her + audience attended, spellbound, even the disgruntled and + unsympathetic Barbara listening with unwilling fascination. + Only Holton turned away, with a gesture of impatience. He + plainly did not wish to waste time on the girl. Or was it that? + He seemed to be uneasy as he walked to and fro upon the + rock-ledge near them, whence, had he cared for it, he could + have had a gorgeous view of mountain scenery. But, although he + said, as plainly as he could without actual rudeness, that the + girl and her sad tale of tragedy were not worth attention, he + was not successful in his efforts wholly to refuse to listen to + her.</p> + + <p>"Infamous!" said Miss Alathea, when the child had + finished.</p> + + <p>"And that scoundrel has gone free!" exclaimed the Colonel, + in disgust.</p> + + <p>"<i>That's</i> how I come to live alone, here," Madge went + on, addressing Barbara, particularly. The girl had made her + feel it necessary to offer some defense. "After my mammy died I + didn't have no place to go, an' so I just stayed on here, an' + th' bridge my daddy built for his protection I have kept for + mine. Maybe he has told you of it." She indicated Frank. They + nodded.</p> + + <p>"And nothing has been heard of the infernal traitor, all + these years?" the Colonel asked.</p> + + <p>"He left the mountings when he found how folks was + feelin'—they'd have shot him, like a dog, on sight. But + it don't make no differ where he goes; it don't make a bit of + differ where he goes."</p> + + <p>"What do you mean by that?" the Colonel asked, and as he + spoke, Holton, suddenly intent, paused in his pacing of the + ledge to listen.</p> + + <p>"I mean, no matter where he goes he'll have to pay for it, + come soon, come late. Th' day air sure to come when Joe, Ben + Lorey's son, 'll meet him face to face an' make him answer for + his crime!"</p> + + <p>"God-speed to him!" exclaimed the Colonel, fervently.</p> + + <p>Madge, in a gesture full of drama, although quite + unconscious, raised her head, looking off into the vastness of + the mountains, her hands thrust straight down at her sides and + clenched, her shoulders squared, her chest heaving with a + mighty intake. The little mountain-girl, as she stood there, + thrilling with her longing for revenge, with prayers that some + day the sinner might be punished for his dreadful crime, made + an impressive figure.</p> + + <p>"Come soon or late!" she sighed. "Come soon or late!"</p> + + <p>The party watched her, fascinated, till Holton took his + daughter's arm and urged her, uneasily, out of the little + group.</p> + + <p>Later Madge asked the Colonel to go with her to the pasture + lot and take a look at Little Hawss. Gladly he went with her, + tenderly this expert in Kentucky racers, the finest horses in + the world, examined the shaggy little pony's hoof. He told + Madge what to do for him and promised to send up a lotion with + which to bathe the injured foot, although he gently warned her + that she must not hope that Little Hawss would ever do much + racing up and down the mountain trails again. She choked, when + he said this, and the horseman's heart went out to her.</p> + + <p>"Little one," said the Colonel, as the party was preparing + to go down the mountain, "you're a thoroughbred, and Colonel + Sandusky Doolittle is your friend from the word 'go.'" He took + her hand in his and smiled down into her eyes.</p> + + <p>Then, turning to Miss 'Lethe: "Do you know, Miss 'Lethe, + there's something about this little girl that puts me in mind + of you, when I first met you? You remember?"</p> + + <p>"Ah, Colonel, that was twenty years ago—the day I was + eighteen."</p> + + <p>"And I was twenty-five. Now I'm forty-five and + you—"</p> + + <p>"Colonel!"</p> + + <p>"Are still eighteen.' He bowed, impressively, with that + charming, gallant smile which was peculiar to him.</p> + + <p>"Aren't you going down with us, Frank?" asked Barbara, + looking at the youth with plain surprise when she noted that he + lingered when she and her father were ready for the start.</p> + + <p>"I wish to speak to Madge, a moment. I'll overtake you."</p> + + <p>The bluegrass beauty looked at him, wrath blazing in her + eyes, then turned away with tossing head.</p> + + <p>"Good-bye," said Madge, and held her hand out to her.</p> + + <p>Barbara paid no attention to the small, brown hand, but, + instead, opened her parasol almost in the face of the + astonished mountain-girl, who jumped back, startled. "Oh, very + well," said Barbara to Frank.</p> + + <p>Madge turned to him, the softness of the mood engendered by + her talk with the Colonel and Miss 'Lethe all gone, now. Her + face was flushed with anger. "Dellaw!" said she. "Thought she + was goin' to shoot!"</p> + + <p>Now Barbara spoke haughtily. "Good afternoon, Miss Madge. + You have entertained us wonderfully, wonderfully."</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_X"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER X</h2><br> + + + <p>It was late on an afternoon several days after the party + from the bluegrass had gone down from the mountains when + Layson, with a letter of great import in his pocket sought + Madge Brierly.</p> + + <p>He was very happy, as, a short time before he reached her + isolated cabin, he stepped out to the edge of that same ledge + where Horace Holton had found the view too full of memories for + comfort, to look off across the lovely valley spread before, + below him. There were no memories of struggle and bloodshed to + arise between him and that view and for a time he gloried in it + with that bounding, pulsating appreciation which can come to us + in youth alone, as his eyes swept the fair prospect of wooded + slope and rugged headland, stream-ribbon, mountain-meadow, + billowy forest. Then, with a deep breath of the wondrous air of + the old Cumberlands, which added a physical exhileration almost + intoxicating to the pleasure of the thoughts which filled his + mind, he went slowly up the rugged twisting path to Madge's + cabin. There, standing by the bridge he called, and, presently, + the girl appeared.</p> + + <p>He smiled at her. He did not wish to tell her, too quickly, + of the news the letter held.</p> + + <p>The girl was still full of the visit and the visitors. They + had seemed to her, reared as she had been in the rough + seclusion of the mountains, like denizens of another, + wondrously fine world, come to glimpse her in her crude one, + for a few hours, and then gone back to their own glorious + abiding place.</p> + + <p>She did not admit it to herself, but they had left behind + them discontent with the life she knew, her lack of education, + almost everything with which, in days gone by, she had been so + satisfied.</p> + + <p>Layson, watching her as she approached, was tempted to enjoy + her as she was, for a few minutes, before telling her the news + which, young and inexperienced as he was, he yet knew, + instinctively, would change her for all time.</p> + + <p>"Well," he said, "how did you like them, Madge?"</p> + + <p>The girl sat upon a stump and looked off across the valley. + Her hands were clasped upon one knee, as she reflected, the + fading sunlight touched her hair with sheening brilliance, her + eyes, at first, were dreamy, happy.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I loved your aunt!" said she. "She made me think of my + own mammy.... She made me think of my own mammy."</p> + + <p>"And she was quite as much in love with you."</p> + + <p>"Was she?... And Cunnel Doolittle! Ain't he <i>splendid</i>? + And how he do know hosses! Wouldn't I <i>love</i> to see some + of them races that he told about? Wouldn't I love to have a + chance to learn how to become a lady like your aunt? She's just + the sweetest thing that ever lived."</p> + + <p>"And ... and ... Miss Barbara?" said Layson, with a little + mischief in his wrinkling eyelids.</p> + + <p>The girl shrugged herself together haughtily upon her stump. + He had seen lowlands girls use almost the same gesture when, in + drawing-rooms, some topic had come up which they did not wish + to talk about.</p> + + <p>"Huh! Her!" said Madge and would have changed the subject + had he let her.</p> + + <p>"Really?" he asked, wickedly. "Didn't you like her?"</p> + + <p>"I ain't sayin' much," said Madge, "because she's different + from me, has had more chance, is better dressed, knows more + from books an' so on, an' it might seem like I was plumb + jealous of her. Maybe I am, too. But, dellaw! Her with her + pollysol! When she opened it that way at me I thought it war a + gun an' she war goin' to fire! Maybe I ain't had no learnin' in + politeness, but it seems to me I would a been a little more so, + just the same, if I'd been in her place. She don't like me, she + don't, an' I—why, I just <i>hates</i> her! Her with her + ombril up, an' not a cloud in sight!"</p> + + <p>Layson looked at her and laughed. The letter in his pocket + made it seem probable that she would not need, in future, to + submit to such humiliations as the bluegrass girl had put upon + her, so his merriment could not be counted cruel.</p> + + <p>"Jealous of her?" he inquired, quizzically.</p> + + <p>She sat in deep thought for a moment and then frankly said: + "I reckon so; a leetle, teeny mite. Maybe it has made me mean + in thinkin' of her, ever since."</p> + + <p>"You're honest, anyway," said he, "and I shall tell you + something that will comfort you. She was as jealous of you as + you were of her."</p> + + <p>"<i>She</i> was!" the girl exclaimed, incredulous, + surprised. "Of <i>me</i>?" You're crazy, ain't you?"</p> + + <p>"Not a bit."</p> + + <p>"What have <i>I</i> got to make <i>her</i> jealous?"</p> + + <p>"A lot of things. You've beauty such as hers will never + be—"</p> + + <p>"Dellaw!" said Madge, incredulously. She had no knowledge of + her own attractiveness. "Don't you start in makin' fun o' + me."</p> + + <p>"I'm not making fun of you. You're very beautiful—my + aunt said so, the Colonel said so, and <i>I've</i> known it, + all along."</p> + + <p>No one had ever said a thing like this to her, before. She + looked keenly at him, weighing his sincerity. When she finally + decided that he really meant what he had said, she breathed a + long sigh of delight.</p> + + <p>"They said that I—was <i>beautiful</i>!"</p> + + <p>"They did, and, little girl, you are; and you have more than + beauty. You have health and strength such as a bluegrass girl + has never had in all the history of women."</p> + + <p>"Oh, yes," said she, "I'm strong an' + well—but—but—"</p> + + <p>"But what?"</p> + + <p>"But what?" she quoted bitterly. "But I ain't got no + eddication. What does strength and what does what you tell me + is my beauty count, when I ain't got no eddication? + Why—why—I looked plumb <i>foolish</i> by the side + of her! You think I don't know that my talk sounds rough as + rocks alongside hers, ripplin' from her lips as smooth as + water? You think I don't know that I looked like a scare-crow + in all them clo'es I had fixed up so careful, when she come on + with her gowns made up for her by <i>dressmakers</i>? + Why—why—I never <i>see</i> a dressmaker in all my + life! I never even see one!"</p> + + <p>"Well," said he, and looked at her with a slow smile, "there + probably will be no reason why you may not see as many as you + like, in years to come,"</p> + + <p>She was amazed. "This some sort o' joke?"</p> + + <p>"No, Madge. How would you like to be rich?"</p> + + <p>"Me?... Rich? Oh ... oh, I'd like it. <i>Then</i> I could go + down in th' bluegrass, study, l'arn, an'—I could do a + heap o' good aroun' hyar, too" She sighed. "But thar never was + nobody rich in these hyar mountings an' I reckon thar never + will be."</p> + + <p>"Perhaps you may be," said the youth, and there was a + serious quality in his voice which made her start and then lean + forward on her stump to gaze at him with searching, eager + eyes.</p> + + <p>"Your land down in the valley," he went on, "may contain + coal and iron enough to give you a fortune. Now there are bad + men in this world, and I want you to promise me to sell it to + nobody without first coming to me for advice."</p> + + <p>"Promise?" said the girl, the wonder all ashine in her big + eyes. "In course I'll promise that. But is there r'ally a + chance of it?"</p> + + <p>"There really is."</p> + + <p>"Oh, if I only knowed, for shore! Seems like I couldn't + wait!"</p> + + <p>"You shall know, to-night, or, maybe, sooner. I have the + engineers report, but I must study it out carefully and make + sure what boundaries he means. I'm almost certain they include + your land. As soon as I find out I'll come back here and call + to you and let you know."</p> + + <p>"I reckon you won't have to call! I'll be watchin' for you + every minute."</p> + + <p>"Well, I'm off. But remember what I said about letting + anyone buy any of your land from you. Don't sell an inch, don't + give an option at whatever price, to anyone without consulting + me."</p> + + <p>When he had left, the girl still sat there, dreaming on her + stump after she had watched him out of sight.</p> + + <p>The news that she might become rich had stirred her deeply + for a moment, but, soon she wondered if riches, really, would + mean everything, and decided that they would not.</p> + + <p>"Somehow," she mused, "somehow I don't care much about it, + not unless—unless—oh, I can't think of nothin' in + th' world but him! An' he says he's goin' to go away, never to + return no more!... Other folks has gone away, afore, but it + didn't seem to hurt my heart like this. I wonder what is ailin' + me."</p> + + <p>Her thought turned back to that half-bitter, half-delightful + moment when he had tried to kiss her at the bridge. "Why, even + then," she mused, "thar were somethin' seemed to draw me to him + in spite o' myself. Never felt anythin' like it afore. It + war—just as if I war asleep, all over, an' never wanted + to wake up! I wonder if I wish he warn't comin' back, + to-night—not half so much, I reckon, as I wish he warn't + never goin' away!"</p> + + <p>She left her resting place upon the stump, and, torn by + varying emotions, found a place upon the trail where she could + look off to his camp. She was standing there, leaning + listlessly against a tree, when the sound of someone coming + made her turn her head. She saw Joe Lorey.</p> + + <p>"Madge," said he, approaching, "I wants a word with + you,"</p> + + <p>She did not wish to talk with him. Her mind was far too busy + with its thoughts of Layson, its dismay at the prospect of his + departure. "No time, Joe; it's too late," said she. She started + to go by him toward her little bridge.</p> + + <p>But he was not inclined to be put off. The mountaineer's + slow mind had been at work with his great problem and he had + quite determined that he would take some action, definite and + unmistakable, without delay. He had leaned his ever-present + rifle up against a stump, had laid the old game-sack, still + burdened with the stolen dynamite, upon the ground, close to + it, and was prepared to talk the matter out, to one end or the + other. He loved her with the fierce love of the primitive man; + his rising wrath against the circumstances amidst which he + seemed to be so powerless had made him sullen and suspicious; + mountain life, continual defiance of the law, unceasing + watchfulness for "revenuers," does not teach a man to be + smooth-mannered, half-way in his methods. He made a move as if + to catch her arm; she darted by him, running straight toward + the old game-sack.</p> + + <p>That burden in the game-sack had been a constant horror to + him ever since he had first stolen it down at the railroad + workings. The mighty evidence of the power of the explosive + which had been shown to him when it had torn and mangled its + poor victim there, had filled him with a terror of it, although + it had also filled him with determination to make use of that + great power if necessary. But now, as he saw her running, + light-footed, lovely, toward the bag which held it, running in + exactly the right way to stumble on it if a mis-step chanced, + his heart sprang to his throat. What if the dire explosive he + had planned to use upon his enemies should prove to be the + death of the one being whom he loved? He sprang toward her with + the mighty impulse of desperate muscles spurred by a + panic-stricken mind and caught her, roughly, just before her + foot would have touched and spurned the game-sack.</p> + + <p>"Stop!" he cried, in desperation.</p> + + <p>She was amazed that he should take so great a liberty. She + stopped, perforce, but, after she had stopped, she stood there + trembling with hot anger. "Joe Lorey," she exclaimed, "you + dare!"</p> + + <p>Now he was all humility as he let his hand fall from her + arm. "It was for your sake, Madge," said he. "A stumble on that + sack—it mout have sent us both to Kingdom Come!"</p> + + <p>She looked at him incredulously, then down at the sack. + "That old game-sack? Why, Joe, you're plumb distracted!"</p> + + <p>"I'm in my senses, yet, I tell you," he persisted. "T'other + day I went down where they're blastin' for th' railroad. I see + 'em usin' dynamighty, down thar, an' I watched my chance an', + when it come, I slipped one o' th' bombs into that game-sack. + Ef you'd chanced to kick it—"</p> + + <p>She was impressed. "Dynamighty bombs? Dellaw! What's + dynamighty bombs?"</p> + + <p>"It's a giant powder, a million times stronger nor mine." He + reached into the sack and, with cautious fingers, took out the + cartridge and the fuse, exhibiting them to her. "See here. I + seed 'em take a bomb no bigger nor this one, an' light a fuse + like this, an' when it caught it ennymost shook down a + mounting! I seed a poor chap what war careless with one, an' + when they picked him up, why—"</p> + + <p>"Don't, Joe!" said the girl, looking at the cartridge with + the light of horror shining in her eyes. "What you doin' with + such devil's stuff?"</p> + + <p>"I got it for th' revenuers," he said frankly. The + mountaineers of the old Cumberland, to this day, make no secret + of their deadly hatred for the agents of the government excise. + "They're snoopin' 'round th' mountings, an' if they find my + still I plan to blow it into nothin', an' them with it."</p> + + <p>She recoiled from him. "No, no, Joe; you'd better gin th' + still up, nor do such work as that!"</p> + + <p>"I'll never gin it up!" said he, with a set face. "It's + mine; it war my father's long before me. There's only one thing + could ever make me gin it up."</p> + + <p>"What's that?" The girl was still spellbound by the + fascination of the dynamite which she had come so near to + treading on. Her eyes were fixed upon the cartridge in his hand + with horror, wonder.</p> + + <p>He stepped closer to her. "I mout gin it up for you!"</p> + + <p>"For me?"</p> + + <p>"You know I've loved ye sence ye were that high," said he, + and measured with his hand a very little way up the side of the + old stump. "Many a time I've listened hyar to your evenin' + hymn, an' thought I'd rather hear you singin' in my home than + hear th' angels singin' in th' courts o' Heaven. Say th' word, + Madge—say you'll be my little wife!"</p> + + <p>The girl was woe fully affected. Her eyes filled and her + bosom heaved with feeling. It cut her to the soul to have to + hurt this playmate of her babyhood, defender of her youth, + companion of her budding womanhood; their lives had been + linked, too, by the great tragedy which, years ago, had + orphaned both of them. But, of late, she had felt sure that she + could never marry him. She would not admit, even to herself, + just why this was; but it was so. "No, no, Joe; it can never + be," she said.</p> + + <p>He knew! "And why?" said he, his face blackening with bitter + feeling, his brows contracting fiercely. "Because that furriner + from the blue grass has come atween us!"</p> + + <p>Madge, surprised that he should guess the secret which she + had scarcely admitted, even to herself, was, for a second, + frightened by his keenness. Had she shown her feelings with + such freedom? But she quickly regained self-control and + answered with a clever counterfeit of lightness. "Him? Oh, sho! + He'd never think o' me that way!"</p> + + <p>"Mebbe so," said Joe, "but I know you think more o' th' + books he teaches you from than o' my company. From th' thickets + borderin' th' clearin' where you've studied, I've watched you + settin' thar with him, wen I'd give th' world to be thar in his + place. Why, I'd ennymost gin up my life for one kiss, Madge!" + He looked at her with pitiful love and longing in his eyes; but + this soon changed to a sort of mad determination. "I'll have + it, too!" he cried, advancing toward her.</p> + + <p>She was amazed, not in the least dismayed. Indeed the + episode took from the moment some of its emotional strain. That + he should try to do this utterly unwarrantable thing took a + portion of the weight of guilty feeling from her heart. It had + been pressing heavily there. "You shan't!" she cried. "Careful, + Joe Lorey!"</p> + + <p>She eluded him with ease and ran across her little bridge. + He paused, a second, in astonishment, and, as he paused, she + grasped the rope and pulled the little draw up after her.</p> + + <p>"Look out, Joe; it air a hundred feet, straight down!" she + cried, as she saw that the baffled mountaineer was trembling on + the chasm's edge, as if preparing for a spring. "Good night, + Joe. Take my advice—gin up th' still, an' all thought of + makin' a wife of a girl as ain't willin'."</p> + + <p>Half laughing and half crying she ran up the path which + wound about among the thickets on the rocky little island where + her rough cabin stood, secure, secluded.</p> + + <p>The mountaineer stood, baffled, on the brink of the ravine. + Much loneliness among the mountains, where there was no voice + but his own to listen to, had given him the habit of talking to + himself in moments of excitement.</p> + + <p>"Gone! Gone!" he said. "Gone laughin' at me!" He clenched + his fists. "And it is him as has come atween us!" He turned + slowly from the place, picked up his rifle, slung the + game-sack, saggin with the weight of the dynamite, across his + shoulder by its strap, and started from the place.</p> + + <p>He had gone but a short distance, though, before he stopped, + considering. Murder was in Joe Lorey's heart.</p> + + <p>"She said he war comin' back," he sullenly reflected. "I'll + ... lay for him, right hyar."</p> + + <p>He looked cautiously about. His quick ear caught the sound + of footsteps coming up the trail.</p> + + <p>"Somebody's stirrin', now," he said. "Oh, if it's only + him!"</p> + + <p>He slipped behind a rock to wait in ambush.</p> + + <p>But it was not his enemy who came, now, along the trail. + Horace Holton, held to the mountains by his mysterious + business, had left the others of the party to go home alone, as + they had come, and returned to the neighborhood which housed + the girl who owned the land he coveted.</p> + + <p>Joe, suspicious of him, as the mountaineer who makes his + living as a moonshiner, is, of course, of every stranger who + appears within his mountains, stepped forward, suddenly, his + rifle in his hand and ready to be used. He had no idea that the + man had been a member of the party from the bluegrass.</p> + + <p>"Halt, you!" he cried.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XI</h2><br> + + + <p>Holton, full of scheming, was returning up the trail after + having said good-bye to Barbara, Miss Alathea and the Colonel + at the railway in the valley, climbing steadily and skillfully, + without much thought of his surroundings. The locality, + familiar to him years before (although he had at great pains + indicated to everyone but Barbara that it was wholly strange to + him) showed but superficial change to his searching, + reminiscent eyes. His feet had quickly fallen into the almost + automatic climbing-stride of the born mountaineer, and his + thoughts had gradually absorbed themselves in memories of the + past. Joe Lorey's sudden command to halt was somewhat + startling, therefore, even to his iron nerves. Instinctively + and instantly he heeded the gruff order.</p> + + <p>Dusk was falling and he could not very clearly see the + moonshiner, at first, as he stepped from behind the shelter of + his rock. He moved slowly on, a step or two, hands half raised + to show that they did not hold weapons, recovering quickly from + the little shock of the surprise, planning an explanation to + whatever mountaineer had thought his coming up the trail at + that hour a suspicious circumstance. That he was one of + Layson's friends from the low-country would, he thought, be + proof enough that he was not an enemy of mountain-folk. Layson, + he knew, was generally regarded with good will by the shy + dwellers in this wilderness.</p> + + <p>But when he clearly saw Joe Lorey's face a thrill shot + through him far more lasting than the little tremor born, at + first, of the command to halt.</p> + + <p>He had not seen the youth before. Joe, half jealous, half + contemptuous, of Layson's fine friends from the bluegrass, had + kept out of their sight, although he had watched them furtively + from covert almost constantly; and, it chanced, had not been so + much as mentioned by either Frank or Madge while the party from + the bluegrass lingered at the camp, save when Madge told the + tragic story of her childhood while Holton stood aloof, for + reasons of his own, hearing but imperfectly.</p> + + <p>Now the unexpected sight of the young man, for some reasons, + made the old one gasp in horror. There was that about the face, + the attitude, the very way the lithe moonshiner held his gun, + which made him seem, to the astonished man whom he had halted, + like a grim vision from the past. "My God!" he thought. "Can + the dead have come to life?"</p> + + <p>For an instant he went weak. His blood chilled and the quick + beating of his heart changed the deep breathing of his recent + swinging stride into short, sharp gasps.</p> + + <p>It was only for an instant, though. His life had not been + one to teach him to falter long in the face of an emergency. + Quickly he regained poise and reasoned calmly.</p> + + <p>"No," he thought, "it's Joe, Ben Lorey's son. Th' father's + layin' where he has been, all these years. I'm skeery as a + girl."</p> + + <p>Joe advanced upon him truculently. "Say," he demanded, + "what's yer name an' what ye want here?" His ever ready rifle + nested in the crook of his left arm, his brow was threatening, + his mouth was firmly set an instant after he had spoken.</p> + + <p>Holton, recovering himself quickly, spoke calmly, + propitiatingly. "My name's Holton. I want to see th' gal as + lives up yander. Want to buy her land of her."</p> + + <p>Lorey, satisfied by this explanation that the stranger was + not a government agent, as he had, at first suspected, relaxed + his tense rigidity of muscles. From fear of revenuers his + disturbed mind returned quickly to the bitterness of his + resentment of what he thought Madge Brierly's infatuation for + the young lowlander.</p> + + <p>"It's too late," he said. "Thar's only one man as she'd let + down that bridge for, now—th' man I thought ye might + be—Frank Layson."</p> + + <p>Holton, quick to see the possibility of gaining an + advantage, realizing from the young man's tone that he was + certainly no friend of Layson's, guessing, with quick cunning, + at what the situation was, decided that the thing for him to do + was to reveal the fact that, in his heart, he, also, hated + Layson.</p> + + <p>"So ye took me for a revenuer or Frank Layson, eh?" said he. + "I know what th' mountings think o' revenuers, an' I reckon, + from yer handlin' o' that rifle, that you're no friend o' + Layson's."</p> + + <p>Joe, full of the fierce bitterness of his resentment, was + ready to confide in anyone his hatred of the "furriner" who had + come up and won the girl he loved. He let the barrel of his + rifle slip between his fingers till its stock was resting on + the ground.</p> + + <p>"I hates him as I hates but one man in th' world!" he said, + with bitter emphasis.</p> + + <p>"Who's that?" said Holton, thoughtlessly, although, an + instant afterward, he was sorry that he had pursued the + subject.</p> + + <p>"Lem Lindsay," Lorey answered; "him as killed my father. + Frank Layson's come between me an' Madge Brierly, an' he's got + to cl'ar my tracks!" His voice thrilled with the intensity of + his emotion, and, suddenly, he caught his rifle up, again, into + his crooked elbow, where it rested ready for quick usage. "If + you plans to warn him—" he began.</p> + + <p>"Warn him!" said the older man, with a bitterness, real or + counterfeited, whichever it might be, as fierce as that which + rang in the young moonshiner's own voice, "I hate him as much + as you. I'd rather warn you."</p> + + <p>"Warn me o' what?" Lorey had begun to lose suspicion of the + stranger. If, really, he hated Layson, he might make of him a + useful ally.</p> + + <p>"Your name's Lorey," Holton answered, with his keen eyes + fixed intently on those of the man who stood there, tensely + listening to him, "an' yo' keep a still."</p> + + <p>Now Lorey again caught his rifle quickly in both hands; his + face showed new apprehension, and a terrible determination, + desperate and dreadful. If this stranger knew about the still, + was it not certain that he was a government spy and therefore + worthy of quick death?</p> + + <p>"Keerful!" he said menacingly. "Hyar in th' mountings that + word's worth your life!" The youth, with frowning brow and + glittering, wolfish eyes, stood facing Holton like an animal at + bay, with what amounted to a threat of murder on his lips.</p> + + <p>"I'm speakin' it for your own good," the old man answered, + throwing into his voice as much of frankness as he could + command. "I tell you that th' revemooers have got word about + your still."</p> + + <p>"Then somebody's spied an' told 'em."</p> + + <p>Here was Holton's chance. The vicious scheme came to him in + a flash. Layson he hated fiercely; this youth he hated + fiercely. What plan could be better than to set the one to hunt + the other? If Lorey should kill Layson it would remove Layson + from his path and make his way clear to the purchase of Madge + Brierly's coal-lands at a small fraction of their value. And, + having killed him, Lorey would, of course, be forced to flee + the country, for the hue and cry would be far-reaching. Such a + killing never would be passed over as an ordinary mountain + murder generally is by the authorities. Thus, at once, he might + be rid of the young bluegrass gentleman he hated and the young + mountaineer he feared.</p> + + <p>"You're right," said he. "Somebody's spied an' told 'em. + Somebody as stumbled on yore still while he was huntin'."</p> + + <p>Lorey looked at him, wide-eyed, infuriated. Instantly he + quite believed what Holton said. It dove-tailed with his own + grim hate of Layson that Layson should hate him and try to work + his ruin by giving information to the revenuers. "Somebody + huntin'!" he exclaimed. "Frank Layson! Say it, say it!"</p> + + <p>"Promise you'll never speak my name?" said Holton. He had no + wish to be mixed up in the tragic matter, and he knew, + instinctively, that if Joe Lorey gave his word, moonshiner and + lawbreaker as he was, it would be kept to the grim end.</p> + + <p>"I promise it, if it air th' truth you're tellin' me," said + Lorey.</p> + + <p>"It's true, then," Holton answered. "You can see for your + own self that I'm a stranger hyar. I couldn't a' knowed o' th' + still exceptin' through Frank Layson."</p> + + <p>The simple, specious argument to Lorey was convincing. "It + air true," he admitted slowly. "Nobody else would a' gin ye th' + word." The angry youth paused in black, murderous thought. "He + air a-comin' hyar, to-night," he went on presently. "I heered + him tell Madge Brierly that he war comin' back, this evenin'. + You better—maybe you had better git along." He had no + wish for witnesses to what he planned, now, to accomplish, when + Layson should come back to Madge, as he had promised, with the + engineer's report upon her coal lands.</p> + + <p>Holton nodded, grimly satisfied that he had planted a + suspicion which might flower into his own revenge. That blow + which Layson had delivered on his face, in the old days, had + left a scar upon his soul, and now that the young man seemed + likely to add to this unforgotten injury the new one of + retiring from the field as suitor for his daughter, and, + further, interfering with his plans to rob Madge Brierly of her + coal lands, his hatred of him had become intense, insatiable. + What better fortune could he wish than to pit this mountain + youth, whom, also, for a reason carried over from dark days in + his past life, he hated, against the young man from the + bluegrass whom he hated no less bitterly?</p> + + <p>"Go by <i>that</i> path, thar," said Lorey, suddenly, and + pointing, as Holton started to return by the direct route he + had followed as he came. "It air round-about, but it'll lead + you to th' valley. I'll run no risk o' your warnin' him."</p> + + <p>"Don't you be skeered," said Holton. "I'll keep mum, no + matter what happens."</p> + + <p>With a grim smile he started down the path which the + mountaineer had pointed out.</p> + + <p>"Laid his whip acrost my face!" he muttered as he went. + "Trifled with my gal! Him an' Ben Lorey's son—let 'em + fight it out! I'm so much th' better off."</p> + + <p>And Lorey, slipping back into the shadow of a rock, after he + had made quite certain that the stranger was following his + directions, was reflecting, bitterly: "He's come atween me an' + th' gal I love! He's put th' revenoo hounds upon my track! Oh, + if he had a dozen lives, I'd have 'em all!"</p> + + <p>For ten alert and watchful minutes, which seemed to stretch + to hours, he crouched there, waiting, waiting, waiting, for the + coming of the man he hated. During five of these he listened to + the sounds of Holton's downward progress, brought to his keen + ear on the soft breezes of the young night. There came the + crackling of a twig, the thud, thud, thud of a dislodged stone + bounding down the slope, the rustle of leaves as the old man + shuffled through a pocket of them gathered in the lea of some + protruding rock by vagrant winds. Then all was still. He did + not guess that Holton had been anxious that these sounds should + reach him; that he had stumbled down the trail with awkward + feet with no thought in his mind but to be certain that the + sounds should reach him. Such was the case, however, and, after + he felt sure that the crouching mountaineer above must be + convinced that he had gone on to the valley, the old man + turned, catlike, re-ascended with a skill as great as Lorey's + own, and, with not a sound to warn the mountaineer that he had + retraced any of his steps, took cautious place behind a rock + upon the very edge of the open space where, when Layson came, + he felt quite sure a tragedy would be enacted.</p> + + <p>Then Layson came blithely up the trail. He had gone through + the engineer's report with care. The coal prospects included + the girl's land. He was full of rare elation at thought of the + good luck which had descended on the little mountain-maid, full + of pleasant plans for a bright future from none of which she + was omitted.</p> + + <p>His dreams were rudely interrupted as Joe Lorey stepped + ominously from behind the rock where he had waited for him.</p> + + <p>"Hold up your hands!" the mountaineer commanded, with his + rifle levelled at the advancing youth.</p> + + <p>"Joe Lorey!" exclaimed Layson.</p> + + <p>"You know what air between us. Your time air come. If you + want to pray, do it quick, for my finger air itchin' to pull + th' trigger."</p> + + <p>Layson's blood and breeding told, in this emergency. He did + not flinch a whit. "I'm ready," he said calmly. "I'm not afraid + to die, though it's hard to meet death at the hands of a + coward."</p> + + <p>"Coward!" said the mountaineer, amazed. "You call me + that?"</p> + + <p>"The man who shoots another in cold blood, giving him no + chance for his life, deserves no better name."</p> + + <p>This appealed to Lorey. So had his father died—at the + hands of one who killed him in cold blood, giving him no chance + for his life. "You shan't die callin' me that!" he cried. He + leaned his rifle against a nearby rock, threw his knife upon + the ground beside it, pulled off his coat, and thus, unarmed, + advanced upon his enemy. "We're ekal now," he said with grim + intensity, and pointed to the chasm through which ran the + stream which made Madge Brierly's refuge an island. "That gully + air a hundred feet straight down," he said, "an' its bottom air + kivered with rocks. When we're through, your body or mine'll + lay there. Air you ready?"</p> + + <p>Holton, tense with excitement, was watching every move of + the two men from his hidden vantage point. Upon his face was + the expression of an animal of prey.</p> + + <p>"Ready!" said Frank, quietly.</p> + + <p>It was a terrific struggle which ensued. The trained muscles + of the lowland athlete were matched against the lithe thews of + the mountaineer so evenly that, for a time, there was doubt of + what the outcome might be. Holton, watching, watching, thrilled + with every second of it. Little he cared which man won; the + best thing which possibly could happen, for his own good, he + reflected, would be that both should crash down to the bottom + of the gully locked in one of their bear-hugs, to fall together + on the jagged rocks below. The fierce breathing of the + contestants, the shuffle of their struggling feet upon the + ground, the occasional involuntary groan from one man or the + other as his adversary crushed him in embrace so painful that + an exclamation could not be suppressed, were all music to the + ears of the old man behind the rock. Both youths were perils to + him. Let them kill each other. He would be the gainer, whatever + the outcome of the battle.</p> + + <p>Suddenly Frank's foot slipped on a rolling pebble. Instantly + Lorey had taken advantage of the mishap, and, with a quick + wrench, thrown him crashing to the earth. He lay there, + scarcely breathing, utterly unconscious.</p> + + <p>The mountaineer bent over him, ready to meet the first sign + of revival with renewed attack, his bloodshot eyes strained on + the face of the young man upon the ground. Then, anxious to be + satisfied that his prostrate enemy was not feigning, he knelt + by him and peered into his face, placed his hand upon his chest + above his heart, felt his pulse with awkward fingers. He + wondered, now, if he had not killed him, outright, for Frank's + head had struck the ground with a terrific impact. But Layson's + nostrils soon began to dilate and contract with a spasmodic + breathing. He still lived.</p> + + <p>Rendered careless by the excitement of the moment, Joe again + yielded to the habit engendered by much solitude and spoke his + thoughts aloud.</p> + + <p>"It'll be long afore he'll stir," he muttered. "I'll throw + him down into th' gully."</p> + + <p>He rose, and, going to the side of the ravine, peered over + with a fearful curiosity at the brawling torrent, cut into + foam-ribbons by a horde of knife-edged rocks. Then he went to + Layson and stretched out his hand to grasp his shoulder.</p> + + <p>Occurred a psychological phenomenon. He found his courage + fail at thought of laying hands upon the man as he was + stretched there helpless.</p> + + <p>"I—I can't touch him!" he exclaimed. "It'd + be—why, it'd be like handlin' th' dead!"</p> + + <p>He drew back, nonplussed, ashamed of his own timidity, yet + unable to overcome it. He had felled the man and meant to kill + him, yet, now, he could not bring himself to lay a hand upon + him.</p> + + <p>The thought then flashed into his mind of the dreadful + contents of his old game-sack.</p> + + <p>"Th' bomb," he said. "Th' dynamighty bomb that I was savin' + for th' revenuers! Let that finish out th' man as set 'em onto + me!"</p> + + <p>He took the bomb from the old sack with trembling fingers, + laid it by Frank's side and, with a match which flickered + because the hands which held it were unsteady as a palsied + man's, set fire to the fuse. Then he drew off to one side.</p> + + <p>"Now, burn!" he said, with set teeth and lowering brow. + "Burn! Burn!"</p> + + <p>For a second he stood there, watching the sparking sputter + of the powder as it slowly ate its way along the little paper + tube. Then, suddenly, a dreadful thought occurred to him. The + girl! What if Madge Brierly should come to meet the lowlander + before the bomb exploded, should see him lying there, should + hurry to him, frightened, and get there just in time + to—</p> + + <p>He shuddered. He must protect the girl he loved! She could + reach the side of the endangered man only by means of the small + bridge. But one rope held it in position above the deep, + precipitous-sided gully.</p> + + <p>He raised his rifle to his shoulder. It was a hard shot, one + which most men would have deemed impossible, but there was a + star in line. He fired. The bridge crashed down, a ruin, the + severed rope now dangling limply, freed of the burden it had + held for many years.</p> + + <p>"She's safe!" said he.</p> + + <p>For another instant he stood studying the spluttering fuse. + From what he had seen at the railroad workings he knew it was + destined to burn long enough so that many workmen could get out + of danger before the spark reached the strong explosive in the + cartridge. He need not hurry.</p> + + <p>"In three minutes it'll all be ended," he reflected. "He's + as helpless as a baby; he can't strike back, now; it's no more + nor he deserves. I'm goin'."</p> + + <p>He straightened up and would have hurried off, had not, at + just that moment, the sweet voice of the girl he loved rung + through the brooding, fragrant evening air, in song.</p> + + <p>It brought him to himself, it filled him with a horrified + realization of the foulness of the deed which he was + contemplating.</p> + + <p>"No—no!" said he. "Why, I'd be the coward that he + called me!"</p> + + <p>He hurried to the fuse and, with trembling eagerness, + stamped out the spark which, now, was creeping close indeed to + that point where it would have blossomed into the terrifying + flower of death.</p> + + <p>"I'll fight him ag'in," he said; and then, addressing the + now extinguished fuse, the harmless cartridge of explosive: + "You lie thar and prove ter him I ain't no coward!"</p> + + <p>He hurried down the trail.</p> + + <p>Holton, vastly disappointed, crept out from his hiding + place. "The fool!" he muttered. "Oh, the fool! That thar little + spark would a' put me even an' made me safe fer life! An' it + war lighted—it war lighted!"</p> + + <p>His regret was keen. He raged there like a madman robbed of + his intended prey. Then, suddenly:</p> + + <p>"But—who'll believe him when he says he put it out? + I'll—do it!"</p> + + <p>He hastily took out a match, struck it, relighted the dead + fuse.</p> + + <p>"It'll be his work, not mine!" he thought, exultantly, as he + paused to see that the fuse would surely burn.</p> + + <p>As he turned to hasten from the spot he caught a glimpse of + something white across the gully at the thresh-hold of the + girl's cabin. For a second this was terrifying, but he quickly + regained poise. The bridge was gone. She could not reach the + side of the endangered man to save him, she could not reach the + mainland to pursue him and discover his identity. He fled.</p> + + <p>The girl was worried by the long delay in Layson's coming. + For fully half an hour she had been listening for his cheery + hail—that hail which had, of late, come to mean so much + to her—as she worked about her household tasks. The last + words he had said to her had hinted at such unimagined + possibilities of riches, of education, of delirious delights to + come, that her impatience was but natural; and, besides this, + Joe's words had worried her. She did not think the mountaineer + would ever really let his jealousy lead him to a foul attack + upon his rival, but his words had worried her. She stood upon + her doorstep, hand above her eyes, and peered across the gorge + toward where the trail debouched into the little clearing.</p> + + <p>Nothing was in sight there, and her gaze wandered along the + little rocky field, in aimless scrutiny. Finally it chanced + upon the prostrate form of the young man.</p> + + <p>"What's that lyin' thar?" she thought, intensely startled. + And then, after another moment's peering: "Why, it's Mr. + Frank!"</p> + + <p>She was amazed and frightened. Then her eye caught the + little sputtering of sparks along the fuse. It further startled + her.</p> + + <p>"It's Mr. Frank and somethin's burnin' close beside + him!"</p> + + <p>Suspicion flashed into her mind like lightning, followed, + almost instantly, by firm conviction.</p> + + <p>"It's a fuse," she cried, "an' thar by him is th' bomb! It's + Joe Lorey's work! Oh, oh—"</p> + + <p>She sprang down the rough path toward the place where, ever + since she could remember, the little bridge had swung. Now, + though, it was gone.</p> + + <p>"The bridge!" she cried. "The bridge! It's gone! I can't + cross! I've got to see him die!"</p> + + <p>Her frantic eyes caught sight of the frayed rope, dangling + from the firm supports which had so long held up the bridge by + means of it. Instantly her quick mind saw the only chance there + was to save the man whom, now, she knew she loved. She sprang + for the rope and caught it, gave herself a mighty push with + both her agile feet, and, hanging above certain death if hold + should fail or rope break, swung across the chasm and found + foothold on the mainland.</p> + + <p>In another second she was at the side of the unconscious + man. Another and she had the cartridge, sputtering fuse and + all, in her right hand, another and the deadly thing was + hurtling to the bottom of the deep ravine, whence an almost + immediately ensuing crashing boom told her that she had not + arrived a moment sooner than had been essential to the + salvation of the man she loved.</p> + + <p>She knelt by Frank, pulled his head up to her knee, chafed + at his insensate hands, and called to him wildly, fearing that + he was dead.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XII</h2><br> + + + <p>Joe Lorey was unhappy in his mountains. After the visiting + party had gone down from Layson's camp, and, in course of time, + Layson himself had followed them because of the approach of the + great race which was to make or mar his fortunes, the man + breathed easier, although their coming and the subsequent + events had made, he knew, impressions on his life which never + could be wiped away. He hated Layson none the less because he + had departed. He argued that he had not gone until he viciously + had stolen that thing which he, Lorey, valued most: the love of + beautiful Madge Brierly. He brooded constantly upon this, + neglecting his small mountain farm, spending almost all his + time at his illegal trade of brewing untaxed whisky in his + hidden still, despite the girl's continual urgings to give up + the perilous occupation before it was too late. He had told her + that he would, if she would marry him; now that she would not, + he told her surlily that he would continue to defy the law even + if he knew that every "revenuer" in the state was on his trail. + He was conscious that there was real danger; he believed that + Layson knew about the still and that the bitter enmity + resulting from the fight which had so nearly proved his death + might prompt him to betrayal of the secret; but with the + stubbornness of the mountaineer he clung doggedly to his + illegal apparatus in the mountain-cave, kept doggedly at the + illegal work he did with it. It was characteristic of the man, + his forbears and his breed in general, that, now, when he knew + that deadly danger well might threaten, he sent more moonshine + whisky from the still than ever had gone from it in like length + of time, either in his father's day or his.</p> + + <p>That his actual and only dangerous enemy was Holton, he did + not, for an instant, guess. He knew of not the slightest reason + why this stranger should include him in the hatred he had sworn + he felt for Layson—that hatred which, he had assured him, + was as bitter as his own. He would have been as much astonished + as dismayed had he known that Holton's almost instant action, + upon arriving at the county-seat, had been to make a visit to + the local chief of the Revenue-Service—cautiously, at + night, for to be known as an informer might have cost his life + at other hands than Lorey's, would have made the mountain for + far miles blaze vividly with wrath against him.</p> + + <p>So, defiant of the man he thought to be his foe, unconscious + of the hatred of the man who really was, Lorey was working in + his still when a small boy, sent up from a cabin far below, + dashed, breathless, to him with the news that revenue-men were + actually upon their way in his direction. He had scarcely time + to put his fire out, hide the lighter portions of his apparatus + and flee to a safe hiding-place, nearby, before, clambering + with lithe skill and caution almost equal to his own along the + rocky pathways of the mountain-side, armed like soldiers + scouting in a hostile country, cool-eyed as Indians, hard-faced + as executioners, they actually appeared.</p> + + <p>For a time, as Lorey watched their progress from his covert, + he held his rifle levelled, held his finger on its trigger, + determined to kill them in their tracks; and it was no thrill + of mercy for the men or fear of consequences to himself which + saved their lives. It was rather that he did not wish further + to risk his liberty until he had had opportunity to glance + along the gleaming barrel of his rifle as it was pointed at + Frank Layson's heart.</p> + + <p>After the men had gone he went back to his still to view the + ruins they had left behind them. His wrath was terrible. Madge, + who had, of course, learned what had happened almost instantly, + for the still was scarcely out of hearing of her cabin, tried + vainly to console, to calm him. He turned on her with a rage of + which, in all her life among hot-tempered mountaineers, she had + never seen the equal, and chokingly swore vengeance on the man + who had given the information which had resulted in the + raid.</p> + + <p>"They come straight to th' still," he told her, "never + falterin', never wonderin' if, maybe, they was on th' right + path. Ev'ry inch o' th' hull way had been mapped out for 'em, + an' they didn't make a mis-step from th' valley to th' very + entrance o' th' cave. I'll git th' chap that planned their + course out for 'em thataway! I'll git 'im, Madge! I'll git 'im, + sure!"</p> + + <p>Her heart sank in her breast like lead. She knew perfectly + whom Lorey meant. She knew as perfectly that Layson never had + informed upon the moonshiner, but she also knew that Heaven + itself could not, then, convince the man of that.</p> + + <p>"Who do you mean you'll git, Joe?" she faltered, hoping + against hope that she was wrong in her suspicions.</p> + + <p>"You know well enough," he answered. "Who would I mean but + that damn' furriner, Frank Layson? He warn't satisfied with + comin' here an' stealin' you away from me! He had to put th' + revenuers on th' track o' th' old still that was my dad's afore + me, an' has been th' one thing, siden you, I've ever keered fer + in my life."</p> + + <p>"You're wrong, Joe," she insisted. "You're shore wrong. + Frank Layson'd never do a coward's trick like that!"</p> + + <p>"He done it!" Lorey answered doggedly. "He done it, an' as + there is a God in Heaven he air goin' to pay th' price fer + doin' it!"</p> + + <p>With that he stalked off down the trail, his rifle held as + ever in the crook of his elbow, his brows as black as human + brows could be.</p> + + <p>For a time she sat there on a rock, gazing after him, + half-stupefied, with eyes wide, terror-stricken. What could a + mere girl do to avert the dreadful tragedy impending? Tireless + as he was, she knew that he could keep upon the trail for + twenty-four hours without a pause, and that such travelling, + with the lifts which he would get from mountain teamsters, + would take him to the home of the man whose life he had + determined to snuff out at any hazard. Beside herself with + fright for Frank, she sped back to her cabin, took what food + was ready-cooked and could be bundled up to carry on the + journey, put on her heaviest shoes and started for the door. + But, suddenly, the thought flashed through her mind that, even + as Joe Lorey was bound down the trails to meet his rival, so + would she be bound down them to meet her own. She could not + bear the thought of facing Barbara Holton, clad, as she was + now, in rough, half-shapeless, mountain-homespun. She made + another bundle, larger than the one which held her food, by + many times, and, when she finally set off, this bundle held the + finery which she had so laboriously prepared in the mad hope of + rivaling the work of the bluegrass belle's accomplished city + dressmakers.</p> + + <p>Down in the bluegrass home of the ancient Layson family all + was excitement in anticipation of the race which was to mean so + much to the fortunes of the young master of the fine old + mansion which, with pillared porticos and mighty chimneys, + dominated the whole section. Layson's heart was filled with + confidence whenever he went to the stables to view the really + startling beauty of the lovely animal on which his hope was + pinned; it sunk into despair, when, seated in his study in the + house, away from her, he counted up the cost of all which he + would lose if she did not run first in the great race.</p> + + <p>None but the Colonel, Miss Alathea and himself had an idea + of the real magnitude of the stakes dependant on Queen Bess. + Upon the glossy shoulders of the lovely mare rested, indeed, a + great burden of responsibility. If she won she would not only + secure the large purse for the owner, but be salable for a + price which would enable him to take advantage, fully, of the + offer which the syndicate had made to develop his coal lands. + If she failed—well, the fortunes of the house of Layson + would be seriously shattered.</p> + + <p>No wonder, then, that Uncle Neb, in whom his master's + confidence was absolute, had strict injunctions closely to + guard the mare. The faithful negro watched her with a vigilance + which was scarcely less unremitting in the daytime than it was + at night when he slept upon the very straw which bedded + her.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea, intensely prejudiced against horse-racing and + the gambling which invariably goes with it, by the Colonel's + wasted life and her own ensuing loneliness, nevertheless prayed + night and day that Queen Bess would be victorious, for Frank + had finally refused, point-blank, to let her risk her fortune + in the scheme for the development of his coal-lands, and so, if + the mare lost and the eastern firm refused to purchase her at + the large price which would enable him to join the syndicate, + his great chance would be gone. Perhaps not once in the world's + history had any maiden-lady, constitutionally opposed to + betting and the race-track, given as much thought to an + impending contest between horses on which great sums were + certain to be won and lost, as Miss Alathea did, these + days.</p> + + <p>And if Miss Alathea was excited, what should be said about + the gallant Colonel? Every day he visited the Layson place; + every day he scrutinized the mare with wise and anxious eyes; + every day he from his soul assured her owner and her owner's + aunt that it was quite impossible that she should lose; every + day he cautioned Neb, her guardian, to let no human being, whom + he did not know and whom he and his master had not every cause + to trust implicitly, approach the splendid beast. Wise in the + ways of race-tracks and the unscrupulous men who have, + unfortunately, thrown the sport of kings into sad disrepute, he + feared some treachery continually.</p> + + <p>Neb scarcely left the stable-yard, by day, unless the mare + went with him, by night he slept so that he could, by reaching + out a wrinkled, ebon hand, actually touch her glossy hide. He + fed her himself with oats and hay which he examined with the + utmost care before they found her manger or her rack; he + watered her himself with water from a well within the stable + and guarded by locked doors, drawn in a pail which, invariably, + he rinsed with boiling water before he filled it up for her. No + drugs should reach that mare if <i>he</i> could help it! None + but himself or his "Marse Frank" was under any circumstances + permitted to get on her back. If watchfulness could possibly + preserve the mare unharmed and in fine shape until the day of + the great race, Neb plainly meant to see that this was done. + Even the amateur brass-band and glee-club into which he had + organized the stable-boys and other negro lads about the place, + and of which he acted as drum-major—the proudest moment + of his life were when he donned the moth-eaten old shako which + was his towering badge of leadership—must practice + nowhere save within the stable-yard, where he could train them + and, at the same time, keep watchful eyes upon Queen Bess' + quarters.</p> + + <p>The negroes, young and old, about the place, indeed, were + wild with their enthusiasm for the mare. The day before the + race a delegation of them, full of eagerness, met Neb as he + came out of the stable.</p> + + <p>"Say, Unc Neb," said one of them, "we-all's made a + pool."</p> + + <p>"Pool on de races?"</p> + + <p>"Uh-huh! An' we-all wants to know jes' what we ought to put + ouah money on."</p> + + <p>They well knew what he would say.</p> + + <p>"Queen Bess, fo' suah," he answered, to their vast delight. + "Queen Bess ebery time. She's fit to run fo' huh life."</p> + + <p>The boys accepted the suggestion with a shout, and he was + about to enter into one of the long dissertations on the strong + points of his equine darling, when he was informed that some + stranger was approaching. He peered down the road with his old + eyes, but could not recognize the visitor.</p> + + <p>"Who is it?" he asked one of the black lads.</p> + + <p>"Marse Holton."</p> + + <p>"Marse Holton!" he repeated dryly. "Run along, now, honiest. + Unc' Neb gwine be busy. I won't hab dat ar Marse Holton pryin' + round dat mare. Hoodoo her fo' suah." He sidled to the stable + door, and, careful to see that his bent body hid the operation + from the coming visitor, turned the key in the big lock. The + key he then slipped into his capacious trousers pocket.</p> + + <p>"Hello, Neb," said Holton, affably, as he came up.</p> + + <p>"Ebenin', suh." Neb added nothing to this greeting and went + nonchalantly to a distant bench to sit down on it + carelessly.</p> + + <p>"I say, Neb," said Holton, "I expect to do a little betting, + so I thought I'd jest drop over and take a look at Layson's + mare."</p> + + <p>Neb sat immovable upon his bench. At first, indeed, he did + not even speak, but, finally, he looked at Holton calmly, took + the key out of his pocket, tossed it in the air, caught it as + it came down, put it back into his pocket and dryly said: + "T'ink not, suh."</p> + + <p>Holton, paying no attention to him, had gone on to the + stable-door and tried it. Finding it to be fast locked, he + turned back toward the darkey. "The door's locked, Neb," he + said.</p> + + <p>"Knowed dat afore, suh," Neb replied.</p> + + <p>Holton was nettled by his nonchalance. "Open that door!" he + ordered.</p> + + <p>"Not widout Marse Holton's ohduhs, suh," Neb answered + calmly.</p> + + <p>"What do you mean?" demanded Holton, angrily.</p> + + <p>"Jus' what I say, suh."</p> + + <p>Holton made a slightly threatening movement toward him, but + Neb did not even wink.</p> + + <p>"Don't git riled, suh—bad fo' de livuh, suh."</p> + + <p>Holton, now, was very angry. "Look here," he said, advancing + on the aged negro angrily. "Do you dare insult a friend and + neighbor of Mr. Layson?"</p> + + <p>Neb slowly rose and answered with some dignity: "I dares + obey Marse Frank's plain ohduhs, suh. Dat mare represents full + twenty-fi' thousan' dolluhs to him" (Neb rolled the handsome + figures lovingly upon his tongue), "an' dere's thousan's + more'll be bet on huh to-morruh." He looked at Holton with but + thinly veiled contempt. "Plenty men 'u'd risk deir wuthless + lives to drug huh."</p> + + <p>"Oh, shucks!" said Holton, trying to control his temper + because of his great eagerness to get in to the mare. "She + would be safe with me; you know it."</p> + + <p>"I knows Marse Frank hab barred ebery window an' sealed + ebery doah but dis one, an' gib me ohduhs to let no one in + 'cept he is by. I stan's by dem ohduhs while dere's bref in my + ol' body."</p> + + <p>Holton was infuriated. "It's lucky for you I'm not your + master!"</p> + + <p>"Dat's what I t'ink, suh."</p> + + <p>"If you <i>was</i> my nigger, I'd teach you perliteness with + a black-snake whip! I'll see what Layson'll say to such sass as + you've gin me. Jest you wait till you hear from him."</p> + + <p>Neb was not impressed by the man's wrath. "Huhd from him + afoah, suh. Oh, I'll wait, I'll wait."</p> + + <p>He went up to the stable-door, unlocked it and stood in the + open portal. Holton would have followed him, but Neb began to + close the door.</p> + + <p>"You'll wait, too, suh," said the negro, grinning, "on de + outside, suh."</p> + + <p>He closed and locked the door on the inside.</p> + + <p>Holton was beside himself with wrath. "Damn him! Damn him!" + he exclaimed. "Damn him and damn his proud young puppy of a + master! I'll ruin him! I'll set my foot on him and smash him, + yet!"</p> + + <p>Baffled, he walked down the drive.</p> + + <p>"There's a way," he told himself. "It's bold and risky, but + nobody'll suspicion me. I've kept straight here in the + bluegrass. The mountains and all as ever knowed me thar are far + away!"</p> + + <p>But all who had known him in the mountains were not as far + away as he supposed. Even as he spoke a dusty, weary figure in + worn homespun, carrying a mammoth bundle, limping sadly upon + bruised and blistered feet, came through the shrubbery, + approaching the great stables from the far side of the big + house-lot. Holton looked at this wayfarer with amazement.</p> + + <p>"Madge Brierly!" he cried. "Gal, what are you a-doin' + here?"</p> + + <p>"Don't know's I've got any call to tell you," Madge replied, + almost as much astonished at the sight of him as he had been at + sight of her. Then she smiled roguishly at him. "Maybe you'll + find out, though."</p> + + <p>"I tell you this ain't no place for you," he admonished her. + "Lordy! They takes up folks that looks like you, for vagrants. + Take my advice, turn back to the mountings."</p> + + <p>She looked at him with that same smile, still + unimpressed.</p> + + <p>For no reason which he could have well explained the man was + almost panic-stricken in his keen anxiety to get the girl away + from the old Layson homestead and the possibility of meeting + those who dwelt therein.</p> + + <p>"Here, if you'll go," he added, and thrust his hand into his + pocket, "I'll give you money—money to help you on your + way."</p> + + <p>Still she smiled at him with that aggravating, meaning + smile; that smile which he could by no means fathom and of + which she scarcely knew the meaning. "No," she said, "I don't + want your money. You couldn't hire me to leave the bluegrass + till I've seen Frank Layson."</p> + + <p>Seeing that she was determined, unable to conjecture what + she had come down for, realizing, upon second thought, that it + was most improbable that she had any tale to tell of him, he + reluctantly gave way. "As you will, then," he said slowly. "But + let me warn you that you won't be welcome hyar. You'll learn + the difference between the mounting and the bluegrass folks. + You'd better think it over and turn back."</p> + + <p>"I'll not," said she.</p> + + <p>As he walked disgustedly away she watched him curiously. "I + wonder why he is so sot on makin' me go back?" she mused. + "Maybe he air right in sayin' that I won't be welcome; but I'll + do my duty, just th' same!"</p> + + <p>Neb came out from the stable. The girl saw him with delight. + "Dellaw!" she said. "How tired I be! Howdy, Uncle Neb; + howdy!"</p> + + <p>"Sakes alive!" he cried. "It's de frenomenom, come down frum + de mountains! Howdy, honey, howdy!" He hurried toward her and + saw that she was near to tears from weariness and the strain of + what she had gone through and what she had to tell. "Why, + chil', what's de mattuh?"</p> + + <p>"Pebble in my shoe," she answered, and busied herself as if + removing one. "All right in a minute. This air a long way from + th' mountings."</p> + + <p>"Honey, you don't mean you <i>walked</i>!"</p> + + <p>"Had to. Wings ain't growed, yet. Say; I've come to bring a + word to Mr. Frank. Is he to home?" She motioned toward the + stable, which was the finest building she had ever seen.</p> + + <p>"Yes; but he don't lib dar, honey."</p> + + <p>"Don't he? Who does, then?"</p> + + <p>"Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>"Queen Bess!" The girl was thunderstruck; her worry choked + her. She knew Frank owned a blooded mare, but did not know her + name, and she had but vaguely heard of queens. "Well—air + she to home?"</p> + + <p>"Yes; an' Marse Frank, an' Miss 'Lethe, an' Miss Barbara's + comin', purty soon, to see huh."</p> + + <p>"Miss Barbarous!" said Madge, aroused by the mere mention of + the girl who, from the start, she had recognized, + instinctively, as her real enemy. It had been thought of her, + alone, which had made her bear the weary burden of the bundle + on the long journey from the mountains. "I'd like to fix a + little, 'fore she comes. I got some idees o' fashion from her, + when she was up thar, an' I been workin' ev'ry minute I could + spare, since then, on a new dress. Ain't thar some place I can + go to fashion up before they come?"</p> + + <p>The old negro was acutely sympathetic. He disliked Miss + Barbara and liked the mountain girl. His old black head, thick + as it was, sometimes, had quickly recognized the fact that + Barbara regarded Madge as one to be despised, humiliated, while + his master treated her with much consideration and thought + highly of her. He did not like the daughter of Horace Holton + any better than he liked the man himself. If he could help the + mountain girl he would. The only place where she could possibly + find privacy, without going to the house, was in the stable + with the race-horse. He would have trusted no one else on earth + with her; to distrust Madge, however, did not once occur to + him.</p> + + <p>"Missy," he said slowly, "I reckon you can go right in dar + wid Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>She was a bit appalled. "Maybe she wouldn't like it," she + objected.</p> + + <p>"She won't keer if you don't go too close."</p> + + <p>"I'm kinder 'feared."</p> + + <p>"Don't gib her no chance to kick. You's all right, den."</p> + + <p>"Kick!" said the girl, amazed. Kicking did not seem to her + to fit the character of queens.</p> + + <p>Neb unlocked the stable door. "Or bite," he added.</p> + + <p>"Bite! Dellaw!" the girl exclaimed, still more amazed. How + little she had learned of royalty up in the mountains!</p> + + <p>The aged negro threw the door wide open. "Go in, honey, now; + go in," he said.</p> + + <p>"I'm skeered!" she said, and tiptoed to the stable door. She + peered in cautiously. Then she turned and faced him with + much-puzzled eyes. "I don't see nothin' but a hoss," she + said.</p> + + <p>"Uh-huh; dat's Queen Bess." Old Neb stood chuckling, looking + at her.</p> + + <p>"Queen Bess is Mister Frank's race-hoss!" she cried, + delighted by the revelation. "Well, now, I feel to home." She + went into the stable with her bundle, half-closed the door and + then peeped out at Neb. "You won't let any one come in?"</p> + + <p>He held the key up reassuringly. "Don't you see I's got de + key, honey?"</p> + + <p>"I'd feel safer if I had that key myself," said she, and + snatched it from him. An instant later and the door was closed + and locked on the inside.</p> + + <p>Neb was alarmed. He had disobeyed plain orders in letting + her go in at all. For him to let that key out of his possession + was a further violation which he feared to be responsible for. + He pounded on the door. "Open de doah, honey," he implored. "I + mus' hab dat key!"</p> + + <p>"All right," said she, "soon's I am dressed."</p> + + <p>He fell back from the door dismayed. "De Lawd help me!" he + groaned. "What's I gwine ter do? An' I war so mighty firm 'bout + dat key wid Marse Holton!" He paced the space before the stable + door in agitation. "But I reckon she'll be t'rough befo' Marse + Frank comes," he comforted himself.</p> + + <p>She was not, though. While Neb still paced the stable yard + in acute worry, Frank, Miss Alathea, Barbara and Holton came + toward him in a laughing group. He almost fainted.</p> + + <p>"Here we are, Neb," his master cried, "ready for a look at + Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>"Yessah, yessah, pwesently!" Neb stammered, and would have + paled had nature made provision for such exhibition of his + feelings. "I jus' nachelly hab got to speak to dem ar stable + boys a minute, fust. Jus' 'scuse me fo' a minute, suh." He + vanished hurriedly, hoping that by this diversion he could gain + a little time for Madge and for himself.</p> + + <p>Layson gazed after him with some astonishment, then went and + tried the stable door. "Of course the door's locked," he + explained, annoyed, "but he'll be back here in a minute."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea smiled. The attitude of the young master toward + the aged negro often was amusing to her. She liked to watch the + constant evidence of that rare affection which formed an + inseparable bond between them.</p> + + <p>Suddenly she heard the crunching of a man's heavy footsteps + on the gravel, back of them. Turning, she saw that the newcomer + was the Colonel, and the Colonel in great haste. This was most + impressive, for the Colonel did not often hurry.</p> + + <p>"Here comes the Colonel, Frank," she said, "and see how he + is hurrying!"</p> + + <p>"Something's up," her nephew answered, "when the Colonel + hurries." Then, as the horseman came up to them: "Why, Colonel, + what's the matter?"</p> + + <p>"A shock! A regular shock! As I came from Lexington, just + now, I saw you standing here, so I sent the boy on with the + buggy and cut across to meet you. Just as I passed the thicket + by the spring I caught a glimpse of a man, who then vanished + like a ghost, but I swear that man was that lank mountaineer, + Joe Lorey, and that he tried to keep out of my sight."</p> + + <p>"Joe Lorey!" Frank exclaimed. "What can he want down + here?"</p> + + <p>"Who knows? Maybe to finish the work he began in the + mountains."</p> + + <p>"More than likely," Holton ventured. "A rifleshot in the + back, or a match touched to a building."</p> + + <p>"<i>I</i> don't believe it," Frank said stoutly. "The man + who laid down his weapons to give me a fair, square fight, + wouldn't stoop to things like that."</p> + + <p>"'Pears to me the man who fired that bomb 'u'd do most + anythin'," said Holton.</p> + + <p>"That was in a fit of anger. Lorey swore to Madge that he + thought better of his impulse to do murder, stamped upon the + burning fuse, and believed that he had put it out, and I + believe him."</p> + + <p>He saw, now, that his aunt was badly frightened, and + cautioned the other men. "Not another word about him, now, at + any rate, or Aunt 'Lethe won't once close her eyes + to-night."</p> + + <p>"Well," said the Colonel, quite agreeing with him and + hastening to change the subject, "here's something much more + interesting, anyway. A letter from the Company. Looks official + and important."</p> + + <p>Frank took the letter, opened it and gazed at it in some + dismay. "I should think so," he exclaimed. "An assessment of + $15,000 on my stock."</p> + + <p>"Fifteen thousand devils!"</p> + + <p>"No; fifteen thousand dollars."</p> + + <p>The Colonel took the letter from his hand and looked at it + with worried eyes. "And you've got to meet it, Frank, or lose + what you've put in."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea went to her nephew anxiously. "You'll sell + Queen Bess, now, won't you?" she implored. "You could pay it + then. Best sell her."</p> + + <p>The young man stood there, deep in worried thought. "If I + were quite convinced of the Company's good faith in everything, + I'd risk it all, even the loss of Woodlawn, my old home," he + answered.</p> + + <p>Neb now appeared from around a corner of the stable, + evidently having decided that the girl had had enough time for + her toilet, or afraid to wait another minute. His appearance + created a diversion.</p> + + <p>"Here, Neb," said Frank, "we've had enough nonsense. Let's + see Queen Bess, now."</p> + + <p>Neb looked anxiously for signs that Madge was ready to see + visitors, he listened at the door. He saw no sign, he heard no + signal. He was scared, but he was faithful to his promise to + the girl. He planted his old back against the door. "Now de + trouble am commencin'!" he assured himself.</p> + + <p>Holton looked at him with a sour smile. "I hope," he said to + Frank, "that you'll have better luck nor me. Neb wouldn't open + that door for me."</p> + + <p>"Dem was yo' ohduhs, suh," said Neb, appealing to his + master.</p> + + <p>"An' he was powerful sassy in the bargain," Holton went on, + full of malice, hoping to make Neb suffer for defying him.</p> + + <p>Layson, however, much as he was now annoyed by the old + darky's hesitation about opening the stable door for him, + himself, did not propose to chide him for having kept his trust + and held it closed to others. "You mustn't mind Neb," he said + to Holton. "He's a privileged character around here. I had told + him to admit no one, and, as usual, he obeyed my orders + blindly."</p> + + <p>"Yes, suh," Neb declared, delighted, "went it blind, + suh."</p> + + <p>"His obedience," his master went on boastingly, "is really + phenomenal. He wouldn't open that door for anybody. He'd guard + the key with his own life." He turned to Neb. "Wouldn't you, + now, Neb?"</p> + + <p>Neb was disconcerted. It was true enough that from most + people he certainly would have guarded that key with his life. + But at that moment there was one within the stable from whom he + had <i>not</i> guarded it. "Yes—yessah!" he said + hesitantly. And as he said it he would have given anything he + had if he could have laid his hands upon that self-same + key.</p> + + <p>Frank smiled at him. "But I suppose you'll let <i>me</i> + have a look at her."</p> + + <p>"Yes—yessuh—in a—in a minute, suh."</p> + + <p>Layson was annoyed. "Why not at once?" He was beginning to + be frightened. Could something Neb was trying to hide have + happened to the mare?</p> + + <p>"Bekase—bekase—" Ned stammered, "well, to tell + de trufe, suh, bekase I is afeared she ain't quite + dressed."</p> + + <p>"Not dressed! The mare not dressed! Have you lost your + senses? Open that door—quick!"</p> + + <p>"Marse Frank, I cain't. I nachully jus' cain't."</p> + + <p>Holton was enjoying this. "You see," he said, "he won't open + it for nobody. Not even for th' man as owns it an' th' mare + behind it."</p> + + <p>"Give me the key!" said Frank.</p> + + <p>"De key—de key—" Neb stammered.</p> + + <p>"I said the key!"</p> + + <p>The old negro advanced pitifully. "Fo' de lawd, Marse Frank, + I hasn't got it!"</p> + + <p>"He'd guard it with his life!" said Holton, with deep + sarcasm.</p> + + <p>"Where is it?" Frank demanded.</p> + + <p>"In dar," said Neb, and pointed to the stable.</p> + + <p>Layson, astonished and annoyed beyond the power of words by + the old negro's strange performance, fearful of the safety of + his mare, entirely puzzled, sprang toward the stable window and + was about to pull himself up by the ledge so that he might look + in.</p> + + <p>Neb seized him and pulled him from the aperture with a + desperate agility which strained his aged limbs. "Fo' de Lawd's + sake, now, Marse Frank," he cried, "don't yo' dare look t'rough + dat stable winder!"</p> + + <p>Frank, now, was badly frightened. "Is there some one in + there with Queen Bess?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"A young pusson to see you, suh," Neb admitted.</p> + + <p>"And you let that person have the key?"</p> + + <p>"No, suh; it were taken from me."</p> + + <p>Layson was in panic. "Heaven knows," he exclaimed, "what can + have happened here!" He rushed to the stable door and pounded + on it with his fists. "Open at once, or I'll break in the + door," he cried.</p> + + <p>Neb, now, had gone up to the window and looked through it + with desperate glance. What he saw was reassuring. He turned + back toward his master smiling. "Hol' on, Marse Frank, de young + pusson am a-comin' out," he said.</p> + + <p>"Well," said Layson, threateningly, "I'm ready for him." He + braced himself to spring upon some malefactor.</p> + + <p>The door opened and Madge appeared before their astonished + eyes, garbed in a gown which she had fashioned after that which + Barbara had worn up in the hills.</p> + + <p>"Madge!" cried Frank, amazed.</p> + + <p>The Colonel, laughing, approached the girl with outstretched + hand; Neb, relieved, dived through the stable door; Miss + Alathea, who had been under a great strain while the dramatic + little scene had been in progress, dropped limply on Neb's + bench.</p> + + <p>Madge, with a retentive memory of the way Miss "Barbarous" + had greeted her back in the mountains, stepped toward that + much-astonished maiden, opened her red parasol straight in her + face, and courtesied to the rest.</p> + + <p>"Howdy, folks; howdy!" she said, happily.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2><br> + + + <p>The party stood, nonplussed. Frank was first to show signs + of recovery, and, after a moment of completely dazed + astonishment, advanced to Madge with hand outstretched. Her + appearance, astonishing as it had been, had been as great a + relief as he had ever known in all his life. Neb's worry and + insubordination had filled him with the keenest apprehension. + But he had no doubts of Madge. If she had been there with the + mare, the mare was certainly all right, no matter how puzzling + the affair might seem to be upon its surface.</p> + + <p>"Why, little one, this is, indeed, a great surprise and + pleasure!" he exclaimed, with sincere gallantry.</p> + + <p>Madge looked at him with doubtful eyes, from which the + doubt, however, was fast clearing. "Oh, say; are you-uns r'ally + glad to see me?"</p> + + <p>"No one could be more welcome," he assured her, and the + honest pleasure in his eyes convinced her that he did not speak + for mere politeness' sake.</p> + + <p>And now Miss Alathea, recovering from the shock of all that + had preceded the girl's unexpected appearance, went to her + cordially. "We are more than glad, my child," she told her.</p> + + <p>"Glad's no name for it," the gallant Colonel said, advancing + in his turn.</p> + + <p>There could be no doubt of the sincerity of any one who, + thus far, had expressed a welcome for her; but the voice which + now came coldly from Miss Barbara was less convincing. She did + not approach the mountain girl, but sat somewhat superciliously + upon a bench and spoke frigidly. "It is an unexpected + pleasure."</p> + + <p>Madge, not trained to hide her feelings under softened + words, turned on her angrily. "Humph! I wasn't askin' you," she + said. Then, to the others: "I didn't know but what my droppin' + in, permiskus like—"</p> + + <p>"A Kentuckian's friends," said Frank, "are always + welcome."</p> + + <p>"Friends from the word go, remember," said the Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Thankee, Colonel," said the girl. "We'll have that race, + some day; but I won't ride agin you if you ride Queen Bess. Oh, + wouldn't I like to see her go!"</p> + + <p>"So you shall," said Frank. "Neb, is she ready?"</p> + + <p>"Yessuh; all saddled, sur, an' bridled."</p> + + <p>"Oh, let me bring her out," cried Madge. "I'd love to."</p> + + <p>"Lawsy, honey," said the negro, "you couldn't bring her out. + She's dat fretful an' dat nervous dat she'd kill yo', + suah."</p> + + <p>"Get out, Neb!" Madge cried, scornfully. "I ain't afeard of + her. Wild things allays has made friends with me. I've never + seen a horse so skeery that I couldn't manage + him—couldn't make him foller me."</p> + + <p>She pushed the hesitating Neb out of her path and went into + the stable.</p> + + <p>Layson, who was for the moment, at a distance, had not heard + all her talk with Neb, but saw her as she went into the stall + where none but he, himself, and Neb, dared go, and it was + stable talk that, soon or late, Queen Bess would prove to be a + man killer!</p> + + <p>"Neb, stop her! She'll be killed!" he cried.</p> + + <p>Neb ran, as fast as his old legs would carry him, into the + stable; Frank hurried to the stable door.</p> + + <p>"Madge! Madge!" he cried, and then: "Why—look! The + mare is following her as might a kitten!"</p> + + <p>He stepped aside and Madge came from the stable with Queen + Bess behind her, ears pricked forward eagerly as she kept her + eyes on Madge's pursed up, cooing lips, head dropped, neck + stretched in graceful fashion, lifting her dainty feet as + proudly as ever did the queen whom she was named for.</p> + + <p>"Come on, you beauty!" the girl cried. "Oh, it would be like + heaven to ride you; and I could do it, too!"</p> + + <p>"Take her to the track, Neb," Layson ordered. "I'll follow + and give her her exercise."</p> + + <p>Madge, unable to resist the impulse which was thrilling her + with longing, motioned Neb away as he approached to take the + mare. "Go 'way! Go 'way!" she said. Then, to the mare: "Come + on, you dear, come on." She went on slowly, while the mare, in + calm docility, trailed after her. The spectators, who knew the + beast, gazed spellbound.</p> + + <p>Constantly the girl's pleased eyes were on the beautiful + creature following. Never had she seen so perfect an animal; + never had she known one giving such plain signs of high + intelligence. The mare's big eyes, broad forehead, delicate + muzzle, arching neck, strong withers, mighty flanks, and + slender ankles marked her, to the veriest novice, a + thoroughbred of thoroughbreds; her docile and obedient march + showed what seemed like an almost magic power in the delighted + mountain maid. Every drop of blood in the girl's body tingled + with excitement, all her muscles thrilled with mad desire to + mount the wondrous beast and be away as on the wind's wings. + She could imagine what the mare's long strides would be, she + could imagine how exhilerating she would find the steady, + perfect motion of the mighty back.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I can't stand it!" she exclaimed, at length. "I've got + to do it!"</p> + + <p>She paused, and eagerly the mare stepped up to her, + nuzzleing her caressing hand. Then, with a bound, the girl was + on the graceful creature's back, landing in her place as + lightly as a wind-blown thistle-down, as gracefully as a fairy + horsewoman.</p> + + <p>"Heavens!" cried Barbara. "She's on Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>"She'll be killed!" Miss Alathea screamed, in terror.</p> + + <p>The Colonel, only, recognized her instantly as a born + horsewoman. His expert eye observed with rare delight the ease + with which she mounted, the perfect poise with which she found + her seat, the absolute adjustment of her lithe young motions to + the movements of the mare beneath her from the very moment she + had reached her back.</p> + + <p>"No danger; she rides like a centaur."</p> + + <p>With the others he had stopped, with eyes for nothing but + the girl before them and the splendid animal she rode. "Ah, + what a jockey she would make!"</p> + + <p>Barbara liked this exhibition of the mountain girl's + abilities no better than she had liked anything which Madge had + done. Her lip curled somewhat scornfully. "What a pity that her + sex should bar her from that vocation!" she said coldly.</p> + + <p>She turned to Frank, who was watching Madge with startled + eyes, worried as to the result of this mad prank on both the + girl and mare.</p> + + <p>"Frank," said Barbara, "what a figure she will make to-night + at your lawn-party! How your friends will laugh at her!"</p> + + <p>Layson cast a quick, sharp glance at her. She was not + advancing her own cause by trying, thus, to ridicule the + mountain maiden. "I'll run the risk," he said. "She is my + guest, you know, and, as such, will surely be given every + consideration and courtesy by all."</p> + + <p>"Oh, certainly," said Barbara, seeing that she had gone, + perhaps, too far. "If you wish it. I should be glad to please + you, once again."</p> + + <p>"Nothing could please me more than to have you show her what + kindnesses you can. I know she will feel strange and + worried."</p> + + <p>Madge, sitting Queen Bess with an ease and grace which that + intelligent mare had never found in any other rider, and, now, + far from them at the other end of the great training-field, + absorbed the youth's delighted glances.</p> + + <p>"Can't you forget her for an instant?" exclaimed Barbara. + "You haven't been at all the same since you came back from the + mountains! Once we were always together. Now I never see you + unless I come over here; and no matter what I do, you don't + seem to care."</p> + + <p>Layson was uneasy. He had been aware, for a long time, that, + sooner or later, a complete understanding of his changed + feelings toward this girl, must, in some way, be accomplished. + Now seemed a good time for it, yet he hesitated at the thought + of it. But the thing had to be gone through with. "I know I + used to play the tyrant, Barbara; but it wasn't a pleasant + rôle, and I was always half-ashamed of it."</p> + + <p>The girl flared into a passion. "What do you mean?"</p> + + <p>"Barbara, I have had no right to go so far, no right to ask + so much of you. From the bottom of my heart I beg forgiveness. + Let us forget it all and just be friends again." And, even as + he spoke, his eyes were wandering toward the girl whom Queen + Bess had so utterly surrendered to. The mare, known since she + had first been saddled, as a terror to all riders, was carrying + her as gently as the veriest country hack had ever borne an old + lady from the farm to market.</p> + + <p>Barbara saw where his attention was, and resentment thrilled + her. "Friends? Never! Frank Layson, I believe I hate you!"</p> + + <p>"Oh, very well," said he, plainly not too much impressed, + "if you want to be unreasonable, why, of course—"</p> + + <p>The girl was frightened at the length to which she had + permitted her ill-temper to carry her. "Oh, no, Frank," she + hastily corrected, "I didn't mean that. Of course I am your + friend."</p> + + <p>"Thank you, Barbara," said he, with a calmness which was + maddening to her. "I am sure we understand each other, now." + And then, still further maddening her: "I must go now, and look + after Madge and dear Queen Bess. I never should forgive myself + if anything should happen to the girl. But nothing will. See + how splendidly she rides!"</p> + + <p>The girl upon the horse, as if conscious of his anxiety + about her, now turned her mount back toward the field-end where + the onlookers were loosely grouped and came toward them at a + slow and gentle canter—a gait which none had ever seen + Queen Bess take before, when a stranger was upon her back. She + leaped from the mare by Layson's side, and Neb, ever anxious + for the welfare of his equine darling, began work without delay + at rubbing Queen Bess down.</p> + + <p>"Reckon you'll never forgive me," Madge apologized to + Layson, "but I just couldn't help it. Never even saw a mare + like her, afore. My pony's no-whar alongside of her. I felt + like an angel sittin' on a cloud an' sailin' straight to + heaven!" She turned and petted the black beauty. "Oh, you + darling!"</p> + + <p>"Got to take her in, now," Neb said, preparing to lead the + mare away. He spoke apologetically as if the girl had rights + which, now, should be consulted. He had never made a like + concession in the past to anyone except his master.</p> + + <p>"Go 'way, go 'way," said Madge, taking the reins from his + black hand. "Ain't no use o' leadin' her—you jest watch + her foller me!"</p> + + <p>She looped the reins about the mare's arched neck, started + off, and, without so much as flicking her long tail, Queen Bess + fell in behind, obedient to her cooing, murmurous calls.</p> + + <p>Frank laughed. "If," he said to the whole party, "you wish + to have a look at the mare's quarters, I think Neb will now + admit us."</p> + + <p>All but the Colonel started toward the stable, but he + hesitated, looking toward Miss Alathea. While the others had + been spellbound by the girl and horse, he, the most + enthusiastic horseman of them all, had been divided in + attention between them and the lady whose notice he attracted, + now, by means of sundry hems and haws.</p> + + <p>"Miss 'Lethe, just a moment," he said softly. She paused and + then went up to him. He held out a newspaper, suddenly at a + loss for words, now that there was a prospect of a moment with + her wholly uninterrupted. "Here," said he, a little panicky, + "is a full account of the revival, sermon and all. Make your + hair stand on end to read it."</p> + + <p>She took the paper, undeceived by his small subterfuge to + gain attention, but interested, as she always was in such + things, in the account of the revival. "This really is + interesting." She sat down on the bench, as they reached the + stable-yard again, and pored above the newspaper.</p> + + <p>In the meantime the Colonel tried to screw his courage to + the sticking point. "Colonel Sandusky Doolittle," he adjured + himself, "if you don't say it now, then you forever hold your + peace, that's all!" He went to his buggy, which had been + brought to the stable yard, and from underneath its seat took a + box containing a bouquet of sweet, old-fashioned flowers. Miss + Alathea, absorbed in the account of the revival, did not notice + him at all. "This will do the business," he reflected. "Now, + Sandusky Doolittle, keep cool, keep cool!" Nervously, as he + gazed at her, his fingers worked among the flowers, + dismembering them unconsciously. "A Kentucky Colonel," he was + saying to himself in scorn, "afraid of a woman!" His fingers + tore the flowers with new activity as his nervousness + increased, making sad work with the magnificent bouquet. "Of + course she is an angel," he reflected, and then, with a grim + humor, "or will be before I ask her, if I wait another twenty + years! But I shall ask her, I shall ask her!" He stepped toward + her boldly, but paused before her in a wordless panic when he + had approached within a yard. "Heavens!" he thought. "My heart + is going at a one-forty gait and the jockey's lost the reins. + I'll be over the fence in another minute if I don't hold tight! + But I have got to do it, this time." He dropped the stems of + the flowers, still bound together by their lengths of wide + white ribbon, into the elaborate box from which, so lately, he + had taken them in their uninjured beauty, not noting the sad + wreck which his too nervous fingers had produced, put on the + cover and approached still nearer. With the box held toward her + bashfully, he managed, then, another step or two. "Miss + 'Lethe," he said stammering, "lawn party to-night—bouquet + for you—brought it from Lexington—for you—for + you, you know."</p> + + <p>The Colonel never was embarrassed save when he was + endeavoring to propose marriage to Miss Alathea and he always + was embarrassed then. She recognized the situation from the + mere tone of his voice and looked up hopefully.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Colonel, how kind!" said she, as she held delighted + hands out for the box. "I know it is beautiful."</p> + + <p>"It was quite the best I could do, Miss 'Lethe," said the + Colonel.</p> + + <p>"You have such splendid taste! I'm sure it's lovely." She + opened the box and looked, expectantly, within. "Why, Colonel," + she cried, disappointed, "where are—where are the + flowers?"</p> + + <p>"Why—why—why," he stammered, and then saw the + mutilated blossoms on the ground around him. "Why, I don't + know—don't know," said he. "'Don't ask me."</p> + + <p>She was rummaging among the stems, nonplussed. "Why, here's + a note!" she said.</p> + + <p>"Thank heaven!" the Colonel thought, "the note's there yet!" + Then, growing bold: "Miss 'Lethe, if you've a kindly feeling + for me in your heart, read that note; but don't you get + excited; keep cool, keep cool!"</p> + + <p>"Why, certainly," said she. "I see no cause for excitement." + She unfolded the note and read, aloud, and very slowly, for the + Colonel's hand was not too easy to decipher. "'My dear, dear + Miss 'Lethe: Woman without her man is a savage.'" She looked + up, naturally astonished by this unusual statement. "Why, + Colonel," she exclaimed, "what can you mean by saying woman is + a savage without her man?"</p> + + <p>He stood appalled for just a second and then realized the + error into which his ardor had misled him. "Great Scott!" he + cried. "I forgot to put in the commas! It ought to read this + way: 'Woman, without her, man is a savage.' Go on, Miss 'Lethe, + please go on."</p> + + <p>She read again: "'I feel that it is time for me to become + civilized—in other words, to come in out of the wet. To + me you have been, for twenty years, the embodiment of woman's + truth, purity and goodness. But constitutional timidity and + chronic financial depression, due to the race-track, have + hitherto kept me silent.'" Miss 'Lethe looked up at him with a + strange expression on her face. "Colonel," she exclaimed, "what + does this mean?"</p> + + <p>"Go on, Miss 'Lethe," was the answer, "please go on, go on." + He made a mighty effort to secure control of his unruly nerves, + and, almost unconsciously, while her head was bent above the + note, took a small flask from his pocket and imbibed from it. + It steadied him.</p> + + <p>She read again: "'I am convinced that my interest in the + company will yield me a competence; accordingly, behold me at + your feet!'"</p> + + <p>Miss 'Lethe looked down somewhat mischievously. She did not + see the Colonel where his note declared he would be. She + glanced again at the paper in her hands and saw a word which, + at first, had quite escaped attention. "'Metaphorically,'" she + read, and then the signature: "'Colonel Sandusky + Doolittle.'"</p> + + <p>"Colonel!" she exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"Miss 'Lethe," he replied, and, discovering that the flask + was still in plain view in his hand, slipped it into his + sidepocket upside down.</p> + + <p>"Colonel, put that bottle right side up and listen to me," + she said calmly. "Do you really love me?"</p> + + <p>"Do I love you? With a + fervor—er—a—passion—er—will you + excuse me if I smoke?" He took a black cigar from his vest + pocket, in another effort to control his nerves, and lighted it + as might an automatic smoker.</p> + + <p>"I am going to put you to the proof," said she. "Could you, + for my sake, come down from ten cigars a day to five?"</p> + + <p>The Colonel was dismayed. "To five cigars a day! + Impossible!" He caught himself. That scarcely was the way to + answer the request of the woman he adored so fervently. "I + mean," he hastily corrected, "is—is that all?" He made a + motion as if to throw away the weed he had just lighted, but + thought better of it. "I will make the descent to-morrow," he + said earnestly.</p> + + <p>"Could you restrict yourself to three mint-julips, + daily?"</p> + + <p>"Three! A man couldn't live on three! He'd have + to—have to take such poisons as—as cold water into + his system."</p> + + <p>"Remember, Colonel, I would mix them."</p> + + <p>"That settles it! Three goes!" He fervently reached toward + her, plainly planning to embrace her.</p> + + <p>"Wait, Colonel," she exclaimed, "there is one more + condition. Could you, for my sake, promise never to enter + another race-track?"</p> + + <p>He started back from her in horror. "Never enter another + race-tack! I, Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, known everywhere, + from Maine to California, as a plunger, give up the absorbing + passion of my life!"</p> + + <p>"Remember what you said to Frank," said she. "'It's a + delusion and a snare.' But, of course, if you think more of a + delusion than you do of me—"</p> + + <p>"No; hang it!" cried the Colonel, "I think more of you. + Twenty years—the longest race on record and a win in + sight! I'll not lose by a balk at the finish! I promise you, + Miss 'Lethe, on the honor of a Kentuckian."</p> + + <p>"Then, Colonel, I must confess, I have loved you, also, for + every one of those long twenty years."</p> + + <p>"Twenty years!" He turned his head aside and muttered: "What + a damned fool I have been!" Then, to her, he said, exultantly: + "Aha! A neck ahead!"</p> + + <p>It is difficult to say what would have happened, then, if + Madge, Holton, Barbara and Frank had not come from the stable, + chattering about Queen Bess.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2><br> + + + <p>Joe Lorey, mad with wrath, his heart filled with the lust of + killing for revenge, infuriated to the point where he felt need + of neither food nor sleep, yet made less rapid time down the + rough mountain paths than had the girl. Love-lent wings are + swifter than an impulse born of hatred and resentment can be. + She had flown upon such wings to save the man who filled her + innocent thoughts with longing; Joe had gone clumsily, despite + his cunning as a mountaineer, for leaden, murderous thoughts + had weighed him down, hampering the quickness of his wit, + delaying his fleet feet, confusing the alertness of his + watchfulness for faint-limned trails, loose areas perilous of + slides upon steep slopes. Indeed, though hate had driven him, + Joe Lorey never in his life had made so very slow a journey to + the bluegrass as that which he had started on from his wrecked + still, with hatred of Frank Layson, who he thought had + viciously betrayed him, blazing in his heart.</p> + + <p>Hours after the light-footed girl, spurred by her fear for + one whom she but dimly guessed that she had learned to love, + had arrived at the bluegrass mansion and been welcomed by the + owner of Queen Bess, the mountaineer reached the confines of + the splendid farm, and lurked there, waiting for night-fall to + make his entrance into the house grounds safe.</p> + + <p>The rough youth's mental state was pitiable. Tragedy had + pursued him, almost from his life's beginning, he reflected, as + he furtively awaited opportunity for the revenge which he had + planned. The fierce feud of the mountains had robbed him of his + parents, and, with them, of the best years of his youth; the + rough life of the mountains had robbed his strong young manhood + of those opportunities which, he dimly realized, might have + made him different and better; when love for sweet Madge + Brierly had come to him, Fate had brought up from the bluegrass + the young stranger, who, with his superior learning, polished + manner and smooth speech, had found the conquest of the girl + (Joe bitterly reflected) all too easy; and finally had come the + crowning, black disaster—the betrayal of his still to the + agents of the government, its destruction and his + transformation from a free man of the mountains into a furtive + outlaw.</p> + + <p>He could not see that life held anything but gloom for + him—black, impenetrable, ever thickening. He had but one + thing left to live for—a revenge as dark as were the + wrongs which he had suffered.</p> + + <p>He knew that government agents have shrewd wits, keen eyes, + strong arms, and never let a moonshiner escape if, through any + strategy, they may bring about his capture; he knew that since + the discovery and destruction of his still he was a marked man; + so it was nearing dusk when, after intensely cautious and + immensely skilful manoeuvering against discovery, he actually + entered the Layson grounds.</p> + + <p>The long, exciting afternoon, full of Queen Bess, a certain + sense of triumph over Barbara Holton, the extent of which she + could not guess, countless thrills of gratitude and exultation + born of the kindness and consideration shown her by Miss + Alathea and the Colonel, had sped away before Madge realized + that it had been half-spent. Now, though, the deepening + twilight warned her of the flight of time and told her that she + must, perforce, perform the task for which she had descended + from the mountains.</p> + + <p>All the others except Frank had drifted toward the house, + and she had hung behind for the express purpose of getting + private speech with him, when she had the day's first + opportunity.</p> + + <p>"Mr. Frank," said she, "afore we go into th' house I got a + word to say to you as I don't want nobody but you to hear."</p> + + <p>A quick glance at her face showed him that what she had to + say was, really, of great importance, for her lovely mouth was + serious, her deep eyes were full of worry, her smooth brow was + nearer to real frowning than he had ever seen it.</p> + + <p>"Why, Madge, what is the matter?"</p> + + <p>She put her hand upon his arm, turning her sweet face up to + him with a revelation of solicitude which, had she known how + plain it was, she would have hidden at all hazard. "It may mean + life or death to you," she told him solemnly.</p> + + <p>"Life or death to me, little girl? What are you talking of?" + said he, almost incredulous.</p> + + <p>"Joe Lorey's still were raided by the revenuers after you + come down!"</p> + + <p>"It can't be possible!"</p> + + <p>"It is. It lies in ruins and in ashes an' he is hidin' out + among th' mountings, somewhars, in danger, ev'ry minute, of + arrest an', then, of prison. 'Twas all he had in th' wide + world."</p> + + <p>"Poor fellow! I am sorry," said Layson, with quick sympathy. + "I'll see what can be done. And you say he's hiding out up in + the mountains?"</p> + + <p>She hesitated. "I said so, but I reckon it ain't true, + exactly. It was that that made me hurry down to speak to you. + Some say as how he has come down into th' bluegrass to find th' + man as gin th' word. It is a crime as never is forgiven in th' + mountings."</p> + + <p>As she spoke, unseen, behind them, a dark, slouching, + furtive figure slipped across an open space and took a + crouching stand behind a tree near by. Had they listened + without speech they might have heard the heavy breathing of the + very man of whom they spoke, might have heard the sharp click + of the lock of his long rifle as he brought its hammer to full + cock. Had they turned about they might have seen the blue glint + of the day's last light upon that rifle's barrel, which was + levelled straight at Layson's heart. But they saw none of these + things nor heard a sound.</p> + + <p>"Who does he think betrayed him?" Layson asked, with deep + interest, but no trace of guilty knowledge, thrilling in his + voice.</p> + + <p>Madge hesitated. Then she blurted out the truth. "Who?" she + repeated, "Why—why you! <i>YOU</i>—YOU!"</p> + + <p>The rifle barrel steadied to its mark, the finger curled to + press upon the trigger.</p> + + <p>"Why, Madge," said Layson, earnestly, "I didn't even know he + had a still! I swear it!"</p> + + <p>There was an honest ring in the youth's voice which could + not be mistaken.</p> + + <p>"I knowed it warn't your doin'," the girl said with a great + sigh of relief.</p> + + <p>And as she spoke the rifle barrel slowly fell.</p> + + <p>"I knowed it warn't your doin', but Joe'll never believe it. + Night an' day you'll have to be close on your guard. There's no + tellin' what minute your life may be in danger."</p> + + <p>"I don't believe it of Joe Lorey," Layson answered + earnestly. "We fought, and he fought fair."</p> + + <p>After they had gone, Joe crept out from his hiding place + among the shrubbery and looked after them with puzzled, + pain-filled eyes, like a great animal's.</p> + + <p>"If they'd only knowed that I war standin' in th' shadder + there!" he mused. "If he hadn't spoke them words I'd pulled th' + trigger, but he spoke up like as ef 't war true an' I jest + couldn't do it."</p> + + <p>A cautious footstep on the close-knit sward, which would + have been inaudible to any ear less keen than his, attracted + his attention, suddenly, and he slipped back to his leafy + hiding-place. Peering from the covert he saw Holton coming. The + man was furtive, apprehensive in his every movement, suspicion + breeding. When Joe stepped out from his thicket boldly, to + confront him, the ex-slave-dealer fell back, frightened.</p> + + <p>"Hello, sir," was Joe's laconic greeting.</p> + + <p>"Joe Lorey!" exclaimed Holton.</p> + + <p>"That's me," Joe boldly granted. He peered at him so closely + that Holton shrank away from him, involuntarily. "And + you—why you're the man as gin th' word that Frank Layson + had warned th' revenooers of my still."</p> + + <p>"I told ye for yer good," said Holton, clearly recognizing + that his position was unfortunate. "An' recollect you promised + not to tell anyone my name."</p> + + <p>Joe nodded gravely. "While I believe ye told th' truth I'll + keep my word," he answered. "But I wants to tell you that I + heered Frank Layson deny it, hyar, to-night, an' it sounded + like he war speakin' th' plain truth. See hyar, sir, you nearly + egged me on to doin' murder." He reached forward and seized + Holton by the shoulder roughly, with a grasp so powerful that + the old man, though he was of sturdy frame and mighty muscle, + knew that he was helpless in the grip. "Now look me in th' + face. Tell me as you vally your own life—war it truth or + lies, you told me?"</p> + + <p>"It war th' truth," said Holton, doggedly; "th' truth an' + nothin' else."</p> + + <p>Joe shook his head incredulously. "I'd like better proof nor + your word, stranger, for, some way, your voice it don't ring + true, nor yer eye look honest."</p> + + <p>"I'll gin ye th' proof," said Holton desperately. "Ye know + that I war never near yer still. Layson told me it war in th' + wall of a ravine—Hangin' Rock Ravine—an' a big oak + stood in front of it an' hid the mouth o' th' cave. Thar, do ye + believe me, now?"</p> + + <p>Joe nodded, slowly, thoughtfully. "No man as lived up in th' + mountings would have told ye." He considered ponderously for a + moment. "Yes, I reckon that I'll have to take yer word. 'T was + him as done it."</p> + + <p>"Of course it war," said Holton, and then, perhaps, a bit + too eagerly: "an' you'll make him pay for it?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Joe, "but I've another score to settle, first, + another man to find—Lem Lindsay."</p> + + <p>Holton was plainly startled, although Joe could not guess + just why he should be. "Lem Lindsay!" he exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"Yes; the man as murdered my father. I've had word of him, + at last. I've heard as how he war seen, years ago, in New + Orleans—he war a nigger-trader, then—an' that he's + come up in th' bluegrass country, since, like enough under + another name." He looked at Holton eagerly. "I say, sir, you + don't know a man like that, do you?"</p> + + <p>Holton spoke a little hurriedly. "No, no; there ain't no man + like that in these parts."</p> + + <p>"It don't make no differ whar he bides," said Joe. "Soon or + late our paths'll cross an' bring us face to face. When he + struck down my father it war sealed and signed above that he + war to fall by my hand; an' there's a feelin' in my heart that + that hour air drawin' nigh." He nodded and then turned away. + "Good-night, stranger."</p> + + <p>Holton was thoroughly alarmed. Many things distressed him. + He could plainly see that his daughter's love-affair with + Layson had gone wrong, he realized that there was little chance + that he could buy Madge Brierly's coal lands at anything but a + fair value, and now—to fall by his hand!</p> + + <p>"I'll make that false," he muttered, "Why, I've got to do + it!"</p> + + <p>He moved away among the trees, but stopped in frequent + thought as he progressed.</p> + + <p>"They'll lay the crime on Lorey," he reflected, after he had + laid his plan. "They'll hunt him down and lynch him and I shall + be safe. Layson'll be ruined, he'll have to sell Woodlawn, and + my gal'll be th' missus there, in spite of him. I've got to do + it."</p> + + <p>Like a shadow of the night he hurried through the grounds + until he reached the stable where Queen Bess was thought to be + secure.</p> + + <p>"Every window barred, every door is sealed but this!" he + cunningly reflected as he paused at the front entrance.</p> + + <p>With frantic haste, lest he should be discovered at the + work, he piled brush from a near refuse pile against the door + and stuffed wisps of grass and hay into the bottom of the heap. + Into this tinder pile he thrust a lighted match and + disappeared, just as Madge came to the bench where she had + paused when she first came to Woodlawn, early in the + afternoon.</p> + + <p>It was plain enough, from her dejected looks and listless + attitude, that the dance had given her no pleasure, but, on the + contrary, had filled her with distress.</p> + + <p>"I couldn't stand it thar, no longer," she was thinking, + bitterly. "I war jest a curiosity, like a wild woman. Miss + Barbarous poked fun at me till I war plumb afraid I'd fly at + her like a wild-cat, so I jest slipped away. Oh, I see, now, as + I never seed afore; the differ that there is 'twixt Mr. Frank + an' me! An' I know, now, what 't is air ailin' me. I loves him. + Oh, I loves him better nor my life! But it can't never be." She + dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. "Good-bye, good, + kind, Mr. Frank, good-bye!" She stretched her arms out toward + the mansion she had lately left, where lights were twinkling + gaily, whence sounds of music now came faintly to her ears. + "You'll soon forget the little mounting girl. You'll never know + she loved you. I'm goin' back—back to the old + mountings."</p> + + <p>As she rose an ominous crackling caught her ear and held her + at attention, then, in a horrid flash, the fire blazed out + among the hay and brush which Holton had piled up against the + stable door.</p> + + <p>"Oh, oh!" she cried. "Th' stable is burnin'! Fire! Fire! + Fire! Neb, are you in there? Don't you hear me, Neb? Th' stable + air on fire!"</p> + + <p>Neb's voice came from the dim interior, muffled and + skeptical. "What dat?" he said. "Don't want no foolishness + 'round heah. I's ahmed."</p> + + <p>"It's me, Neb, me," she cried. "Th' stable 's burnin', + Neb!"</p> + + <p>"Gorramighty!" she heard Neb exclaim, now in a voice + expressive of great fright. "Dat's so, dat's so! Quick, honey, + open up de doah!"</p> + + <p>Madge was working at the biggest log which Holton had thrust + against the door to feed the blaze. The flames and smoke surged + 'round her as she struggled with the unwieldy thing, her hands + grasped, more than once, live coals, without making her release + her hold. Once or twice the bursting flames, swung hither and + swung yon by the light, vagrant breezes of the night and the + drafts born of the fire, itself, flared straight toward her + face, and, to save her hair, which, once igniting, would, she + knew, make further work impossible, she had to draw back for a + second; but each time, as she saw another chance, she sprang + again to the desperate task. At last, after a dozen efforts, + she had thrust the blazing log so far from the already burning + door that Neb could push it open. He stumbled out, his old + hands held before him, gropingly, half-suffocated.</p> + + <p>"Neb, you ain't hurt," said she.</p> + + <p>"You go ring dat bell," said he, pointing to a standard + bearing at its top an ornamental iron crotch in which a big + plantation bell was swung. "Soon's I get my bref from all dat + smoke I'll go back an' git Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>The girl sprang to the rope and soon the bell was ringing + out a wild alarm.</p> + + <p>"Hurry, Neb!" she cried. "Oh, hurry! Th' fire's a-gainin', + ev'ry second! Hurry!"</p> + + <p>Neb dashed back into the stable upon trembling limbs, while, + without a pause, the girl kept up the clangor of alarm. Her + eyes were ever on the door through which the faithful black had + disappeared, watching anxiously to see him come out with the + mare.</p> + + <p>But second after second—seconds which seemed to her + like hours—went by and he did not appear again. Her heart + began to beat with frantic fears that Neb, himself, as well as + the superb animal which she had already learned to love, had + fallen victim to the fire, when, at last, he stumbled from the + door.</p> + + <p>"'Tain't no use," he said, as he weakly staggered up to her. + "It kain't be done. Queen Bess am crazy wid de fiah. She jes' + won't come out! I cain't <i>git</i> huh to come out." He + sobbed. "An' she am all dat Marse Frank hab on earth!" Beside + himself he ran off toward the house, shouting for his master + wildly.</p> + + <p>"All he has on earth!" the girl exclaimed, the bell-rope + falling from relaxing hands. An instant she stood there in + thought, horrified at the idea of the catastrophe which + threatened Layson. Then: "I'll save her! She will follow + me!"</p> + + <p>Without a second's hesitation, with no thought for her own + safety, she drew her skirts about her tightly, wrapped her + shawl around her head to save her hair and dashed through the + growing flames about the stable-door, into the inferno which + now raged within the structure, just as Neb, running with a + lurching step, but with a speed remarkable in one so old and + stiffened by rheumatic pains, dashed back to the scene of the + disaster, in advance of Frank, the Colonel, Holton, Miss + Alathea and the other inmates of the house, guests, servants, + all.</p><a name="Illus_4"></a> <br> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_4.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_4.jpg" + alt="Back! Back! I'm a-comin' with Queen Bess!" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4>"Back! Back! I'm a-comin' with Queen Bess!"</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <p>Without a word, as he approached, Frank pulled off his coat, + evidently preparing for a desperate dash through the now + roaring flames to rescue his beloved mare. Then, bracing + himself for a great spring through the lurid barrier, he cried, + "I'll save her!" and would have leaped into the flaming + entrance if Neb had not caught his arm with desperate grip.</p> + + <p>"No, honey," the old negro cried, "yo' shan't go in!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel joined the negro in restraining the half-crazed + owner of Queen Bess. "It's no use, Frank," said he. "We'll not + let you go in."</p> + + <p>They dragged the struggling youth back from the fire just + as, to their amazement, an exultant voice rang from the inside + of the burning building. "Back! Back!" it cried. "I'm a-comin' + with Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>An instant later Madge sprang out through the flames, + followed by the mare, about whose head the mountain girl had + wrapped her shawl.</p> + + <p>"Come, girl! Come, girl!" said Madge, alert of eye, + cool-witted, soothing.</p> + + <p>As docilely as she had followed her that afternoon, the mare + stepped through the blazing door and out into the + stable-yard.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XV</h2><br> + + + <p>Lexington was in a wild state of excitement on the morning + of the year's great race, the Ashland Oaks. In a private parlor + of the Phoenix Hotel the two men who were, perhaps, most deeply + interested of all in it, were weary of their speculations after + they had gone, for the thousandth time, over every detail of + possible prophecy and speculation. The Colonel sat beside a + table upon which stood a "long" glass from which protruded, and + in which nestled fragrant mint-leaves. At the bottom of the + glass there lingered, yet, the good third of a julep.</p> + + <p>"There's one capital thing about a mint-julep," he said + comfortably, and smacked appreciative lips. "One always + suggests another." He drained his glass and rose. At the other + side of the room was the bell-button. His finger was extended + and about to touch it when he stopped to think. "No! Great + heavens!" said he. "That makes my third, already, and I'm as + dry as the desert of Sahara." He sat down again, an air of + martyrdom upon his face. "Ah, well, Miss 'Lethe's worth it. I + say, Frank, anything new in the extra?"</p> + + <p>The youthful owner of Queen Bess, to whom it seemed as if + almost life itself were staked on the result of the coming + contest at the track, lowered, with a nervous hand, for an + instant only, the newspaper he had been poring over.</p> + + <p>"Only this," he said, and slowly read: "'Queen Bess is still + the favorite for the Ashland Oaks. The report that she was + injured in the fire by which her stable was burned, proves to + be a canard. Her owner declares her to be unhurt and in fine + condition.'"</p> + + <p>The Colonel nodded his approval. "That's what I've + telegraphed the Dyer brothers. I'm sure they won't refuse to + take her when they know the facts in the case. It was a close + shave, though. If it hadn't been for that little thoroughbred + from the mountains—"</p> + + <p>"When she rushed into the flames, last night, wasn't she + magnificent!" said Frank, flushing with enthusiasm. "And when + she came out, leading Queen Bess to safety, she looked like an + angel!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel coughed in deprecation. "The simile's off, a + little bit, ain't it? Angels are not supposed to come out of + the flames."</p> + + <p>"At least, Colonel, you'll admit that she's the best and + bravest little girl you ever knew."</p> + + <p>The Colonel smiled. "Yes; but, my boy, this enthusiasm is + alarming." He laughed outright. "It seems to indicate another + conflagration, with Cupid as the incendiary."</p> + + <p>The youth colored. "Oh, nonsense!"</p> + + <p>"Be more careful, Frank," his friend urged, becoming + serious. "She's a dear, simple little thing, not used to the + ways of the world. Don't let her get too fond of you."</p> + + <p>"What do you mean?"</p> + + <p>"See here, my boy. I know you young fellows don't want an + old fool, like me, interfering with your affairs, but I've + taken that little girl right to my heart. I tell you, Frank, + she's too brave and true to be trifled with. She's not that + kind."</p> + + <p>Layson flushed hotly. The intimation, even from the Colonel, + was more than he could bear with patience. "Stop!" he cried. + "You've said enough. What you mean to insinuate is false!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel rose, embarrassed. The youth's earnestness + astonished him. Could it be possible that this scion of an + ancient bluegrass family, this leader of the younger set in one + of the most exclusive circles in Kentucky, could really be + thinking seriously of that untutored mountain-girl? "My boy, + forgive me!" he exclaimed. "I—I didn't understand. I + never dreamed there could be anything—er—serious. I + thought, of course—"</p> + + <p>Frank paced the floor with nervous tread. Other things than + the impending contest for the Ashland Oaks had been worrying + him of late. Since he had left the mountains there had scarcely + been a moment, waking or sleeping, when the face of the sweet + mountain girl who had fascinated him among her rocks and + forests, and had come down to the bluegrass to save not only + his life but the life of his beloved mare, had not been vividly + before him. Untutored she might be, uncouth of speech, + unlearned in all those things, in fact, which the women he had + known had ever held most valuable, but her compensating virtues + had begun to take upon themselves their actual + values—values so overwhelming in their magnitude that her + few lackings grew to seem continually less important in his + mind.</p> + + <p>"Never mind, Colonel," he said slowly, "you can't say + anything to me but what I've said, over and over again, to + myself. I know she's ignorant and uncultured. I know what it + would mean if I should marry her. If I were to choose for a + wife a fashionable girl, whose life is centered in the luxury + which surrounds her, the world would smile approval; but for + Madge, with her true, brave heart and noble thoughts, there + would be only sneers and insults because she happened to be + born up there in the mountains. That is the kind of people we + are down here in the bluegrass." He smiled, somewhat bitterly. + "And I—well, I'm too much like the rest to need any + warning—too much of a coward to think of making her my + wife."</p> + + <p>He sat, dejectedly, in a chair by the long table, and, with + face held between his hands and elbows planted on the board, + looked across it, through the open window, out into the + thronging street with gloomy eyes. For days he had been + fighting battle after battle with himself. He could not make + his mind up as to what he ought to do. He knew he loved the + mountain-girl, but—but—</p> + + <p>"There, there, my boy, I'm sorry," said the Colonel, + sympathetically, apologetically. "Let's drop the subject. The + ladies will be here, soon. Before they come I'll step over to + the office and get the answer from the Dyer Brothers." He rose, + looking at his watch. "It's nearly time it was here. They were + to wire promptly. I'll bring it to you as soon as it comes." He + went to Frank and put his hand upon his shoulder comfortingly. + "Don't worry, my boy. It will all come out, all right. Ahem! I + mean there's nothing the matter with the mare and the sale will + go through."</p> + + <p>"I hope so," said Frank, rising without much show of energy. + He was clearly on the edge of real discouragement. "If it + doesn't—and that assessment to be met—ah, well! + What's the use of worrying? It doesn't help the matter any." He + walked slowly to the window and looked out. "Here come Madge + and Aunt 'Lethe," he announced, "through with their shopping at + last. How different Madge looks from the little mountain-girl I + first knew!" He turned and faced the Colonel. "Ah, if the world + knew her as I do—"</p> + + <p>The Colonel left the room, bound for the telegraph-office, + just before a shrill scream came from the corridor, without, + startling Layson greatly.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dellaw!" the frightened voice said. "Le' me out! Le' me + out!"</p> + + <p>He recognized the voice, at once, as belonging to the girl + whom he had been discussing with the Colonel, and it was so + full of terror that he rushed quickly to the door, prepared to + rescue her from some dire peril.</p> + + <p>"What can be the matter?" he thought, frightened.</p> + + <p>At the door he met Madge, white of face and startled, coming + in.</p> + + <p>"Why, Madge! What is it?"</p> + + <p>She leaned against the writing-table, gasping. It was plain + enough that she had been greatly frightened.</p> + + <p>"Wait till I git my breath," she said; and then: "They got + us into a little room, and, all of a sudden, we started + skallyhootin' fer th' roof—room an' all!"</p> + + <p>Frank fell back, relieved, and trying not to show + amusement.</p> + + <p>"That was the elevator," he explained. "A machine to carry + you upstairs and save you the work of climbing."</p> + + <p>"Dellaw!" exclaimed the girl, not yet entirely calm. "As if + I couldn't walk! Thought we was blowed up by another dynamighty + bomb!"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea entered hurriedly, looking about the room, in + evident distress. At sight of Madge she gave a great sigh of + relief. "My dear, I'm so sorry you were frightened!"</p> + + <p>The girl laughed nervously, pulling herself together. "I + understand, now, Miss 'Lethe, and I'm as cool as a + cucumber."</p> + + <p>There was a group of darkies at the door, and, suddenly, + they all began to grin. Miss 'Lethe knew the sign.</p> + + <p>"The Colonel's coming," she said positively. "Their faces + show it. Look at them?"</p> + + <p>Her guess proved a true prophecy. The Colonel, plainly busy + with absorbing thoughts, was striding along the uneven old + brick sidewalk, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, when the crowd + of darkies, sure of his good-nature, beneficiaries from past + favors, many times, surrounded him, beseeching him for tips + upon the coming races. Very different were these city darkies + from the respectful negroes of the Kentucky plantations of the + time. They swarmed about him in an insistent horde.</p> + + <p>"Who gwine win dat race, Marse Cunnel? Who gwine win dat + race?" they chorussed.</p> + + <p>He stopped and beamed at them good-naturedly.</p> + + <p>"Who's going to win?" said he. "Queen Bess, of course."</p> + + <p>He joined the group, inside, with a bundle in one hand and + an open telegram in the other. "Good morning, ladies. Miss + 'Lethe, you're looking fresh and blooming as you used to twenty + years ago." He tried to catch himself, but failed. "As fresh + and blooming," he corrected, "as usual, Miss 'Lethe." His bow + was very courtly and her own no less so.</p> + + <p>"Frank, my boy," said he, turning to the youthful owner of + Queen Bess, "I've got their answer, and it's all right."</p> + + <p>Frank had been acutely worried. There had been some question + of the sale of the mare to the Dyer Brothers before the fire; + now that this disaster had occurred and stories had been + started, as, of course, he knew they must have been, about + injuries to her, there might be, he had feared, good reason to + expect the celebrated horsemen to withdraw their proposition. + The Colonel's news, therefore, was very welcome.</p> + + <p>"They take the mare?" he asked, all eagerness."</p> + + <p>"N-o," began the Colonel, "but—"</p> + + <p>Frank's face fell, instantly, and his shoulders drooped + despairingly. "Then it's all wrong."</p> + + <p>"Not yet," said the Colonel, "score again." He raised the + telegram and read from it: "'Can't take mare without positive + proof that she's all right. Let her run in the Ashland Oaks, + to-day. If she wins, we take her.'" The Colonel looked up + beamingly. "Do you hear? They take her!"</p> + + <p>The condition which, now, the Dyer brothers made, when, + before this, they had made none, bothered Frank. The telegram + did not elate him quite as much as the old horseman had + supposed it would. "Ah, if she wins!" said he.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea spoke up, eagerly. "Oh, Frank, of course she'll + win."</p> + + <p>"She's <i>got</i> to win!" exclaimed the Colonel with much + emphasis.</p> + + <p>Frank was in a pessimistic mood. "I'm not so sure," said he, + a little gloomily. The strain of the past days had been a hard + trial for the youth. "If that imp of a jockey, Ike, should get + in range of a whiskey bottle—however, he has promised not + to leave his room."</p> + + <p>The Colonel laughed. "Ike leave his room?" he said. "You're + right—he won't; but it will not be his promise that will + keep him from it. He couldn't leave it if he would."</p> + + <p>"Why not?" inquired Miss 'Lethe.</p> + + <p>"Because," the Colonel answered, "I have got his + clothes!"</p> + + <p>"His clothes!" said Frank, astonished.</p> + + <p>"Yes—a Napoleonic device. When I went to see him, this + morning, I found him in bed. I knew how it might be if he got + out, so I saw to it that his meals would reach him promptly, + and borrowed the one suit of clothes he brought with him, under + pretence of needing them to help me order a new jockey-suit for + him to wear in the great race. I've been fair about it, + too—I've got the new clothes for him." He pointed to the + bundle which he had just brought in. "They're in + there—and they'll not disgrace Queen Bess. They're the + best I could get."</p> + + <p>Frank, less interested in the clothes than in the fact that + the jockey, now, was quite secure against temptation, sighed + with satisfaction. "Then he's safe," said he.</p> + + <p>The Colonel nodded, notably well satisfied with his + performance. Miss Alathea, shocked, as she tried to be, by all + this business, adjunct of gambling, every bit of it, yet smiled + admiringly at the big horseman. Only Madge, learned, through + much experience with mountaineers, whose greatest curse is + whisky, in the ways of men addicted to its use, was not + convinced that all was surely well.</p> + + <p>"I'd keep a watch on him, just the same," she said. Now that + she understood the vast importance of this race to Layson her + whole heart was wrapped up in its fortunes. "When a man wants + whisky he gener'ly finds a way to git it."</p> + + <p>"You're right, Madge," Frank agreed. "I think I'll go and + look after him, now."</p> + + <p>He started toward the door just as a knock sounded on it. + When he opened it he found Horace Holton standing waiting for + admittance. The man seemed to be excited.</p> + + <p>"I don't want to intrude, sar," said the ex-merchant in + slaves, "but I come to tell you what you'd orter know. Th' news + of th' fire, last night, hev set ev'rybody wild. They're + lookin' to you, sar, to sw'ar out a warrant for Joe Lorey an' + set th' sheriff on his track."</p> + + <p>Frank came back into the room with the old man, worried by + the news which he had brought. He had been thinking of this + very matter and he was not at all convinced that he wished to + swear a warrant out for Lorey. Finally, after a few seconds of + silent and deep thought, he shook his head. "I want more proof, + first," he declared.</p> + + <p>Holton was astonished and ill-pleased. "What more proof d' + ye want?" he asked. "Ain't it as plain as day that he come down + from th' mountings to get even with you for th' raidin' of his + still? Who else would 'a' done it?"</p> + + <p>Madge was listening with flushed face and frowning brow. She + did not, for a second, think Joe Lorey was the culprit. Her + suspicions had not wholly crystalized, but she had known the + mountain-boy since she had known anyone, and she could not + believe that he would fire a building in which was confined a + dumb and helpless creature. She knew him to be quite as fond of + animals as she was. She believed Holton, also, had some + ulterior reason, which she did not fathom, then, for trying to + fasten suspicion on the lad. In her earnestness, as she + considered these things, she stepped close to the old man, + almost truculently. "That's what I mean to find out," she + declared. "Who else done it."</p> + + <p>Holton was angered by her manner and her opposition. He had + not expected to meet any difficulty in the execution of his + plan to throw the blame of the outrageous crime at Woodlawn, on + the shoulders of the mountaineer. "What have you got to do with + it?" he angrily demanded.</p> + + <p>She was not impressed by his quick show of temper. "Reckon + I've got as much to do with it as you hev," she replied. "Joe + Lorey wouldn't never plan to burn a helpless dumb critter. He + ain't no such coward."</p> + + <p>"Who else had a call to do it?" said the old man, placed, + unexpectedly, on the defensive. "Who else war an enemy of Mr. + Layson's?"</p> + + <p>Madge spoke slowly. She was not sure, at all, whom she was + accusing; her suspicions were indefinite, obscure, but they + were taking form within her mind. "Thar's one as I knows on," + she slowly answered. "It's th' one as told Joe Lorey that Mr. + Frank had set th' revenuers onto him." Her conviction + strengthened as she spoke, and, as she continued, she looked + Holton firmly in the eye and spoke with emphasis. "Show me th' + man as told that lie, an' I'll show you th' scoundrel as tried + to burn Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>Layson liked the spirit of her warm defense of her old + friend, and, himself, knew enough about the moonshiner to make + it seem quite reasonable. He knew that Joe was a crude + creature, but believed, and had good reason to believe, that he + had his code of honor which he would abide by at all cost. It + was impossible for him to feel convinced that this would have + permitted him to set fire to the stable. "Madge, I believe + you're right," said he.</p> + + <p>Holton was nonplussed. Things were not going as he had + expected and had wished them to, at all. "Oh, shore, it war Joe + Lorey," he protested. "It couldn't 'a' been nobody else. I + warns you, here an' now, Layson, that ef you don't set th' law + after him he'll be lynched before to-morrer night."</p> + + <p>Layson was a little angered by the man's persistence. "I'll + see that that doesn't happen," he replied, "and I'll leave no + stone unturned to find the scoundrel who really did the deed, + and have him punished. But I'm not certain that the man will + prove to be Joe Lorey."</p> + + <p>Holton, angry, baffled and astonished, left the room, with a + maddening conviction growing in his mind that things were going + wrong and would continue to go wrong. He almost regretted, now, + that he had yielded to the impulse to set fire to the stable. + If Layson would not let him throw suspicion where he had + intended it should fall, then one part of his plan would have + failed utterly: he would not have put Joe Lorey, who, at + liberty, must ever be a peril to him, from his path; and, + furthermore, if they kept on with investigation, in the end + they might—they might—but he would not let himself + believe that, by any possibility, the real truth could come + out. He assured himself as he stepped out into the crowded + street that he was safe, whether or not the crime was ever + fastened on Joe Lorey.</p> + + <p>Layson, after Holton left, looked around upon the party with + a worried eye. "I can't take this matter up, yet," he declared. + "Until the race is over I can think of nothing else. Colonel, + I'll look after Ike, and then we'll be off to the track."</p> + + <p>"So we will, my boy," the Colonel answered, "so we will. Ah, + what a race it will be!" As Frank went out, the horseman rubbed + his hands with keen anticipations of delight.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Colonel," exclaimed Madge, brought back by this turn in + the conversation to contemplation of the most exciting prospect + which had ever been before her, "won't we have fun?"</p> + + <p>"Won't we?" said the Colonel, very happily.</p> + + <p>But then Miss Alathea spoke. She had listened to all the + talk about the fire, the incendiary, the pursuit, and its + dreadful possibilities of lynching, with the keenest of + distress. Now the Colonel's calm declaration that, presently, + they would be off to the race-track which he had sworn forever + to taboo, shifted her mind suddenly from those unpleasant + topics.</p> + + <p>"Colonel!" she exclaimed, in pained astonishment. "Do you + forget your promise?"</p> + + <p>"Er—er—" the old horseman began and became + speechless.</p> + + <p>Madge was all excitement. "Mr. Frank has told me all about + it," she said gaily. "I kin see it, now—th' grand-stand + filled with folks, th' jockeys ridin' in their bright colors, + th' horses a-champin' an' a-pullin' at their bits—an' + then—th' start!" The girl had dreamed about such scenes + before she had so much as guessed that she might ever witness + one, and now, when she was actually about to go out to the + track, herself, and with her own eyes gaze upon the greatest + race which old Kentucky had known for many a year, it seemed + too good to be true. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, her feet + danced as if they might be in the stirrups, her hands clutched + on imaginary reins. "All off together, a-goin' like th' + lightnin'!" she exclaimed. "Queen Bess a-lyin' back an' lettin' + th' others do th' runnin', Ike never touchin' her with whip nor + spur until th' last, an' then jest liftin' her in as if she had + wings!"</p> + + <p>"Stop! Stop!" cried the Colonel. "Not another word, or I'll + drop dead in my tracks!" Then, cautiously, to Madge: "I say, + little one, couldn't you let me have a word alone with Miss + 'Lethe?"</p> + + <p>The girl nodded wisely. "I understand," said she; and then, + with a quick glance at Miss Alathea, who was not attending, and + an earnest and imploring look at the poor Colonel: "Whatever + you do don't you forget that we are goin' to th' races!" She + left the room.</p> + + <p>Forget! The Colonel was not likely to forget about those + races! He was in deep misery of mind. "Miss 'Lethe?" he said + timidly.</p> + + <p>"Yes, Colonel," said the charming lady, turning toward + him.</p> + + <p>"Miss 'Lethe, have you the remotest idea of the agony I'm + suffering?"</p> + + <p>"Why, Colonel, what's the matter? Aren't you well?" Miss + 'Lethe's keen anxiety was instantaneous.</p> + + <p>"Yes—yes—I'm well—that is, I am now, but I + shouldn't wonder if I'd be dead before night. Miss 'Lethe, when + we made our little arrangement, yesterday, I didn't know that + the sale of the mare, your twenty-five thousand dollars, the + assessment on Frank's stock, everything was going to depend + upon this race. I tell you, if I don't see it, I'm liable to an + attack of heart-disease."</p> + + <p>"Ah, Colonel," said she, sadly, "I see where your heart + really is!"</p> + + <p>"With you, Miss 'Lethe, always with you," he urgently + assured her; but there was pleading in his eyes which really + was pitiful.</p> + + <p>"Remember your solemn promise."</p> + + <p>"But one little race," he begged. "That wouldn't count, + would it? And then swear off forever."</p> + + <p>"No, Colonel; no," she firmly answered, "for if you yield, + this time, I'll know that in the race for your affections the + horse is first, the woman second."</p> + + <p>The Colonel sank dejectedly into a chair. "I can't permit + you to think that," said he. "I'll—keep my promise."</p> + + <p>She went to him, delighted. "Ah, I was sure you would," said + she. "Now I can go and finish my shopping in peace. It's all + for your good, Colonel—for your good." With a happy smile + she left him there, alone.</p> + + <p>"For my good!" exclaimed the Colonel, ruefully. "That's what + the teacher used to say, but the hickory smarted, just the + same. Of course Miss 'Lethe is + first—but—but—the horse is a strong + second!"</p> + + <p>To add to the man's agony, Madge, now, returned, dressed and + ready for the most exciting moments of her life. "I'm all + ready, Colonel," she said eagerly. "Think we'll have good + seats? I do hope I'll be whar I kin see!"</p> + + <p>He would not, yet, disappoint the child; he would not, + yet,—he could not—admit that he, himself, was to + meet with such a bitter disappointment. "You'll see, all + right," he told her, "and so will I." But, after a second's + thought he added: "I will if I can hire a balloon!"</p> + + <p>They heard Neb's excited voice out in the corridor, and, an + instant later, the old darkey hurried in. Immediately the + Colonel knew, from his appearance, that something had gone + seriously wrong.</p> + + <p>"What is it, Neb; what is it?" he demanded.</p> + + <p>"Fo' de Lawd, sech news!" said Neb. "Sech news!"</p> + + <p>"Neb, Neb, what's the matter?" Madge asked, frightened by + his manner.</p> + + <p>"Somebody," said the negro, "done gone smuggle in a bottle + o' whiskey to dat mis'able jockey, Ike, an' he am crazy + drunk!"</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2><br> + + + <p>"Drunk!" cried the Colonel, shocked inexpressibly. "And the + race this afternoon!"</p> + + <p>"Marse Frank said you was to come, suh, an' help sobuh + him."</p> + + <p>Madge approached the Colonel anxiously. "Yes; sober him, if + you have to turn him inside out!"</p> + + <p>"'Fraid he's done on bofe sides, missy; drunk cl'ar + t'rough," said Neb.</p> + + <p>The Colonel grasped his hat. "We'll try, we'll try," he + said. "Oh, whisky, whisky! What a pity anyone can get too much + of so good a thing!"</p> + + <p>"I neber could, suh," Neb replied, "but dat 'ar + jockey—"</p> + + <p>They hurried out together.</p> + + <p>Madge was in intense distress. She knew what this might + mean. If Queen Bess could not run—and she could not, + certainly, without a jockey—the Dyer Brothers would not + buy her, probably; and if she were not sold in time, then + Layson would be quite unable to meet the assessment on his + stock in the coal-mining company. She was by no means certain + what this was, or what the reason for it, but she had heard + talk of it and knew that it was very serious. Almost beside + herself with her anxiety, she could do nothing save sit there + and wait for news. The entrance, even of Barbara Holton, who + came in, now, was a relief to her overtaxed nerves.</p> + + <p>"Say," said she, admitting Barbara nearer to good-fellowship + than she had ever done before, "I reckon you have heered the + news—Ike's drunk—dead drunk!"</p> + + <p>Barbara regarded her excitement with a careful calm. She, + herself, had been excited by the news when it had reached her, + but a moment since, but she would not let this girl know that. + Her rôle was to endeavor to force the mountain girl back + into what she thought her place, at any cost.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I've heard," said she, "and it's too late to get + another jockey, so Queen Bess can't run."</p> + + <p>She had formed a plan, deep in her mind, and had sought the + mountain-girl with the skilful scheme.</p> + + <p>"Then Mr. Frank is goin' to be ruined!" Madge exclaimed, + dejectedly.</p> + + <p>"Not unless you wish it," Barbara replied, looking straight + into her eyes.</p> + + <p>"Dellaw! Me wish that? Just you tell me what you mean!"</p> + + <p>The bluegrass girl stood looking at the mountain maiden with + appraising eye for a few seconds. Then she crossed the room and + stood close by her side, while she tapped upon the table + nervously with her carefully gloved fingers.</p> + + <p>"If this sale fails, as it seems it must," she said, slowly, + "it rests with you whether my father will advance the money to + pay the assessment on that stock of Mr. Layson's."</p> + + <p>"Your father give him the money?" Madge said in + astonishment. "Well, I'd never thought o' that! But what have I + got to do about it?"</p> + + <p>The situation was a hard one, even for the self-possession + of the lowlands girl, who had inherited her father's coolness + in emergency as well as some other traits less desirable. Her + color rose and she tried, earnestly, to gather words which + would express the thought she had in mind without including a + confession of the weakness of her own position. This she could + not, do, however. She walked over to the window, gazed from it, + for a moment, at the passing crowds, and then returned to + Madge, to tell her bluntly: "I want you to go away from + here."</p> + + <p>"Me go away? What for?"</p> + + <p>It was impossible, Barbara now discovered, to make her + meaning wholly clear, without some measure of humiliation. The + first thing that was, obviously, necessary was a statement of + facts as they were, and this must include confession of her own + sore weakness. She hesitated, trying to avoid it, but when she + quite decided that it could not be helped, plunged on with a + perfect frankness. What she wished was immediately to gain her + point. If she must eat a bit of humble pie in order to + accomplish this, why, she would eat it, much as she disliked + the diet.</p> + + <p>"Can't you see that it is you who stand between Frank and + me?" she cried. "If it hadn't been for you, I should have been + his promised wife! If you will go away and never see him again, + I can win him back."</p> + + <p>Madge was dumbfounded. The cold and utter selfishness of the + girl's proposal was astounding. She looked at Barbara with eyes + in which incredulous amazement gave way, slowly, to an + expression of chill wonder. "Say, you don't seem to squander + many thoughts on other people! S'posin' I happen to love him a + little, myself!"</p> + + <p>Barbara laughed scornfully. Sprung from low stock, herself, + but reared in luxury, she had the most complete contempt for + anyone whom circumstances had denied advantages such as she had + known. "You—<i>you</i> love him!" she exclaimed.</p> + + <p>The words had slipped from Madge's lips without forethought, + and, instantly, she very much regretted them; but, now that she + had uttered them she did not so much as think of trying to + recall them or deny their truth. "Yes, and I ain't ashamed of + it," said she. "I <i>do</i> love him—a thousand times + better nor you ever dreamed of."</p> + + <p>"What good will it do you?" asked her rival, coldly. "You + don't suppose he'll ever think of making you his wife! Why, + look at the difference between you and me!"</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Madge, sarcastically, "there <i>is</i> a + powerful sight of differ! You'd be willin' to ruin' him to win + him, while I'd be willin' to gin up my happiness to save + him!"</p> + + <p>Barbara, more in earnest than she ever had been in her life + before, took a quick step toward the mountain girl. "Then prove + it by going away," said she, "and I will see that my father + advances Frank Layson the money he needs." She looked at her + eagerly. "Do you promise?"</p> + + <p>"No," said Madge, with firm decision. "No; I won't."</p> + + <p>"Then it is you who will ruin him."</p> + + <p>While they had been talking an idea had sprung to sudden + flower in Madge's mind. It was a daring, an unheard of plan + that had occurred to her. There were details of it which filled + her with shrinking. She knew that if she put it into practice, + and it ever became generally known, she would be the talk of + Lexington and that not all that talk would be complimentary. + She knew that, after she had carried out the plan, even the man + for whom she thought of doing it might look at her with scorn. + But it was the only plan which her alert and anxious brain + could find which promised anything at all. And if it won, + perhaps—perhaps—he might not scorn her! At any rate + it was a sacrifice, and sacrifice for him was an attractive + thought to her.</p> + + <p>"Me ruin him?" she said to Barbara. "Don't you be too sure! + There is a shorter and a better way nor yours, to save him, an' + I'm goin' to try it!"</p> + + <p>The bluegrass girl, astonished, would have questioned her, + but Madge waited for no questioning. Without another word she + hurried from the room, in a mad search for Colonel + Doolittle.</p> + <center><hr style='width: 45%;'></center> + + <p>From the country round about for miles the planters had come + into Lexington upon their blooded mounts, their wives, + daughters, sweethearts, riding in great carriages. Now and then + a vehicle, coming from some far-away plantation, was drawn by a + gay four-in-hand, and the drivers of such equipages, negroes + always, showed a haughty scorn of their black fellow-men who + travelled humbly on the backs of mules, or trudged the long and + dusty way on foot. Gorgeous were the costumes of the ladies + whom the carriages conveyed; elegant the dress of the gay + gentlemen who rode beside the vehicles on prancing steeds, + gallant escorts of Kentucky's lovely womanhood, prepared, + especially, to watch the carriage-horses when the town was + reached and guard against disasters due to their encounter with + such disturbing and unusual things as crowds, brass-bands and + other marvels of a great occasion.</p> + + <p>Everywhere upon the sidewalks people swarmed like ants, + delighted with the calm perfection of the day, the magnetism of + the crowds, the blare of martial music, the novelty of passing + strangers, and, above all, by the prospect of the great race + which, for weeks, had been the theme of conversation everywhere + throughout the section.</p> + + <p>In the spacious corridors and big bar-rooms of the city's + hostelries the rich men of the section vied with flashily + dressed strangers, in magnitude of wagers, and the gambling + fever spread from these important centers to the very alleys of + the negro quarters. Poor indeed was the old darkey who could + not find two-bits to wager on the race; small, indeed, the + piccaninny who was not wise enough in the sophisticated ways of + games of chance to lay a copper with a comrade or to join a + pool by means of which he and his fellows were enabled to + participate in more important methods of wooing fickle + Fortune.</p> + + <p>Here and there and everywhere were the piccaninnies from + Woodlawn, the Layson place, crying the virtues of the mare they + worshipped and her owner whom they each and everyone adored, + boasting of the wagers they had made, strutting in the + consciousness that ere the moment for the great race came "Unc" + Neb would gather them together to add zest to the occasion with + their brazen instruments and singing. The "Whangdoodles" were + the envy of every colored lad in town who was not of their high + elect, and created, about noon, a great diversion upon one of + the main streets, by gathering, when they were quite certain + that their leader could by no means get at them, and singing on + a corner for more coppers to be wagered on Queen Bess. The + shower of coin which soon rewarded their smooth, well-trained + harmonies, burned holes in their pockets, too, until it was + invested in the only things which, on this day, the lads + thought worth the purchasing—tickets on the race in which + the wondrous mare would run.</p> + + <p>Through the gay crowd old Neb was wandering, disconsolate, + burdened with the melancholy news of the defection of the + miserable jockey, looking, everywhere, for Miss Alathea Layson, + but without success. He stopped upon a corner, weary of the + search and of the woe which weighed him down.</p> + + <p>"Marse Frank," he muttered, "say I war to tell Miss 'Lethe + de bad news; but he didn't tell me how to find a lady out + shoppin'. Needle in a haystack ain't nawthin'! Reckon 'bout de + bes' dat I kin do is stand heah on dis cohnuh an' cotch huh + when she comes back to de hotel."</p> + + <p>He stood there for fully fifteen minutes, peering in an + utter desolation of woe, at every passing face, but finding + nowhere that one which he sought. Then, at a distance, he saw + the Colonel coming. The expression on the horseman's face + amazed him and filled him with an instant hope that something + had turned up to rob the situation of the horror which had + darkened it, for him, ever since he had discovered that the + jockey had disgraced himself.</p> + + <p>"Dar come Marse Cunnel," he exclaimed, in his astonishment, + "<i>a-lookin' mighty happy</i>! Dat ain't right, now; dat ain't + right, unduh de succumstances."</p> + + <p>He hurried to the Colonel, who, instead of seeming + sorrowful, discouraged, wroth, beamed at him with a genial + eye.</p> + + <p>"What's the matter, Neb?" he asked. "You look like a + funeral!"</p> + + <p>"Dat's de way I feel, suh; wid no jockey fo' Queen Bess an' + Marse Frank good as ruined."</p> + + <p>"Neb," said the Colonel, coolly, "you don't mean to be a + liar, but you are one."</p> + + <p>"What?" cried the darkey in delight. "Oh Marse Cunnel, call + me anyt'ing ef tain't so about de mare!"</p> + + <p>"Of course it isn't," said the Colonel happily. "I have + found a jockey, Neb; a jockey."</p> + + <p>"Praise de Lawd!" cried the old negro.</p> + + <p>"One of the best," the Colonel went on, gaily. "Just come in + from the—from the east. I engaged him at once, so you get + word to Frank. In five minutes we'll be on our way out to the + track."</p> + + <p>Neb's spirits had instantly revived. Six inches droop was + gone from his old shoulders. "It'll be de grandest race eber + run in ol' Kentucky! Lawsy, Cunnel, won't it tickle you to + death to see Queen Bess romp in a winnuh?"</p> + + <p>Instantly the Colonel's high elation faded. More than the + droop which had been in Neb's shoulders now oppressed the + horseman's. His face clouded. "There <i>he</i> goes, too!" he + cried. "Neb, another word like that and I shall brain you! Do + you hear me? I—I shan't be there!"</p> + + <p>"Not be dar!" Neb exclaimed. "Kain't swaller dat, suh. Ef + you should miss dat race, why, you'd drop daid."</p> + + <p>"I believe you, Neb—believe you. I say, Neb, look + here. I have promised on the honor of a Kentuckian, never to + enter another race-track. I must keep my word; but, for the + Lord's sake, isn't there a knot-hole, that you know of, + somewhere in the fence, which would let me see the race without + going inside?"</p> + + <p>Neb knew that race-track as he knew the plot of hard-trodden + ground before the little cabin where he had been born back of + the big house out at Woodlawn. Many a race had he seen + surreptitiously when he had not funds to buy admission to the + track. He grinned, remembering talk which he had heard between + the Colonel and Miss 'Lethe, and understanding, now. He + laughed. "Oh, I yi!" he cried. "Marse Cunnel, dar ain't + nobody'll git ahead of you! You bet dar is a knot-hole, not fur + off frum de gran'-stan', neither, an' a tree, too, you could + climb, stan's mighty handy."</p> + + <p>The Colonel groaned. "I climb a tree to peek above a + race-track fence!" said he. "No; never. They'd think I was + trying to save my admission fee! The knot-hole will have to do + for me, Neb. You've saved me. Heaven bless you! Have a + cigar—they're good."</p> + + <p>"T'ankee, suh," said Neb, reaching for the weed the Colonel + now held toward him. "Lawsy, ain't dat jus' a whoppuh? Whah + you-all git sech mon'sous big cigahs as dat?"</p> + + <p>"I'm only smoking half as many, now, so I get 'em double + size," the Colonel answered, sighing but not wholly + miserable.</p> + + <p>Neb did not see the humor of this detail. He was thinking of + the race and of Queen Bess. "Hooray fo' de Cunnel!" he + exclaimed, irrelevantly, to a little group of colored men who + had been gathering. "Whatever he says yo' kin gamble on. Lawsy, + ain't I glad I's got my money on Queen Bess? Golly, won't Marse + Holton jes' feel cheap when he done heahs dis news? Seen him + down dar in de pool-room, not so long ago, a-puttin' up his + money plumb against Queen Bess. Goin' to lose it, suah, he + will." He went off, muttering, and shaking his old head. + "Somehow I jes' feels it in mah bones dat he ain't true to + Marse Frank, yessuh. If I evah fin's it out fo' suah, I'll jes' + <i>paralyse</i> him!"</p> + + <p>He had quite forgotten that he had come out to find Miss + Alathea, and was not looking for her when he actually stumbled + into her.</p> + + <p>"Why, Neb, what are you doing?" she said, recoiling.</p> + + <p>"Pahdon, pahdon, please, Miss 'Lethe," said the negro. "I + was thinkin' of de sweet bimeby an' waitin' fo' to tell de news + to you—fust dat Ike got drunk an' Marse Frank war gwine + hab to scratch de mare—"</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Then Frank—why, he'll lose + everything!"</p> + + <p>"Hol' on, Miss 'Lethe; dat de fust half, only. Secon' half + am dat Marse Cunnel found a jockey an' Queen Bess am gwine ter + run."</p> + + <p>"Bless his heart!" she cried. "I wonder if it's wrong for me + to pray that that jockey will win." She looked, almost + embarrassed at the aged negro for a moment, and then, mustering + up courage, said: "Neb, look here. I'm ashamed to acknowledge + so much interest in a horse-race, but it seems as if I can't + wait to hear of the result."</p> + + <p>"Lawsy, I don't blame you, none; feel dat way mahse'f."</p> + + <p>"I must know the result the instant the race is + decided."</p> + + <p>"Send yo' wuhd right off, Miss 'Lethe."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I can't wait for that. Neb, I never did such a thing + before and never will again, and, even now, I won't enter a + race-track; but, Neb, isn't there some place outside the fence + where I could watch the race without actually going in?"</p> + + <p>Neb doubled up in silent laughter. The old negro was + enjoying life, exceedingly, on this, the day, which, for a + time, had seemed so full of gloom. The white folks were quite + at his mercy. "You bet dar is," said he, "a knot-hole not fur + f'm de gran'-stan', an' a tree what you could climb, right + handy."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea was not favorable to the thought of climbing + trees, and said so. "No, no; the knot-hole will be far better + for me."</p> + + <p>"But, Miss 'Lethe, why, de Cunnel—"</p> + + <p>She did not let him make his explanation. "Sh! Sh!" she + hissed. "Not a word of this to him, or anyone! Will you show + me, when the time comes?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'll show you," Neb replied, and before he had a chance + to add a word she had hurried off into the crowd.</p> + + <p>"I war gwine to tell her dat de Cunnel'd be dar, too, but + she wouldn't wait to heah. Wal, I reckon she'll jes' fin' 'im + when she git dar."</p> + + <p>Down the street his piccaninny band came straggling, looking + for him.</p> + + <p>"Hol' on, chillun; hol' on," he cried, and joined them. "Now + yo' lissen. Yo' is not to make a squawk until the end of de + Ashlan' Oaks. Yo's to sabe yo' bref to honuh ouah Queen Bess. + If she wins, yo' staht in playin' 'Dixie' as yo' nevuh played + afo'. If she loses yo's to play, real slow an' mo'nful, + 'Massa's in de Col', Col', Groun'.'"</p> + + <p>In the meantime the Colonel, in a quiet spot, had joined the + jockey who had been discovered to take the place of drunken + Ike. The unknown rider was wrapped closely in an ulster, from + beneath which riding boots, unusually small, peeped, now and + then, as the feet within them moved somewhat nervously + about.</p> + + <p>"All right, are you?" he inquired.</p> + + <p>"I ain't afeared," the jockey answered, "but I'm powerful + nervous. Never had on clo'es like these before, an'—don't + you look at me!"</p> + + <p>Strange talk, this was, for the jockey who was soon to ride + Queen Bess for the capture of the Ashland Oaks and the + salvation of the fortune of the house of Layson!</p> + + <p>"Don't look at you!" said the Colonel, in expostulation, + and, in the next sentence, revealed a secret which he was + guarding carefully from everyone. "See here, little girl, + you've got to face thousands and not wince, and you can't ride + in that overcoat, either."</p> + + <p>But the jockey wrapped the coat still tighter. "Oh, sho! + That can't make no differ—just a little coat!"</p> + + <p>"I tell you it's impossible. It would give the game away at + once. Come, take it off. Practice up on me."</p> + + <p>The jockey shivered nervously. "Reckon I will hev to. Say, + turn your back till I am ready."</p> + + <p>The Colonel turned his back, somewhat impatiently. The time + was getting short. "All right, but hurry up."</p> + + <p>The jockey pulled the long coat partly off, then, in a + panic, shrugged it on again. "Oh, now, you're lookin'!"</p> + + <p>"Not a wink," declared the Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Wal, here goes!" This time the coat came wholly off and the + jockey who had been discovered to take the place of drunken Ike + stood quite revealed. The voice which warned the Colonel of + this was a faint and faltering one. "Now," it said timidly.</p> + + <p>The Colonel turned. "Hurrah!"</p> + + <p>The jockey held the coat up in a panic.</p> + + <p>"See here, now—none o' that!" the Colonel warned. + "Give it to me." He reached his hand out for the coat, and, + reluctantly, the jockey let him take it.</p> + + <p>There stood the trimmest and most graceful figure ever + garbed in racing blouse, knickers, boots and cap, with flushed + face, dilating, frightened eyes and hands not a little + tremulous. The girl who had told Barbara Holton that she would + not hesitate to make a sacrifice to save the man she loved was + making one—a very great one—the sacrifice of what, + her whole life long, she had considered fitting woman's + modesty. Queen Bess must win and there was no one else to ride + her. The mountain-girl shrank from the thought of going, thus, + before a multitude, as shyly as would the most highly educated + and most socially precise girl in the grand-stand, near, which, + now, was filling with the gallantry and beauty of Kentucky; but + she did not let her nervous tremors conquer her. There was no + other way to save the day for Layson, and, somehow, the day + must certainly be saved.</p> + + <p>The Colonel, now, spoke very seriously as she stood there, + shrinking from his gaze. There was not a smile upon his face. + It was plain that he regarded the whole matter with the utmost + gravity.</p> + + <p>"Now, little one, you begin to realize what this means," + said he. "Or—no, you don't and I've got to be square with + you if it spoils the prettiest horse-race ever seen in old + Kentucky. I tell you, my dear child, we're mighty particular + about our women, down here in the bluegrass. We'd think it an + eternal shame and a disgrace forever for one of them to ride a + public race in a costume like the one that you have on, and it + would mean not less than social ruin to the man that married + her. If anyone should find it out, what you are going to do + might stand between you and your happiness. I'm warning you + because I know I ought to. Think it over and then tell me if + you're willing to face it—willing to take all the + risks."</p> + + <p>"I don't need to think it over," Madge said firmly. "I said + as I'd gin up my happiness to save him, an' I will. Colonel, + I've got on my uniform, I've enlisted for th' war, an' I am + goin' to fight it through!"</p> + + <p>"A thoroughbred!" he cried. "A thoroughbred, and I always + said it of you. Come on, little one."</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2><br> + + + <p>Brilliant as a garden of flowers was the grand-stand where + the fairest of old Kentucky's wondrous women were as numerous + as were her gallant men; full of handsome figures were the + lawns, where old Kentucky's youth and manhood strolled and + smoked and gossipped of the day's great race to come; like an + ebon sea in storm was the great crowd of blacks which in + certain well-defined limits crowded to the rail about the + track. The blare of the band kept the air a-tremble almost + constantly, the confused, uneven murmur of a great crowd filled + the pauses between brazen outbursts. Everywhere was life and + gayety, intense excitement, as the moment for the starting of + the famous Ashland Oaks approached. The cries of the + book-makers rose, strident, from the betting-ring; on the + tracks the jockeys, exercising or trying out their mounts, + were, each after his own kind, preparing for the struggle of + their lives; stable-boys, and the hundred other species of + race-track hangers-on which swarm at such times to the front, + were everywhere in evidence; touts with shifty eyes slipped, + here and there, among the sightseers, looking for some + credulous one who might be willing to pay well for doubtful + information. Every minute amidst the throng the words "Queen + Bess" might be heard at any chosen point, as the crowd + gossipped eagerly about the horse which had been looked on as + the favorite, but which, many positively now declared, had been + so injured in the fire that she would run but poorly in the + race which, it had been thought, would be the most sensational + effort of her life.</p> + + <p>Frank, nervous and excited, stood in the paddock, watch in + hand, with old Neb by his side.</p> + + <p>"Why doesn't that jockey come?" he asked, for the hundredth + time, almost beside himself with worry as the moments slipped + away.</p> + + <p>"He'll come, Marse Frank," said Neb. "You kin gamble on de + Cunnel."</p> + + <p>"If I only knew what kind of a jockey he is!" Then, as + Horace Holton came up, smiling greetings: "Holton, how's the + betting?"</p> + + <p>"Can't you hear?" said Holton, as a vagrant breeze brought + to their ears bits of the vocal tumult from the + betting-ring.</p> + + <p>"Ten to nine against Queen Bess," Frank heard a voice call + loudly, although the crowd's great murmur made the words come + indistinctly to his ears. "Even on Catalpa," was the next + penetrating cry, and then: "Two to one, Evangeline!"</p> + + <p>The young owner shuddered. Could it be possible that Neb was + right and that the Colonel's jockey would appear on time, or + were the dire predictions of defeat which, he knew, were being + made everywhere around him, true prophecies? Tales of all but + fatal injuries to the handsome mare had been freely circulated, + and, despite denials in the newspapers, were still alive, and + these he knew to be quite false; but he knew of the other dire + disaster—the defection of his jockey—of which the + crowd was also well aware. He had not the slightest doubt that + if Queen Bess should run at all she would do all that her best + friends expected of her and more; but it seemed to him a + possibility that he would find it necessary, at the last + minute, to withdraw her from the race entirely, for sheer lack + of a rider.</p> + + <p>Again the breeze brought from the betting-ring the loud + shouts of the book-makers. The message that they told was most + depressing to the worried owner.</p> + + <p>"Why, this morning she was the favorite," he said, "and now + the odds are all against her!"</p> + + <p>Holton nodded. "On the strength o' this jockey as nobody + knows. Got any money on, yourself, Layson?"</p> + + <p>"Not a cent. I've enough at stake, already."</p> + + <p>Holton smiled unpleasantly, intimating that Frank's lack of + betting on his horse was proof positive that the worst tales + told were true. "That settles it. The bookies are right. Th' + mare's no chance with a new jockey, an' you know it."</p> + + <p>"If I were betting," said Frank angrily, "I'd back her with + every dollar that I have on earth."</p> + + <p>Holton smiled at him unpleasantly. "I say she can't win and + you know it." He waited for some answer from the anxious owner, + but received none. Then, taking out his check-book: "See + here—I'll bet you five-thousand even against her!"</p> + + <p>Frank, annoyed but helpless, shook his head. "I haven't the + money," he admitted.</p> + + <p>"You ain't got the sand!" said Holton, aggravatingly.</p> + + <p>Frank turned from him angrily, and old Neb, who had + listened, stepped quickly up to him. "Marse Frank," he pleaded, + "don' yo' let dat white-trash bluff yo'!" The old darkey's + voice was tremulous, his eyes were moist with feeling for his + humiliated master. A great resolve thrilled through him. "See + heah, honey, I's be'n sabin' all mah life. I's got a pile o' + money in de bank. Take it all, now, honey, an' bet it on Queen + Bess."</p> + + <p>Frank shook his head, but smiled at the old darkey, touched + alike by his devotion to himself and confidence in the mare + they both loved. "No, no, Neb; not your money," he replied. He + stood in deep thought, for a moment, tapping the ground + nervously with worried foot. "But I'll back the mare for all + <i>I'm</i> worth!" he finally declared. "If she loses, I'm a + ruined man, anyway." He turned, now, to Holton. "Holton," he + said, "I've got just three thousand dollars in the bank. I'll + put it all on Queen Bess against your five-thousand."</p> + + <p>It seemed, almost, as if Holton had been waiting for this + offer, for his smile broadened as he found that he had goaded + Layson into making it. "I'll take it," he said quickly, and + then, turning to the crowd about them, among which were some of + the state's best citizens, he added: "Gentlemen, you're + witnesses. Three-thousand against five-thousand on Queen + Bess."</p> + + <p>They nodded, and not one of them but looked at Layson with + commiseration, as at a man foredoomed to bitter + disappointment.</p> + + <p>Neb, however, grinned at Holton impishly. "Yes; you'll look + mighty sick when yo' hab to pay it, too."</p> + + <p>From the judge's stand rang out the silvery notes of a + quavering bugle-call, and Holton smiled unpleasantly.</p> + + <p>"The call to th' post," said he, "an' whar's your + jockey?"</p> + + <p>"He'll be here on time," said Frank, voicing a confidence + which it was hard for him to feel. He turned, then, to the + darkey. "Neb, bring out Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>The excitement, all around them, was intensifying, every + minute. Jockeys, now, were mounting their horses, and riding + off for the short canter to the judges' stand. As each appeared + in view of the great crowd in and about the grand-stand a + mighty shout arose.</p> + + <p>Holton's smile was broadening. "If that jockey doesn't show + up mighty quick," he sneered, "you're out of the race."</p> + + <p>Just as he spoke old Neb returned, with the superb mare + behind him, saddled, bridled, ready for the race, fretting at + her bit, impatient of the crowds and noise.</p> + + <p>"Who knows whether he's coming, at all?" said Holton, a bit + dashed at sight of the fine mare's superb condition, but still + sneering. "Nobody's seen him."</p> + + <p>Neb looked off toward the weighing-room. "Yo' 're wrong," he + shouted, capering with amazing spryness for one whose limbs + were old and stiff, "fo' heah he comes!"</p> + + <p>Every member of the party turned, in haste, to look in the + direction whence Neb pointed.</p> + + <p>They saw a slight, graceful figure, dressed in the brilliant + colors of the Layson stable, which, without so much as glancing + at them, ran to Queen Bess and took a place upon the far side + of the mare, where, stooping as if to look carefully to the + saddle-girths, its face was quickly hidden. But, even as the + jockey stooped, one of his hands held out to Frank, across the + saddle, a little folded paper.</p> + + <p>Without paying much attention to the jockey, Layson took + this note and hastily unfolded it. "It's from the Colonel," he + announced. "I knew he'd never fail me."</p> + + <p>Then he read, aloud, so all might hear:</p> + + <p>"This will be handed to you by a jockey I have just engaged. + He comes from the east and is highly recommended. I know his + endorser. Regretting that the promise of a Kentuckian prevents + me from being with you, I am yours regretfully, on the outside, + SANDUSKY DOOLITTLE."</p> + + <p>"It's all right!" Frank shouted, gleefully, and then, to the + strange jockey: "Quick, on the mare and off to the post!"</p> + + <p>Without a word, without a second's pause, Madge, for the + unknown jockey was, of course, the little mountain girl, jumped + upon Queen Bess and hastily rode off, to be greeted, with a + mighty outburst of cheering and applause as the favorite + appeared before the waiting crowds in unmistakably fine + condition and mounted by a rider whose every movement showed a + perfect knowledge of the work and complete sympathy with the + beautiful animal he rode.</p> + <center><hr style="width: 45%;"></center> + + <p>Doomed by his promise on the honor of a gentleman to Miss + Alathea, to witnessing the race from the outside, if he + witnessed it at all, Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, fully aware of + the unusual interest of the moments, some account of which has + just been made, was sunk in melancholy after he had sent Madge + through the magic portals, with explicit instructions as to + exactly what to do when once she was safe inside. He was + breathing hard from the mere exertion of preventing his unruly + feet from running to the gate, of keeping his unruly hand from + diving deep into his pocket for the entrance fee. These + preventions he accomplished, though, without once really + weakening, and was safe at a good distance from the tempting + gate when the crowd within began to shout as the horses were + brought out.</p> + + <p>"There, they're bringing out the horses!" he exclaimed, + unhappily. He set his jaws as might one who, with a great + effort, abstains from food when famishing. "I didn't go in!" he + muttered. "I've kept my word, though it has nearly finished + me!"</p> + + <p>Anxiously, if hurriedly, he searched along the fence for the + knot-hole Neb had told him of. Twice, in his great eagerness, + he passed it by, but, on the third inspection he discovered it, + and placed his eye to it. In a moment he backed away, + dejectedly. "I can't see worth a cent!" he bitterly complained. + "It's not hole enough for me!" Lost, in his disappointment, + even to shame for the wretched pun, he straightened up, + surveying his immediate surroundings.</p> + + <p>Close by was the tree which Neb had also spoken of. He + examined it with an appraising eye, then looked about to see + what spectators were near. No one was in sight save a pair of + piccaninnies, down the fence a hundred yards or so, with eyes + glued to other knot-holes or to cracks.</p> + + <p>"To the deuce with dignity!" he cried. "I'll just inspect + that tree."</p> + + <p>He was doing this with care, when, breathless and eager, a + lady hurried toward him. As the tree intervened between them he + did not see her coming, nor did she note his presence. It would + have been quite plain to anyone who had observed her that she + was engaged upon a quest much like that which he had pursued, + for she carefully inspected each plank in the high fence, as, + slowly and cautiously lest she should pass unheeded that which + she was seeking eagerly, she made her way in his direction.</p> + + <p>"Everybody's at the races," she thought, comforting herself. + "I'm perfectly safe. No one in the world will see me.... But + where <i>is</i> that blessed knot-hole?"</p> + + <p>Suddenly her eye chanced on it, and, an instant later, was + applied to it, the while the Colonel paused, with his back to + her, still anxiously inspecting the tree.</p> + + <p>"Ah!" said Miss Alathea, aloud, as she caught a glimpse of + something interesting inside the fence.</p> + + <p>Instantly the Colonel turned and looked down at her, + startled. Then: "A woman!" he exclaimed, beneath his breath. "A + woman at my knot-hole!"</p> + + <p>Firmly determined to maintain his right he sternly + approached her.</p> + + <p>"Madam!" he exclaimed, as incensed by her usurpation of the + knot-hole as he would have been, at ordinary times, by theft of + watch or pocket-book, and tapped her lightly on the + shoulder.</p> + + <p>She shrank back from the knot-hole, startled and indignant. + "Sir!" she cried, and then, as he recognized her, she turned + and saw who had addressed her.</p> + + <p>"Colonel Sandusky Doolittle!" she exclaimed, amazed.</p> + + <p>"Miss Alathea Layson!" cried the Colonel, equally amazed, at + first, but winding up his gesture of surprise with a low and + courtly bow.</p> + + <p>"Colonel, what are you doing here?"</p> + + <p>"Madame," he countered, "what are <i>you</i> doing + here?"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea's dignity forsook her. "Colonel," she + confessed, "I couldn't wait to hear the result."</p> + + <p>"No more could I," he somewhat sheepishly admitted.</p> + + <p>"But I didn't enter the race-track," she explained in + haste.</p> + + <p>"I was equally firm."</p> + + <p>"And Neb told me of this knot-hole."</p> + + <p>"The rascal—he told me of it, too."</p> + + <p>"Colonel," she said, smiling, "we must forgive each other. + If you really must look, there is the knot-hole."</p> + + <p>"No, Miss 'Lethe," he said gallantly, "<i>I</i> resign the + knot-hole to you. I shall climb the tree." Without delay (for + sounds from the barrier's far side hinted to his practiced ear + that matters of much moment were progressing, there) he + scrambled with much more difficulty than dignity into the + spreading crotch.</p> + + <p>"Oh, be careful Colonel!" Miss Alathea cried, alarmed. + "Don't break your neck!" But she added, as an afterthought: + "But be sure to get where you can see."</p> + + <p>"Ah, what a gallant sight!" he cried as he found himself in + a position whence he could command a view of the exciting scene + within the barrier. "There's Catalpa ... and Evangeline ... and + ... yes, there is Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>A burst of cheering rose from the crowd within.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea was on tip-toe with excitement. "What's that?" + she begged.</p> + + <p>"A false start," he answered, scarcely even glancing down at + her. "They'll make it this time, though," he added, and she + could see his knuckles whiten with the strain as he gripped a + rough limb of the tree with vise-like fingers.</p> + + <p>A moment later and the shouting became a very tempest of + sound.</p> + + <p>"They're off!" he cried, staring through his field glasses + in an excitement which promised, if he did not curb it, to send + him tumbling from his shaky foothold. "Oh, what a splendid + start!"</p> + + <p>"Who's ahead?" inquired Miss Alathea, very much excited. + "Colonel, who's ahead?"</p> + + <p>"Catalpa sets the pace, the others lying well back."</p> + + <p>"Why doesn't Queen Bess come to the front?" Miss Alathea + cried, as if he were to blame for the disquieting news he had + reported to her. "Oh," she exclaimed, to the Colonel's great + astonishment, "if I were only on that mare!"</p> + + <p>"At the half," the Colonel shouted, beside himself with + worry, "Evangeline takes the lead ... Catalpa next ... the rest + are bunched."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea, at the moment, was trying to see + satisfactorily, through the very knot-hole which the Colonel + had abandoned. She sprang from it hastily, however, and to the + foot of the tree which acted as his pedestal, when he + exclaimed:</p> + + <p>"Oh, great heavens! There's a fall ... a jam ... and Queen + Bess is left behind three lengths!" He leaned so far out that + he heard the limb beneath him crack, and, in hastening to a + firmer footing, almost lost his balance. This startled him, + and, for an instant, took his eager gaze away from the + struggling horses on the track within, but he quickly regained + poise. "She hasn't the ghost of a show!" he cried, + disheartened. "Look! Look!"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea hugged the tree and looked, not at the horses, + for that was quite impossible, but up at him with wide, + imploring eyes.</p> + + <p>"She's at it again, though, now!" he cried. "It's beyond + anything mortal, but she's gaining ... gaining!"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea's excitement now was every bit as great as his. + She had never seen a race in all her life, yet, now, she + performed there at the foot of the great tree, a series of + evolution not unlike those of many a "rooter" at the track + within. She jumped up and down upon her toe's, clenched her + hands and cried: "Oh, keep it up! Keep it up!"</p> + + <p>"At the three-quarters she's only five lengths behind the + leader and still gaming!" cried the Colonel, in excited + optimism.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea could no longer endure the agony of waiting on + the ground for his reports. Instead she tried to scramble to + his side, but, failing, utterly, to accomplish this unaided, + held her hands up to him, crying: "Oh, pull, pull! I can't + stand it! I've just got to see!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel turned upon his perch and looked down at her, + smiling. "Coming up, Miss 'Lethe?" he inquired. "All right, + don't break your neck, but get where you can see." Hastily he + gave her such assistance as his absorbed attention to the + events within the fence permitted, and, with a wild scramble, + she found herself close by his side, holding half to him, half + to a curving branch.</p> + + <p>"Look! Look!" he cried, again. "In the stretch! Her head is + at Catalpa's crupper ... now at her saddle-bow ... but she + can't gain another inch. Still ... yes ... yes ... she lifts + her! See!... See!... Great God! She wins!"</p> + + <p>Within the fence wild pandemonium broke loose. The crowd + went mad with shouting. Hats, handkerchiefs, canes, umbrellas, + flew into the air as if blown upward by the mad explosion of + the crowd's enthusiasm. The band was playing "Dixie."</p> + + <p>Frank and Neb rushed forward to lift from the winner the + victorious jockey, who by such superb riding as that track had + never seen before, had snatched victory from defeat after the + mare had been delayed in the bad pocket which, from his distant + point of survey, had alarmed the Colonel. The jockey eluded + them, however and, with face averted, hurried with the splendid + mare back to the paddock, and there disappeared, disregarding + the crowd's wild shouts of acclamation.</p> + + <p>Holton stood near Frank, white-faced and angry. Old Neb, as + he ran beside Queen Bess, looked back at him and + grinned.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2><br> + + + <p>Miss Alathea, on the day after the great race, sat waiting + for the Colonel in the handsome old library of Woodlawn, + worrying about her unconventionalities of the preceding day. + When she heard his voice, out in the hall, telling Neb to carry + certain bundles into the library and knew, of course, that he + would follow after them almost immediately, her heart throbbed + fiercely in her bosom. She shrank back into a window recess, + too embarrassed to face him without first pausing to gather up + her courage.</p> + + <p>"Put 'em there, Neb," said the Colonel, pointing to the + table, and then, after the packages had been arranged to suit + him: "Here, take this, and drink to the jockey that rode Queen + Bess."</p> + + <p>"T'ankee, Marse Cunnel, t'ankee," Neb replied, pocketing the + tip. "Oh, warn't it gran'? An' yo' climbed de tree, arter + all!"</p> + + <p>"Sh! Clear out, you rascal!"</p> + + <p>Neb did not go at once, but, with the boldness of an old and + privileged retainer, stood there, chuckling. "Climbed de tree!" + he gurgled. "An' so did Miss 'Lethe!"</p> + + <p>With this he slapped his knee, and, laughing boisterously, + left the room as the embarrassed lady of the house stepped out + of her concealment.</p> + + <p>"Ah, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel, "good morning."</p> + + <p>"I expected you back from Lexington last night, Colonel." + She looked at him reproachfully.</p> + + <p>"Stayed over to celebrate, my dear," the Colonel answered. + "Stayed to celebrate the victory." With a beaming face he + advanced upon the lady, plainly planning an embrace.</p> + + <p>But she eluded him. "Wait a moment, Colonel. On what did you + celebrate?"</p> + + <p>The Colonel laughed. "Oh, I didn't forget. I celebrated on + ginger-ale and soda-pop."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea smiled with happy satisfaction. She eluded him + no longer, but, herself, went to him and bestowed the kiss.</p> + + <p>"I doubt if my stomach ever recovers from the insult," said + the Colonel, delighted by the kiss but remembering the mildness + of the beverages which had marked his jubilation. "Miss 'Lethe, + a julep—a mint-julep—before I perish."</p> + + <p>With a smile she crossed the room to where, upon the + side-board (a side-board is an adjunct of all well-regulated + libraries in old Kentucky), a snowy damask cloth concealed + glorious somethings. With a graceful sweep she took it from + them and revealed three juleps in their glory of green-crowns. + "Look, Colonel!"</p> + + <p>"Three! Great heavens!" the Colonel cried, delighted. He + took one and disposed of it in haste.</p> + + <p>"I mixed them myself," Miss 'Lethe said.</p> + + <p>The Colonel drank another, but less rapidly.</p> + + <p>"Remember," she said, warningly, "three and no more!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, yes," he granted. "I must save the other one." It was + difficult to sip it, for Miss Alathea's juleps were like nectar + to his thirsty palate, but he restrained himself and drank of + this last ambrosial glass with great deliberation, trying to + make it last as long as possible.</p> + + <p>"What are all those bundles, Colonel?" asked Miss Alathea, + pointing to the packages which old Neb had brought in.</p> + + <p>"They're for Madge. She bought them yesterday." He sighed. + "Ah, will you ever forget yesterday?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't speak of it!"</p> + + <p>"Can't help it." The Colonel waxed enthusiastic at the mere + memory of the great occasion. "Whoopee!" he cried. "What a race + it was!"</p> + + <p>"To think," said Miss Alathea, "that + I—<i>I</i>—should enter a race-track!"</p> + + <p>"To think that <i>I</i>—should stay out of one!"</p> + + <p>"It was all your fault, Colonel," said Miss Alathea. "In + your excitement after the race you grasped my hand and I was + compelled to follow."</p> + + <p>"How strange!" exclaimed the Colonel, slowly, with a slight + smile tickling at the corners of his mouth. "At times I fancied + you were in the lead, I following."</p> + + <p>"Colonel," said the lady slowly, "perhaps I might as well + confess. I've made a discovery. The sin isn't so much in + looking at the horses run—it's in betting on them. That's + where souls are lost."</p> + + <p>"And likewise money," said the Colonel, nodding, + gravely.</p> + + <p>"So, Colonel, if you'll promise not to bet, I've no + objection to your attending the races in moderation."</p> + + <p>In delighted amazement the Colonel forgot that that last + julep could be brought to a quick end by hurried management and + took a hasty and a mammoth swallow. "What!" he cried. "Can I + believe it? Miss 'Lethe, you're an angel! It's the last drop in + my cup of happiness!"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea shyly smiled—smiled, indeed, a bit + shame-facedly. "There's one condition, Colonel—that you + take me along—yes, to watch over you."</p> + + <p>"Take you with me?" said the Colonel. He paused in puzzled + contemplation of her for an instant. "Oh, I catch on. You'll go + with the children to see the animals!" He laughed. "You rather + like it." He became enthusiastic. "No more knot-holes or trees + for us! At last—two souls with but a single thought, two + hearts that beat when Queen Bess won! Here's to our future + happiness!"</p> + + <p>He raised the glass and would have drunk from it, but, now, + alas! the glass was empty. It surprised and grieved him, but, + when Miss Alathea held her hand out, quietly, for the vessel + which had held the final julep but which now held it no longer, + he yielded it up gracefully nor asked her to refill it.</p> + + <p>As Miss Alathea placed the empty glass upon the side-board + Madge entered from the hallway. She ran up to the Colonel. "I + heard you'd come," she said, "an' couldn't wait. Say, air it + all fixed about Queen Bess?"</p> + + <p>"Fixed?" cried the gallant horseman. "Well I should remark! + Queen Bess is sold and paid for and a draft for the assessment + forwarded to the Company. Inside of a year Frank will have the + income of a prince."</p> + + <p>"All," said Miss Alathea, "owing to that mysterious jockey + who disappeared immediately after the race. Oh, I'd like to + kiss that boy!"</p> + + <p>"If you did, I should not be jealous," said the Colonel with + an air of generosity.</p> + + <p>"Miss 'Lethe, kiss me. Won't I do as well?" Madge asked, + going to her.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea kissed her, but was still thinking of the + unknown jockey, who, in the nick of time, had come from + nowhere, materialized from nothing, to save the day for Frank + by riding Queen Bess to victory. "I feel as if I must know his + name," she said. "Madge, help me persuade the Colonel to tell + us." She went to him and petted him. "Colonel, you will not + refuse me!"</p> + + <p>Madge looked at him apprehensively, warningly. "An' I reckon + you won't refuse me, Colonel." Then, going close to him, she + whispered: "Remember, mum's the word!"</p> + + <p>"Away, you tempters, away!" the Colonel cried, and waved + them from him. "It's a professional secret, and I've promised + to keep it on the honor of a Kentucky gentleman—just as I + promised you, Miss 'Lethe."</p> + + <p>"As you promised me? That's enough, Colonel—not + another word!"</p> + + <p>Madge nodded, smilingly. "That's right, Colonel. Mustn't + break your word." Just then she caught sight of the bundles + which the Colonel had had Neb bring in. "Oh, are them my + bundles, Colonel?"</p> + + <p>"Every one of them."</p> + + <p>The girl hurried to the mysteriously fascinating packages + and began investigation of their contents. "Thank ye, thank + ye!" she exclaimed, while she was busy with the wrappings. + "Awful good of you to bring 'em." Then, to Miss Alathea in + explanation: "Things I bought yesterday, Miss 'Lethe, all by + myself. Jus' went wild. Reckon I'll let you an' th' Colonel see + 'em." She took a large, dressed doll out of its wrappings. + "Look at that!"</p> + + <p>"What a beauty!" cried the Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Can talk, too." Madge pressed the wondrous puppet's shirred + silk chest. "Ma-ma," it cried. "Ma-ma."</p> + + <p>"Never had nothin' but a rag-doll, myself," the girl went + on, delighted by their approval of this automatic wonder. + "'Tain't for me. It's for a little girl as lives up in th' + mountings."</p> + + <p>From the doll she turned to an amazing jumping-jack, the + next treasure taken from the packages. She pulled the toy's + animating strings and watched its antics with delight. "Mos' as + lively as a Kentucky Colonel climbin' a tree," said she, and + laughed roguishly at the horseman. "Oh, I heard of it; I heard + of it."</p> + + <p>The Colonel tried in vain to protest, Madge's laughter kept + up merrily, as she took an old-fashioned carpet-sack from quite + the biggest of the bundles and began to pack her purchases in + it, until the Colonel and Miss Alathea left the room, gaily + protesting at her ridicule.</p> + + <p>Instantly all of the signs of high elation vanished from the + girl's face. She drooped. Left alone, it quickly became plain + that her recent animation had been forced, unreal. "Well I + guess I'd better not open up th' other bundles," she said + listlessly. "I'll pack 'em as they be. It's time I started too. + I'm goin' back to the mountings." Softly she hummed the air the + darkies had been singing when she came into the + room.</p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Weep no more, my + lady, oh, weep no more to-day,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">I will sing one song of my old + Kentucky home,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then my old Kentucky home, + good-night!"</span><br> + + + <p>There was infinite pathos in her half-unconscious rendition + of the plaintive, darkey melody. To the mountain girl the + moment was full of sadness. She had come down from her + mountains to save the man she loved from the assassin's bullet + and had saved him, not from that alone, but from a crushing + blow to hope and fortune. Her work was done. All that now was + left to her was to go back to her little cabin, hiding the + secret of her love for him in her sore heart, enshrining, + there, the memory of every minute she had ever passed with him + as holy memories to comfort her in days to come. Melancholy + thoughts pressed on her hard.</p> + + <p>Frank entered.</p> + + <p>He stopped short in the doorway, looking with amazement at + her work of packing for departure.</p> + + <p>"Why, Madge!" said he. "What does this mean? Packing up! + Surely you're not going away!" There was a thrill of real + distress in his pleasant, vibrant voice which comforted + her.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I'm going back to th' mountings. I was ... goin' + afore, but I couldn't miss that hoss-race."</p> + + <p>"Madge," he cried impulsively, "you must not and you shall + not go. I cannot bear to think of you wasting your life in the + lonely mountains. Madge, your land will make you rich, and with + your brightness you could study and learn. Education will make + you an ornament to any society."</p> + + <p>She shook her head. "As fur as I can see," said she, + "society ain't what it is cracked up to be. I don't seem to + have no hankerin' after it. Oh, o' course, I'd like to have all + this softness an' pootiness around me, always; I'd like to go + out in th' world an' see th' wonders as I've heard of; but I + don't think that 'u'd satisfy me. I'd still be hankerin' an' + thirstin' arter somethin' that I couldn't have. There's been a + feelin' in my heart, ever sence I come here, that'll take th' + air o' th' mountings to cl'ar away. Like enough, up there among + th' wild things that love me, amongst th' rocks an' hills, I'll + find th' rest an' peace I ain't had since I come away."</p> + + <p>The youth looked at her with wide, worried eyes. He had not + thought the situation out in any very careful detail; but he + had, at no time, contemplated her immediate departure. Now that + it seemed imminent it brought his feelings to a focus, showed + him, instantly, that he could not bear to have this mountain + maiden who had done so much for him thus vanish from his life. + A realization that he loved her deeply, tenderly, unchangeably + rushed over him. That she was a child of nature, uneducated and + unaccustomed to the world he knew became a matter of but small + importance to him as he stood there watching her, while, sadly + but deliberately, she kept on with her work of packing in the + carpet-bag her small possessions and the many gifts which she + had purchased in the city for the children of her "mountings." + That the world which he had ever thought his world might laugh + at her and ridicule him if he married her he knew, but, + suddenly, this seemed of little consequence. The errors in her + education could be readily corrected and her heart and + instincts were more nearly right, already, than those of any + lowland girl whom he had ever known.</p> + + <p>"Madge," he cried, "I cannot give you up! I love you!"</p> + + <p>The girl's hands stopped their busy work among the bundles. + Her cheeks paled and her lips parted to a gasping little intake + of breath. It had not, once, occurred to her modest, + self-sacrificing mind that, even as the bluegrass gentleman had + found her heart and taken it forever and forever to be his own, + no matter where she was or how great might the distance be + which separated them, so, also, had his heart really and + forever passed to her, the simple, unlettered and untrained + little maiden of the wilderness. It seemed impossible, + incredible.</p> + + <p>"You love me!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I love you as I never have, as I never can love any + other woman. Madge, dearest, I want you for my wife!"</p> + + <p>The great desire, the certainty that if he did not win her + then all other triumphs would be empty, meaningless, had come + suddenly upon him, but it had come with overwhelming force. His + voice was vibrant with a passion which surprised himself.</p> + + <p>"No, no; it can never be!" she said tremulously. Her heart + was in a turmoil, her hands trembled with excitement. Ah, it + was hard for her to put away from her the brilliant vista which + had opened there before her startled eyes! But she was sure + that she must do it; that if she loved this man she must + forswear him for his own dear sake. What right had she, a + mountain-girl, to come down there to the bluegrass to shame him + in the face of friends and foes by her ignorance and + awkwardness? Her heart yearned toward him with a warmth and + fervor which she had not known as possible to human longings, + but—no, no, for his sake she must give him up, as, for + his sake, she had made the long, desperate journey from the + mountains to save him from Joe Lorey's bullet, as, for his + sake, shrinking and dismayed, conscious that in doing it she + might very well be sacrificing his respect for her, she had + donned the blouse and breeches of a jockey, yesterday, to ride + his mare to victory when none other had been there to save the + day for him. That had been a sacrifice almost beyond the power + of words to tell—a sacrifice of modesty; now came an even + greater one, but one which, none the less, must certainly be + made. "No, no," said she again, "it can never, never be!"</p> + + <p>"But I want you—just as you are! What do I care for + the world, without you, or for what it says, so long as you are + mine?"</p> + + <p>A flood of bitterness rushed to her heart. Ah, why, why, had + fate made it so necessary that, to save him, she must do what, + yesterday, she had been forced to do!</p> + + <p>"You're thinkin' of my ignorance, an' such," she said, with + sad eyes bent upon the gifts which, now, although she looked at + them, she did not see and had forgotten. "But there's more nor + that as stands between us, Mr. Frank."</p> + + <p>"You mean you don't love me?"</p> + + <p>"No, no; oh, what air th' use o' denyin' it? I love you! + It's that—it's that that drives me from you, an' that + breaks—my—heart!"</p> + + <p>He went close to her and tried to take her hands in his. + "Madge, dear," he said softly, "I want you to listen to me. I + tell you I shall not let any foolish pride or any fears for the + future stand in the way of our happiness. When I thought, a + moment ago, that I might lose you forever, I saw what my life + would be without you; and, now that I know you love me, nothing + shall come between us. Madge, dear heart, I want you to put + your hand in mine."</p> + + <p>She drew away, but it was plain that she was sorely tempted. + "Ah, if I only dared!" said she.</p> + + <p>"Come, Madge, darling!" he said fervently, opening his arms + to fold her to his heart.</p> + + <p>"No, no," she said, "it wouldn't be right." The Colonel's + words: "We'd think it an eternal shame and a disgrace for one + of our women to ride a race in a costume such as you have on," + rang in her mind and filled her with despair. "The Colonel + said—" she began, weakly.</p> + + <p>"Oh, damn the Colonel!" Frank cried angrily, wondering why + any one should meddle with his heart-affairs.</p> + + <p>And as he spoke the Colonel entered hurriedly, evidently + bearing news of import.</p> + + <p>Startled by the young man's earnest words, he stopped short + in astonishment. "Why—what's that, sir?" he exclaimed + amazed, and then, seeing clearly that he had broken in upon a + fervent sentimental situation and unwilling to believe that + Frank could really have meant him when he had been so emphatic, + turned his thoughts, again, to the news which had brought him + in such haste.</p> + + <p>"I say," he said, excitedly, "I've been cross-examining that + rascal, Ike, and I've found out who smuggled the whiskey to + him."</p> + + <p>"Who was it?" Madge and Frank cried almost in unison.</p> + + <p>"That double-distilled, three-ply scoundrel, Horace Holton," + said the Colonel, angrily.</p> + + <p>"Holton!" Frank exclaimed. "I wouldn't have believed + it!"</p> + + <p>"I would," Madge commented.</p> + + <p>"I'll find him and settle with him for it!" Frank angrily + exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"I'm afraid that's easier said than done," the Colonel + answered, "but I'm with you, and we'll do our best."</p> + + <p>Through the windows came the noise of baying hounds. It + instantly attracted their attention, as it ever will that of + Kentuckians. "What's that? A fox-hunt?"</p> + + <p>Frank had hurried to the window and was looking out. "No," + he answered, in incredulous amazement, "it's Holton and his + gang. They're hunting Joe Lorey with dogs!"</p> + + <p>Madge hurried to his side, distressed beyond the power of + words to tell. "Oh, oh!" she cried. "They're coming this way, + and—and—who's that?"</p> + + <p>As she spoke Joe Lorey dashed up, breathless to the + window.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2><br> + + + <p>The moonshiner stood there, pathetic in his beaten strength + before them.</p> + + <p>"They're huntin' me with dogs!" he said. "They're goin' to + string me up without justice or mercy!"</p> + + <p>Madge hurried to his side. "Joe, they shan't do it!" she + exclaimed, and took his hand.</p> + + <p>"It'll take more nor you to save me, little one," he said, + and smiled down at her pitifully. "There's no hope for me, now. + That's why I've come hyar, to say to you all, afore I die, that + I am innocent o' firin' th' stable." He threw back his + shoulders and stood before them, impressive and convincing. + "Afore God, I am innocent!"</p> + + <p>Frank looked at him with eyes which, as they gazed, altered + their expression. He had thought the man quite possibly guilty + of a vicious act—a foul attempt to burn a helpless animal + in order to obtain revenge upon the man who owned her. But as + he gazed he could not doubt that he was speaking simple truth. + "Joe," he said impulsively, "I believe you!"</p> + + <p>Joe turned to him with gratitude plain upon his face. "You + believe me—arter all that's passed?" He looked straight + into the eyes of the young man he had hated, with a searching, + earnest gaze. "Then," he said, after a second's pause, "I + believe as what you said, that night, war true. It war never + you as ruined me." He held his hand out to the man whom, not so + long ago, he had wished, with all his heart, to kill.</p> + + <p>Frank grasped it with a hearty grip, just as the terrifying + baying of the hounds approached the house.</p> + + <p>"Frank, they're coming here!" the Colonel cried, + excited.</p> + + <p>Joe turned away from Frank, looking here and there like a + hunted animal. "Oh, it's hard to die afore I've met Lem + Lindsay!" he said hopelessly. It was quite plain that he + considered his fate sealed.</p> + + <p>Even as he spoke Holton and half-a-dozen others sprang to + the broad gallery which fronted the whole room. Holton was + plainly the leader of the party, for when he motioned all the + others back, they obeyed his signal without protest, while he, + himself, peered eagerly in through a wide, open window.</p> + + <p>Frank, angered beyond measure by this bold intrusion, would + have sprung toward him, to attack him, had not the Colonel + waved him back.</p> + + <p>"Frank, my boy," said he, "keep cool, keep cool!"</p> + + <p>As he spoke, without apology, Holton stepped through the + window into the room, itself.</p> + + <p>"Layson," he said curtly, "I'm a committee o' one to ask if + you'll turn over that man, an' make no trouble." He jerked a + thumb toward Joe.</p> + + <p>Layson was wrathful at the man's intrusion; he had been + impressed by what the fugitive had said. "No," he answered, + hotly. "Joe Lorey's in my house, under my protection, and, by + the eternal, you shan't lay a hand on him!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel smiled, delighted. "Kentucky blood!" he cried. + "I'll back you to a finish!"</p> + + <p>He ranged himself by Frank, and Madge, as belligerent as + either of them, hurried, also, to his side.</p> + + <p>"I'm with you, Colonel," she exclaimed, with the spirit of + the mountain-bred, "and we'll win ag'in, as we did once + before!"</p> + + <p>Joe saw this with distress. Layson's generosity had softened + him. He knew, perfectly, by this time, that Madge was not for + him, and her spirit in joining his defenders—the very men + whom he had thought his enemies—touched him deeply. The + realization came to him with a quick rush that he had wronged + the bluegrass folk whom he had hated with such bitterness. He + looked first at those who wished to take him prisoner and make + him suffer for a crime of which he was not guilty, and then at + his defenders, who had every reason to doubt him, but still, + without a question, had accepted his own plea of innocence. He + had already made these people trouble. Now was his opportunity + to save them from an awkward situation and, perhaps, a perilous + one. There might be shooting if he offered to resist or let + these good friends attempt to defend him. That would endanger + them, and, worse, endanger Madge. "I'll go. I don't want to + make no trouble," he said hastily.</p> + + <p>Holton nodded with approval. He wished to take the man as + quickly and as simply as he could. Every complication which + could be avoided would make less probable discovery of the fact + that he, himself, and not the fugitive young mountaineer, was + the real culprit.</p> + + <p>"That's sensible," he said, "for them men, out thar, are + bound to hev you, by fair means or foul."</p> + + <p>"Those men will listen to reason," Frank said with a + determination which disconcerted the ex-slave dealer. "They + shall hear me!" He stepped toward the open window. "Colonel, + come with me." Without waiting for him he stepped to the + gallery outside.</p> + + <p>The Colonel started to go also, but, seeing that Holton, + too, was about to hurry out, paused long enough to go up to him + threateningly. "Don't you dare to follow!" he warned him. + "We'll play this hand alone." The man fell back and the Colonel + kept his eyes on him as, slowly, he joined Frank on the + gallery.</p> + + <p>Holton's discomfiture lasted but a moment. As soon as the + Colonel had passed out of sight he got his wits back and looked + threateningly at Madge and the mountaineer. "We'll see about + that," he declared viciously, and, making a movement of his + hand which indicated that he must be armed, although he had not + shown a weapon, so far, moved toward another window which also + opened on the gallery.</p> + + <p>But he had not counted on old Neb. The darkey found in this + emergency the opportunity for which he had been waiting many + years. Lapse of time had never dulled his keen resentment of + the blow the man had struck him; now it was with keen delight + that he stepped out of the shadow just outside the window, with + a carelessly held pistol in his hand, which somehow appeared to + cover Holton. "De Cunnel said you'd please stay heah, suh," he + said placidly; but the pistol gave his words an emphasis which + could not be mistaken.</p> + + <p>Holton paled with rage, but did not take another forward + step.</p> + + <p>As he fell back Joe Lorey spoke. The murmur of the mob + outside, incited, he well knew, to hunger for his life, and the + loud voices of the Colonel and of Frank, raised in + expostulation, made an accompaniment for what he had to say to + Holton, and that he still was in grave danger made his attitude + more menacing, his words more impressive.</p> + + <p>"Yes," he said to Holton, while Madge gazed, spellbound, + "you hold on. I've a word to say to you."</p> + + <p>"Say it, then, and say it quick," said Holton, trying to + make his tone contemptuous.</p> + + <p>"I'll say it quick, and I'll say it plain. You know as it + war never me as fired that stable. You war there an' saw me + leave afore th' fire. It's yer place to cl'ar me. Why air you + a-houndin' me to my death?"</p> + + <p>Holton was uncomfortable. "Them men out thar believe ye + guilty. It ain't my work," he said.</p> + + <p>The mountaineer was not deceived. He knew this man to be his + enemy, although he knew no reason for his hatred. "It's you as + air settin' 'em on," he said, "as you set me on Frank Layson + when you told me that lie ag'in him in th' mountings."</p> + + <p>Madge had listened, speechless, during this dramatic scene, + but stood watching it, alert and ready to lend aid to her + friend, if opportunity arose. Now, at Joe's words, she started + forward.</p> + + <p>"Was it him as told you?" she inquired, amazed.</p> + + <p>Joe did not answer her, but continued to face Holton and + address him. "I believed you," he went on, "because I thought + you couldn't a-knowed o' th' still except through him; but + since he never told you, it air proof to me that you have been + in these here mountings, sometime, afore." Strange suspicions + were glittering from his hostile eyes as he faced the now + thoroughly alarmed man who, a moment since, had been the + blustering bully.</p> + + <p>"I tell you I were never thar!" said Holton hurriedly.</p> + + <p>"Then how did you know of th' cave an' the oak?" said Joe, + accusingly. The glitter of suspicion in his eyes was growing + brighter every second. "It's plain to me as how you've passed + many a day thar in them mountings. Thar's somethin' bound up in + yer past as has egged you on ag'in me. I wants to know what + that thing is—I wants to know just who an' what ye + air!"</p> + + <p>"It's easy enough to show who Horace Holton is," the man + said, blustering, but he was very ill at ease. "What do I care + what you want?" And then he made a slip. "You can't bring no + proof—" he began, but caught himself.</p> + + <p>Madge had been watching him with new intentness. The + excitement of the moment may have sharpened the girl's wits, + or, possibly, its hint of peril may have brought to Holton's + face some detail of expression, which, during recent weeks, had + not before appeared upon it.</p> + + <p>"But I kin," she said, slowly. "I war right in what I + thought when I first saw you in th' mountings. I <i>had</i> + seen your face afore!"</p> + + <p>"Don't you dare say that!" cried Holton, stepping toward her + angrily. The man who had been the accuser, was, strangely, now, + quite plainly, half at bay.</p> + + <p>"That look ag'in!" the girl said, studying his face. "That + look war printed on my baby brain!"</p> + + <p>"Silence, I say!" cried Holton, now badly frightened. He had + not counted on this recognition.</p> + + <p>"Never!" the girl said boldly. She was certain, now, as she + looked at him, that the suspicion which had flashed into her + mind was accurate. Her cheeks paled and she stepped toward him + with set face, clenched hands. Every fibre in her thrilled with + horror of him, every drop of blood in her young body cried for + vengeance on him. "I'll rouse th' world ag'in ye!" she + exclaimed, so tensely that even Lorey looked at her with + alarmed amazement. "I'll rouse th' world ag'in ye, for I'm + standin' face to face with my own father's murderer—Lem + Lindsay!"</p> + + <p>"Lem Lindsay!" said Joe, wonderingly, and then, with the + expression on his face of a wild-beast about to spring upon his + prey: "At last!"</p> + + <p>Holton shrank away from them in terror which he could not + hide. His bravado was all gone. He was, no longer, the accuser, + but, with the mention of that name, had changed places with Joe + Lorey and become the fugitive, shrinking, alarmed.</p> + + <p>"'Sh! Don't speak that name!" he pleaded. He made no effort + at denial. There was that in the girl's eyes which told him + that her recognition had been absolute. "I've been hidin' it + for years." He spoke pleadingly. "Look hyar. I've got + everythin' that heart can wish. Joe Lorey, I'll save you from + them men. I'll sw'ar I saw you leave the stable afore th' fire + begun." He moved his eyes from one of the accusing faces to the + other, terrified. "I'll make ye both rich if you'll never speak + that name ag'in!"</p><a name="Illus_5"></a> <br> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_5.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_5.jpg" + alt="Face to face with my fathers murderer" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4>"I'm standin' face to face with my own father's<br> + murderer—Lem Lindsay"</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <p>"Your weight in gold would make no differ!" Joe cried + menacingly. "Lem Lindsay, it air Heaven's work that's given you + into my hands!" He went toward him slowly, menacingly, with his + strong fingers working with desire to clutch his shrinking + throat. "It air Heaven's will as you should meet your fall + through Ben Lorey's son!"</p> + + <p>Holton, desperate, gathered courage for a last effort to + escape from the net which he had woven to his own undoing. With + a quick movement he drew from his belt, where his long coat had + concealed its presence, hitherto, a gleaming knife, and, with + it upraised, rushed at Joe viciously. "I'm a free man, yet," he + cried, "an' I'm a-goin' to stay free!"</p> + + <p>Joe, alert, calm-eyed, cool-witted, waited for him with a + hand upraised to catch his wrist, with muscles braced to meet + the fierce attack.</p> + + <p>Madge rushed to the window, calling loudly: "Colonel! Mr. + Frank!"</p> + + <p>But Holton and Joe Lorey were, by that time, locked in a + desperate grip and struggling with the energy of men battling + for their lives. Twisting and straining, each striving with the + last ounce of energy within him to get the better of the other, + they plunged across the room and out into the hall.</p> + + <p>Just as Frank and the Colonel hurried in, a shot was heard + and then a heavy fall. An instant later Joe came to the + door.</p> + + <p>"Heaven's will are done!" he said, quite simply.</p> + + <p>Layson rushed toward him, but paused, aghast, looking off + through the open door. "Joe, you've killed him!" he + exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"An' I had a right!" said Joe, now strangely calm. "When he + killed my father it were ordained that he should fall by my + hands. I ain't afeared to stand my trial."</p> + + <p>"The men outside have promised," Layson said, dismayed by + this new and terrible complication, "that you shall have a fair + trial on the other charge. They've gone, now, for the sheriff. + But this charge," he looked toward the door which led into the + hall, "will be more serious!"</p> + + <p>"I can clear him of 'em both," said Madge. "I'll sw'ar th' + killin' was in self-defense; I'll sw'ar that Holton owned, + before me, that he saw Joe leave th' stable afore th' + fire."</p> + + <p>"He saw him!" exclaimed Frank, astonished. "What was Holton + doing there?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't you see?" said Madge. "He war your + enemy—th' man as told Joe th' lie ag'in you in th' + mountings, th' man as tried to burn Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>The Colonel had entered, quickly, from the gallery, and + stood listening, amazed and fascinated. Now, after a moment's + pause to think the matter out, he advanced to Joe with + outstretched hand. For the man who had been guilty of that vile + mischief he felt no regret, for the man who had, in a fair + fight and with good reason, shot him down, he felt full + sympathy. "Tried to burn Queen Bess!" he cried. "Joe, the + jury'll clear you without leaving their seats! Come, my + boy—the sheriff's here, and you will have to go with him; + but don't you worry. I'll see you through."</p> + + <p>Joe stood, thinking, with bowed head and frowning brow. + Suddenly he looked up and cast his eyes about upon the company. + "Before I goes, I wants to say a word to Madge," said he, and + turned to her with an impressive earnestness. "Little one, + don't you never fret about me, no more." He took her hand and + she gave it to him gladly. "I see, now, as you was never made + for me." He took a step toward Frank and led her to him. "I see + whar your heart is, an' I puts your hand in his." With bowed + head he relinquished the brown hand of the mountain-girl whom + he had loved since childhood, to the outstretched hand of the + young "foreigner," whom he no longer looked at with the hatred + which had so long thrilled his heart. "And—now I says + good-bye. God bless you both!"</p> + + <p>He went out, slowly, with the Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Madge, he's right," said Frank, "this little hand is + mine."</p> + + <p>He would have clasped her in his arms, but, finally, she + held him off.</p> + + <p>"No, no," said she, "not till you know my secret. It was I + who rode Queen Bess,"</p> + + <p>"You rode Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel was re-entering the room. "But the world will + never know it," he said gallantly, "on the honor of a + Kentuckian."</p> + + <p>Frank's smile was radiant. "If it did, I should say: 'Here, + Madge, in my arms, is your shelter from the world.'" He drew + her to him gently. "Madge, my little wife!"</p><br> + +<br> +<br> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13933 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/13933-h/images/Illus_1.jpg b/13933-h/images/Illus_1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8cc5509 --- /dev/null +++ b/13933-h/images/Illus_1.jpg diff --git a/13933-h/images/Illus_2.jpg b/13933-h/images/Illus_2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..68e554c --- /dev/null +++ b/13933-h/images/Illus_2.jpg diff --git a/13933-h/images/Illus_3.jpg b/13933-h/images/Illus_3.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..44983d8 --- /dev/null +++ b/13933-h/images/Illus_3.jpg diff --git a/13933-h/images/Illus_4.jpg b/13933-h/images/Illus_4.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..68ca4ea --- /dev/null +++ b/13933-h/images/Illus_4.jpg diff --git a/13933-h/images/Illus_5.jpg b/13933-h/images/Illus_5.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..045a654 --- /dev/null +++ b/13933-h/images/Illus_5.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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Dazey, Illustrated by Clarence Rowe</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: In Old Kentucky</p> +<p>Author: Edward Marshall and Charles T. Dazey</p> +<p>Release Date: November 3, 2004 [eBook #13933]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN OLD KENTUCKY***</p> +<br><br><h3>E-text prepared by Audrey Longhurst, Gene Smethers,<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3><br><br> +<hr class="full" noshade> + + <a name="Illus_1"></a> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_1.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_1.jpg" + alt= + "<i> Frontispiece</i> She saw the stranger break through the undergrowth" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4><i>Frontispiece</i>: She saw the stranger break through + the<br> + undergrowth about the pool.</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <h1>IN OLD KENTUCKY</h1><br> + + + <h3>A Story of the Bluegrass and the Mountains<br> + Founded On Charles T. Dazey's Play</h3> + + <h4>By</h4> + + <h2>EDWARD MARSHALL and CHARLES T. DAZEY</h2><br> + + + <h4>Illustrations By CLARENCE ROWE</h4><br> + + <h5>1910</h5><br> + <br> + <br> + <center><hr></center> + <br> +<br> + + + <h2>CONTENTS<br></h2><br> + + <h3>Chapter: [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_I"> I </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_II"> II </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_III"> III </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_IV"> IV </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_V"> V </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_VI"> VI </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_VII"> VII </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_VIII"> VIII </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_IX"> IX </a>] [<a href= + "#CHAPTER_X"> X </a>]<br> + <br> + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XI"> XI </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XII"> XII </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"> XIII </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"> XIV </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XV"> XV </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"> XVI </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"> XVII </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"> XVIII </a>] + [<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"> XIX </a>]<br></h3><br> + <br> + + + <h2>ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + + <center> + <table> + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_1"><span class="fontnorm">She + saw the stranger break through the undergrowth + about the pool.</span></a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_2"><span class="fontnorm">A + mighty leap had carried them beyond the blazing + barrier.</span></a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_3"><span class="fontnorm">"No + man can cross this bridge, + unless—unless—"</span></a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_4"><span class= + "fontnorm">"Back! back! I'm a-comin' with Queen + Bess!"</span></a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td><a href="#Illus_5"><span class="fontnorm">"I'm + standin' face to face with my own father's + murderer—Lem Lindsay."</span></a></td> + </tr> + </table> + </center><br> + <br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <br> + <a name="IN_OLD_KENTUCKY"></a> + + <h2>IN OLD KENTUCKY</h2><br> + <br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_I"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER I.</h2><br> + + + <p>She was coming, singing, down the side of Nebo + Mountain—"Old Nebo"—mounted on an ox. Sun-kissed + and rich her coloring; her flowing hair was like spun light; + her arms, bare to the elbows and above, might have been the + models to drive a sculptor to despair, as their muscles played + like pulsing liquid beneath the tinted, velvet skin of wrists + and forearms; her short skirt bared her shapely legs above the + ankles half-way to the knees; her feet, never pinched by shoes + and now quite bare, slender, graceful, patrician in their + modelling, in strong contrast to the linsey-woolsey of her gown + and rough surroundings, were as dainty as a dancing girl's in + ancient Athens.</p> + + <p>The ox, less stolid than is common with his kind, doubtless + because of ease of life, swung down the rocky path at a good + gait, now and then swaying his head from side to side to nip + the tender shoots of freshly leaving laurel. She + sang:</p><span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Woodpecker pecked as + a woodpecker will,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Jim thought 'twas a knock on + the door of the still,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">He grabbed up his gun, and he + went for to see,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">The woodpecker laughed as he + said: 'Jest me!'"</span><br> + + + <p>She laughed, now, not at the song, which was purely + automatic, but in sheer joy of living on that wonderful June + day in those marvellous Kentucky mountains. Their loneliness + did not depress her; indeed, to her, they were not lonely, but + peopled by a host of lifelong friends who had greeted her at + birth, and would, she had every reason to suppose, speed her + when her end came. Their majesty did not overwhelm her, + although she felt it keenly, and respected it and loved it with + a certain dear, familiar awe. And everywhere about her was the + Spring. Laurel blossomed at the trail's sides, filling the + whole air with fragrance; the tardier blueberry bushes crowding + low about it had begun to show the light green of their + bursting buds; young ferns were pushing through the coverlet of + last autumn's leaves which had kept them snug against the + winter's cold, and were beginning to uncurl their delicate and + wondrous spirals; maple and beech were showing their new + leaves. The air was full of bird-notes—the plaintively + pleading or exultantly triumphant cries of the mating season's + joy and passion. Filmy clouds, like scattered, snowy ostrich + plumes, floated, far, far up above her on a sea of richest + blue; a fainter blue of springtime haze dimmed the depths of + the great valley which a wide pass gave her vision of off to + the left—and she was rather glad of this, for the haze, + while, certainly, it hid from her much beauty, also hid the + ugly scars which man was making there on nature's face, the + cuts and gashes with which the builders of the new railway were + marring the rich pasture lands.</p> + + <p>She turned from this to pleasanter and wilder prospects, + close at hand, as her path narrowed, and began to sing again in + sheer joyousness of spirit.</p><span style= + "margin-left: 3em;">"Mr. Woodpecker laughed as a woodpecker + will,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">As Jim stood lookin' out of the + door of the still,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">'Mr. Jim,' he remarked, 'I have + come for to ax</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Ef</i> you'd give me a worm + for my revenue tax'!"</span><br> + + + <p>The placid ox, plodding slowly down the trail, did not + swerve when the bushes parted suddenly at one side, as she + finished this verse of her song, but Madge Brierly looked about + with a quick alertness. The sound of the rustling leaves and + crackling twigs might mean a friend's approach, they might mean + the coming of one of the very enemies whom the song had hinted + at so lightly, but against whom all the people of the mountains + keep perpetual watch, they might even mean a panther, hungry + after his short rations of the winter and recklessly determined + on a meal at any cost.</p> + + <p>But it was Joe Lorey's face which greeted her as she + abruptly turned to see. His coon-skin cap, his jerkin and + trousers of faded blue-jeans, his high, rusty boots matched + perfectly with his primitive environments. As he appeared only + the old-fashioned Winchester, which he carried cradled in his + crooked elbow, spoke of the Nineteenth century. His face, + though handsome in a crudely modelled way, had been + weather-beaten into a rough, semi-fierceness by the storms + through which he had watched the mountain-passes during the + long winter for the raiders who were ever on his trail. The + slightly reddened lids of his dark, restless eyes, told of long + nights during which the rising fumes of moonshine whisky + stealthily brewing in his furtive still, cave-hidden, had made + them smart and sting. Even as, smilingly, he came up to the + strangely mounted maid, there was on his face the strong trace + of that hunted look which furtive consciousness of continual + and unrelenting pursuit gives to the lawbreaker—even to + the lawbreaker who believes the laws he breaks are wrong and to + be violated without sin and righteously.</p> + + <p>"That you, Joe?" said the girl. "You skeered me."</p> + + <p>"Did I?" he replied, grinning broadly. "Didn't plan to."</p> + + <p>From far below there came the crash of bursting powder. + Quick and lithe as a panther the man whirled, ready with his + rifle. The girl laughed.</p> + + <p>"Nothin' but the railroad blastin' down there in the + valley," she said with amusement. "Ain't you uset to that, + yet?"</p> + + <p>"No," said he, "I ain't—an' never will be."</p> + + <p>His tone was definitely bitter. Never were the "sounds of + progress more ungraciously received than there among the + mountains by the folk who had, hedged in by their fastnesses, + become almost a race apart, ignorant of the outside world's + progressions and distrustful and suspicious of them.</p> + + <p>"Where you goin', Madge?" he asked, plodding on beside the + lurching ox.</p> + + <p>"I ain't tellin'," she said briefly. "But you can go part + ways—you can go fur as th' pasture bars."</p> + + <p>"Why can't I go as fur as you go?"</p> + + <p>"Because," said she, and laughed. "I reckon maybe that th' + water's started to warm up down in the pool, ain't it?" she + cried, and laughed again.</p> + + <p>"Oh!" said he, a bit abashed, and evidently + understanding.</p> + + <p>They did not pursue the subject.</p> + + <p>"What you got there?" he inquired, a few moments later, as + they were approaching the old pasture. He pointed to a package + carefully wrapped in a clean apron, which she hugged beneath + her arm.</p> + + <p>"Spellin' book," said Madge, as, just before the bars she + slid down from her perch upon the ox. "I'm learnin'."</p> + + <p>His lip curled with the mountaineer's contempt for books and + all they have to teach.</p> + + <p>"What you want to <i>learn</i> for?"</p> + + <p>He had gently shouldered her aside as she had stooped to + raise the bars back to position, and, with a certain crude + gallantry, had done the task himself.</p> + + <p>"Bleeged," she said briefly, and then, standing with one + brown and rounded arm upon the topmost rail, paused in + consideration of an answer to his question.</p> + + <p>The ox stopped, dully, close within the closed gap in the + rough fence. She went closer to him and patted his side kindly. + "Go on, old Buck," she said. "I'm through with you for quite a + while. Go on and have some fun or rest, whichever you like + best. You certainly can stand a lot of rest! And here is new + spring grass, Buck. I should think you would be crazy to git at + it."</p> + + <p>As if he understood, the old ox turned away, and, slowly, + with careful searching for the newest and the tenderest of the + forage blades which had pushed up to meet the pleasant + sunshine, showed he was well fed at all times.</p> + + <p>"What do I want to learn for?" the girl repeated, returning + to Joe's question. "Why—why—I don't know, exactly. + There's a longin' stirrin' in me.</p> + + <p>"While you was over yon" (she waved her hand in a broad + sweep to indicate the mountain's other side). "I had to go down + into town after—after quite a lot of things." She looked + at him somewhat furtively, as if she feared this statement + might give rise to some unwelcome questioning, but it did not. + "I saw what queer things they are doin'—th' men that work + there on that railroad buildin'. Wonderful things, lots of 'em, + and the bed-rock of 'em all was learnin'. I watched a gang of + 'em for near plum half a day. There wasn't a thing they did + that they didn't first read from a sheet of paper about. If + they hadn't had them sheets and if they couldn't read what had + been written on 'em, why, they couldn't never <i>build</i> no + railroad. And not only that—they got all kinds of comfort + out of it. They have their books that tell 'em what other men + have done before 'em, they have their newspapers that tell + 'em—<i>everyday</i>, Joe—what other men are doin', + everywhere, fur as th' earth is spread.</p> + + <p>"They <i>know</i> things, them men do, and they're heaps + happier because of it." She paused, leaning on the old worn + fence.</p> + + <p>"An' their wimmen knows things," she went on. "I'm goin' to, + too. It's th' greatest comfort that they've got. I'm goin' to + <i>have</i> that comfort, Joe!"</p> + + <p>She patted the new spelling book as if it were a precious + thing.</p> + + <p>"I'm goin' to have that comfort," she continued. "I'm goin' + to know th' ins an' outs o' readin' an'" (she sighed and paused + a second, as if this next seemed more appalling) "an' of + writin'. Dellaw! That's hard! All sorts of curves an' twists + an' ups an' downs an' things, an' ev'ry one means + somethin'!"</p> + + <p>Joe looked at her, half in admiration, half in apprehension. + "You goin' to git too good fer these here mountings?" he + inquired.</p> + + <p>She gazed about her with a little intake of the breath, a + little sign of ecstasy, of her appreciation of the wondrous + view.</p> + + <p>"Too good for these here mountings?" she said thoughtfully. + "Learnin' couldn't make me that! It might show me how to love + 'em more. Nothin' in th' world, Joe, could make me love 'em + less!"</p> + + <p>He became more definite, a bit insistent. It had been plain, + for long, that it had required some self-control for him to + walk as he had walked, close by her side, without some + demonstration of his admiration for her, to stand there with + her at the bars without some sign that in her presence he found + happiness much greater than he had ever known, could ever know, + elsewhere.</p> + + <p>"You goin' to git too good fer—me?" he asked.</p> + + <p>She turned toward him impulsively. Great friendship shone + frankly in her fine eyes. On her face was that expression of + complete and understanding comradery which one child chum may + show another. Almost she said as much of him as she had said of + the surrounding mountains, but there was that upon his face + which stopped her. It was too plain that friendship was not + what he wanted, would not satisfy him. There was a hungry + yearning in his eyes, mute, respectful, worshipful, not for + comradery, but for a closer tie. She had watched this grow in + him within the recent months, with worry and regret. It seemed + to her a tragedy that their old friendship should ever prove + inadequate.</p> + + <p>"No," she answered gently, "I shall never get too good for + you, Joe—for any of my friends."</p> + + <p>He looked, almost with aversion, at the book she held so + closely. He distrusted books. Instinctively he felt them to be + enemies.</p> + + <p>"If you get them there ideas about learnin', an' all that, + you will!" he gruffly said. "Leastways you'll be goin' off, + some day an' leavin' us—me, the mountings an'—an' + all yer friends up here."</p> + + <p>An expression of great earnestness, of almost fierce + intensity grew in his face. "Madge," he said, "Madge Brierly, + you're makin' a mistake! You're plannin' things to take you off + from here; you're plannin' things to make you suffer, later on. + You're gettin' bluegrass notions, an' bluegrass notions never + did no mounting-born no good." He stepped closer to her.</p> + + <p>The latent fires in his approaching eyes were warning for + her and she stepped back hastily. "Joe Lorey, you behave + yourself!" said she. "I—"</p> + + <p>"Can't ye see I love ye, Madge?" he asked, and then the + fires died down, leaving in his eyes the pleading, worried look + alone. "Why, Madge, I—"</p> + + <p>She tried to make a joke of it. "Joe Lorey," she said, + laughing, "I reckon you're <i>plum</i> crazy. An' you ain't + givin' me a chance to do what 'twas that I come down for."</p> + + <p>"But—"</p> + + <p>"I ain't goin' to listen to another word, to-day," said she, + and waved him off.</p> + + <p>He went obediently, but slowly and unhappily, his rifle + snuggling in the crook of his left elbow, his heavy boots + finding firm footing in the rough and rocky trail as if by + instinct of their own, without assistance from his brain. A + "revenuer," coming up, just then, to bother him about his still + and its unlawful product of raw whisky, would have met small + mercy at his hands. He would have been a bad man, then, to + quarrel with. His temper would have flared at slightest + provocation. He would not let it flare at her; but, unseeing + any of the beauties which so vividly appealed to her, the + bitter foretaste of defeat was in his heart; and in his soul + was fierce revolt and disappointment. He had not the slightest + thought, however, of accepting this defeat as final.</p> + + <p>Madge watched him go with a look of keen distress upon her + fresh and beautiful young face. She must not let him say what + he had almost said, for she shrank from the thought of wounding + him with the answer she felt in her heart that she would have + to make. He had slouched off, half-way down the trail and out + of sight, before she put the thoughts of the unpleasant + situation from her mind and turned again to the great matter + which had brought her there, that day.</p> + + <p>With a last glance at the gap in the rail fence, to make + sure that it had been carefully replaced, so that there could + be no danger of finding her ox gone when she returned, she + started down the mountain, by a path different from that which + Joe had taken.</p> + + <p>She had not gone very far, when, from a clump of bunch-grass + just in front of her, only partly, yet, renewed by the new + season, a hare hopped awkwardly, endeavoring to make off. Its + progress was one-sided, difficult.</p> + + <p>Instantly she saw that it was wounded and with a little cry + she ran toward it and caught it. Instinctively the tiny animal + seemed to recognize her as a friend and ceased to struggle. One + of its fore legs had been broken, as she quickly saw.</p> + + <p>With a little exclamation of compassion, she sat down upon a + hummock, tore from her skirt a bit of cloth, found, on the + ground, two twigs, made of these crude materials rude splints + and bandages, bound the wounded creature, and sent it on its + painful way again. She sighed as, after having watched it for a + moment, she arose.</p> + + <p>"Pears like us human bein's always was a-hurtin' somethin'," + she soliloquized, distressed. "Thar some chap has left that + rabbit in misery behind him, and here I've sent Joe Lorey down + the mountain with a worse hurt than it's got." She sighed. "It + certain air a funny world!" she said.</p> + + <p>The subject of the wounded rabbit did not leave her mind + until she had clambered down the rocky path half-way to the + small stream which she sought below. She was ever ready with + compassion for the suffering, especially for dumb and helpless + suffering animals, and, besides, the episode had puzzled her. + Who was there in those mountains who would <i>wound</i> a + rabbit? Joe might have shot one, as might any other of the + mountain dwellers who chanced to take a sudden fancy for a + rabbit stew for supper, but Joe nor any of the other natives + would have left it wounded and in suffering behind him. Too + sure their markmanship, too careful their use of ammunition, + for such a happening as that. Trained in the logic of the + woods, the presence of the little suffering animal was a proof + to her that strangers were about. The people of the mountains + regard all strangers with suspicion. Half-a-dozen times she + stopped to listen, half-a-dozen times she started on again + without having heard an alien sound. Once, from the far + distance, she did catch a faint metallic clinking, as of the + striking of a hammer against rock, but it occurred once only, + and she finally attributed it to the mysterious doings of the + railroad people in the valley.</p> + + <p>Down the path she sped, now, rapidly and eagerly. It was + plain that something which she planned to do when she reached + her destination filled her with anticipation of delight, for + her red lips parted in a smile of expectation as charming as a + little child's, her breath came in eager pantings not due + wholly to the mere exertion of the rapid downward climb. When, + beyond a sudden turn in the rude trail, she suddenly saw spread + before her the smooth waters of a pool, formed by the creek in + a hill-pocket, she cried aloud with pleasure.</p> + + <p>"Ah," said she. "Ah! Now here we be!"</p> + + <p>But it was not at this first pool she stopped. Leaving the + path she skirted its soft edge, instead, and, after having + passed down stream some twenty yards or more, pushed her + skilled way between the little trees of a dense thicket and + into a dim, shadowy woods chamber on beyond, where lay another + pool, velvety, en-dusked, save for the flicker of the sunlight + through dense foliage.</p> + + <p>Here her delight was boundless. She ran forward with the + eagerness of a thirsty bird, and, leaning on the bank, + supported by bent arms, bent down and drank with keenest relish + of the cool spring waters gathered in the "cove," then dabbled + her brown slender fingers in the shining depths, watching, with + a smile, concentric, widening ripples as they hurried out + across the glassy surface, to the ferned bank beyond. A few + yards away a hidden cascade murmured musically. Through the + sparse and tender foliage of spring above her, the sunlight + flickered in bright, moving patches of golden brilliance, + falling on the breast of her rough, homespun gown, like + decorations given by a fairy queen. Around the water's edges + budding plants and deep-hued mosses made a border lovely + everywhere, and for long spaces deep and soft as velvet pile. A + thrush called softly from the forest depths behind her. From + the other side his mate replied in a soft twittering that told + of love and confidence and comfort. A squirrel scampered up the + trunk of a young beech, near by, and sat in the first crotch to + look down at her, chattering. A light breeze sighed among the + branches, swaying them in languorous rhythm, rustling them in + soft and ceaseless whisperings.</p> + + <p>All these familiar, pleasant sights and sounds delighted + her. During the long winter she had been shut away from this, + her favorite spot among the many lovely bits of wilderness + about her, and now its every detail filled her with a fresh and + keen delight. She looked and listened greedily, as happy as a + city child, seated, for the first time in a space of months, + before a brightly lighted stage to watch a pantomime. A dozen + times she ran with little, bird-like cries to bend above some + opening wild-flower, a space she spent in watching two intently + busy king-birds, already fashioning their nest. Another + squirrel charmed her beyond measure by sitting, for a moment, + on a limb to gaze at her in bright-eyed curiosity, and then, + with a swift run down the trunk, quite near to her, as if + entirely satisfied that he saw in her a certain friend, + scuttling to the water's edge for drink. She had never seen a + squirrel drink before—few people have—and she + stood, as motionless as might a maid of marble, watching him, + until, having had his fill, he gave his tail a saucy flirt and + darted back to his beech fortress, to sit again upon his limb + and chatter gossip at her.</p> + + <p>After he had gone back to his tree she looked carefully + about her. It now became apparent that she had come there to + the pool for some especial purpose and that she wished to be + quite sure of privacy before she put it into execution, for she + went first to the path by which she had descended, there to + listen long, intently, then, with a lithe spring where the + brook narrowed at the pool's mouth, to the other side, where, + at some distance in the forest, by another woods-path's edge, + she stood again, intent and harkening.</p> + + <p>Apparently quite satisfied that so far as human beings went + her solitude was quite complete, she returned, now, to the + pool's edge and stood gazing down upon its polished surface. + Soon she dipped the toe of one brown, slender foot into it, + evidently prepared to draw back hastily in case of too low + temperature, but tempted, when she found the water warm, she + gently thrust the whole foot in, and then, gathering her skirt + daintily up to her knees, actually stepped into the water, + wading with little shrill screams of delight.</p> + + <p>For a moment she stood poised there, both hands busy with + her skirt, which was pulled back tight against her knees. Then, + after another hasty glance around, she sprang out upon the bank + with a quick gesture of determination, and, close by the + thicket's edge, disrobed entirely and came back to the water as + lovely as the dream of any ancient sculptor, as alluring as the + finest fancy of the greatest painter who has ever touched a + brush.</p> + + <p>Slim, graceful, sinuous, utterly unconscious of her + loveliness, but palpitating with the sensuous joy of living, + she might have been a wood nymph, issuing vivid, vital, from + the fancy of a mediaeval poet. The sunlight flecked her + beautiful young body with fluttering patches as of palpitant + gold leaf. The crystal water splashed in answer to the play of + her lithe limbs and fell about her as in showers of diamonds. + Flowers and ferns upon the pool's edge, caught by the little + waves of overflow, her sport sent shoreward, bowed to her as in + a merry homage to her grace, her fitness for the spot and for + the sport to which she now abandoned herself utterly, plunging + gaily into the deepest waters of the basin. From side to side + of its narrow depths she sped rapidly, the blue-white of the + spring water showing her lithe limbs in perfect grace of motion + made mystically indefinite and shimmering by refraction through + the little rippling waves her progress raised. She raced and + strained, from the pure love of effort, as if a stake of + magnitude depended on her speed.</p> + + <p>Then, suddenly, this fever for fast movement left her and + she slowed to languorous movement, no less lovely.</p> + + <p>The trout, which had been frightened into hiding by the + splashing of her early progress, came timidly, again, from + their dim lurking places, to eye this new companion of the bath + with less distrust, more curiosity. With sinuous stroke, so + slow it scarcely made a ripple, so strong it sent her steadily + and firmly on her zig-zag way, she swam, now, back and forth, + around about, from side to side and end to end in the deep + pool, with keen enjoyment, each movement a new loveliness, each + second bringing to her fascinating face some new expression of + delight and satisfaction. Behind her streamed her flowing hair, + unbound and free to ripple, fan-like, on the water; before her + dainty chin a little wave progressed, unbreaking, running back + on either hand beside her, V-shaped. Her hands rose in the + water, caught it in cupped palms and pushed it down and + backward with the splashless pulsing thrust of the truly expert + swimmer.</p> + + <p>Only the warm blood of perfect health could have endured the + temperature of that shaded mountain pool so long, and soon even + she felt its chill gripping her young muscles, and, as + unconscious of her wholly revealed loveliness as any nymph of + old mythology, scrambled from the water to the bank and stood + there where a shaft of comfortable sunshine found its welcome + way through rifted foliage above. To this she turned first one + bare shoulder, then the other, with as evident a sensuous + delight as she had shown when the cool water first closed over + her. Then, throwing back her head, she stood full in the + brilliance, and, inhaling deeply, let the sunlight fall upon + the loveliness of her young chest. The delight of this was far + too great for voiceless pleasure, and her deep, rich laughter + rippled out as liquid and as musical as the tones of the tiny + waterfall above the pool. She raised a knee and then the other + to let the vitalizing sunlight fall upon them; then, with head + drooped forward on her breast, stood with her sturdy but + delicious shoulders in its shining path. Her happiness was + perfect and she smiled continually, even when she was not + giving vent to audible expressions of enjoyment.</p> + + <p>Suddenly, however, this idyllic scene was interrupted. In + the woods she heard the crashing of an awkward footstep and a + muttered word or two in a strange voice, as might come from a + lowlander whose face has suffered from the sting of a + back-snapping branch.</p> + + <p>For an instant she poised, frightened, on the bank. The + intruder's crashing progress was bringing him, as her ears + plainly told her, steadily in her direction. Panic-stricken, + for a moment, she crouched, hugging her bare limbs in an + ecstasy of fear. To get her clothes and put them on before he + reached the pool would be impossible, a hasty glance about her + showed no cover thick enough to flee to.</p> + + <p>One concealment only offered perfect hiding—the very + pool from which she had so recently emerged. She poised to slip + again into the water noiselessly and then caught sight of her + disordered clothing on the bank. To leave it there would as + certainly reveal her presence as to remain on the bank herself! + Hastily she gathered it and the new spelling book into her + arms, and, with not ten seconds of spare time to find the cover + which she so desperately needed, endeavored to slip quietly + into the pool again.</p> + + <p>Her certainty of movement failed her, this time, though, and + one foot slipped. Into the pool she went, half-falling, and + with a splash which, she was certain, would be audible a + hundred yards away. Terrified anew by this, she dived quickly + to the bottom of the pool and with all a trout's agility and + fearlessness, her clothing and beloved book clasped tight + against her bosom by her crooked left arm, her right arm + sending her with rapid strokes, when she was quite submerged, + the full length of the pool to its far end. There a fallen + tree, relic of some woodland tempest of years gone by, extended + quite from bank to bank, moss-covered, half hidden by small + rushes and a little group of other water-plants. She dived + beneath this log with the last atom of endurance she possessed + and rose, perforce, upon the other side, stifling her gasps, + but drawing in the air in long, luxurious breathings. With her + mouth not more than half-an-inch above the water and her feet + upon hard bottom, she crouched there, watching through the + screen of plants, her clothes and book still pressed against + her breast.</p> + + <p>As she peered across the log between the rushes, she saw the + stranger, with a wary step, break through the undergrowth about + the pool—cautiously, expectantly. The water heaved a bit + about her chin, for her hidden chest was palpitating with the + short, sharp intakes of a chuckling laughter.</p> + + <p>"Thought I were a b'ar, most likely!" she thought merrily, + quite certain of the safety of her hiding place. "Some + furriner." All strangers, in the mountains, are spoken of as + "foreigners" and regarded with a hundred times the wonder and + distrust shown in cities to the native of far lands, + remote.</p> + + <p>Her guess was shrewd. The stranger had plainly been + attracted by the sounds of her delighted splashing and had + hurried up with rifle ready for a shot at some big game. Now he + stood upon the granite edges of the pool, disappointed even in + his instinctive search for footprints, with only the slowly + widening circles left upon the surface by her hurried flight to + show him that he had not wholly been mistaken in his thought + that something most unusual had recently occurred there in the + "cove." Eagerly his disappointed glance roved around the + circling thicket—nowhere did it see a sign. When it + neared the place of her concealment the hidden girl ducked, + softly, making no undue commotion in the swiftly running water + at the pool's outlet, and the searching glance passed on, quite + unsuspecting, before her breath failed and her head emerged + again.</p> + + <p>"Confound it!" the deeply disappointed youth exclaimed. "I + was dead certain I heard something. I <i>did</i> hear + something, too." He sighed. "But it is gone, now."</p> + + <p>At length he turned away in a bad temper, and presently she + heard him crashing awkwardly through brush and brake, + departing.</p> + + <p>Shivering from her long submersion in the gelid waters of + the mountain stream, she cautiously emerged, struggling between + light-hearted laughter at the comedy of her escape and rueful + worry about the fact that she was not only deeply chilled but + had no clothes which were not wet. Her soaked spelling-book, + also, gave her much concern. Before she spread her clothing out + in the sparse sunlight, she took the dripping volume to the + warmest little patch of brilliance on any of the rocks + surrounding, and, as she opened its leaves to catch the + sunshine, examined it with loving solicitude to find how badly + it was damaged.</p> + + <p>"Fast color," she said happily, looking at the mighty + letters of its coarse black print. "Ain't faded none, nor run, + a mite." This plainly give her great relief. Deftly she turned + each leaf, using the extremest care to avoid tearing them, + handling them with loving touch. Between them she laid little + pine cones, so that air might circulate among them and assist + the process of their drying. Then, having wrung her clothing + till her strong, brown, slender wrists ached, she spread that + out in turn, but on less favored rocks, and, as her feeling of + security increased, fell into an unconscious dance, born of the + necessity of warmth from exercise, but so full of grace, + abandon, joy, that a poet might have fancied her a river-nymph, + tripping to the reed-born music of the goat-hoofed Pan.</p> + + <p>When, later, she had slowly dressed, and was kneeling at the + pool's edge, using the now placid surface of the water as a + mirror to assist her in rough-fashioning her hair into a + graceful knot, she heard again, from a great distance, a + metallic "tink, tink-tink," which had caught her ear when she + had first stood on the pool's edge. It came, she knew, from + far, however, and so did not rouse her apprehension, but, + mildly, it aroused her curiosity.</p> + + <p>"Hull kentry's 'full o' furriners," she mused. "That + railroad buildin' business in the valley brings 'em. Woods + ain't private no more." Again the tink, tink-tink. "Sounds like + hammerin' on rocks," she thought. "It's nearer than th' + railroad builders, too. I wonder what—but then, them + furriners are wonderful for findin' out concernin' + ev'rythin'."</p> + + <p>She hugged her pulpy spelling book against her breast with a + little shiver of determination. "<i>I'm</i> goin' to l'arn, + too," she said with firm decision as she scrambled up the rough + and rocky mountain path.</p> + + <p>For a time, as she progressed, her thoughts remained afield, + wandering in wonder of what that "furriner" might be up to with + the tink-tink of his hammer upon rocks. This soon passed, + however, and they dwelt again on the pool episode.</p> + + <p>She had never seen a man dressed as the stranger had been. A + carefully made shooting-jacket had covered broad and + well-poised shoulders which were free of that unlovely stoop + which comes so early to the mountaineer's. A peaked cap of + similar material had shaded slightly a broad brow with skin as + white as hers and whiter. Beneath it, eyes, which, although + they were engaged in anxious search when she had seen them, she + knew could, upon occasion, twinkle merrily, had gazed, clear, + calm, and brown. A carefully trimmed mustache had hidden the + man's upper lip, but his chin, again a contrast to the + mountaineers' whom she had spent her life among, showed blue + from constant and close shaving. Yet, different as he was from + her people of the mountains, as she recalled that face she + could not hate him or distrust him.</p> + + <p>She had never in her life seen any one in knickerbockers and + leggins before, and the memory of his amused her somewhat, yet + she admitted to herself that they had seemed quite "peart" as + she peered at them through the reeds.</p> + + <p>But it was the modern up-to-date Winchester which he had + held, all poised to fly up to the ready shoulder should he find + the splashing animal which had attracted his attention by its + noise, which, next to his handsome, clean-cut face, had most + aroused her admiration.</p> + + <p>"Lordy! Joe'd give his eyes to hev a gun like that," she + said.</p> + + <p>And then she made a pun, unconscious of what the outer world + calls such things, but quite conscious of its humor. "Thought I + was a b'ar," she chuckled. "Well, I certainly <i>was</i> + b'ar!"</p> + + <p>Feeling no further fear of any one, defiant, now that she + was fully clothed, of "furriners," rather hoping, as a matter + of fact that she might sometime meet this one again, she let + her laugh ring out unrestrained. A cat-bird answered it with a + harsh cry; a blue-jay answered him with a still harsher note. + But then a brown thrush burst into unaccustomed post-meridian + song. Even his throbbing trills and thrilling, liquid + quaverings, had not more melody in them, however, than had her + ringing laughter.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_II"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER II</h2><br> + + + <p>Her laugh, too, roused more than vagrant birds into + attention. She had emerged from the abrupt little valley and + was entering upon a plateau which had been left comparatively + open by the removal of great trees, sacrificed to furnish ties + for the new railroad building in the lowlands. The place was + littered with the discarded tops of pines and other woodland + rubbish and seemed forlorn and wrecked. She swept her eyes + about with the glance of a proprietor, for Madge Brierly owned + all of this as well as most of the land through which the brook + which deepened into the pool of her adventure flowed. Indeed + the girl was counted rich among her fellows and owned, also, + land down in the valley on which she would not live, but which + she rented for an annual sum to her significant, although it + would not have kept a lowland belle in caramels.</p> + + <p>In the center of the disordered clearing just before her, + was the person who, like the birds, had been roused to keen + attention by the maiden's ringing laugh. She saw him first + while he was peering here and there, astonished, to learn + whence the sound had come, and, with the instinctive caution of + the mountain-bred, she quickly stepped behind a clump of + laurel, through which she peered at him.</p> + + <p>He was a man of sixty years, or thereabouts, wiry, tough and + well preserved. His hair, of grizzled grey, was longer than + most men wore theirs, even among the mountains, where there are + few conventionalities in male attire. He was dressed in the + ordinary garb of the Kentucky planter of the better + class—broad soft hat, flowing necktie, long frock-coat, + which formed a striking contrast to the coarse high-boots into + the tops of which his trousers had been tucked—and yet he + hardly seemed to her to belong to the class of gentlemen to + which his dress apparently assigned him. His face was coarse + and hard, his eyes, as he peered about in search of her, were + "shifty," she assured herself. His hands were large and crudely + fashioned.</p> + + <p>"'Pears like 'most ev'ry one is roamin' 'round my land + to-day," she thought. "I wonder what <i>this</i> one is up to, + thar?"</p> + + <p>For fully fifteen minutes her curiosity remained + unsatisfied, for, startled by the ringing laugh, the stranger + spent at least a quarter of an hour in furtive peering, here + and there, about the clearing, plainly searching for the + laughter. At no time, however, did he approach her hiding place + near enough to see her, and, finally, apparently satisfied that + his ears had fooled him, or that whoever it had been who had + disturbed him with the merry peal had gone away, he went back + to his work.</p> + + <p>Just what this work could be was what she waited curiously + to see. She felt not the least resentment of the trespass it + involved, for the land was wild, and on it, as elsewhere in the + mountains, any one was free to come and go who did not commit + the foolishness of neglecting camp fires, likely to start + forests into blaze, or the supreme treachery of giving + information to the revenue officials about hidden stills. Her + eager curiosity was aroused, more by the mysterious nature of + the stranger's operations than by the fact that they were + conducted on her land.</p> + + <p>Having satisfied himself that no one, now, was near, and, + therefore, that he was not watched, the unpleasantly mysterious + old man went back to the work which evidently had brought him + hither. With utmost care he moved about the place, scrutinizing + outcropping rocks, and this, as they were everywhere, meant a + minute examination of the land. In his hand he carried a small + hammer, and, with this, now and then, after a careful visual + examination of a rock, he knicked it, here and there, + investigating carefully and even eagerly the scars he made, the + bits of rock which were clipped off, now and then even looking + at the latter through a magnifying glass, which he took for the + purpose from a pocket of his vest.</p> + + <p>She had watched these operations, fascinated, for, possibly, + a full half hour, despite the discomfort of damp clothing, + which had begun to chill her, when she saw signs of violent + excitement on the old man's face and in his actions, after he + had chipped a rock, from which he first had had to scrape a + thin superstratum of light soil.</p> + + <p>Like a miner who has found the gold for which, for years, he + has been searching, he arose, with the tiny fragments in his + hand, to look at them with greedy eyes, in a more comfortable, + upright posture. His face had very plainly paled and in his + eyes was an expression of such avaricious eagerness and + satisfaction as she had never seen before upon a human + countenance.</p> + + <p>Before he made a sound she knew that he had found that thing + for which he had been seeking. His grizzled countenance, intent + as any alchemist's of old upon his search, and, as its + absorption grew, continually less a pleasant face to + contemplate, now twisted, suddenly, into an expression of + incredulous joy. He took the fragment he had been examining in + both his hands and held it close before his eyes. Then he made + a minute search of it with his little magnifying glass. Then he + fell upon his knees, and, with his clawlike fingers, scraped + more earth from the rock whence he had chipped it.</p> + + <p>Satisfied by what he saw there, after he had done this, he + rose with a new expression on his face—so crafty, so + exultant, and, withal, so evil, that Madge involuntarily shrank + back to better screening in her leafy hiding place.</p> + + <p>The old man, with sweeping movements of his heavily booted + feet, swept the thin earth he had scraped from the rock's + surface back into its place, thrust the fragments deep into his + pocket, and started hurriedly away, plainly greatly pleased, + along the trail which led into the valley. She watched him with + a beating heart, much puzzled.</p> + + <p>What could it be that he had found, there, on her land? + Visions of gold mines and of diamonds, rose within her mind, + crude, unformed, childish, based on the imperfect knowledge she + had gained of such things from the story-tellers of the + mountains. As mountain people go she was, already, a rich + woman, but now dreams of mightier wealth swept through her + brain tumultuously. Ah, she would buy happiness for all her + friends when she had, later on, unearthed the secret treasures + of her backwoods clearing! Maybe she would, sometime, have a + <i>real silk dress</i>!</p> + + <p>She hurried forward in a stooping run to make examination of + the place, as soon as the old man had vanished down the + mountain side, to see (she thoroughly expected it) the glitter + of bright gems or yellow gold beneath the sand which he had + with such care spread back upon the little scar which he had + made there in the earth. With trembling fingers she pushed back + the yellow earth, and found—nothing but black rock, + uncouth, and unattractive.</p> + + <p>She sat there on the ground in her damp skirts, too + disappointed, for a moment, to make an exclamation. In many + ways the girl, although well past her sixteenth year, was but a + child. The reaction from the mighty dreams of fortune she had + built almost unnerved her.</p> + + <p>It was her native humor which now saved her. Instead of + weeping she burst into sudden laughter.</p> + + <p>"Dellaw!" said she, aloud. "Ain't I a fool? The man was just + a crazy!"</p> + + <p>For some time she sat there in the rocky clearing amidst the + litter of pine-tops and small undergrowth, contemplating her + own silliness with keen amusement.</p> + + <p>"Why, he had me that stirred up," said she, "that I reckoned + I was rich a'ready!"</p> + + <p>But she put the joke aside, to be told upon herself when the + first chance came. Her long hiding in the thicket while she + watched the queer proceedings of the stranger had chilled her + through and through.</p> + + <p>Close to the black rock which had so excited him and which + she had uncovered after he had gone, a little forked stick + stood upright, and in its fork, with one end slanted to the + ground, a twig of green witch-hazel still reposed. Beneath the + twig a tiny spiral of arizing smoke showed that here, with + these primitive appliances, the treasure seeker had prepared + his dinner, later carefully covering his fire.</p> + + <p>"No matter how queer he was dressed, or what queer things he + did," she told herself, "he sure was mountain-born. This here's + a mountain fireplace, sartin sure."</p> + + <p>She broke dead branches from a pine-top, not far away, but + still far enough so that, with reasonable watching, it would + not be endangered by a fire built on this spot (the old man + plainly had considered this when he made the fire, for the + place was almost the only one in all the clearing free enough + from dry pine branches to make fire building safe) and laid + them on the coals which he had buried, but which she now had + carefully uncovered. She would, she had decided, dry her + clothes before she started on the long, cool, woods-road climb + up to her cabin.</p> + + <p>Kneeling by the coals and blowing on them, skillfully + adjusting splinters so that they would catch the draft, she + soon had started a small flame. Fed carefully, this grew + rapidly. Within five minutes there was burning on the site of + the old man's little cooking-fire a cheerful blaze of size. Its + rushing warmth was very grateful to her, and she held her hands + out to it, then her feet, one after the other, with skirts + lifted daintily, so that her chilled limbs might catch the + warmth.</p> + + <p>Invigorated by the pleasant heat, she once more yielded to + the urgings of the bounding spirit of rich youth within her. + Even as she had sported in the water ere the interloper came to + interrupt her sylvan bath, now she sported there about the fire + in an impromptu dance, never for a second uncouth, despite the + fact that she was quite untrained; scarcely less graceful than + her merrymaking in the water, although then she had not been, + as now, hampered in her grace of movement by the unlovely + draperies of homespun linsey-woolsey. As she had been a + water-nymph, so, now, she might have been some Druid maid + dancing by an altar fire. The roughness of the ground did not + annoy her—her feet had not known dancing upon polished + waxen wood; the lack of spectators did not deter + her—those whom she had learned to know and love, the + mountains, trees, the squirrels, and birds, were there.</p> + + <p>In the very midst of the abandon of this rustic symphony of + movement, the thought came to her that the precious + spelling-book was lying on the rock, near by, quite soaked, + neglected. She sped to it and took it to the fire's edge, + where, opening its pages one by one, so that each would get the + warmth, she held it as close as she opined was safe. Having + dried it until she no longer feared the wetting it had had + would seriously harm its usefulness (the lovely smoothness of + its magic leaves was gone, alas! beyond recall) she paused + there for a moment, herself still far from dry, with a bare + foot held out to the blaze, and studied curiously one of the + book's pages.</p> + + <p>Thereon the letters of the alphabet, large, ominous, + suggestive to her mind of nothing in the world but curlycues, + loomed, mystifying. For the first time it occurred to her that + in securing the small volume she had not, as she had thought to + do, solved the problem of an education. The characters, she saw + to her dismay, meant nothing to her. In the absence of a + teacher she could not learn from them!</p> + + <p>Alas, alas! The matter was a tragedy to her. How could she + have been so stupid as to fail to think of this at first? She + stood there with flushed face, despairing, looking at the + mystic symbols with slowly sinking heart.</p> + + <p>Suddenly, though the crackling of the fire filled her ears, + she was aware, by some subtle sense, that she was now not + wholly solitary there. Without a sound to tell her, she was + conscious that some other person had within the moment come + into the clearing. Hastily she looked about. To her amazement, + and, for a moment, to her great dismay, she saw, standing on + the clearing's edge, the young man who had, not long before, + unknowingly invaded her seclusion at the pool.</p> + + <p>Instantly her body became fiercely conscious. Prickling + thrills, not due to bonfire heat, shot over it. Shame sent the + blood in mantling blushes to her cheeks, although she tried to + stop it. Why should she blush at sight of him? True, she had + been there in the water, bare as any new-born babe, when he had + reached the pool's edge—but he had not seen her. To him + she, quite undoubtedly, was a mere strange mountain maid, + unrecognized. Self-consciousness then was quite absurd.</p> + + <p>And this man was a stranger and was on her land. She must + not forget her mountain courtesy and fail to make him + welcome.</p> + + <p>"Howdy," she said briefly.</p> + + <p>"Howdy, little girl?" said he, and looked at her and + smiled.</p> + + <p>This form of address much amused her. She was not far beyond + sixteen, but sixteen is counted womanhood, there in the + mountains, and often is an age for wife—and motherhood as + well. "Little girl," to her, seemed laughable. But then she + suddenly remembered that to stop their flapping, when they were + all soaked, against her ankles, she had pinned her skirts + up—and she was not tall. The mistake, perhaps, was + natural.</p> + + <p>"Got a fire here?" he inquired, inanely, for the fire was + very much in evidence.</p> + + <p>"Looks like it, don't it?" she said somewhat saucily, but + robbed the comment of offense by smiling somewhat shyly at him + as he stood there.</p> + + <p>He was better looking, she reflected, now that she had an + unobstructed view of him, even than he had appeared when she + had peered at him from her concealment behind the log and + barricade of rushes. Of course he was a "foreigner," and, + therefore, a mere weakling, not to be considered seriously as a + specimen of sturdy manhood (how often had she heard the + mountain men speak of the lowlands men with scorn as + weaklings?) but, none the less, he interested and attracted + her, even if he did not inspire her with respect.</p> + + <p>He laughed. "It does," said he, "looks very much like it. + Been burning brush?"</p> + + <p>"No," she replied, "jest warmin' up a little."</p> + + <p>"Why, it's not cold."</p> + + <p>"I—I was wet."</p> + + <p>"<i>Wet?</i>" said he, astonished.</p> + + <p>She saw her slip, and flushed. "Fell in the crik," she + answered briefly, hastily and falsely.</p> + + <p>"Why, that's too bad," said he, with ready sympathy, + unfeigned and real.</p> + + <p>All the time the girl was eying him through often-lowered + lashes, and the more she looked at him the more she felt that + he was not, like many "foreigners," to be distrusted and be + held aloof. His clothes did not suggest to her the "revenuer," + although they certainly were different from any she had ever + seen before on man or beast (his knee breeches gave her some + amusement), and he was totally unarmed, having laid his rifle + down and left it at a distance, leaning against a stump.</p> + + <p>His hands and face were not sunburned—indeed, his + hands were delicately fashioned and much whiter than any she + had ever seen before on man or woman. His appearance certainly + did not, to her, convey the thought of strength—and + manhood, there among the mountains, is thought to find its + first and last expression through its muscle; yet, for some + reason, although her first glance made her think he was a puny + creature, she neither scorned nor pitied him. He was, perhaps, + too smoothly dressed, too carefully shaved; the gun he had laid + down so carelessly had too much "bright work" on it—but + on the whole, she liked him. A city maiden might have well been + dazzled by the really handsome chap. This simple country girl + was not—but, on the whole, she liked him.</p> + + <p>Her hand which held the spelling-book dropped, + unconsciously, so that the open pages of the volume were + revealed, upside down, against her knee.</p> + + <p>"Studying your lessons?" he inquired, quite casually, + good-naturedly, coming nearer.</p> + + <p>Again her disappointment rushed upon her. Impulsively she + told him of it.</p> + + <p>"Oh," said she, "I don't know how! I bought me this yere + book down in th' settlement, an' thought I'd learn things outen + it. But how'm I goin' to learn? I can't make nothin' out of it + to get a start with."</p> + + <p>Instantly the pathos of this situation, not its humor, made + appeal to him.</p> + + <p>"Isn't there a school here?" he inquired.</p> + + <p>"Nearest school is twenty mile acrost, over on Turkey + Creek," she said briefly. "Oncet there was a nearer one, but + teacher was a Hatfield, and McCoys got him, of course. This was + McCoy kentry 'fore they all got so killed off. He ought to 'a' + knowed better than come over here to teach."</p> + + <p>This casual reference to a famous feud—news of whose + infamy had spread far, far beyond the mountains which had + hatched it—from the lips of one so young and lovely (for + he had long ago admitted to himself that as she stood there she + was lovelier than any being he had ever seen before) appalled + Frank Layson, son of level regions, graduate of Harvard, casual + sportsman, amateur mountaineer, who had come to look over his + patrimony and the country round about.</p> + + <p>"Ah—yes," said he, and frowned. And then: "It leaves + you in hard luck, though, doesn't it, if you want to learn and + can't," said he.</p> + + <p>"It sartin does, for—oh, I <i>do</i> hanker powerful + to learn!"</p> + + <p>"May I stay here by the fire with you a while and get warm, + too," he asked. (The unaccustomed exercise of tramping through + the mountains had kept him in a fever heat all day.)</p> + + <p>"An' welcome," she said cordially, moving aside a bit, so + that he could approach without the circumnavigation of a mighty + stump.</p> + + <p>He could not tell whether or not she had made note of many + sweat-beads on his brow and wondered at them on a chilly + man.</p> + + <p>"Perhaps," said he, "I might, in a few minutes, show you a + little about what you want to know. I've been lucky. I have had + a chance to learn."</p> + + <p>She liked the way he said it. There was no hint of + superiority about it. He was not "stuck up," in his claim of + knowledge. He "had had a chance," and took no credit to himself + for it. This pleased her, won her confidence—if, already, + that had not been done by his frank face, in spite of his fancy + clothes and her assumption that he was a namby-pamby + weakling.</p> + + <p>"Oh—if you would!" she said, so eagerly that it seemed + to him most pitiful.</p> + + <p>So, five minutes later, when all her clothing save her heavy + outer skirt, had been quite dried there by the fire, and that + same fire's abounding warmth had sent his temperature up to + high discomfort mark, they sat down, side by side, upon a log, + the spelling-book between them, and he began the pleasant task + of teaching her her A, B, Cs.</p> + + <p>"'A,'" said he, "is this one at the very start."</p> + + <p>"The peaked one," said she.</p> + + <p>"Yes, that one.</p> + + <p>"And 'B,'" he went on, much amused, but with a perfectly + grave face, "is this one with two loops fastened, so, to a + straight stalk."</p> + + <p>"I know where thar <i>is</i> a bee-tree," she remarked, + irrelevantly.</p> + + <p>"It will help recall this in your mind," said he, + maintaining perfect gravity, "imagine it with two big loops of + rope fastened to one side of it—"</p> + + <p>"Rope wouldn't stick out that-a-way," said she, "it would + just droop. They'd have to be of somethin' stiffen"</p> + + <p>"Well—" said he, and tried to think of something.</p> + + <p>"You could use that railroad-iron that I saw 'em heat + red-hot an' bend, down in the valley," she suggested.</p> + + <p>"That's it," said he. "Two loops of railroad-iron fastened + to a bee-tree" (he pointed) "just as these loops, here, are + fastened to the straight black stem. That's 'B.'"</p> + + <p>"I won't forget," said she, her beautiful young brow + puckered earnestly as she stored the knowledge in her + brain.</p> + + <p>"And this is 'C,'" said he.</p> + + <p>"'C,' 'C'" said she. "Jest take off one of th' loops an' use + it by itself."</p> + + <p>"That's so," said he. "And here is 'D'"</p> + + <p>"Cut off th' top th' tree," said she. "Just cut it plumb + off, loop an' all."</p> + + <p>He laughed. It was clear that she would be an earnest and + quick-thinking pupil to whomever had the task of giving her her + education.</p> + + <p>As he looked at her, now, he for the first time fully + realized her beauty. He had known, from the first, that she was + most attractive, most unusual for a mountain maid; but now, + laughing, although her head was still bent to the book, her big + eyes, sparkling with her merriment, raised frankly to his face, + were revelations to him. He had not seen such eyes before, and + all the old-time similes for deep-brown orbs sprang instantly + to mind. "Fathomless pools," "translucent amber"—no + simile would really describe them. Late hours had never dimmed + them, illness had never made them heavy, he was sure a lie had + never made them shift from their straight gaze for one short + second. He had not seen such eyes in cities!</p> + + <p>And from careful contemplation of the eyes, he kept on with + a careful contemplation of the other beauties of his fair and + unexpected pupil. Her homespun gown, always ill-shaped and now + unusually protuberant in spots, unusually tight in others, + because of its late wetting and impromptu, partial drying, + could not hide the sylvan grave of her small-boned and lissome + figure, just budding into womanhood. Her feet, crossed on the + ground, were as patrician in their nakedness as any bluegrass + belle's in satin slippers. Her ankles, scratched by casual + thorns and already beginning to blush brown from the June sun's + ardent kisses, were as delicate as any he had ever seen + enmeshed in silken hose. Her hands, long, slender, + taper-fingered, actually dainty, although brown and roughened + by hard labor, were, it seemed to him, better fitted for the + fingering of a piano's keys than for the coarse and heavy tasks + to which he knew they must be well accustomed. He gazed at her + in veritable wonder. How had she blossomed, thus, here in this + wilderness?</p> + + <p>"Where do you live?" he asked, interrupting their scholastic + efforts.</p> + + <p>"Up thar," she pointed, and, above, he could just see the + top of a mud-and-stick chimney rise above a crag between the + trees.</p> + + <p>"Have you brothers or sisters?"</p> + + <p>"Ain't got nobody," she answered, and to her face there came + a look of keen resentment rather than of sorrow or of + resignation. "I'm all th' feud left," she said simply. She + looked at Layson quickly, wondering if he would be surprised + that she should not have fought and also died. "Girl cain't + fight alone, much," she went on, in hurried explanation, or, + rather, quick excuse. "I might take a shot if I should git a + chanst, but I ain't had none, an', besides, I guess it air plum + wrong to kill, even if there's blood scores to be settled up. I + toted 'round a rifle with me till last fall, but then I give it + up. They won't git me—but maybe you don't know what feuds + are in the mountings, here."</p> + + <p>He was looking at her with new interest. All his life he had + heard much about the dreadful mountain feuds. As the bogey-man + is used in Eastern nurseries, so are the mountaineers used in + the nurseries of old Kentucky and of Tennessee to frighten + children with. Their family fights, not less persistent or less + deadly than the enmities between the warring barons of the + Rhine in middle ages, form a magnificent foundation for dire + tales.</p> + + <p>"Yes," said he, "I know about the feuds, of course. But + you—"</p> + + <p>It did not seem possible to him, even after her frank + statements, that this bright and joyous creature could in any + way be joined to such a bloody history as he knew the histories + of some of these long feuds to be.</p> + + <p>"It's been thirty years an' better," said the girl, "since + the Brierlys and Lindsays had some trouble about a claybank + filly an' took to shootin' one another—shootin' straight + an' shootin' often an' to kill. For years th' fight went on. + They fired on sight, an' sometimes 'twas a Lindsay went an' + sometimes 'twas a Brierly. Bimeby there was just two men + left—my pappy an' Lem Lindsay.</p> + + <p>"One day Lem sent word to my pappy to meet him without no + weepons an' shake han's an' make it up."</p> + + <p>Her face took on a look of bitterness and hate which almost + made her hearer shiver, so foreign was it to the fresh, young + brightness he had watched till now.</p> + + <p>"My daddy come, at th' ap'inted time," she went on slowly, + "but dad—he knowed Lem Lindsay, an' never for a minute + trusted him. He ast a friend of his, Ben Lorey, to be a hidden + witness. Ben hid behind a rock to watch. 'Twas right near + here—just over thar." She pointed.</p> + + <p>"Soon Lem, he come along, a-smilin' like a Judast, an', + after some fine speakin', as daddy offered him his hand, Lem + whipped out a knife, an'—an' struck it into my daddy's + heart."</p> + + <p>The girl's recital had been tense, dramatic, not because she + had tried or thought to make it so—she had never learned + not to be genuine—but because of the real and tragic + drama in the tale she told, the matter-of-course way in which + she told it.</p> + + <p>It made Layson shudder. What sort of people were these + mountaineers who went armed to friendly meetings and struck + down the men whose hands they offered to clasp? Where was the + other man while his friend's enemy was at this dreadful + work?</p> + + <p>"But Lorey," said her fascinated listener, "the man who was + in hiding as a witness, made him pay for his outrageous + act!"</p> + + <p>"No," said the girl, with drooping head. "He stepped out + from behind the rock where he was hidin', an' he pulled the + trigger of his rifle. But luck was dead against us that day. + Wet powder—somethin'—nobody knows what. The gun did + not go off. Before he got it well down from his shoulder so's + to find out what it was that ailed it, Lem Lindsay was upon him + like a mountain lion—an' he laid him thar beside my + daddy. He didn't mean that there should be no witnesses."</p> + + <p>She paused so long that Layson was about to speak, feeling + the silence troublesome and painful, but before he had decided + what to say in comment on a tale so dreadful, she went on:</p> + + <p>"He didn't mean there should be no witnesses, Lem Lindsay + didn't, but as it happened there was two. My mother, me clasped + in her arms, had stole after my daddy, fearin' that somethin' + wicked would come out o' that there meetin' with his old-time + enemy. She spoke up sudden, an' surprised th' murderer, + standin' there by th' two poor men he'd killed. At first it + scared him. I can't remember everythin' about that awful day, + but I can see Lem Lindsay's face as she screamed at him, just + as plain this minute as I seed it then. I'll never forget that + look if I live a thousand years!</p> + + <p>"At first he was struck dumb, but then that passed. He give + a yell of rage an' started toward us on th' run. She jumped, + with me a-hinderin' her. Like a mountain deer she run, in spite + of that. She was lighter on her feet than he was upon his, an' + soon outdistanced him. He hadn't stopped to pick his rifle + up—he only had th' knife he'd done th' killin' with, so + he couldn't do what he'd 'a' liked to done—shoot down a + woman an' a baby!</p> + + <p>"We lived where I live now, alone, an' then, as now, there + was a little bridge that took th' footpath over th' deep gully. + Them days was wicked ones in these here mountains, an' daddy'd + had that foot-bridge fixed so it would raise. My mother just + had time to pull it up, when we had crossed, before Lem Lindsay + reached there. He stopped, to keep from fallin' in the gully, + but stood there, shakin' his bare fist an' swearin' that he'd + kill us yet. But that he couldn't do. Folks was mightily + roused, and he had to leave th' mountings, then an' thar, an' + ain't been in 'em since, so far as anybody knows."</p> + + <p>Her brows drew down upon her eyes. Her sweet mouth hardened. + "He'd better <i>never</i> come!" she added, grimly.</p> + + <p>After a moment's pause she went on, slowly: "So, now, here + we be—Joe Lorey, Ben's son, an' me. My mother died, you + see, not very many years after Lindsay'd killed my daddy. + Seein' of it done, that way, had been too much for her. I + reckon seein' it would have killed me, too, if I'd been more'n + a baby, but I wasn't, an' lived through it. Ben's lived here, + workin' his little mounting farm, an'—an'—"</p> + + <p>She hesitated, evidently ill at ease, strangely stammering + over an apparently simple and unimportant statement of the + condition of her fellow orphan. She changed color slightly. + Layson, watching her, decided that the son of the one victim + must be the sweetheart of the daughter of the other, and would + have smiled had not the very thought, to his surprise, annoyed + him unaccountably. Whether that was what had caused her + stammering, he could not quite decide, although he gave the + matter an absurd amount of thought. She went on quickly:</p> + + <p>"He's lived here, workin' of his little mounting farm + an'—an'—an' doin' jobs aroun', an' such, an' I've + lived here, a-workin' mine, a little, but not much. After my + mother died there was some folks down in th' valley took keer + of me for a while, but then they moved away, an' I was old + enough to want things bad, an' what I wanted was to come back + here, where I could see th' place where mother an' my daddy had + both loved me an' been happy. I've got some land down in th' + valley—fifty acres o' fine pasture—but I never + cared to live down there. Th' rent I get for that land makes me + rich—I ain't never wanted for a single thing but just th' + love an' carin' that my daddy an' my mother would 'a' give me + if that wicked man hadn't killed 'em both. For he <i>did</i> + kill my mother, just as much as he killed daddy. She died o' + that an' that alone."</p> + + <p>Again she fell into a silence for a time, looking out at the + tremendous prospect spread before them, quite unseeing.</p> + + <p>"Oh," she went on, at length, her face again darkened by a + frown, her small hands clenched, every muscle of her lithe + young body drawn as taut as a wild animal's before a spring. "I + sometimes feel as if I'd like to do as other mountain women + have been known to do when killin' of that sort has blackened + all their lives—I sometimes feel as if I'd like to take a + rifle in my elbow an' go lookin' for that man—go lookin' + for him in th' mountings, in th' lowlands, anywhere—even + if I had to cross th' oceans that they tell about, in order to + come up with him!"</p> + + <p>Her voice had been intensely vibrant with strong passion as + she said this, and her quivering form told even plainer how + deep-seated was the hate that gave birth to her words. But soon + she put all this excitement from her and dropped her hands in a + loose gesture of hopeless relaxation.</p> + + <p>"But I know such thoughts are foolish," she said drearily. + "He got away. A girl can't carry on a feud alone, nohow. + There's nothin' I can do."</p> + + <p>Again, now, with a passing thought, her features lighted as + another maiden's, whose young life had been cast by fate in + gentler places might have lighted at the thought of some great + pleasure pending in the future.</p> + + <p>"There is a chance, though," she said, with a fierce joy, + "that Lem Lindsay, if he is alive, 'll git th' bullet that he + earned that day. Joe Lorey's livin'—that's Ben's + son—an' he—well, maybe, some time—ah, he can + shoot as straight as anybody in these mountings!"</p> + + <p>The look of a young tigress was on her face.</p> + + <p>It made the young man who was listening to her + shudder—the look upon her face, the voice with which she + said "And he can shoot as straight as anybody in these + mountings!" For a second it revolted him. Then, getting a + fairer point of view, he smiled at her with a deep sympathy, + and waited.</p> + + <p>He had not to wait long before a gentler mood held + dominance. It came, indeed, almost at once.</p> + + <p>"No," she said slowly, "a girl can't carry on a feud alone, + nohow.... And, somehow, when I think of it most times, I really + don't want to. It's only now an' then I get stirred up, like + this. Most times I'd rather learn than—go on fightin' + like we-all always have.... I'd rather learn, somehow.... + An'—an'—an' that's been mighty hard—<i>is</i> + mighty hard"</p> + + <p>"You—haven't had much chance," said he, looking at her + pityingly.</p> + + <p>She gave him a quick glance. Had she really thought he + pitied her she would have bitterly resented it.</p> + + <p>"Had th' same chance other mounting girls have," she said + quickly, defending, not herself, but her country and her + people.</p> + + <p>She stood, now, at a distance from the fire, for it was + blazing merrily, but her face was flushed by its radiant heat, + its lurid blaze made a fine background for the supple, swaying + beauty of her slim young body. She raised her arms high, high + above her head, with that same genuineness of gesture, graceful + and appealing, which he had seen in all her movements from the + first and then clasped them at her breast.</p> + + <p>"But oh," said she, "somehow, I want to learn, now, + terrible!"</p> + + <p>"Let me help you while I'm in the mountains," he replied, + impulsively. "I'll be glad to help you every day."</p> + + <p>"Would you?" she said. "I would be powerful thankful!" Her + bright eyes expressed the gratitude she felt.</p> + + <p>While they had talked a strange paradox had come about there + by the fire without their notice. The long, black outcropping + of rock against which they had brought the old man's blaze to + life, had, instead of keeping the fire from spreading to the + undergrowth, strangely permitted it to pass.</p> + + <p>It was the girl who first discovered this. She sprang up + from her place with a startled exclamation.</p> + + <p>"Oh," said she, "th' fire is spreadin'!"</p> + + <p>He rose quickly to his feet.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_III"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER III</h2><br> + + + <p>They were appalled by the predicament in which they found + themselves. The thing seemed quite mysterious.</p> + + <p>The rock against which the fire had been built was all + aglow, as if it had been heated in a furnace till red + hot—strange circumstance; one that would have fascinated + Layson into elaborate investigation had he had the time to + think about it—and, beyond it, evidently communicated + through it as a link, the rustling leaves of the past autumn, + their surface layers sun-dried, were bursting into glittering + little points of flame all about the narrow ledge of rock on + which they were standing. As they gazed, before Layson could + rush forward to stamp out these sparkling perils, the fire had + spread, as the girl, wise in the direful ways of brush-fires, + had known at once that it would spread, to the encircling + pine-tops, left in a tinder barricade about the clearing by the + sawyers and the axemen.</p> + + <p>"Oh," she said, distressed, "we're ketched!"</p> + + <p>Layson, less conscious of their peril because less well + informed as to the almost explosive inflammability of dry + pine-tops, took the matter less seriously. "We'll get out, all + right," said he. "Don't worry."</p> + + <p>"There's times <i>to</i> worry," said the girl, "an' this, I + reckon—well, it's one of 'em."</p> + + <p>As if to prove the truth of what she said, with a burst + almost like that of flame's leap along a powder-line, the fire + caught one resinous pine-top after another with a crackling + rush which was not only fearfully apparent to the eye, but also + ominously audible. Within ten seconds the pair were ringed by + sound like that of crackling musketry upon a battlefield, and + by a pyrotechnic spectacle of terrifying magnitude. Layson had + heard guns pop in untrained volleys at State Guard manoeuvres, + and was instantly impressed by the amazing similarity of sound, + but he had never in his life seen anything to be compared to + the towering ring of flame-wall which almost instantly + encircled them. He lost, perhaps, a minute, in astonished + contemplation of the situation. Then realization of their peril + burst upon him with a rush. To wait there, where they were, too + evidently meant certain death. Not only would the pulsing heat + from the pine-tops already burning soon become unendurable, but + there was enough of tindrous litter strewn about the entire + area of the little clearing to make it horribly apparent to him + that, in a moment, it would all become a bed of glittering + flame. He gazed at the menacing, encroaching fire, + appalled.</p> + + <p>Madge, understanding the desperation of their situation even + better than he did, knowing, too, that a stranger could, + indeed, scarce conceive the deadly peril of it, was, at first, + the cooler of the two. Her life there in the mountains, where + any man she knew might meet, and her own father had met, death + stalking with a rifle in his bended elbow, or a knife clutched + in his clenched hand, had given her a certain poise in time of + peril, an admirable self-control, quick wits, firm nerves. She + felt that there was small chance of escape, yet she was not + visibly terrified, and made no outcry.</p> + + <p>Had she been caught, thus, with a mountaineer (which + scarcely could have happened) she would have felt small + apprehension. Learned in the perils of the woods, heavy-booted, + sturdy-legged, a native, like Joe Lorey, for example, would, + she felt quite certain, have been able to effect her rescue. + But the chances, she decided, were practically nil, with this + untrained "foreigner" as her companion. She had been told that + "bluegrass folks" were lacking in strong nerves and prone to + panic if real danger threatened. Barefooted as she was, there + was little she, herself, could do. She knew that she would + quickly fall unconscious from intolerable pain if she so much + as tried to make a dash for safety. That she was badly + frightened she would have readily admitted, that she was + panic-stricken none who looked at her could, for a moment, + dream.</p> + + <p>She glanced at Layson with a curiosity which was almost + calm, as, for a moment quite bewildered, he ran from side to + side of their rapidly narrowing space of safety, endeavoring to + find a weak spot in the wall of flames through which they might + escape, but failing everywhere. For a moment she thought that + he had lost his head, and thus proved all too true those tales + which she had heard of "foreigners." It was almost as one race + gazing at another suffering ordeal in test, that she observed + his every movement, each detail of his facial play. While they + had sat there on the log, intent upon their work above her + spelling-book, she had wondered if the harsh, uncharitable + mountain judgment of the "foreigners" had not been too + merciless. Now she felt that she began to see its + justification. The man, undoubtedly, she thought, showed an + unmanly panic.</p> + + <p>"No use tryin' to get out that-a-way," she said calmly. + "You'd better—"</p> + + <p>Even as she spoke, and before her words could possibly have + influenced him, she saw a change come over him. The signs of + fear, which had so displeased her, faded from his actions and + his facial play. Placed in unusual, unexpected circumstances, + for a second he had been bewildered, but, as soon as + opportunity had come for gathering of wits, he found composure, + coolness, nerve. She did not even finish out her sentence. + Instead, her thoughts turned to that acme of breeding, nerve, + endurance and high spirit dear to all Kentuckians, the race + horse. "He's found his feet!" she thought.</p> + + <p>The man impressed her, now, even more than when, with + courtesy, such as she had never known, tact which had + maintained her comfort when she might have felt humiliated, + learning which to her seemed marvellous, he had offered her the + key to learning's mysteries upon the log. She saw that he had + quickly won a mighty victory over self. She thought of tales + which she had heard by mountain fireplaces about "bad men," + who, when they first had heard a bullet's song, had dodged and + whitened, only to recover quickly and be nerved to peril + evermore thereafter. Her doubt of Layson fell away completely. + Instead of thinking of him as of one whose manhood is inferior + to that of the rough mountaineers she knew, perforce she saw in + him superiorities. There was not the least sign of bragadocio, + of counterfeit, about his new-found calm. It was, she + recognized at once, entirely genuine. "Rattled for a minute," + she thought, wisely, again amending her first judgment, "but + cooler, now, than cucumbers."</p> + + <p>She looked gravely at him as he moved about investigating, + not excitedly, alertly, full of the necessary business of + escape. "Looks bad, don't it?" she said gravely. "Like powder, + them thar pine-tops."</p> + + <p>"Oh, we'll get out all right," he answered, easily, and now + she felt a comfort in the fact that he was intentionally + minimizing danger to give confidence to the supposed weakness + of her sex.</p> + + <p>"Maybe so an' maybe not," said she, discovering, to her + disgust, that it was hard, now that he was showing strength, to + keep the panic tremolo from her own voice.</p> + + <p>The fire had, by this time, encircled them completely, and + from a hundred points was running in toward them on tinder + lines of dry pine-needles and old leaves, flashing at them + viciously along the crisp, dry surface of old moss and lichens + on the rocks. A wind had suddenly arisen, born, no doubt, of + the fire's own mighty draft. Bits of blazing light wood, small, + burning branches, myriads of flaming oak leaves and pine-cones + were swept up from the ring of fire about them, in the chimney + of the blaze, to lose their impetus only at a mighty height, + and then fall slowly, threateningly down within the burning + ring. So plentiful were these little, vicious menaces, that, + within another minute, they were dodging them continually.</p> + + <p>He now took his place close by her side and gazed upon the + spectacle, calm-eyed, as if he found it interesting rather more + than terrifying.</p> + + <p>"Oh, we'll get out, all right," said he, again.</p> + + <p>And then he turned to her in frank and unexcited inquiry. To + her increased disgust the sobs of growing fear convulsed her + throat. She fought them back and listened to his question.</p> + + <p>"You know more about woods-fires than I do," he said evenly. + "Better tell me what to do, eh?"</p> + + <p>This confession of his ignorance strengthened her growing + confidence in him instead of weakening it. The fact that he + could ask advice so calmly made her think that, probably, he + would be calm in taking it if she could offer it. It steadied + her and helped her think. And then she saw him spring, and, + actually with a smile, strike in the air above her head, + diverting from its downward path which would have landed it + upon her, a flaming fragment of pine-top fully five feet long. + He actually laughed.</p> + + <p>"Like handball," he said cheerily. "Don't worry. I won't let + anything fall on you. You just—<i>think!</i>"</p> + + <p>Her panic, now, had vanished as by magic. Instantly she + really <i>ceased</i> to worry. He would <i>not</i> let fire + fall on her. He would get her out of that. She was certain of + it. She <i>could</i> think—calmly and with care.</p> + + <p>But she could not think of a way out—at least she + could not think of a way out for her. Barefooted as she was, + she scarcely could expect to find, even in her strong young + body, strength enough to endure the pain of treading, as she + would be forced to if she made a dash, on an almost unbroken + bed of glowing coals and smouldering moss ten yards in width. + He, with his heavy boots, might manage it. Therefore there was + hope for him; but for her to try it would be madness.</p> + + <p>Had he been a sturdy mountaineer, she wofully + reflected—having found a detail of lowland inferiority + which, she was quite certain, would not be dispelled as had + some others—he might, in such a desperate case, have + summoned strength to "tote" her through, although she scarcely + thought Joe Lorey, the best man whom she knew, could really do + it; still there would have been the possibility. But no + weak-muscled "foreigner," pap-nurtured in the lowlands, could, + she knew, of course, accomplish such a feat. It was fine to + know things, as he did, but <i>muscle</i> was what counted now! + In queer, impersonal reflection, born, doubtless, of a dumb + hysteria, she reflected bitterly upon the healthy weight of her + own mountain-nourished person.</p> + + <p>"If I was only like them triflin' bluegrass gals Joe tells + about," she thought, "made up of nothin' or a little less, it + wouldn't be no trick to tote me outen this; but dellaw! I'm + just as much as that there ox of mine feels right to carry when + I got a couple bags o' grist on, back an' front."</p> + + <p>She looked around the ring of fire, dull-eyed, disheartened. + "Ain't no use," said she, aloud.</p> + + <p>He seemed to almost lose his temper. "Use?" said he, "of + course there's use! You tell me where the best chance is and + we'll fight out, all right."</p> + + <p>She did not even answer; the situation seemed to her so + wholly hopeless.</p> + + <p>He acted, then, without further question. Hastily throwing + the loop of his gun over his shoulder, he crooked one arm + beneath her much-astonished knees, clasped another tight about + her waist, and started for the fire with a determined + spring.</p> + + <p>"No, no; not there!" she screamed, astonished, terrified, + and yet, withal, delighted by the unexpected hardness of the + muscles in the arms which held her, the unexpected spring in + the apparently not overburdened limbs which bore them up, the + unexpected nerve, determination of the man's initiative.</p> + + <p>This "foreigner," it seemed, was not so weak, was not so + namby-pamby as his class had been described to be. She did not + struggle in the circling arms, she only made an + explanation.</p> + + <p>"That's hard wood, burnin' there," said she. "Burnin' hard + wood's harder to break through an' hotter, too. Try some place + where it's pine.... But you can't never do it!"</p> + + <p>"Where?" said he. "Show me! You know, I don't."</p> + + <p>"Well—over thar," she said, and indicated, with a + pointing hand, the place in the encircling conflagration where + passage seemed least hopeless.</p> + + <p>At that moment fire blazed high there, but her knowing eye + told her that it was largely flaring needles, brittle twigs, + and easily dissipated cones which fed it.</p> + + <p>A few great springs, such as she now felt that the + quivering, eager limbs which held her, were possessed of the + ability to make, might take them through this flimsiest spot in + the terrible barricade. The crackling, burning branches of the + dead pine-tops would be likely to give way before them, not to + trip them up, as oak would, to thrust them, falling, on the bed + of glowing coals fast forming on the ground.</p> + + <p>"Over thar," said she, again. "I reckon that's the best + place—but you cain't—"</p> + + <p>With the new respect the knowledge of his trained and ready + muscles brought to her, arose in her a towering admiration of + him. When she first had seen him, there beside the pool, she + definitely had liked him; while they had delved into the + mysteries of the alphabet upon the log his patient, willing, + helpful kindness had increased her prepossession in his favor. + It was only when, after disaster had so swiftly, so + unexpectedly, descended on them and she had compared his body, + made apparently more slender in comparison to the rude-limbed + mountaineers she knew than it was really by tight-fitting + knickerbockers and golf-stockings and its well-cut + shooting-jacket, that she had lost confidence in him. But now + his muscles, closing round her, seemed like thews of steel. She + had never heard of athletes, she did not dream that + muscle-building is a part of modern education—that + alertness on the baseball, polo, football fields, count quite + as much, at least in college popularity, as ready tongues and + agile wits. The last fibres of destroyed respect for him + rebuilt themselves upon the minute. Her confidence returned + completely in a sudden flash—quicker than the magic + leapings of the fire about them. She knew that he would take + her through to safety.</p> + + <p>A thought occurred to her, for, suddenly, with the new + respect for him the knowledge of his trained and ready muscles + gave her, arose a new consideration for him, almost motherly. + He would be breasting dreadful peril in the passage of the + flames—peril to his eyes and face and clinging, + tight-clasped hands especially. And round her limbs there was + the means of saving him, in part, from it.</p> + + <p>"You let me down for just a minute," she said briefly. "Just + a minute. Then I'll let you take me up an' carry me. An' you + can <i>do</i> it, too! You're strong, ain't you?"</p> + + <p>Wondering, he released his hold on her, and she slid to her + feet. Then, with a quick movement, she unbuttoned the waistband + of her outer skirt, and, letting it slip down to the ground, + stepped out of it.</p> + + <p>"Ain't it lucky I got wet?" said she, and smiled. "It ain't + more'n half dry yet. The under one is wet, too, and both of 'em + are wool—and that don't burn like cotton would.</p> + + <p>"Now pick me up again an' I'll just fix this + skirt—so—there—now—that's the way. Can + you see, now? All right? Well, it'll keep th' fire from + catchin' in our hair, an' it'll save your + eyes."</p><a name="Illus_2"></a> <br> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_2.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_2.jpg" + alt="A mighty leap ... beyond the blazing barrier" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4>A mighty leap had carried them beyond the blazing + barrier</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <p>He laughed. "That's fine!" said he, and, almost before she + realized that they were under way, a mighty leap had taken them + close to the blazing barrier, another one had landed them + within its very midst, another one had carried them beyond its + greatest menace, another had delivered them from actual peril, + leaving them on ground where filmy grass, dead leaves, dry + needles, had blazed quickly, with a consuming flash, and, + utterly and almost instantly destroyed, had left behind them + only thin, hot ash, devoid of peril, scarce to be + considered.</p> + + <p>But he did not let her feet touch ground again until they + were even beyond this. Finally, when they reached a rocky + "barren," where the little fire had found no fuel, she felt his + tautened thews relax.</p> + + <p>Instantly she slipped from his encircling arms, and he began + to whip the flames in grass and little brush close to them with + the dampened skirt. Even on the little isle of safety they + found it necessary, still, to agilely avoid innumerable bits of + floating "light-wood" brands, and, for a time, to beat, beat at + the hungry little flames around them, but, at last, the danger + was all over, and they stood there, looking at each other, with + a sense of great relief. He smiled, breathing hard, but not + exhausted.</p> + + <p>"Tight work, eh?" he said cheerfully.</p> + + <p>"Jest <i>wonderful</i>!" she answered, with a ready + tribute.</p> + + <p>Then the memory of his embracing arm, the fact that her own + arms had been as tightly clasped about his neck, came to her + with a rush, although, while they had raced across the burning + strip she had not thought of these things. Shyness stirred in + her almost as definitely as it had while she lay hidden at the + pool's mouth, watching him and tingling with shamed thrills at + thought of her amazing plight there. No man had ever had his + arms about her in her life before.</p> + + <p>But, even while she blushed and thrilled with this + embarrassment, she fought to put it from her. He, evidently, + had not thought of it at all, was, now, not thinking of it. + What had been done had been a part of the day's work, a quick + move, made in an emergency, when nothing else would serve. His + attitude restored her own composure.</p> + + <p>And gratitude welled in her. She struggled to find words for + it.</p> + + <p>"I—I'm much obleeged to you," were all she found, and + she was conscious of their most complete inadequacy.</p> + + <p>"No reason why you should be," he said gayly. "We got caught + in a tight place, that's all, and we helped one another out of + it."</p> + + <p>She laughed derisively. "I helped <i>you</i> out a lot, now + didn't I?" she asked.</p> + + <p>Again she made a survey of him, standing where he had been + when he had loosed his hold of her, unwearied, smiling, and she + looked with actual wonder. Good clothes and careful speech were + not, of a necessity, the outward signs of weaklings, it + appeared!</p> + + <p>Joe Lorey, in a dozen talks with her, had told her that they + were. She did not understand that this had been a clumsy and + short-sighted strategy, that, finding her more difficult than + other mountain girls—the handsome, sturdy young + hill-dweller had not been without his conquests among the + maidens of his kind; only Madge had baffled him—he had + feared that, now when the railroad building in the valley had + brought so many "foreigners" into the neighborhood, one of them + might fascinate her, and it had been to guard against this, as + well as he was able, that he had spoken slightingly of the + whole class. He had delighted in repeating to her tales + belittling them, deriding them, and she, of course, had quite + believed his stories.</p> + + <p>But her experience with this one had not justified that + point of view, and the matter largely occupied her thoughts as + they walked slowly through the thickets of a bit of + "second-growth" beyond the fire, which, stopped by the rocky + "barrens," was dying out behind them. Her companion was, to + her, an utterly new sort of being, not better trained in mind + alone, but better trained in body than any mountaineer she + knew; doubtless ignorant of many details of woods-life which + would be known to any child there in the mountains, but, on the + other hand, even more resourceful, daring, quick, than mountain + men would have been, similarly placed, and, to her amazement, + physically stronger, too!</p> + + <p>The fact that he had shown himself more thoughtful of and + courteous to her than any other man had ever been before, made + its impression, but a slighter one. Hers were the instincts of + true wisdom, and she valued these things less than many of her + city sisters might, although she valued them, of course. She + looked slyly, wonderingly at him. He was a very pleasant, very + admirable sort of creature—this visitor from the unknown, + outside world. She quite decided that she did not even think + his knickerbockers foolish, after all.</p> + + <p>For a moment, even now, she thrilled unpleasantly with a + mean suspicion that he might be a "revenuer," after all, and + have done the good things he had done as a part of that + infernal craft which revenuers sometimes showed when searching + for the hidden stills where "moonshine" whisky is illegally + produced among the mountains; but she put this thought out of + her heart, indignantly, almost as quickly as it came to her. + Instinctively she felt quite certain that duplicity did not + form any portion of his nature. They had not been traitor's + arms which had so bravely (and so firmly) clasped her for the + quick and risky dash across that terrifying belt of fire!</p> + + <p>"No," said she, determined to give him fullest measure of + due credit, "I didn't help you none. I didn't help you + none—an' you did what I don't believe any other man I + ever knew could do. I'm—"</p> + + <p>Again she paused, again at loss for words, again the quest + failed wholly.</p> + + <p>"I'm much obleeged," said she.</p> + + <p>Then, suddenly, the thought came to her of that other and + less prepossessing "foreigner" whom, that day, she had seen + there in her mountains. She described him carefully to Layson, + and asked if he could guess who he had been and what his + business could have been. Descriptions are a sorry basis for + the recognition of a person thought to be far miles away, a + person unassociated in one's mind with the surroundings he has + suddenly appeared in; and, therefore, Layson, who really knew + the man and who, had he identified him with the unknown + visitor, would have been surprised, intensely curious, and, + possibly, suspicious, could offer her no clue to his + identity.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER IV</h2><br> + + + <p>That same "foreigner," for a "foreigner," was acting + strangely. Surely he was dressed in a garb hitherto almost + unknown in the rough mountains, certainly none of the + mountaineers whom he had met (and he had met, with plain + unwillingness, a few, as he had climbed up to the rocky + clearing where his fire had blossomed so remarkably) had + recognized him. But, despite all this, it was quite plain that + he was traveling through a country of which he found many + details familiar. Now and then a little vista caught his view + and held him for long minutes while he seemed to be comparing + its reality with pictures of it stored within his memory; again + he paused when he discovered that some whim of tramping + mountaineers or roaming cattle, some landslide born of winter + frosts; some blockade of trees storm-felled, had changed the + course of an old path. Always, in a case like this, he + investigated carefully before he definitely started on the new + one.</p> + + <p>When he had first come into the neighborhood he had made his + way with caution, almost as if fearing to be seen, but now, + after the bits of rocks which he had taken from Madge Brierly's + clearing, had slipped into his pocket, he used double care in + keeping from such routes as showed the marks of many recent + footsteps, in sly investigations to make sure the paths he + chose were clear of other wayfarers. His nerves evidently on + keen edge, he seemed to fear surprise of some unpleasant sort. + Each crackling twig, as he passed through the thickets, each + rustling of a frightened rabbit as it scuttled from his path, + each whir of startled grouse, or sudden call of nesting + king-bird, made him pause cautiously until he had quite + satisfied himself that it meant nothing to be feared. He was + ever carefully alert for danger of some sort.</p> + + <p>But not even his continual alarms, his constant + watchfulness, could keep his mind away from the rough bits of + rock which he had chipped from the outcropping in the clearing. + More than once, as he found convenient and safe + places—leafy nooks in rocky clefts, glades in dense, + impenetrable thickets—he took out the little specimens, + turned them over in his hands with loving touches, and gazed at + them with an expression of picturesquely avaricious joy. Had + any witnessed this procedure they would have found it vastly + puzzling, for the specimens seemed merely small, black stones + and valueless. But once, while looking at them lovingly, he + burst into a harsh and hearty laugh as of great triumph, quite + involuntarily; but hushed it quickly, looking, then, about him + with an apprehensive glance. Each step he made was, in the + main, a cautious one, each pause he made was plainly to look at + some familiar, if some slightly altered, vista.</p> + + <p>It was quite clear that with the finding of the little bits + of rock he had achieved the errand which had brought him to the + mountains, and that now he roamed to satisfy his memory's + curiosity. Smiles of recognition constantly played upon his + grim and grizzled face at sight of some old path, some distant, + mist-enshrouded crag, even some mighty pine or oak which had + for years withstood the buffeting of tempestuous storms; now + and then a little puzzled frown, added its wrinkles to the many + which already creased his brow, when, at some spot which he had + thought to find as he had left it, long ago, he discovered that + time's changes had been notable.</p> + + <p>Once only did the man become confused among the woods-paths + (where a stranger might have lost himself quite hopelessly in + twenty minutes) and that was at a point not far from where + Madge Brierly and Layson had, on their way up from the + clearing, paused while she told her youthful escort of the grim + but simple tragedy of her feud-darkened childhood. Before the + old man reached this spot he had been traveling with puzzled + caution, for a time, across a slope rough-scarred by some not + ancient landslide which had changed the superficial contour of + the mountain-side. When, suddenly, he debouched upon the rocky + crag, hung, a rustic, natural platform above a gorgeous + panorama of the valley, the view came to him, evidently, as a + sharp, a startling, most unpleasant shock.</p> + + <p>That the place was quite familiar to him none who watched + him would have doubted, but no smiles of pleasant memories + curved his thin, unpleasant lips as he surveyed it. He did not + pause there, happily, communing with his memory in smiling + reminiscence as he had at other points along the way. Instead, + as the great view burst upon his gaze, he started back as if + the outlook almost terrified him. He had been traveling astoop, + partly because the burden of his years weighed heavy on his + shoulders, partly as if his muscles had unconsciously reverted + to the easy, slouching, climbing-stoop of the Kentucky + mountaineer. But at sight of this especial spot his attitude + changed utterly, the whole expression, not of his face, alone, + but of his body, altered. His stoop became a crouch. His hands + flew out before him as if, with them, he strove to ward away + the charming scene. His feet paused in their tracks, as if + struck helpless and immovable by what his eyes revealed to + him.</p> + + <p>For a full moment, almost without moving, he stood there, + fascinated by some old association, plainly, for there was + nothing in the prospect which, to an actual stranger, would + have seemed more notable than details of a dozen other views + which he had peered at through his half-closed, weather-beaten + eyes within the hour. Here, clearly, was the arena of some + great event in his past life—an arena which he gladly + would have never seen again. His face went pale beneath its + coat of tan, his shoulders trembled slightly as he tried to + shrug them with indifference to brace his courage up. Twice he + started from the spot, determined, evidently, to shut away the + crowding and unpleasant recollections it recalled to him, twice + he returned to it, to carefully, if with evident repugnance, + make closer study of some detail of its rugged picturesqueness. + More than once, as he lingered there against his will, his + hands raised upward to his eyes as if to shut away from them + some vivid memory-picture, but each time they fell, with + strangely hopeless gesture. The picture which they strove to + hide plainly was not before his eyes in the actual scene, but + painted in the brain behind them and not to be shut out with + screening, claw-curved fingers.</p> + + <p>The effect of this especial spot on the old man, indeed, was + most remarkable. His lips, as he stood gazing there, moved + constantly as if with words unspoken, and, once or twice, the + crowding sentences found actual but not articulate voice. + Whenever this occurred he started, to look about behind him as + if he feared that some one, who might overhear, had crept up + upon him slyly. Finally, making absolutely certain that he had + not been observed by any human being, and evidently yielding to + an impulse almost irresistible, he went over the ground + carefully, examining each foot of the little rocky platform + with not a loving, but a fascinated observation.</p> + + <p>When he finally left the spot a striking change had come + upon his features. He had reached the place sly, cunning, and, + withal, triumphant, as if he had accomplished, that day, + through securing the small stones, some secret thing of a great + import. His countenance, as, at length, he went away, was not + triumphant but half terrified. It was as if some long-forgotten + scene of horror had been brought before his gaze again, to + terrify and astonish him.</p> + + <p>His footsteps had been slow and leisurely, the footsteps of + a contemplative, if a surreptitious sightseer, but now they + quickened almost into running, and the intensely disagreeable + effect of the mysterious episode had not left him wholly, when, + twenty minutes afterward, he had mounted the rocky hill path by + a precipitous climb and found himself within a little, cupped + inclosure in the rocks, secluded enough and beautiful enough to + be a fairies' dancing-floor. There, again, he seemed to + recognize old landmarks, but with fewer of unpleasant memories + connected with them. Plain curiosity glowed, now, in his + narrow, crafty eyes.</p> + + <p>"I wonder," he exclaimed, "if it's here yet."</p> + + <p>As he spoke his glance flashed swiftly to the far side of + the little glade, where, on the face of a dense thicket, a + trained eye, such as his, might mark a spot where bushes had + been often parted with extreme care not to do them injury and + thus reveal the fact that through them lay a thoroughfare. + Noting this with a wry smile of malicious satisfaction, he + started slowly toward the spot.</p> + + <p>The caution of his movements was redoubled, now. While he + had worked, back in the clearing, cooking his simple noonday + meal and chipping off the little specimens of rock, he had + shown that he wished not to have his strange activities + observed. On the mountain paths he had plainly been most + anxious not to run across chance wayfarers who might ask + questions, or (the possibility was most remote, but still a + possibility) remember him of old. He had been merely cautious, + though, not definitely fearful.</p> + + <p>Now, however, actual and obsessive dread showed plainly on + his face and in his movements. Such a fear would have induced + most men to abandon any enterprise which was not fraught with + compelling necessity; with him insistent curiosity seemed to + counterbalance it. The man's face, rough, hard, cruel, was, + withal, unusually expressive; its deep lines were more than + ordinarily mobile, and every one of them, as he proceeded, + soft-footed as a cat, amazingly lithe and supple for his years, + as competent to find his way unseen through a woods country as + an Indian, showed that irresistible and fiercely inquisitive + impulse was offsetting in his mind a deadly apprehension.</p> + + <p>In one way only, though, in spite of the accelleration of + his eager curiosity, did he drop his guard, at all, and this + was quite apparently the direct result of high excitement. That + he had dropped it he was clearly quite unconscious, but when + his lips moved, now, they more than once let fall articulate + words.</p> + + <p>"Ef th' old still's thar ..." they said at one time; then, + after a long pause devoted to worming troublous way through + tangled areas of windfall, they muttered, in completion of the + sentence: "... it'll be th' son that's runnin' it." Another + busy silence, and: "Thar was a girl ... th' daughter + of...."</p> + + <p>Either a spasmodic contraction of the throat at mere thought + of the name—a grimace, almost of pain, which suddenly + convulsed the old man's evil face might well have made a + stranger think that his muscles had rebelled—or an + unusually difficult struggle across a fallen tree-trunk + prevented further speech, as, probably, it prevented for the + time, consecutive further thought of old-time memories. His + mind was tensely concentrated on the work of climbing through + the tangle of dead trunks and branches, and, when he had + accomplished the hard passage, was turned wholly from the + things which he had been considering by a slight crackling, as + of some one stepping on a brittle twig, at a distance in + advance of him.</p> + + <p>Instantly he was on his guard, showing signs quite + unmistakable of deadly fear. He shrank back into the thicket + with the speed and silence of a frightened animal.</p> + + <p>The panic which had seized him soon had passed, however, + for, within a few short seconds it was clear to him that the + noise which he had heard had not been made by any one + suspicious of his presence or a-search for him.</p> + + <p>Peering cautiously between the slender boles of crooked + mountain-laurel bushes, he soon found a vantage point from + which he could see on beyond the densely woven foliage, and, to + his astonishment, found, before he had thought, possible that + he had progressed so far, that he had already reached the place + he sought. Memory had made the way to it a longer one than it + was really, and, in spite of the delays caused by his advancing + age and awkward muscles, long unaccustomed to the work of + threading mountain paths, he had traveled faster than he + thought.</p> + + <p>Not fifty feet away from him, separated from the thicket he + was hiding in but by a narrow stretch of mountain sward, he + saw, among the mountain side's disordered rocks, the carefully + masked entrance to a cave.</p> + + <p>An untrained eye would never have made note of the few signs + which made it clear to him, at once, that this cave was, as it + had been long years before when he had known it well, a place + of frequent call for footsteps skilled in mountain cunning. No + path was worn to its rough entrance, but, here and there, a + broken grass-blade, in another place a pebble recently + dislodged from its accustomed hollow, elsewhere a ragged bit of + paper, torn from a tobacco-package, proved to him that, + although hidden in the wilderness of old Mount Nebo's scarred + and inaccessible sides, this spot was yet one often visited by + many men.</p> + + <p>A grim smile stirred the leathern folds of his old + cheeks.</p> + + <p>"Thar yet," he thought, "an' doin' business yet."</p> + + <p>Again, after he had worked about to get a better view.</p> + + <p>"Best-hidden still in these here mountings. Revenuers never + <i>will</i> get run of it."</p> + + <p>The place had a mighty fascination for him, as if it might + have played a tremendous part in long-gone passages of his own + life. As he stood gazing at it cautiously, the mountaineer + seemed definitely to emerge from his low-country dress and + superficial "bluegrass" manner, fastened on him by long years + of usage. Old expressions of not only face but muscles came + clearly to the front. Now, no person watching him, could ever + for a moment doubt that he was mountain-born and mountain-bred, + if they but knew the ear-marks of that people—almost a + race apart. The sight of the old cave-mouth plainly stirred in + him a horde of memories not wholly pleasant. Leathern as his + face was, it none the less showed his emotions with remarkable + lucidity now that he was off his guard. Now sly cunning + dominated it, with, possibly, a touch left of the early fear to + flavor it.</p> + + <p>"I bet a hundred revenuers in these mountains have looked + for that there still," he thought, "an' no one ever found it, + yet. Forty years it's been thar—through three generations + o' th' Loreys—damn 'em!—an' no one's ever squealed + on 'em. I ... wonder...."</p> + + <p>A look of vicious craft and malice wholly drove away the + searching curiosity which had possessed the old man's features. + For a time he plainly planned some work of bitter vengefulness. + Then, with shaking head, he evidently abandoned the enticing + thought.</p> + + <p>"Too resky," he concluded, and edged a little nearer to the + thicket's edge. "Might stir up old—"</p> + + <p>He paused suddenly, alert and keenly listening. From another + path than that by which he had approached the place there came + the sound of voices raised in talk and laughter. He easily + identified them, to his great surprise, as those of some young + mountain-girl and some young bluegrass gentleman. Their tones + and accents told this story plainly. Surprised and curious, he + went farther, his head bent, with study of the voices, peering, + meanwhile, through the thicket's tangle to get sight of them as + soon as they appeared within the clearing. Suddenly he dropped + his jaw in blank amazement.</p> + + <p>"Frank Layson!" he exclaimed.</p> + + <p>The girl's voice he did not recognize, but knew, of course, + from its peculiar accent, that it was some mountain + maiden's.</p> + + <p>"Well!" he exclaimed beneath his breath in absolute + astonishment. "I didn't think it of Frank Layson! What would + Barbara—"</p> + + <p>The pair emerged, now, from a gully by-path, and came into + view. He tightly shut his jaws and watched them with a peering, + eager curiosity.</p> + + <p>A moment later, and by her wonderful resemblance to her dead + mother, he recognized the girl.</p> + + <p>She, above all people, must not know that he was there, even + if she only thought him to be Horace Holton, newcomer among the + bluegrass gentry in the valley. His plans had been laid + carefully, and for her to find them out would almost certainly + upset them all. He was far from anxious to meet Layson, there + among the mountains, for it would mean awkward questioning, but + he was doubly anxious to avoid a meeting with the girl, first + because she owned the land on which he had secured the bits of + rock then nestling in his pocket, and, second, because she was + the daughter of—</p> + + <p>His thoughts were interrupted, for, for a second, he thought + they must have seen him, so definite was their approach + straight toward the thicket where he hid. He crouched, + frightened. It would be a very awkward matter to be found there + by them, and, besides, he did not know who might be out of + sight within the hidden still. It was quite possible that there + might lurk a deadly enemy. He must worm back through the + thicket with great caution, and, following the secluded ways + which he had traversed in his coming, get back to the railroad + camp, where was safety.</p> + + <p>He stepped backward hastily, and, in so doing, trod upon a + rotten branch. He had not been as cautious as he had intended, + and this mis-step unbalanced him and sent him to the ground, + with a tremendous crashing of the brittle twigs and + dead-wood.</p> + + <p>Springing to his feet while the young people, startled by + the great disturbance, paused where they were standing, for an + instant, he hurried back into the hidden, thicket-bordered + path, now using all his recrudescent skill of silent + woods-progression, and made complete escape, leaving them not + sure that the disturbance had been caused by human blundering + and not some vagrant beast's.</p> + + <p>Madge held back, but Layson hurried to the thicket, with gun + raised ready for a shot.</p> + + <p>Just then, from the carefully concealed cave-entrance, came + Joe Lorey, rifle poised for trouble, eyes gleaming fiercely, + evidently keyed to meet a raid by revenuers.</p> + + <p>It was plain enough that he believed the noise which had + disturbed, alarmed him, had been made by this young sportsman. + Indeed, as he who really had caused the uproar was, now, well + on a cautious backward way along the path by which he had come + up, and the girl and Layson were the only folk in sight, the + young moonshiner's mistake was natural.</p> + + <p>Madge, almost as much disturbed as Lorey was by the crashing + in the thickets, was looking in the direction whence the noise + had come, and, at first, did not see him. When she did she + smiled at him, and called to him, but, absorbed in study of the + bluegrass youth who had so suddenly appeared there in his + secret place among the mountains in company with the girl whom + he, himself, adored, Joe did not answer her, at first. When he + did it was with nothing more than a curt nod. He was astonished + and alarmed to see her in such company.</p> + + <p>After that curt nod he waited for no explanation, but, like + a shadow, slipped into a thicket, disappearing instantly. No + Indian from Cooper's tales could have more instantly + obliterated all trace of himself, could have more quickly, + noiselessly, mysteriously disappeared amongst the greenery, + than did this mountaineer. His movements, made with the + instinctive cunning of the woodsman and with muscles trained + not only by wild life there in the mountains to speed, + endurance and exactitude, but by many an hour of stealthy + stalking of the "revenuers" sent to search out his moonshine + still, raid it, take him prisoner, were almost magically + active, cautious, furtive and effective.</p> + + <p>For an instant Madge herself, accustomed to the native's + skill in woodcraft, as she was, gazed after him, astonished by + the magic of his disappearance, and, at first, piqued not a + little by his scanty courtesy. Then realizing that the + mountaineer was, possibly, quite justified in feeling grave + suspicions of the stranger who was with her—of any + stranger coming thus, without a herald to the + mountains—she turned again to Layson, and, with her hand + lightly guiding him by touch as delicate, almost, as a + wind-blown leaf's upon his sleeve, led him to the nearest + mountain path and on, toward a point whence she could clearly + point out to him the way to his own camp.</p> + + <p>And, suddenly, her own heart throbbed with worry. Had she + not done wrong in bringing this unknown and, therefore, this + mysterious stranger so close upon the heart of Lorey's secret? + She had chosen the path thoughtlessly. She realized that, now, + and much regretted it. The man had wholly won her confidence, + but had it been considerate or fair to Joe, her lifelong + friend, or to the other people of the mountains who had things + to hide from strangers, to be quite so frank with him in her + revelation of the byways of the wilderness?</p> + + <p>Between the mountain-dwellers and the people of the lowlands + never could exist real confidence or friendship. From her + babyhood she had been taught to feel suspicion of all + strangers: that was, indeed, first article in the creed of all + folk mountain-born. Why had she so freely dropped her mantle of + reserve before <i>this</i> stranger? That he had saved her from + the bush-fire was excuse for her own gratitude, but was it + valid reason for exposing her best friends to danger at his + hands, if they proved treacherous? The revenuers, she had been + informed, were men of devilish craft, unscrupulous cunning. + Might not this youth with the fine clothes, the splendid + manner, the great learning, the soft voice, the quick resource + and the undoubted bravery, very well be one of them?</p> + + <p>She had once heard a mountain preacher draw a picture of the + devil, which made him most attractive and in the same way that + this youth was most attractive. Certain of the sympathies of + his rough hearers, the man had painted Beelzebub with broad, + rough, verbal strokes, as a bluegrass gentleman intent on the + destruction of the honor, independence, liberty of + mountaineers. The mountaineer has never and will never + understand what right the government of state or nation has to + interfere with whatsoe'er he does on his own land with his own + corn in his own still. Just why he has no right to manufacture + whiskey without paying taxes on the product he really fails to + comprehend. He regards the "revenuer" as the representative of + acute and cruel injustice and oppression. When he "draws a + bead" on one he does it with no such thoughts as common + murderers must know when they shoot down their enemies. He does + not think such killings are crude murder, any more than he + regards feud killings as assassinations.</p> + + <p>With such ideas Madge had been, to some extent, imbued. With + feud feeling she was quite in sympathy—had not she lost + her loved ones through its awful work? Could she ever have + revenge on those who had thus bereaved her through any means + save similar assassination?</p> + + <p>And certainly the revenuers were her enemies, for they were + the foemen of her friends. If this young man should be a + revenuer she might have done a harm incalculable by guiding him + along the secret mountain byways which they had been + travelling.</p> + + <p>Her heart was in her throat from worry, for an instant. Had + she, whose very soul was fiercely loyal to the mountains and + their people, been the one to show an enemy the way into their + citadel? Had she, bound especially to Joe Lorey, not only by + the ties of lifelong friendship but by that other comradeship + which had grown out of mutual wrongs and mutual hatred of Ben + Lindsay (not dimmed, a whit, by the mere fact that, terrified, + he had, years ago fled from the mountains), done Joe the + greatest wrong of all by leading this fine stranger to the very + entrance of his hidden still? <i>Was</i> he a revenuer in + disguise?</p> + + <p>The magnitude of her possible indiscretion filled her with + alarm. That crashing in the bushes back of them might have been + made by some associate of his, who had trailed them at a + distance, ready to give assistance, if needs be, or, in case + all things went right and the bolder man who had gone first and + fallen into the great luck of an acquaintance with her had no + need of help, to corroborate his observations, help him to + scheme the way by which to make attack upon the still when the + time for it should come.</p> + + <p>As she considered all these possibilities, quite reasonable + to her suspicious mind, she shuddered.</p> + + <p>But then, as she went slowly down the mountain path beside + the stranger she looked up and caught the frank calm glances of + his eyes.</p> + + <p>Surely there was nothing of cowardice such as would fool a + trusting girl into betrayal of her friends, in them; surely + there was not the low craft of a spy in them; surely their + clear and unexcited gaze was not that of a keen hunter, + unscrupulously on the trail of human game, who has just learned + through the innocent indiscretion of a girl who trusted him, + the secret of its covert.</p> + + <p>As she looked at him she was convinced of two things, vastly + comforting. One was that Layson had no knowledge of the still; + that, untrained to mountain ways and unsuspicious, he had not + even guessed at the secret of the little hidden place among the + mountains. Another was—and this gave her, although she + could have scarcely explained why, a greater comfort than the + first had—that had he had that knowledge he would not + have used it meanly.</p> + + <p>She thrilled pleasantly with the complete conviction that + the man whom she had liked so much at first sight, the man who + had shown such pluck in saving her from fire, the man who had + exhibited such thoughtfulness and helpfulness in starting her + upon the rocky path toward education, was true and fair and + fine—was, in the curt language of the mountains, + "decent."</p> + + <p>When she left him at the foot of the rough path which wound + up to the cabin where she lived alone, she had quite recovered + confidence in him. She eagerly assented to his suggestion that + they meet again, the following day, for the continuation of her + studies.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_V"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER V</h2><br> + + + <p>Their next lesson was in a new school-room. The clearing + where they had had their first, was, now, charred and + blackened, not attractive, after the small fire; so, after + going to it, the following day to look it over with that + interest with which the man who has escaped from peril seeks + again, the scene of it in curiosity, they found another glade + wherein to carry on their delving after knowledge of the + ABC's.</p> + + <p>There, beneath a canopy of arching branches and the sky, + between rustling walls of greenery pillared by the mighty boles + of forest trees, they had the second lesson of the course which + was to open up to Madge the magic realm of books and of the + learning hidden in them.</p> + + <p>Nor did her investigations now, confine themselves, entirely + to the things the small book taught. She questioned Layson + about a thousand things less dry and matter-of-fact than shape + of printed symbols and the manner of their combination in the + printed word. Life, life—that was to her, as it has ever + been to all of us, the most fascinating thing. Here was one who + had come from far, mysterious realms which she had vaguely + heard about in winter-evening gossip at the mountain-cabin + firesides; realms where men were courteous to women, careful in + their speech; where women did not work, but sat on silken + chairs with black menials ready to their call to serve their + slightest wish; where maidens were not clad as she was clad, + and every woman she had ever known was clad, in calico or + linsey-woolsey homespun, but richly, wondrously, in silks and + satins, laces, beaded gew-gaws. In her imagination's picture, + the maids and matrons of the bluegrass were as marvellous, as + fascinating, as are the fairies and the sprites of Anderson and + Grimm to girls more fortunately placed. No tale of elf born + from a cleft rock, touched by magic wand, ever more completely + fascinated any big-eyed city child, than did the tales which + Layson told her—commonplace and ordinary to his mind: + mere casual account of routine life—about his family and + friends down in the bluegrass, the enchanted region separated + from them where they sat by a hundred miles or so of rugged + hills and billowing forests. Her eager questions especially + drew from him with a greed insatiable account of all the + gayeties of that mysterious existence.</p> + + <p>"And that aunt of yours—Muss + Aluth—Aluth—"</p> + + <p>"Miss Alathea Layson?" he inquired, and smiled.</p> + + <p>"Yes; what queer names the women have, down there! Is she + pretty? Does <i>she</i> dress in silks and satins, too, like + the girls that go to them big dances?"</p> + + <p>He laughed. "None of them are always dressed in silks and + satins," he replied. "Perhaps I've given you a wrong idea. We + work down there, as hard, perhaps, as you do here, but we have + more things to work with. Don't get the notion, little girl, + that all these things which I have told you of are magic things + which surely will bring happiness! There is no more of that, I + reckon, in the bluegrass than there is here in the mountains. + Silks and satins don't make happiness, balls and garden-fetes + don't make it. A girl who's sobbing in a ball gown can be quite + as miserable as you would be, unhappy in your homespun."</p> + + <p>She was impatient of his moralizing. "I know that," she + said. "Dellaw, don't you suppose I've got some sense? But it + ain't <i>quite</i> true, neither. Maybe if I was going to be + unhappy I'd be just as much so in a silk dress as I would in + this here cotton one that I've got on; but I guess there's + times when I'd be happier in the silk than I <i>would</i> be in + this. My, I wisht I had one!"</p> + + <p>He looked at her appraisingly. She would, he thought, be + wondrous beautiful if given the accessories which girls more + fortunate had at their hand. Beautiful, she was, undoubtedly, + without them; with them she would be—he almost caught his + breath at thought of it—sensational!</p> + + <p>Mentally he ran over all the girls he knew in a swift survey + of memory. Not one of them, he thought, could really compare + with her. Even Barbara Holton, with her haughty, big featured, + strikingly handsome face, although she had attracted him in + days passed, seemed singularly unattractive to him, now.</p> + + <p>While he sat, musing thus, almost forgetful of the puzzling + ABC, she gazed off across the valley dreamily, the ABC's as far + from her. It was a lovely prospect of bare crag and wooded + slope, green fields and low-hung clouds, with, at its center, + here and there the silver of the stream which, back among the + forest trees, supplied the water to the hidden pool where she + had watched him, furtively, the first time she had ever seen + him. But it was not of the fair prospect that the girl was + thinking. The coming of the stranger had brought into her life + a hundred new emotions, ten thousand puzzling guesses at the + life which lay beyond and could produce such men as he. Were + all men in the bluegrass like Frank Layson—courteous, + considerate, and as strong and active as the best of + mountaineers? If so—what a splendid place for women! She + was sure that men like him were never brutal to their wives and + daughters, sisters, mothers, as the mountaineers too often are; + she was certain that they did not craze themselves with whisky + and terrify and beat their families; she was sure that when one + loved a girl the courtship must be all sweet gentleness and + happiness and joy, not like the quick succession of mad + love-making and fierce quarrels which had characterized the + heart-affairs that she had watched, there in the mountains.</p> + + <p>She, herself, had had no love-affairs. Instinctively she had + held herself aloof from the ruck of the young mountain-men, + neither she nor they knew why, unless it was because she owned + the valley land and so was what the mountain folk called rich. + Most of them had tried to pay her court, but none of them, save + Joe, had in the least attracted her, and she had let them know + this (strangely) without arousing too much anger.</p> + + <p>Now she had one suitor, only, who was at all + persistent—Joe. She had sometimes thought she loved him. + Now she knew, quite certainly, that she did not, and, in a + vague way, was sorry for him, for she was quite certain of his + love for her. It never once occurred to her that she was + rapidly falling in love with the young man by her side. She had + not thought of him as being socially superior: the spirit of + independence, of equality of men, is nowhere stronger, even in + this land of independence and equality, than it is among the + mountains of the Cumberland; but she knew he was most wise. Had + not the puzzling symbols in the spelling-book been, to him, as + simple matters? She knew that he was gentle-hearted, for the + kindness of his acts proved that. She knew that he was, really, + a gentleman, for his manner was so perfectly considerate, so + ever kind. She did not realize that she was thinking of him as + a lover; but she dreamed, there, of the girls down in the + bluegrass and wondered how it must seem to them to have lovers + such as he. She could but very vaguely speculate as to their + emotions or appearance, but her speculations on both points, + vague as they might be, made her suffer strangely and cast + queer, furtive little side-glances at him. In her heart were + stirrings of keen jealousy of these distant maidens, but this + she did not realize.</p> + + <p>She broke into his revery with: "Don't you know any women, + down there, but your aunt?"</p> + + <p>"Er—what?"</p> + + <p>"Don't you know any women, down there, but your aunt?"</p> + + <p>"Why, yes," said he, and laughed. "I know a lot of women, + down there; lots and lots of women, certainly."</p> + + <p>"All them that go to balls, and such?"</p> + + <p>"Many of them."</p> + + <p>"Do you like to dance with them?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, yes; of course."</p> + + <p>"Tell me—all about the things they wear." This was not + quite the question she had started out to ask, but an answer to + it might be very interesting.</p> + + <p>She settled comfortably back upon the boulder she had chosen + as a seat, her hands clasped about one knee, her face turned + toward him eagerly, her eyes sparkling with keen zest.</p> + + <p>But he looked at her, appalled. "Why," said he, "why—I + don't believe I can. I know they always seem to be most + charming in appearance, but just how they work the magic + <i>I</i> don't know."</p> + + <p>"Can't you tell me nothing?" Her voice showed bitter + disappointment. She unclasped the hands about her knee and sat + dejected on the boulder. She gave him not the slightest hint of + it, but, suddenly, a plan had come into her mind.</p> + + <p>He looked at her regretfully. "Perhaps you'd better question + me," said he. Maybe I can scare up details if you'll let me + know just what you wish to hear about."</p> + + <p>"How are their dresses made?" she asked.</p> + + <p>"Oh, skirt, and waist, and so on," he airily replied.</p> + + <p>She made a gesture of impatience. "Well, then, how is the + skirt made? Tell me that. Tell me everything that you remember + about skirts. Are they loose as mine, or tighter?" She rose and + stood before him, in her scant drapery of homespun, turning + slowly, so that he might see.</p> + + <p>It was very clever. Instantly it brought to mind the last + girls he had seen down in the lowlands at a lawn-party, with + their wide and much beruffled skirts.</p> + + <p>"Oh, they're looser," he said gravely. "Much, much looser. + Why, they are as big around as that!" He made a sweeping, + circular gesture with his arms.</p> + + <p>"What for trimmings do they have?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, all sorts of things—ruffles, frills, embroidery + and laces."</p> + + <p>"What's embroidery?"</p> + + <p>He tried to tell her, but he did not make it very clear, + and, realizing that he had done quite his best although he had + not done so very well, she sighed and dropped that detail of + the subject. But she knew what frills and ruffles were.</p> + + <p>"And how about their waists?" said she. "Like mine, are + they?"</p> + + <p>He looked, appraisingly, at the loose basque, which, because + of the budding beauty of her form rather than because of any + merit of its own, had seemed to him most charming and + attractive. Close examination did not show this to be the case. + It was a crude garment, certainly, of crude material, crude + cut, crude make. The beauty all was in the wearer's soft young + curves and lissome grace.</p> + + <p>"No," he answered, honestly, "they're not like that. In the + summer, and for evenings—such as dances and the + like—they are cut low at the neck. And they are + tighter."</p> + + <p>"I suppose," said she, "they wear them things that they call + corsets, under 'em. I've heard of 'em—I saw one, + once—but I ain't never had one. Maybe I had better get + one."</p> + + <p>He spoke hastily. At that moment, as he gazed at her slim + grace, undulant, untrammelled and as willowy as a spring + sapling's, it seemed to him that it would be a sacrilege to + confine it in the stiff rigidity of such artificialities as + corsets. It seemed a bit indelicate, to him, to talk to her + about such matters, but her guilelessness was so real and he + was so assured of his own innocence, that he did what he could + to make things clear to her. He descanted with some eloquence + upon the wickedness of lacing, the ungracefulness of artificial + forms and the beauty of her own wholly natural grace.</p> + + <p>"I'm glad you think I'm pretty," she said frankly, plainly + greatly pleased, "but I reckon I'd be prettier if I had one of + them there corsets."</p> + + <p>His protests to the contrary were not convincing, in the + least.</p> + + <p>So the lessons from the book did not go so very far that + day.</p> + + <p>"Furbelows have always interested females, I suppose," said + he, "but I didn't really think you'd lose your interest in + spelling-books because of them."</p> + + <p>"I ain't lost interest in spelling-books," she said. "I + ain't lost interest, at all. After I've studied good and hard I + can read all about such things in the picture-papers that Mom + Liza has down to the store. They've got all kinds of pictures + in 'em—all of fancy gowns and hats and things like that. + She showed one to me, once, but all I could make out was just + the pictures, and she couldn't manage to make out much more. + She can read the names on all the letters comin' to the + post-office, for there's only three folks ever gets 'em, but + she ain't what you'd really call a scholar."</p> + + <p>He laughed heartily. "So, even in the mountains, here, they + take the fashion papers, do they?"</p> + + <p>"No; she don't pay for 'em," she gravely answered. "They're + always marked with red ink, 'Sample Copy,' so she says; but + they send 'em ev'ry once a while. If you're in th' post-office, + you get a lot o' things, like that—all sorts o' + picture-papers, an' cards, all printed up in pretty colors, to + tell what medicines to take when you get sick."</p> + + <p>"Ah, patent-medicine advertisements."</p> + + <p>"Yes; that's what she calls 'em, an' she's read me some + powerful amazin' stories out of 'em—them as was in short + words—of folks that rose up almost from th' dead! They're + wonderful!"</p> + + <p>"They are, indeed!"</p> + + <p>"But what I always liked th' best was them there papers + tellin' about clo'es."</p> + + <p>"Eternal feminine!"</p> + + <p>"I don't know what you mean by that, but they are mighty + peart, some o' them dresses pictured out in them there + papers."</p> + + <p>"I've not the least doubt of it."</p> + + <p>"And I suppose they are th' kind th' girls you know, down in + th' bluegrass, wear for ev'ry day!" she sighed.</p> + + <p>He looked at her in quick compassion and in protest.</p> + + <p>"Madge," he said, "please listen to me. It's not dress that + makes the woman, any more than it is coats that make the man. + You would like me just as well if I were dressed in homespun, + wouldn't you?"</p> + + <p>"That's different."</p> + + <p>"It isn't; it's not, a bit."</p> + + <p>"Laws, yes! It's—oh—heaps different!" She nodded + her lovely head in firm conviction. "It's heaps different and + I'm goin' to know more about such things as clo'es. I ain't + plumb <i>poverty</i> poor, like lots o' folks, here in th' + mountings. I got land down in th' valley I get rent + from—fifty dollars, every year! I'm goin' to find out + about such things."</p> + + <p>He looked at her, almost worried. It would be a pity, he + thought instantly, for this charming child of nature to become + sophisticated and be fashionably gowned; but, of course, he + made no protest.</p> + + <p>"You can learn a little something about such things if you + stay right here," said he. "I'm going to have visitors, + sometime before the summer's over, at my camp. My aunt, Miss + Alathea, will be here, and our old friend, Colonel Sandusky + Doolittle. He's a great horseman."</p> + + <p>Instantly the girl showed vivid interest, not, as he had + thought she would, in his aunt, Miss Alathea, but in the + Colonel from the Bluegrass, who also was a horseman.</p> + + <p>"Horseman, is he?" she exclaimed, her eyes alight.</p> + + <p>"Yes; he's famous as a judge of horses."</p> + + <p>"At them races that they tell about? Oh, I'd like to see one + of them races!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, he goes to races, everywhere, although he always means + to stop immediately after the next one. It has been the races + which have kept him poor and kept him single."</p> + + <p>"How've they kept him poor?"</p> + + <p>He told her about betting, while she listened, wide-eyed + with amazement at the mention of the sums involved.</p> + + <p>"How've they kept him single?"</p> + + <p>"He's been in love with my Aunt Alathea for a good many + years, but she won't marry him until he keeps his promise to + avoid the race-tracks."</p> + + <p>"What makes your aunt hate hawsses?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, she loves good horses, but the Colonel always bets, + and, as I have said, it keeps him poor. It's the gambling that + she hates, and not the horses. Every year he plans to keep away + from all horse-racing for her sake; every year he tries to do + it, but quite fails."</p> + + <p>She laughed heartily. "An' she thinks he loves th' races + more than he does her?" she asked. Then, more soberly: "I don't + know's I blame her, none. When's she comin'? I'll be powerful + glad to see her."</p> + + <p>"I don't know just when she's coming, but she's promised me + to have the Colonel bring her up here. I want to have her see + the beauty of the mountains."</p> + + <p>"I'll like him, sure, whether I like her or not."</p> + + <p>He was astonished. "But you said you would be sure to love + her!"</p> + + <p>"Uh-huh; but I'd be surer to like anyone who is as fond of + hawsses as you say he is. Why, when I ride—"</p> + + <p>"I didn't know you ever rode a horse. I've only seen you on + your ox."</p> + + <p>"Poor old Buck! It's true, I have been ridin' him, when I + felt lazy, lately, but my pony—ah, that's + <i>fun</i>!"</p> + + <p>"Where is he?"</p> + + <p>They had started strolling down the trail and were near the + pasture bars, where she had left Joe Lorey on the morning of + her bath, after having ridden down to them upon her ox.</p> + + <p>She hurried to them, now, and, leaning over them, puckered + her red lips and sent a shrill, clear whistle out across the + pasture. Immediately from a thicket-tangle at the far end of + the half-cleared lot appeared a shaggy pony, limping wofully, + but with ears pricked forward as a sign of welcome to his + mistress.</p> + + <p>"Come on, Little Hawss!" she called. "Come on! It hurts, I + know, for you to step, but come on, just th' same. I got a + turnip for you."</p> + + <p>She turned to Layson with an explanation. "He's lame, poor + Little Hawss is. Don't know's he'll ever get all right + ag'in."</p> + + <p>"Oh!" said Layson. "And I didn't even know you had a horse." + Horses are less common in the mountains than are oxen, although + nearly every mountain farm has one, for riding. Oxen, though, + are the section's draught-animals.</p> + + <p>"Didn't think I had a hawss?" she said, and laughed. "I'd + <i>die</i> without a hawss! Why, they say, here in the + mountains, that I'm a good rider. I've raced all the boys and + beat 'em on my Little Hawss."</p> + + <p>She petted the affectionate, uncouth little beast and fed + him slowly, lovingly. "Little Hawss, before he hurt his hoof, + was sure-footed as a deer. Didn't have to be afraid to run him + anywhere, on any kind of road at any time of day or night," + said she. "Never stumbled, never missed the way, and, while he + don't <i>look</i> much—he never did—he could just + carry <i>me</i> to suit me! But—well, I don't know as he + will ever carry me again!"</p> + + <p>Layson, himself a great horse lover, went up to the shaggy + little beast and petted him. The pony knew a friend + instinctively and rubbed his nose against the rough sleeve of + his jacket while he munched the turnip.</p> + + <p>Madge stooped and lifted the poor beast's crippled foot.</p> + + <p>"Looks bad, don't it?" she said anxiously, asking Frank's + opinion as an expert.</p> + + <p>He looked the bad foot over carefully and shook his + head.</p> + + <p>"Madge, I am afraid it does," said he. "But wait until the + Colonel comes. He'll tell you what to do. No man knows horses + better than the Colonel does.</p> + + <p>"I've never told you of my horse, have I?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"Why, no; you got one, too?"</p> + + <p>He drew a long breath of enthusiasm at the mere thought of + his greatest treasure. "Such a mare," said he, "as rarely has + been seen, even in Kentucky. She's famous now and going to be + more so. She's the very apple of my eye."</p> + + <p>The girl looked at him wide-eyed with a fascinated interest. + "What color is she?"</p> + + <p>"Black as night."</p> + + <p>"And gentle?"</p> + + <p>"Ah, gentle as a dove with friends; but she's not gentle if + she happens to dislike a man or woman! Why, if she hates you, + keep away from her. She'll side-step with a cunning that would + fool the wisest so's to get a chance for a left-handed kick; + she'll bite; she'll strike with her forefeet the way a human + fighter would."</p> + + <p>"Oh!" said the girl. "Ain't it a pity she's so ugly?"</p> + + <p>"I said she's gentle with her friends. She'd no more kick at + me than I would kick at her. She knows it. She's intelligent + beyond most horseflesh."</p> + + <p>"Has she ever won in races?"</p> + + <p>"She's won in small events, and great things are expected of + her by more folk than I when she gets going on the larger + tracks. I'm counting on her for good work this year, after I go + home again."</p> + + <p>"Ah," sighed the girl, carried quite away by his excited + talk about his favorite, "how I'd love to see her run!"</p> + + <p>"It's poetry," he granted; "the true poetry of motion."</p> + + <p>"And this Cunnel—Cunnel—"</p> + + <p>"Colonel Doolittle?"</p> + + <p>"Uh-huh. Will he help me, do you s'pose, to get my Little + Hawss cured of his lameness?"</p> + + <p>"You may count on that."</p> + + <p>"Who else is comin' here to see you?" she inquired, as they + left Little Hawss wistfully agaze at them across the old log + fence.</p> + + <p>Layson, for no reason he could think of, felt a bit + uncomfortable, as he replied. He temporized before he really + told her of what worried him.</p> + + <p>"Well," said he, "there'll be old Neb—"</p> + + <p>"Who's he?"</p> + + <p>"A servant who has been in our family for years. He is a + fine old darkey and we love him—everyone of us."</p> + + <p>"And will he be all?"</p> + + <p>"No; I understand that Mr. Horace Holton, also, will come + with the party. Mr. Holton and his daughter."</p> + + <p>It is possible that he may have flushed a little, as he + spoke about this matter, or there may have been some slight + hint of the unusual in his voice. At any rate, the notice of + the girl was instantly attracted.</p> + + <p>"Daughter?" she inquired.</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Frank, "his daughter Barbara."</p> + + <p>"How old is she?" Madge's curiosity had been aroused at + once.</p> + + <p>"About your age."</p> + + <p>She was delighted. "And will I surely see her?"</p> + + <p>"Yes; of course."</p> + + <p>"Do you suppose she'll like me?"</p> + + <p>Layson, from what he knew of Barbara Holton, scarcely + thought she would. He could not make his fancy paint a picture + of the haughty lowlands beauty showing much consideration for + this little mountain waif; but he did not say so. He answered + hesitatingly, and she noticed it.</p> + + <p>"You don't think she'll like me!" she exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"I didn't say so. Certainly she'll like you. Who could help + it, Madge?" He smiled. It did not seem to him, as his eyes + studied her, that anybody of sound sense could.</p> + + <p>She sighed. "A woman could." She spoke with an instinctive + wisdom which her isolated life among the crags and peaks had + not deprived her of. "A woman always can. But, my, I hope she + will!"</p> + + <p>"She will," said Frank. "She will. And my dear + Aunt—oh, you will love her."</p> + + <p>"Miss Aluth—Aluth—?" She stopped, questioningly, + still bothered by the name.</p> + + <p>"Miss Alathea," he prompted. "She'll like you and you'll + love her."</p> + + <p>The girl smiled happily. "Uh-huh." Her acquiescence was + immediate. "Reckon maybe I'll love <i>her</i>, all right, and I + <i>hope</i> the other will come true, too." Suddenly she was + stricken with a fear. "But she won't, though—dressed the + way I be!"</p> + + <p>"What you wear would make no difference to my Aunt Alathea," + Frank protested, "any more than it would make to Colonel + Doolittle."</p> + + <p>She did not speak again for quite a time, walking along the + narrow mountain-path with eyes fixed, but unseeing, on the + trail. It was plain that in her mind grave problems were being + closely studied.</p> + + <p>"Maybe," she said, at length, "I won't be so very + <i>awful</i> as you <i>think</i>!"</p> + + <p>They had reached the path which led first to the bridge + across the mountain-chasm making the rock on which her cabin + stood an island, and then, across this draw-bridge, to the + cabin itself. She waved a gay and unexpected good-bye to + him.</p> + + <p>He felt strangely robbed. He had expected another half-hour + with her. It astonished him to learn through this tiny + disappointment how agreeable the little mountain maid's society + had come to be.</p> + + <p>He was wakeful that night till a later hour than usual.</p> + + <p>Somehow he was not as thoroughly delighted as he felt that + he should be by the prospect of his guests' arrival. His + journey to the mountains and his sojourn there had been + considered rather foolish by his friends, but he had wished to + make quite sure that what was said about the wild mountain + lands which formed the greater portion of his + patrimony—that they were practically valueless—was + true, ere he gave up all hope of profiting from them.</p> + + <p>The building of the railroad through the valley had imbued + him with some hope that they might not prove to be as useless + as they had been thought to be, and it had been that which had + induced him, at the start, to make the journey.</p> + + <p>Once arrived he had found the mountain air delightful, the + fishing fine, the shooting all that could be wished, and had + enjoyed these to their full, investigating, meanwhile, his + rough property; but as he lay there in his shack of logs and + puncheons he acknowledged to himself that it was none of these + things which now made the mountains so attractive. It was the + nymph of the woods pool, the mountain-side Europa on her bull, + his little pupil of the alphabet, in plain reality, who now + held him to the wilderness.</p> + + <p>He wondered just what this could mean. Could it be possible + that he was thinking seriously of the little maid <i>in that + way</i>?</p> + + <p>He almost laughed at the idea, there alone in the woods + cabin, with the stars in their deep velvet canopy twinkling + through the window at him and the glow of his cob pipe for + company.</p> + + <p>But his laugh was not too genuine. He found himself, to his + amazement, comparing Madge, the mountain girl, with Barbara + Holton, the elegant daughter of the lowlands, and finding many + points in favor of the little rustic maiden. He wondered just + how serious his attentions to fair Barbara had been thought to + be by her, her father, Horace Holton, and by other people. + There were many things about Madge Brierly, which, as he sat + there, reflective, he found admirable, besides her vivid, + vigorous young beauty. He could not bring himself, as he sat + thinking of the two girls, widely separated as they were in the + great social plane, unevenly matched as they had been in early + training, to admit that the whole advantage was upon the side + of Barbara Holton.</p> + + <p>And above him, in her lonely little cabin on the towering + rock, upon all sides of which the mountain-torrent, making it + an isle of safety for her there in the wilderness, roared + rythmically, the mountain maiden who so occupied his thoughts + was busy with her crude wardrobe.</p> + + <p>In complete dissatisfaction she put aside, at length, every + garment of her own which she possessed as unsuitable for the + great day when she was to meet the bluegrass gentlefolk.</p> + + <p>Then, remembering suddenly an old chest which held her + mother's wedding finery, she strained her fine young muscles as + she dragged it out of storage; and sitting on the floor beside + it where the great blaze of pine-knots in the big + "mud-and-broke-rock" fireplace lighted it and her with + flickering brilliance, she went through it with reverent + fingers, searching, searching for such garments and such + adornments as it might hold to make her fit to meet the friends + of the young lowlander who had captured her imagination with + his bravery, resource and courtesy.</p> + + <p>There were a few things in the chest which pleased her, and + she smiled as she discovered them, smiled as she tried them on, + smiled as she saw the image wearing them in the cracked mirror + by the side of the big fireplace. She had to make experiments + with dripping tallow dips before she got a light which would + enable her to get the full effect of an ornate old poke-bonnet + which was the chief treasure from the chest, but finally she + did so, and exclaimed in pleasure as she managed it.</p> + + <p>It was, indeed, a charming picture which she saw there in + the glass—a face with rosy cheeks, bright eyes, red lips + set off with softly waving auburn hair and framed delightfully + in the old arch of shirred red silk—and when she took it + off, at last, she was convinced that one, at least, of her big + problems had been solved. She had a bonnet, certainly, which + was as lovely as the finest thing that any bluegrass belle + could wear. There was not the slightest doubt that all its + shirring was of real, <i>real</i> silk! She had run her fingers + over it caressingly, delighted by its sheen and gloss when she + had been a little girl; now she fondled it with loving touch, + high hopes. Surely no young lady visitor, even from the far off + and to her mysterious bluegrass could have anything much finer + than that bonnet with its silken facings! She tied the wide + strings underneath her chin in a great, flaring bow, and peeped + forth from the cavernous depths of the arched "poke" with quite + unconscious coquetry, flirting, with the keenest relish and + most completely childish pleasure with the charming creature + whom she saw reflected on the little mirror's cracked, + imperfect surface.</p> + + <p>It was while she stood thus, innocently coquetting with her + own delightful picture, that a great plan for the plenishment + of her otherwise imperfect wardrobe popped into her active, + searching mind. Carefully she considered this, first before the + glass and then, with feet crossed and clasped hands between her + knees, before the roaring fire of resinous pine-knots in the + old fireplace.</p> + + <p>Having finally decided that it was a good one, she went + about the cabin seeing to the fastenings of doors and windows, + wholly unafraid despite her solitude. There was but one way of + approaching this, her fastness in the rocks, and the bridge, + had been drawn up for the night. Safe she was as any Rhenish + baron in his moated stronghold.</p> + + <p>Conscious that a busy day was looming large before her, she + now blew out her candles and crept into her little curtained + bed, to dream, there, vividly, of haughty beauties from the + bluegrass staring in astonishment as they first glimpsed the + beauty of a little mountain girl in such a gorgeous outfit as + they had not in all their pampered lives conceived; of lovely + aunts who smiled with pleasure when they saw their handsome + nephews step up to this splendid maiden and take her hands in + theirs; of wondrous youths—ah, these images were never + absent from the scenes her fancy painted!—who scorned the + haughty bluegrass beauties in favor of the freckled little + fists of those same brilliant mountain maidens, and, lo! by + taking those same freckled fists in theirs, removed the + freckles and the callouses of work as if by magic, making them + as white and fine—aye, whiter, finer!—than the + haughty bluegrass beauty's. And in her dreams, too, was a + gallant horseman, wise in equine ways, who came to her with + handsome chargers trailing from fair-leather lead straps to + present her with the thoroughbreds because her little, shaggy + pony limped.</p> + + <p>Queer fancies of the strange life of the lowlands which he + had described to her, flashed, also, through her ignorant but + active brain in fascinating visions. She thought she saw the + houses on the tops of houses which he had described to her, in + efforts to assist her to imagine structures more elaborate than + the little, single storied cabins which were all that she had + ever seen. Strange conceptions of the railroad, with its + monstrous engines puffing smoke and fire would have been + terrifying had there not been, ever at her side as dreams + revealed them, a stalwart youth in corduroys to bear her from + their path through rings of burning thickets.</p> + + <p>Again she trembled in imagination at the thought of meeting + the fine ladies who would be dressed with such elaboration and + impressive elegance; but each time, when her dream seemed + actually to lead her to them, there he was to help her through + the great ordeal with heartening smiles and comforting + suggestions.</p> + + <p>Her sleep was restless, but delightful. Once she woke and + left her bed to peer out of the window, wondering if, by + chance, she might not glimpse a light in Layson's camp far down + the mountain-side. She was disappointed when she found she + could not, but went back to bed to find there further + compensating dreams.</p> + + <p>There might have been still greater compensation for her had + she known that at the very moment when she peered out through + the darkness, looking for some vagrant glimmer of a light from + Layson's camp, he had, himself, just gone back to his cabin + after having stood a long time staring through the darkness + toward her own small cabin in its fastness.</p> + + <p>He was thinking, thinking, thinking. The little mountain + maid had strangely fascinated the highly cultivated youth from + the far bluegrass. He did not know quite what to make of the + queer way in which her fresh and lovely, girlish face, obtruded + itself constantly into his thoughts. And as for the haughty + bluegrass belle whom poor Madge dreaded so—he did not + think of her, at all, save, possibly, with half acknowledged + annoyance at the fact that she was coming to spy out his + wilderness and those who dwelt therein. He would have been a + little happier if he could have remained there, undisturbed, + for a time longer.</p> + + <p>Day had not dawned when Madge awoke. The sun, indeed, had + just begun to poke the red edge of his disc above Mount Nebo, + when, having built her fire and cooked her frugal breakfast, + she loosed the rope which held the crude, small draw-bridge up + and lowered the rickety old platform until it gave a pathway + over the deep chasm and carried her to the mainland, ready for + the journey to the distant cross-roads store.</p> + + <p>Dew, sparkling like cut diamonds, cool as melting ice, was + everywhere in the brilliant freshness of the morning; the birds + were busy with their gossip and their foraging, chattering + greetings to her as she passed; in her pasture her cow, Sukey, + had not risen yet from her comfortable night posture when she + reached her. The animal looked up gravely at her, chewing + calmly on her cud, plainly not approving, quite, of such a very + early call. While the girl sat on the one-legged stool beside + her, sending white, rich, fragrant streams into the resounding + pail, her shaggy Little Hawss limped up, nosing at her pocket + for a turnip, which he found, of course, abstracted cleverly + and munched.</p> + + <p>Having finished with the cow she set the milk in a + fence-corner to wait for her return, and, when she left the + lot, the pony followed her, making a difficult, limping way + along the inside of the rough stump-fence until he came to a + cross barrier. Then, as he saw that she was going on and + leaving him behind, he nickered lonesomely, and, although she + planned, that day to accomplish many, many things, and, in + consequence, was greatly pressed for time, she went back to him + and petted him a moment and then found another turnip for him + in her pocket.</p> + + <p>The journey which began, thus, with calls on her four-footed + friends, was solitary, afterward, although in the narrow + road-bed, here and there, she saw impressions of preceding + footsteps, big and deep. They aroused her curiosity, and with + keen instinct of the woods she studied one of them elaborately. + Rising from her pondering above it she decided that Joe Lorey + had gone on before her, and wondered what could possibly have + sent him down the trail so early in the morning. When she noted + that his trail turned off at the cross-roads which might lead + to Layson's camp (or other places) her heart sank for a moment. + She realized how bitterly the mountaineer felt toward the + bluegrass youth whom he considered his successful rival and she + hoped that trouble would not come of it. She did not love Joe + Lorey as he wished to have her love him, but she had a very + real affection for him, none the less. And—and—she + did—she did—she <i>did</i>—this morning she + acknowledged it!—love Layson. The matter worried her, + somewhat. Trouble between the men was more than possible, she + knew; but, on reflection, she decided that Joe had not been + bound for Layson's camp, but, by a short cut, to the distant + valley. This alone would have explained his very early start. + He was not one to seek to take his enemy while sleeping, and + she knew and knew he knew that the lowlander slept late. Lorey + would not do a thing dishonorable. She put the thought of + trouble that day from her, therefore, yielding gladly to the + joyous and absorbing magic of the growing, splendid + morning.</p> + + <p>The rising sun, with its ever changing spectacle, + exhilerating, splendid, awe-inspiring, there among the + mountains, raised her spirits as she travelled, and drove + gloomy thoughts away as it drove off the brooding mists which + clung persistently, tearing themselves to tattered ribbons ere + they would loose their hold upon the peaks beyond the valley + and behind her.</p> + + <p>A feeling of elation grew in her—elation born of her + abounding health, fine youth, the glory of the scene, the high + intoxication of first love.</p> + + <p>She beguiled the way with mountain ballads, paused, here and + there, to pluck some lovely flower, accumulating, presently, a + nosegay so enormous as to be almost unwieldy, whistled to the + birds and smiled as they sent back their answers, laughed at + the fierce scolding of a squirrel on a limb, heard the doleful + wailing of young foxes and crept near enough their burrow to + see them huddled in the sand before it, waiting eagerly for + their foraging mother and the breakfast she would bring.</p> + + <p>When the trail crossed a clear brook she paused upon the + crude, low bridge and watched the trout dart to and fro beneath + it; where it debouched upon a hill-side of commanding view she + stopped there, breathing hard from sheer enjoyment of the glory + of the prospect spread before her in the valley.</p> + + <p>She was very happy, as she almost always was of summer + mornings. The mountain air, circulating in her young and sturdy + lungs, was almost as intoxicating as strong wine and made the + blood leap through her arteries, thrill through her veins.</p> + + <p>The worries of the night before seemed, for a time, to have + been groundless. She ceased to fear her meeting with the + bluegrass gentlefolk and looked forward to it with real + confidence and pleasure. Her confidence in Layson was + abounding, and she assured herself till the thought became + conviction that he never would permit her to subject herself to + anything which properly could be humiliating.</p> + + <p>The problem of her garb, too, began to seem far less + insoluble than it had seemed the night before. She felt + certain, as she travelled with her springing step, that she + would find it possible to meet creditably the great emergency + with what she had at home and could discover at the little + general-store which she was bound for.</p> + + <p>When she reached the tiny, mud-chinked structure at the + cross-roads, though, and caught her first glimpse of its + lightly burdened shelves, her heart sank for an instant. Could + it be possible that from its stock she would be able to select + material with which she could compete with folk from the far + bluegrass in elegance of garb?</p> + + <p>But after she had made investigation and had interested in + her project the lank mountain-woman who presided at the + counter, she lost fear of the result. Together they made + careful study of the fashion-papers which the woman had + preserved and which the girl had, the night before, remembered + with such vividness. Through discussion and reiterated + reassurance from her friend, she finally arrived at the + decision that with what she had at hand at home and what she + could buy here, she could prepare herself to meet the elegant + lowlanders with a fairly ample rivalry.</p> + + <p>There were few bolts of cloth, of whatever quality or + character in the pitiful little general-store's stock which + both women did not finger speculatively that morning; there was + not a piece of pinchbeck jewelry in the small showcase which + they did not study carefully. Especially Madge dwelt on combs, + for Layson, once, had mentioned combs as parts of the adornment + of the women whom he knew. There in the mountains young girls + did not wear them, save of the "circular" variety, designed to + hold back "shingled" tresses. But from underneath a box of + faded gum-drops and the store's one carton of cigars, came some + of imitation tortoise-shell, gilt ornamented, of the sort old + ladies sometimes stuck into their hirsute knots for mountain + "doings" of great elegance, and the best of these Madge bought. + Also she bought lace—great quantities of it, although, + even after she had made the purchase, she had some doubt of + just what she would do with it; she also had some doubt about + its quality, for in the chest at home there had been lace, + ripped from her mother's wedding gown, of far different and + more convincing texture and design. She realized, however, that + what was there must be what must suffice and purchased nearly + all the woman had of cheap, machine-made mesh and home-worked, + coarse-threaded tatting.</p> + + <p>She could not manage gloves. The store had never had gloves + in its stock designed for anything but warmth, and, although + Layson had explained to her, in answer to her curious + pleadings, that the girls he knew down in the bluegrass + sometimes wore gloves covering their bare arms to the elbows, + she gave up the hope of finding anything of that sort without a + visit to the distant valley town, and this was quite + impossible, now that her pony had gone lame, so she sighed and + gave up gloves entirely.</p> + + <p>But she bought ribbons by the bolt, some gay + silk-handkerchiefs, a little of the less obtrusive of the + jewelry, and needles, thread and such small trifles by the + score to be utilized in making alterations in the finery from + her dead mother's treasure chest at home there in the mountain + cabin. It was with heart not quite so doubtful of her own + ability to shine a bit, that, after she had borrowed every + fashion-plate the woman owned (many of them ten years old; not + one of them of later date than five years previous), she set + out upon the long and weary homeward way.</p> + + <p>Instinctively as she progressed she searched the soft mud in + the shadowed places of the road, the soft sand wherever it + appeared, for signs that those great foot-marks which she had + thought she could identify as Lorey's in the morning, had + returned while she was at the store. Nowhere was there any + trace that this had happened, and again she thrilled with + apprehension. Almost she made a detour by the road which led to + Layson's camp to make quite sure that all was right with the + young "foreigner," but this idea she abandoned as much because + she felt that such a visit would necessitate an explanation + which she would dislike to make, as because her many burdens + would have made the way a long and difficult one to tread. How + could she tell Layson that Joe Lorey might resent his helping + her to study, might resent the other hours which they had spent + so pleasantly among the mountain rocks and forest trees + together, might, in short, be jealous of him?</p> + + <p>Her shy, maiden soul revolted at the thought and perforce + she gave investigation up, her thoughts, finally, turning from + the really remote chance of a difficulty between the men to the + pleasanter task of carrying on her planning for new gowns and + small accessories of finery.</p> + + <p>The homeward way was longer than the journey down had been, + because of her new burdens and the frequently steep mountain + slopes which she must climb, but she travelled it without much + thought of this.</p> + + <p>Never in her life had come excitement equal to that which + possessed her as she thought about the visitors, longed to make + a good impression and not shame her friend, wondered how the + bluegrass ladies would be dressed, would talk, would act, and + what they all would think of her. She had decided, in advance, + that she would like Miss Alathea, aunt of her woodland + instructor; she knew positively that she would like the doughty + colonel, lover of god horses, barred from racing by his love + for Frank's inexorable aunt.</p> + + <p>But the other members of the party he had told + about—the Holtons—she was not so sure that she + would care for them. Frank, himself, when he had told her of + them, had spoken of the father without much enthusiasm, and she + felt quite sure that she could never like the daughter. She had + noticed, she believed, that when it came to talk of her her + friend had hesitated with embarrassment. Could it be possible + that this young lady who had had the chances she, herself, had + been denied, for education and for everything desirable, would + seem to him, when she appeared upon the scene, less lovely, + less desirable, than a simple little mountain maid like poor + Madge Brierly? The thought seemed quite incredible and the + worry of it quite absorbed her for a time and drove away + forebodings about the possible hatred of Joe Lorey for Layson + and his possible expression of resentment. She even ceased her + wonderings about the footsteps which had gone down the road, + that morning, and which, so far as she could see, had not come + back again.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER VI</h2><br> + + + <p>They were, indeed, the great imprints of Joe Lorey's + hob-nailed boots, quite as she suspected. Long before the sun + had risen the young mountaineer, distressed by worries which + had made his night an almost sleepless one, had risen and + wandered from his little cabin, lonelier in its far solitude, + even than the girl's. For a time he had crouched upon a stump + beneath the morning stars with lowering brows, sunk deep in + harsh, resentful thought, forgetful of the falling dew, the + chill of the keen mountain air, of everything, in fact, save + the gnawing apprehension that the "foreigner," who had invaded + this far mountain solitude might, with his better manners, + infinitely better education and divers other devilish wiles of + the low country, snatch from him the prize which he had grown + up longing to possess.</p> + + <p>The youthful mountaineer's distress was not without its + pathos. He loved the girl, had loved her since they had been + toddling children playing in the hills together. Never for an + instant had his firm devotion to her wandered to any other of + the mountain girls; never for an instant had he had any hope + but that of, some day, winning her. That he recognized the real + superiority of Layson made his worry the more tragic, for it + made it the more hopeless.</p> + + <p>A dull resentment thrilled him, not only against this man, + but against the whole tribe of his people, who were, in these + uncomfortable days, invading the rough country which, to that + time, had been the undisputed domain of the mountaineer. He + thought with bitterness about the growing valley towns, which + he had sometimes visited on court days when some mountain man + had been haled there to trial for moonshining or for a feud + "killing." He did not understand those lowland people who + assumed the right to dictate to him and his kind as to the + lives which they should lead in their own country, and he hated + them instinctively. Vaguely he felt the greater power which + education and a rubbing of their elbows with the progress of + the world had given them and definitely resented it. Scotch + highlander never felt a greater hatred and distrust of lowland + men than does the highlander of the old Cumberlands feel for + the people who have claimed the rich and fertile bottom lands, + filled the towns which have sprung up there, established the + prosperity which has, through them, advanced the state. The + mountain men of Tennessee and of Kentucky are almost as + primitive, to-day, as were their forefathers, who, early in the + great transcontinental migration, dropped from its path and + spread among the hills a century ago, rather than continue with + the weary march to more fertile, fabled lands beyond.</p> + + <p>It had not been, as Madge had feared, his definite hatred of + Frank Layson which had started him upon the road so early in + the morning, but, rather, an unrest born of the whole problem + of the "foreigners'" invasion of the mountains. His restless + discontent with Layson's presence had left him ready for + excitement over wild tales told in store and cabin of what the + young man's fellows were doing in the valley. He had determined + to go thither for himself, to see with his own eyes the + wonder-workers, although he hated both the wonders and the men + who were accomplishing them.</p> + + <p>What did the mountain-country want of railroads? What did it + want of towns? The railroads would but bring more interlopers + and in the towns they would foregather, arrogant in their firm + determination to force upon the men who had first claimed the + country their artificial rules and regulations. Timid in their + fear of those they sought to furtively dislodge and of the + rough love these men showed of a liberty including license, + they would huddle in their storied buildings, crowd in their + trammelled streets, work and worry in their little offices + absurdly, harmfully to the rights of proper men. Like other + mountaineers Joe had small realization of the advantages of + easy interchange of thought and the quick commerce which come + with aggregation. He thought the concentration of the townsfolk + was a sign of an unmanly dread of those first settlers whom + they wished to drive away unjustly, subjugate and ruin.</p> + + <p>Throughout the mountains blazed a fierce resentment of the + railroad builders' presence and their work; in no heart did it + burn more fiercely than in poor Joe Lorey's, for the fear + obsessed him that a member of the army of invaders had + succeeded in depriving him of the last chance of getting that + which, among all things on earth, he longed for + most—Madge Brierly's love. He did not stop to think that + before the "foreigner" had come the girl had more than once + refused to marry him, begging him to remain her good, kind + friend. Such episodes, in those days, had not in the least + disheartened him. He had always thought that in the end the + girl <i>would</i> "have him." But now he was convinced his + chance was gone, his last hope vanished. The "foreigner" had + fascinated Madge, made him look cheap and coarse, uncouth and + undesirable.</p> + + <p>As he had walked along the roads which, later in the + morning, Madge had followed, he had frowned blackly at the + sunrise and the waking birds, kicked viciously at little sticks + and stones which chanced along his way. Never a smile had he + for chattering squirrel or scampering chipmunk; fierce, + repellant was the brown brow of the mountaineer, despite the + glory of the morning, and black the heart within him with sheer + hatred of Frank Layson and the class he represented.</p> + + <p>His journey was much longer than the girl's, for it did not + end till he had reached the rude construction camp of the + advancing railroad builders in the valley far below the little + mountain-store. There he gazed at what was going on with a + child's wonder, which, at first, almost made him lose his + memory of what he thought his wrongs, but, later, aggravated it + by emphasizing in his mind his own great ignorance.</p> + + <p>Through a tiny temporary town of corrugated iron shanties, + crude log-and-brush and rough-plank sheds, white canvas tents, + ran the raw, heaped earth of the embankment. About it swarmed a + thousand swarthy laborers, chattering in a tongue less easy to + his ears than the harsh scoldings of the squirrels he had seen + while on his way. Back behind them stretched two lines of + shining rails, which, even as he watched, advanced, advanced on + the embankment, being firmly spiked upon their cross-ties so as + to form a highway for the cars which brought more dirt, more + dirt, more dirt to send the raw embankment on ahead of + them.</p> + + <p>At first the puffing, steam-spitting, fire-spouting + locomotive with its deafening exhaust and strident whistle, + clanging bell and glowing fire-box actually frightened him. As + he stood close by the track and it came on threateningly, he + backed away, his rifle held in his crooked arm, ready for some + great emergency, he knew not what. A laborer laughed at him, + and his hands instinctively took firmer grip upon the rifle. + The laborer stopped laughing.</p> + + <p>Some lessons of the temper of the mountaineers already had + been learned along the line of that new railroad, and, driven + from his wrath by the appearance of new marvels, Joe, at + greater distance, sat upon a stump and watched, wide-eyed, and + undisturbed, unridiculed.</p> + + <p>For a long time his resentment wholly drowned itself in + wonder at the puzzle of the engines, the mechanism of the + dump-cars, the wondrous working of the small steam crane which + lifted rails from flat-cars, and, as a strong man guided them, + dropped them with precision at the time and place decided on + beforehand. He noted how the men worked in great gangs, subject + to the orders of one "boss," a phenomenon of organization he + had never seen before, with unwilling admiration.</p> + + <p>But presently, from a point well in advance of that where + rails already had been laid and upon which his attention had + been concentrated because of the machinery there, there came a + mighty boom of dynamite. It startled him so greatly that he + sprang up, bewildered, ready for whatever might be coming, but + wholly at a loss as to just what the threatening danger might + be. His fright gave rise to jeering laughter from the men who + had been watching with a covert eye the rough, determined + looking mountaineer, squatting on the stump with rifle on his + arm. He turned on them so fiercely that they shrank back, + terrified by the look they saw in his grey eyes.</p> + + <p>Then, noting that the noise had not appalled them in the + least and assuming that what was surely safe for them was safe + enough for him, he sauntered down the line, attempting to seem + careless in his walk, until he reached the gang which was busy + at destruction of a high, obstructive cropping of grey + granite.</p> + + <p>For hours he sat there watching them with curiosity. He saw + them pierce the rocks with hammered drills; he saw them then + put in a small, round, harmless looking paper cylinder which, + of course, he knew held something like gunpowder; he saw them + tamp it down with infinite care, leaving only a protruding + fuse; he saw them light the fuse and scamper off to a safe + distance while he watched the sputtering sparks run down the + fuse, pause at the tamping, then, having pierced it, disappear. + The great explosions which succeeded were, at first, a little + hard upon his nerves, but he saw that those who compassed them + did not flinch when they came, and, after he had dodged + ridiculously at the first, received the second with a greater + calm, keyed himself to almost motionless reception of the + third, and managed to sit listening to the fourth with + self-possession quite as great as theirs, his face impassive + and his frame immovable.</p> + + <p>He noted with amazement the great force of the infernal + power the burning fuses loosed, and knew, instinctively, that + the explosive was a stronger one than that with which he had + been thoroughly familiar since his earliest + childhood—gunpowder. He wondered mightily what it could + be, and, finally, summoned courage to inquire of one of the + swart laborers.</p> + + <p>These were the first words he had spoken that day, and, + although the man was courteous enough in answering, "Dynamite," + he thought he saw a smile upon his face of veiled derision, and + resented it so fiercely that instead of thanking him he gave + him a black look and sauntered off. But he had learned what the + explosive was; before he went away he had seen it used in + half-a-dozen ways and had a visual demonstration of the + necessity for caution in its handling. One of the young and + cocky engineers, whom he so hated, dropped by dread mischance a + heavy hammer on a stick of it, and the resulting turmoil left + him lying torn and mangled on the rocks.</p> + + <p>Lorey felt small sympathy for the man's suffering, although + he never had seen any human being mutilated thus before. Many a + man he had seen lying with a clean hole through his forehead, + the neat work of a definitely aimed bullet; assassination and + the spectacles it carried with it could not worry him: his + childhood and young manhood had been passed where "killings" + were too frequent; the man, like all the others there at work, + was his enemy, and he sorrowed for him not at all; but this + tearing, mangling laceration of human flesh and bone was + horrifying to him.</p> + + <p>Later, though, a certain comfort came to him from it. The + whole scene had impressed him and depressed him. He remembered + what Madge Brierly had said about the engineers with their blue + paper plans and their ability to read from them and work by + them. He saw them at their work, and the spectacle made him + feel inferior, which had never happened in his free, + untrammeled life of mountain independence before. There were a + dozen men about the work of the same type as Layson's, and + their calm cocksureness as they directed all these mysteries + amazed him, overwhelmed him, made him feel a sense of + littleness and unimportance which was maddening. Why should + they know all these things when he, Joe Lorey, who had lived a + decent life according to his lights, had labored with his + muscles as theirs could not labor if they tried to force them + to, had lived upon rough fare and in rough places while they + had had such "fancinesses" as he saw spread before them at + their mess-tent dinner (and crude fare enough it seemed to + them, no doubt) knew none of them? He could see no justice in + such matters and resented them with bitter heart. If their own + infernal powder had killed one of them he would not mourn. He + tried to look back at the accident with satisfaction.</p> + + <p>Had he gone down to that crude construction camp without the + jealousy of Layson in his heart, he might, possibly, have + merely gazed in wonder at the cleverness of all this work, + despite his mountaineer's resentment of the coming of the + interlopers; but, with that resentment in his heart to nag and + worry him, he achieved, before the day was over, a real hatred + of the class and of each individual in it. Layson had come up + there to his country to rob him of the girl he loved; now these + men were coming with their railroad to change the aspect of the + land he had been born to and grown up in, making it a strange + place, unfamiliar, unwelcoming and crowded. He hated every one + of them, he hated the new railroad they were building, he hated + their new-fangled and mysterious machinery which puzzled him + with intricate devices and appalled him with its power of fire + and steam.</p> + + <p>By the time the afternoon was two hours old he was in a + state of sullen fury, silent, morose, miserable on the stump + which he had chosen as his vantage point for observation. More + than once an engineer looked at him with plain admiration of + his mammoth stature in his eyes; many a town-girl, seeing him, + like a statue of The Pioneer upon a fitting pedestal, made + furtive eyes at him, for he was handsome and attractive in his + rough ensemble; but he paid no heed to any of them. He was + giving his mind over to consideration of his grievance against + these men who came, with steam and pick and shovel, dynamite + and railroad iron, invading his domain.</p> + + <p>He thought about his secret still, hidden in its mountain + fastness, and realized that this new stage of settlement's + inexorable march meant danger to it; he thought about the game + which roamed the hills and realized that with the coming of the + crowd it would soon scatter, never to return; he thought about + the girl up there, his companion in adversity, his fellow + sufferer from mutual wrong, the one thing which he had had to + love, the shining prize which it had been his sole ambition to + possess for life; he thought of her and then about the man, who + (product of the same advantages which made these men before him + clever with their blue-prints and their puffling monsters) had + come there searching profit from the land which he had never + loved or lived on, and, seeing Madge, had, Joe thoroughly + believed, exerted every wile of a superior experience to win + her from him by fair means or foul. He thought of them and + hated all of them!</p> + + <p>He was a most unhappy mountaineer who sat there on the + stump, impassive and morose as the sun progressed upon its + journey toward the western horizon. All the organized activity + in the scene about him filled him with resentment and despair. + In the hills he ever felt his strength: they had presented in + his whole lifetime few problems which he could not cope with, + conquer; but here in that construction camp he felt weak, + incompetent, saw full many a puzzling matter which he could not + understand. He watched the scene with bitter but with almost + hopeless eyes. These new forces working here at railroad + building, working in the hills to rob him of the girl he loved, + seemed pitilessly strong and terribly mysterious. He never had + felt helpless in all his life, before. It made him grind his + teeth with rage.</p> + + <p>But, though it angered him, the tense activity of the + construction camp was fascinating, too. Especially was his + attention held spellbound by the ruthless work of the advancing + blasting gangs. What power lay hidden in those tiny sticks of + dynamite! How lightly one of them had tossed that poor + unfortunate in air and left him lying mangled, broken, helpless + on the ground when it had spent its fury! <i>What a weapon one + of them would make, upon occasion</i>!</p> + + <p>This thought grew rapidly in his depressed and agitated + mind. What a weapon, what a weapon! Presently the blasting + gangs and what they did absorbed his whole attention. He no + longer paid the slightest heed to the puffing locomotives, busy + with their dump-cars, to the mysterious steam-shovel, to the + hand cars with their pumping, flying passengers. The dynamite + was greater than the greatest of them. One stick of it, if + properly applied, would blow a locomotive into junk, would tear + a dump-car, with its massive iron-work and grinding wheels, + apart and leave mere splinters!</p> + + <p>His thoughts roamed back to his home mountains and pondered + on the probable effect of this incursion on his personal + affairs. Not satisfied with tearing up the placid valley, these + foreigners would, presently, invade the very mountains in their + turn. He saw the doom of that small, hidden still which had + been his father's secret, years ago, was now his secret from + the prying eyes of law and progress. That the "revenuers," soon + or late, would get it, now that their allies were building + steel highways to swarm on, was inevitable. His heart beat fast + with a new anger, anticipatory of their coming to his + fastness.</p> + + <p>Lying not six feet from him as he sat there thinking + bitterly of all these things, the foreman of the blasting gang + had gingerly deposited a dozen sticks of dynamite upon a soft + cushion of grey blankets. Joe looked at them as they lay there, + innocent and unimpressive. If he had some of them in the hills + and the revenuers came to raid his still—</p> + + <p>The thought sprang into being in his mind with lightning + quickness and grew there with mushroom growth. Never in his + life had Lorey stolen anything, although the government would + have classed him as a criminal because he owned that hidden + still. His standards, in some things, were different from yours + and mine, but he had never stolen anything and scorned as low + beyond the power of words to tell a man who would. But now + temptation came to him. He wanted some of that explosive. + Should he buy it, its purchase by a mountaineer would certainly + attract attention and might thus precipitate the very thing he + wished to ward away—a watch of him, and, through that + espionage, discovery of his secret place among the hills. And + were not the railroad and the men who owned it robbing him by + their progression into his own country? They were robbing him + of peace and quiet, of the possibility of living on the life he + had been born to and had learned to love! One of the class + which fostered him was robbing him, he feared with a great + fear, of the sweet girl whom he loved better than he loved his + life. Surely it would be no sin, no act of real dishonesty for + him to slip down from his stump when none was looking and + secure a stick or two of the explosive!</p> + + <p>Speciously he argued this out in his mind and reached the + wrong conclusion which he wished to reach.</p> + + <p>If he could but get one of those sticks of dynamite! When + progress came, as, now, he felt convinced it would, to drive + him from his mountains and the still which made life possible + to him, he could meet it, at the start, with one of its own + weapons. That, even though he had a hundred such, he could + fight the fight successfully, could, in the end, find triumph, + he did not for an instant think. The might of the encroaching + army had impressed him, and he knew that, soon or late, he + would be forced to yield to it; but he coveted those sticks of + dynamite. One of them would give him some slight power, at + least. He acknowledged to himself that he would steal one if he + got the chance, despite his innate hatred of all pilferers. + Such theft would merely be the taking of an unimportant tribute + from the power which would, eventually, claim much, indeed, + from him.</p> + + <p>From the distance came the screaming whistle of a locomotive + pulling in along the newly built roadway to eastward. It was + followed by a flurry of excitement among all the men at work + around about him.</p> + + <p>"There comes the mail," he heard one handsome young chap + shout.</p> + + <p>He wore a suit like that which Joe had learned to hate + because Frank Layson wore it.</p> + + <p>This youth started running down the track, bright-eyed, + expectant, and a dozen others ran to follow him, leaving + blue-prints, their surveyors' instruments and other tokens of + their mysterious might of education, lying unheeded on the + ground behind them. There was much excitement. Even the rough + laborers stopped delving at their tasks for a few minutes, to + straighten from their work and stand, with curious eyes agaze + down-track.</p> + + <p>In the distance Joe saw smoke arise above the tops of the + invaded forest-trees. Then he heard the growing clangor of a + locomotive's bell, then other whistling and the approaching + rumble of steel wheels upon steel rails, the groan of brake + shoes gripping, the rattle of contracted couplings, the impact + of car-bumpers.</p> + + <p>The excitement grew among the working gangs. Even the + laborers left their tasks and started down the rough surface of + the new embankment toward the place, a quarter-of-a-mile away, + where the train would stop at the end of the crude + ballasting.</p> + + <p>Lorey sat there on his stump, apparently impassive, watching + all this flurry with resentful, discontented eyes. He himself + was infinitely curious about the coming train; but he could not + bring himself to go to see it. He had never seen a railway + train, but it somehow seemed to him that if he hurried with the + rest to meet this one it would mean a certain sacrifice of + dignity in the face of the invading conqueror. He sat there, + grimly wondering what it might be like, what the people whom it + brought were like, until, suddenly, he discovered that he was + alone. The last workman yielding to temptation, free from + supervision for the moment, had run down the bank to meet the + train, get mail, see who had come. Lying not a dozen feet away + from Joe on their grey blanket were the sticks of dynamite.</p> + + <p>Lithe, quick and silent as one of the mountain wild-cats he + had so often trailed through his domain, he slipped down from + his stump, caught up a stick of the explosive, tucked it + carefully into his game-bag, took his place again upon the + stump, impassive, calm, apparently quite unexcited.</p> + + <p>When the men came trooping back, opening letters, tearing + wrappers from their newspapers, gossipping, he still sat on the + stump as they had left him. Not one of them suspected that he + once had left it.</p> + + <p>"Bright and lively as a cigar-store Indian," he heard one + care-free youth exclaim as he went by him.</p> + + <p>He did not know what the man meant; he had never seen a + cigar-store Indian; but he knew a jibe was meant. It did not + anger him, as it would have done, a few moments earlier. Now he + had exacted his small tribute. They could stare at him and + jibe, if they were so inclined. Hidden carefully there in his + game-bag was one of their own weapons for their fight against + the wilderness, which, in course of time, might be a weapon of + the wilderness in fighting against some of them.</p> + + <p>Presently he climbed down from the stump and strolled back + along the raw embankment toward the little group still standing + near the train which had arrived.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER VII</h2><br> + + + <p>The young moonshiner stiffened instantly as he neared the + group of newly arrived travellers, for the first word he heard + from them was the name of him whom, among all foreigners, he + hated with most bitterness. An old darky, plainly the servant + of the party, and such a darky as the mountain country had + never seen before, was inquiring of a bystander where he could + find "Marse" Frank Layson.</p> + + <p>The man of whom he asked the question had not the least + idea, nor had anyone about the railroad working. Most of the + men had never heard of Layson, and the few who had become + acquainted with him through chance meetings since he had been + stopping in his cabin in the mountains, knew most indefinitely + where the place was located. Lorey could have quickly given the + information, but had no thought of doing so. He stood, instead, + staring at the party with wondering but not good-natured eyes, + and said no word. He certainly was not the one to do a favor to + his rival or his rival's friends.</p> + + <p>The group of strangers were thrown into confusion by the + difficulty of getting news of him they sought, and, while they + discussed the matter, Lorey had a chance to study them. He + stood upon the rough plank platform, leaning on his rifle, with + the game-bag and its burden of purloined explosive hanging + slouchily beneath one arm, his coon-skin cap down well upon his + eyes, those eyes, half closed, gazing at the newcomers with all + the curiosity which they would have shown at sight of savages + from some far foreign shore.</p> + + <p>He was not the only one about the temporary railroad station + who eyed the group with curiosity and interest. Two of the + travellers were ladies from the bluegrass and scarcely one of + all the natives lingering about the workings had ever seen a + lady from the bluegrass, while, to the young surveyors and the + group of civil engineers who had, for months, been exiled by + their work among the mountains from all association with such + lovely creatures, it was a joy to stand apart and covertly gaze + at them. Many a young fellow, months away from home, who had + grasped the newspapers and letters which had come in with the + other mail with eager fingers, anxious to devour their + contents, had, after the two ladies had descended from the + train, almost forgotten his anxiety to get the news from home, + and stood there, now, with opened letters in his hands, + unread.</p> + + <p>The ladies were very worthy of attention, too. Miss Alathea + Layson, the elder of the two, was slight, beautifully groomed + despite the long and dirty trip on rough cars over the crude + road-bed of a newly graded railway. A woman whose thirtieth + birthday had been left behind some years before, she still had + all the brightness and vivacity of the twenties in her carriage + and her manner. Her voice, as it drifted to the young + moonshiner, was a new experience to him—soft, well + modulated, cultivated, it was of a sort which he had never + heard before, and, while it seemed to him affected, + nevertheless thrilled him with an unacknowledged + admiration.</p> + + <p>It was she who showed the greatest disappointment about the + general ignorance concerning Layson's whereabouts, and that + voice made instantaneous and irresistible appeal to the older + men among the party of engineers and surveyors, who, finding an + excuse in her discomfiture, flocked about her, hats off, backs + bent in humble bows, proffering assistance, three deep in the + circle.</p> + + <p>The other lady traveller, whom Miss Alathea called Miss + Barbara, more especially attracted the attention of the younger + men, and, as they stood aloof to gaze at her, held such + mountain dwellers as were near, paralyzed with wonder and + admiration. Nothing so brilliantly beautiful as she in form, + carriage, face, coloring or dress had ever been seen there in + the little valley.</p> + + <p>She was a florid girl of twenty, or, perhaps, of twenty-one + or two. Her eyes were the obtrusive feature of her face, and + she used them with a freedom which held callow youth + spellbound. Her gown was more pretentious than that of her more + elderly companion. This, of course, was justified by the + difference between their ages; but there seemed to be, beyond + this, a flaunting gayety about it and her manner which were + not, in the eyes of the older and wiser men among the group who + watched, justified by anything. It would have been a hard thing + for the most critical of them to have definitely mentioned just + what forced this strong impression on their minds, but it was + forced upon them very quickly. One of them, a cute and keen + observer as he was, of many years experience, decided the moot + point, though, and whispered his decision to a grizzled man + (the engineer in charge of the whole enterprise upon that + section of construction) who stood next him.</p> + + <p>"The elder one is of the old-time Southern aristocracy," he + said. "The younger one is one of the newcomers—her father + has made money and she is breaking in by means of it."</p> + + <p>His companion nodded, realizing that the guess was shrewd + and justified, even if it might, conceivably, be + inaccurate.</p> + + <p>"She certainly is very striking," he said, nodding, "but the + elder one is the aristocrat."</p> + + <p>The other member of the party was a big man, nearing fifty, + with a broad face on which geniality was written in its every + line, wearing the wide-brimmed Southern hat, typical long + frock-coat with flaring skirts, black trousers, somewhat + pegged, and boots of an immaculate brilliance.</p> + + <p>His voice was loud, hearty and attractive, as he made + inquiries, here and there, about the young man whom they had + hoped to find in waiting for them at the station, although they + had arrived, owing to the exigencies of travel by a new road, + not yet officially opened to traffic, a day before they had + expected to.</p> + + <p>"I suh," said this gentleman, "am Cunnel + Doolittle—Cunnel Sandusky Doolittle, and am looking for + this lady's nephew, Mr. Layson, suh. If you can tell me where + the youngster is likely to be runnin', now, you will put me + under obligations, suh."</p> + + <p>None, however, knew just how Layson could be reached. Most + of them knew him or had heard of him, but they were not certain + just where his camp in the mountains was located.</p> + + <p>"I regret, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel, turning to the + disappointed lady at his side, after having completed his + inquiries, "that there is no good hotel heah. If there were a + good hotel heah, I would take you to it, ma'am, and make you + comfortable. Then, ma'am, I would search this country and I'd + find him in short order. He probably did not receive my letter + saying that we would arrive to-day and not to-morrow."</p> + + <p>One of the engineers proffered to the ladies the use of his + own canvas quarters till some course of action should have been + decided on, an offer which was gratefully accepted.</p> + + <p>Soon afterward inquiries by the Colonel brought out definite + information as to the exact location of Frank's camp. A railway + teamster, also, it appeared, was starting in that direction + after ties and offered to transport a messenger as far as he + was going, directing him, then, so that he could not lose his + way. Old Neb, the darky, thereupon, was started on the + search.</p> + + <p>He was a different sort of negro from any which the mountain + folk had ever seen, and wore more airs than his "white folks." + Dressed in a black frock-coat as ornate as the Colonel's, + although its bagging shoulders showed that it had been a gift + and not made for him, his hat was a silk tile, a bit too large, + and in one hand was a gold-headed cane on which he leaned as + his old legs limped under him. Among the mountaineers about he + was an object of the keenest curiosity, although down in the + bluegrass, where old family negroes frequently were let to grow + into a childish dignity of manner after years of faithful + service and were not disturbed in their ideas of their own + importance, he would have been regarded as merely an amusing + infant of great age, reaping a reward for by-gone merits in the + careful consideration and indulgence now extended to him. His + inordinate vanity of his personal appearance and his dignity + might have given rise to smiles, down there; here there were + those upon the platform who laughed loudly as he walked away, + boasting vaingloriously, although he evidently feared the trip + with the rough teamster, that he would find "young Marse Frank" + in a jiffy and have him there in no time.</p> + + <p>It was while the aged negro was climbing somewhat + difficultly to the side of the good-natured railroad teamster + who had promised to give him a lift upon his way and then + supply directions for his further progress, that Joe Lorey, who + had been an interested spectator of the affair, contemptuous, + amused by the old darky, saw, coming through the crowd behind + him and well beyond the range of the newly arrived strangers, + the roughly dressed, mysterious old man whom he had seen, once + or twice, up in the mountains, whom Madge had seen, tapping + with his little hammer at the rocks. Lorey looked toward him + with a face which scowled instinctively. He disliked the man, + as he disliked all foreigners who dared invasion of his + wilderness; he would have feared him, too, had he known that it + had really been him and not young Layson and Madge Brierly who + had made the noise there in the thicket which had disturbed + him, that day, when, armed to meet a raid of revenuers, he had + rushed out from his still to find the girl and the young + bluegrass gentleman in a close company which worried him almost + as much as the appearance of the officers, in fact, could have + done.</p> + + <p>He was a "foreigner," this old man with the manner of the + mountains, and, sometimes, their speech, for he wore bluegrass + clothes; therefore he was one to be classed with the others in + his bitter hatred. He was standing almost in his path, and, by + stepping to one side, could have saved him a small detour round + a pile of boxed supplies; but he did not move an inch, + stiffening, instead, delighted at obstructing him.</p> + + <p>The old man, as he went around, looked sharply at him, and + then smiled, almost as if he recognized him and could read his + thoughts; almost as if he realized the man's instinctive hate; + almost as if he felt a certainty, deep in his soul, that so + great was the disaster hovering above the mountaineer that it + would be scarcely worth his own while, now, even to think + resentfully of this small insult.</p> + + <p>A moment later, though, and the expression of his face had + changed completely. The first glimpse of the new come party + standing, now, deep in discussion of the railway work, before + the engineer's white, hospitable tent, made him start back in + amazement.</p> + + <p>For an instant he stood wavering, as if he were considering + the plan of trying to depart without approaching them or being + seen by them, but then he shrugged his shoulders and advanced, + trying to show upon his face surprised good-nature.</p> + + <p>"Wall, Colonel Doolittle!" he cried. "And you, Miss Layson, + and—why, there's Barbara!"</p> + + <p>"<i>Father!"</i> said the girl, in absolute amazement, + hurrying toward him.</p> + + <p>"Ah, Mr. Holton!" said Miss 'Lethe, bowing to him as the + Colonel, plainly not too greatly pleased by the necessity for + doing so, advanced toward him with extended hand.</p> + + <p>"What brings you all up here?" asked Holton, after the + greetings had been said.</p> + + <p>"We came up to see Frank and the beauties of his + long-forgotten land," Miss 'Lethe answered, in her softly + charming voice. "He has property up here, you know, which has + been for years a family possession, but which has been + considered valueless, or almost so. When he learned that this + new railway was to pass quite close to it, he decided to + investigate it carefully and see just what it really amounted + to."</p> + + <p>Holton smiled a little wryly as she completed her + explanation. "He's stayed here, studyin' it, a long time, ain't + he?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," Miss Alathea answered. "When he once reached here he + seemed to find new beauties in the country every day. He wrote + us the most glowing letters of it, and these letters + and—and—other things, decided me to come and see + him and the property he is so fond of. The Colonel was polite + enough to volunteer as escort, your daughter to come as a + companion."</p> + + <p>Holton winked mysteriously at Colonel Doolittle. "You come + at the right time," said he. "I'll have some things to tell you + of this country and just what the railroad's going to do for it + if you should care to listen."</p> + + <p>The Colonel's eyes, plainly those of one who read the tale + of character upon the faces of the people whom he met, looked + at him with no great favor, but he smiled. "We've already + learned some things which have astonished us," he said. Then, + though, despite the fact that his remark had greatly aroused + Holton's curiosity, evidently, he changed the subject somewhat + abruptly, and turned grandiosely to Miss 'Lethe.</p> + + <p>"May I offuh you my ahm, ma'am, for a little stroll about + heah?" he inquired. "The greatest disadvantage which I see + about this country is the lack of level places big enough to + put a race-track in, ma'am. So far as I can see from lookin' + round me, casual like, you couldn't run a quahtuh, heah, + without eitheh goin' up a hill or comin' down one."</p> + + <p>"<i>Isn't</i> it rough!" said Barbara, with a gesture of + aversion which seemed a bit affected.</p> + + <p>Holton looked at her with what was plainly admiration. It + was clear enough that, in a way, he was fond of his showy + daughter. He ran his eye with satisfaction over her costume, + from head to foot, and nodded.</p> + + <p>"You ain't never seen much of rough life, now have you, + Barbara?" He turned, then, to Miss Alathea. "These young folks, + raised the way we raise 'em, nowadays, get thinkin' that the + whole world has been smoothed out for their treadin'—an' + they ain't far wrong. We <i>do</i> smooth out the world for + 'em. Now, there's your nephew, Frank; he—"</p> + + <p>"Oh, he <i>likes</i> it, here, as I have said," she + answered.</p> + + <p>"But it is so—<i>uncouth</i>" said Barbara, plainly + for the benefit of one or two admiring youths from the + surveying party, who were standing near. "And some of the + people look so absolutely vicious—some of the natives, I + mean, of course, you know. Now look at that young fellow, over + there!"</p> + + <p>The girl had nodded toward Joe Lorey, who was standing not + far off, observing them with an unwavering and disapproving, + almost definitely hostile stare.</p> + + <p>"He looks," the girl went on, "as if he hated us and would + be glad to do us harm. So violent!"</p> + + <p>"He's from up the mountains," one of the young engineers + said, glancing toward him. "It's funny how those mountain + people <i>all</i> hate us. You see, they say, the hills around + about here are all full of moonshiners and they believe the + coming of the railroad will bring with it law and order and + that when that comes, of course, their living will be + gone."</p> + + <p>"Moonshiners?" said Barbara. "Pray, what are + moonshiners?"</p> + + <p>Her father grimly smiled again. He knew that she knew quite + as well what moonshiners were as any person in the group, but + her affected ignorance of rough things and rough men amused + him.</p> + + <p>"Distillers of corn whisky who refuse to pay their taxes to + the government," the youth replied. "The revenue officials have + had dreadful times with them, here in the Cumberland, for + years. Sometimes they have really bloody battles with them, + when they try to make a raid."</p> + + <p>"How terrible!" said Barbara, and shuddered carefully. She + looked again at Lorey, who, conscious that he was the subject + of their conversation and resentful of it, stared back boldly + and defiantly. "And do you think that he—that very young + man there—can possibly have ever actually <i>killed</i> a + man?"</p> + + <p>The engineer laughed heartily. "That he may <i>possibly</i> + have killed a man," said he, "there is no doubt. I don't know + that he has, however, and it is most improbable. I don't even + know that he's a moonshiner."</p> + + <p>Among the others who had left the train, which, now, had + been switched off to a crude side-track, the cars left there + and the locomotive started at the handling of dirt-dump-cars, + were two tall, sunburned strangers, whom Miss Alathea, who had + noted them as she did everyone, had classed as engineers or + surveyors, but who had not, when they had arrived, mingled with + the other men employed on the construction of the railroad. + While the young man and Barbara were talking about moonshiners, + one of them had drifted near and he gave them a keen glance at + the first mention of the word. Now he turned, but turned most + casually, to follow with his own, their glances at Joe Lorey. + Then he sauntered off, and, as he passed Holton, seemed to + exchange meaning glances with him.</p> + + <p>Soon afterward Lorey turned away. The day was getting on + toward noon. The long tramp back to his lonely cabin in the + mountains would consume some hours. The sight of all these + strangers, all this work on the new railroad worried him, made + him unhappy, added to and multiplied the apprehension which for + weeks had filled his heart about Madge Brierly and young + Layson. He battled with a mixture of emotions. There was no + ounce of cowardice, in Joe. Never had he met a situation in his + life before which he had feared or which had proved too strong + for him. All his battles, so far, and they had been many and + been various, as was inevitable from the nature of his secret + calling, had resulted in full victories for his mighty strength + of body or his quick foot, certain hand, keen knowledge of the + mountains and the woods resource and wit that went with these; + but now things seemed to baffle him. His soul was struggling + against acknowledgment of it, while his mind continually told + him it was true. Everything seemed, now, to be against him.</p> + + <p>He knew, but would not admit, even to himself, that the + march of progress must inevitably drive out of existence the + still hidden in his cave and make the marketing of its illicit + product doubly hazardous, nay, quite impossible. He knew that + he must give it up; he realized that real good sense would send + him home, that day, to bury the last trace of it in some spot + where it never could be found again. But his stubborn soul + revolted at the thought of being beaten, finally, by this + civilization which he hated; he would not admit, even in his + mind, that it had bested him, or could ever best him. He ground + his teeth and pressed his elbow down against the stock of his + long rifle with a force which ground the gun into his side + until it hurt him. He would never give up, never! Let them try + to get him if they could, these lowlanders! He would not be + afraid of them. His father had not been—and he would + never be.</p> + + <p>And there was a voice within him which kept whispering as + did the one which counselled the abandonment of his illegal + calling, the abandonment of that other effort, infinitely + dearer to him, to win Madge Brierly's love and hand in + marriage. His common-sense assured him that she was not made + for such as he, that, while she had been born there in the + mountains there were delicacies, refinements in her which would + make her mating with his rude and uncouth strength impossible, + would make it cruelly unhappy for her, even should it come + about. But this voice he steadfastly declined to listen to, + even more emphatically than he did to that which counselled + caution in his calling. Again he ground his teeth. His heels, + when they came down upon the rocky mountain trails up which he + soon was climbing, fell on the slopes so heavily that, + constantly, his progress was followed by the rattle of small + stones down the inclined path behind him, constant little + landslides. And, at ordinary times, Joe Lorey, awkward as he + looked to be, could scale a sloping sand-bank without sending + down a sliding spoonful to betray the fact that he was moving + on it to the wild things it might startle.</p> + + <p>Heavily he resolved within his soul, against his own best + judgment, to keep up both fights and win.</p> + + <p>The dynamite which he had stolen and which nestled in his + game-sack comforted him, although he did not know how he would + use it. Many times, as he worked through the narrow trails, + jumped from stepping-stone to stepping-stone in crossing + mountain-streams, pulled himself up steep and rocky slopes by + clutching swaying branches, or rough-angled boulders, he let + his left hand slip down to the side of the old game-sack, + where, through the soft leather, he could plainly feel the + smooth, terrific cylinder.</p> + + <p>He swore a mighty mountain oath that none of the advancing + forces ever should win victory of him. If the revenuers ever + tried to get him, let God help them, for they would need help; + if Frank Layson stole his girl from him, then let God help him, + also, for even more than would the revenuers the young + bluegrass gentleman would need assistance from some mighty + power.</p> + + <p>But a fate was closing on Joe Lorey which all his uncouth + strength could not avert. As he had left the railway those two + men whom simple-minded Miss Alathea had supposed were + engineers, but who had not mingled with the throng of railway + builders had looked at Horace Holton for confirmation of their + guess. In a quick glance, so keen that they could not mistake + its meaning so instantaneous that none else could suspect that + the three men were even casual acquaintances, he had told them + they had guessed aright.</p> + + <p>They sauntered off and disappeared in the direction whence + the mountaineer had gone, and, though his feet were well + accustomed to the trails and were as expert in their climbing + as any mountaineer's for miles, these men proved more expert; + though his ear was as acute as a wild animal's, so silently + they moved that never once a hint that they were following, + ever following behind him, reached it; their endurance was as + great as his, their woods-craft was as sly as his.</p> + + <p>A fate was closing on Joe Lorey. The march of civilization + was, indeed, advancing toward his mountain fastnesses at last. + And nothing stays the march of civilization.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2><br> + + + <p>The afternoon was waning as Joe climbed a sudden rise and + saw before him Layson's camp.</p> + + <p>Through a cleft in the guardian range the sun's rays + penetrated red and fiery. Already the quick chill of the coming + evening had begun to permeate the air. A hawk, sailing from a + day of foraging among the hen-yards of the distant valley, flew + heavily across the sky, burdened with plunder for its little + ones, nested at the top of a black stub on the mountain-side. + Squirrels were home-going after a busy day among the trees. The + mournful barking of young foxes, anxious for their dinners, + thrilled the air with sounds of woe. Among the smaller birds + the early nesters were already twittering in minor among the + trees and thickets; a mountain-eagle cleft the air in the + hawk's trail, so high that only a keen eye could have caught + sight of him. Daylight insects were beginning to abate their + clamor, while their fellows of the night were tuning for the + evening concert. Mournfully, and very faintly, came a + locomotive's wail from the far valley.</p> + + <p>Joe Lorey paused grimly in his progress to stare at the + rough shack which housed the man he hated. He was no coward, + and he would not take advantage of the loneliness and isolation + of the spot to do him harm surreptitiously, but vividly the + thought thrilled through him that someday he would assail him. + Smoke was curling from the mud-and-stick chimney of the little + structure, and he smiled contemptuously as he thought of how + the bluegrass youth was doubtless pottering, within, getting + ready to go down into the valley to greet his fine friends and + be greeted. He had no doubt that long ere this the aged negro + had reached him with the news of their arrival. He wondered, + with a fierce leap of hope, if, possibly, their coming might + not be the signal for the man's departure from the country + where he was not wanted.</p> + + <p>This hope keenly thrilled him, for a moment, but, an instant + later, when, through the small window, he saw the youth seat + himself, alone, before a blazing fire of logs, stretch out his + legs and lounge in the comfort of the blaze, it left him. He + wondered if Layson did not intend to go down at all to meet his + friends.</p> + + <p>Just then his quick ear caught the sound of stumbling, + hurried footsteps, plainly not a mountaineer's, down in the + rough woodland, below. Instantly his muscles tautened, + instantly he brought his rifle to position; but he soon let it + fall again and smiled, perhaps, for the first time that + day.</p> + + <p>"Lawsy! Lawsy!" he could hear a scared voice muttering. + "Lawsy, I is los', fo' suah!"</p> + + <p>His smile broadened to a wide, malicious grin of + satisfaction. The black messenger who had been started with the + news, evidently had not fared well upon the way, and was, but + now, arriving. "It's that nigger wanderin' around up hyar," he + mused. And then: "I'm goin' to have some fun with him."</p> + + <p>Silently he slipped down the path by which he had so + recently ascended, and, at a good distance from the cabin, but + still well in advance of the unhappy negro, hid behind a rock, + awaiting his approach.</p> + + <p>Old Neb, advancing, scared tremendously, was talking to + himself in a loud, excited voice.</p> + + <p>"Oh, golly!" he exclaimed. "Dis am a pretty fix for a + bluegrass cullud gemman! Dis am a pretty fix—los', los' + up heah, in de midst of wolves an' painters!"</p> + + <p>Joe, from behind his rock, wailed mournfully in startling + imitation of a panther's call.</p> + + <p>The darkey almost fell prone in his fright. "Name o' + goodness!" he exclaimed. "Wha' dat? Oh—oh—dere's a + painter, now!"</p> + + <p>Joe called again, more mournfully, more ominously than + before.</p> + + <p>Neb's fright became a trembling panic. "Hit's a-comin' + closer!" he exclaimed. "I feel as if de debbil's gwine ter git + me!" He stooped and started on a crouching run directly toward + the rock behind which Joe was hiding.</p> + + <p>As the old man would have passed, Joe jumped out from his + ambush, and, bringing his right hand down heavily upon the + darky's shoulder, emitted a wild scream, absolutely terrifying + in its savage ferocity. With a howl Neb dropped upon his knees, + praying in an ecstasy of fear.</p> + + <p>"Oh, good Mister Painter, good Mister Debbil—" he + began.</p> + + <p>Inasmuch as he was not devoured upon the instant, he finally + ventured to look up and Joe laughed loudly.</p> + + <p>So great was the relief of the old negro that he did not + think of anger. A sickly smile spread slowly on his face. "De + Lawd be praised!" he said. "Why, hit's a man!"</p> + + <p>"Reckon I am," said Joe. "Generally pass for one." Then, + although he knew quite well just why the man had come, from + whom, for whom, he asked sternly to confuse him: "What + <i>you</i> doin' in these mountings?"</p> + + <p>"I's lookin' fo' my massa, young Marse Frank Layson, suh," + Neb answered timidly.</p> + + <p>"You needn't to go fur to find him," Lorey answered + bitterly. "You needn't to go fur to find him."</p> + + <p>The old negro looked at him, puzzled and frightened by his + grim tone and manner.</p> + + <p>"Why—why—" he began. "Is it hereabouts he hunts + fo' deer? He wrote home he was findin' good spo't in the + mountains, huntin' deer."</p> + + <p>Joe's mouth twitched ominously, involuntarily. The mere + presence of Old Neb, there, was another evidence of the great + advantage, which, he began to feel with hopeless rage, the man + who had stolen that thing from him which he prized most highly, + had over him. The negro was his servant. Servants meant + prosperity, prosperity meant power. Backwoodsman as he was, Joe + Lorey knew that perfectly. His face gloomed in the + twilight.</p> + + <p>"Yes," he answered bitterly, "it's here he has been + huntin'—huntin' deer—the pootiest deer these + mountings ever see." Of course the old negro did not understand + the man's allusion. He was puzzled by the speech; but Joe went + on without an explanation: "But thar is danger in sech huntin'. + Your young master, maybe, better keep a lookout for + his-self!"</p> + + <p>His voice trembled with intensity.</p> + + <p>In the meantime Layson was still seated thoughtfully before + his fire of crackling "down-wood," busy with a thousand + speculations. Just what Madge Brierly, the little mountain + girl, meant to him, really, he could not quite determine. He + knew that he had been most powerfully attracted to her, but he + did not fail to recognize the incongruity of such a situation. + He had never been a youth of many love-affairs. Perhaps his + regard for horses and the "sport of kings" had kept him from + much travelling along the sentimental paths of dalliance with + the fair sex. Barbara Holton, back in the bluegrass country, + had been almost the only girl whom he had ever thought, + seriously, of marrying, and he had not, actually, spoken, yet, + to her about it. When he had left the lowlands for the + mountains he had meant to, though, when he returned. There were + those, he thought, who believed them an affianced couple. Now + he wondered if they ever would be, really, and if, without + actually speaking, he had not led her to believe that he would + speak. He was astonished at the thrill of actual fear he felt + as he considered the mere possibility of this.</p> + + <p>The news which had been brought to him by mail that upon the + morrow he would see the girl again, in company with his Aunt + and Colonel Doolittle, had focussed matters in his mind. Did he + really love the haughty, bluegrass beauty? He was far from sure + of it, as he sat there in the little mountain-cabin, although + he had been certain that he did when he had left the + lowlands.</p> + + <p>It seemed almost absurd, even to his young and sentimental + mind, that one in his position should have lost his heart to an + uneducated girl like Madge, but he definitely decided that, at + any rate, he had never loved the other girl. If it was not + really love he felt for the small maiden of the forest-fire and + spelling-book, it surely was not love he felt for the + brilliant, showy, bluegrass girl.</p> + + <p>He was reflecting discontentedly that he did not know + exactly what he felt or what he wanted, when he heard Joe + Lorey's startling imitation of the panther's cry, outside, and, + rising, presently, when careful listening revealed the fact + that the less obtrusive sound of human voices followed what had + seemed to be the weird, uncanny call of the wild-beast, he went + to the door and opened it, so that he could better listen.</p> + + <p>Joe and the negro had not been in actual view of Layson's + cabin, up to that time. A rocky corner, rising at the trail's + side, had concealed it. Now they stepped around this and the + lighted door and windows of the little structure stood out, + despite increasing darkness, plainly in their view.</p> + + <p>Almost instantly old Neb recognized the silhouette of + Layson's figure there against the fire-light from within.</p> + + <p>"Marse <i>Frank</i>!" he cried. "Marse <i>Frank!</i>"</p> + + <p>Layson, startled by the unexpected sound of the familiar + voice there in the wilderness, rushed from the door, took Neb's + trembling hand and led him to the cabin.</p> + + <p>"Neb, old Neb!" he cried. "By all that's wonderful! How did + you get here alone? I thought you all were to come up + to-morrow. Where is Aunt 'Lethe, and the Colonel, + and—and—"</p> + + <p>Neb, his troubles all forgotten as quickly as a child's, + stood wringing his young master's hand with extravagant + delight. Joe Lorey disappeared like a flitting shadow of the + coming night.</p> + + <p>"Dey're all down at de railroad, suh," said Neb. "Dey're all + down at de railroad. Got heah a day befo' dey t'ought dey + would, suh, an' sent me on ahead to let you know. I been + wanderin' aroun' fo' a long time a-tryin' fo' to fin' yo'. Dat + teamster what gib me a lif', he tol' me dat de trail war cleah + from whar he dropped me to yo' cabin, but I couldn't fin' it, + suh, an' I got los'."</p> + + <p>"And the others all are waiting at the railroad for me? I + was going down to meet them to-morrow."</p> + + <p>"Dey don't expect you till to-morrow, now, suh. Ev'rybody + tol' 'em that you couldn't git dar till to-morrow. I reckon + dey'll be com'fable. Fo'ty men was tryin' fo' to make 'em so + when <i>I</i> lef." The old darky laughed. "Looked like dat dem + chaps wat's layin' out dat railroad, dar, ain't seen a woman's + face fo' yeahs an' yeahs, de way dey flocked aroun'. Ev'y tent + in de destruction camp war at deir suhvice in five + minutes."</p> + + <p>Frank was busy at the fire with frying-pan and bacon. The + old negro was worn out. The young man disregarded his uneasy + protests and made him sit in comfort while he cooked a supper + for him.</p> + + <p>"So you got lost! Who finally set you straight? I heard you + talking, there, with someone."</p> + + <p>"A young pusson, suh," said Neb, with dignity. Lorey had + befriended him, he knew, at last; but he had scared him into + panic to begin with. "A young pusson, suh," he said, "what made + me think he was a paintuh, suh, to staht with. Made me think he + was a paintuh, suh, or else de debbil, wid his howlin'."</p> + + <p>Layson laughed long and heartily. "Must have been Joe + Lorey," he surmised. "I heard that cry and thought, myself, it + was a panther. He's the only one on earth, I guess, who can + imitate the beasts so well. Where is he, now?'</p> + + <p>"Lawd knows! I see him dar, close by me, den I seed you in + de doah, an' when I looked aroun' ag'in, he had plumb faded + clean away!"</p> + + <p>"They're wonderful, these mountaineers, with their + woods-craft."</p> + + <p>"Debbil craf, mo' like," said Neb, a bit resentful, + still.</p> + + <p>Frank smiled at the thought of his dear Aunt, precise and + elegant, compelled to spend the night in a construction camp + beneath white-canvas.</p> + + <p>"What did Aunt 'Lethe think about a night in tents?" he + asked.</p> + + <p>"Lawd," said Neb, plainly trying to gather bravery for + something which he wished to say, "I didn't ax huh. Too busy + with my worryin'."</p> + + <p>"Worrying at what, Neb?"</p> + + <p>"Oveh dat Miss Holton an' her father."</p> + + <p>"Mr. Holton didn't come, too, did he?"</p> + + <p>"No; he didn't come wid us, suh; but he met us dar down by + de railroad. Wasn't lookin' for him, an' I guess he wasn't + lookin', jus' exactly, to see us. But he was dar an' now he's + jus' a membuh of ouah pahty, suh, as good as Cunnel Doolittle. + Hit don't seem right to me, suh; no suh, hit don't seem right + to me."</p> + + <p>"Why, Neb!"</p> + + <p>"An' dat Miss Barbara! She was dead sot to see you, an' Miss + 'Lethe was compelled to ax her fo' to come along. She didn't + mean to, fust off; no suh. But she had to, in de end. Den I war + plumb beat when I saw Mister Holton stalkin' up dat platfohm + like he owned it an' de railroad an' de hills, and de hull + yearth. But he's bettuh heah dan down at home, Marse Frank. He + don't <i>belong</i> down in de bluegrass."</p> + + <p>"I'm afraid you are impertinent, Neb. Don't meddle. You + always have been prejudiced against Barbara and her + father."</p> + + <p>The old negro answered quickly, bitterly. "I ain't likely to + fuhgit," said he, "dat de only blow dat evuh fell upon my back + was from his han'! I guess you rickollick as well as I do. He + cotch me coon-huntin' on his place an' strung me up. He'd jes' + skinned me dar alive if you-all hadn't heered my holler in' an' + run in."</p> + + <p>Layson was uneasy at the turn the talk had taken. "That was + years ago, Neb," he expostulated.</p> + + <p>"Don't seem yeahs ago to me, suh. Huh! De only blow dat evuh + fell upon my back! But yo' snatched dat whip out of his ban' + an' den yo' laid it, with ev'y ounce of stren'th war in yo', + right acrost his face!"</p> + + <p>Layson, unwilling to be harsh with the old man and forbid + him to say more, ostentatiously busied himself, now, about the + table with the frying-pan and other dishes, hoping, thus, to + discourage further talk of this sort.</p> + + <p>"No, suh," Neb went on with shaking head, "I jus' nachelly + don' like him. Don't like <i>either</i> of 'em. An' he, Marse + Frank, he nevuh <i>will</i> fuhgit dat blow, an' don't you + think he will!"</p> + + <p>"That's all over, long ago," said Frank, as he put the + finishing touches on the old man's supper. "And what had + Barbara to do with it? She can't help what her father + does."</p> + + <p>Neb drew up to the table with a continuously shaking head. + For months he had desired to speak his mind to his young + master, but had never dared to take so great a liberty. Now the + unusual circumstances they were placed in, the fact that he had + been lost in the mountains in his service and half scared to + death, imbued him with new boldness.</p> + + <p>"She kain't he'p what he does, suh, no," said he. "But + listen, now, Marse Frank, to po' ol' Neb. De pizen vine hit + don't b'ar peaches, an' nightshade berries—dey ain't + hulsome, eben ef dey're pooty."</p> + + <p>"Neb, stop that!" Layson commanded sharply.</p> + + <p>The old negro half slipped from the chair in which he had + been sitting wearily. Once he had started on the speech which + he had made his mind up, months ago, that, some day, he would + screw his courage up to, he would not be stopped.</p> + + <p>"Oh, honey," he exclaimed, holding out his tremulous old + hands in a gesture of appeal, while the fire-light flickered on + a face on which affection and real sincerity were plain, "I's + watched ovuh you evuh sence yo' wuh a baby, an' when I see dat + han'some face o' hers was drawin' of yo' on, it jus' nigh broke + my ol' brack heaht, it did. It did, Marse Frank, fo' suah."</p> + + <p>The young man could not reprimand the aged negro. He knew + that all he said came from the heart, a heart as utterly + unselfish and devoted in its love as human heart could be.</p> + + <p>"Oh, pshaw, Neb!" he said soothingly. "Don't worry. Perhaps + I did go just a bit too far with Barbara—young folks, you + know!—but that's all over, now." Again he wondered most + uncomfortably if this were really true, again his mind made its + comparisons between the bluegrass girl and sweet Madge Brierly. + "There's no danger that Woodlawn will have any other mistress + than my dear Aunt 'Lethe for many a long year," he concluded + rather lamely.</p> + + <p>The emotion of the ancient darky worried him. It was proof + that evidence of a love affair with Barbara Holton had been + plain to every eye, he thought.</p> + + <p>Neb now slid wholly from the chair and dropped upon his + knees close by the youth he loved, grasping his hand and + pressing it against his faithful heart.</p> + + <p>"Oh, praise de Lawd, Marse Frank; oh, praise de Lawd!" he + cried.</p> + + <p>Old Neb slept with an easier heart, that night, than had + throbbed in his old black bosom since the probability that + Barbara Holton would be a member of the party which was to + visit his young master in the mountains, had first begun to + worry him. But long after he had found unconsciousness on the + boughs-and-blanket bed which he had fashioned for himself under + Frank's direction, Layson, himself, was wandering beneath the + stars, thinking of the problem that beset him.</p> + + <p>He was sorry Barbara was coming to the mountains. Why had + his Aunt 'Lethe brought her? What would that dear lady think + about Madge Brierly, wood-nymph, rustic phenomenon? What had + Horace Holton been doing in the mountains, secretly, to have + been surprised, discomfited as Neb had said he was, at sight of + the Colonel, Miss 'Lethe and his daughter?</p> + + <p>But before he had finished the pipe which he had carried + into the crisp air of the sharp mountain night for company, his + thought had left the Holtons and were seeking (as they almost + always were, these days and nights), his little pupil of the + spelling-book, his little burden of the brush-fire flight. He + looked across the mountain-side toward where her lonely cabin + hid in its secluded fastness. There was a late light to-night + ashine from its small window.</p> + + <p>"She'll like her," he murmured softly in the night. "She'll + <i>love</i> her. Aunt 'Lethe'll understand!"</p> + + <p>And then he wondered just exactly what it was that he felt + so very certain his Aunt 'Lethe would be sure to understand. He + did not understand, himself, precisely what had happened to + him, his life-plans, heart-longings.</p> + + <p>Strolling there beneath the stars he gave no thought to poor + Joe Lorey, until, like a night-shadow, the moonshiner stalked + along the trail and passed him. Layson called to him + good-naturedly, but the mountaineer gave him no heed. Frank + stood, gazing after him in the soft darkness, in amazement. + Then a quick, suspicious thrill shot through him. The man was + bound up the steep trail toward Madge's cabin. Presently he + heard him calling. He went slowly up the trail, himself.</p> + + <p>The girl came quickly from her cabin in answer to the + shouting of the mountaineer.</p> + + <p>"What is it, Joe?" she asked.</p> + + <p>"I want a word with you. I've come a purpose," Lorey + answered sullenly.</p> + + <p>The girl was almost frightened by his manner. She had never + seen him in this mood; he had never come to her, alone, at + night, before. "Well, Joe, you'll have to wait," said she. + "I've got some things to do, to-night." Her sewing was not yet + half finished.</p> + + <p>Standing on her little bridge, she held with one hand to the + worn old rope by means of which she presently would pull it up. + She did not take Joe very seriously; in the darkness she could + not see the grim expression of his brow, the firm set of his + jaw, the clenched hands, one of which was pressed against the + game sack with his powerful plunder hidden in it. She laughed + and tried to joke, for, even though she did not guess how + serious he was, her heart had told her that some day, ere long, + there must of stern necessity be a full understanding between + her and the mountaineer, and that he would go from her, after + it, with a sore heart. In the past she had not wished to marry + him, but she had never definitely said, even to herself, that + such a thing was quite impossible for all time to come. Now she + knew that this was so, although she would not acknowledge, even + to herself, the actual reason for this certainty. No; she could + never marry Joe. She hoped that, he would never again beg her + to.</p> + + <p>"Come back some other time, when I ain't quite so busy," she + said trying to speak jokingly. "Tomorrow, or nex' week, or + Crismuss."</p> + + <p>He stood gazing at her sourly. "I'll come sooner," he said + slowly. "Sooner. An' hark ye, Madge, if that thar foreigner + comes in atween us, I'm goin' to spile his han'some face + forever!"</p> + + <p>"What nonsense you do talk!" the girl exclaimed, but her + heart sank with apprehension as the man stalked down the path. + She did not pull the draw-bridge up, at once, but stood there, + gazing after him, disturbed.</p> + + <p>Again he met Layson, still strolling slowly on the trail, + busy with confusing thoughts, puffing at his pipe. The + mountaineer did not call out a greeting, but stepped out of the + trail, for Frank to pass, without a word.</p> + + <p>"Why, Joe," said Layson, "I didn't see you. How are you?" He + held out his hand.</p> + + <p>The mountaineer said nothing for an instant, then he + straightened to his lank full height and held his own hand + close against his side. "No," he said, "I can't, I can't."</p> + + <p>Layson was astonished. He peered at him. "Why, Joe!" said + he; and then: "See here—what have I ever done to + you?"</p> + + <p>Joe turned on him quickly. "Done?" he cried. "Maybe nothin', + maybe everythin'." He paused dramatically, unconscious of the + fierce intentness of his gaze, the lithe aggressiveness of his + posture. "But I warns you, now—you ain't our kind! Th' + mountings ain't no place for you. The sooner you gits out of + 'em, the better it'll be fer you."</p> + + <p>Layson stood dumbfounded for a moment. Then he would have + said some further word, but the mountaineer, his arm pressed + tight against that old game-sack, stalked down the trail. + Suddenly Layson understood.</p> + + <p>"Jealous, by Jove!" he said. "Jealous of little Madge!" + Slowly he turned about, puffing fiercely at his pipe, his + thoughts a compound of hot anger and compassion.</p> + + <p>Madge, filled with dread of what her disgruntled mountain + suitor might be led to do by his black mood, had not yet + re-crossed her draw-bridge, but was standing by it, listening + intently, when she heard Layson's footsteps nearing. Her heart + gave a great throb of real relief. She had not exactly feared + that trouble really would come between the men, but—Lorey + came of violent stock and his face had been dark and + threatening.</p> + + <p>She saw Layson long before he knew that she was there.</p> + + <p>"Oh," she cried, relieved, "that you?"</p> + + <p>He hurried to her. "I thought you mountain people all went + early to your beds," said he, and laughed, "but I met Joe Lorey + on the trail and here you are, standing by your bridge, + star-gazing."</p> + + <p>Of course she would not tell him of her worries. She took + the loophole offered by his words and looked gravely up at the + far, spangled sky. "Yes," said she, "they're mighty pretty, + ain't they?"</p> + + <p>Layson was in abnormal mood. The prospect of his Aunt's + arrival, the certainty that something more than he had thought + had come out of his mountain sojourn, the fact that he was sure + that he regretted Barbara Holton's coming, old Neb's arrival, + and his raking up of ancient scores against the lowland + maiden's father, his meeting with Joe Lorey and the latter's + treatment of him, had wrought him to a pitch of mild + excitement. The girl looked most alluring as she stood there in + the moonlight.</p> + + <p>"My friends are in the valley and are coming up to-morrow," + he said to her. "Do you know that this may be the last time I + shall ever see you all alone?"</p> + + <p>She gasped. He had not hinted at a thing like that before. + "You ain't going back with them, are you?" she asked, her voice + a little tremulous from the shock of the surprise. "You ain't + going back with them—never to come hyar no more, are + you?"</p> + + <p>He stepped nearer to her. "Why, little one," he asked, + "would you care?"</p> + + <p>"Care?" she said with thrilling voice, and then, gaining + better self-control, tried to appear indifferent. "Why should + I?" she said lightly. "I ain't nothin' to you and you ain't + nothin' to me."</p> + + <p>His heart denied her words. "Don't say that!" he cried. "You + don't know how dear you've grown to me." He stepped toward her + with his arms outstretched. He almost reached her and he knew, + and she knew, instinctively, that if he had he would have + kissed her.</p><a name="Illus_3"></a> <br> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_3.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_3.jpg" + alt="No man can cross this bridge, unless" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4>"No man can cross this bridge, + unless—unless,—"</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <p>She shrank back like a startled fawn, when his foot was + almost on the bridge that spanned the chasm between them and + her cabin.</p> + + <p>"Don't you dare to touch me!" she said fiercely.</p> + + <p>She sped back upon the little bridge, and, when he would + have followed, held her hand up with a gesture of such native + dignity, offended womanhood, that he stopped where he was, + abashed.</p> + + <p>"No—no, sir; you can't cross this bridge," said she. + "No man ever can, unless—unless—"</p> + + <p>Almost sobbing, now, she left the sentence incomplete; and + then: "Oh, you wouldn't dared act so to a bluegrass girl! But I + know what's right as well as them. It don't take no + book-learnin' to tell me as how a kiss like that you planned + for me would be a sign that really you care for me no more than + for the critters that you hunt an' kill for pastime up hyar + among the mountings."</p> + + <p>He would have given much if he had never done the foolish + thing. He stood there with lowered eyes, bent head, abashed, + discomfited.</p> + + <p>"An' I 'lowed you were my friend!" said she.</p> + + <p>Now he looked up at her and spoke out impulsively: "And so I + am, Madge, really! I was ... wrong. Forgive me!"</p> + + <p>She dropped her hands with a weary change of manner. "Well, + I reckon I will," said she. "You've been too kind and good for + me to bear a grudge ag'in you; but ... but ... Well, maybe I + had better say good-night."</p> + + <p>She walked slowly back across the bridge without another + word, pulled on its rope and raised it, made the rope fast and + slowly disappeared within her little cabin.</p> + + <p>"Poor child!" said he, and turned away. "I was a brute to + wound her."</p> + + <p>As he went down the trail, darkening, now, as the moon slid + behind the towering mountain back of him, his heart was in a + tumult. "After all," he reflected, "education isn't everything. + All the culture in the world wouldn't make her more sincere and + true. She has taught <i>me</i> a lesson I shan't soon + forget."</p> + + <p>His thoughts turned, then, to the girl who would come up + with the party on the following day.</p> + + <p>"I—wonder! Was there ever, really, a time when I loved + Barbara?... If so, that time has gone, now, never to + return."</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER IX</h2><br> + + + <p>His visitors took Layson by surprise, next morning. They had + started from the valley long before he had supposed they + would.</p> + + <p>Holton saw him first and nudged his daughter, who was with + him. They were well ahead of Miss Alathea and the Colonel, who + had been unable to keep up with them upon the final sharp + ascent of the foot-journey from the wagon-road. The old man + grinned unpleasantly. He had rather vulgar manners, often + annoying to his daughter, who had had all the advantages which, + in his rough, mysterious youth, he had been denied.</p> + + <p>"Thar he is, Barb; thar he is," he said, not loudly. Miss + Alathea and the Colonel, following close behind, were a + restraint on him.</p> + + <p>The girl's face was full of eagerness as she saw the man + they sought. He was busy polishing a gun, but that his thoughts + were occupied with something less mechanical and not wholly + pleasant the slight frown upon his face made evident. "Mr. + Layson! Frank!" she cried.</p> + + <p>The young man turned, on hearing her, and hurried toward her + and her father with his hands outstretched in welcome. He was + not overjoyed to have the old man visit him, just then; he was + even doubtful of the welcome which his heart had for the + daughter; but he was a southerner and in the gentle-born + southerner real hospitality is quite instinctive.</p> + + <p>"Mr. Holton—Barbara," said he. "I am delighted. + Welcome to the mountains." He grasped their hands in hearty + greeting. "But where are Aunt Alathea and the Colonel?"</p> + + <p>Holton tried to be as cordial as his host. That he was very + anxious to appear agreeable was evident. "Oh, them slow-pokes?" + he said, laughing. "We didn't wait for them. We pushed on + ahead. We reckoned as you would be glad to see us."</p> + + <p>"And so I am."</p> + + <p>"One in particular, maybe," Holton answered, with a crude + attempt at badinage. He glanced archly from the young man to + his daughter.</p> + + <p>"Father!" she exclaimed, a bit annoyed, and yet not too + unwilling that the fact that she and Layson were acknowledged + sweethearts should be at once established.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I ain't been blind," said Holton, gaily, going much + farther than she wished him to. "I've cut <i>my</i> + eye-teeth!"</p> + + <p>Then he turned to Layson with an awkward lightness. "Barbara + told me what passed between you two young folks afore you come + up to the mountings," he explained. And then, with further + elephantine airyness: "I say, jest excuse me—reckon I'm + in the way." He made a move as if to hurry off.</p> + + <p>Layson was not pleased. The old man was annoying, always, + and now, after the long revery of the night before about Madge + Brierly, this attitude was doubly disconcerting. "Not at all, + Mr. Holton," he said, somewhat hastily. "I'm sure we'd rather + you'd remain. Are you sure the others are all right?"</p> + + <p>"Close behind us."</p> + + <p>"I'll go and make sure that they do not lose their way."</p> + + <p>Holton looked at his daughter in a blank dismay after the + youth had started down the hill. "I say, gal," said he, + "there's somethin' wrong here!"</p> + + <p>She was inclined to blame him for the deep discomforture she + felt. "Why couldn't you let us alone?" she answered angrily. + "You've spoiled everything!"</p> + + <p>The old man looked at her, with worry on his face. "Didn't + you tell me 't was as good as settled? You said you were dead + sure he meant to make you his wife."</p> + + <p>She was still petulant, blaming him for Layson's unexpected + lack of warmth. "Yes, but you needn't have interfered!"</p> + + <p>Holton was intensely puzzled, worried, almost frightened. He + was as anxious to have this young man for a son-in-law as his + daughter was to have him for a husband. Her marriage into such + a celebrated bluegrass family as the Laysons were, would firmly + fix her social status, no matter how precarious it might be + now, and the match would be of great advantage to him in a + business way, as well. He stood there, thinking deeply, very + much displeased.</p> + + <p>"There's somethin' more nor me has come between you," he + said finally, his face flushing with a deep resentment. "I tell + you, gal, what I believed at first, deep in my heart, air true. + He was only triflin' with you. Them aristocrats down in the + bluegrass don't hold us no better than the dust beneath their + feet, even if we have got money. It's <i>family</i> that counts + with them. Didn't he lay his whip acrost my face, once, as if I + was a nigger?" His wrath was rising. "And now he shows that he + was only triflin' with you with no real intentions of doin' as + we thought he would!" The man was tremulous with wrath. "Oh, + I'll be even with him!"</p> + + <p>Barbara was greatly worried by the situation. All her life, + despite the fact that she was beautiful, despite the fact that + her father was a rich man—richer, by a dozen times, than + many of the people for whose friendship she longed + vainly—she had vaguely felt that there was an invisible + gulf between her and the girls with whom she came in contact at + the exclusive schools to which she had been sent, between her + and the gentlefolk with whom, in some measure, she had mixed + since she had left school-walls. "Father," she asked anxiously, + "why do people look down on us so?"</p> + + <p>He faced her with a worried look, as if he feared that she + might guess at something which he wished should remain hidden. + "They say I made my money tradin' in niggers," he replied, at + length. "Well, what of it? Didn't I have the right?"</p> + + <p>"Are you sure there's nothing else?"</p> + + <p>He seemed definitely startled. "Girl, what makes you + ask?"</p> + + <p>"Because sometimes memories come to me."</p> + + <p>"Memories of what?"</p> + + <p>"Of—my childhood," she said slowly, "of passes among + mountains—mountains much like these."</p> + + <p>He regarded her uneasily. "Oh, sho, gal!" he exclaimed, + trying to make light of it. "Reckon you've been dreamin'. You + were never hyar before."</p> + + <p>But she looked about her, unconvinced, and, when she spoke, + spoke slowly, evidently trying to recall with definite clarity + certain things which flitted through her mind as vague + impressions only. "Why does everything seem so familiar, here, + then, as if I had just wakened in my true surroundings after a + long sleep in which I had had dreams?" There was, suddenly, a + definite accusation in her eyes. "Father, you are trying to + deceive me! I was once a child, here in these very mountains!" + She stared about intently.</p> + + <p>The speech had an amazing effect on the old man. He stepped + close to her. "Hush!" said he, imperatively. "Don't you dare + speak such a word ag'in!"</p> + + <p>She peered into his eyes. "There <i>is</i> a secret, then! + We lived here, long ago!"</p> + + <p>"Stop, I tell you!" he commanded. "Don't hint at such + things, for your life." He dropped his voice to hoarse whisper. + "Suppose I did live hyar, once. I was a smooth-faced youngster, + then; my own mother wouldn't know me, now."</p> + + <p>The sound of voices coming up the mountain-trail interrupted + the dramatic scene.</p> + + <p>"Sh!" said he. "They're comin'!"</p> + + <p>Frank was piloting his Aunt and Colonel Doolittle. "This + way, Aunt 'Lethe," they could hear him say.</p> + + <p>An instant later he appeared, leading the way up the steep + trail. His Aunt, Neb and the Colonel followed him.</p> + + <p>"Now, Aunt 'Lethe," he said gaily, "you can rest at last. + Colonel, I can welcome you in earnest. This is, indeed, a + pleasure."</p> + + <p>The Colonel was puffing fiercely from the hard work of the + climb, but his broad face glowed with pleasure. He took a long, + full breath of the exhilerating mountain air. "Pleasure? It's a + derby-day, sir, metaphorically speaking." As he rested he eyed + the youngster with approval. "Frank," said he, "you've grown to + be the very image of my old friend, Judge Layson. Ah, five + years have made their changes in us all—except Miss + 'Lethe." He bowed gallantly in her direction, and she gaily + answered the salute.</p> + + <p>Barbara advanced, enthusiastically, looking at the Colonel + with arch envy in her eyes. "Five years you've been in Europe, + surrounded by the nobility. Oh, Colonel, what happiness!"</p> + + <p>He shook his head. "Happiness away from old Kentucky, + surrounded by a lot of numb-skulls who couldn't mix a fancy + drink to save their lives, who know nothing of that prismatic, + rainbow-hued fountain of youth, a mint-julep? Ah!"</p> + + <p>"But, Colonel," said the girl, "the masterpieces of + art!"</p> + + <p>"Give me," said he, "the masterpieces of Mother + Nature—the bright-eyed, rose-cheeked, cherry-lipped girls + of old Kentucky!"</p> + + <p>There was a general laugh. The Colonel's gallantry was + ever-blooming. Frank applauded and the ladies bowed.</p> + + <p>"By the way, Frank," said the Colonel, after they had been + made comfortable in a merry group before the cabin-door, "where + is that particular masterpiece of Nature which you've written + us so much about? Where is the—Diana?"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea smiled at her somewhat worried nephew. "The + 'phenomenon,'" said she.</p> + + <p>"According to Neb, who told us of her as we worked up that + steep trail," said Barbara, "the 'deer.'" She laughed, not too + good naturedly Neb, who was standing waiting orders near, + grinned broadly.</p> + + <p>"Neb, you rascal!" exclaimed Frank.</p> + + <p>"Come, where is she, Frank; where is she?" asked the + Colonel.</p> + + <p>The youth was not too much embarrassed, but he gave a quick, + side-glance at Barbara. "She is probably getting ready to + receive you," he replied. "I told her I expected you and she's + been very much excited over it."</p> + + <p>"Adding to nature's charms the mysteries of art," the + Colonel said, approvingly. "We shall expect to be overwhelmed. + And, meantime, while we're waiting, we might as well explain to + you the business which has brought us up here."</p> + + <p>His face showed him to be the bearer of good news. He rose, + excitedly, and went to Frank, to put his hand upon his + shoulder. "Now, my boy, keep cool, keep cool! I tell you, + Frank, it's the biggest thing out. It'll make a millionaire of + you as sure as Fate before the next five years have + passed!"</p> + + <p>Layson was taken wholly by surprise. No one had in the least + prepared him for anything of this sort. He had supposed the + party had come up to see him merely for the pleasure of the + trip. "I don't understand," said he.</p> + + <p>"Keep cool, keep cool!" the Colonel urged. "It is colossal, + metaphorically. You see, I was over there in Europe, promoting + a South American mine, when I happened to see in a Kentucky + paper that the Georgetown Midland was to be put through these + mountains near the land your father bought. That land, my boy, + is rich in coal and iron!"</p> + + <p>The young man's face shone with delight. "He always said + so!" he exclaimed. "I meant, sometime, to investigate."</p> + + <p>"I've saved you the trouble. I came back on the next + steamer, organized a syndicate in New York City, sent an expert + out to carefully look into things, and, on his report, a + company is willing to put in a $200,000 plant to develop your + land. All you've got to do is to take $25,000 worth of stock + and let your coal-land stand for as much more."</p> + + <p>The youth's face fell. "Twenty-five thousand dollars!" he + exclaimed. "Why, Colonel, I have not one fifth of it!"</p> + + <p>"Ah," said the Colonel, smiling, "but here, like a good + angel, comes in your dear Aunt 'Lethe!" He smiled at her. + "Isn't it so, Miss 'Lethe?"</p> + + <p>Frank spoke up quickly. "Surely," he exclaimed to her as she + advanced toward him, with smiles, "you know I'd never take your + money!"</p> + + <p>"You must, Frank," she insisted. "The Colonel says it is the + chance of a lifetime."</p> + + <p>"Why, Auntie, it's your whole fortune. I wouldn't risk + it."</p> + + <p>"But you could pay it all back in a month."</p> + + <p>"How?" he asked, not understanding in the least.</p> + + <p>"By selling Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>He flinched. The thought had not occurred to him. "Sell + Queen Bess!" said he. "The prettiest, the fastest mare in all + Kentucky! Never!"</p> + + <p>"My boy," said the Colonel, "the odds are far too + heavy—a million against the mare. You can't stand + 'em."</p> + + <p>"Oh, Frank," said his Aunt, impulsively, "if you'll only + take the money and give up racing!"</p> + + <p>He laughed. Miss Alathea's strong prejudice against the + race-tracks was proverbial. "So that's what you're after!" he + exclaimed. "You dear old schemer!"</p> + + <p>"With your impulsive, generous nature, racing is sure to + ruin you."</p> + + <p>The Colonel looked first at Frank with ardent sympathy aglow + in his eyes; then, after a hasty glance at Miss Alathea, he + quickly changed the meaning of his look and spoke + admonishingly. "The voice of wisdom!" he exclaimed. "Ah, Frank, + from what I hear I judge you're too much of a + plunger—like a young fellow I once knew who thought he + could win a fortune on the race-track." He began, now, to speak + very seriously. "He was in love with the prettiest and sweetest + girl in old Kentucky, but he wished to wait till he could get + that fortune, and he chased it here and there, looking for it + mostly on the race-tracks, until he had more grey hairs than he + had ever hoped to have dollars; he chased it till his dream of + happiness had slipped by, perhaps forever. My boy, the + race-track is a delusion and a snare."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea looked at him with pleased surprise. "Colonel, + your sentiments astonish and delight me."</p> + + <p>"How can you refuse," the Colonel said, "when such a woman + asks? For one who loves you, you should give those pleasures up + without a pang."</p> + + <p>In the pause that followed he reflected on the history of + the youth to whom he had referred, for that young man was + himself. He had loved Miss Alathea twenty years, but the + Goddess Chance had kept him, all that time, too poor to ask her + hand in marriage. His heart beat with elation as he realized + that, possibly, the scheme which he had come there to the + mountains to propose to Frank, might remedy the evils of the + situation.</p> + + <p>Frank had been thinking deeply. "But what certainty is + there," he inquired, "that I can sell Queen Bess at such a + price?"</p> + + <p>Now the Colonel spoke with animation. "Absolute. I've a + written offer from the Dyer brothers to take her for + twenty-five thousand dollars, if she is delivered, safe and + sound, on the morning she's to run in the Ashland Oaks. It's a + dead sure thing, my boy. You can't refuse."</p> + + <p>The young man hesitated, still. "I'll investigate, + and—well, I'll see." He walked away, deep in thought.</p> + + <p>The Colonel turned from him to Miss Alathea. "Miss 'Lethe, + congratulate yourself. The victory is won."</p> + + <p>Frank turned upon his heel and spoke to Holton. "What do you + think of this investment?" he inquired.</p> + + <p>"Wal," said Holton, "I think it's a blamed good thing. I'd + only like the chance to go into it, myself." He went closer to + the youth and spoke in an instinctively low tone. "By the way, + this gal, hyar, Madge Brierly, owns fifty acres o' land down + there in the valley, that's bound to be wuth money. Like + enough, with your help, I could buy it for a song. I'll make it + all right with you. What do you say? Is it a bargain, Layson?" + He held out his hand, evidently with no thought but that the + questionable offer would be snapped up at once.</p> + + <p>Layson drew back angrily. "No," he replied.</p> + + <p>Holton, seeing that he had made a serious mistake, tried to + correct it. "Oh, shucks, now! I didn't mean no harm. That's + only business."</p> + + <p>Layson was intensely angered. "I won't waste words on you," + he said, "but think twice before you make me such a proposition + again."</p> + + <p>Holton's wrath rose vividly. "Damn him!" he muttered as he + walked away. "I'll pay him back for that! I'll get that gal's + land in spite of him, and I won't stop at that. I'll pay him + back for ... everythin'! I'll teach him what it air to stir the + hate o' hell in a man's heart!"</p> + + <p>Barbara, distressed anew by this unpleasant episode, had + started to go after him, when the weird cry of an owl, a long + drawn, tremulous: "Hoo-oo-oo!" came from somewhere in the + forest, close at hand. It startled her. "Heavens!" said she. + "What's that?"</p> + + <p>Neb, who also had been startled at the first penetrating, + weird call, bethought himself, now, and answered her: "It's de + deah."</p> + + <p>"The phenomenon!" exclaimed Miss Alathea.</p> + + <p>"The Diana!" said the Colonel, looking at Frank slyly.</p> + + <p>"Yes; she's coming," Frank said gaily, and then, looking + down the path, started violently. "Heavens, she's coming!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel, who also had looked down the path, hurriedly + approached him, feigning worry. "Frank, I haven't got 'em + again, have I?"</p> + + <p>Madge approached them slowly in the quaint, old-fashioned + costume she had resurrected from the chests of her dead + mother's finery and re-made, very crudely, in accordance with + the fashion-plates which she had found down at the cross-roads + store. The result of her contriving was a startling mixture of + fashions widely separated as to periods. Her untutored taste + had mixed colors clashingly. Her unskilled fingers had sewed + very bunchy seams.</p> + + <p>The girl was much embarrassed: it required the last ounce of + her bravery to advance. Before she actually reached the little + group, she half hid, indeed, behind a tree. It was from this + shelter that she called her greeting: "Howdy, folks, + howdy!"</p> + + <p>Frank went toward her with an outstretched hand. "Come, + Madge," said he, encouragingly.</p> + + <p>"Reckon I'll have to," she assented, with a bashful smile + and took a step or two reluctantly. But she had never seen folk + dressed at all as were these visitors from the famed bluegrass, + and her courage again faltered. Instantly she realized how + wholly her own efforts to be elegant had failed. She hung back + awkwardly, pathetically.</p> + + <p>"Don't be nervous, Madge; just be yourself," Frank urged + her.</p> + + <p>"Free and easy? Well, I'll try; but I'm skeered enough to + make me wild and reckless."</p> + + <p>Frank led her forward, while she made a mighty effort to + accept the situation coolly. "These are my friends, Madge. Let + me introduce you."</p> + + <p>She got some grip upon herself and smiled. "Ain't no need. + Know 'em all by your prescription." With a mighty effort she + approached the Colonel. "Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, + howdy!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel was delighted. Her knowledge of his name was + flattering. He had forgotten her strange costume the moment his + glance had caught her wonderful, deep eyes. "Howdy, howdy!" he + said heartily, shaking her hand vigorously. "Why, this is real + Kentucky style!" It won't take <i>us</i> long to get + acquainted."</p> + + <p>"Know all about you now," she said. "Great hossman. Colonel, + I'll have a race with you, sometime."</p> + + <p>"What, you ride?" said the delighted Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Ride! Dellaw!" said she, with, now, unembarrassed + animation. The subject was that one, of all, which made her + most quickly forget everything beside. "Why, me and my pony + takes to racin' like a pig to carrots. Before he lamed himself, + whenever th' boys heard us clatterin' down th' mounting, they + laid to race us back. Away we went, then, clickity-clip, up th' + hills and around th' curves—an' I allus won."</p> + + <p>The Colonel realized with a great joy that he had found a + kindred spirit. "Shake again!" he said to her, after further + most congenial talk, and then turned to Frank. "My boy, you're + right. She <i>is</i> a phenomenon—a thoroughbred, even if + she hasn't any pedigree."</p> + + <p>Up to this time the ladies had remained somewhat in the + background, watching the young mountain girl as the Colonel + drew her out.</p> + + <p>Madge now turned to Frank, but looked at Barbara. "Is that + the young lady from the bluegrass?" The girl was hurt and + really offended by the stranger's aloof manner. "Looks like she + can't see common folks."</p> + + <p>"That is Miss Barbara." He led the mountain girl toward her. + "Barbara, this is my friend—er—Madge." He was, + himself, a little disconcerted.</p> + + <p>The maiden from the lowlands bowed, but said no word. For an + instant Madge shrank back, but then she advanced with an + unusual boldness. Her spirit was aroused.</p> + + <p>"Howdy, Miss Barbarous, howdy!" she exclaimed and held her + hand out to the handsomely dressed girl.</p> + + <p>But Miss Barbara was annoyed by the whole happening. She + felt that this uncultivated country girl was getting far too + much attention. The child's unconscious pun upon her name + infuriated her. She did not answer her, but raised a lorgnette + and stared at her.</p> + + <p>Madge was ready with an instant sympathy. "Oh, that's why + you couldn't see, poor thing! Spectacles at your age!" Whether + she really thought this was the case, not even Frank could tell + by looking at her.</p> + + <p>Miss Holton was incensed. The haughty treatment she had + planned to, give the mountain girl had not had the results she + had expected. "There's nothing whatever the matter with my + eyes!" she exclaimed hastily.</p> + + <p>"Wouldn't think you'd need a machine to help you star-gaze + at folks, then," said the mountain girl. "But maybe it's the + fashion in the bluegrass."</p> + + <p>Frank hurried up with Holton, planning a diversion. "This is + Mr. Holton, Madge."</p> + + <p>"Howdy, sir," said she, and then started in astonishment. + "Ain't I seen your face before, sir?"</p> + + <p>"Wal, I reckon not," said Holton most uneasily. "I was never + hyar in these hyar mountings afore."</p> + + <p>She stepped closer to him, gazing straight at his grey eyes. + They seemed strangely to recall the very distant past, she knew + not how. There were other things about him which seemed much + more immediately familiar, although his more elaborate garb + prevented her, for the moment, from recognizing him as the + stranger with the hammer, who had, that day of the forest-fire, + been tap-tapping on the rocks upon her pasture-land. "Your eyes + seem to bring something back." She plainly paled. She knew that + their suggestion was a dreadful one, but could not make it + definite.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea noted her agitation instantly, and hurried to + her side. "Poor child, what is the matter?"</p> + + <p>Madge had regained control of her features, which, for an + instant, had shown plain horror. "Tain't nothin', ma'am. It + couldn't be. It's all over now." She smiled gratefully at Miss + Alathea. "An' you're his aunt, ain't you? I'd know you for his + kin, anywhere. Why, somehow, you remind me of my lost + mother."</p> + + <p>"Thank you, my dear. You must be very lonely, up here all + alone."</p> + + <p>"I am, sometimes," said the girl, "but I have lots of fun, + too. The woods are full of friends. Th' birds an' squirrels + ain't afraid o' me. They seem to think I'm a wild thing, like + 'em."</p> + + <p>"It's true," said Frank, with an admiring, cheering look at + the little country girl. "Their confidence in her is + wonderful."</p> + + <p>The bluegrass girl's annoyance was increasing. She had come + up to the mountains thinking that, among such crude + surroundings, her gowns and the undoubted beauty they adorned, + would hold the center of the stage, and by contrast, hold + Layson quite enthralled; but here, instead, was a brown-faced + country maid in grotesque, homemade costume, attracting most of + his attention. She was conscious that by showing her + discomfiture she was not strengthening her own position, but + she could not hide it, could not curb her tongue.</p> + + <p>"A rider of races," said she; "a tamer of animals! What + accomplishments! Do you actually live here, all alone?"</p> + + <p>"Come," said Madge, determined to be pleasant, "and I'll + show you." She led the bluegrass girl to a convenient point + from which her cabin was in sight.</p> + + <p>"In that little hut!" said Barbara, not impressed as Madge + had innocently thought she would be. "Shocking!"</p> + + <p>The girl was angered, now. "So sorry I didn't have your + opinion afore! But, maybe, you wouldn't think it were so awful, + if you knowed how 'twere I come to live there."</p> + + <p>Frank had written something of the poor girl's tragic story + to his aunt. She was all interest. "Won't you tell us, please?" + she asked.</p> + + <p>Holton seemed to show a strange disinclination to listen to + the narrative. "Ain't got no time for stories," he objected. + "Gettin' late."</p> + + <p>"We'll take time, then," said Frank.</p> + + <p>"Go on, little one," urged Colonel Doolittle. "We're + listening."</p> + + <p>Impressed and touched by the sympathy in the horseman's tone + and the interest in Miss Alathea's eyes, Madge told with even + greater force and more effect than when she had related it to + Layson the story of the tragedy which had robbed her at a blow + of father and of mother, the black, dreadful tale of merciless + assassination which had left her orphaned in the mountains. Her + audience attended, spellbound, even the disgruntled and + unsympathetic Barbara listening with unwilling fascination. + Only Holton turned away, with a gesture of impatience. He + plainly did not wish to waste time on the girl. Or was it that? + He seemed to be uneasy as he walked to and fro upon the + rock-ledge near them, whence, had he cared for it, he could + have had a gorgeous view of mountain scenery. But, although he + said, as plainly as he could without actual rudeness, that the + girl and her sad tale of tragedy were not worth attention, he + was not successful in his efforts wholly to refuse to listen to + her.</p> + + <p>"Infamous!" said Miss Alathea, when the child had + finished.</p> + + <p>"And that scoundrel has gone free!" exclaimed the Colonel, + in disgust.</p> + + <p>"<i>That's</i> how I come to live alone, here," Madge went + on, addressing Barbara, particularly. The girl had made her + feel it necessary to offer some defense. "After my mammy died I + didn't have no place to go, an' so I just stayed on here, an' + th' bridge my daddy built for his protection I have kept for + mine. Maybe he has told you of it." She indicated Frank. They + nodded.</p> + + <p>"And nothing has been heard of the infernal traitor, all + these years?" the Colonel asked.</p> + + <p>"He left the mountings when he found how folks was + feelin'—they'd have shot him, like a dog, on sight. But + it don't make no differ where he goes; it don't make a bit of + differ where he goes."</p> + + <p>"What do you mean by that?" the Colonel asked, and as he + spoke, Holton, suddenly intent, paused in his pacing of the + ledge to listen.</p> + + <p>"I mean, no matter where he goes he'll have to pay for it, + come soon, come late. Th' day air sure to come when Joe, Ben + Lorey's son, 'll meet him face to face an' make him answer for + his crime!"</p> + + <p>"God-speed to him!" exclaimed the Colonel, fervently.</p> + + <p>Madge, in a gesture full of drama, although quite + unconscious, raised her head, looking off into the vastness of + the mountains, her hands thrust straight down at her sides and + clenched, her shoulders squared, her chest heaving with a + mighty intake. The little mountain-girl, as she stood there, + thrilling with her longing for revenge, with prayers that some + day the sinner might be punished for his dreadful crime, made + an impressive figure.</p> + + <p>"Come soon or late!" she sighed. "Come soon or late!"</p> + + <p>The party watched her, fascinated, till Holton took his + daughter's arm and urged her, uneasily, out of the little + group.</p> + + <p>Later Madge asked the Colonel to go with her to the pasture + lot and take a look at Little Hawss. Gladly he went with her, + tenderly this expert in Kentucky racers, the finest horses in + the world, examined the shaggy little pony's hoof. He told + Madge what to do for him and promised to send up a lotion with + which to bathe the injured foot, although he gently warned her + that she must not hope that Little Hawss would ever do much + racing up and down the mountain trails again. She choked, when + he said this, and the horseman's heart went out to her.</p> + + <p>"Little one," said the Colonel, as the party was preparing + to go down the mountain, "you're a thoroughbred, and Colonel + Sandusky Doolittle is your friend from the word 'go.'" He took + her hand in his and smiled down into her eyes.</p> + + <p>Then, turning to Miss 'Lethe: "Do you know, Miss 'Lethe, + there's something about this little girl that puts me in mind + of you, when I first met you? You remember?"</p> + + <p>"Ah, Colonel, that was twenty years ago—the day I was + eighteen."</p> + + <p>"And I was twenty-five. Now I'm forty-five and + you—"</p> + + <p>"Colonel!"</p> + + <p>"Are still eighteen.' He bowed, impressively, with that + charming, gallant smile which was peculiar to him.</p> + + <p>"Aren't you going down with us, Frank?" asked Barbara, + looking at the youth with plain surprise when she noted that he + lingered when she and her father were ready for the start.</p> + + <p>"I wish to speak to Madge, a moment. I'll overtake you."</p> + + <p>The bluegrass beauty looked at him, wrath blazing in her + eyes, then turned away with tossing head.</p> + + <p>"Good-bye," said Madge, and held her hand out to her.</p> + + <p>Barbara paid no attention to the small, brown hand, but, + instead, opened her parasol almost in the face of the + astonished mountain-girl, who jumped back, startled. "Oh, very + well," said Barbara to Frank.</p> + + <p>Madge turned to him, the softness of the mood engendered by + her talk with the Colonel and Miss 'Lethe all gone, now. Her + face was flushed with anger. "Dellaw!" said she. "Thought she + was goin' to shoot!"</p> + + <p>Now Barbara spoke haughtily. "Good afternoon, Miss Madge. + You have entertained us wonderfully, wonderfully."</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_X"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER X</h2><br> + + + <p>It was late on an afternoon several days after the party + from the bluegrass had gone down from the mountains when + Layson, with a letter of great import in his pocket sought + Madge Brierly.</p> + + <p>He was very happy, as, a short time before he reached her + isolated cabin, he stepped out to the edge of that same ledge + where Horace Holton had found the view too full of memories for + comfort, to look off across the lovely valley spread before, + below him. There were no memories of struggle and bloodshed to + arise between him and that view and for a time he gloried in it + with that bounding, pulsating appreciation which can come to us + in youth alone, as his eyes swept the fair prospect of wooded + slope and rugged headland, stream-ribbon, mountain-meadow, + billowy forest. Then, with a deep breath of the wondrous air of + the old Cumberlands, which added a physical exhileration almost + intoxicating to the pleasure of the thoughts which filled his + mind, he went slowly up the rugged twisting path to Madge's + cabin. There, standing by the bridge he called, and, presently, + the girl appeared.</p> + + <p>He smiled at her. He did not wish to tell her, too quickly, + of the news the letter held.</p> + + <p>The girl was still full of the visit and the visitors. They + had seemed to her, reared as she had been in the rough + seclusion of the mountains, like denizens of another, + wondrously fine world, come to glimpse her in her crude one, + for a few hours, and then gone back to their own glorious + abiding place.</p> + + <p>She did not admit it to herself, but they had left behind + them discontent with the life she knew, her lack of education, + almost everything with which, in days gone by, she had been so + satisfied.</p> + + <p>Layson, watching her as she approached, was tempted to enjoy + her as she was, for a few minutes, before telling her the news + which, young and inexperienced as he was, he yet knew, + instinctively, would change her for all time.</p> + + <p>"Well," he said, "how did you like them, Madge?"</p> + + <p>The girl sat upon a stump and looked off across the valley. + Her hands were clasped upon one knee, as she reflected, the + fading sunlight touched her hair with sheening brilliance, her + eyes, at first, were dreamy, happy.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I loved your aunt!" said she. "She made me think of my + own mammy.... She made me think of my own mammy."</p> + + <p>"And she was quite as much in love with you."</p> + + <p>"Was she?... And Cunnel Doolittle! Ain't he <i>splendid</i>? + And how he do know hosses! Wouldn't I <i>love</i> to see some + of them races that he told about? Wouldn't I love to have a + chance to learn how to become a lady like your aunt? She's just + the sweetest thing that ever lived."</p> + + <p>"And ... and ... Miss Barbara?" said Layson, with a little + mischief in his wrinkling eyelids.</p> + + <p>The girl shrugged herself together haughtily upon her stump. + He had seen lowlands girls use almost the same gesture when, in + drawing-rooms, some topic had come up which they did not wish + to talk about.</p> + + <p>"Huh! Her!" said Madge and would have changed the subject + had he let her.</p> + + <p>"Really?" he asked, wickedly. "Didn't you like her?"</p> + + <p>"I ain't sayin' much," said Madge, "because she's different + from me, has had more chance, is better dressed, knows more + from books an' so on, an' it might seem like I was plumb + jealous of her. Maybe I am, too. But, dellaw! Her with her + pollysol! When she opened it that way at me I thought it war a + gun an' she war goin' to fire! Maybe I ain't had no learnin' in + politeness, but it seems to me I would a been a little more so, + just the same, if I'd been in her place. She don't like me, she + don't, an' I—why, I just <i>hates</i> her! Her with her + ombril up, an' not a cloud in sight!"</p> + + <p>Layson looked at her and laughed. The letter in his pocket + made it seem probable that she would not need, in future, to + submit to such humiliations as the bluegrass girl had put upon + her, so his merriment could not be counted cruel.</p> + + <p>"Jealous of her?" he inquired, quizzically.</p> + + <p>She sat in deep thought for a moment and then frankly said: + "I reckon so; a leetle, teeny mite. Maybe it has made me mean + in thinkin' of her, ever since."</p> + + <p>"You're honest, anyway," said he, "and I shall tell you + something that will comfort you. She was as jealous of you as + you were of her."</p> + + <p>"<i>She</i> was!" the girl exclaimed, incredulous, + surprised. "Of <i>me</i>?" You're crazy, ain't you?"</p> + + <p>"Not a bit."</p> + + <p>"What have <i>I</i> got to make <i>her</i> jealous?"</p> + + <p>"A lot of things. You've beauty such as hers will never + be—"</p> + + <p>"Dellaw!" said Madge, incredulously. She had no knowledge of + her own attractiveness. "Don't you start in makin' fun o' + me."</p> + + <p>"I'm not making fun of you. You're very beautiful—my + aunt said so, the Colonel said so, and <i>I've</i> known it, + all along."</p> + + <p>No one had ever said a thing like this to her, before. She + looked keenly at him, weighing his sincerity. When she finally + decided that he really meant what he had said, she breathed a + long sigh of delight.</p> + + <p>"They said that I—was <i>beautiful</i>!"</p> + + <p>"They did, and, little girl, you are; and you have more than + beauty. You have health and strength such as a bluegrass girl + has never had in all the history of women."</p> + + <p>"Oh, yes," said she, "I'm strong an' + well—but—but—"</p> + + <p>"But what?"</p> + + <p>"But what?" she quoted bitterly. "But I ain't got no + eddication. What does strength and what does what you tell me + is my beauty count, when I ain't got no eddication? + Why—why—I looked plumb <i>foolish</i> by the side + of her! You think I don't know that my talk sounds rough as + rocks alongside hers, ripplin' from her lips as smooth as + water? You think I don't know that I looked like a scare-crow + in all them clo'es I had fixed up so careful, when she come on + with her gowns made up for her by <i>dressmakers</i>? + Why—why—I never <i>see</i> a dressmaker in all my + life! I never even see one!"</p> + + <p>"Well," said he, and looked at her with a slow smile, "there + probably will be no reason why you may not see as many as you + like, in years to come,"</p> + + <p>She was amazed. "This some sort o' joke?"</p> + + <p>"No, Madge. How would you like to be rich?"</p> + + <p>"Me?... Rich? Oh ... oh, I'd like it. <i>Then</i> I could go + down in th' bluegrass, study, l'arn, an'—I could do a + heap o' good aroun' hyar, too" She sighed. "But thar never was + nobody rich in these hyar mountings an' I reckon thar never + will be."</p> + + <p>"Perhaps you may be," said the youth, and there was a + serious quality in his voice which made her start and then lean + forward on her stump to gaze at him with searching, eager + eyes.</p> + + <p>"Your land down in the valley," he went on, "may contain + coal and iron enough to give you a fortune. Now there are bad + men in this world, and I want you to promise me to sell it to + nobody without first coming to me for advice."</p> + + <p>"Promise?" said the girl, the wonder all ashine in her big + eyes. "In course I'll promise that. But is there r'ally a + chance of it?"</p> + + <p>"There really is."</p> + + <p>"Oh, if I only knowed, for shore! Seems like I couldn't + wait!"</p> + + <p>"You shall know, to-night, or, maybe, sooner. I have the + engineers report, but I must study it out carefully and make + sure what boundaries he means. I'm almost certain they include + your land. As soon as I find out I'll come back here and call + to you and let you know."</p> + + <p>"I reckon you won't have to call! I'll be watchin' for you + every minute."</p> + + <p>"Well, I'm off. But remember what I said about letting + anyone buy any of your land from you. Don't sell an inch, don't + give an option at whatever price, to anyone without consulting + me."</p> + + <p>When he had left, the girl still sat there, dreaming on her + stump after she had watched him out of sight.</p> + + <p>The news that she might become rich had stirred her deeply + for a moment, but, soon she wondered if riches, really, would + mean everything, and decided that they would not.</p> + + <p>"Somehow," she mused, "somehow I don't care much about it, + not unless—unless—oh, I can't think of nothin' in + th' world but him! An' he says he's goin' to go away, never to + return no more!... Other folks has gone away, afore, but it + didn't seem to hurt my heart like this. I wonder what is ailin' + me."</p> + + <p>Her thought turned back to that half-bitter, half-delightful + moment when he had tried to kiss her at the bridge. "Why, even + then," she mused, "thar were somethin' seemed to draw me to him + in spite o' myself. Never felt anythin' like it afore. It + war—just as if I war asleep, all over, an' never wanted + to wake up! I wonder if I wish he warn't comin' back, + to-night—not half so much, I reckon, as I wish he warn't + never goin' away!"</p> + + <p>She left her resting place upon the stump, and, torn by + varying emotions, found a place upon the trail where she could + look off to his camp. She was standing there, leaning + listlessly against a tree, when the sound of someone coming + made her turn her head. She saw Joe Lorey.</p> + + <p>"Madge," said he, approaching, "I wants a word with + you,"</p> + + <p>She did not wish to talk with him. Her mind was far too busy + with its thoughts of Layson, its dismay at the prospect of his + departure. "No time, Joe; it's too late," said she. She started + to go by him toward her little bridge.</p> + + <p>But he was not inclined to be put off. The mountaineer's + slow mind had been at work with his great problem and he had + quite determined that he would take some action, definite and + unmistakable, without delay. He had leaned his ever-present + rifle up against a stump, had laid the old game-sack, still + burdened with the stolen dynamite, upon the ground, close to + it, and was prepared to talk the matter out, to one end or the + other. He loved her with the fierce love of the primitive man; + his rising wrath against the circumstances amidst which he + seemed to be so powerless had made him sullen and suspicious; + mountain life, continual defiance of the law, unceasing + watchfulness for "revenuers," does not teach a man to be + smooth-mannered, half-way in his methods. He made a move as if + to catch her arm; she darted by him, running straight toward + the old game-sack.</p> + + <p>That burden in the game-sack had been a constant horror to + him ever since he had first stolen it down at the railroad + workings. The mighty evidence of the power of the explosive + which had been shown to him when it had torn and mangled its + poor victim there, had filled him with a terror of it, although + it had also filled him with determination to make use of that + great power if necessary. But now, as he saw her running, + light-footed, lovely, toward the bag which held it, running in + exactly the right way to stumble on it if a mis-step chanced, + his heart sprang to his throat. What if the dire explosive he + had planned to use upon his enemies should prove to be the + death of the one being whom he loved? He sprang toward her with + the mighty impulse of desperate muscles spurred by a + panic-stricken mind and caught her, roughly, just before her + foot would have touched and spurned the game-sack.</p> + + <p>"Stop!" he cried, in desperation.</p> + + <p>She was amazed that he should take so great a liberty. She + stopped, perforce, but, after she had stopped, she stood there + trembling with hot anger. "Joe Lorey," she exclaimed, "you + dare!"</p> + + <p>Now he was all humility as he let his hand fall from her + arm. "It was for your sake, Madge," said he. "A stumble on that + sack—it mout have sent us both to Kingdom Come!"</p> + + <p>She looked at him incredulously, then down at the sack. + "That old game-sack? Why, Joe, you're plumb distracted!"</p> + + <p>"I'm in my senses, yet, I tell you," he persisted. "T'other + day I went down where they're blastin' for th' railroad. I see + 'em usin' dynamighty, down thar, an' I watched my chance an', + when it come, I slipped one o' th' bombs into that game-sack. + Ef you'd chanced to kick it—"</p> + + <p>She was impressed. "Dynamighty bombs? Dellaw! What's + dynamighty bombs?"</p> + + <p>"It's a giant powder, a million times stronger nor mine." He + reached into the sack and, with cautious fingers, took out the + cartridge and the fuse, exhibiting them to her. "See here. I + seed 'em take a bomb no bigger nor this one, an' light a fuse + like this, an' when it caught it ennymost shook down a + mounting! I seed a poor chap what war careless with one, an' + when they picked him up, why—"</p> + + <p>"Don't, Joe!" said the girl, looking at the cartridge with + the light of horror shining in her eyes. "What you doin' with + such devil's stuff?"</p> + + <p>"I got it for th' revenuers," he said frankly. The + mountaineers of the old Cumberland, to this day, make no secret + of their deadly hatred for the agents of the government excise. + "They're snoopin' 'round th' mountings, an' if they find my + still I plan to blow it into nothin', an' them with it."</p> + + <p>She recoiled from him. "No, no, Joe; you'd better gin th' + still up, nor do such work as that!"</p> + + <p>"I'll never gin it up!" said he, with a set face. "It's + mine; it war my father's long before me. There's only one thing + could ever make me gin it up."</p> + + <p>"What's that?" The girl was still spellbound by the + fascination of the dynamite which she had come so near to + treading on. Her eyes were fixed upon the cartridge in his hand + with horror, wonder.</p> + + <p>He stepped closer to her. "I mout gin it up for you!"</p> + + <p>"For me?"</p> + + <p>"You know I've loved ye sence ye were that high," said he, + and measured with his hand a very little way up the side of the + old stump. "Many a time I've listened hyar to your evenin' + hymn, an' thought I'd rather hear you singin' in my home than + hear th' angels singin' in th' courts o' Heaven. Say th' word, + Madge—say you'll be my little wife!"</p> + + <p>The girl was woe fully affected. Her eyes filled and her + bosom heaved with feeling. It cut her to the soul to have to + hurt this playmate of her babyhood, defender of her youth, + companion of her budding womanhood; their lives had been + linked, too, by the great tragedy which, years ago, had + orphaned both of them. But, of late, she had felt sure that she + could never marry him. She would not admit, even to herself, + just why this was; but it was so. "No, no, Joe; it can never + be," she said.</p> + + <p>He knew! "And why?" said he, his face blackening with bitter + feeling, his brows contracting fiercely. "Because that furriner + from the blue grass has come atween us!"</p> + + <p>Madge, surprised that he should guess the secret which she + had scarcely admitted, even to herself, was, for a second, + frightened by his keenness. Had she shown her feelings with + such freedom? But she quickly regained self-control and + answered with a clever counterfeit of lightness. "Him? Oh, sho! + He'd never think o' me that way!"</p> + + <p>"Mebbe so," said Joe, "but I know you think more o' th' + books he teaches you from than o' my company. From th' thickets + borderin' th' clearin' where you've studied, I've watched you + settin' thar with him, wen I'd give th' world to be thar in his + place. Why, I'd ennymost gin up my life for one kiss, Madge!" + He looked at her with pitiful love and longing in his eyes; but + this soon changed to a sort of mad determination. "I'll have + it, too!" he cried, advancing toward her.</p> + + <p>She was amazed, not in the least dismayed. Indeed the + episode took from the moment some of its emotional strain. That + he should try to do this utterly unwarrantable thing took a + portion of the weight of guilty feeling from her heart. It had + been pressing heavily there. "You shan't!" she cried. "Careful, + Joe Lorey!"</p> + + <p>She eluded him with ease and ran across her little bridge. + He paused, a second, in astonishment, and, as he paused, she + grasped the rope and pulled the little draw up after her.</p> + + <p>"Look out, Joe; it air a hundred feet, straight down!" she + cried, as she saw that the baffled mountaineer was trembling on + the chasm's edge, as if preparing for a spring. "Good night, + Joe. Take my advice—gin up th' still, an' all thought of + makin' a wife of a girl as ain't willin'."</p> + + <p>Half laughing and half crying she ran up the path which + wound about among the thickets on the rocky little island where + her rough cabin stood, secure, secluded.</p> + + <p>The mountaineer stood, baffled, on the brink of the ravine. + Much loneliness among the mountains, where there was no voice + but his own to listen to, had given him the habit of talking to + himself in moments of excitement.</p> + + <p>"Gone! Gone!" he said. "Gone laughin' at me!" He clenched + his fists. "And it is him as has come atween us!" He turned + slowly from the place, picked up his rifle, slung the + game-sack, saggin with the weight of the dynamite, across his + shoulder by its strap, and started from the place.</p> + + <p>He had gone but a short distance, though, before he stopped, + considering. Murder was in Joe Lorey's heart.</p> + + <p>"She said he war comin' back," he sullenly reflected. "I'll + ... lay for him, right hyar."</p> + + <p>He looked cautiously about. His quick ear caught the sound + of footsteps coming up the trail.</p> + + <p>"Somebody's stirrin', now," he said. "Oh, if it's only + him!"</p> + + <p>He slipped behind a rock to wait in ambush.</p> + + <p>But it was not his enemy who came, now, along the trail. + Horace Holton, held to the mountains by his mysterious + business, had left the others of the party to go home alone, as + they had come, and returned to the neighborhood which housed + the girl who owned the land he coveted.</p> + + <p>Joe, suspicious of him, as the mountaineer who makes his + living as a moonshiner, is, of course, of every stranger who + appears within his mountains, stepped forward, suddenly, his + rifle in his hand and ready to be used. He had no idea that the + man had been a member of the party from the bluegrass.</p> + + <p>"Halt, you!" he cried.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XI</h2><br> + + + <p>Holton, full of scheming, was returning up the trail after + having said good-bye to Barbara, Miss Alathea and the Colonel + at the railway in the valley, climbing steadily and skillfully, + without much thought of his surroundings. The locality, + familiar to him years before (although he had at great pains + indicated to everyone but Barbara that it was wholly strange to + him) showed but superficial change to his searching, + reminiscent eyes. His feet had quickly fallen into the almost + automatic climbing-stride of the born mountaineer, and his + thoughts had gradually absorbed themselves in memories of the + past. Joe Lorey's sudden command to halt was somewhat + startling, therefore, even to his iron nerves. Instinctively + and instantly he heeded the gruff order.</p> + + <p>Dusk was falling and he could not very clearly see the + moonshiner, at first, as he stepped from behind the shelter of + his rock. He moved slowly on, a step or two, hands half raised + to show that they did not hold weapons, recovering quickly from + the little shock of the surprise, planning an explanation to + whatever mountaineer had thought his coming up the trail at + that hour a suspicious circumstance. That he was one of + Layson's friends from the low-country would, he thought, be + proof enough that he was not an enemy of mountain-folk. Layson, + he knew, was generally regarded with good will by the shy + dwellers in this wilderness.</p> + + <p>But when he clearly saw Joe Lorey's face a thrill shot + through him far more lasting than the little tremor born, at + first, of the command to halt.</p> + + <p>He had not seen the youth before. Joe, half jealous, half + contemptuous, of Layson's fine friends from the bluegrass, had + kept out of their sight, although he had watched them furtively + from covert almost constantly; and, it chanced, had not been so + much as mentioned by either Frank or Madge while the party from + the bluegrass lingered at the camp, save when Madge told the + tragic story of her childhood while Holton stood aloof, for + reasons of his own, hearing but imperfectly.</p> + + <p>Now the unexpected sight of the young man, for some reasons, + made the old one gasp in horror. There was that about the face, + the attitude, the very way the lithe moonshiner held his gun, + which made him seem, to the astonished man whom he had halted, + like a grim vision from the past. "My God!" he thought. "Can + the dead have come to life?"</p> + + <p>For an instant he went weak. His blood chilled and the quick + beating of his heart changed the deep breathing of his recent + swinging stride into short, sharp gasps.</p> + + <p>It was only for an instant, though. His life had not been + one to teach him to falter long in the face of an emergency. + Quickly he regained poise and reasoned calmly.</p> + + <p>"No," he thought, "it's Joe, Ben Lorey's son. Th' father's + layin' where he has been, all these years. I'm skeery as a + girl."</p> + + <p>Joe advanced upon him truculently. "Say," he demanded, + "what's yer name an' what ye want here?" His ever ready rifle + nested in the crook of his left arm, his brow was threatening, + his mouth was firmly set an instant after he had spoken.</p> + + <p>Holton, recovering himself quickly, spoke calmly, + propitiatingly. "My name's Holton. I want to see th' gal as + lives up yander. Want to buy her land of her."</p> + + <p>Lorey, satisfied by this explanation that the stranger was + not a government agent, as he had, at first suspected, relaxed + his tense rigidity of muscles. From fear of revenuers his + disturbed mind returned quickly to the bitterness of his + resentment of what he thought Madge Brierly's infatuation for + the young lowlander.</p> + + <p>"It's too late," he said. "Thar's only one man as she'd let + down that bridge for, now—th' man I thought ye might + be—Frank Layson."</p> + + <p>Holton, quick to see the possibility of gaining an + advantage, realizing from the young man's tone that he was + certainly no friend of Layson's, guessing, with quick cunning, + at what the situation was, decided that the thing for him to do + was to reveal the fact that, in his heart, he, also, hated + Layson.</p> + + <p>"So ye took me for a revenuer or Frank Layson, eh?" said he. + "I know what th' mountings think o' revenuers, an' I reckon, + from yer handlin' o' that rifle, that you're no friend o' + Layson's."</p> + + <p>Joe, full of the fierce bitterness of his resentment, was + ready to confide in anyone his hatred of the "furriner" who had + come up and won the girl he loved. He let the barrel of his + rifle slip between his fingers till its stock was resting on + the ground.</p> + + <p>"I hates him as I hates but one man in th' world!" he said, + with bitter emphasis.</p> + + <p>"Who's that?" said Holton, thoughtlessly, although, an + instant afterward, he was sorry that he had pursued the + subject.</p> + + <p>"Lem Lindsay," Lorey answered; "him as killed my father. + Frank Layson's come between me an' Madge Brierly, an' he's got + to cl'ar my tracks!" His voice thrilled with the intensity of + his emotion, and, suddenly, he caught his rifle up, again, into + his crooked elbow, where it rested ready for quick usage. "If + you plans to warn him—" he began.</p> + + <p>"Warn him!" said the older man, with a bitterness, real or + counterfeited, whichever it might be, as fierce as that which + rang in the young moonshiner's own voice, "I hate him as much + as you. I'd rather warn you."</p> + + <p>"Warn me o' what?" Lorey had begun to lose suspicion of the + stranger. If, really, he hated Layson, he might make of him a + useful ally.</p> + + <p>"Your name's Lorey," Holton answered, with his keen eyes + fixed intently on those of the man who stood there, tensely + listening to him, "an' yo' keep a still."</p> + + <p>Now Lorey again caught his rifle quickly in both hands; his + face showed new apprehension, and a terrible determination, + desperate and dreadful. If this stranger knew about the still, + was it not certain that he was a government spy and therefore + worthy of quick death?</p> + + <p>"Keerful!" he said menacingly. "Hyar in th' mountings that + word's worth your life!" The youth, with frowning brow and + glittering, wolfish eyes, stood facing Holton like an animal at + bay, with what amounted to a threat of murder on his lips.</p> + + <p>"I'm speakin' it for your own good," the old man answered, + throwing into his voice as much of frankness as he could + command. "I tell you that th' revemooers have got word about + your still."</p> + + <p>"Then somebody's spied an' told 'em."</p> + + <p>Here was Holton's chance. The vicious scheme came to him in + a flash. Layson he hated fiercely; this youth he hated + fiercely. What plan could be better than to set the one to hunt + the other? If Lorey should kill Layson it would remove Layson + from his path and make his way clear to the purchase of Madge + Brierly's coal-lands at a small fraction of their value. And, + having killed him, Lorey would, of course, be forced to flee + the country, for the hue and cry would be far-reaching. Such a + killing never would be passed over as an ordinary mountain + murder generally is by the authorities. Thus, at once, he might + be rid of the young bluegrass gentleman he hated and the young + mountaineer he feared.</p> + + <p>"You're right," said he. "Somebody's spied an' told 'em. + Somebody as stumbled on yore still while he was huntin'."</p> + + <p>Lorey looked at him, wide-eyed, infuriated. Instantly he + quite believed what Holton said. It dove-tailed with his own + grim hate of Layson that Layson should hate him and try to work + his ruin by giving information to the revenuers. "Somebody + huntin'!" he exclaimed. "Frank Layson! Say it, say it!"</p> + + <p>"Promise you'll never speak my name?" said Holton. He had no + wish to be mixed up in the tragic matter, and he knew, + instinctively, that if Joe Lorey gave his word, moonshiner and + lawbreaker as he was, it would be kept to the grim end.</p> + + <p>"I promise it, if it air th' truth you're tellin' me," said + Lorey.</p> + + <p>"It's true, then," Holton answered. "You can see for your + own self that I'm a stranger hyar. I couldn't a' knowed o' th' + still exceptin' through Frank Layson."</p> + + <p>The simple, specious argument to Lorey was convincing. "It + air true," he admitted slowly. "Nobody else would a' gin ye th' + word." The angry youth paused in black, murderous thought. "He + air a-comin' hyar, to-night," he went on presently. "I heered + him tell Madge Brierly that he war comin' back, this evenin'. + You better—maybe you had better git along." He had no + wish for witnesses to what he planned, now, to accomplish, when + Layson should come back to Madge, as he had promised, with the + engineer's report upon her coal lands.</p> + + <p>Holton nodded, grimly satisfied that he had planted a + suspicion which might flower into his own revenge. That blow + which Layson had delivered on his face, in the old days, had + left a scar upon his soul, and now that the young man seemed + likely to add to this unforgotten injury the new one of + retiring from the field as suitor for his daughter, and, + further, interfering with his plans to rob Madge Brierly of her + coal lands, his hatred of him had become intense, insatiable. + What better fortune could he wish than to pit this mountain + youth, whom, also, for a reason carried over from dark days in + his past life, he hated, against the young man from the + bluegrass whom he hated no less bitterly?</p> + + <p>"Go by <i>that</i> path, thar," said Lorey, suddenly, and + pointing, as Holton started to return by the direct route he + had followed as he came. "It air round-about, but it'll lead + you to th' valley. I'll run no risk o' your warnin' him."</p> + + <p>"Don't you be skeered," said Holton. "I'll keep mum, no + matter what happens."</p> + + <p>With a grim smile he started down the path which the + mountaineer had pointed out.</p> + + <p>"Laid his whip acrost my face!" he muttered as he went. + "Trifled with my gal! Him an' Ben Lorey's son—let 'em + fight it out! I'm so much th' better off."</p> + + <p>And Lorey, slipping back into the shadow of a rock, after he + had made quite certain that the stranger was following his + directions, was reflecting, bitterly: "He's come atween me an' + th' gal I love! He's put th' revenoo hounds upon my track! Oh, + if he had a dozen lives, I'd have 'em all!"</p> + + <p>For ten alert and watchful minutes, which seemed to stretch + to hours, he crouched there, waiting, waiting, waiting, for the + coming of the man he hated. During five of these he listened to + the sounds of Holton's downward progress, brought to his keen + ear on the soft breezes of the young night. There came the + crackling of a twig, the thud, thud, thud of a dislodged stone + bounding down the slope, the rustle of leaves as the old man + shuffled through a pocket of them gathered in the lea of some + protruding rock by vagrant winds. Then all was still. He did + not guess that Holton had been anxious that these sounds should + reach him; that he had stumbled down the trail with awkward + feet with no thought in his mind but to be certain that the + sounds should reach him. Such was the case, however, and, after + he felt sure that the crouching mountaineer above must be + convinced that he had gone on to the valley, the old man + turned, catlike, re-ascended with a skill as great as Lorey's + own, and, with not a sound to warn the mountaineer that he had + retraced any of his steps, took cautious place behind a rock + upon the very edge of the open space where, when Layson came, + he felt quite sure a tragedy would be enacted.</p> + + <p>Then Layson came blithely up the trail. He had gone through + the engineer's report with care. The coal prospects included + the girl's land. He was full of rare elation at thought of the + good luck which had descended on the little mountain-maid, full + of pleasant plans for a bright future from none of which she + was omitted.</p> + + <p>His dreams were rudely interrupted as Joe Lorey stepped + ominously from behind the rock where he had waited for him.</p> + + <p>"Hold up your hands!" the mountaineer commanded, with his + rifle levelled at the advancing youth.</p> + + <p>"Joe Lorey!" exclaimed Layson.</p> + + <p>"You know what air between us. Your time air come. If you + want to pray, do it quick, for my finger air itchin' to pull + th' trigger."</p> + + <p>Layson's blood and breeding told, in this emergency. He did + not flinch a whit. "I'm ready," he said calmly. "I'm not afraid + to die, though it's hard to meet death at the hands of a + coward."</p> + + <p>"Coward!" said the mountaineer, amazed. "You call me + that?"</p> + + <p>"The man who shoots another in cold blood, giving him no + chance for his life, deserves no better name."</p> + + <p>This appealed to Lorey. So had his father died—at the + hands of one who killed him in cold blood, giving him no chance + for his life. "You shan't die callin' me that!" he cried. He + leaned his rifle against a nearby rock, threw his knife upon + the ground beside it, pulled off his coat, and thus, unarmed, + advanced upon his enemy. "We're ekal now," he said with grim + intensity, and pointed to the chasm through which ran the + stream which made Madge Brierly's refuge an island. "That gully + air a hundred feet straight down," he said, "an' its bottom air + kivered with rocks. When we're through, your body or mine'll + lay there. Air you ready?"</p> + + <p>Holton, tense with excitement, was watching every move of + the two men from his hidden vantage point. Upon his face was + the expression of an animal of prey.</p> + + <p>"Ready!" said Frank, quietly.</p> + + <p>It was a terrific struggle which ensued. The trained muscles + of the lowland athlete were matched against the lithe thews of + the mountaineer so evenly that, for a time, there was doubt of + what the outcome might be. Holton, watching, watching, thrilled + with every second of it. Little he cared which man won; the + best thing which possibly could happen, for his own good, he + reflected, would be that both should crash down to the bottom + of the gully locked in one of their bear-hugs, to fall together + on the jagged rocks below. The fierce breathing of the + contestants, the shuffle of their struggling feet upon the + ground, the occasional involuntary groan from one man or the + other as his adversary crushed him in embrace so painful that + an exclamation could not be suppressed, were all music to the + ears of the old man behind the rock. Both youths were perils to + him. Let them kill each other. He would be the gainer, whatever + the outcome of the battle.</p> + + <p>Suddenly Frank's foot slipped on a rolling pebble. Instantly + Lorey had taken advantage of the mishap, and, with a quick + wrench, thrown him crashing to the earth. He lay there, + scarcely breathing, utterly unconscious.</p> + + <p>The mountaineer bent over him, ready to meet the first sign + of revival with renewed attack, his bloodshot eyes strained on + the face of the young man upon the ground. Then, anxious to be + satisfied that his prostrate enemy was not feigning, he knelt + by him and peered into his face, placed his hand upon his chest + above his heart, felt his pulse with awkward fingers. He + wondered, now, if he had not killed him, outright, for Frank's + head had struck the ground with a terrific impact. But Layson's + nostrils soon began to dilate and contract with a spasmodic + breathing. He still lived.</p> + + <p>Rendered careless by the excitement of the moment, Joe again + yielded to the habit engendered by much solitude and spoke his + thoughts aloud.</p> + + <p>"It'll be long afore he'll stir," he muttered. "I'll throw + him down into th' gully."</p> + + <p>He rose, and, going to the side of the ravine, peered over + with a fearful curiosity at the brawling torrent, cut into + foam-ribbons by a horde of knife-edged rocks. Then he went to + Layson and stretched out his hand to grasp his shoulder.</p> + + <p>Occurred a psychological phenomenon. He found his courage + fail at thought of laying hands upon the man as he was + stretched there helpless.</p> + + <p>"I—I can't touch him!" he exclaimed. "It'd + be—why, it'd be like handlin' th' dead!"</p> + + <p>He drew back, nonplussed, ashamed of his own timidity, yet + unable to overcome it. He had felled the man and meant to kill + him, yet, now, he could not bring himself to lay a hand upon + him.</p> + + <p>The thought then flashed into his mind of the dreadful + contents of his old game-sack.</p> + + <p>"Th' bomb," he said. "Th' dynamighty bomb that I was savin' + for th' revenuers! Let that finish out th' man as set 'em onto + me!"</p> + + <p>He took the bomb from the old sack with trembling fingers, + laid it by Frank's side and, with a match which flickered + because the hands which held it were unsteady as a palsied + man's, set fire to the fuse. Then he drew off to one side.</p> + + <p>"Now, burn!" he said, with set teeth and lowering brow. + "Burn! Burn!"</p> + + <p>For a second he stood there, watching the sparking sputter + of the powder as it slowly ate its way along the little paper + tube. Then, suddenly, a dreadful thought occurred to him. The + girl! What if Madge Brierly should come to meet the lowlander + before the bomb exploded, should see him lying there, should + hurry to him, frightened, and get there just in time + to—</p> + + <p>He shuddered. He must protect the girl he loved! She could + reach the side of the endangered man only by means of the small + bridge. But one rope held it in position above the deep, + precipitous-sided gully.</p> + + <p>He raised his rifle to his shoulder. It was a hard shot, one + which most men would have deemed impossible, but there was a + star in line. He fired. The bridge crashed down, a ruin, the + severed rope now dangling limply, freed of the burden it had + held for many years.</p> + + <p>"She's safe!" said he.</p> + + <p>For another instant he stood studying the spluttering fuse. + From what he had seen at the railroad workings he knew it was + destined to burn long enough so that many workmen could get out + of danger before the spark reached the strong explosive in the + cartridge. He need not hurry.</p> + + <p>"In three minutes it'll all be ended," he reflected. "He's + as helpless as a baby; he can't strike back, now; it's no more + nor he deserves. I'm goin'."</p> + + <p>He straightened up and would have hurried off, had not, at + just that moment, the sweet voice of the girl he loved rung + through the brooding, fragrant evening air, in song.</p> + + <p>It brought him to himself, it filled him with a horrified + realization of the foulness of the deed which he was + contemplating.</p> + + <p>"No—no!" said he. "Why, I'd be the coward that he + called me!"</p> + + <p>He hurried to the fuse and, with trembling eagerness, + stamped out the spark which, now, was creeping close indeed to + that point where it would have blossomed into the terrifying + flower of death.</p> + + <p>"I'll fight him ag'in," he said; and then, addressing the + now extinguished fuse, the harmless cartridge of explosive: + "You lie thar and prove ter him I ain't no coward!"</p> + + <p>He hurried down the trail.</p> + + <p>Holton, vastly disappointed, crept out from his hiding + place. "The fool!" he muttered. "Oh, the fool! That thar little + spark would a' put me even an' made me safe fer life! An' it + war lighted—it war lighted!"</p> + + <p>His regret was keen. He raged there like a madman robbed of + his intended prey. Then, suddenly:</p> + + <p>"But—who'll believe him when he says he put it out? + I'll—do it!"</p> + + <p>He hastily took out a match, struck it, relighted the dead + fuse.</p> + + <p>"It'll be his work, not mine!" he thought, exultantly, as he + paused to see that the fuse would surely burn.</p> + + <p>As he turned to hasten from the spot he caught a glimpse of + something white across the gully at the thresh-hold of the + girl's cabin. For a second this was terrifying, but he quickly + regained poise. The bridge was gone. She could not reach the + side of the endangered man to save him, she could not reach the + mainland to pursue him and discover his identity. He fled.</p> + + <p>The girl was worried by the long delay in Layson's coming. + For fully half an hour she had been listening for his cheery + hail—that hail which had, of late, come to mean so much + to her—as she worked about her household tasks. The last + words he had said to her had hinted at such unimagined + possibilities of riches, of education, of delirious delights to + come, that her impatience was but natural; and, besides this, + Joe's words had worried her. She did not think the mountaineer + would ever really let his jealousy lead him to a foul attack + upon his rival, but his words had worried her. She stood upon + her doorstep, hand above her eyes, and peered across the gorge + toward where the trail debouched into the little clearing.</p> + + <p>Nothing was in sight there, and her gaze wandered along the + little rocky field, in aimless scrutiny. Finally it chanced + upon the prostrate form of the young man.</p> + + <p>"What's that lyin' thar?" she thought, intensely startled. + And then, after another moment's peering: "Why, it's Mr. + Frank!"</p> + + <p>She was amazed and frightened. Then her eye caught the + little sputtering of sparks along the fuse. It further startled + her.</p> + + <p>"It's Mr. Frank and somethin's burnin' close beside + him!"</p> + + <p>Suspicion flashed into her mind like lightning, followed, + almost instantly, by firm conviction.</p> + + <p>"It's a fuse," she cried, "an' thar by him is th' bomb! It's + Joe Lorey's work! Oh, oh—"</p> + + <p>She sprang down the rough path toward the place where, ever + since she could remember, the little bridge had swung. Now, + though, it was gone.</p> + + <p>"The bridge!" she cried. "The bridge! It's gone! I can't + cross! I've got to see him die!"</p> + + <p>Her frantic eyes caught sight of the frayed rope, dangling + from the firm supports which had so long held up the bridge by + means of it. Instantly her quick mind saw the only chance there + was to save the man whom, now, she knew she loved. She sprang + for the rope and caught it, gave herself a mighty push with + both her agile feet, and, hanging above certain death if hold + should fail or rope break, swung across the chasm and found + foothold on the mainland.</p> + + <p>In another second she was at the side of the unconscious + man. Another and she had the cartridge, sputtering fuse and + all, in her right hand, another and the deadly thing was + hurtling to the bottom of the deep ravine, whence an almost + immediately ensuing crashing boom told her that she had not + arrived a moment sooner than had been essential to the + salvation of the man she loved.</p> + + <p>She knelt by Frank, pulled his head up to her knee, chafed + at his insensate hands, and called to him wildly, fearing that + he was dead.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XII</h2><br> + + + <p>Joe Lorey was unhappy in his mountains. After the visiting + party had gone down from Layson's camp, and, in course of time, + Layson himself had followed them because of the approach of the + great race which was to make or mar his fortunes, the man + breathed easier, although their coming and the subsequent + events had made, he knew, impressions on his life which never + could be wiped away. He hated Layson none the less because he + had departed. He argued that he had not gone until he viciously + had stolen that thing which he, Lorey, valued most: the love of + beautiful Madge Brierly. He brooded constantly upon this, + neglecting his small mountain farm, spending almost all his + time at his illegal trade of brewing untaxed whisky in his + hidden still, despite the girl's continual urgings to give up + the perilous occupation before it was too late. He had told her + that he would, if she would marry him; now that she would not, + he told her surlily that he would continue to defy the law even + if he knew that every "revenuer" in the state was on his trail. + He was conscious that there was real danger; he believed that + Layson knew about the still and that the bitter enmity + resulting from the fight which had so nearly proved his death + might prompt him to betrayal of the secret; but with the + stubbornness of the mountaineer he clung doggedly to his + illegal apparatus in the mountain-cave, kept doggedly at the + illegal work he did with it. It was characteristic of the man, + his forbears and his breed in general, that, now, when he knew + that deadly danger well might threaten, he sent more moonshine + whisky from the still than ever had gone from it in like length + of time, either in his father's day or his.</p> + + <p>That his actual and only dangerous enemy was Holton, he did + not, for an instant, guess. He knew of not the slightest reason + why this stranger should include him in the hatred he had sworn + he felt for Layson—that hatred which, he had assured him, + was as bitter as his own. He would have been as much astonished + as dismayed had he known that Holton's almost instant action, + upon arriving at the county-seat, had been to make a visit to + the local chief of the Revenue-Service—cautiously, at + night, for to be known as an informer might have cost his life + at other hands than Lorey's, would have made the mountain for + far miles blaze vividly with wrath against him.</p> + + <p>So, defiant of the man he thought to be his foe, unconscious + of the hatred of the man who really was, Lorey was working in + his still when a small boy, sent up from a cabin far below, + dashed, breathless, to him with the news that revenue-men were + actually upon their way in his direction. He had scarcely time + to put his fire out, hide the lighter portions of his apparatus + and flee to a safe hiding-place, nearby, before, clambering + with lithe skill and caution almost equal to his own along the + rocky pathways of the mountain-side, armed like soldiers + scouting in a hostile country, cool-eyed as Indians, hard-faced + as executioners, they actually appeared.</p> + + <p>For a time, as Lorey watched their progress from his covert, + he held his rifle levelled, held his finger on its trigger, + determined to kill them in their tracks; and it was no thrill + of mercy for the men or fear of consequences to himself which + saved their lives. It was rather that he did not wish further + to risk his liberty until he had had opportunity to glance + along the gleaming barrel of his rifle as it was pointed at + Frank Layson's heart.</p> + + <p>After the men had gone he went back to his still to view the + ruins they had left behind them. His wrath was terrible. Madge, + who had, of course, learned what had happened almost instantly, + for the still was scarcely out of hearing of her cabin, tried + vainly to console, to calm him. He turned on her with a rage of + which, in all her life among hot-tempered mountaineers, she had + never seen the equal, and chokingly swore vengeance on the man + who had given the information which had resulted in the + raid.</p> + + <p>"They come straight to th' still," he told her, "never + falterin', never wonderin' if, maybe, they was on th' right + path. Ev'ry inch o' th' hull way had been mapped out for 'em, + an' they didn't make a mis-step from th' valley to th' very + entrance o' th' cave. I'll git th' chap that planned their + course out for 'em thataway! I'll git 'im, Madge! I'll git 'im, + sure!"</p> + + <p>Her heart sank in her breast like lead. She knew perfectly + whom Lorey meant. She knew as perfectly that Layson never had + informed upon the moonshiner, but she also knew that Heaven + itself could not, then, convince the man of that.</p> + + <p>"Who do you mean you'll git, Joe?" she faltered, hoping + against hope that she was wrong in her suspicions.</p> + + <p>"You know well enough," he answered. "Who would I mean but + that damn' furriner, Frank Layson? He warn't satisfied with + comin' here an' stealin' you away from me! He had to put th' + revenuers on th' track o' th' old still that was my dad's afore + me, an' has been th' one thing, siden you, I've ever keered fer + in my life."</p> + + <p>"You're wrong, Joe," she insisted. "You're shore wrong. + Frank Layson'd never do a coward's trick like that!"</p> + + <p>"He done it!" Lorey answered doggedly. "He done it, an' as + there is a God in Heaven he air goin' to pay th' price fer + doin' it!"</p> + + <p>With that he stalked off down the trail, his rifle held as + ever in the crook of his elbow, his brows as black as human + brows could be.</p> + + <p>For a time she sat there on a rock, gazing after him, + half-stupefied, with eyes wide, terror-stricken. What could a + mere girl do to avert the dreadful tragedy impending? Tireless + as he was, she knew that he could keep upon the trail for + twenty-four hours without a pause, and that such travelling, + with the lifts which he would get from mountain teamsters, + would take him to the home of the man whose life he had + determined to snuff out at any hazard. Beside herself with + fright for Frank, she sped back to her cabin, took what food + was ready-cooked and could be bundled up to carry on the + journey, put on her heaviest shoes and started for the door. + But, suddenly, the thought flashed through her mind that, even + as Joe Lorey was bound down the trails to meet his rival, so + would she be bound down them to meet her own. She could not + bear the thought of facing Barbara Holton, clad, as she was + now, in rough, half-shapeless, mountain-homespun. She made + another bundle, larger than the one which held her food, by + many times, and, when she finally set off, this bundle held the + finery which she had so laboriously prepared in the mad hope of + rivaling the work of the bluegrass belle's accomplished city + dressmakers.</p> + + <p>Down in the bluegrass home of the ancient Layson family all + was excitement in anticipation of the race which was to mean so + much to the fortunes of the young master of the fine old + mansion which, with pillared porticos and mighty chimneys, + dominated the whole section. Layson's heart was filled with + confidence whenever he went to the stables to view the really + startling beauty of the lovely animal on which his hope was + pinned; it sunk into despair, when, seated in his study in the + house, away from her, he counted up the cost of all which he + would lose if she did not run first in the great race.</p> + + <p>None but the Colonel, Miss Alathea and himself had an idea + of the real magnitude of the stakes dependant on Queen Bess. + Upon the glossy shoulders of the lovely mare rested, indeed, a + great burden of responsibility. If she won she would not only + secure the large purse for the owner, but be salable for a + price which would enable him to take advantage, fully, of the + offer which the syndicate had made to develop his coal lands. + If she failed—well, the fortunes of the house of Layson + would be seriously shattered.</p> + + <p>No wonder, then, that Uncle Neb, in whom his master's + confidence was absolute, had strict injunctions closely to + guard the mare. The faithful negro watched her with a vigilance + which was scarcely less unremitting in the daytime than it was + at night when he slept upon the very straw which bedded + her.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea, intensely prejudiced against horse-racing and + the gambling which invariably goes with it, by the Colonel's + wasted life and her own ensuing loneliness, nevertheless prayed + night and day that Queen Bess would be victorious, for Frank + had finally refused, point-blank, to let her risk her fortune + in the scheme for the development of his coal-lands, and so, if + the mare lost and the eastern firm refused to purchase her at + the large price which would enable him to join the syndicate, + his great chance would be gone. Perhaps not once in the world's + history had any maiden-lady, constitutionally opposed to + betting and the race-track, given as much thought to an + impending contest between horses on which great sums were + certain to be won and lost, as Miss Alathea did, these + days.</p> + + <p>And if Miss Alathea was excited, what should be said about + the gallant Colonel? Every day he visited the Layson place; + every day he scrutinized the mare with wise and anxious eyes; + every day he from his soul assured her owner and her owner's + aunt that it was quite impossible that she should lose; every + day he cautioned Neb, her guardian, to let no human being, whom + he did not know and whom he and his master had not every cause + to trust implicitly, approach the splendid beast. Wise in the + ways of race-tracks and the unscrupulous men who have, + unfortunately, thrown the sport of kings into sad disrepute, he + feared some treachery continually.</p> + + <p>Neb scarcely left the stable-yard, by day, unless the mare + went with him, by night he slept so that he could, by reaching + out a wrinkled, ebon hand, actually touch her glossy hide. He + fed her himself with oats and hay which he examined with the + utmost care before they found her manger or her rack; he + watered her himself with water from a well within the stable + and guarded by locked doors, drawn in a pail which, invariably, + he rinsed with boiling water before he filled it up for her. No + drugs should reach that mare if <i>he</i> could help it! None + but himself or his "Marse Frank" was under any circumstances + permitted to get on her back. If watchfulness could possibly + preserve the mare unharmed and in fine shape until the day of + the great race, Neb plainly meant to see that this was done. + Even the amateur brass-band and glee-club into which he had + organized the stable-boys and other negro lads about the place, + and of which he acted as drum-major—the proudest moment + of his life were when he donned the moth-eaten old shako which + was his towering badge of leadership—must practice + nowhere save within the stable-yard, where he could train them + and, at the same time, keep watchful eyes upon Queen Bess' + quarters.</p> + + <p>The negroes, young and old, about the place, indeed, were + wild with their enthusiasm for the mare. The day before the + race a delegation of them, full of eagerness, met Neb as he + came out of the stable.</p> + + <p>"Say, Unc Neb," said one of them, "we-all's made a + pool."</p> + + <p>"Pool on de races?"</p> + + <p>"Uh-huh! An' we-all wants to know jes' what we ought to put + ouah money on."</p> + + <p>They well knew what he would say.</p> + + <p>"Queen Bess, fo' suah," he answered, to their vast delight. + "Queen Bess ebery time. She's fit to run fo' huh life."</p> + + <p>The boys accepted the suggestion with a shout, and he was + about to enter into one of the long dissertations on the strong + points of his equine darling, when he was informed that some + stranger was approaching. He peered down the road with his old + eyes, but could not recognize the visitor.</p> + + <p>"Who is it?" he asked one of the black lads.</p> + + <p>"Marse Holton."</p> + + <p>"Marse Holton!" he repeated dryly. "Run along, now, honiest. + Unc' Neb gwine be busy. I won't hab dat ar Marse Holton pryin' + round dat mare. Hoodoo her fo' suah." He sidled to the stable + door, and, careful to see that his bent body hid the operation + from the coming visitor, turned the key in the big lock. The + key he then slipped into his capacious trousers pocket.</p> + + <p>"Hello, Neb," said Holton, affably, as he came up.</p> + + <p>"Ebenin', suh." Neb added nothing to this greeting and went + nonchalantly to a distant bench to sit down on it + carelessly.</p> + + <p>"I say, Neb," said Holton, "I expect to do a little betting, + so I thought I'd jest drop over and take a look at Layson's + mare."</p> + + <p>Neb sat immovable upon his bench. At first, indeed, he did + not even speak, but, finally, he looked at Holton calmly, took + the key out of his pocket, tossed it in the air, caught it as + it came down, put it back into his pocket and dryly said: + "T'ink not, suh."</p> + + <p>Holton, paying no attention to him, had gone on to the + stable-door and tried it. Finding it to be fast locked, he + turned back toward the darkey. "The door's locked, Neb," he + said.</p> + + <p>"Knowed dat afore, suh," Neb replied.</p> + + <p>Holton was nettled by his nonchalance. "Open that door!" he + ordered.</p> + + <p>"Not widout Marse Holton's ohduhs, suh," Neb answered + calmly.</p> + + <p>"What do you mean?" demanded Holton, angrily.</p> + + <p>"Jus' what I say, suh."</p> + + <p>Holton made a slightly threatening movement toward him, but + Neb did not even wink.</p> + + <p>"Don't git riled, suh—bad fo' de livuh, suh."</p> + + <p>Holton, now, was very angry. "Look here," he said, advancing + on the aged negro angrily. "Do you dare insult a friend and + neighbor of Mr. Layson?"</p> + + <p>Neb slowly rose and answered with some dignity: "I dares + obey Marse Frank's plain ohduhs, suh. Dat mare represents full + twenty-fi' thousan' dolluhs to him" (Neb rolled the handsome + figures lovingly upon his tongue), "an' dere's thousan's + more'll be bet on huh to-morruh." He looked at Holton with but + thinly veiled contempt. "Plenty men 'u'd risk deir wuthless + lives to drug huh."</p> + + <p>"Oh, shucks!" said Holton, trying to control his temper + because of his great eagerness to get in to the mare. "She + would be safe with me; you know it."</p> + + <p>"I knows Marse Frank hab barred ebery window an' sealed + ebery doah but dis one, an' gib me ohduhs to let no one in + 'cept he is by. I stan's by dem ohduhs while dere's bref in my + ol' body."</p> + + <p>Holton was infuriated. "It's lucky for you I'm not your + master!"</p> + + <p>"Dat's what I t'ink, suh."</p> + + <p>"If you <i>was</i> my nigger, I'd teach you perliteness with + a black-snake whip! I'll see what Layson'll say to such sass as + you've gin me. Jest you wait till you hear from him."</p> + + <p>Neb was not impressed by the man's wrath. "Huhd from him + afoah, suh. Oh, I'll wait, I'll wait."</p> + + <p>He went up to the stable-door, unlocked it and stood in the + open portal. Holton would have followed him, but Neb began to + close the door.</p> + + <p>"You'll wait, too, suh," said the negro, grinning, "on de + outside, suh."</p> + + <p>He closed and locked the door on the inside.</p> + + <p>Holton was beside himself with wrath. "Damn him! Damn him!" + he exclaimed. "Damn him and damn his proud young puppy of a + master! I'll ruin him! I'll set my foot on him and smash him, + yet!"</p> + + <p>Baffled, he walked down the drive.</p> + + <p>"There's a way," he told himself. "It's bold and risky, but + nobody'll suspicion me. I've kept straight here in the + bluegrass. The mountains and all as ever knowed me thar are far + away!"</p> + + <p>But all who had known him in the mountains were not as far + away as he supposed. Even as he spoke a dusty, weary figure in + worn homespun, carrying a mammoth bundle, limping sadly upon + bruised and blistered feet, came through the shrubbery, + approaching the great stables from the far side of the big + house-lot. Holton looked at this wayfarer with amazement.</p> + + <p>"Madge Brierly!" he cried. "Gal, what are you a-doin' + here?"</p> + + <p>"Don't know's I've got any call to tell you," Madge replied, + almost as much astonished at the sight of him as he had been at + sight of her. Then she smiled roguishly at him. "Maybe you'll + find out, though."</p> + + <p>"I tell you this ain't no place for you," he admonished her. + "Lordy! They takes up folks that looks like you, for vagrants. + Take my advice, turn back to the mountings."</p> + + <p>She looked at him with that same smile, still + unimpressed.</p> + + <p>For no reason which he could have well explained the man was + almost panic-stricken in his keen anxiety to get the girl away + from the old Layson homestead and the possibility of meeting + those who dwelt therein.</p> + + <p>"Here, if you'll go," he added, and thrust his hand into his + pocket, "I'll give you money—money to help you on your + way."</p> + + <p>Still she smiled at him with that aggravating, meaning + smile; that smile which he could by no means fathom and of + which she scarcely knew the meaning. "No," she said, "I don't + want your money. You couldn't hire me to leave the bluegrass + till I've seen Frank Layson."</p> + + <p>Seeing that she was determined, unable to conjecture what + she had come down for, realizing, upon second thought, that it + was most improbable that she had any tale to tell of him, he + reluctantly gave way. "As you will, then," he said slowly. "But + let me warn you that you won't be welcome hyar. You'll learn + the difference between the mounting and the bluegrass folks. + You'd better think it over and turn back."</p> + + <p>"I'll not," said she.</p> + + <p>As he walked disgustedly away she watched him curiously. "I + wonder why he is so sot on makin' me go back?" she mused. + "Maybe he air right in sayin' that I won't be welcome; but I'll + do my duty, just th' same!"</p> + + <p>Neb came out from the stable. The girl saw him with delight. + "Dellaw!" she said. "How tired I be! Howdy, Uncle Neb; + howdy!"</p> + + <p>"Sakes alive!" he cried. "It's de frenomenom, come down frum + de mountains! Howdy, honey, howdy!" He hurried toward her and + saw that she was near to tears from weariness and the strain of + what she had gone through and what she had to tell. "Why, + chil', what's de mattuh?"</p> + + <p>"Pebble in my shoe," she answered, and busied herself as if + removing one. "All right in a minute. This air a long way from + th' mountings."</p> + + <p>"Honey, you don't mean you <i>walked</i>!"</p> + + <p>"Had to. Wings ain't growed, yet. Say; I've come to bring a + word to Mr. Frank. Is he to home?" She motioned toward the + stable, which was the finest building she had ever seen.</p> + + <p>"Yes; but he don't lib dar, honey."</p> + + <p>"Don't he? Who does, then?"</p> + + <p>"Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>"Queen Bess!" The girl was thunderstruck; her worry choked + her. She knew Frank owned a blooded mare, but did not know her + name, and she had but vaguely heard of queens. "Well—air + she to home?"</p> + + <p>"Yes; an' Marse Frank, an' Miss 'Lethe, an' Miss Barbara's + comin', purty soon, to see huh."</p> + + <p>"Miss Barbarous!" said Madge, aroused by the mere mention of + the girl who, from the start, she had recognized, + instinctively, as her real enemy. It had been thought of her, + alone, which had made her bear the weary burden of the bundle + on the long journey from the mountains. "I'd like to fix a + little, 'fore she comes. I got some idees o' fashion from her, + when she was up thar, an' I been workin' ev'ry minute I could + spare, since then, on a new dress. Ain't thar some place I can + go to fashion up before they come?"</p> + + <p>The old negro was acutely sympathetic. He disliked Miss + Barbara and liked the mountain girl. His old black head, thick + as it was, sometimes, had quickly recognized the fact that + Barbara regarded Madge as one to be despised, humiliated, while + his master treated her with much consideration and thought + highly of her. He did not like the daughter of Horace Holton + any better than he liked the man himself. If he could help the + mountain girl he would. The only place where she could possibly + find privacy, without going to the house, was in the stable + with the race-horse. He would have trusted no one else on earth + with her; to distrust Madge, however, did not once occur to + him.</p> + + <p>"Missy," he said slowly, "I reckon you can go right in dar + wid Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>She was a bit appalled. "Maybe she wouldn't like it," she + objected.</p> + + <p>"She won't keer if you don't go too close."</p> + + <p>"I'm kinder 'feared."</p> + + <p>"Don't gib her no chance to kick. You's all right, den."</p> + + <p>"Kick!" said the girl, amazed. Kicking did not seem to her + to fit the character of queens.</p> + + <p>Neb unlocked the stable door. "Or bite," he added.</p> + + <p>"Bite! Dellaw!" the girl exclaimed, still more amazed. How + little she had learned of royalty up in the mountains!</p> + + <p>The aged negro threw the door wide open. "Go in, honey, now; + go in," he said.</p> + + <p>"I'm skeered!" she said, and tiptoed to the stable door. She + peered in cautiously. Then she turned and faced him with + much-puzzled eyes. "I don't see nothin' but a hoss," she + said.</p> + + <p>"Uh-huh; dat's Queen Bess." Old Neb stood chuckling, looking + at her.</p> + + <p>"Queen Bess is Mister Frank's race-hoss!" she cried, + delighted by the revelation. "Well, now, I feel to home." She + went into the stable with her bundle, half-closed the door and + then peeped out at Neb. "You won't let any one come in?"</p> + + <p>He held the key up reassuringly. "Don't you see I's got de + key, honey?"</p> + + <p>"I'd feel safer if I had that key myself," said she, and + snatched it from him. An instant later and the door was closed + and locked on the inside.</p> + + <p>Neb was alarmed. He had disobeyed plain orders in letting + her go in at all. For him to let that key out of his possession + was a further violation which he feared to be responsible for. + He pounded on the door. "Open de doah, honey," he implored. "I + mus' hab dat key!"</p> + + <p>"All right," said she, "soon's I am dressed."</p> + + <p>He fell back from the door dismayed. "De Lawd help me!" he + groaned. "What's I gwine ter do? An' I war so mighty firm 'bout + dat key wid Marse Holton!" He paced the space before the stable + door in agitation. "But I reckon she'll be t'rough befo' Marse + Frank comes," he comforted himself.</p> + + <p>She was not, though. While Neb still paced the stable yard + in acute worry, Frank, Miss Alathea, Barbara and Holton came + toward him in a laughing group. He almost fainted.</p> + + <p>"Here we are, Neb," his master cried, "ready for a look at + Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>"Yessah, yessah, pwesently!" Neb stammered, and would have + paled had nature made provision for such exhibition of his + feelings. "I jus' nachelly hab got to speak to dem ar stable + boys a minute, fust. Jus' 'scuse me fo' a minute, suh." He + vanished hurriedly, hoping that by this diversion he could gain + a little time for Madge and for himself.</p> + + <p>Layson gazed after him with some astonishment, then went and + tried the stable door. "Of course the door's locked," he + explained, annoyed, "but he'll be back here in a minute."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea smiled. The attitude of the young master toward + the aged negro often was amusing to her. She liked to watch the + constant evidence of that rare affection which formed an + inseparable bond between them.</p> + + <p>Suddenly she heard the crunching of a man's heavy footsteps + on the gravel, back of them. Turning, she saw that the newcomer + was the Colonel, and the Colonel in great haste. This was most + impressive, for the Colonel did not often hurry.</p> + + <p>"Here comes the Colonel, Frank," she said, "and see how he + is hurrying!"</p> + + <p>"Something's up," her nephew answered, "when the Colonel + hurries." Then, as the horseman came up to them: "Why, Colonel, + what's the matter?"</p> + + <p>"A shock! A regular shock! As I came from Lexington, just + now, I saw you standing here, so I sent the boy on with the + buggy and cut across to meet you. Just as I passed the thicket + by the spring I caught a glimpse of a man, who then vanished + like a ghost, but I swear that man was that lank mountaineer, + Joe Lorey, and that he tried to keep out of my sight."</p> + + <p>"Joe Lorey!" Frank exclaimed. "What can he want down + here?"</p> + + <p>"Who knows? Maybe to finish the work he began in the + mountains."</p> + + <p>"More than likely," Holton ventured. "A rifleshot in the + back, or a match touched to a building."</p> + + <p>"<i>I</i> don't believe it," Frank said stoutly. "The man + who laid down his weapons to give me a fair, square fight, + wouldn't stoop to things like that."</p> + + <p>"'Pears to me the man who fired that bomb 'u'd do most + anythin'," said Holton.</p> + + <p>"That was in a fit of anger. Lorey swore to Madge that he + thought better of his impulse to do murder, stamped upon the + burning fuse, and believed that he had put it out, and I + believe him."</p> + + <p>He saw, now, that his aunt was badly frightened, and + cautioned the other men. "Not another word about him, now, at + any rate, or Aunt 'Lethe won't once close her eyes + to-night."</p> + + <p>"Well," said the Colonel, quite agreeing with him and + hastening to change the subject, "here's something much more + interesting, anyway. A letter from the Company. Looks official + and important."</p> + + <p>Frank took the letter, opened it and gazed at it in some + dismay. "I should think so," he exclaimed. "An assessment of + $15,000 on my stock."</p> + + <p>"Fifteen thousand devils!"</p> + + <p>"No; fifteen thousand dollars."</p> + + <p>The Colonel took the letter from his hand and looked at it + with worried eyes. "And you've got to meet it, Frank, or lose + what you've put in."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea went to her nephew anxiously. "You'll sell + Queen Bess, now, won't you?" she implored. "You could pay it + then. Best sell her."</p> + + <p>The young man stood there, deep in worried thought. "If I + were quite convinced of the Company's good faith in everything, + I'd risk it all, even the loss of Woodlawn, my old home," he + answered.</p> + + <p>Neb now appeared from around a corner of the stable, + evidently having decided that the girl had had enough time for + her toilet, or afraid to wait another minute. His appearance + created a diversion.</p> + + <p>"Here, Neb," said Frank, "we've had enough nonsense. Let's + see Queen Bess, now."</p> + + <p>Neb looked anxiously for signs that Madge was ready to see + visitors, he listened at the door. He saw no sign, he heard no + signal. He was scared, but he was faithful to his promise to + the girl. He planted his old back against the door. "Now de + trouble am commencin'!" he assured himself.</p> + + <p>Holton looked at him with a sour smile. "I hope," he said to + Frank, "that you'll have better luck nor me. Neb wouldn't open + that door for me."</p> + + <p>"Dem was yo' ohduhs, suh," said Neb, appealing to his + master.</p> + + <p>"An' he was powerful sassy in the bargain," Holton went on, + full of malice, hoping to make Neb suffer for defying him.</p> + + <p>Layson, however, much as he was now annoyed by the old + darky's hesitation about opening the stable door for him, + himself, did not propose to chide him for having kept his trust + and held it closed to others. "You mustn't mind Neb," he said + to Holton. "He's a privileged character around here. I had told + him to admit no one, and, as usual, he obeyed my orders + blindly."</p> + + <p>"Yes, suh," Neb declared, delighted, "went it blind, + suh."</p> + + <p>"His obedience," his master went on boastingly, "is really + phenomenal. He wouldn't open that door for anybody. He'd guard + the key with his own life." He turned to Neb. "Wouldn't you, + now, Neb?"</p> + + <p>Neb was disconcerted. It was true enough that from most + people he certainly would have guarded that key with his life. + But at that moment there was one within the stable from whom he + had <i>not</i> guarded it. "Yes—yessah!" he said + hesitantly. And as he said it he would have given anything he + had if he could have laid his hands upon that self-same + key.</p> + + <p>Frank smiled at him. "But I suppose you'll let <i>me</i> + have a look at her."</p> + + <p>"Yes—yessuh—in a—in a minute, suh."</p> + + <p>Layson was annoyed. "Why not at once?" He was beginning to + be frightened. Could something Neb was trying to hide have + happened to the mare?</p> + + <p>"Bekase—bekase—" Ned stammered, "well, to tell + de trufe, suh, bekase I is afeared she ain't quite + dressed."</p> + + <p>"Not dressed! The mare not dressed! Have you lost your + senses? Open that door—quick!"</p> + + <p>"Marse Frank, I cain't. I nachully jus' cain't."</p> + + <p>Holton was enjoying this. "You see," he said, "he won't open + it for nobody. Not even for th' man as owns it an' th' mare + behind it."</p> + + <p>"Give me the key!" said Frank.</p> + + <p>"De key—de key—" Neb stammered.</p> + + <p>"I said the key!"</p> + + <p>The old negro advanced pitifully. "Fo' de lawd, Marse Frank, + I hasn't got it!"</p> + + <p>"He'd guard it with his life!" said Holton, with deep + sarcasm.</p> + + <p>"Where is it?" Frank demanded.</p> + + <p>"In dar," said Neb, and pointed to the stable.</p> + + <p>Layson, astonished and annoyed beyond the power of words by + the old negro's strange performance, fearful of the safety of + his mare, entirely puzzled, sprang toward the stable window and + was about to pull himself up by the ledge so that he might look + in.</p> + + <p>Neb seized him and pulled him from the aperture with a + desperate agility which strained his aged limbs. "Fo' de Lawd's + sake, now, Marse Frank," he cried, "don't yo' dare look t'rough + dat stable winder!"</p> + + <p>Frank, now, was badly frightened. "Is there some one in + there with Queen Bess?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"A young pusson to see you, suh," Neb admitted.</p> + + <p>"And you let that person have the key?"</p> + + <p>"No, suh; it were taken from me."</p> + + <p>Layson was in panic. "Heaven knows," he exclaimed, "what can + have happened here!" He rushed to the stable door and pounded + on it with his fists. "Open at once, or I'll break in the + door," he cried.</p> + + <p>Neb, now, had gone up to the window and looked through it + with desperate glance. What he saw was reassuring. He turned + back toward his master smiling. "Hol' on, Marse Frank, de young + pusson am a-comin' out," he said.</p> + + <p>"Well," said Layson, threateningly, "I'm ready for him." He + braced himself to spring upon some malefactor.</p> + + <p>The door opened and Madge appeared before their astonished + eyes, garbed in a gown which she had fashioned after that which + Barbara had worn up in the hills.</p> + + <p>"Madge!" cried Frank, amazed.</p> + + <p>The Colonel, laughing, approached the girl with outstretched + hand; Neb, relieved, dived through the stable door; Miss + Alathea, who had been under a great strain while the dramatic + little scene had been in progress, dropped limply on Neb's + bench.</p> + + <p>Madge, with a retentive memory of the way Miss "Barbarous" + had greeted her back in the mountains, stepped toward that + much-astonished maiden, opened her red parasol straight in her + face, and courtesied to the rest.</p> + + <p>"Howdy, folks; howdy!" she said, happily.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2><br> + + + <p>The party stood, nonplussed. Frank was first to show signs + of recovery, and, after a moment of completely dazed + astonishment, advanced to Madge with hand outstretched. Her + appearance, astonishing as it had been, had been as great a + relief as he had ever known in all his life. Neb's worry and + insubordination had filled him with the keenest apprehension. + But he had no doubts of Madge. If she had been there with the + mare, the mare was certainly all right, no matter how puzzling + the affair might seem to be upon its surface.</p> + + <p>"Why, little one, this is, indeed, a great surprise and + pleasure!" he exclaimed, with sincere gallantry.</p> + + <p>Madge looked at him with doubtful eyes, from which the + doubt, however, was fast clearing. "Oh, say; are you-uns r'ally + glad to see me?"</p> + + <p>"No one could be more welcome," he assured her, and the + honest pleasure in his eyes convinced her that he did not speak + for mere politeness' sake.</p> + + <p>And now Miss Alathea, recovering from the shock of all that + had preceded the girl's unexpected appearance, went to her + cordially. "We are more than glad, my child," she told her.</p> + + <p>"Glad's no name for it," the gallant Colonel said, advancing + in his turn.</p> + + <p>There could be no doubt of the sincerity of any one who, + thus far, had expressed a welcome for her; but the voice which + now came coldly from Miss Barbara was less convincing. She did + not approach the mountain girl, but sat somewhat superciliously + upon a bench and spoke frigidly. "It is an unexpected + pleasure."</p> + + <p>Madge, not trained to hide her feelings under softened + words, turned on her angrily. "Humph! I wasn't askin' you," she + said. Then, to the others: "I didn't know but what my droppin' + in, permiskus like—"</p> + + <p>"A Kentuckian's friends," said Frank, "are always + welcome."</p> + + <p>"Friends from the word go, remember," said the Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Thankee, Colonel," said the girl. "We'll have that race, + some day; but I won't ride agin you if you ride Queen Bess. Oh, + wouldn't I like to see her go!"</p> + + <p>"So you shall," said Frank. "Neb, is she ready?"</p> + + <p>"Yessuh; all saddled, sur, an' bridled."</p> + + <p>"Oh, let me bring her out," cried Madge. "I'd love to."</p> + + <p>"Lawsy, honey," said the negro, "you couldn't bring her out. + She's dat fretful an' dat nervous dat she'd kill yo', + suah."</p> + + <p>"Get out, Neb!" Madge cried, scornfully. "I ain't afeard of + her. Wild things allays has made friends with me. I've never + seen a horse so skeery that I couldn't manage + him—couldn't make him foller me."</p> + + <p>She pushed the hesitating Neb out of her path and went into + the stable.</p> + + <p>Layson, who was for the moment, at a distance, had not heard + all her talk with Neb, but saw her as she went into the stall + where none but he, himself, and Neb, dared go, and it was + stable talk that, soon or late, Queen Bess would prove to be a + man killer!</p> + + <p>"Neb, stop her! She'll be killed!" he cried.</p> + + <p>Neb ran, as fast as his old legs would carry him, into the + stable; Frank hurried to the stable door.</p> + + <p>"Madge! Madge!" he cried, and then: "Why—look! The + mare is following her as might a kitten!"</p> + + <p>He stepped aside and Madge came from the stable with Queen + Bess behind her, ears pricked forward eagerly as she kept her + eyes on Madge's pursed up, cooing lips, head dropped, neck + stretched in graceful fashion, lifting her dainty feet as + proudly as ever did the queen whom she was named for.</p> + + <p>"Come on, you beauty!" the girl cried. "Oh, it would be like + heaven to ride you; and I could do it, too!"</p> + + <p>"Take her to the track, Neb," Layson ordered. "I'll follow + and give her her exercise."</p> + + <p>Madge, unable to resist the impulse which was thrilling her + with longing, motioned Neb away as he approached to take the + mare. "Go 'way! Go 'way!" she said. Then, to the mare: "Come + on, you dear, come on." She went on slowly, while the mare, in + calm docility, trailed after her. The spectators, who knew the + beast, gazed spellbound.</p> + + <p>Constantly the girl's pleased eyes were on the beautiful + creature following. Never had she seen so perfect an animal; + never had she known one giving such plain signs of high + intelligence. The mare's big eyes, broad forehead, delicate + muzzle, arching neck, strong withers, mighty flanks, and + slender ankles marked her, to the veriest novice, a + thoroughbred of thoroughbreds; her docile and obedient march + showed what seemed like an almost magic power in the delighted + mountain maid. Every drop of blood in the girl's body tingled + with excitement, all her muscles thrilled with mad desire to + mount the wondrous beast and be away as on the wind's wings. + She could imagine what the mare's long strides would be, she + could imagine how exhilerating she would find the steady, + perfect motion of the mighty back.</p> + + <p>"Oh, I can't stand it!" she exclaimed, at length. "I've got + to do it!"</p> + + <p>She paused, and eagerly the mare stepped up to her, + nuzzleing her caressing hand. Then, with a bound, the girl was + on the graceful creature's back, landing in her place as + lightly as a wind-blown thistle-down, as gracefully as a fairy + horsewoman.</p> + + <p>"Heavens!" cried Barbara. "She's on Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>"She'll be killed!" Miss Alathea screamed, in terror.</p> + + <p>The Colonel, only, recognized her instantly as a born + horsewoman. His expert eye observed with rare delight the ease + with which she mounted, the perfect poise with which she found + her seat, the absolute adjustment of her lithe young motions to + the movements of the mare beneath her from the very moment she + had reached her back.</p> + + <p>"No danger; she rides like a centaur."</p> + + <p>With the others he had stopped, with eyes for nothing but + the girl before them and the splendid animal she rode. "Ah, + what a jockey she would make!"</p> + + <p>Barbara liked this exhibition of the mountain girl's + abilities no better than she had liked anything which Madge had + done. Her lip curled somewhat scornfully. "What a pity that her + sex should bar her from that vocation!" she said coldly.</p> + + <p>She turned to Frank, who was watching Madge with startled + eyes, worried as to the result of this mad prank on both the + girl and mare.</p> + + <p>"Frank," said Barbara, "what a figure she will make to-night + at your lawn-party! How your friends will laugh at her!"</p> + + <p>Layson cast a quick, sharp glance at her. She was not + advancing her own cause by trying, thus, to ridicule the + mountain maiden. "I'll run the risk," he said. "She is my + guest, you know, and, as such, will surely be given every + consideration and courtesy by all."</p> + + <p>"Oh, certainly," said Barbara, seeing that she had gone, + perhaps, too far. "If you wish it. I should be glad to please + you, once again."</p> + + <p>"Nothing could please me more than to have you show her what + kindnesses you can. I know she will feel strange and + worried."</p> + + <p>Madge, sitting Queen Bess with an ease and grace which that + intelligent mare had never found in any other rider, and, now, + far from them at the other end of the great training-field, + absorbed the youth's delighted glances.</p> + + <p>"Can't you forget her for an instant?" exclaimed Barbara. + "You haven't been at all the same since you came back from the + mountains! Once we were always together. Now I never see you + unless I come over here; and no matter what I do, you don't + seem to care."</p> + + <p>Layson was uneasy. He had been aware, for a long time, that, + sooner or later, a complete understanding of his changed + feelings toward this girl, must, in some way, be accomplished. + Now seemed a good time for it, yet he hesitated at the thought + of it. But the thing had to be gone through with. "I know I + used to play the tyrant, Barbara; but it wasn't a pleasant + rôle, and I was always half-ashamed of it."</p> + + <p>The girl flared into a passion. "What do you mean?"</p> + + <p>"Barbara, I have had no right to go so far, no right to ask + so much of you. From the bottom of my heart I beg forgiveness. + Let us forget it all and just be friends again." And, even as + he spoke, his eyes were wandering toward the girl whom Queen + Bess had so utterly surrendered to. The mare, known since she + had first been saddled, as a terror to all riders, was carrying + her as gently as the veriest country hack had ever borne an old + lady from the farm to market.</p> + + <p>Barbara saw where his attention was, and resentment thrilled + her. "Friends? Never! Frank Layson, I believe I hate you!"</p> + + <p>"Oh, very well," said he, plainly not too much impressed, + "if you want to be unreasonable, why, of course—"</p> + + <p>The girl was frightened at the length to which she had + permitted her ill-temper to carry her. "Oh, no, Frank," she + hastily corrected, "I didn't mean that. Of course I am your + friend."</p> + + <p>"Thank you, Barbara," said he, with a calmness which was + maddening to her. "I am sure we understand each other, now." + And then, still further maddening her: "I must go now, and look + after Madge and dear Queen Bess. I never should forgive myself + if anything should happen to the girl. But nothing will. See + how splendidly she rides!"</p> + + <p>The girl upon the horse, as if conscious of his anxiety + about her, now turned her mount back toward the field-end where + the onlookers were loosely grouped and came toward them at a + slow and gentle canter—a gait which none had ever seen + Queen Bess take before, when a stranger was upon her back. She + leaped from the mare by Layson's side, and Neb, ever anxious + for the welfare of his equine darling, began work without delay + at rubbing Queen Bess down.</p> + + <p>"Reckon you'll never forgive me," Madge apologized to + Layson, "but I just couldn't help it. Never even saw a mare + like her, afore. My pony's no-whar alongside of her. I felt + like an angel sittin' on a cloud an' sailin' straight to + heaven!" She turned and petted the black beauty. "Oh, you + darling!"</p> + + <p>"Got to take her in, now," Neb said, preparing to lead the + mare away. He spoke apologetically as if the girl had rights + which, now, should be consulted. He had never made a like + concession in the past to anyone except his master.</p> + + <p>"Go 'way, go 'way," said Madge, taking the reins from his + black hand. "Ain't no use o' leadin' her—you jest watch + her foller me!"</p> + + <p>She looped the reins about the mare's arched neck, started + off, and, without so much as flicking her long tail, Queen Bess + fell in behind, obedient to her cooing, murmurous calls.</p> + + <p>Frank laughed. "If," he said to the whole party, "you wish + to have a look at the mare's quarters, I think Neb will now + admit us."</p> + + <p>All but the Colonel started toward the stable, but he + hesitated, looking toward Miss Alathea. While the others had + been spellbound by the girl and horse, he, the most + enthusiastic horseman of them all, had been divided in + attention between them and the lady whose notice he attracted, + now, by means of sundry hems and haws.</p> + + <p>"Miss 'Lethe, just a moment," he said softly. She paused and + then went up to him. He held out a newspaper, suddenly at a + loss for words, now that there was a prospect of a moment with + her wholly uninterrupted. "Here," said he, a little panicky, + "is a full account of the revival, sermon and all. Make your + hair stand on end to read it."</p> + + <p>She took the paper, undeceived by his small subterfuge to + gain attention, but interested, as she always was in such + things, in the account of the revival. "This really is + interesting." She sat down on the bench, as they reached the + stable-yard again, and pored above the newspaper.</p> + + <p>In the meantime the Colonel tried to screw his courage to + the sticking point. "Colonel Sandusky Doolittle," he adjured + himself, "if you don't say it now, then you forever hold your + peace, that's all!" He went to his buggy, which had been + brought to the stable yard, and from underneath its seat took a + box containing a bouquet of sweet, old-fashioned flowers. Miss + Alathea, absorbed in the account of the revival, did not notice + him at all. "This will do the business," he reflected. "Now, + Sandusky Doolittle, keep cool, keep cool!" Nervously, as he + gazed at her, his fingers worked among the flowers, + dismembering them unconsciously. "A Kentucky Colonel," he was + saying to himself in scorn, "afraid of a woman!" His fingers + tore the flowers with new activity as his nervousness + increased, making sad work with the magnificent bouquet. "Of + course she is an angel," he reflected, and then, with a grim + humor, "or will be before I ask her, if I wait another twenty + years! But I shall ask her, I shall ask her!" He stepped toward + her boldly, but paused before her in a wordless panic when he + had approached within a yard. "Heavens!" he thought. "My heart + is going at a one-forty gait and the jockey's lost the reins. + I'll be over the fence in another minute if I don't hold tight! + But I have got to do it, this time." He dropped the stems of + the flowers, still bound together by their lengths of wide + white ribbon, into the elaborate box from which, so lately, he + had taken them in their uninjured beauty, not noting the sad + wreck which his too nervous fingers had produced, put on the + cover and approached still nearer. With the box held toward her + bashfully, he managed, then, another step or two. "Miss + 'Lethe," he said stammering, "lawn party to-night—bouquet + for you—brought it from Lexington—for you—for + you, you know."</p> + + <p>The Colonel never was embarrassed save when he was + endeavoring to propose marriage to Miss Alathea and he always + was embarrassed then. She recognized the situation from the + mere tone of his voice and looked up hopefully.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Colonel, how kind!" said she, as she held delighted + hands out for the box. "I know it is beautiful."</p> + + <p>"It was quite the best I could do, Miss 'Lethe," said the + Colonel.</p> + + <p>"You have such splendid taste! I'm sure it's lovely." She + opened the box and looked, expectantly, within. "Why, Colonel," + she cried, disappointed, "where are—where are the + flowers?"</p> + + <p>"Why—why—why," he stammered, and then saw the + mutilated blossoms on the ground around him. "Why, I don't + know—don't know," said he. "'Don't ask me."</p> + + <p>She was rummaging among the stems, nonplussed. "Why, here's + a note!" she said.</p> + + <p>"Thank heaven!" the Colonel thought, "the note's there yet!" + Then, growing bold: "Miss 'Lethe, if you've a kindly feeling + for me in your heart, read that note; but don't you get + excited; keep cool, keep cool!"</p> + + <p>"Why, certainly," said she. "I see no cause for excitement." + She unfolded the note and read, aloud, and very slowly, for the + Colonel's hand was not too easy to decipher. "'My dear, dear + Miss 'Lethe: Woman without her man is a savage.'" She looked + up, naturally astonished by this unusual statement. "Why, + Colonel," she exclaimed, "what can you mean by saying woman is + a savage without her man?"</p> + + <p>He stood appalled for just a second and then realized the + error into which his ardor had misled him. "Great Scott!" he + cried. "I forgot to put in the commas! It ought to read this + way: 'Woman, without her, man is a savage.' Go on, Miss 'Lethe, + please go on."</p> + + <p>She read again: "'I feel that it is time for me to become + civilized—in other words, to come in out of the wet. To + me you have been, for twenty years, the embodiment of woman's + truth, purity and goodness. But constitutional timidity and + chronic financial depression, due to the race-track, have + hitherto kept me silent.'" Miss 'Lethe looked up at him with a + strange expression on her face. "Colonel," she exclaimed, "what + does this mean?"</p> + + <p>"Go on, Miss 'Lethe," was the answer, "please go on, go on." + He made a mighty effort to secure control of his unruly nerves, + and, almost unconsciously, while her head was bent above the + note, took a small flask from his pocket and imbibed from it. + It steadied him.</p> + + <p>She read again: "'I am convinced that my interest in the + company will yield me a competence; accordingly, behold me at + your feet!'"</p> + + <p>Miss 'Lethe looked down somewhat mischievously. She did not + see the Colonel where his note declared he would be. She + glanced again at the paper in her hands and saw a word which, + at first, had quite escaped attention. "'Metaphorically,'" she + read, and then the signature: "'Colonel Sandusky + Doolittle.'"</p> + + <p>"Colonel!" she exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"Miss 'Lethe," he replied, and, discovering that the flask + was still in plain view in his hand, slipped it into his + sidepocket upside down.</p> + + <p>"Colonel, put that bottle right side up and listen to me," + she said calmly. "Do you really love me?"</p> + + <p>"Do I love you? With a + fervor—er—a—passion—er—will you + excuse me if I smoke?" He took a black cigar from his vest + pocket, in another effort to control his nerves, and lighted it + as might an automatic smoker.</p> + + <p>"I am going to put you to the proof," said she. "Could you, + for my sake, come down from ten cigars a day to five?"</p> + + <p>The Colonel was dismayed. "To five cigars a day! + Impossible!" He caught himself. That scarcely was the way to + answer the request of the woman he adored so fervently. "I + mean," he hastily corrected, "is—is that all?" He made a + motion as if to throw away the weed he had just lighted, but + thought better of it. "I will make the descent to-morrow," he + said earnestly.</p> + + <p>"Could you restrict yourself to three mint-julips, + daily?"</p> + + <p>"Three! A man couldn't live on three! He'd have + to—have to take such poisons as—as cold water into + his system."</p> + + <p>"Remember, Colonel, I would mix them."</p> + + <p>"That settles it! Three goes!" He fervently reached toward + her, plainly planning to embrace her.</p> + + <p>"Wait, Colonel," she exclaimed, "there is one more + condition. Could you, for my sake, promise never to enter + another race-track?"</p> + + <p>He started back from her in horror. "Never enter another + race-tack! I, Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, known everywhere, + from Maine to California, as a plunger, give up the absorbing + passion of my life!"</p> + + <p>"Remember what you said to Frank," said she. "'It's a + delusion and a snare.' But, of course, if you think more of a + delusion than you do of me—"</p> + + <p>"No; hang it!" cried the Colonel, "I think more of you. + Twenty years—the longest race on record and a win in + sight! I'll not lose by a balk at the finish! I promise you, + Miss 'Lethe, on the honor of a Kentuckian."</p> + + <p>"Then, Colonel, I must confess, I have loved you, also, for + every one of those long twenty years."</p> + + <p>"Twenty years!" He turned his head aside and muttered: "What + a damned fool I have been!" Then, to her, he said, exultantly: + "Aha! A neck ahead!"</p> + + <p>It is difficult to say what would have happened, then, if + Madge, Holton, Barbara and Frank had not come from the stable, + chattering about Queen Bess.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2><br> + + + <p>Joe Lorey, mad with wrath, his heart filled with the lust of + killing for revenge, infuriated to the point where he felt need + of neither food nor sleep, yet made less rapid time down the + rough mountain paths than had the girl. Love-lent wings are + swifter than an impulse born of hatred and resentment can be. + She had flown upon such wings to save the man who filled her + innocent thoughts with longing; Joe had gone clumsily, despite + his cunning as a mountaineer, for leaden, murderous thoughts + had weighed him down, hampering the quickness of his wit, + delaying his fleet feet, confusing the alertness of his + watchfulness for faint-limned trails, loose areas perilous of + slides upon steep slopes. Indeed, though hate had driven him, + Joe Lorey never in his life had made so very slow a journey to + the bluegrass as that which he had started on from his wrecked + still, with hatred of Frank Layson, who he thought had + viciously betrayed him, blazing in his heart.</p> + + <p>Hours after the light-footed girl, spurred by her fear for + one whom she but dimly guessed that she had learned to love, + had arrived at the bluegrass mansion and been welcomed by the + owner of Queen Bess, the mountaineer reached the confines of + the splendid farm, and lurked there, waiting for night-fall to + make his entrance into the house grounds safe.</p> + + <p>The rough youth's mental state was pitiable. Tragedy had + pursued him, almost from his life's beginning, he reflected, as + he furtively awaited opportunity for the revenge which he had + planned. The fierce feud of the mountains had robbed him of his + parents, and, with them, of the best years of his youth; the + rough life of the mountains had robbed his strong young manhood + of those opportunities which, he dimly realized, might have + made him different and better; when love for sweet Madge + Brierly had come to him, Fate had brought up from the bluegrass + the young stranger, who, with his superior learning, polished + manner and smooth speech, had found the conquest of the girl + (Joe bitterly reflected) all too easy; and finally had come the + crowning, black disaster—the betrayal of his still to the + agents of the government, its destruction and his + transformation from a free man of the mountains into a furtive + outlaw.</p> + + <p>He could not see that life held anything but gloom for + him—black, impenetrable, ever thickening. He had but one + thing left to live for—a revenge as dark as were the + wrongs which he had suffered.</p> + + <p>He knew that government agents have shrewd wits, keen eyes, + strong arms, and never let a moonshiner escape if, through any + strategy, they may bring about his capture; he knew that since + the discovery and destruction of his still he was a marked man; + so it was nearing dusk when, after intensely cautious and + immensely skilful manoeuvering against discovery, he actually + entered the Layson grounds.</p> + + <p>The long, exciting afternoon, full of Queen Bess, a certain + sense of triumph over Barbara Holton, the extent of which she + could not guess, countless thrills of gratitude and exultation + born of the kindness and consideration shown her by Miss + Alathea and the Colonel, had sped away before Madge realized + that it had been half-spent. Now, though, the deepening + twilight warned her of the flight of time and told her that she + must, perforce, perform the task for which she had descended + from the mountains.</p> + + <p>All the others except Frank had drifted toward the house, + and she had hung behind for the express purpose of getting + private speech with him, when she had the day's first + opportunity.</p> + + <p>"Mr. Frank," said she, "afore we go into th' house I got a + word to say to you as I don't want nobody but you to hear."</p> + + <p>A quick glance at her face showed him that what she had to + say was, really, of great importance, for her lovely mouth was + serious, her deep eyes were full of worry, her smooth brow was + nearer to real frowning than he had ever seen it.</p> + + <p>"Why, Madge, what is the matter?"</p> + + <p>She put her hand upon his arm, turning her sweet face up to + him with a revelation of solicitude which, had she known how + plain it was, she would have hidden at all hazard. "It may mean + life or death to you," she told him solemnly.</p> + + <p>"Life or death to me, little girl? What are you talking of?" + said he, almost incredulous.</p> + + <p>"Joe Lorey's still were raided by the revenuers after you + come down!"</p> + + <p>"It can't be possible!"</p> + + <p>"It is. It lies in ruins and in ashes an' he is hidin' out + among th' mountings, somewhars, in danger, ev'ry minute, of + arrest an', then, of prison. 'Twas all he had in th' wide + world."</p> + + <p>"Poor fellow! I am sorry," said Layson, with quick sympathy. + "I'll see what can be done. And you say he's hiding out up in + the mountains?"</p> + + <p>She hesitated. "I said so, but I reckon it ain't true, + exactly. It was that that made me hurry down to speak to you. + Some say as how he has come down into th' bluegrass to find th' + man as gin th' word. It is a crime as never is forgiven in th' + mountings."</p> + + <p>As she spoke, unseen, behind them, a dark, slouching, + furtive figure slipped across an open space and took a + crouching stand behind a tree near by. Had they listened + without speech they might have heard the heavy breathing of the + very man of whom they spoke, might have heard the sharp click + of the lock of his long rifle as he brought its hammer to full + cock. Had they turned about they might have seen the blue glint + of the day's last light upon that rifle's barrel, which was + levelled straight at Layson's heart. But they saw none of these + things nor heard a sound.</p> + + <p>"Who does he think betrayed him?" Layson asked, with deep + interest, but no trace of guilty knowledge, thrilling in his + voice.</p> + + <p>Madge hesitated. Then she blurted out the truth. "Who?" she + repeated, "Why—why you! <i>YOU</i>—YOU!"</p> + + <p>The rifle barrel steadied to its mark, the finger curled to + press upon the trigger.</p> + + <p>"Why, Madge," said Layson, earnestly, "I didn't even know he + had a still! I swear it!"</p> + + <p>There was an honest ring in the youth's voice which could + not be mistaken.</p> + + <p>"I knowed it warn't your doin'," the girl said with a great + sigh of relief.</p> + + <p>And as she spoke the rifle barrel slowly fell.</p> + + <p>"I knowed it warn't your doin', but Joe'll never believe it. + Night an' day you'll have to be close on your guard. There's no + tellin' what minute your life may be in danger."</p> + + <p>"I don't believe it of Joe Lorey," Layson answered + earnestly. "We fought, and he fought fair."</p> + + <p>After they had gone, Joe crept out from his hiding place + among the shrubbery and looked after them with puzzled, + pain-filled eyes, like a great animal's.</p> + + <p>"If they'd only knowed that I war standin' in th' shadder + there!" he mused. "If he hadn't spoke them words I'd pulled th' + trigger, but he spoke up like as ef 't war true an' I jest + couldn't do it."</p> + + <p>A cautious footstep on the close-knit sward, which would + have been inaudible to any ear less keen than his, attracted + his attention, suddenly, and he slipped back to his leafy + hiding-place. Peering from the covert he saw Holton coming. The + man was furtive, apprehensive in his every movement, suspicion + breeding. When Joe stepped out from his thicket boldly, to + confront him, the ex-slave-dealer fell back, frightened.</p> + + <p>"Hello, sir," was Joe's laconic greeting.</p> + + <p>"Joe Lorey!" exclaimed Holton.</p> + + <p>"That's me," Joe boldly granted. He peered at him so closely + that Holton shrank away from him, involuntarily. "And + you—why you're the man as gin th' word that Frank Layson + had warned th' revenooers of my still."</p> + + <p>"I told ye for yer good," said Holton, clearly recognizing + that his position was unfortunate. "An' recollect you promised + not to tell anyone my name."</p> + + <p>Joe nodded gravely. "While I believe ye told th' truth I'll + keep my word," he answered. "But I wants to tell you that I + heered Frank Layson deny it, hyar, to-night, an' it sounded + like he war speakin' th' plain truth. See hyar, sir, you nearly + egged me on to doin' murder." He reached forward and seized + Holton by the shoulder roughly, with a grasp so powerful that + the old man, though he was of sturdy frame and mighty muscle, + knew that he was helpless in the grip. "Now look me in th' + face. Tell me as you vally your own life—war it truth or + lies, you told me?"</p> + + <p>"It war th' truth," said Holton, doggedly; "th' truth an' + nothin' else."</p> + + <p>Joe shook his head incredulously. "I'd like better proof nor + your word, stranger, for, some way, your voice it don't ring + true, nor yer eye look honest."</p> + + <p>"I'll gin ye th' proof," said Holton desperately. "Ye know + that I war never near yer still. Layson told me it war in th' + wall of a ravine—Hangin' Rock Ravine—an' a big oak + stood in front of it an' hid the mouth o' th' cave. Thar, do ye + believe me, now?"</p> + + <p>Joe nodded, slowly, thoughtfully. "No man as lived up in th' + mountings would have told ye." He considered ponderously for a + moment. "Yes, I reckon that I'll have to take yer word. 'T was + him as done it."</p> + + <p>"Of course it war," said Holton, and then, perhaps, a bit + too eagerly: "an' you'll make him pay for it?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Joe, "but I've another score to settle, first, + another man to find—Lem Lindsay."</p> + + <p>Holton was plainly startled, although Joe could not guess + just why he should be. "Lem Lindsay!" he exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"Yes; the man as murdered my father. I've had word of him, + at last. I've heard as how he war seen, years ago, in New + Orleans—he war a nigger-trader, then—an' that he's + come up in th' bluegrass country, since, like enough under + another name." He looked at Holton eagerly. "I say, sir, you + don't know a man like that, do you?"</p> + + <p>Holton spoke a little hurriedly. "No, no; there ain't no man + like that in these parts."</p> + + <p>"It don't make no differ whar he bides," said Joe. "Soon or + late our paths'll cross an' bring us face to face. When he + struck down my father it war sealed and signed above that he + war to fall by my hand; an' there's a feelin' in my heart that + that hour air drawin' nigh." He nodded and then turned away. + "Good-night, stranger."</p> + + <p>Holton was thoroughly alarmed. Many things distressed him. + He could plainly see that his daughter's love-affair with + Layson had gone wrong, he realized that there was little chance + that he could buy Madge Brierly's coal lands at anything but a + fair value, and now—to fall by his hand!</p> + + <p>"I'll make that false," he muttered, "Why, I've got to do + it!"</p> + + <p>He moved away among the trees, but stopped in frequent + thought as he progressed.</p> + + <p>"They'll lay the crime on Lorey," he reflected, after he had + laid his plan. "They'll hunt him down and lynch him and I shall + be safe. Layson'll be ruined, he'll have to sell Woodlawn, and + my gal'll be th' missus there, in spite of him. I've got to do + it."</p> + + <p>Like a shadow of the night he hurried through the grounds + until he reached the stable where Queen Bess was thought to be + secure.</p> + + <p>"Every window barred, every door is sealed but this!" he + cunningly reflected as he paused at the front entrance.</p> + + <p>With frantic haste, lest he should be discovered at the + work, he piled brush from a near refuse pile against the door + and stuffed wisps of grass and hay into the bottom of the heap. + Into this tinder pile he thrust a lighted match and + disappeared, just as Madge came to the bench where she had + paused when she first came to Woodlawn, early in the + afternoon.</p> + + <p>It was plain enough, from her dejected looks and listless + attitude, that the dance had given her no pleasure, but, on the + contrary, had filled her with distress.</p> + + <p>"I couldn't stand it thar, no longer," she was thinking, + bitterly. "I war jest a curiosity, like a wild woman. Miss + Barbarous poked fun at me till I war plumb afraid I'd fly at + her like a wild-cat, so I jest slipped away. Oh, I see, now, as + I never seed afore; the differ that there is 'twixt Mr. Frank + an' me! An' I know, now, what 't is air ailin' me. I loves him. + Oh, I loves him better nor my life! But it can't never be." She + dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. "Good-bye, good, + kind, Mr. Frank, good-bye!" She stretched her arms out toward + the mansion she had lately left, where lights were twinkling + gaily, whence sounds of music now came faintly to her ears. + "You'll soon forget the little mounting girl. You'll never know + she loved you. I'm goin' back—back to the old + mountings."</p> + + <p>As she rose an ominous crackling caught her ear and held her + at attention, then, in a horrid flash, the fire blazed out + among the hay and brush which Holton had piled up against the + stable door.</p> + + <p>"Oh, oh!" she cried. "Th' stable is burnin'! Fire! Fire! + Fire! Neb, are you in there? Don't you hear me, Neb? Th' stable + air on fire!"</p> + + <p>Neb's voice came from the dim interior, muffled and + skeptical. "What dat?" he said. "Don't want no foolishness + 'round heah. I's ahmed."</p> + + <p>"It's me, Neb, me," she cried. "Th' stable 's burnin', + Neb!"</p> + + <p>"Gorramighty!" she heard Neb exclaim, now in a voice + expressive of great fright. "Dat's so, dat's so! Quick, honey, + open up de doah!"</p> + + <p>Madge was working at the biggest log which Holton had thrust + against the door to feed the blaze. The flames and smoke surged + 'round her as she struggled with the unwieldy thing, her hands + grasped, more than once, live coals, without making her release + her hold. Once or twice the bursting flames, swung hither and + swung yon by the light, vagrant breezes of the night and the + drafts born of the fire, itself, flared straight toward her + face, and, to save her hair, which, once igniting, would, she + knew, make further work impossible, she had to draw back for a + second; but each time, as she saw another chance, she sprang + again to the desperate task. At last, after a dozen efforts, + she had thrust the blazing log so far from the already burning + door that Neb could push it open. He stumbled out, his old + hands held before him, gropingly, half-suffocated.</p> + + <p>"Neb, you ain't hurt," said she.</p> + + <p>"You go ring dat bell," said he, pointing to a standard + bearing at its top an ornamental iron crotch in which a big + plantation bell was swung. "Soon's I get my bref from all dat + smoke I'll go back an' git Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>The girl sprang to the rope and soon the bell was ringing + out a wild alarm.</p> + + <p>"Hurry, Neb!" she cried. "Oh, hurry! Th' fire's a-gainin', + ev'ry second! Hurry!"</p> + + <p>Neb dashed back into the stable upon trembling limbs, while, + without a pause, the girl kept up the clangor of alarm. Her + eyes were ever on the door through which the faithful black had + disappeared, watching anxiously to see him come out with the + mare.</p> + + <p>But second after second—seconds which seemed to her + like hours—went by and he did not appear again. Her heart + began to beat with frantic fears that Neb, himself, as well as + the superb animal which she had already learned to love, had + fallen victim to the fire, when, at last, he stumbled from the + door.</p> + + <p>"'Tain't no use," he said, as he weakly staggered up to her. + "It kain't be done. Queen Bess am crazy wid de fiah. She jes' + won't come out! I cain't <i>git</i> huh to come out." He + sobbed. "An' she am all dat Marse Frank hab on earth!" Beside + himself he ran off toward the house, shouting for his master + wildly.</p> + + <p>"All he has on earth!" the girl exclaimed, the bell-rope + falling from relaxing hands. An instant she stood there in + thought, horrified at the idea of the catastrophe which + threatened Layson. Then: "I'll save her! She will follow + me!"</p> + + <p>Without a second's hesitation, with no thought for her own + safety, she drew her skirts about her tightly, wrapped her + shawl around her head to save her hair and dashed through the + growing flames about the stable-door, into the inferno which + now raged within the structure, just as Neb, running with a + lurching step, but with a speed remarkable in one so old and + stiffened by rheumatic pains, dashed back to the scene of the + disaster, in advance of Frank, the Colonel, Holton, Miss + Alathea and the other inmates of the house, guests, servants, + all.</p><a name="Illus_4"></a> <br> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_4.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_4.jpg" + alt="Back! Back! I'm a-comin' with Queen Bess!" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4>"Back! Back! I'm a-comin' with Queen Bess!"</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <p>Without a word, as he approached, Frank pulled off his coat, + evidently preparing for a desperate dash through the now + roaring flames to rescue his beloved mare. Then, bracing + himself for a great spring through the lurid barrier, he cried, + "I'll save her!" and would have leaped into the flaming + entrance if Neb had not caught his arm with desperate grip.</p> + + <p>"No, honey," the old negro cried, "yo' shan't go in!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel joined the negro in restraining the half-crazed + owner of Queen Bess. "It's no use, Frank," said he. "We'll not + let you go in."</p> + + <p>They dragged the struggling youth back from the fire just + as, to their amazement, an exultant voice rang from the inside + of the burning building. "Back! Back!" it cried. "I'm a-comin' + with Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>An instant later Madge sprang out through the flames, + followed by the mare, about whose head the mountain girl had + wrapped her shawl.</p> + + <p>"Come, girl! Come, girl!" said Madge, alert of eye, + cool-witted, soothing.</p> + + <p>As docilely as she had followed her that afternoon, the mare + stepped through the blazing door and out into the + stable-yard.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XV</h2><br> + + + <p>Lexington was in a wild state of excitement on the morning + of the year's great race, the Ashland Oaks. In a private parlor + of the Phoenix Hotel the two men who were, perhaps, most deeply + interested of all in it, were weary of their speculations after + they had gone, for the thousandth time, over every detail of + possible prophecy and speculation. The Colonel sat beside a + table upon which stood a "long" glass from which protruded, and + in which nestled fragrant mint-leaves. At the bottom of the + glass there lingered, yet, the good third of a julep.</p> + + <p>"There's one capital thing about a mint-julep," he said + comfortably, and smacked appreciative lips. "One always + suggests another." He drained his glass and rose. At the other + side of the room was the bell-button. His finger was extended + and about to touch it when he stopped to think. "No! Great + heavens!" said he. "That makes my third, already, and I'm as + dry as the desert of Sahara." He sat down again, an air of + martyrdom upon his face. "Ah, well, Miss 'Lethe's worth it. I + say, Frank, anything new in the extra?"</p> + + <p>The youthful owner of Queen Bess, to whom it seemed as if + almost life itself were staked on the result of the coming + contest at the track, lowered, with a nervous hand, for an + instant only, the newspaper he had been poring over.</p> + + <p>"Only this," he said, and slowly read: "'Queen Bess is still + the favorite for the Ashland Oaks. The report that she was + injured in the fire by which her stable was burned, proves to + be a canard. Her owner declares her to be unhurt and in fine + condition.'"</p> + + <p>The Colonel nodded his approval. "That's what I've + telegraphed the Dyer brothers. I'm sure they won't refuse to + take her when they know the facts in the case. It was a close + shave, though. If it hadn't been for that little thoroughbred + from the mountains—"</p> + + <p>"When she rushed into the flames, last night, wasn't she + magnificent!" said Frank, flushing with enthusiasm. "And when + she came out, leading Queen Bess to safety, she looked like an + angel!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel coughed in deprecation. "The simile's off, a + little bit, ain't it? Angels are not supposed to come out of + the flames."</p> + + <p>"At least, Colonel, you'll admit that she's the best and + bravest little girl you ever knew."</p> + + <p>The Colonel smiled. "Yes; but, my boy, this enthusiasm is + alarming." He laughed outright. "It seems to indicate another + conflagration, with Cupid as the incendiary."</p> + + <p>The youth colored. "Oh, nonsense!"</p> + + <p>"Be more careful, Frank," his friend urged, becoming + serious. "She's a dear, simple little thing, not used to the + ways of the world. Don't let her get too fond of you."</p> + + <p>"What do you mean?"</p> + + <p>"See here, my boy. I know you young fellows don't want an + old fool, like me, interfering with your affairs, but I've + taken that little girl right to my heart. I tell you, Frank, + she's too brave and true to be trifled with. She's not that + kind."</p> + + <p>Layson flushed hotly. The intimation, even from the Colonel, + was more than he could bear with patience. "Stop!" he cried. + "You've said enough. What you mean to insinuate is false!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel rose, embarrassed. The youth's earnestness + astonished him. Could it be possible that this scion of an + ancient bluegrass family, this leader of the younger set in one + of the most exclusive circles in Kentucky, could really be + thinking seriously of that untutored mountain-girl? "My boy, + forgive me!" he exclaimed. "I—I didn't understand. I + never dreamed there could be anything—er—serious. I + thought, of course—"</p> + + <p>Frank paced the floor with nervous tread. Other things than + the impending contest for the Ashland Oaks had been worrying + him of late. Since he had left the mountains there had scarcely + been a moment, waking or sleeping, when the face of the sweet + mountain girl who had fascinated him among her rocks and + forests, and had come down to the bluegrass to save not only + his life but the life of his beloved mare, had not been vividly + before him. Untutored she might be, uncouth of speech, + unlearned in all those things, in fact, which the women he had + known had ever held most valuable, but her compensating virtues + had begun to take upon themselves their actual + values—values so overwhelming in their magnitude that her + few lackings grew to seem continually less important in his + mind.</p> + + <p>"Never mind, Colonel," he said slowly, "you can't say + anything to me but what I've said, over and over again, to + myself. I know she's ignorant and uncultured. I know what it + would mean if I should marry her. If I were to choose for a + wife a fashionable girl, whose life is centered in the luxury + which surrounds her, the world would smile approval; but for + Madge, with her true, brave heart and noble thoughts, there + would be only sneers and insults because she happened to be + born up there in the mountains. That is the kind of people we + are down here in the bluegrass." He smiled, somewhat bitterly. + "And I—well, I'm too much like the rest to need any + warning—too much of a coward to think of making her my + wife."</p> + + <p>He sat, dejectedly, in a chair by the long table, and, with + face held between his hands and elbows planted on the board, + looked across it, through the open window, out into the + thronging street with gloomy eyes. For days he had been + fighting battle after battle with himself. He could not make + his mind up as to what he ought to do. He knew he loved the + mountain-girl, but—but—</p> + + <p>"There, there, my boy, I'm sorry," said the Colonel, + sympathetically, apologetically. "Let's drop the subject. The + ladies will be here, soon. Before they come I'll step over to + the office and get the answer from the Dyer Brothers." He rose, + looking at his watch. "It's nearly time it was here. They were + to wire promptly. I'll bring it to you as soon as it comes." He + went to Frank and put his hand upon his shoulder comfortingly. + "Don't worry, my boy. It will all come out, all right. Ahem! I + mean there's nothing the matter with the mare and the sale will + go through."</p> + + <p>"I hope so," said Frank, rising without much show of energy. + He was clearly on the edge of real discouragement. "If it + doesn't—and that assessment to be met—ah, well! + What's the use of worrying? It doesn't help the matter any." He + walked slowly to the window and looked out. "Here come Madge + and Aunt 'Lethe," he announced, "through with their shopping at + last. How different Madge looks from the little mountain-girl I + first knew!" He turned and faced the Colonel. "Ah, if the world + knew her as I do—"</p> + + <p>The Colonel left the room, bound for the telegraph-office, + just before a shrill scream came from the corridor, without, + startling Layson greatly.</p> + + <p>"Oh, dellaw!" the frightened voice said. "Le' me out! Le' me + out!"</p> + + <p>He recognized the voice, at once, as belonging to the girl + whom he had been discussing with the Colonel, and it was so + full of terror that he rushed quickly to the door, prepared to + rescue her from some dire peril.</p> + + <p>"What can be the matter?" he thought, frightened.</p> + + <p>At the door he met Madge, white of face and startled, coming + in.</p> + + <p>"Why, Madge! What is it?"</p> + + <p>She leaned against the writing-table, gasping. It was plain + enough that she had been greatly frightened.</p> + + <p>"Wait till I git my breath," she said; and then: "They got + us into a little room, and, all of a sudden, we started + skallyhootin' fer th' roof—room an' all!"</p> + + <p>Frank fell back, relieved, and trying not to show + amusement.</p> + + <p>"That was the elevator," he explained. "A machine to carry + you upstairs and save you the work of climbing."</p> + + <p>"Dellaw!" exclaimed the girl, not yet entirely calm. "As if + I couldn't walk! Thought we was blowed up by another dynamighty + bomb!"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea entered hurriedly, looking about the room, in + evident distress. At sight of Madge she gave a great sigh of + relief. "My dear, I'm so sorry you were frightened!"</p> + + <p>The girl laughed nervously, pulling herself together. "I + understand, now, Miss 'Lethe, and I'm as cool as a + cucumber."</p> + + <p>There was a group of darkies at the door, and, suddenly, + they all began to grin. Miss 'Lethe knew the sign.</p> + + <p>"The Colonel's coming," she said positively. "Their faces + show it. Look at them?"</p> + + <p>Her guess proved a true prophecy. The Colonel, plainly busy + with absorbing thoughts, was striding along the uneven old + brick sidewalk, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, when the crowd + of darkies, sure of his good-nature, beneficiaries from past + favors, many times, surrounded him, beseeching him for tips + upon the coming races. Very different were these city darkies + from the respectful negroes of the Kentucky plantations of the + time. They swarmed about him in an insistent horde.</p> + + <p>"Who gwine win dat race, Marse Cunnel? Who gwine win dat + race?" they chorussed.</p> + + <p>He stopped and beamed at them good-naturedly.</p> + + <p>"Who's going to win?" said he. "Queen Bess, of course."</p> + + <p>He joined the group, inside, with a bundle in one hand and + an open telegram in the other. "Good morning, ladies. Miss + 'Lethe, you're looking fresh and blooming as you used to twenty + years ago." He tried to catch himself, but failed. "As fresh + and blooming," he corrected, "as usual, Miss 'Lethe." His bow + was very courtly and her own no less so.</p> + + <p>"Frank, my boy," said he, turning to the youthful owner of + Queen Bess, "I've got their answer, and it's all right."</p> + + <p>Frank had been acutely worried. There had been some question + of the sale of the mare to the Dyer Brothers before the fire; + now that this disaster had occurred and stories had been + started, as, of course, he knew they must have been, about + injuries to her, there might be, he had feared, good reason to + expect the celebrated horsemen to withdraw their proposition. + The Colonel's news, therefore, was very welcome.</p> + + <p>"They take the mare?" he asked, all eagerness."</p> + + <p>"N-o," began the Colonel, "but—"</p> + + <p>Frank's face fell, instantly, and his shoulders drooped + despairingly. "Then it's all wrong."</p> + + <p>"Not yet," said the Colonel, "score again." He raised the + telegram and read from it: "'Can't take mare without positive + proof that she's all right. Let her run in the Ashland Oaks, + to-day. If she wins, we take her.'" The Colonel looked up + beamingly. "Do you hear? They take her!"</p> + + <p>The condition which, now, the Dyer brothers made, when, + before this, they had made none, bothered Frank. The telegram + did not elate him quite as much as the old horseman had + supposed it would. "Ah, if she wins!" said he.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea spoke up, eagerly. "Oh, Frank, of course she'll + win."</p> + + <p>"She's <i>got</i> to win!" exclaimed the Colonel with much + emphasis.</p> + + <p>Frank was in a pessimistic mood. "I'm not so sure," said he, + a little gloomily. The strain of the past days had been a hard + trial for the youth. "If that imp of a jockey, Ike, should get + in range of a whiskey bottle—however, he has promised not + to leave his room."</p> + + <p>The Colonel laughed. "Ike leave his room?" he said. "You're + right—he won't; but it will not be his promise that will + keep him from it. He couldn't leave it if he would."</p> + + <p>"Why not?" inquired Miss 'Lethe.</p> + + <p>"Because," the Colonel answered, "I have got his + clothes!"</p> + + <p>"His clothes!" said Frank, astonished.</p> + + <p>"Yes—a Napoleonic device. When I went to see him, this + morning, I found him in bed. I knew how it might be if he got + out, so I saw to it that his meals would reach him promptly, + and borrowed the one suit of clothes he brought with him, under + pretence of needing them to help me order a new jockey-suit for + him to wear in the great race. I've been fair about it, + too—I've got the new clothes for him." He pointed to the + bundle which he had just brought in. "They're in + there—and they'll not disgrace Queen Bess. They're the + best I could get."</p> + + <p>Frank, less interested in the clothes than in the fact that + the jockey, now, was quite secure against temptation, sighed + with satisfaction. "Then he's safe," said he.</p> + + <p>The Colonel nodded, notably well satisfied with his + performance. Miss Alathea, shocked, as she tried to be, by all + this business, adjunct of gambling, every bit of it, yet smiled + admiringly at the big horseman. Only Madge, learned, through + much experience with mountaineers, whose greatest curse is + whisky, in the ways of men addicted to its use, was not + convinced that all was surely well.</p> + + <p>"I'd keep a watch on him, just the same," she said. Now that + she understood the vast importance of this race to Layson her + whole heart was wrapped up in its fortunes. "When a man wants + whisky he gener'ly finds a way to git it."</p> + + <p>"You're right, Madge," Frank agreed. "I think I'll go and + look after him, now."</p> + + <p>He started toward the door just as a knock sounded on it. + When he opened it he found Horace Holton standing waiting for + admittance. The man seemed to be excited.</p> + + <p>"I don't want to intrude, sar," said the ex-merchant in + slaves, "but I come to tell you what you'd orter know. Th' news + of th' fire, last night, hev set ev'rybody wild. They're + lookin' to you, sar, to sw'ar out a warrant for Joe Lorey an' + set th' sheriff on his track."</p> + + <p>Frank came back into the room with the old man, worried by + the news which he had brought. He had been thinking of this + very matter and he was not at all convinced that he wished to + swear a warrant out for Lorey. Finally, after a few seconds of + silent and deep thought, he shook his head. "I want more proof, + first," he declared.</p> + + <p>Holton was astonished and ill-pleased. "What more proof d' + ye want?" he asked. "Ain't it as plain as day that he come down + from th' mountings to get even with you for th' raidin' of his + still? Who else would 'a' done it?"</p> + + <p>Madge was listening with flushed face and frowning brow. She + did not, for a second, think Joe Lorey was the culprit. Her + suspicions had not wholly crystalized, but she had known the + mountain-boy since she had known anyone, and she could not + believe that he would fire a building in which was confined a + dumb and helpless creature. She knew him to be quite as fond of + animals as she was. She believed Holton, also, had some + ulterior reason, which she did not fathom, then, for trying to + fasten suspicion on the lad. In her earnestness, as she + considered these things, she stepped close to the old man, + almost truculently. "That's what I mean to find out," she + declared. "Who else done it."</p> + + <p>Holton was angered by her manner and her opposition. He had + not expected to meet any difficulty in the execution of his + plan to throw the blame of the outrageous crime at Woodlawn, on + the shoulders of the mountaineer. "What have you got to do with + it?" he angrily demanded.</p> + + <p>She was not impressed by his quick show of temper. "Reckon + I've got as much to do with it as you hev," she replied. "Joe + Lorey wouldn't never plan to burn a helpless dumb critter. He + ain't no such coward."</p> + + <p>"Who else had a call to do it?" said the old man, placed, + unexpectedly, on the defensive. "Who else war an enemy of Mr. + Layson's?"</p> + + <p>Madge spoke slowly. She was not sure, at all, whom she was + accusing; her suspicions were indefinite, obscure, but they + were taking form within her mind. "Thar's one as I knows on," + she slowly answered. "It's th' one as told Joe Lorey that Mr. + Frank had set th' revenuers onto him." Her conviction + strengthened as she spoke, and, as she continued, she looked + Holton firmly in the eye and spoke with emphasis. "Show me th' + man as told that lie, an' I'll show you th' scoundrel as tried + to burn Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>Layson liked the spirit of her warm defense of her old + friend, and, himself, knew enough about the moonshiner to make + it seem quite reasonable. He knew that Joe was a crude + creature, but believed, and had good reason to believe, that he + had his code of honor which he would abide by at all cost. It + was impossible for him to feel convinced that this would have + permitted him to set fire to the stable. "Madge, I believe + you're right," said he.</p> + + <p>Holton was nonplussed. Things were not going as he had + expected and had wished them to, at all. "Oh, shore, it war Joe + Lorey," he protested. "It couldn't 'a' been nobody else. I + warns you, here an' now, Layson, that ef you don't set th' law + after him he'll be lynched before to-morrer night."</p> + + <p>Layson was a little angered by the man's persistence. "I'll + see that that doesn't happen," he replied, "and I'll leave no + stone unturned to find the scoundrel who really did the deed, + and have him punished. But I'm not certain that the man will + prove to be Joe Lorey."</p> + + <p>Holton, angry, baffled and astonished, left the room, with a + maddening conviction growing in his mind that things were going + wrong and would continue to go wrong. He almost regretted, now, + that he had yielded to the impulse to set fire to the stable. + If Layson would not let him throw suspicion where he had + intended it should fall, then one part of his plan would have + failed utterly: he would not have put Joe Lorey, who, at + liberty, must ever be a peril to him, from his path; and, + furthermore, if they kept on with investigation, in the end + they might—they might—but he would not let himself + believe that, by any possibility, the real truth could come + out. He assured himself as he stepped out into the crowded + street that he was safe, whether or not the crime was ever + fastened on Joe Lorey.</p> + + <p>Layson, after Holton left, looked around upon the party with + a worried eye. "I can't take this matter up, yet," he declared. + "Until the race is over I can think of nothing else. Colonel, + I'll look after Ike, and then we'll be off to the track."</p> + + <p>"So we will, my boy," the Colonel answered, "so we will. Ah, + what a race it will be!" As Frank went out, the horseman rubbed + his hands with keen anticipations of delight.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Colonel," exclaimed Madge, brought back by this turn in + the conversation to contemplation of the most exciting prospect + which had ever been before her, "won't we have fun?"</p> + + <p>"Won't we?" said the Colonel, very happily.</p> + + <p>But then Miss Alathea spoke. She had listened to all the + talk about the fire, the incendiary, the pursuit, and its + dreadful possibilities of lynching, with the keenest of + distress. Now the Colonel's calm declaration that, presently, + they would be off to the race-track which he had sworn forever + to taboo, shifted her mind suddenly from those unpleasant + topics.</p> + + <p>"Colonel!" she exclaimed, in pained astonishment. "Do you + forget your promise?"</p> + + <p>"Er—er—" the old horseman began and became + speechless.</p> + + <p>Madge was all excitement. "Mr. Frank has told me all about + it," she said gaily. "I kin see it, now—th' grand-stand + filled with folks, th' jockeys ridin' in their bright colors, + th' horses a-champin' an' a-pullin' at their bits—an' + then—th' start!" The girl had dreamed about such scenes + before she had so much as guessed that she might ever witness + one, and now, when she was actually about to go out to the + track, herself, and with her own eyes gaze upon the greatest + race which old Kentucky had known for many a year, it seemed + too good to be true. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, her feet + danced as if they might be in the stirrups, her hands clutched + on imaginary reins. "All off together, a-goin' like th' + lightnin'!" she exclaimed. "Queen Bess a-lyin' back an' lettin' + th' others do th' runnin', Ike never touchin' her with whip nor + spur until th' last, an' then jest liftin' her in as if she had + wings!"</p> + + <p>"Stop! Stop!" cried the Colonel. "Not another word, or I'll + drop dead in my tracks!" Then, cautiously, to Madge: "I say, + little one, couldn't you let me have a word alone with Miss + 'Lethe?"</p> + + <p>The girl nodded wisely. "I understand," said she; and then, + with a quick glance at Miss Alathea, who was not attending, and + an earnest and imploring look at the poor Colonel: "Whatever + you do don't you forget that we are goin' to th' races!" She + left the room.</p> + + <p>Forget! The Colonel was not likely to forget about those + races! He was in deep misery of mind. "Miss 'Lethe?" he said + timidly.</p> + + <p>"Yes, Colonel," said the charming lady, turning toward + him.</p> + + <p>"Miss 'Lethe, have you the remotest idea of the agony I'm + suffering?"</p> + + <p>"Why, Colonel, what's the matter? Aren't you well?" Miss + 'Lethe's keen anxiety was instantaneous.</p> + + <p>"Yes—yes—I'm well—that is, I am now, but I + shouldn't wonder if I'd be dead before night. Miss 'Lethe, when + we made our little arrangement, yesterday, I didn't know that + the sale of the mare, your twenty-five thousand dollars, the + assessment on Frank's stock, everything was going to depend + upon this race. I tell you, if I don't see it, I'm liable to an + attack of heart-disease."</p> + + <p>"Ah, Colonel," said she, sadly, "I see where your heart + really is!"</p> + + <p>"With you, Miss 'Lethe, always with you," he urgently + assured her; but there was pleading in his eyes which really + was pitiful.</p> + + <p>"Remember your solemn promise."</p> + + <p>"But one little race," he begged. "That wouldn't count, + would it? And then swear off forever."</p> + + <p>"No, Colonel; no," she firmly answered, "for if you yield, + this time, I'll know that in the race for your affections the + horse is first, the woman second."</p> + + <p>The Colonel sank dejectedly into a chair. "I can't permit + you to think that," said he. "I'll—keep my promise."</p> + + <p>She went to him, delighted. "Ah, I was sure you would," said + she. "Now I can go and finish my shopping in peace. It's all + for your good, Colonel—for your good." With a happy smile + she left him there, alone.</p> + + <p>"For my good!" exclaimed the Colonel, ruefully. "That's what + the teacher used to say, but the hickory smarted, just the + same. Of course Miss 'Lethe is + first—but—but—the horse is a strong + second!"</p> + + <p>To add to the man's agony, Madge, now, returned, dressed and + ready for the most exciting moments of her life. "I'm all + ready, Colonel," she said eagerly. "Think we'll have good + seats? I do hope I'll be whar I kin see!"</p> + + <p>He would not, yet, disappoint the child; he would not, + yet,—he could not—admit that he, himself, was to + meet with such a bitter disappointment. "You'll see, all + right," he told her, "and so will I." But, after a second's + thought he added: "I will if I can hire a balloon!"</p> + + <p>They heard Neb's excited voice out in the corridor, and, an + instant later, the old darkey hurried in. Immediately the + Colonel knew, from his appearance, that something had gone + seriously wrong.</p> + + <p>"What is it, Neb; what is it?" he demanded.</p> + + <p>"Fo' de Lawd, sech news!" said Neb. "Sech news!"</p> + + <p>"Neb, Neb, what's the matter?" Madge asked, frightened by + his manner.</p> + + <p>"Somebody," said the negro, "done gone smuggle in a bottle + o' whiskey to dat mis'able jockey, Ike, an' he am crazy + drunk!"</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2><br> + + + <p>"Drunk!" cried the Colonel, shocked inexpressibly. "And the + race this afternoon!"</p> + + <p>"Marse Frank said you was to come, suh, an' help sobuh + him."</p> + + <p>Madge approached the Colonel anxiously. "Yes; sober him, if + you have to turn him inside out!"</p> + + <p>"'Fraid he's done on bofe sides, missy; drunk cl'ar + t'rough," said Neb.</p> + + <p>The Colonel grasped his hat. "We'll try, we'll try," he + said. "Oh, whisky, whisky! What a pity anyone can get too much + of so good a thing!"</p> + + <p>"I neber could, suh," Neb replied, "but dat 'ar + jockey—"</p> + + <p>They hurried out together.</p> + + <p>Madge was in intense distress. She knew what this might + mean. If Queen Bess could not run—and she could not, + certainly, without a jockey—the Dyer Brothers would not + buy her, probably; and if she were not sold in time, then + Layson would be quite unable to meet the assessment on his + stock in the coal-mining company. She was by no means certain + what this was, or what the reason for it, but she had heard + talk of it and knew that it was very serious. Almost beside + herself with her anxiety, she could do nothing save sit there + and wait for news. The entrance, even of Barbara Holton, who + came in, now, was a relief to her overtaxed nerves.</p> + + <p>"Say," said she, admitting Barbara nearer to good-fellowship + than she had ever done before, "I reckon you have heered the + news—Ike's drunk—dead drunk!"</p> + + <p>Barbara regarded her excitement with a careful calm. She, + herself, had been excited by the news when it had reached her, + but a moment since, but she would not let this girl know that. + Her rôle was to endeavor to force the mountain girl back + into what she thought her place, at any cost.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I've heard," said she, "and it's too late to get + another jockey, so Queen Bess can't run."</p> + + <p>She had formed a plan, deep in her mind, and had sought the + mountain-girl with the skilful scheme.</p> + + <p>"Then Mr. Frank is goin' to be ruined!" Madge exclaimed, + dejectedly.</p> + + <p>"Not unless you wish it," Barbara replied, looking straight + into her eyes.</p> + + <p>"Dellaw! Me wish that? Just you tell me what you mean!"</p> + + <p>The bluegrass girl stood looking at the mountain maiden with + appraising eye for a few seconds. Then she crossed the room and + stood close by her side, while she tapped upon the table + nervously with her carefully gloved fingers.</p> + + <p>"If this sale fails, as it seems it must," she said, slowly, + "it rests with you whether my father will advance the money to + pay the assessment on that stock of Mr. Layson's."</p> + + <p>"Your father give him the money?" Madge said in + astonishment. "Well, I'd never thought o' that! But what have I + got to do about it?"</p> + + <p>The situation was a hard one, even for the self-possession + of the lowlands girl, who had inherited her father's coolness + in emergency as well as some other traits less desirable. Her + color rose and she tried, earnestly, to gather words which + would express the thought she had in mind without including a + confession of the weakness of her own position. This she could + not, do, however. She walked over to the window, gazed from it, + for a moment, at the passing crowds, and then returned to + Madge, to tell her bluntly: "I want you to go away from + here."</p> + + <p>"Me go away? What for?"</p> + + <p>It was impossible, Barbara now discovered, to make her + meaning wholly clear, without some measure of humiliation. The + first thing that was, obviously, necessary was a statement of + facts as they were, and this must include confession of her own + sore weakness. She hesitated, trying to avoid it, but when she + quite decided that it could not be helped, plunged on with a + perfect frankness. What she wished was immediately to gain her + point. If she must eat a bit of humble pie in order to + accomplish this, why, she would eat it, much as she disliked + the diet.</p> + + <p>"Can't you see that it is you who stand between Frank and + me?" she cried. "If it hadn't been for you, I should have been + his promised wife! If you will go away and never see him again, + I can win him back."</p> + + <p>Madge was dumbfounded. The cold and utter selfishness of the + girl's proposal was astounding. She looked at Barbara with eyes + in which incredulous amazement gave way, slowly, to an + expression of chill wonder. "Say, you don't seem to squander + many thoughts on other people! S'posin' I happen to love him a + little, myself!"</p> + + <p>Barbara laughed scornfully. Sprung from low stock, herself, + but reared in luxury, she had the most complete contempt for + anyone whom circumstances had denied advantages such as she had + known. "You—<i>you</i> love him!" she exclaimed.</p> + + <p>The words had slipped from Madge's lips without forethought, + and, instantly, she very much regretted them; but, now that she + had uttered them she did not so much as think of trying to + recall them or deny their truth. "Yes, and I ain't ashamed of + it," said she. "I <i>do</i> love him—a thousand times + better nor you ever dreamed of."</p> + + <p>"What good will it do you?" asked her rival, coldly. "You + don't suppose he'll ever think of making you his wife! Why, + look at the difference between you and me!"</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Madge, sarcastically, "there <i>is</i> a + powerful sight of differ! You'd be willin' to ruin' him to win + him, while I'd be willin' to gin up my happiness to save + him!"</p> + + <p>Barbara, more in earnest than she ever had been in her life + before, took a quick step toward the mountain girl. "Then prove + it by going away," said she, "and I will see that my father + advances Frank Layson the money he needs." She looked at her + eagerly. "Do you promise?"</p> + + <p>"No," said Madge, with firm decision. "No; I won't."</p> + + <p>"Then it is you who will ruin him."</p> + + <p>While they had been talking an idea had sprung to sudden + flower in Madge's mind. It was a daring, an unheard of plan + that had occurred to her. There were details of it which filled + her with shrinking. She knew that if she put it into practice, + and it ever became generally known, she would be the talk of + Lexington and that not all that talk would be complimentary. + She knew that, after she had carried out the plan, even the man + for whom she thought of doing it might look at her with scorn. + But it was the only plan which her alert and anxious brain + could find which promised anything at all. And if it won, + perhaps—perhaps—he might not scorn her! At any rate + it was a sacrifice, and sacrifice for him was an attractive + thought to her.</p> + + <p>"Me ruin him?" she said to Barbara. "Don't you be too sure! + There is a shorter and a better way nor yours, to save him, an' + I'm goin' to try it!"</p> + + <p>The bluegrass girl, astonished, would have questioned her, + but Madge waited for no questioning. Without another word she + hurried from the room, in a mad search for Colonel + Doolittle.</p> + <center><hr style='width: 45%;'></center> + + <p>From the country round about for miles the planters had come + into Lexington upon their blooded mounts, their wives, + daughters, sweethearts, riding in great carriages. Now and then + a vehicle, coming from some far-away plantation, was drawn by a + gay four-in-hand, and the drivers of such equipages, negroes + always, showed a haughty scorn of their black fellow-men who + travelled humbly on the backs of mules, or trudged the long and + dusty way on foot. Gorgeous were the costumes of the ladies + whom the carriages conveyed; elegant the dress of the gay + gentlemen who rode beside the vehicles on prancing steeds, + gallant escorts of Kentucky's lovely womanhood, prepared, + especially, to watch the carriage-horses when the town was + reached and guard against disasters due to their encounter with + such disturbing and unusual things as crowds, brass-bands and + other marvels of a great occasion.</p> + + <p>Everywhere upon the sidewalks people swarmed like ants, + delighted with the calm perfection of the day, the magnetism of + the crowds, the blare of martial music, the novelty of passing + strangers, and, above all, by the prospect of the great race + which, for weeks, had been the theme of conversation everywhere + throughout the section.</p> + + <p>In the spacious corridors and big bar-rooms of the city's + hostelries the rich men of the section vied with flashily + dressed strangers, in magnitude of wagers, and the gambling + fever spread from these important centers to the very alleys of + the negro quarters. Poor indeed was the old darkey who could + not find two-bits to wager on the race; small, indeed, the + piccaninny who was not wise enough in the sophisticated ways of + games of chance to lay a copper with a comrade or to join a + pool by means of which he and his fellows were enabled to + participate in more important methods of wooing fickle + Fortune.</p> + + <p>Here and there and everywhere were the piccaninnies from + Woodlawn, the Layson place, crying the virtues of the mare they + worshipped and her owner whom they each and everyone adored, + boasting of the wagers they had made, strutting in the + consciousness that ere the moment for the great race came "Unc" + Neb would gather them together to add zest to the occasion with + their brazen instruments and singing. The "Whangdoodles" were + the envy of every colored lad in town who was not of their high + elect, and created, about noon, a great diversion upon one of + the main streets, by gathering, when they were quite certain + that their leader could by no means get at them, and singing on + a corner for more coppers to be wagered on Queen Bess. The + shower of coin which soon rewarded their smooth, well-trained + harmonies, burned holes in their pockets, too, until it was + invested in the only things which, on this day, the lads + thought worth the purchasing—tickets on the race in which + the wondrous mare would run.</p> + + <p>Through the gay crowd old Neb was wandering, disconsolate, + burdened with the melancholy news of the defection of the + miserable jockey, looking, everywhere, for Miss Alathea Layson, + but without success. He stopped upon a corner, weary of the + search and of the woe which weighed him down.</p> + + <p>"Marse Frank," he muttered, "say I war to tell Miss 'Lethe + de bad news; but he didn't tell me how to find a lady out + shoppin'. Needle in a haystack ain't nawthin'! Reckon 'bout de + bes' dat I kin do is stand heah on dis cohnuh an' cotch huh + when she comes back to de hotel."</p> + + <p>He stood there for fully fifteen minutes, peering in an + utter desolation of woe, at every passing face, but finding + nowhere that one which he sought. Then, at a distance, he saw + the Colonel coming. The expression on the horseman's face + amazed him and filled him with an instant hope that something + had turned up to rob the situation of the horror which had + darkened it, for him, ever since he had discovered that the + jockey had disgraced himself.</p> + + <p>"Dar come Marse Cunnel," he exclaimed, in his astonishment, + "<i>a-lookin' mighty happy</i>! Dat ain't right, now; dat ain't + right, unduh de succumstances."</p> + + <p>He hurried to the Colonel, who, instead of seeming + sorrowful, discouraged, wroth, beamed at him with a genial + eye.</p> + + <p>"What's the matter, Neb?" he asked. "You look like a + funeral!"</p> + + <p>"Dat's de way I feel, suh; wid no jockey fo' Queen Bess an' + Marse Frank good as ruined."</p> + + <p>"Neb," said the Colonel, coolly, "you don't mean to be a + liar, but you are one."</p> + + <p>"What?" cried the darkey in delight. "Oh Marse Cunnel, call + me anyt'ing ef tain't so about de mare!"</p> + + <p>"Of course it isn't," said the Colonel happily. "I have + found a jockey, Neb; a jockey."</p> + + <p>"Praise de Lawd!" cried the old negro.</p> + + <p>"One of the best," the Colonel went on, gaily. "Just come in + from the—from the east. I engaged him at once, so you get + word to Frank. In five minutes we'll be on our way out to the + track."</p> + + <p>Neb's spirits had instantly revived. Six inches droop was + gone from his old shoulders. "It'll be de grandest race eber + run in ol' Kentucky! Lawsy, Cunnel, won't it tickle you to + death to see Queen Bess romp in a winnuh?"</p> + + <p>Instantly the Colonel's high elation faded. More than the + droop which had been in Neb's shoulders now oppressed the + horseman's. His face clouded. "There <i>he</i> goes, too!" he + cried. "Neb, another word like that and I shall brain you! Do + you hear me? I—I shan't be there!"</p> + + <p>"Not be dar!" Neb exclaimed. "Kain't swaller dat, suh. Ef + you should miss dat race, why, you'd drop daid."</p> + + <p>"I believe you, Neb—believe you. I say, Neb, look + here. I have promised on the honor of a Kentuckian, never to + enter another race-track. I must keep my word; but, for the + Lord's sake, isn't there a knot-hole, that you know of, + somewhere in the fence, which would let me see the race without + going inside?"</p> + + <p>Neb knew that race-track as he knew the plot of hard-trodden + ground before the little cabin where he had been born back of + the big house out at Woodlawn. Many a race had he seen + surreptitiously when he had not funds to buy admission to the + track. He grinned, remembering talk which he had heard between + the Colonel and Miss 'Lethe, and understanding, now. He + laughed. "Oh, I yi!" he cried. "Marse Cunnel, dar ain't + nobody'll git ahead of you! You bet dar is a knot-hole, not fur + off frum de gran'-stan', neither, an' a tree, too, you could + climb, stan's mighty handy."</p> + + <p>The Colonel groaned. "I climb a tree to peek above a + race-track fence!" said he. "No; never. They'd think I was + trying to save my admission fee! The knot-hole will have to do + for me, Neb. You've saved me. Heaven bless you! Have a + cigar—they're good."</p> + + <p>"T'ankee, suh," said Neb, reaching for the weed the Colonel + now held toward him. "Lawsy, ain't dat jus' a whoppuh? Whah + you-all git sech mon'sous big cigahs as dat?"</p> + + <p>"I'm only smoking half as many, now, so I get 'em double + size," the Colonel answered, sighing but not wholly + miserable.</p> + + <p>Neb did not see the humor of this detail. He was thinking of + the race and of Queen Bess. "Hooray fo' de Cunnel!" he + exclaimed, irrelevantly, to a little group of colored men who + had been gathering. "Whatever he says yo' kin gamble on. Lawsy, + ain't I glad I's got my money on Queen Bess? Golly, won't Marse + Holton jes' feel cheap when he done heahs dis news? Seen him + down dar in de pool-room, not so long ago, a-puttin' up his + money plumb against Queen Bess. Goin' to lose it, suah, he + will." He went off, muttering, and shaking his old head. + "Somehow I jes' feels it in mah bones dat he ain't true to + Marse Frank, yessuh. If I evah fin's it out fo' suah, I'll jes' + <i>paralyse</i> him!"</p> + + <p>He had quite forgotten that he had come out to find Miss + Alathea, and was not looking for her when he actually stumbled + into her.</p> + + <p>"Why, Neb, what are you doing?" she said, recoiling.</p> + + <p>"Pahdon, pahdon, please, Miss 'Lethe," said the negro. "I + was thinkin' of de sweet bimeby an' waitin' fo' to tell de news + to you—fust dat Ike got drunk an' Marse Frank war gwine + hab to scratch de mare—"</p> + + <p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Then Frank—why, he'll lose + everything!"</p> + + <p>"Hol' on, Miss 'Lethe; dat de fust half, only. Secon' half + am dat Marse Cunnel found a jockey an' Queen Bess am gwine ter + run."</p> + + <p>"Bless his heart!" she cried. "I wonder if it's wrong for me + to pray that that jockey will win." She looked, almost + embarrassed at the aged negro for a moment, and then, mustering + up courage, said: "Neb, look here. I'm ashamed to acknowledge + so much interest in a horse-race, but it seems as if I can't + wait to hear of the result."</p> + + <p>"Lawsy, I don't blame you, none; feel dat way mahse'f."</p> + + <p>"I must know the result the instant the race is + decided."</p> + + <p>"Send yo' wuhd right off, Miss 'Lethe."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I can't wait for that. Neb, I never did such a thing + before and never will again, and, even now, I won't enter a + race-track; but, Neb, isn't there some place outside the fence + where I could watch the race without actually going in?"</p> + + <p>Neb doubled up in silent laughter. The old negro was + enjoying life, exceedingly, on this, the day, which, for a + time, had seemed so full of gloom. The white folks were quite + at his mercy. "You bet dar is," said he, "a knot-hole not fur + f'm de gran'-stan', an' a tree what you could climb, right + handy."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea was not favorable to the thought of climbing + trees, and said so. "No, no; the knot-hole will be far better + for me."</p> + + <p>"But, Miss 'Lethe, why, de Cunnel—"</p> + + <p>She did not let him make his explanation. "Sh! Sh!" she + hissed. "Not a word of this to him, or anyone! Will you show + me, when the time comes?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I'll show you," Neb replied, and before he had a chance + to add a word she had hurried off into the crowd.</p> + + <p>"I war gwine to tell her dat de Cunnel'd be dar, too, but + she wouldn't wait to heah. Wal, I reckon she'll jes' fin' 'im + when she git dar."</p> + + <p>Down the street his piccaninny band came straggling, looking + for him.</p> + + <p>"Hol' on, chillun; hol' on," he cried, and joined them. "Now + yo' lissen. Yo' is not to make a squawk until the end of de + Ashlan' Oaks. Yo's to sabe yo' bref to honuh ouah Queen Bess. + If she wins, yo' staht in playin' 'Dixie' as yo' nevuh played + afo'. If she loses yo's to play, real slow an' mo'nful, + 'Massa's in de Col', Col', Groun'.'"</p> + + <p>In the meantime the Colonel, in a quiet spot, had joined the + jockey who had been discovered to take the place of drunken + Ike. The unknown rider was wrapped closely in an ulster, from + beneath which riding boots, unusually small, peeped, now and + then, as the feet within them moved somewhat nervously + about.</p> + + <p>"All right, are you?" he inquired.</p> + + <p>"I ain't afeared," the jockey answered, "but I'm powerful + nervous. Never had on clo'es like these before, an'—don't + you look at me!"</p> + + <p>Strange talk, this was, for the jockey who was soon to ride + Queen Bess for the capture of the Ashland Oaks and the + salvation of the fortune of the house of Layson!</p> + + <p>"Don't look at you!" said the Colonel, in expostulation, + and, in the next sentence, revealed a secret which he was + guarding carefully from everyone. "See here, little girl, + you've got to face thousands and not wince, and you can't ride + in that overcoat, either."</p> + + <p>But the jockey wrapped the coat still tighter. "Oh, sho! + That can't make no differ—just a little coat!"</p> + + <p>"I tell you it's impossible. It would give the game away at + once. Come, take it off. Practice up on me."</p> + + <p>The jockey shivered nervously. "Reckon I will hev to. Say, + turn your back till I am ready."</p> + + <p>The Colonel turned his back, somewhat impatiently. The time + was getting short. "All right, but hurry up."</p> + + <p>The jockey pulled the long coat partly off, then, in a + panic, shrugged it on again. "Oh, now, you're lookin'!"</p> + + <p>"Not a wink," declared the Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Wal, here goes!" This time the coat came wholly off and the + jockey who had been discovered to take the place of drunken Ike + stood quite revealed. The voice which warned the Colonel of + this was a faint and faltering one. "Now," it said timidly.</p> + + <p>The Colonel turned. "Hurrah!"</p> + + <p>The jockey held the coat up in a panic.</p> + + <p>"See here, now—none o' that!" the Colonel warned. + "Give it to me." He reached his hand out for the coat, and, + reluctantly, the jockey let him take it.</p> + + <p>There stood the trimmest and most graceful figure ever + garbed in racing blouse, knickers, boots and cap, with flushed + face, dilating, frightened eyes and hands not a little + tremulous. The girl who had told Barbara Holton that she would + not hesitate to make a sacrifice to save the man she loved was + making one—a very great one—the sacrifice of what, + her whole life long, she had considered fitting woman's + modesty. Queen Bess must win and there was no one else to ride + her. The mountain-girl shrank from the thought of going, thus, + before a multitude, as shyly as would the most highly educated + and most socially precise girl in the grand-stand, near, which, + now, was filling with the gallantry and beauty of Kentucky; but + she did not let her nervous tremors conquer her. There was no + other way to save the day for Layson, and, somehow, the day + must certainly be saved.</p> + + <p>The Colonel, now, spoke very seriously as she stood there, + shrinking from his gaze. There was not a smile upon his face. + It was plain that he regarded the whole matter with the utmost + gravity.</p> + + <p>"Now, little one, you begin to realize what this means," + said he. "Or—no, you don't and I've got to be square with + you if it spoils the prettiest horse-race ever seen in old + Kentucky. I tell you, my dear child, we're mighty particular + about our women, down here in the bluegrass. We'd think it an + eternal shame and a disgrace forever for one of them to ride a + public race in a costume like the one that you have on, and it + would mean not less than social ruin to the man that married + her. If anyone should find it out, what you are going to do + might stand between you and your happiness. I'm warning you + because I know I ought to. Think it over and then tell me if + you're willing to face it—willing to take all the + risks."</p> + + <p>"I don't need to think it over," Madge said firmly. "I said + as I'd gin up my happiness to save him, an' I will. Colonel, + I've got on my uniform, I've enlisted for th' war, an' I am + goin' to fight it through!"</p> + + <p>"A thoroughbred!" he cried. "A thoroughbred, and I always + said it of you. Come on, little one."</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2><br> + + + <p>Brilliant as a garden of flowers was the grand-stand where + the fairest of old Kentucky's wondrous women were as numerous + as were her gallant men; full of handsome figures were the + lawns, where old Kentucky's youth and manhood strolled and + smoked and gossipped of the day's great race to come; like an + ebon sea in storm was the great crowd of blacks which in + certain well-defined limits crowded to the rail about the + track. The blare of the band kept the air a-tremble almost + constantly, the confused, uneven murmur of a great crowd filled + the pauses between brazen outbursts. Everywhere was life and + gayety, intense excitement, as the moment for the starting of + the famous Ashland Oaks approached. The cries of the + book-makers rose, strident, from the betting-ring; on the + tracks the jockeys, exercising or trying out their mounts, + were, each after his own kind, preparing for the struggle of + their lives; stable-boys, and the hundred other species of + race-track hangers-on which swarm at such times to the front, + were everywhere in evidence; touts with shifty eyes slipped, + here and there, among the sightseers, looking for some + credulous one who might be willing to pay well for doubtful + information. Every minute amidst the throng the words "Queen + Bess" might be heard at any chosen point, as the crowd + gossipped eagerly about the horse which had been looked on as + the favorite, but which, many positively now declared, had been + so injured in the fire that she would run but poorly in the + race which, it had been thought, would be the most sensational + effort of her life.</p> + + <p>Frank, nervous and excited, stood in the paddock, watch in + hand, with old Neb by his side.</p> + + <p>"Why doesn't that jockey come?" he asked, for the hundredth + time, almost beside himself with worry as the moments slipped + away.</p> + + <p>"He'll come, Marse Frank," said Neb. "You kin gamble on de + Cunnel."</p> + + <p>"If I only knew what kind of a jockey he is!" Then, as + Horace Holton came up, smiling greetings: "Holton, how's the + betting?"</p> + + <p>"Can't you hear?" said Holton, as a vagrant breeze brought + to their ears bits of the vocal tumult from the + betting-ring.</p> + + <p>"Ten to nine against Queen Bess," Frank heard a voice call + loudly, although the crowd's great murmur made the words come + indistinctly to his ears. "Even on Catalpa," was the next + penetrating cry, and then: "Two to one, Evangeline!"</p> + + <p>The young owner shuddered. Could it be possible that Neb was + right and that the Colonel's jockey would appear on time, or + were the dire predictions of defeat which, he knew, were being + made everywhere around him, true prophecies? Tales of all but + fatal injuries to the handsome mare had been freely circulated, + and, despite denials in the newspapers, were still alive, and + these he knew to be quite false; but he knew of the other dire + disaster—the defection of his jockey—of which the + crowd was also well aware. He had not the slightest doubt that + if Queen Bess should run at all she would do all that her best + friends expected of her and more; but it seemed to him a + possibility that he would find it necessary, at the last + minute, to withdraw her from the race entirely, for sheer lack + of a rider.</p> + + <p>Again the breeze brought from the betting-ring the loud + shouts of the book-makers. The message that they told was most + depressing to the worried owner.</p> + + <p>"Why, this morning she was the favorite," he said, "and now + the odds are all against her!"</p> + + <p>Holton nodded. "On the strength o' this jockey as nobody + knows. Got any money on, yourself, Layson?"</p> + + <p>"Not a cent. I've enough at stake, already."</p> + + <p>Holton smiled unpleasantly, intimating that Frank's lack of + betting on his horse was proof positive that the worst tales + told were true. "That settles it. The bookies are right. Th' + mare's no chance with a new jockey, an' you know it."</p> + + <p>"If I were betting," said Frank angrily, "I'd back her with + every dollar that I have on earth."</p> + + <p>Holton smiled at him unpleasantly. "I say she can't win and + you know it." He waited for some answer from the anxious owner, + but received none. Then, taking out his check-book: "See + here—I'll bet you five-thousand even against her!"</p> + + <p>Frank, annoyed but helpless, shook his head. "I haven't the + money," he admitted.</p> + + <p>"You ain't got the sand!" said Holton, aggravatingly.</p> + + <p>Frank turned from him angrily, and old Neb, who had + listened, stepped quickly up to him. "Marse Frank," he pleaded, + "don' yo' let dat white-trash bluff yo'!" The old darkey's + voice was tremulous, his eyes were moist with feeling for his + humiliated master. A great resolve thrilled through him. "See + heah, honey, I's be'n sabin' all mah life. I's got a pile o' + money in de bank. Take it all, now, honey, an' bet it on Queen + Bess."</p> + + <p>Frank shook his head, but smiled at the old darkey, touched + alike by his devotion to himself and confidence in the mare + they both loved. "No, no, Neb; not your money," he replied. He + stood in deep thought, for a moment, tapping the ground + nervously with worried foot. "But I'll back the mare for all + <i>I'm</i> worth!" he finally declared. "If she loses, I'm a + ruined man, anyway." He turned, now, to Holton. "Holton," he + said, "I've got just three thousand dollars in the bank. I'll + put it all on Queen Bess against your five-thousand."</p> + + <p>It seemed, almost, as if Holton had been waiting for this + offer, for his smile broadened as he found that he had goaded + Layson into making it. "I'll take it," he said quickly, and + then, turning to the crowd about them, among which were some of + the state's best citizens, he added: "Gentlemen, you're + witnesses. Three-thousand against five-thousand on Queen + Bess."</p> + + <p>They nodded, and not one of them but looked at Layson with + commiseration, as at a man foredoomed to bitter + disappointment.</p> + + <p>Neb, however, grinned at Holton impishly. "Yes; you'll look + mighty sick when yo' hab to pay it, too."</p> + + <p>From the judge's stand rang out the silvery notes of a + quavering bugle-call, and Holton smiled unpleasantly.</p> + + <p>"The call to th' post," said he, "an' whar's your + jockey?"</p> + + <p>"He'll be here on time," said Frank, voicing a confidence + which it was hard for him to feel. He turned, then, to the + darkey. "Neb, bring out Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>The excitement, all around them, was intensifying, every + minute. Jockeys, now, were mounting their horses, and riding + off for the short canter to the judges' stand. As each appeared + in view of the great crowd in and about the grand-stand a + mighty shout arose.</p> + + <p>Holton's smile was broadening. "If that jockey doesn't show + up mighty quick," he sneered, "you're out of the race."</p> + + <p>Just as he spoke old Neb returned, with the superb mare + behind him, saddled, bridled, ready for the race, fretting at + her bit, impatient of the crowds and noise.</p> + + <p>"Who knows whether he's coming, at all?" said Holton, a bit + dashed at sight of the fine mare's superb condition, but still + sneering. "Nobody's seen him."</p> + + <p>Neb looked off toward the weighing-room. "Yo' 're wrong," he + shouted, capering with amazing spryness for one whose limbs + were old and stiff, "fo' heah he comes!"</p> + + <p>Every member of the party turned, in haste, to look in the + direction whence Neb pointed.</p> + + <p>They saw a slight, graceful figure, dressed in the brilliant + colors of the Layson stable, which, without so much as glancing + at them, ran to Queen Bess and took a place upon the far side + of the mare, where, stooping as if to look carefully to the + saddle-girths, its face was quickly hidden. But, even as the + jockey stooped, one of his hands held out to Frank, across the + saddle, a little folded paper.</p> + + <p>Without paying much attention to the jockey, Layson took + this note and hastily unfolded it. "It's from the Colonel," he + announced. "I knew he'd never fail me."</p> + + <p>Then he read, aloud, so all might hear:</p> + + <p>"This will be handed to you by a jockey I have just engaged. + He comes from the east and is highly recommended. I know his + endorser. Regretting that the promise of a Kentuckian prevents + me from being with you, I am yours regretfully, on the outside, + SANDUSKY DOOLITTLE."</p> + + <p>"It's all right!" Frank shouted, gleefully, and then, to the + strange jockey: "Quick, on the mare and off to the post!"</p> + + <p>Without a word, without a second's pause, Madge, for the + unknown jockey was, of course, the little mountain girl, jumped + upon Queen Bess and hastily rode off, to be greeted, with a + mighty outburst of cheering and applause as the favorite + appeared before the waiting crowds in unmistakably fine + condition and mounted by a rider whose every movement showed a + perfect knowledge of the work and complete sympathy with the + beautiful animal he rode.</p> + <center><hr style="width: 45%;"></center> + + <p>Doomed by his promise on the honor of a gentleman to Miss + Alathea, to witnessing the race from the outside, if he + witnessed it at all, Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, fully aware of + the unusual interest of the moments, some account of which has + just been made, was sunk in melancholy after he had sent Madge + through the magic portals, with explicit instructions as to + exactly what to do when once she was safe inside. He was + breathing hard from the mere exertion of preventing his unruly + feet from running to the gate, of keeping his unruly hand from + diving deep into his pocket for the entrance fee. These + preventions he accomplished, though, without once really + weakening, and was safe at a good distance from the tempting + gate when the crowd within began to shout as the horses were + brought out.</p> + + <p>"There, they're bringing out the horses!" he exclaimed, + unhappily. He set his jaws as might one who, with a great + effort, abstains from food when famishing. "I didn't go in!" he + muttered. "I've kept my word, though it has nearly finished + me!"</p> + + <p>Anxiously, if hurriedly, he searched along the fence for the + knot-hole Neb had told him of. Twice, in his great eagerness, + he passed it by, but, on the third inspection he discovered it, + and placed his eye to it. In a moment he backed away, + dejectedly. "I can't see worth a cent!" he bitterly complained. + "It's not hole enough for me!" Lost, in his disappointment, + even to shame for the wretched pun, he straightened up, + surveying his immediate surroundings.</p> + + <p>Close by was the tree which Neb had also spoken of. He + examined it with an appraising eye, then looked about to see + what spectators were near. No one was in sight save a pair of + piccaninnies, down the fence a hundred yards or so, with eyes + glued to other knot-holes or to cracks.</p> + + <p>"To the deuce with dignity!" he cried. "I'll just inspect + that tree."</p> + + <p>He was doing this with care, when, breathless and eager, a + lady hurried toward him. As the tree intervened between them he + did not see her coming, nor did she note his presence. It would + have been quite plain to anyone who had observed her that she + was engaged upon a quest much like that which he had pursued, + for she carefully inspected each plank in the high fence, as, + slowly and cautiously lest she should pass unheeded that which + she was seeking eagerly, she made her way in his direction.</p> + + <p>"Everybody's at the races," she thought, comforting herself. + "I'm perfectly safe. No one in the world will see me.... But + where <i>is</i> that blessed knot-hole?"</p> + + <p>Suddenly her eye chanced on it, and, an instant later, was + applied to it, the while the Colonel paused, with his back to + her, still anxiously inspecting the tree.</p> + + <p>"Ah!" said Miss Alathea, aloud, as she caught a glimpse of + something interesting inside the fence.</p> + + <p>Instantly the Colonel turned and looked down at her, + startled. Then: "A woman!" he exclaimed, beneath his breath. "A + woman at my knot-hole!"</p> + + <p>Firmly determined to maintain his right he sternly + approached her.</p> + + <p>"Madam!" he exclaimed, as incensed by her usurpation of the + knot-hole as he would have been, at ordinary times, by theft of + watch or pocket-book, and tapped her lightly on the + shoulder.</p> + + <p>She shrank back from the knot-hole, startled and indignant. + "Sir!" she cried, and then, as he recognized her, she turned + and saw who had addressed her.</p> + + <p>"Colonel Sandusky Doolittle!" she exclaimed, amazed.</p> + + <p>"Miss Alathea Layson!" cried the Colonel, equally amazed, at + first, but winding up his gesture of surprise with a low and + courtly bow.</p> + + <p>"Colonel, what are you doing here?"</p> + + <p>"Madame," he countered, "what are <i>you</i> doing + here?"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea's dignity forsook her. "Colonel," she + confessed, "I couldn't wait to hear the result."</p> + + <p>"No more could I," he somewhat sheepishly admitted.</p> + + <p>"But I didn't enter the race-track," she explained in + haste.</p> + + <p>"I was equally firm."</p> + + <p>"And Neb told me of this knot-hole."</p> + + <p>"The rascal—he told me of it, too."</p> + + <p>"Colonel," she said, smiling, "we must forgive each other. + If you really must look, there is the knot-hole."</p> + + <p>"No, Miss 'Lethe," he said gallantly, "<i>I</i> resign the + knot-hole to you. I shall climb the tree." Without delay (for + sounds from the barrier's far side hinted to his practiced ear + that matters of much moment were progressing, there) he + scrambled with much more difficulty than dignity into the + spreading crotch.</p> + + <p>"Oh, be careful Colonel!" Miss Alathea cried, alarmed. + "Don't break your neck!" But she added, as an afterthought: + "But be sure to get where you can see."</p> + + <p>"Ah, what a gallant sight!" he cried as he found himself in + a position whence he could command a view of the exciting scene + within the barrier. "There's Catalpa ... and Evangeline ... and + ... yes, there is Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>A burst of cheering rose from the crowd within.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea was on tip-toe with excitement. "What's that?" + she begged.</p> + + <p>"A false start," he answered, scarcely even glancing down at + her. "They'll make it this time, though," he added, and she + could see his knuckles whiten with the strain as he gripped a + rough limb of the tree with vise-like fingers.</p> + + <p>A moment later and the shouting became a very tempest of + sound.</p> + + <p>"They're off!" he cried, staring through his field glasses + in an excitement which promised, if he did not curb it, to send + him tumbling from his shaky foothold. "Oh, what a splendid + start!"</p> + + <p>"Who's ahead?" inquired Miss Alathea, very much excited. + "Colonel, who's ahead?"</p> + + <p>"Catalpa sets the pace, the others lying well back."</p> + + <p>"Why doesn't Queen Bess come to the front?" Miss Alathea + cried, as if he were to blame for the disquieting news he had + reported to her. "Oh," she exclaimed, to the Colonel's great + astonishment, "if I were only on that mare!"</p> + + <p>"At the half," the Colonel shouted, beside himself with + worry, "Evangeline takes the lead ... Catalpa next ... the rest + are bunched."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea, at the moment, was trying to see + satisfactorily, through the very knot-hole which the Colonel + had abandoned. She sprang from it hastily, however, and to the + foot of the tree which acted as his pedestal, when he + exclaimed:</p> + + <p>"Oh, great heavens! There's a fall ... a jam ... and Queen + Bess is left behind three lengths!" He leaned so far out that + he heard the limb beneath him crack, and, in hastening to a + firmer footing, almost lost his balance. This startled him, + and, for an instant, took his eager gaze away from the + struggling horses on the track within, but he quickly regained + poise. "She hasn't the ghost of a show!" he cried, + disheartened. "Look! Look!"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea hugged the tree and looked, not at the horses, + for that was quite impossible, but up at him with wide, + imploring eyes.</p> + + <p>"She's at it again, though, now!" he cried. "It's beyond + anything mortal, but she's gaining ... gaining!"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea's excitement now was every bit as great as his. + She had never seen a race in all her life, yet, now, she + performed there at the foot of the great tree, a series of + evolution not unlike those of many a "rooter" at the track + within. She jumped up and down upon her toe's, clenched her + hands and cried: "Oh, keep it up! Keep it up!"</p> + + <p>"At the three-quarters she's only five lengths behind the + leader and still gaming!" cried the Colonel, in excited + optimism.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea could no longer endure the agony of waiting on + the ground for his reports. Instead she tried to scramble to + his side, but, failing, utterly, to accomplish this unaided, + held her hands up to him, crying: "Oh, pull, pull! I can't + stand it! I've just got to see!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel turned upon his perch and looked down at her, + smiling. "Coming up, Miss 'Lethe?" he inquired. "All right, + don't break your neck, but get where you can see." Hastily he + gave her such assistance as his absorbed attention to the + events within the fence permitted, and, with a wild scramble, + she found herself close by his side, holding half to him, half + to a curving branch.</p> + + <p>"Look! Look!" he cried, again. "In the stretch! Her head is + at Catalpa's crupper ... now at her saddle-bow ... but she + can't gain another inch. Still ... yes ... yes ... she lifts + her! See!... See!... Great God! She wins!"</p> + + <p>Within the fence wild pandemonium broke loose. The crowd + went mad with shouting. Hats, handkerchiefs, canes, umbrellas, + flew into the air as if blown upward by the mad explosion of + the crowd's enthusiasm. The band was playing "Dixie."</p> + + <p>Frank and Neb rushed forward to lift from the winner the + victorious jockey, who by such superb riding as that track had + never seen before, had snatched victory from defeat after the + mare had been delayed in the bad pocket which, from his distant + point of survey, had alarmed the Colonel. The jockey eluded + them, however and, with face averted, hurried with the splendid + mare back to the paddock, and there disappeared, disregarding + the crowd's wild shouts of acclamation.</p> + + <p>Holton stood near Frank, white-faced and angry. Old Neb, as + he ran beside Queen Bess, looked back at him and + grinned.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2><br> + + + <p>Miss Alathea, on the day after the great race, sat waiting + for the Colonel in the handsome old library of Woodlawn, + worrying about her unconventionalities of the preceding day. + When she heard his voice, out in the hall, telling Neb to carry + certain bundles into the library and knew, of course, that he + would follow after them almost immediately, her heart throbbed + fiercely in her bosom. She shrank back into a window recess, + too embarrassed to face him without first pausing to gather up + her courage.</p> + + <p>"Put 'em there, Neb," said the Colonel, pointing to the + table, and then, after the packages had been arranged to suit + him: "Here, take this, and drink to the jockey that rode Queen + Bess."</p> + + <p>"T'ankee, Marse Cunnel, t'ankee," Neb replied, pocketing the + tip. "Oh, warn't it gran'? An' yo' climbed de tree, arter + all!"</p> + + <p>"Sh! Clear out, you rascal!"</p> + + <p>Neb did not go at once, but, with the boldness of an old and + privileged retainer, stood there, chuckling. "Climbed de tree!" + he gurgled. "An' so did Miss 'Lethe!"</p> + + <p>With this he slapped his knee, and, laughing boisterously, + left the room as the embarrassed lady of the house stepped out + of her concealment.</p> + + <p>"Ah, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel, "good morning."</p> + + <p>"I expected you back from Lexington last night, Colonel." + She looked at him reproachfully.</p> + + <p>"Stayed over to celebrate, my dear," the Colonel answered. + "Stayed to celebrate the victory." With a beaming face he + advanced upon the lady, plainly planning an embrace.</p> + + <p>But she eluded him. "Wait a moment, Colonel. On what did you + celebrate?"</p> + + <p>The Colonel laughed. "Oh, I didn't forget. I celebrated on + ginger-ale and soda-pop."</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea smiled with happy satisfaction. She eluded him + no longer, but, herself, went to him and bestowed the kiss.</p> + + <p>"I doubt if my stomach ever recovers from the insult," said + the Colonel, delighted by the kiss but remembering the mildness + of the beverages which had marked his jubilation. "Miss 'Lethe, + a julep—a mint-julep—before I perish."</p> + + <p>With a smile she crossed the room to where, upon the + side-board (a side-board is an adjunct of all well-regulated + libraries in old Kentucky), a snowy damask cloth concealed + glorious somethings. With a graceful sweep she took it from + them and revealed three juleps in their glory of green-crowns. + "Look, Colonel!"</p> + + <p>"Three! Great heavens!" the Colonel cried, delighted. He + took one and disposed of it in haste.</p> + + <p>"I mixed them myself," Miss 'Lethe said.</p> + + <p>The Colonel drank another, but less rapidly.</p> + + <p>"Remember," she said, warningly, "three and no more!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, yes," he granted. "I must save the other one." It was + difficult to sip it, for Miss Alathea's juleps were like nectar + to his thirsty palate, but he restrained himself and drank of + this last ambrosial glass with great deliberation, trying to + make it last as long as possible.</p> + + <p>"What are all those bundles, Colonel?" asked Miss Alathea, + pointing to the packages which old Neb had brought in.</p> + + <p>"They're for Madge. She bought them yesterday." He sighed. + "Ah, will you ever forget yesterday?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't speak of it!"</p> + + <p>"Can't help it." The Colonel waxed enthusiastic at the mere + memory of the great occasion. "Whoopee!" he cried. "What a race + it was!"</p> + + <p>"To think," said Miss Alathea, "that + I—<i>I</i>—should enter a race-track!"</p> + + <p>"To think that <i>I</i>—should stay out of one!"</p> + + <p>"It was all your fault, Colonel," said Miss Alathea. "In + your excitement after the race you grasped my hand and I was + compelled to follow."</p> + + <p>"How strange!" exclaimed the Colonel, slowly, with a slight + smile tickling at the corners of his mouth. "At times I fancied + you were in the lead, I following."</p> + + <p>"Colonel," said the lady slowly, "perhaps I might as well + confess. I've made a discovery. The sin isn't so much in + looking at the horses run—it's in betting on them. That's + where souls are lost."</p> + + <p>"And likewise money," said the Colonel, nodding, + gravely.</p> + + <p>"So, Colonel, if you'll promise not to bet, I've no + objection to your attending the races in moderation."</p> + + <p>In delighted amazement the Colonel forgot that that last + julep could be brought to a quick end by hurried management and + took a hasty and a mammoth swallow. "What!" he cried. "Can I + believe it? Miss 'Lethe, you're an angel! It's the last drop in + my cup of happiness!"</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea shyly smiled—smiled, indeed, a bit + shame-facedly. "There's one condition, Colonel—that you + take me along—yes, to watch over you."</p> + + <p>"Take you with me?" said the Colonel. He paused in puzzled + contemplation of her for an instant. "Oh, I catch on. You'll go + with the children to see the animals!" He laughed. "You rather + like it." He became enthusiastic. "No more knot-holes or trees + for us! At last—two souls with but a single thought, two + hearts that beat when Queen Bess won! Here's to our future + happiness!"</p> + + <p>He raised the glass and would have drunk from it, but, now, + alas! the glass was empty. It surprised and grieved him, but, + when Miss Alathea held her hand out, quietly, for the vessel + which had held the final julep but which now held it no longer, + he yielded it up gracefully nor asked her to refill it.</p> + + <p>As Miss Alathea placed the empty glass upon the side-board + Madge entered from the hallway. She ran up to the Colonel. "I + heard you'd come," she said, "an' couldn't wait. Say, air it + all fixed about Queen Bess?"</p> + + <p>"Fixed?" cried the gallant horseman. "Well I should remark! + Queen Bess is sold and paid for and a draft for the assessment + forwarded to the Company. Inside of a year Frank will have the + income of a prince."</p> + + <p>"All," said Miss Alathea, "owing to that mysterious jockey + who disappeared immediately after the race. Oh, I'd like to + kiss that boy!"</p> + + <p>"If you did, I should not be jealous," said the Colonel with + an air of generosity.</p> + + <p>"Miss 'Lethe, kiss me. Won't I do as well?" Madge asked, + going to her.</p> + + <p>Miss Alathea kissed her, but was still thinking of the + unknown jockey, who, in the nick of time, had come from + nowhere, materialized from nothing, to save the day for Frank + by riding Queen Bess to victory. "I feel as if I must know his + name," she said. "Madge, help me persuade the Colonel to tell + us." She went to him and petted him. "Colonel, you will not + refuse me!"</p> + + <p>Madge looked at him apprehensively, warningly. "An' I reckon + you won't refuse me, Colonel." Then, going close to him, she + whispered: "Remember, mum's the word!"</p> + + <p>"Away, you tempters, away!" the Colonel cried, and waved + them from him. "It's a professional secret, and I've promised + to keep it on the honor of a Kentucky gentleman—just as I + promised you, Miss 'Lethe."</p> + + <p>"As you promised me? That's enough, Colonel—not + another word!"</p> + + <p>Madge nodded, smilingly. "That's right, Colonel. Mustn't + break your word." Just then she caught sight of the bundles + which the Colonel had had Neb bring in. "Oh, are them my + bundles, Colonel?"</p> + + <p>"Every one of them."</p> + + <p>The girl hurried to the mysteriously fascinating packages + and began investigation of their contents. "Thank ye, thank + ye!" she exclaimed, while she was busy with the wrappings. + "Awful good of you to bring 'em." Then, to Miss Alathea in + explanation: "Things I bought yesterday, Miss 'Lethe, all by + myself. Jus' went wild. Reckon I'll let you an' th' Colonel see + 'em." She took a large, dressed doll out of its wrappings. + "Look at that!"</p> + + <p>"What a beauty!" cried the Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Can talk, too." Madge pressed the wondrous puppet's shirred + silk chest. "Ma-ma," it cried. "Ma-ma."</p> + + <p>"Never had nothin' but a rag-doll, myself," the girl went + on, delighted by their approval of this automatic wonder. + "'Tain't for me. It's for a little girl as lives up in th' + mountings."</p> + + <p>From the doll she turned to an amazing jumping-jack, the + next treasure taken from the packages. She pulled the toy's + animating strings and watched its antics with delight. "Mos' as + lively as a Kentucky Colonel climbin' a tree," said she, and + laughed roguishly at the horseman. "Oh, I heard of it; I heard + of it."</p> + + <p>The Colonel tried in vain to protest, Madge's laughter kept + up merrily, as she took an old-fashioned carpet-sack from quite + the biggest of the bundles and began to pack her purchases in + it, until the Colonel and Miss Alathea left the room, gaily + protesting at her ridicule.</p> + + <p>Instantly all of the signs of high elation vanished from the + girl's face. She drooped. Left alone, it quickly became plain + that her recent animation had been forced, unreal. "Well I + guess I'd better not open up th' other bundles," she said + listlessly. "I'll pack 'em as they be. It's time I started too. + I'm goin' back to the mountings." Softly she hummed the air the + darkies had been singing when she came into the + room.</p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Weep no more, my + lady, oh, weep no more to-day,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">I will sing one song of my old + Kentucky home,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then my old Kentucky home, + good-night!"</span><br> + + + <p>There was infinite pathos in her half-unconscious rendition + of the plaintive, darkey melody. To the mountain girl the + moment was full of sadness. She had come down from her + mountains to save the man she loved from the assassin's bullet + and had saved him, not from that alone, but from a crushing + blow to hope and fortune. Her work was done. All that now was + left to her was to go back to her little cabin, hiding the + secret of her love for him in her sore heart, enshrining, + there, the memory of every minute she had ever passed with him + as holy memories to comfort her in days to come. Melancholy + thoughts pressed on her hard.</p> + + <p>Frank entered.</p> + + <p>He stopped short in the doorway, looking with amazement at + her work of packing for departure.</p> + + <p>"Why, Madge!" said he. "What does this mean? Packing up! + Surely you're not going away!" There was a thrill of real + distress in his pleasant, vibrant voice which comforted + her.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I'm going back to th' mountings. I was ... goin' + afore, but I couldn't miss that hoss-race."</p> + + <p>"Madge," he cried impulsively, "you must not and you shall + not go. I cannot bear to think of you wasting your life in the + lonely mountains. Madge, your land will make you rich, and with + your brightness you could study and learn. Education will make + you an ornament to any society."</p> + + <p>She shook her head. "As fur as I can see," said she, + "society ain't what it is cracked up to be. I don't seem to + have no hankerin' after it. Oh, o' course, I'd like to have all + this softness an' pootiness around me, always; I'd like to go + out in th' world an' see th' wonders as I've heard of; but I + don't think that 'u'd satisfy me. I'd still be hankerin' an' + thirstin' arter somethin' that I couldn't have. There's been a + feelin' in my heart, ever sence I come here, that'll take th' + air o' th' mountings to cl'ar away. Like enough, up there among + th' wild things that love me, amongst th' rocks an' hills, I'll + find th' rest an' peace I ain't had since I come away."</p> + + <p>The youth looked at her with wide, worried eyes. He had not + thought the situation out in any very careful detail; but he + had, at no time, contemplated her immediate departure. Now that + it seemed imminent it brought his feelings to a focus, showed + him, instantly, that he could not bear to have this mountain + maiden who had done so much for him thus vanish from his life. + A realization that he loved her deeply, tenderly, unchangeably + rushed over him. That she was a child of nature, uneducated and + unaccustomed to the world he knew became a matter of but small + importance to him as he stood there watching her, while, sadly + but deliberately, she kept on with her work of packing in the + carpet-bag her small possessions and the many gifts which she + had purchased in the city for the children of her "mountings." + That the world which he had ever thought his world might laugh + at her and ridicule him if he married her he knew, but, + suddenly, this seemed of little consequence. The errors in her + education could be readily corrected and her heart and + instincts were more nearly right, already, than those of any + lowland girl whom he had ever known.</p> + + <p>"Madge," he cried, "I cannot give you up! I love you!"</p> + + <p>The girl's hands stopped their busy work among the bundles. + Her cheeks paled and her lips parted to a gasping little intake + of breath. It had not, once, occurred to her modest, + self-sacrificing mind that, even as the bluegrass gentleman had + found her heart and taken it forever and forever to be his own, + no matter where she was or how great might the distance be + which separated them, so, also, had his heart really and + forever passed to her, the simple, unlettered and untrained + little maiden of the wilderness. It seemed impossible, + incredible.</p> + + <p>"You love me!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I love you as I never have, as I never can love any + other woman. Madge, dearest, I want you for my wife!"</p> + + <p>The great desire, the certainty that if he did not win her + then all other triumphs would be empty, meaningless, had come + suddenly upon him, but it had come with overwhelming force. His + voice was vibrant with a passion which surprised himself.</p> + + <p>"No, no; it can never be!" she said tremulously. Her heart + was in a turmoil, her hands trembled with excitement. Ah, it + was hard for her to put away from her the brilliant vista which + had opened there before her startled eyes! But she was sure + that she must do it; that if she loved this man she must + forswear him for his own dear sake. What right had she, a + mountain-girl, to come down there to the bluegrass to shame him + in the face of friends and foes by her ignorance and + awkwardness? Her heart yearned toward him with a warmth and + fervor which she had not known as possible to human longings, + but—no, no, for his sake she must give him up, as, for + his sake, she had made the long, desperate journey from the + mountains to save him from Joe Lorey's bullet, as, for his + sake, shrinking and dismayed, conscious that in doing it she + might very well be sacrificing his respect for her, she had + donned the blouse and breeches of a jockey, yesterday, to ride + his mare to victory when none other had been there to save the + day for him. That had been a sacrifice almost beyond the power + of words to tell—a sacrifice of modesty; now came an even + greater one, but one which, none the less, must certainly be + made. "No, no," said she again, "it can never, never be!"</p> + + <p>"But I want you—just as you are! What do I care for + the world, without you, or for what it says, so long as you are + mine?"</p> + + <p>A flood of bitterness rushed to her heart. Ah, why, why, had + fate made it so necessary that, to save him, she must do what, + yesterday, she had been forced to do!</p> + + <p>"You're thinkin' of my ignorance, an' such," she said, with + sad eyes bent upon the gifts which, now, although she looked at + them, she did not see and had forgotten. "But there's more nor + that as stands between us, Mr. Frank."</p> + + <p>"You mean you don't love me?"</p> + + <p>"No, no; oh, what air th' use o' denyin' it? I love you! + It's that—it's that that drives me from you, an' that + breaks—my—heart!"</p> + + <p>He went close to her and tried to take her hands in his. + "Madge, dear," he said softly, "I want you to listen to me. I + tell you I shall not let any foolish pride or any fears for the + future stand in the way of our happiness. When I thought, a + moment ago, that I might lose you forever, I saw what my life + would be without you; and, now that I know you love me, nothing + shall come between us. Madge, dear heart, I want you to put + your hand in mine."</p> + + <p>She drew away, but it was plain that she was sorely tempted. + "Ah, if I only dared!" said she.</p> + + <p>"Come, Madge, darling!" he said fervently, opening his arms + to fold her to his heart.</p> + + <p>"No, no," she said, "it wouldn't be right." The Colonel's + words: "We'd think it an eternal shame and a disgrace for one + of our women to ride a race in a costume such as you have on," + rang in her mind and filled her with despair. "The Colonel + said—" she began, weakly.</p> + + <p>"Oh, damn the Colonel!" Frank cried angrily, wondering why + any one should meddle with his heart-affairs.</p> + + <p>And as he spoke the Colonel entered hurriedly, evidently + bearing news of import.</p> + + <p>Startled by the young man's earnest words, he stopped short + in astonishment. "Why—what's that, sir?" he exclaimed + amazed, and then, seeing clearly that he had broken in upon a + fervent sentimental situation and unwilling to believe that + Frank could really have meant him when he had been so emphatic, + turned his thoughts, again, to the news which had brought him + in such haste.</p> + + <p>"I say," he said, excitedly, "I've been cross-examining that + rascal, Ike, and I've found out who smuggled the whiskey to + him."</p> + + <p>"Who was it?" Madge and Frank cried almost in unison.</p> + + <p>"That double-distilled, three-ply scoundrel, Horace Holton," + said the Colonel, angrily.</p> + + <p>"Holton!" Frank exclaimed. "I wouldn't have believed + it!"</p> + + <p>"I would," Madge commented.</p> + + <p>"I'll find him and settle with him for it!" Frank angrily + exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"I'm afraid that's easier said than done," the Colonel + answered, "but I'm with you, and we'll do our best."</p> + + <p>Through the windows came the noise of baying hounds. It + instantly attracted their attention, as it ever will that of + Kentuckians. "What's that? A fox-hunt?"</p> + + <p>Frank had hurried to the window and was looking out. "No," + he answered, in incredulous amazement, "it's Holton and his + gang. They're hunting Joe Lorey with dogs!"</p> + + <p>Madge hurried to his side, distressed beyond the power of + words to tell. "Oh, oh!" she cried. "They're coming this way, + and—and—who's that?"</p> + + <p>As she spoke Joe Lorey dashed up, breathless to the + window.</p><br> + + <center><hr style="width: 65%;"></center> + <br> + <a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a> + + <h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2><br> + + + <p>The moonshiner stood there, pathetic in his beaten strength + before them.</p> + + <p>"They're huntin' me with dogs!" he said. "They're goin' to + string me up without justice or mercy!"</p> + + <p>Madge hurried to his side. "Joe, they shan't do it!" she + exclaimed, and took his hand.</p> + + <p>"It'll take more nor you to save me, little one," he said, + and smiled down at her pitifully. "There's no hope for me, now. + That's why I've come hyar, to say to you all, afore I die, that + I am innocent o' firin' th' stable." He threw back his + shoulders and stood before them, impressive and convincing. + "Afore God, I am innocent!"</p> + + <p>Frank looked at him with eyes which, as they gazed, altered + their expression. He had thought the man quite possibly guilty + of a vicious act—a foul attempt to burn a helpless animal + in order to obtain revenge upon the man who owned her. But as + he gazed he could not doubt that he was speaking simple truth. + "Joe," he said impulsively, "I believe you!"</p> + + <p>Joe turned to him with gratitude plain upon his face. "You + believe me—arter all that's passed?" He looked straight + into the eyes of the young man he had hated, with a searching, + earnest gaze. "Then," he said, after a second's pause, "I + believe as what you said, that night, war true. It war never + you as ruined me." He held his hand out to the man whom, not so + long ago, he had wished, with all his heart, to kill.</p> + + <p>Frank grasped it with a hearty grip, just as the terrifying + baying of the hounds approached the house.</p> + + <p>"Frank, they're coming here!" the Colonel cried, + excited.</p> + + <p>Joe turned away from Frank, looking here and there like a + hunted animal. "Oh, it's hard to die afore I've met Lem + Lindsay!" he said hopelessly. It was quite plain that he + considered his fate sealed.</p> + + <p>Even as he spoke Holton and half-a-dozen others sprang to + the broad gallery which fronted the whole room. Holton was + plainly the leader of the party, for when he motioned all the + others back, they obeyed his signal without protest, while he, + himself, peered eagerly in through a wide, open window.</p> + + <p>Frank, angered beyond measure by this bold intrusion, would + have sprung toward him, to attack him, had not the Colonel + waved him back.</p> + + <p>"Frank, my boy," said he, "keep cool, keep cool!"</p> + + <p>As he spoke, without apology, Holton stepped through the + window into the room, itself.</p> + + <p>"Layson," he said curtly, "I'm a committee o' one to ask if + you'll turn over that man, an' make no trouble." He jerked a + thumb toward Joe.</p> + + <p>Layson was wrathful at the man's intrusion; he had been + impressed by what the fugitive had said. "No," he answered, + hotly. "Joe Lorey's in my house, under my protection, and, by + the eternal, you shan't lay a hand on him!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel smiled, delighted. "Kentucky blood!" he cried. + "I'll back you to a finish!"</p> + + <p>He ranged himself by Frank, and Madge, as belligerent as + either of them, hurried, also, to his side.</p> + + <p>"I'm with you, Colonel," she exclaimed, with the spirit of + the mountain-bred, "and we'll win ag'in, as we did once + before!"</p> + + <p>Joe saw this with distress. Layson's generosity had softened + him. He knew, perfectly, by this time, that Madge was not for + him, and her spirit in joining his defenders—the very men + whom he had thought his enemies—touched him deeply. The + realization came to him with a quick rush that he had wronged + the bluegrass folk whom he had hated with such bitterness. He + looked first at those who wished to take him prisoner and make + him suffer for a crime of which he was not guilty, and then at + his defenders, who had every reason to doubt him, but still, + without a question, had accepted his own plea of innocence. He + had already made these people trouble. Now was his opportunity + to save them from an awkward situation and, perhaps, a perilous + one. There might be shooting if he offered to resist or let + these good friends attempt to defend him. That would endanger + them, and, worse, endanger Madge. "I'll go. I don't want to + make no trouble," he said hastily.</p> + + <p>Holton nodded with approval. He wished to take the man as + quickly and as simply as he could. Every complication which + could be avoided would make less probable discovery of the fact + that he, himself, and not the fugitive young mountaineer, was + the real culprit.</p> + + <p>"That's sensible," he said, "for them men, out thar, are + bound to hev you, by fair means or foul."</p> + + <p>"Those men will listen to reason," Frank said with a + determination which disconcerted the ex-slave dealer. "They + shall hear me!" He stepped toward the open window. "Colonel, + come with me." Without waiting for him he stepped to the + gallery outside.</p> + + <p>The Colonel started to go also, but, seeing that Holton, + too, was about to hurry out, paused long enough to go up to him + threateningly. "Don't you dare to follow!" he warned him. + "We'll play this hand alone." The man fell back and the Colonel + kept his eyes on him as, slowly, he joined Frank on the + gallery.</p> + + <p>Holton's discomfiture lasted but a moment. As soon as the + Colonel had passed out of sight he got his wits back and looked + threateningly at Madge and the mountaineer. "We'll see about + that," he declared viciously, and, making a movement of his + hand which indicated that he must be armed, although he had not + shown a weapon, so far, moved toward another window which also + opened on the gallery.</p> + + <p>But he had not counted on old Neb. The darkey found in this + emergency the opportunity for which he had been waiting many + years. Lapse of time had never dulled his keen resentment of + the blow the man had struck him; now it was with keen delight + that he stepped out of the shadow just outside the window, with + a carelessly held pistol in his hand, which somehow appeared to + cover Holton. "De Cunnel said you'd please stay heah, suh," he + said placidly; but the pistol gave his words an emphasis which + could not be mistaken.</p> + + <p>Holton paled with rage, but did not take another forward + step.</p> + + <p>As he fell back Joe Lorey spoke. The murmur of the mob + outside, incited, he well knew, to hunger for his life, and the + loud voices of the Colonel and of Frank, raised in + expostulation, made an accompaniment for what he had to say to + Holton, and that he still was in grave danger made his attitude + more menacing, his words more impressive.</p> + + <p>"Yes," he said to Holton, while Madge gazed, spellbound, + "you hold on. I've a word to say to you."</p> + + <p>"Say it, then, and say it quick," said Holton, trying to + make his tone contemptuous.</p> + + <p>"I'll say it quick, and I'll say it plain. You know as it + war never me as fired that stable. You war there an' saw me + leave afore th' fire. It's yer place to cl'ar me. Why air you + a-houndin' me to my death?"</p> + + <p>Holton was uncomfortable. "Them men out thar believe ye + guilty. It ain't my work," he said.</p> + + <p>The mountaineer was not deceived. He knew this man to be his + enemy, although he knew no reason for his hatred. "It's you as + air settin' 'em on," he said, "as you set me on Frank Layson + when you told me that lie ag'in him in th' mountings."</p> + + <p>Madge had listened, speechless, during this dramatic scene, + but stood watching it, alert and ready to lend aid to her + friend, if opportunity arose. Now, at Joe's words, she started + forward.</p> + + <p>"Was it him as told you?" she inquired, amazed.</p> + + <p>Joe did not answer her, but continued to face Holton and + address him. "I believed you," he went on, "because I thought + you couldn't a-knowed o' th' still except through him; but + since he never told you, it air proof to me that you have been + in these here mountings, sometime, afore." Strange suspicions + were glittering from his hostile eyes as he faced the now + thoroughly alarmed man who, a moment since, had been the + blustering bully.</p> + + <p>"I tell you I were never thar!" said Holton hurriedly.</p> + + <p>"Then how did you know of th' cave an' the oak?" said Joe, + accusingly. The glitter of suspicion in his eyes was growing + brighter every second. "It's plain to me as how you've passed + many a day thar in them mountings. Thar's somethin' bound up in + yer past as has egged you on ag'in me. I wants to know what + that thing is—I wants to know just who an' what ye + air!"</p> + + <p>"It's easy enough to show who Horace Holton is," the man + said, blustering, but he was very ill at ease. "What do I care + what you want?" And then he made a slip. "You can't bring no + proof—" he began, but caught himself.</p> + + <p>Madge had been watching him with new intentness. The + excitement of the moment may have sharpened the girl's wits, + or, possibly, its hint of peril may have brought to Holton's + face some detail of expression, which, during recent weeks, had + not before appeared upon it.</p> + + <p>"But I kin," she said, slowly. "I war right in what I + thought when I first saw you in th' mountings. I <i>had</i> + seen your face afore!"</p> + + <p>"Don't you dare say that!" cried Holton, stepping toward her + angrily. The man who had been the accuser, was, strangely, now, + quite plainly, half at bay.</p> + + <p>"That look ag'in!" the girl said, studying his face. "That + look war printed on my baby brain!"</p> + + <p>"Silence, I say!" cried Holton, now badly frightened. He had + not counted on this recognition.</p> + + <p>"Never!" the girl said boldly. She was certain, now, as she + looked at him, that the suspicion which had flashed into her + mind was accurate. Her cheeks paled and she stepped toward him + with set face, clenched hands. Every fibre in her thrilled with + horror of him, every drop of blood in her young body cried for + vengeance on him. "I'll rouse th' world ag'in ye!" she + exclaimed, so tensely that even Lorey looked at her with + alarmed amazement. "I'll rouse th' world ag'in ye, for I'm + standin' face to face with my own father's murderer—Lem + Lindsay!"</p> + + <p>"Lem Lindsay!" said Joe, wonderingly, and then, with the + expression on his face of a wild-beast about to spring upon his + prey: "At last!"</p> + + <p>Holton shrank away from them in terror which he could not + hide. His bravado was all gone. He was, no longer, the accuser, + but, with the mention of that name, had changed places with Joe + Lorey and become the fugitive, shrinking, alarmed.</p> + + <p>"'Sh! Don't speak that name!" he pleaded. He made no effort + at denial. There was that in the girl's eyes which told him + that her recognition had been absolute. "I've been hidin' it + for years." He spoke pleadingly. "Look hyar. I've got + everythin' that heart can wish. Joe Lorey, I'll save you from + them men. I'll sw'ar I saw you leave the stable afore th' fire + begun." He moved his eyes from one of the accusing faces to the + other, terrified. "I'll make ye both rich if you'll never speak + that name ag'in!"</p><a name="Illus_5"></a> <br> + + <center> + <a href="images/Illus_5.jpg"><img src="images/Illus_5.jpg" + alt="Face to face with my fathers murderer" + width="40%"></a> + + <h4>"I'm standin' face to face with my own father's<br> + murderer—Lem Lindsay"</h4> + </center><br> + <br> + <br> + + + <p>"Your weight in gold would make no differ!" Joe cried + menacingly. "Lem Lindsay, it air Heaven's work that's given you + into my hands!" He went toward him slowly, menacingly, with his + strong fingers working with desire to clutch his shrinking + throat. "It air Heaven's will as you should meet your fall + through Ben Lorey's son!"</p> + + <p>Holton, desperate, gathered courage for a last effort to + escape from the net which he had woven to his own undoing. With + a quick movement he drew from his belt, where his long coat had + concealed its presence, hitherto, a gleaming knife, and, with + it upraised, rushed at Joe viciously. "I'm a free man, yet," he + cried, "an' I'm a-goin' to stay free!"</p> + + <p>Joe, alert, calm-eyed, cool-witted, waited for him with a + hand upraised to catch his wrist, with muscles braced to meet + the fierce attack.</p> + + <p>Madge rushed to the window, calling loudly: "Colonel! Mr. + Frank!"</p> + + <p>But Holton and Joe Lorey were, by that time, locked in a + desperate grip and struggling with the energy of men battling + for their lives. Twisting and straining, each striving with the + last ounce of energy within him to get the better of the other, + they plunged across the room and out into the hall.</p> + + <p>Just as Frank and the Colonel hurried in, a shot was heard + and then a heavy fall. An instant later Joe came to the + door.</p> + + <p>"Heaven's will are done!" he said, quite simply.</p> + + <p>Layson rushed toward him, but paused, aghast, looking off + through the open door. "Joe, you've killed him!" he + exclaimed.</p> + + <p>"An' I had a right!" said Joe, now strangely calm. "When he + killed my father it were ordained that he should fall by my + hands. I ain't afeared to stand my trial."</p> + + <p>"The men outside have promised," Layson said, dismayed by + this new and terrible complication, "that you shall have a fair + trial on the other charge. They've gone, now, for the sheriff. + But this charge," he looked toward the door which led into the + hall, "will be more serious!"</p> + + <p>"I can clear him of 'em both," said Madge. "I'll sw'ar th' + killin' was in self-defense; I'll sw'ar that Holton owned, + before me, that he saw Joe leave th' stable afore th' + fire."</p> + + <p>"He saw him!" exclaimed Frank, astonished. "What was Holton + doing there?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't you see?" said Madge. "He war your + enemy—th' man as told Joe th' lie ag'in you in th' + mountings, th' man as tried to burn Queen Bess."</p> + + <p>The Colonel had entered, quickly, from the gallery, and + stood listening, amazed and fascinated. Now, after a moment's + pause to think the matter out, he advanced to Joe with + outstretched hand. For the man who had been guilty of that vile + mischief he felt no regret, for the man who had, in a fair + fight and with good reason, shot him down, he felt full + sympathy. "Tried to burn Queen Bess!" he cried. "Joe, the + jury'll clear you without leaving their seats! Come, my + boy—the sheriff's here, and you will have to go with him; + but don't you worry. I'll see you through."</p> + + <p>Joe stood, thinking, with bowed head and frowning brow. + Suddenly he looked up and cast his eyes about upon the company. + "Before I goes, I wants to say a word to Madge," said he, and + turned to her with an impressive earnestness. "Little one, + don't you never fret about me, no more." He took her hand and + she gave it to him gladly. "I see, now, as you was never made + for me." He took a step toward Frank and led her to him. "I see + whar your heart is, an' I puts your hand in his." With bowed + head he relinquished the brown hand of the mountain-girl whom + he had loved since childhood, to the outstretched hand of the + young "foreigner," whom he no longer looked at with the hatred + which had so long thrilled his heart. "And—now I says + good-bye. God bless you both!"</p> + + <p>He went out, slowly, with the Colonel.</p> + + <p>"Madge, he's right," said Frank, "this little hand is + mine."</p> + + <p>He would have clasped her in his arms, but, finally, she + held him off.</p> + + <p>"No, no," said she, "not till you know my secret. It was I + who rode Queen Bess,"</p> + + <p>"You rode Queen Bess!"</p> + + <p>The Colonel was re-entering the room. "But the world will + never know it," he said gallantly, "on the honor of a + Kentuckian."</p> + + <p>Frank's smile was radiant. "If it did, I should say: 'Here, + Madge, in my arms, is your shelter from the world.'" He drew + her to him gently. "Madge, my little wife!"</p><br> + +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN OLD KENTUCKY***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 13933-h.txt or 13933-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/9/3/13933">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/9/3/13933</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Dazey, Illustrated by Clarence Rowe + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: In Old Kentucky + +Author: Edward Marshall and Charles T. Dazey + +Release Date: November 3, 2004 [eBook #13933] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN OLD KENTUCKY*** + + +E-text prepared by Audrey Longhurst, Gene Smethers, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 13933-h.htm or 13933-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/9/3/13933/13933-h/13933-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/9/3/13933/13933-h.zip) + + + + + +IN OLD KENTUCKY + +A Story of the Bluegrass and the Mountains Founded on Charles T. Dazey's +Play + +by + +EDWARD MARSHALL and CHARLES T. DAZEY + +Illustrations By CLARENCE ROWE + +1910 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: SHE SAW THE STRANGER BREAK THROUGH THE UNDERGROWTH ABOUT +THE POOL.] + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. + +She saw the stranger break through the undergrowth +about the pool. (Frontispiece) + +A mighty leap had carried them beyond the blazing barrier. + +"No man can cross this bridge, unless--unless--" + +"Back! back! I'm a-comin' with Queen Bess!" + +"I'm standin' face to face with my own father's murderer--Lem Lindsay." + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +She was coming, singing, down the side of Nebo Mountain--"Old +Nebo"--mounted on an ox. Sun-kissed and rich her coloring; her flowing +hair was like spun light; her arms, bare to the elbows and above, might +have been the models to drive a sculptor to despair, as their muscles +played like pulsing liquid beneath the tinted, velvet skin of wrists and +forearms; her short skirt bared her shapely legs above the ankles +half-way to the knees; her feet, never pinched by shoes and now quite +bare, slender, graceful, patrician in their modelling, in strong +contrast to the linsey-woolsey of her gown and rough surroundings, were +as dainty as a dancing girl's in ancient Athens. + +The ox, less stolid than is common with his kind, doubtless because of +ease of life, swung down the rocky path at a good gait, now and then +swaying his head from side to side to nip the tender shoots of freshly +leaving laurel. She sang: + + "Woodpecker pecked as a woodpecker will, + Jim thought 'twas a knock on the door of the still, + He grabbed up his gun, and he went for to see, + The woodpecker laughed as he said: 'Jest me!'" + +She laughed, now, not at the song, which was purely automatic, but in +sheer joy of living on that wonderful June day in those marvellous +Kentucky mountains. Their loneliness did not depress her; indeed, to +her, they were not lonely, but peopled by a host of lifelong friends who +had greeted her at birth, and would, she had every reason to suppose, +speed her when her end came. Their majesty did not overwhelm her, +although she felt it keenly, and respected it and loved it with a +certain dear, familiar awe. And everywhere about her was the Spring. +Laurel blossomed at the trail's sides, filling the whole air with +fragrance; the tardier blueberry bushes crowding low about it had begun +to show the light green of their bursting buds; young ferns were pushing +through the coverlet of last autumn's leaves which had kept them snug +against the winter's cold, and were beginning to uncurl their delicate +and wondrous spirals; maple and beech were showing their new leaves. The +air was full of bird-notes--the plaintively pleading or exultantly +triumphant cries of the mating season's joy and passion. Filmy clouds, +like scattered, snowy ostrich plumes, floated, far, far up above her on +a sea of richest blue; a fainter blue of springtime haze dimmed the +depths of the great valley which a wide pass gave her vision of off to +the left--and she was rather glad of this, for the haze, while, +certainly, it hid from her much beauty, also hid the ugly scars which +man was making there on nature's face, the cuts and gashes with which +the builders of the new railway were marring the rich pasture lands. + +She turned from this to pleasanter and wilder prospects, close at hand, +as her path narrowed, and began to sing again in sheer joyousness of +spirit. + + "Mr. Woodpecker laughed as a woodpecker will, + As Jim stood lookin' out of the door of the still, + 'Mr. Jim,' he remarked, 'I have come for to ax + _Ef_ you'd give me a worm for my revenue tax'!" + +The placid ox, plodding slowly down the trail, did not swerve when the +bushes parted suddenly at one side, as she finished this verse of her +song, but Madge Brierly looked about with a quick alertness. The sound +of the rustling leaves and crackling twigs might mean a friend's +approach, they might mean the coming of one of the very enemies whom the +song had hinted at so lightly, but against whom all the people of the +mountains keep perpetual watch, they might even mean a panther, hungry +after his short rations of the winter and recklessly determined on a +meal at any cost. + +But it was Joe Lorey's face which greeted her as she abruptly turned to +see. His coon-skin cap, his jerkin and trousers of faded blue-jeans, his +high, rusty boots matched perfectly with his primitive environments. As +he appeared only the old-fashioned Winchester, which he carried cradled +in his crooked elbow, spoke of the Nineteenth century. His face, though +handsome in a crudely modelled way, had been weather-beaten into a +rough, semi-fierceness by the storms through which he had watched the +mountain-passes during the long winter for the raiders who were ever on +his trail. The slightly reddened lids of his dark, restless eyes, told +of long nights during which the rising fumes of moonshine whisky +stealthily brewing in his furtive still, cave-hidden, had made them +smart and sting. Even as, smilingly, he came up to the strangely mounted +maid, there was on his face the strong trace of that hunted look which +furtive consciousness of continual and unrelenting pursuit gives to the +lawbreaker--even to the lawbreaker who believes the laws he breaks are +wrong and to be violated without sin and righteously. + +"That you, Joe?" said the girl. "You skeered me." + +"Did I?" he replied, grinning broadly. "Didn't plan to." + +From far below there came the crash of bursting powder. Quick and lithe +as a panther the man whirled, ready with his rifle. The girl laughed. + +"Nothin' but the railroad blastin' down there in the valley," she said +with amusement. "Ain't you uset to that, yet?" + +"No," said he, "I ain't--an' never will be." + +His tone was definitely bitter. Never were the "sounds of progress more +ungraciously received than there among the mountains by the folk who +had, hedged in by their fastnesses, become almost a race apart, +ignorant of the outside world's progressions and distrustful and +suspicious of them. + +"Where you goin', Madge?" he asked, plodding on beside the lurching ox. + +"I ain't tellin'," she said briefly. "But you can go part ways--you can +go fur as th' pasture bars." + +"Why can't I go as fur as you go?" + +"Because," said she, and laughed. "I reckon maybe that th' water's +started to warm up down in the pool, ain't it?" she cried, and laughed +again. + +"Oh!" said he, a bit abashed, and evidently understanding. + +They did not pursue the subject. + +"What you got there?" he inquired, a few moments later, as they were +approaching the old pasture. He pointed to a package carefully wrapped +in a clean apron, which she hugged beneath her arm. + +"Spellin' book," said Madge, as, just before the bars she slid down from +her perch upon the ox. "I'm learnin'." + +His lip curled with the mountaineer's contempt for books and all they +have to teach. + +"What you want to _learn_ for?" + +He had gently shouldered her aside as she had stooped to raise the bars +back to position, and, with a certain crude gallantry, had done the task +himself. + +"Bleeged," she said briefly, and then, standing with one brown and +rounded arm upon the topmost rail, paused in consideration of an answer +to his question. + +The ox stopped, dully, close within the closed gap in the rough fence. +She went closer to him and patted his side kindly. "Go on, old Buck," +she said. "I'm through with you for quite a while. Go on and have some +fun or rest, whichever you like best. You certainly can stand a lot of +rest! And here is new spring grass, Buck. I should think you would be +crazy to git at it." + +As if he understood, the old ox turned away, and, slowly, with careful +searching for the newest and the tenderest of the forage blades which +had pushed up to meet the pleasant sunshine, showed he was well fed at +all times. + +"What do I want to learn for?" the girl repeated, returning to Joe's +question. "Why--why--I don't know, exactly. There's a longin' stirrin' +in me. + +"While you was over yon" (she waved her hand in a broad sweep to +indicate the mountain's other side). "I had to go down into town +after--after quite a lot of things." She looked at him somewhat +furtively, as if she feared this statement might give rise to some +unwelcome questioning, but it did not. "I saw what queer things they are +doin'--th' men that work there on that railroad buildin'. Wonderful +things, lots of 'em, and the bed-rock of 'em all was learnin'. I watched +a gang of 'em for near plum half a day. There wasn't a thing they did +that they didn't first read from a sheet of paper about. If they hadn't +had them sheets and if they couldn't read what had been written on 'em, +why, they couldn't never _build_ no railroad. And not only that--they +got all kinds of comfort out of it. They have their books that tell 'em +what other men have done before 'em, they have their newspapers that +tell 'em--_everyday_, Joe--what other men are doin', everywhere, fur as +th' earth is spread. + +"They _know_ things, them men do, and they're heaps happier because of +it." She paused, leaning on the old worn fence. + +"An' their wimmen knows things," she went on. "I'm goin' to, too. It's +th' greatest comfort that they've got. I'm goin' to _have_ that comfort, +Joe!" + +She patted the new spelling book as if it were a precious thing. + +"I'm goin' to have that comfort," she continued. "I'm goin' to know th' +ins an' outs o' readin' an'" (she sighed and paused a second, as if this +next seemed more appalling) "an' of writin'. Dellaw! That's hard! All +sorts of curves an' twists an' ups an' downs an' things, an' ev'ry one +means somethin'!" + +Joe looked at her, half in admiration, half in apprehension. "You goin' +to git too good fer these here mountings?" he inquired. + +She gazed about her with a little intake of the breath, a little sign of +ecstasy, of her appreciation of the wondrous view. + +"Too good for these here mountings?" she said thoughtfully. "Learnin' +couldn't make me that! It might show me how to love 'em more. Nothin' in +th' world, Joe, could make me love 'em less!" + +He became more definite, a bit insistent. It had been plain, for long, +that it had required some self-control for him to walk as he had walked, +close by her side, without some demonstration of his admiration for her, +to stand there with her at the bars without some sign that in her +presence he found happiness much greater than he had ever known, could +ever know, elsewhere. + +"You goin' to git too good fer--me?" he asked. + +She turned toward him impulsively. Great friendship shone frankly in her +fine eyes. On her face was that expression of complete and understanding +comradery which one child chum may show another. Almost she said as much +of him as she had said of the surrounding mountains, but there was that +upon his face which stopped her. It was too plain that friendship was +not what he wanted, would not satisfy him. There was a hungry yearning +in his eyes, mute, respectful, worshipful, not for comradery, but for a +closer tie. She had watched this grow in him within the recent months, +with worry and regret. It seemed to her a tragedy that their old +friendship should ever prove inadequate. + +"No," she answered gently, "I shall never get too good for you, Joe--for +any of my friends." + +He looked, almost with aversion, at the book she held so closely. He +distrusted books. Instinctively he felt them to be enemies. + +"If you get them there ideas about learnin', an' all that, you will!" he +gruffly said. "Leastways you'll be goin' off, some day an' leavin' +us--me, the mountings an'--an' all yer friends up here." + +An expression of great earnestness, of almost fierce intensity grew in +his face. "Madge," he said, "Madge Brierly, you're makin' a mistake! +You're plannin' things to take you off from here; you're plannin' things +to make you suffer, later on. You're gettin' bluegrass notions, an' +bluegrass notions never did no mounting-born no good." He stepped closer +to her. + +The latent fires in his approaching eyes were warning for her and she +stepped back hastily. "Joe Lorey, you behave yourself!" said she. "I--" + +"Can't ye see I love ye, Madge?" he asked, and then the fires died down, +leaving in his eyes the pleading, worried look alone. "Why, Madge, I--" + +She tried to make a joke of it. "Joe Lorey," she said, laughing, "I +reckon you're _plum_ crazy. An' you ain't givin' me a chance to do what +'twas that I come down for." + +"But--" + +"I ain't goin' to listen to another word, to-day," said she, and waved +him off. + +He went obediently, but slowly and unhappily, his rifle snuggling in +the crook of his left elbow, his heavy boots finding firm footing in the +rough and rocky trail as if by instinct of their own, without assistance +from his brain. A "revenuer," coming up, just then, to bother him about +his still and its unlawful product of raw whisky, would have met small +mercy at his hands. He would have been a bad man, then, to quarrel with. +His temper would have flared at slightest provocation. He would not let +it flare at her; but, unseeing any of the beauties which so vividly +appealed to her, the bitter foretaste of defeat was in his heart; and in +his soul was fierce revolt and disappointment. He had not the slightest +thought, however, of accepting this defeat as final. + +Madge watched him go with a look of keen distress upon her fresh and +beautiful young face. She must not let him say what he had almost said, +for she shrank from the thought of wounding him with the answer she felt +in her heart that she would have to make. He had slouched off, half-way +down the trail and out of sight, before she put the thoughts of the +unpleasant situation from her mind and turned again to the great matter +which had brought her there, that day. + +With a last glance at the gap in the rail fence, to make sure that it +had been carefully replaced, so that there could be no danger of finding +her ox gone when she returned, she started down the mountain, by a path +different from that which Joe had taken. + +She had not gone very far, when, from a clump of bunch-grass just in +front of her, only partly, yet, renewed by the new season, a hare hopped +awkwardly, endeavoring to make off. Its progress was one-sided, +difficult. + +Instantly she saw that it was wounded and with a little cry she ran +toward it and caught it. Instinctively the tiny animal seemed to +recognize her as a friend and ceased to struggle. One of its fore legs +had been broken, as she quickly saw. + +With a little exclamation of compassion, she sat down upon a hummock, +tore from her skirt a bit of cloth, found, on the ground, two twigs, +made of these crude materials rude splints and bandages, bound the +wounded creature, and sent it on its painful way again. She sighed as, +after having watched it for a moment, she arose. + +"Pears like us human bein's always was a-hurtin' somethin'," she +soliloquized, distressed. "Thar some chap has left that rabbit in misery +behind him, and here I've sent Joe Lorey down the mountain with a worse +hurt than it's got." She sighed. "It certain air a funny world!" she +said. + +The subject of the wounded rabbit did not leave her mind until she had +clambered down the rocky path half-way to the small stream which she +sought below. She was ever ready with compassion for the suffering, +especially for dumb and helpless suffering animals, and, besides, the +episode had puzzled her. Who was there in those mountains who would +_wound_ a rabbit? Joe might have shot one, as might any other of the +mountain dwellers who chanced to take a sudden fancy for a rabbit stew +for supper, but Joe nor any of the other natives would have left it +wounded and in suffering behind him. Too sure their markmanship, too +careful their use of ammunition, for such a happening as that. Trained +in the logic of the woods, the presence of the little suffering animal +was a proof to her that strangers were about. The people of the +mountains regard all strangers with suspicion. Half-a-dozen times she +stopped to listen, half-a-dozen times she started on again without +having heard an alien sound. Once, from the far distance, she did catch +a faint metallic clinking, as of the striking of a hammer against rock, +but it occurred once only, and she finally attributed it to the +mysterious doings of the railroad people in the valley. + +Down the path she sped, now, rapidly and eagerly. It was plain that +something which she planned to do when she reached her destination +filled her with anticipation of delight, for her red lips parted in a +smile of expectation as charming as a little child's, her breath came in +eager pantings not due wholly to the mere exertion of the rapid downward +climb. When, beyond a sudden turn in the rude trail, she suddenly saw +spread before her the smooth waters of a pool, formed by the creek in a +hill-pocket, she cried aloud with pleasure. + +"Ah," said she. "Ah! Now here we be!" + +But it was not at this first pool she stopped. Leaving the path she +skirted its soft edge, instead, and, after having passed down stream +some twenty yards or more, pushed her skilled way between the little +trees of a dense thicket and into a dim, shadowy woods chamber on +beyond, where lay another pool, velvety, en-dusked, save for the flicker +of the sunlight through dense foliage. + +Here her delight was boundless. She ran forward with the eagerness of a +thirsty bird, and, leaning on the bank, supported by bent arms, bent +down and drank with keenest relish of the cool spring waters gathered in +the "cove," then dabbled her brown slender fingers in the shining +depths, watching, with a smile, concentric, widening ripples as they +hurried out across the glassy surface, to the ferned bank beyond. A few +yards away a hidden cascade murmured musically. Through the sparse and +tender foliage of spring above her, the sunlight flickered in bright, +moving patches of golden brilliance, falling on the breast of her rough, +homespun gown, like decorations given by a fairy queen. Around the +water's edges budding plants and deep-hued mosses made a border lovely +everywhere, and for long spaces deep and soft as velvet pile. A thrush +called softly from the forest depths behind her. From the other side +his mate replied in a soft twittering that told of love and confidence +and comfort. A squirrel scampered up the trunk of a young beech, near +by, and sat in the first crotch to look down at her, chattering. A light +breeze sighed among the branches, swaying them in languorous rhythm, +rustling them in soft and ceaseless whisperings. + +All these familiar, pleasant sights and sounds delighted her. During the +long winter she had been shut away from this, her favorite spot among +the many lovely bits of wilderness about her, and now its every detail +filled her with a fresh and keen delight. She looked and listened +greedily, as happy as a city child, seated, for the first time in a +space of months, before a brightly lighted stage to watch a pantomime. A +dozen times she ran with little, bird-like cries to bend above some +opening wild-flower, a space she spent in watching two intently busy +king-birds, already fashioning their nest. Another squirrel charmed her +beyond measure by sitting, for a moment, on a limb to gaze at her in +bright-eyed curiosity, and then, with a swift run down the trunk, quite +near to her, as if entirely satisfied that he saw in her a certain +friend, scuttling to the water's edge for drink. She had never seen a +squirrel drink before--few people have--and she stood, as motionless as +might a maid of marble, watching him, until, having had his fill, he +gave his tail a saucy flirt and darted back to his beech fortress, to +sit again upon his limb and chatter gossip at her. + +After he had gone back to his tree she looked carefully about her. It +now became apparent that she had come there to the pool for some +especial purpose and that she wished to be quite sure of privacy before +she put it into execution, for she went first to the path by which she +had descended, there to listen long, intently, then, with a lithe spring +where the brook narrowed at the pool's mouth, to the other side, where, +at some distance in the forest, by another woods-path's edge, she stood +again, intent and harkening. + +Apparently quite satisfied that so far as human beings went her solitude +was quite complete, she returned, now, to the pool's edge and stood +gazing down upon its polished surface. Soon she dipped the toe of one +brown, slender foot into it, evidently prepared to draw back hastily in +case of too low temperature, but tempted, when she found the water warm, +she gently thrust the whole foot in, and then, gathering her skirt +daintily up to her knees, actually stepped into the water, wading with +little shrill screams of delight. + +For a moment she stood poised there, both hands busy with her skirt, +which was pulled back tight against her knees. Then, after another hasty +glance around, she sprang out upon the bank with a quick gesture of +determination, and, close by the thicket's edge, disrobed entirely and +came back to the water as lovely as the dream of any ancient sculptor, +as alluring as the finest fancy of the greatest painter who has ever +touched a brush. + +Slim, graceful, sinuous, utterly unconscious of her loveliness, but +palpitating with the sensuous joy of living, she might have been a wood +nymph, issuing vivid, vital, from the fancy of a mediaeval poet. The +sunlight flecked her beautiful young body with fluttering patches as of +palpitant gold leaf. The crystal water splashed in answer to the play of +her lithe limbs and fell about her as in showers of diamonds. Flowers +and ferns upon the pool's edge, caught by the little waves of overflow, +her sport sent shoreward, bowed to her as in a merry homage to her +grace, her fitness for the spot and for the sport to which she now +abandoned herself utterly, plunging gaily into the deepest waters of the +basin. From side to side of its narrow depths she sped rapidly, the +blue-white of the spring water showing her lithe limbs in perfect grace +of motion made mystically indefinite and shimmering by refraction +through the little rippling waves her progress raised. She raced and +strained, from the pure love of effort, as if a stake of magnitude +depended on her speed. + +Then, suddenly, this fever for fast movement left her and she slowed to +languorous movement, no less lovely. + +The trout, which had been frightened into hiding by the splashing of her +early progress, came timidly, again, from their dim lurking places, to +eye this new companion of the bath with less distrust, more curiosity. +With sinuous stroke, so slow it scarcely made a ripple, so strong it +sent her steadily and firmly on her zig-zag way, she swam, now, back and +forth, around about, from side to side and end to end in the deep pool, +with keen enjoyment, each movement a new loveliness, each second +bringing to her fascinating face some new expression of delight and +satisfaction. Behind her streamed her flowing hair, unbound and free to +ripple, fan-like, on the water; before her dainty chin a little wave +progressed, unbreaking, running back on either hand beside her, +V-shaped. Her hands rose in the water, caught it in cupped palms and +pushed it down and backward with the splashless pulsing thrust of the +truly expert swimmer. + +Only the warm blood of perfect health could have endured the temperature +of that shaded mountain pool so long, and soon even she felt its chill +gripping her young muscles, and, as unconscious of her wholly revealed +loveliness as any nymph of old mythology, scrambled from the water to +the bank and stood there where a shaft of comfortable sunshine found its +welcome way through rifted foliage above. To this she turned first one +bare shoulder, then the other, with as evident a sensuous delight as she +had shown when the cool water first closed over her. Then, throwing back +her head, she stood full in the brilliance, and, inhaling deeply, let +the sunlight fall upon the loveliness of her young chest. The delight of +this was far too great for voiceless pleasure, and her deep, rich +laughter rippled out as liquid and as musical as the tones of the tiny +waterfall above the pool. She raised a knee and then the other to let +the vitalizing sunlight fall upon them; then, with head drooped forward +on her breast, stood with her sturdy but delicious shoulders in its +shining path. Her happiness was perfect and she smiled continually, even +when she was not giving vent to audible expressions of enjoyment. + +Suddenly, however, this idyllic scene was interrupted. In the woods she +heard the crashing of an awkward footstep and a muttered word or two in +a strange voice, as might come from a lowlander whose face has suffered +from the sting of a back-snapping branch. + +For an instant she poised, frightened, on the bank. The intruder's +crashing progress was bringing him, as her ears plainly told her, +steadily in her direction. Panic-stricken, for a moment, she crouched, +hugging her bare limbs in an ecstasy of fear. To get her clothes and put +them on before he reached the pool would be impossible, a hasty glance +about her showed no cover thick enough to flee to. + +One concealment only offered perfect hiding--the very pool from which +she had so recently emerged. She poised to slip again into the water +noiselessly and then caught sight of her disordered clothing on the +bank. To leave it there would as certainly reveal her presence as to +remain on the bank herself! Hastily she gathered it and the new spelling +book into her arms, and, with not ten seconds of spare time to find the +cover which she so desperately needed, endeavored to slip quietly into +the pool again. + +Her certainty of movement failed her, this time, though, and one foot +slipped. Into the pool she went, half-falling, and with a splash which, +she was certain, would be audible a hundred yards away. Terrified anew +by this, she dived quickly to the bottom of the pool and with all a +trout's agility and fearlessness, her clothing and beloved book clasped +tight against her bosom by her crooked left arm, her right arm sending +her with rapid strokes, when she was quite submerged, the full length of +the pool to its far end. There a fallen tree, relic of some woodland +tempest of years gone by, extended quite from bank to bank, +moss-covered, half hidden by small rushes and a little group of other +water-plants. She dived beneath this log with the last atom of endurance +she possessed and rose, perforce, upon the other side, stifling her +gasps, but drawing in the air in long, luxurious breathings. With her +mouth not more than half-an-inch above the water and her feet upon hard +bottom, she crouched there, watching through the screen of plants, her +clothes and book still pressed against her breast. + +As she peered across the log between the rushes, she saw the stranger, +with a wary step, break through the undergrowth about the +pool--cautiously, expectantly. The water heaved a bit about her chin, +for her hidden chest was palpitating with the short, sharp intakes of a +chuckling laughter. + +"Thought I were a b'ar, most likely!" she thought merrily, quite certain +of the safety of her hiding place. "Some furriner." All strangers, in +the mountains, are spoken of as "foreigners" and regarded with a hundred +times the wonder and distrust shown in cities to the native of far +lands, remote. + +Her guess was shrewd. The stranger had plainly been attracted by the +sounds of her delighted splashing and had hurried up with rifle ready +for a shot at some big game. Now he stood upon the granite edges of the +pool, disappointed even in his instinctive search for footprints, with +only the slowly widening circles left upon the surface by her hurried +flight to show him that he had not wholly been mistaken in his thought +that something most unusual had recently occurred there in the "cove." +Eagerly his disappointed glance roved around the circling +thicket--nowhere did it see a sign. When it neared the place of her +concealment the hidden girl ducked, softly, making no undue commotion in +the swiftly running water at the pool's outlet, and the searching +glance passed on, quite unsuspecting, before her breath failed and her +head emerged again. + +"Confound it!" the deeply disappointed youth exclaimed. "I was dead +certain I heard something. I _did_ hear something, too." He sighed. "But +it is gone, now." + +At length he turned away in a bad temper, and presently she heard him +crashing awkwardly through brush and brake, departing. + +Shivering from her long submersion in the gelid waters of the mountain +stream, she cautiously emerged, struggling between light-hearted +laughter at the comedy of her escape and rueful worry about the fact +that she was not only deeply chilled but had no clothes which were not +wet. Her soaked spelling-book, also, gave her much concern. Before she +spread her clothing out in the sparse sunlight, she took the dripping +volume to the warmest little patch of brilliance on any of the rocks +surrounding, and, as she opened its leaves to catch the sunshine, +examined it with loving solicitude to find how badly it was damaged. + +"Fast color," she said happily, looking at the mighty letters of its +coarse black print. "Ain't faded none, nor run, a mite." This plainly +give her great relief. Deftly she turned each leaf, using the extremest +care to avoid tearing them, handling them with loving touch. Between +them she laid little pine cones, so that air might circulate among them +and assist the process of their drying. Then, having wrung her clothing +till her strong, brown, slender wrists ached, she spread that out in +turn, but on less favored rocks, and, as her feeling of security +increased, fell into an unconscious dance, born of the necessity of +warmth from exercise, but so full of grace, abandon, joy, that a poet +might have fancied her a river-nymph, tripping to the reed-born music of +the goat-hoofed Pan. + +When, later, she had slowly dressed, and was kneeling at the pool's +edge, using the now placid surface of the water as a mirror to assist +her in rough-fashioning her hair into a graceful knot, she heard again, +from a great distance, a metallic "tink, tink-tink," which had caught +her ear when she had first stood on the pool's edge. It came, she knew, +from far, however, and so did not rouse her apprehension, but, mildly, +it aroused her curiosity. + +"Hull kentry's 'full o' furriners," she mused. "That railroad buildin' +business in the valley brings 'em. Woods ain't private no more." Again +the tink, tink-tink. "Sounds like hammerin' on rocks," she thought. +"It's nearer than th' railroad builders, too. I wonder what--but then, +them furriners are wonderful for findin' out concernin' ev'rythin'." + +She hugged her pulpy spelling book against her breast with a little +shiver of determination. "_I'm_ goin' to l'arn, too," she said with firm +decision as she scrambled up the rough and rocky mountain path. + +For a time, as she progressed, her thoughts remained afield, wandering +in wonder of what that "furriner" might be up to with the tink-tink of +his hammer upon rocks. This soon passed, however, and they dwelt again +on the pool episode. + +She had never seen a man dressed as the stranger had been. A carefully +made shooting-jacket had covered broad and well-poised shoulders which +were free of that unlovely stoop which comes so early to the +mountaineer's. A peaked cap of similar material had shaded slightly a +broad brow with skin as white as hers and whiter. Beneath it, eyes, +which, although they were engaged in anxious search when she had seen +them, she knew could, upon occasion, twinkle merrily, had gazed, clear, +calm, and brown. A carefully trimmed mustache had hidden the man's upper +lip, but his chin, again a contrast to the mountaineers' whom she had +spent her life among, showed blue from constant and close shaving. Yet, +different as he was from her people of the mountains, as she recalled +that face she could not hate him or distrust him. + +She had never in her life seen any one in knickerbockers and leggins +before, and the memory of his amused her somewhat, yet she admitted to +herself that they had seemed quite "peart" as she peered at them through +the reeds. + +But it was the modern up-to-date Winchester which he had held, all +poised to fly up to the ready shoulder should he find the splashing +animal which had attracted his attention by its noise, which, next to +his handsome, clean-cut face, had most aroused her admiration. + +"Lordy! Joe'd give his eyes to hev a gun like that," she said. + +And then she made a pun, unconscious of what the outer world calls such +things, but quite conscious of its humor. "Thought I was a b'ar," she +chuckled. "Well, I certainly _was_ b'ar!" + +Feeling no further fear of any one, defiant, now that she was fully +clothed, of "furriners," rather hoping, as a matter of fact that she +might sometime meet this one again, she let her laugh ring out +unrestrained. A cat-bird answered it with a harsh cry; a blue-jay +answered him with a still harsher note. But then a brown thrush burst +into unaccustomed post-meridian song. Even his throbbing trills and +thrilling, liquid quaverings, had not more melody in them, however, than +had her ringing laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Her laugh, too, roused more than vagrant birds into attention. She had +emerged from the abrupt little valley and was entering upon a plateau +which had been left comparatively open by the removal of great trees, +sacrificed to furnish ties for the new railroad building in the +lowlands. The place was littered with the discarded tops of pines and +other woodland rubbish and seemed forlorn and wrecked. She swept her +eyes about with the glance of a proprietor, for Madge Brierly owned all +of this as well as most of the land through which the brook which +deepened into the pool of her adventure flowed. Indeed the girl was +counted rich among her fellows and owned, also, land down in the valley +on which she would not live, but which she rented for an annual sum to +her significant, although it would not have kept a lowland belle in +caramels. + +In the center of the disordered clearing just before her, was the person +who, like the birds, had been roused to keen attention by the maiden's +ringing laugh. She saw him first while he was peering here and there, +astonished, to learn whence the sound had come, and, with the +instinctive caution of the mountain-bred, she quickly stepped behind a +clump of laurel, through which she peered at him. + +He was a man of sixty years, or thereabouts, wiry, tough and well +preserved. His hair, of grizzled grey, was longer than most men wore +theirs, even among the mountains, where there are few conventionalities +in male attire. He was dressed in the ordinary garb of the Kentucky +planter of the better class--broad soft hat, flowing necktie, long +frock-coat, which formed a striking contrast to the coarse high-boots +into the tops of which his trousers had been tucked--and yet he hardly +seemed to her to belong to the class of gentlemen to which his dress +apparently assigned him. His face was coarse and hard, his eyes, as he +peered about in search of her, were "shifty," she assured herself. His +hands were large and crudely fashioned. + +"'Pears like 'most ev'ry one is roamin' 'round my land to-day," she +thought. "I wonder what _this_ one is up to, thar?" + +For fully fifteen minutes her curiosity remained unsatisfied, for, +startled by the ringing laugh, the stranger spent at least a quarter of +an hour in furtive peering, here and there, about the clearing, plainly +searching for the laughter. At no time, however, did he approach her +hiding place near enough to see her, and, finally, apparently satisfied +that his ears had fooled him, or that whoever it had been who had +disturbed him with the merry peal had gone away, he went back to his +work. + +Just what this work could be was what she waited curiously to see. She +felt not the least resentment of the trespass it involved, for the land +was wild, and on it, as elsewhere in the mountains, any one was free to +come and go who did not commit the foolishness of neglecting camp fires, +likely to start forests into blaze, or the supreme treachery of giving +information to the revenue officials about hidden stills. Her eager +curiosity was aroused, more by the mysterious nature of the stranger's +operations than by the fact that they were conducted on her land. + +Having satisfied himself that no one, now, was near, and, therefore, +that he was not watched, the unpleasantly mysterious old man went back +to the work which evidently had brought him hither. With utmost care he +moved about the place, scrutinizing outcropping rocks, and this, as they +were everywhere, meant a minute examination of the land. In his hand he +carried a small hammer, and, with this, now and then, after a careful +visual examination of a rock, he knicked it, here and there, +investigating carefully and even eagerly the scars he made, the bits of +rock which were clipped off, now and then even looking at the latter +through a magnifying glass, which he took for the purpose from a pocket +of his vest. + +She had watched these operations, fascinated, for, possibly, a full half +hour, despite the discomfort of damp clothing, which had begun to chill +her, when she saw signs of violent excitement on the old man's face and +in his actions, after he had chipped a rock, from which he first had had +to scrape a thin superstratum of light soil. + +Like a miner who has found the gold for which, for years, he has been +searching, he arose, with the tiny fragments in his hand, to look at +them with greedy eyes, in a more comfortable, upright posture. His face +had very plainly paled and in his eyes was an expression of such +avaricious eagerness and satisfaction as she had never seen before upon +a human countenance. + +Before he made a sound she knew that he had found that thing for which +he had been seeking. His grizzled countenance, intent as any alchemist's +of old upon his search, and, as its absorption grew, continually less a +pleasant face to contemplate, now twisted, suddenly, into an expression +of incredulous joy. He took the fragment he had been examining in both +his hands and held it close before his eyes. Then he made a minute +search of it with his little magnifying glass. Then he fell upon his +knees, and, with his clawlike fingers, scraped more earth from the rock +whence he had chipped it. + +Satisfied by what he saw there, after he had done this, he rose with a +new expression on his face--so crafty, so exultant, and, withal, so +evil, that Madge involuntarily shrank back to better screening in her +leafy hiding place. + +The old man, with sweeping movements of his heavily booted feet, swept +the thin earth he had scraped from the rock's surface back into its +place, thrust the fragments deep into his pocket, and started hurriedly +away, plainly greatly pleased, along the trail which led into the +valley. She watched him with a beating heart, much puzzled. + +What could it be that he had found, there, on her land? Visions of gold +mines and of diamonds, rose within her mind, crude, unformed, childish, +based on the imperfect knowledge she had gained of such things from the +story-tellers of the mountains. As mountain people go she was, already, +a rich woman, but now dreams of mightier wealth swept through her brain +tumultuously. Ah, she would buy happiness for all her friends when she +had, later on, unearthed the secret treasures of her backwoods clearing! +Maybe she would, sometime, have a _real silk dress_! + +She hurried forward in a stooping run to make examination of the place, +as soon as the old man had vanished down the mountain side, to see (she +thoroughly expected it) the glitter of bright gems or yellow gold +beneath the sand which he had with such care spread back upon the little +scar which he had made there in the earth. With trembling fingers she +pushed back the yellow earth, and found--nothing but black rock, +uncouth, and unattractive. + +She sat there on the ground in her damp skirts, too disappointed, for a +moment, to make an exclamation. In many ways the girl, although well +past her sixteenth year, was but a child. The reaction from the mighty +dreams of fortune she had built almost unnerved her. + +It was her native humor which now saved her. Instead of weeping she +burst into sudden laughter. + +"Dellaw!" said she, aloud. "Ain't I a fool? The man was just a crazy!" + +For some time she sat there in the rocky clearing amidst the litter of +pine-tops and small undergrowth, contemplating her own silliness with +keen amusement. + +"Why, he had me that stirred up," said she, "that I reckoned I was rich +a'ready!" + +But she put the joke aside, to be told upon herself when the first +chance came. Her long hiding in the thicket while she watched the queer +proceedings of the stranger had chilled her through and through. + +Close to the black rock which had so excited him and which she had +uncovered after he had gone, a little forked stick stood upright, and in +its fork, with one end slanted to the ground, a twig of green +witch-hazel still reposed. Beneath the twig a tiny spiral of arizing +smoke showed that here, with these primitive appliances, the treasure +seeker had prepared his dinner, later carefully covering his fire. + +"No matter how queer he was dressed, or what queer things he did," she +told herself, "he sure was mountain-born. This here's a mountain +fireplace, sartin sure." + +She broke dead branches from a pine-top, not far away, but still far +enough so that, with reasonable watching, it would not be endangered by +a fire built on this spot (the old man plainly had considered this when +he made the fire, for the place was almost the only one in all the +clearing free enough from dry pine branches to make fire building safe) +and laid them on the coals which he had buried, but which she now had +carefully uncovered. She would, she had decided, dry her clothes before +she started on the long, cool, woods-road climb up to her cabin. + +Kneeling by the coals and blowing on them, skillfully adjusting +splinters so that they would catch the draft, she soon had started a +small flame. Fed carefully, this grew rapidly. Within five minutes there +was burning on the site of the old man's little cooking-fire a cheerful +blaze of size. Its rushing warmth was very grateful to her, and she held +her hands out to it, then her feet, one after the other, with skirts +lifted daintily, so that her chilled limbs might catch the warmth. + +Invigorated by the pleasant heat, she once more yielded to the urgings +of the bounding spirit of rich youth within her. Even as she had sported +in the water ere the interloper came to interrupt her sylvan bath, now +she sported there about the fire in an impromptu dance, never for a +second uncouth, despite the fact that she was quite untrained; scarcely +less graceful than her merrymaking in the water, although then she had +not been, as now, hampered in her grace of movement by the unlovely +draperies of homespun linsey-woolsey. As she had been a water-nymph, so, +now, she might have been some Druid maid dancing by an altar fire. The +roughness of the ground did not annoy her--her feet had not known +dancing upon polished waxen wood; the lack of spectators did not deter +her--those whom she had learned to know and love, the mountains, trees, +the squirrels, and birds, were there. + +In the very midst of the abandon of this rustic symphony of movement, +the thought came to her that the precious spelling-book was lying on the +rock, near by, quite soaked, neglected. She sped to it and took it to +the fire's edge, where, opening its pages one by one, so that each would +get the warmth, she held it as close as she opined was safe. Having +dried it until she no longer feared the wetting it had had would +seriously harm its usefulness (the lovely smoothness of its magic leaves +was gone, alas! beyond recall) she paused there for a moment, herself +still far from dry, with a bare foot held out to the blaze, and studied +curiously one of the book's pages. + +Thereon the letters of the alphabet, large, ominous, suggestive to her +mind of nothing in the world but curlycues, loomed, mystifying. For the +first time it occurred to her that in securing the small volume she had +not, as she had thought to do, solved the problem of an education. The +characters, she saw to her dismay, meant nothing to her. In the absence +of a teacher she could not learn from them! + +Alas, alas! The matter was a tragedy to her. How could she have been so +stupid as to fail to think of this at first? She stood there with +flushed face, despairing, looking at the mystic symbols with slowly +sinking heart. + +Suddenly, though the crackling of the fire filled her ears, she was +aware, by some subtle sense, that she was now not wholly solitary there. +Without a sound to tell her, she was conscious that some other person +had within the moment come into the clearing. Hastily she looked about. +To her amazement, and, for a moment, to her great dismay, she saw, +standing on the clearing's edge, the young man who had, not long before, +unknowingly invaded her seclusion at the pool. + +Instantly her body became fiercely conscious. Prickling thrills, not due +to bonfire heat, shot over it. Shame sent the blood in mantling blushes +to her cheeks, although she tried to stop it. Why should she blush at +sight of him? True, she had been there in the water, bare as any +new-born babe, when he had reached the pool's edge--but he had not seen +her. To him she, quite undoubtedly, was a mere strange mountain maid, +unrecognized. Self-consciousness then was quite absurd. + +And this man was a stranger and was on her land. She must not forget her +mountain courtesy and fail to make him welcome. + +"Howdy," she said briefly. + +"Howdy, little girl?" said he, and looked at her and smiled. + +This form of address much amused her. She was not far beyond sixteen, +but sixteen is counted womanhood, there in the mountains, and often is +an age for wife--and motherhood as well. "Little girl," to her, seemed +laughable. But then she suddenly remembered that to stop their flapping, +when they were all soaked, against her ankles, she had pinned her skirts +up--and she was not tall. The mistake, perhaps, was natural. + +"Got a fire here?" he inquired, inanely, for the fire was very much in +evidence. + +"Looks like it, don't it?" she said somewhat saucily, but robbed the +comment of offense by smiling somewhat shyly at him as he stood there. + +He was better looking, she reflected, now that she had an unobstructed +view of him, even than he had appeared when she had peered at him from +her concealment behind the log and barricade of rushes. Of course he +was a "foreigner," and, therefore, a mere weakling, not to be considered +seriously as a specimen of sturdy manhood (how often had she heard the +mountain men speak of the lowlands men with scorn as weaklings?) but, +none the less, he interested and attracted her, even if he did not +inspire her with respect. + +He laughed. "It does," said he, "looks very much like it. Been burning +brush?" + +"No," she replied, "jest warmin' up a little." + +"Why, it's not cold." + +"I--I was wet." + +"_Wet?_" said he, astonished. + +She saw her slip, and flushed. "Fell in the crik," she answered briefly, +hastily and falsely. + +"Why, that's too bad," said he, with ready sympathy, unfeigned and real. + +All the time the girl was eying him through often-lowered lashes, and +the more she looked at him the more she felt that he was not, like many +"foreigners," to be distrusted and be held aloof. His clothes did not +suggest to her the "revenuer," although they certainly were different +from any she had ever seen before on man or beast (his knee breeches +gave her some amusement), and he was totally unarmed, having laid his +rifle down and left it at a distance, leaning against a stump. + +His hands and face were not sunburned--indeed, his hands were delicately +fashioned and much whiter than any she had ever seen before on man or +woman. His appearance certainly did not, to her, convey the thought of +strength--and manhood, there among the mountains, is thought to find its +first and last expression through its muscle; yet, for some reason, +although her first glance made her think he was a puny creature, she +neither scorned nor pitied him. He was, perhaps, too smoothly dressed, +too carefully shaved; the gun he had laid down so carelessly had too +much "bright work" on it--but on the whole, she liked him. A city maiden +might have well been dazzled by the really handsome chap. This simple +country girl was not--but, on the whole, she liked him. + +Her hand which held the spelling-book dropped, unconsciously, so that +the open pages of the volume were revealed, upside down, against her +knee. + +"Studying your lessons?" he inquired, quite casually, good-naturedly, +coming nearer. + +Again her disappointment rushed upon her. Impulsively she told him of +it. + +"Oh," said she, "I don't know how! I bought me this yere book down in +th' settlement, an' thought I'd learn things outen it. But how'm I goin' +to learn? I can't make nothin' out of it to get a start with." + +Instantly the pathos of this situation, not its humor, made appeal to +him. + +"Isn't there a school here?" he inquired. + +"Nearest school is twenty mile acrost, over on Turkey Creek," she said +briefly. "Oncet there was a nearer one, but teacher was a Hatfield, and +McCoys got him, of course. This was McCoy kentry 'fore they all got so +killed off. He ought to 'a' knowed better than come over here to teach." + +This casual reference to a famous feud--news of whose infamy had spread +far, far beyond the mountains which had hatched it--from the lips of one +so young and lovely (for he had long ago admitted to himself that as she +stood there she was lovelier than any being he had ever seen before) +appalled Frank Layson, son of level regions, graduate of Harvard, casual +sportsman, amateur mountaineer, who had come to look over his patrimony +and the country round about. + +"Ah--yes," said he, and frowned. And then: "It leaves you in hard luck, +though, doesn't it, if you want to learn and can't," said he. + +"It sartin does, for--oh, I _do_ hanker powerful to learn!" + +"May I stay here by the fire with you a while and get warm, too," he +asked. (The unaccustomed exercise of tramping through the mountains had +kept him in a fever heat all day.) + +"An' welcome," she said cordially, moving aside a bit, so that he could +approach without the circumnavigation of a mighty stump. + +He could not tell whether or not she had made note of many sweat-beads +on his brow and wondered at them on a chilly man. + +"Perhaps," said he, "I might, in a few minutes, show you a little about +what you want to know. I've been lucky. I have had a chance to learn." + +She liked the way he said it. There was no hint of superiority about it. +He was not "stuck up," in his claim of knowledge. He "had had a chance," +and took no credit to himself for it. This pleased her, won her +confidence--if, already, that had not been done by his frank face, in +spite of his fancy clothes and her assumption that he was a namby-pamby +weakling. + +"Oh--if you would!" she said, so eagerly that it seemed to him most +pitiful. + +So, five minutes later, when all her clothing save her heavy outer +skirt, had been quite dried there by the fire, and that same fire's +abounding warmth had sent his temperature up to high discomfort mark, +they sat down, side by side, upon a log, the spelling-book between them, +and he began the pleasant task of teaching her her A, B, Cs. + +"'A,'" said he, "is this one at the very start." + +"The peaked one," said she. + +"Yes, that one. + +"And 'B,'" he went on, much amused, but with a perfectly grave face, "is +this one with two loops fastened, so, to a straight stalk." + +"I know where thar _is_ a bee-tree," she remarked, irrelevantly. + +"It will help recall this in your mind," said he, maintaining perfect +gravity, "imagine it with two big loops of rope fastened to one side of +it--" + +"Rope wouldn't stick out that-a-way," said she, "it would just droop. +They'd have to be of somethin' stiffen" + +"Well--" said he, and tried to think of something. + +"You could use that railroad-iron that I saw 'em heat red-hot an' bend, +down in the valley," she suggested. + +"That's it," said he. "Two loops of railroad-iron fastened to a +bee-tree" (he pointed) "just as these loops, here, are fastened to the +straight black stem. That's 'B.'" + +"I won't forget," said she, her beautiful young brow puckered earnestly +as she stored the knowledge in her brain. + +"And this is 'C,'" said he. + +"'C,' 'C'" said she. "Jest take off one of th' loops an' use it by +itself." + +"That's so," said he. "And here is 'D'" + +"Cut off th' top th' tree," said she. "Just cut it plumb off, loop an' +all." + +He laughed. It was clear that she would be an earnest and quick-thinking +pupil to whomever had the task of giving her her education. + +As he looked at her, now, he for the first time fully realized her +beauty. He had known, from the first, that she was most attractive, most +unusual for a mountain maid; but now, laughing, although her head was +still bent to the book, her big eyes, sparkling with her merriment, +raised frankly to his face, were revelations to him. He had not seen +such eyes before, and all the old-time similes for deep-brown orbs +sprang instantly to mind. "Fathomless pools," "translucent amber"--no +simile would really describe them. Late hours had never dimmed them, +illness had never made them heavy, he was sure a lie had never made them +shift from their straight gaze for one short second. He had not seen +such eyes in cities! + +And from careful contemplation of the eyes, he kept on with a careful +contemplation of the other beauties of his fair and unexpected pupil. +Her homespun gown, always ill-shaped and now unusually protuberant in +spots, unusually tight in others, because of its late wetting and +impromptu, partial drying, could not hide the sylvan grave of her +small-boned and lissome figure, just budding into womanhood. Her feet, +crossed on the ground, were as patrician in their nakedness as any +bluegrass belle's in satin slippers. Her ankles, scratched by casual +thorns and already beginning to blush brown from the June sun's ardent +kisses, were as delicate as any he had ever seen enmeshed in silken +hose. Her hands, long, slender, taper-fingered, actually dainty, +although brown and roughened by hard labor, were, it seemed to him, +better fitted for the fingering of a piano's keys than for the coarse +and heavy tasks to which he knew they must be well accustomed. He gazed +at her in veritable wonder. How had she blossomed, thus, here in this +wilderness? + +"Where do you live?" he asked, interrupting their scholastic efforts. + +"Up thar," she pointed, and, above, he could just see the top of a +mud-and-stick chimney rise above a crag between the trees. + +"Have you brothers or sisters?" + +"Ain't got nobody," she answered, and to her face there came a look of +keen resentment rather than of sorrow or of resignation. "I'm all th' +feud left," she said simply. She looked at Layson quickly, wondering if +he would be surprised that she should not have fought and also died. +"Girl cain't fight alone, much," she went on, in hurried explanation, +or, rather, quick excuse. "I might take a shot if I should git a chanst, +but I ain't had none, an', besides, I guess it air plum wrong to kill, +even if there's blood scores to be settled up. I toted 'round a rifle +with me till last fall, but then I give it up. They won't git me--but +maybe you don't know what feuds are in the mountings, here." + +He was looking at her with new interest. All his life he had heard much +about the dreadful mountain feuds. As the bogey-man is used in Eastern +nurseries, so are the mountaineers used in the nurseries of old Kentucky +and of Tennessee to frighten children with. Their family fights, not +less persistent or less deadly than the enmities between the warring +barons of the Rhine in middle ages, form a magnificent foundation for +dire tales. + +"Yes," said he, "I know about the feuds, of course. But you--" + +It did not seem possible to him, even after her frank statements, that +this bright and joyous creature could in any way be joined to such a +bloody history as he knew the histories of some of these long feuds to +be. + +"It's been thirty years an' better," said the girl, "since the Brierlys +and Lindsays had some trouble about a claybank filly an' took to +shootin' one another--shootin' straight an' shootin' often an' to kill. +For years th' fight went on. They fired on sight, an' sometimes 'twas a +Lindsay went an' sometimes 'twas a Brierly. Bimeby there was just two +men left--my pappy an' Lem Lindsay. + +"One day Lem sent word to my pappy to meet him without no weepons an' +shake han's an' make it up." + +Her face took on a look of bitterness and hate which almost made her +hearer shiver, so foreign was it to the fresh, young brightness he had +watched till now. + +"My daddy come, at th' ap'inted time," she went on slowly, "but dad--he +knowed Lem Lindsay, an' never for a minute trusted him. He ast a friend +of his, Ben Lorey, to be a hidden witness. Ben hid behind a rock to +watch. 'Twas right near here--just over thar." She pointed. + +"Soon Lem, he come along, a-smilin' like a Judast, an', after some fine +speakin', as daddy offered him his hand, Lem whipped out a knife, +an'--an' struck it into my daddy's heart." + +The girl's recital had been tense, dramatic, not because she had tried +or thought to make it so--she had never learned not to be genuine--but +because of the real and tragic drama in the tale she told, the +matter-of-course way in which she told it. + +It made Layson shudder. What sort of people were these mountaineers who +went armed to friendly meetings and struck down the men whose hands they +offered to clasp? Where was the other man while his friend's enemy was +at this dreadful work? + +"But Lorey," said her fascinated listener, "the man who was in hiding as +a witness, made him pay for his outrageous act!" + +"No," said the girl, with drooping head. "He stepped out from behind the +rock where he was hidin', an' he pulled the trigger of his rifle. But +luck was dead against us that day. Wet powder--somethin'--nobody knows +what. The gun did not go off. Before he got it well down from his +shoulder so's to find out what it was that ailed it, Lem Lindsay was +upon him like a mountain lion--an' he laid him thar beside my daddy. He +didn't mean that there should be no witnesses." + +She paused so long that Layson was about to speak, feeling the silence +troublesome and painful, but before he had decided what to say in +comment on a tale so dreadful, she went on: + +"He didn't mean there should be no witnesses, Lem Lindsay didn't, but as +it happened there was two. My mother, me clasped in her arms, had stole +after my daddy, fearin' that somethin' wicked would come out o' that +there meetin' with his old-time enemy. She spoke up sudden, an' +surprised th' murderer, standin' there by th' two poor men he'd killed. +At first it scared him. I can't remember everythin' about that awful +day, but I can see Lem Lindsay's face as she screamed at him, just as +plain this minute as I seed it then. I'll never forget that look if I +live a thousand years! + +"At first he was struck dumb, but then that passed. He give a yell of +rage an' started toward us on th' run. She jumped, with me a-hinderin' +her. Like a mountain deer she run, in spite of that. She was lighter on +her feet than he was upon his, an' soon outdistanced him. He hadn't +stopped to pick his rifle up--he only had th' knife he'd done th' +killin' with, so he couldn't do what he'd 'a' liked to done--shoot down +a woman an' a baby! + +"We lived where I live now, alone, an' then, as now, there was a little +bridge that took th' footpath over th' deep gully. Them days was wicked +ones in these here mountains, an' daddy'd had that foot-bridge fixed so +it would raise. My mother just had time to pull it up, when we had +crossed, before Lem Lindsay reached there. He stopped, to keep from +fallin' in the gully, but stood there, shakin' his bare fist an' +swearin' that he'd kill us yet. But that he couldn't do. Folks was +mightily roused, and he had to leave th' mountings, then an' thar, an' +ain't been in 'em since, so far as anybody knows." + +Her brows drew down upon her eyes. Her sweet mouth hardened. "He'd +better _never_ come!" she added, grimly. + +After a moment's pause she went on, slowly: "So, now, here we be--Joe +Lorey, Ben's son, an' me. My mother died, you see, not very many years +after Lindsay'd killed my daddy. Seein' of it done, that way, had been +too much for her. I reckon seein' it would have killed me, too, if I'd +been more'n a baby, but I wasn't, an' lived through it. Ben's lived +here, workin' his little mounting farm, an'--an'--" + +She hesitated, evidently ill at ease, strangely stammering over an +apparently simple and unimportant statement of the condition of her +fellow orphan. She changed color slightly. Layson, watching her, decided +that the son of the one victim must be the sweetheart of the daughter of +the other, and would have smiled had not the very thought, to his +surprise, annoyed him unaccountably. Whether that was what had caused +her stammering, he could not quite decide, although he gave the matter +an absurd amount of thought. She went on quickly: + +"He's lived here, workin' of his little mounting farm an'--an'--an' +doin' jobs aroun', an' such, an' I've lived here, a-workin' mine, a +little, but not much. After my mother died there was some folks down in +th' valley took keer of me for a while, but then they moved away, an' I +was old enough to want things bad, an' what I wanted was to come back +here, where I could see th' place where mother an' my daddy had both +loved me an' been happy. I've got some land down in th' valley--fifty +acres o' fine pasture--but I never cared to live down there. Th' rent I +get for that land makes me rich--I ain't never wanted for a single thing +but just th' love an' carin' that my daddy an' my mother would 'a' give +me if that wicked man hadn't killed 'em both. For he _did_ kill my +mother, just as much as he killed daddy. She died o' that an' that +alone." + +Again she fell into a silence for a time, looking out at the tremendous +prospect spread before them, quite unseeing. + +"Oh," she went on, at length, her face again darkened by a frown, her +small hands clenched, every muscle of her lithe young body drawn as taut +as a wild animal's before a spring. "I sometimes feel as if I'd like to +do as other mountain women have been known to do when killin' of that +sort has blackened all their lives--I sometimes feel as if I'd like to +take a rifle in my elbow an' go lookin' for that man--go lookin' for him +in th' mountings, in th' lowlands, anywhere--even if I had to cross th' +oceans that they tell about, in order to come up with him!" + +Her voice had been intensely vibrant with strong passion as she said +this, and her quivering form told even plainer how deep-seated was the +hate that gave birth to her words. But soon she put all this excitement +from her and dropped her hands in a loose gesture of hopeless +relaxation. + +"But I know such thoughts are foolish," she said drearily. "He got away. +A girl can't carry on a feud alone, nohow. There's nothin' I can do." + +Again, now, with a passing thought, her features lighted as another +maiden's, whose young life had been cast by fate in gentler places might +have lighted at the thought of some great pleasure pending in the +future. + +"There is a chance, though," she said, with a fierce joy, "that Lem +Lindsay, if he is alive, 'll git th' bullet that he earned that day. Joe +Lorey's livin'--that's Ben's son--an' he--well, maybe, some time--ah, he +can shoot as straight as anybody in these mountings!" + +The look of a young tigress was on her face. + +It made the young man who was listening to her shudder--the look upon +her face, the voice with which she said "And he can shoot as straight as +anybody in these mountings!" For a second it revolted him. Then, +getting a fairer point of view, he smiled at her with a deep sympathy, +and waited. + +He had not to wait long before a gentler mood held dominance. It came, +indeed, almost at once. + +"No," she said slowly, "a girl can't carry on a feud alone, nohow.... +And, somehow, when I think of it most times, I really don't want to. +It's only now an' then I get stirred up, like this. Most times I'd +rather learn than--go on fightin' like we-all always have.... I'd rather +learn, somehow.... An'--an'--an' that's been mighty hard--_is_ mighty +hard" + +"You--haven't had much chance," said he, looking at her pityingly. + +She gave him a quick glance. Had she really thought he pitied her she +would have bitterly resented it. + +"Had th' same chance other mounting girls have," she said quickly, +defending, not herself, but her country and her people. + +She stood, now, at a distance from the fire, for it was blazing merrily, +but her face was flushed by its radiant heat, its lurid blaze made a +fine background for the supple, swaying beauty of her slim young body. +She raised her arms high, high above her head, with that same +genuineness of gesture, graceful and appealing, which he had seen in all +her movements from the first and then clasped them at her breast. + +"But oh," said she, "somehow, I want to learn, now, terrible!" + +"Let me help you while I'm in the mountains," he replied, impulsively. +"I'll be glad to help you every day." + +"Would you?" she said. "I would be powerful thankful!" Her bright eyes +expressed the gratitude she felt. + +While they had talked a strange paradox had come about there by the fire +without their notice. The long, black outcropping of rock against which +they had brought the old man's blaze to life, had, instead of keeping +the fire from spreading to the undergrowth, strangely permitted it to +pass. + +It was the girl who first discovered this. She sprang up from her place +with a startled exclamation. + +"Oh," said she, "th' fire is spreadin'!" + +He rose quickly to his feet. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +They were appalled by the predicament in which they found themselves. +The thing seemed quite mysterious. + +The rock against which the fire had been built was all aglow, as if it +had been heated in a furnace till red hot--strange circumstance; one +that would have fascinated Layson into elaborate investigation had he +had the time to think about it--and, beyond it, evidently communicated +through it as a link, the rustling leaves of the past autumn, their +surface layers sun-dried, were bursting into glittering little points of +flame all about the narrow ledge of rock on which they were standing. As +they gazed, before Layson could rush forward to stamp out these +sparkling perils, the fire had spread, as the girl, wise in the direful +ways of brush-fires, had known at once that it would spread, to the +encircling pine-tops, left in a tinder barricade about the clearing by +the sawyers and the axemen. + +"Oh," she said, distressed, "we're ketched!" + +Layson, less conscious of their peril because less well informed as to +the almost explosive inflammability of dry pine-tops, took the matter +less seriously. "We'll get out, all right," said he. "Don't worry." + +"There's times _to_ worry," said the girl, "an' this, I reckon--well, +it's one of 'em." + +As if to prove the truth of what she said, with a burst almost like that +of flame's leap along a powder-line, the fire caught one resinous +pine-top after another with a crackling rush which was not only +fearfully apparent to the eye, but also ominously audible. Within ten +seconds the pair were ringed by sound like that of crackling musketry +upon a battlefield, and by a pyrotechnic spectacle of terrifying +magnitude. Layson had heard guns pop in untrained volleys at State Guard +manoeuvres, and was instantly impressed by the amazing similarity of +sound, but he had never in his life seen anything to be compared to the +towering ring of flame-wall which almost instantly encircled them. He +lost, perhaps, a minute, in astonished contemplation of the situation. +Then realization of their peril burst upon him with a rush. To wait +there, where they were, too evidently meant certain death. Not only +would the pulsing heat from the pine-tops already burning soon become +unendurable, but there was enough of tindrous litter strewn about the +entire area of the little clearing to make it horribly apparent to him +that, in a moment, it would all become a bed of glittering flame. He +gazed at the menacing, encroaching fire, appalled. + +Madge, understanding the desperation of their situation even better than +he did, knowing, too, that a stranger could, indeed, scarce conceive the +deadly peril of it, was, at first, the cooler of the two. Her life there +in the mountains, where any man she knew might meet, and her own father +had met, death stalking with a rifle in his bended elbow, or a knife +clutched in his clenched hand, had given her a certain poise in time of +peril, an admirable self-control, quick wits, firm nerves. She felt that +there was small chance of escape, yet she was not visibly terrified, and +made no outcry. + +Had she been caught, thus, with a mountaineer (which scarcely could have +happened) she would have felt small apprehension. Learned in the perils +of the woods, heavy-booted, sturdy-legged, a native, like Joe Lorey, for +example, would, she felt quite certain, have been able to effect her +rescue. But the chances, she decided, were practically nil, with this +untrained "foreigner" as her companion. She had been told that +"bluegrass folks" were lacking in strong nerves and prone to panic if +real danger threatened. Barefooted as she was, there was little she, +herself, could do. She knew that she would quickly fall unconscious from +intolerable pain if she so much as tried to make a dash for safety. That +she was badly frightened she would have readily admitted, that she was +panic-stricken none who looked at her could, for a moment, dream. + +She glanced at Layson with a curiosity which was almost calm, as, for a +moment quite bewildered, he ran from side to side of their rapidly +narrowing space of safety, endeavoring to find a weak spot in the wall +of flames through which they might escape, but failing everywhere. For a +moment she thought that he had lost his head, and thus proved all too +true those tales which she had heard of "foreigners." It was almost as +one race gazing at another suffering ordeal in test, that she observed +his every movement, each detail of his facial play. While they had sat +there on the log, intent upon their work above her spelling-book, she +had wondered if the harsh, uncharitable mountain judgment of the +"foreigners" had not been too merciless. Now she felt that she began to +see its justification. The man, undoubtedly, she thought, showed an +unmanly panic. + +"No use tryin' to get out that-a-way," she said calmly. "You'd better--" + +Even as she spoke, and before her words could possibly have influenced +him, she saw a change come over him. The signs of fear, which had so +displeased her, faded from his actions and his facial play. Placed in +unusual, unexpected circumstances, for a second he had been bewildered, +but, as soon as opportunity had come for gathering of wits, he found +composure, coolness, nerve. She did not even finish out her sentence. +Instead, her thoughts turned to that acme of breeding, nerve, endurance +and high spirit dear to all Kentuckians, the race horse. "He's found his +feet!" she thought. + +The man impressed her, now, even more than when, with courtesy, such as +she had never known, tact which had maintained her comfort when she +might have felt humiliated, learning which to her seemed marvellous, he +had offered her the key to learning's mysteries upon the log. She saw +that he had quickly won a mighty victory over self. She thought of tales +which she had heard by mountain fireplaces about "bad men," who, when +they first had heard a bullet's song, had dodged and whitened, only to +recover quickly and be nerved to peril evermore thereafter. Her doubt of +Layson fell away completely. Instead of thinking of him as of one whose +manhood is inferior to that of the rough mountaineers she knew, perforce +she saw in him superiorities. There was not the least sign of +bragadocio, of counterfeit, about his new-found calm. It was, she +recognized at once, entirely genuine. "Rattled for a minute," she +thought, wisely, again amending her first judgment, "but cooler, now, +than cucumbers." + +She looked gravely at him as he moved about investigating, not +excitedly, alertly, full of the necessary business of escape. "Looks +bad, don't it?" she said gravely. "Like powder, them thar pine-tops." + +"Oh, we'll get out all right," he answered, easily, and now she felt a +comfort in the fact that he was intentionally minimizing danger to give +confidence to the supposed weakness of her sex. + +"Maybe so an' maybe not," said she, discovering, to her disgust, that it +was hard, now that he was showing strength, to keep the panic tremolo +from her own voice. + +The fire had, by this time, encircled them completely, and from a +hundred points was running in toward them on tinder lines of dry +pine-needles and old leaves, flashing at them viciously along the crisp, +dry surface of old moss and lichens on the rocks. A wind had suddenly +arisen, born, no doubt, of the fire's own mighty draft. Bits of blazing +light wood, small, burning branches, myriads of flaming oak leaves and +pine-cones were swept up from the ring of fire about them, in the +chimney of the blaze, to lose their impetus only at a mighty height, and +then fall slowly, threateningly down within the burning ring. So +plentiful were these little, vicious menaces, that, within another +minute, they were dodging them continually. + +He now took his place close by her side and gazed upon the spectacle, +calm-eyed, as if he found it interesting rather more than terrifying. + +"Oh, we'll get out, all right," said he, again. + +And then he turned to her in frank and unexcited inquiry. To her +increased disgust the sobs of growing fear convulsed her throat. She +fought them back and listened to his question. + +"You know more about woods-fires than I do," he said evenly. "Better +tell me what to do, eh?" + +This confession of his ignorance strengthened her growing confidence in +him instead of weakening it. The fact that he could ask advice so calmly +made her think that, probably, he would be calm in taking it if she +could offer it. It steadied her and helped her think. And then she saw +him spring, and, actually with a smile, strike in the air above her +head, diverting from its downward path which would have landed it upon +her, a flaming fragment of pine-top fully five feet long. He actually +laughed. + +"Like handball," he said cheerily. "Don't worry. I won't let anything +fall on you. You just--_think!_" + +Her panic, now, had vanished as by magic. Instantly she really _ceased_ +to worry. He would _not_ let fire fall on her. He would get her out of +that. She was certain of it. She _could_ think--calmly and with care. + +But she could not think of a way out--at least she could not think of a +way out for her. Barefooted as she was, she scarcely could expect to +find, even in her strong young body, strength enough to endure the pain +of treading, as she would be forced to if she made a dash, on an almost +unbroken bed of glowing coals and smouldering moss ten yards in width. +He, with his heavy boots, might manage it. Therefore there was hope for +him; but for her to try it would be madness. + +Had he been a sturdy mountaineer, she wofully reflected--having found a +detail of lowland inferiority which, she was quite certain, would not be +dispelled as had some others--he might, in such a desperate case, have +summoned strength to "tote" her through, although she scarcely thought +Joe Lorey, the best man whom she knew, could really do it; still there +would have been the possibility. But no weak-muscled "foreigner," +pap-nurtured in the lowlands, could, she knew, of course, accomplish +such a feat. It was fine to know things, as he did, but _muscle_ was +what counted now! In queer, impersonal reflection, born, doubtless, of a +dumb hysteria, she reflected bitterly upon the healthy weight of her own +mountain-nourished person. + +"If I was only like them triflin' bluegrass gals Joe tells about," she +thought, "made up of nothin' or a little less, it wouldn't be no trick +to tote me outen this; but dellaw! I'm just as much as that there ox of +mine feels right to carry when I got a couple bags o' grist on, back an' +front." + +She looked around the ring of fire, dull-eyed, disheartened. "Ain't no +use," said she, aloud. + +He seemed to almost lose his temper. "Use?" said he, "of course there's +use! You tell me where the best chance is and we'll fight out, all +right." + +She did not even answer; the situation seemed to her so wholly +hopeless. + +He acted, then, without further question. Hastily throwing the loop of +his gun over his shoulder, he crooked one arm beneath her +much-astonished knees, clasped another tight about her waist, and +started for the fire with a determined spring. + +"No, no; not there!" she screamed, astonished, terrified, and yet, +withal, delighted by the unexpected hardness of the muscles in the arms +which held her, the unexpected spring in the apparently not overburdened +limbs which bore them up, the unexpected nerve, determination of the +man's initiative. + +This "foreigner," it seemed, was not so weak, was not so namby-pamby as +his class had been described to be. She did not struggle in the circling +arms, she only made an explanation. + +"That's hard wood, burnin' there," said she. "Burnin' hard wood's harder +to break through an' hotter, too. Try some place where it's pine.... But +you can't never do it!" + +"Where?" said he. "Show me! You know, I don't." + +"Well--over thar," she said, and indicated, with a pointing hand, the +place in the encircling conflagration where passage seemed least +hopeless. + +At that moment fire blazed high there, but her knowing eye told her that +it was largely flaring needles, brittle twigs, and easily dissipated +cones which fed it. + +A few great springs, such as she now felt that the quivering, eager +limbs which held her, were possessed of the ability to make, might take +them through this flimsiest spot in the terrible barricade. The +crackling, burning branches of the dead pine-tops would be likely to +give way before them, not to trip them up, as oak would, to thrust them, +falling, on the bed of glowing coals fast forming on the ground. + +"Over thar," said she, again. "I reckon that's the best place--but you +cain't--" + +With the new respect the knowledge of his trained and ready muscles +brought to her, arose in her a towering admiration of him. When she +first had seen him, there beside the pool, she definitely had liked him; +while they had delved into the mysteries of the alphabet upon the log +his patient, willing, helpful kindness had increased her prepossession +in his favor. It was only when, after disaster had so swiftly, so +unexpectedly, descended on them and she had compared his body, made +apparently more slender in comparison to the rude-limbed mountaineers +she knew than it was really by tight-fitting knickerbockers and +golf-stockings and its well-cut shooting-jacket, that she had lost +confidence in him. But now his muscles, closing round her, seemed like +thews of steel. She had never heard of athletes, she did not dream that +muscle-building is a part of modern education--that alertness on the +baseball, polo, football fields, count quite as much, at least in +college popularity, as ready tongues and agile wits. The last fibres of +destroyed respect for him rebuilt themselves upon the minute. Her +confidence returned completely in a sudden flash--quicker than the magic +leapings of the fire about them. She knew that he would take her through +to safety. + +A thought occurred to her, for, suddenly, with the new respect for him +the knowledge of his trained and ready muscles gave her, arose a new +consideration for him, almost motherly. He would be breasting dreadful +peril in the passage of the flames--peril to his eyes and face and +clinging, tight-clasped hands especially. And round her limbs there was +the means of saving him, in part, from it. + +"You let me down for just a minute," she said briefly. "Just a minute. +Then I'll let you take me up an' carry me. An' you can _do_ it, too! +You're strong, ain't you?" + +Wondering, he released his hold on her, and she slid to her feet. Then, +with a quick movement, she unbuttoned the waistband of her outer skirt, +and, letting it slip down to the ground, stepped out of it. + +"Ain't it lucky I got wet?" said she, and smiled. "It ain't more'n half +dry yet. The under one is wet, too, and both of 'em are wool--and that +don't burn like cotton would. + +"Now pick me up again an' I'll just fix this +skirt--so--there--now--that's the way. Can you see, now? All right? +Well, it'll keep th' fire from catchin' in our hair, an' it'll save your +eyes." + +[Illustration: A MIGHTY LEAP HAD CARRIED THEM BEYOND THE BLAZING +BARRIER] + +He laughed. "That's fine!" said he, and, almost before she realized that +they were under way, a mighty leap had taken them close to the blazing +barrier, another one had landed them within its very midst, another one +had carried them beyond its greatest menace, another had delivered them +from actual peril, leaving them on ground where filmy grass, dead +leaves, dry needles, had blazed quickly, with a consuming flash, and, +utterly and almost instantly destroyed, had left behind them only thin, +hot ash, devoid of peril, scarce to be considered. + +But he did not let her feet touch ground again until they were even +beyond this. Finally, when they reached a rocky "barren," where the +little fire had found no fuel, she felt his tautened thews relax. + +Instantly she slipped from his encircling arms, and he began to whip the +flames in grass and little brush close to them with the dampened skirt. +Even on the little isle of safety they found it necessary, still, to +agilely avoid innumerable bits of floating "light-wood" brands, and, for +a time, to beat, beat at the hungry little flames around them, but, at +last, the danger was all over, and they stood there, looking at each +other, with a sense of great relief. He smiled, breathing hard, but not +exhausted. + +"Tight work, eh?" he said cheerfully. + +"Jest _wonderful_!" she answered, with a ready tribute. + +Then the memory of his embracing arm, the fact that her own arms had +been as tightly clasped about his neck, came to her with a rush, +although, while they had raced across the burning strip she had not +thought of these things. Shyness stirred in her almost as definitely as +it had while she lay hidden at the pool's mouth, watching him and +tingling with shamed thrills at thought of her amazing plight there. No +man had ever had his arms about her in her life before. + +But, even while she blushed and thrilled with this embarrassment, she +fought to put it from her. He, evidently, had not thought of it at all, +was, now, not thinking of it. What had been done had been a part of the +day's work, a quick move, made in an emergency, when nothing else would +serve. His attitude restored her own composure. + +And gratitude welled in her. She struggled to find words for it. + +"I--I'm much obleeged to you," were all she found, and she was conscious +of their most complete inadequacy. + +"No reason why you should be," he said gayly. "We got caught in a tight +place, that's all, and we helped one another out of it." + +She laughed derisively. "I helped _you_ out a lot, now didn't I?" she +asked. + +Again she made a survey of him, standing where he had been when he had +loosed his hold of her, unwearied, smiling, and she looked with actual +wonder. Good clothes and careful speech were not, of a necessity, the +outward signs of weaklings, it appeared! + +Joe Lorey, in a dozen talks with her, had told her that they were. She +did not understand that this had been a clumsy and short-sighted +strategy, that, finding her more difficult than other mountain +girls--the handsome, sturdy young hill-dweller had not been without his +conquests among the maidens of his kind; only Madge had baffled him--he +had feared that, now when the railroad building in the valley had +brought so many "foreigners" into the neighborhood, one of them might +fascinate her, and it had been to guard against this, as well as he was +able, that he had spoken slightingly of the whole class. He had +delighted in repeating to her tales belittling them, deriding them, and +she, of course, had quite believed his stories. + +But her experience with this one had not justified that point of view, +and the matter largely occupied her thoughts as they walked slowly +through the thickets of a bit of "second-growth" beyond the fire, which, +stopped by the rocky "barrens," was dying out behind them. Her +companion was, to her, an utterly new sort of being, not better trained +in mind alone, but better trained in body than any mountaineer she knew; +doubtless ignorant of many details of woods-life which would be known to +any child there in the mountains, but, on the other hand, even more +resourceful, daring, quick, than mountain men would have been, similarly +placed, and, to her amazement, physically stronger, too! + +The fact that he had shown himself more thoughtful of and courteous to +her than any other man had ever been before, made its impression, but a +slighter one. Hers were the instincts of true wisdom, and she valued +these things less than many of her city sisters might, although she +valued them, of course. She looked slyly, wonderingly at him. He was a +very pleasant, very admirable sort of creature--this visitor from the +unknown, outside world. She quite decided that she did not even think +his knickerbockers foolish, after all. + +For a moment, even now, she thrilled unpleasantly with a mean suspicion +that he might be a "revenuer," after all, and have done the good things +he had done as a part of that infernal craft which revenuers sometimes +showed when searching for the hidden stills where "moonshine" whisky is +illegally produced among the mountains; but she put this thought out of +her heart, indignantly, almost as quickly as it came to her. +Instinctively she felt quite certain that duplicity did not form any +portion of his nature. They had not been traitor's arms which had so +bravely (and so firmly) clasped her for the quick and risky dash across +that terrifying belt of fire! + +"No," said she, determined to give him fullest measure of due credit, "I +didn't help you none. I didn't help you none--an' you did what I don't +believe any other man I ever knew could do. I'm--" + +Again she paused, again at loss for words, again the quest failed +wholly. + +"I'm much obleeged," said she. + +Then, suddenly, the thought came to her of that other and less +prepossessing "foreigner" whom, that day, she had seen there in her +mountains. She described him carefully to Layson, and asked if he could +guess who he had been and what his business could have been. +Descriptions are a sorry basis for the recognition of a person thought +to be far miles away, a person unassociated in one's mind with the +surroundings he has suddenly appeared in; and, therefore, Layson, who +really knew the man and who, had he identified him with the unknown +visitor, would have been surprised, intensely curious, and, possibly, +suspicious, could offer her no clue to his identity. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +That same "foreigner," for a "foreigner," was acting strangely. Surely +he was dressed in a garb hitherto almost unknown in the rough mountains, +certainly none of the mountaineers whom he had met (and he had met, with +plain unwillingness, a few, as he had climbed up to the rocky clearing +where his fire had blossomed so remarkably) had recognized him. But, +despite all this, it was quite plain that he was traveling through a +country of which he found many details familiar. Now and then a little +vista caught his view and held him for long minutes while he seemed to +be comparing its reality with pictures of it stored within his memory; +again he paused when he discovered that some whim of tramping +mountaineers or roaming cattle, some landslide born of winter frosts; +some blockade of trees storm-felled, had changed the course of an old +path. Always, in a case like this, he investigated carefully before he +definitely started on the new one. + +When he had first come into the neighborhood he had made his way with +caution, almost as if fearing to be seen, but now, after the bits of +rocks which he had taken from Madge Brierly's clearing, had slipped into +his pocket, he used double care in keeping from such routes as showed +the marks of many recent footsteps, in sly investigations to make sure +the paths he chose were clear of other wayfarers. His nerves evidently +on keen edge, he seemed to fear surprise of some unpleasant sort. Each +crackling twig, as he passed through the thickets, each rustling of a +frightened rabbit as it scuttled from his path, each whir of startled +grouse, or sudden call of nesting king-bird, made him pause cautiously +until he had quite satisfied himself that it meant nothing to be feared. +He was ever carefully alert for danger of some sort. + +But not even his continual alarms, his constant watchfulness, could keep +his mind away from the rough bits of rock which he had chipped from the +outcropping in the clearing. More than once, as he found convenient and +safe places--leafy nooks in rocky clefts, glades in dense, impenetrable +thickets--he took out the little specimens, turned them over in his +hands with loving touches, and gazed at them with an expression of +picturesquely avaricious joy. Had any witnessed this procedure they +would have found it vastly puzzling, for the specimens seemed merely +small, black stones and valueless. But once, while looking at them +lovingly, he burst into a harsh and hearty laugh as of great triumph, +quite involuntarily; but hushed it quickly, looking, then, about him +with an apprehensive glance. Each step he made was, in the main, a +cautious one, each pause he made was plainly to look at some familiar, +if some slightly altered, vista. + +It was quite clear that with the finding of the little bits of rock he +had achieved the errand which had brought him to the mountains, and that +now he roamed to satisfy his memory's curiosity. Smiles of recognition +constantly played upon his grim and grizzled face at sight of some old +path, some distant, mist-enshrouded crag, even some mighty pine or oak +which had for years withstood the buffeting of tempestuous storms; now +and then a little puzzled frown, added its wrinkles to the many which +already creased his brow, when, at some spot which he had thought to +find as he had left it, long ago, he discovered that time's changes had +been notable. + +Once only did the man become confused among the woods-paths (where a +stranger might have lost himself quite hopelessly in twenty minutes) and +that was at a point not far from where Madge Brierly and Layson had, on +their way up from the clearing, paused while she told her youthful +escort of the grim but simple tragedy of her feud-darkened childhood. +Before the old man reached this spot he had been traveling with puzzled +caution, for a time, across a slope rough-scarred by some not ancient +landslide which had changed the superficial contour of the +mountain-side. When, suddenly, he debouched upon the rocky crag, hung, a +rustic, natural platform above a gorgeous panorama of the valley, the +view came to him, evidently, as a sharp, a startling, most unpleasant +shock. + +That the place was quite familiar to him none who watched him would have +doubted, but no smiles of pleasant memories curved his thin, unpleasant +lips as he surveyed it. He did not pause there, happily, communing with +his memory in smiling reminiscence as he had at other points along the +way. Instead, as the great view burst upon his gaze, he started back as +if the outlook almost terrified him. He had been traveling astoop, +partly because the burden of his years weighed heavy on his shoulders, +partly as if his muscles had unconsciously reverted to the easy, +slouching, climbing-stoop of the Kentucky mountaineer. But at sight of +this especial spot his attitude changed utterly, the whole expression, +not of his face, alone, but of his body, altered. His stoop became a +crouch. His hands flew out before him as if, with them, he strove to +ward away the charming scene. His feet paused in their tracks, as if +struck helpless and immovable by what his eyes revealed to him. + +For a full moment, almost without moving, he stood there, fascinated by +some old association, plainly, for there was nothing in the prospect +which, to an actual stranger, would have seemed more notable than +details of a dozen other views which he had peered at through his +half-closed, weather-beaten eyes within the hour. Here, clearly, was the +arena of some great event in his past life--an arena which he gladly +would have never seen again. His face went pale beneath its coat of tan, +his shoulders trembled slightly as he tried to shrug them with +indifference to brace his courage up. Twice he started from the spot, +determined, evidently, to shut away the crowding and unpleasant +recollections it recalled to him, twice he returned to it, to carefully, +if with evident repugnance, make closer study of some detail of its +rugged picturesqueness. More than once, as he lingered there against his +will, his hands raised upward to his eyes as if to shut away from them +some vivid memory-picture, but each time they fell, with strangely +hopeless gesture. The picture which they strove to hide plainly was not +before his eyes in the actual scene, but painted in the brain behind +them and not to be shut out with screening, claw-curved fingers. + +The effect of this especial spot on the old man, indeed, was most +remarkable. His lips, as he stood gazing there, moved constantly as if +with words unspoken, and, once or twice, the crowding sentences found +actual but not articulate voice. Whenever this occurred he started, to +look about behind him as if he feared that some one, who might overhear, +had crept up upon him slyly. Finally, making absolutely certain that he +had not been observed by any human being, and evidently yielding to an +impulse almost irresistible, he went over the ground carefully, +examining each foot of the little rocky platform with not a loving, but +a fascinated observation. + +When he finally left the spot a striking change had come upon his +features. He had reached the place sly, cunning, and, withal, +triumphant, as if he had accomplished, that day, through securing the +small stones, some secret thing of a great import. His countenance, as, +at length, he went away, was not triumphant but half terrified. It was +as if some long-forgotten scene of horror had been brought before his +gaze again, to terrify and astonish him. + +His footsteps had been slow and leisurely, the footsteps of a +contemplative, if a surreptitious sightseer, but now they quickened +almost into running, and the intensely disagreeable effect of the +mysterious episode had not left him wholly, when, twenty minutes +afterward, he had mounted the rocky hill path by a precipitous climb and +found himself within a little, cupped inclosure in the rocks, secluded +enough and beautiful enough to be a fairies' dancing-floor. There, +again, he seemed to recognize old landmarks, but with fewer of +unpleasant memories connected with them. Plain curiosity glowed, now, in +his narrow, crafty eyes. + +"I wonder," he exclaimed, "if it's here yet." + +As he spoke his glance flashed swiftly to the far side of the little +glade, where, on the face of a dense thicket, a trained eye, such as +his, might mark a spot where bushes had been often parted with extreme +care not to do them injury and thus reveal the fact that through them +lay a thoroughfare. Noting this with a wry smile of malicious +satisfaction, he started slowly toward the spot. + +The caution of his movements was redoubled, now. While he had worked, +back in the clearing, cooking his simple noonday meal and chipping off +the little specimens of rock, he had shown that he wished not to have +his strange activities observed. On the mountain paths he had plainly +been most anxious not to run across chance wayfarers who might ask +questions, or (the possibility was most remote, but still a possibility) +remember him of old. He had been merely cautious, though, not definitely +fearful. + +Now, however, actual and obsessive dread showed plainly on his face and +in his movements. Such a fear would have induced most men to abandon any +enterprise which was not fraught with compelling necessity; with him +insistent curiosity seemed to counterbalance it. The man's face, rough, +hard, cruel, was, withal, unusually expressive; its deep lines were more +than ordinarily mobile, and every one of them, as he proceeded, +soft-footed as a cat, amazingly lithe and supple for his years, as +competent to find his way unseen through a woods country as an Indian, +showed that irresistible and fiercely inquisitive impulse was +offsetting in his mind a deadly apprehension. + +In one way only, though, in spite of the accelleration of his eager +curiosity, did he drop his guard, at all, and this was quite apparently +the direct result of high excitement. That he had dropped it he was +clearly quite unconscious, but when his lips moved, now, they more than +once let fall articulate words. + +"Ef th' old still's thar ..." they said at one time; then, after a long +pause devoted to worming troublous way through tangled areas of +windfall, they muttered, in completion of the sentence: "... it'll be +th' son that's runnin' it." Another busy silence, and: "Thar was a girl +... th' daughter of...." + +Either a spasmodic contraction of the throat at mere thought of the +name--a grimace, almost of pain, which suddenly convulsed the old man's +evil face might well have made a stranger think that his muscles had +rebelled--or an unusually difficult struggle across a fallen tree-trunk +prevented further speech, as, probably, it prevented for the time, +consecutive further thought of old-time memories. His mind was tensely +concentrated on the work of climbing through the tangle of dead trunks +and branches, and, when he had accomplished the hard passage, was turned +wholly from the things which he had been considering by a slight +crackling, as of some one stepping on a brittle twig, at a distance in +advance of him. + +Instantly he was on his guard, showing signs quite unmistakable of +deadly fear. He shrank back into the thicket with the speed and silence +of a frightened animal. + +The panic which had seized him soon had passed, however, for, within a +few short seconds it was clear to him that the noise which he had heard +had not been made by any one suspicious of his presence or a-search for +him. + +Peering cautiously between the slender boles of crooked mountain-laurel +bushes, he soon found a vantage point from which he could see on beyond +the densely woven foliage, and, to his astonishment, found, before he +had thought, possible that he had progressed so far, that he had already +reached the place he sought. Memory had made the way to it a longer one +than it was really, and, in spite of the delays caused by his advancing +age and awkward muscles, long unaccustomed to the work of threading +mountain paths, he had traveled faster than he thought. + +Not fifty feet away from him, separated from the thicket he was hiding +in but by a narrow stretch of mountain sward, he saw, among the mountain +side's disordered rocks, the carefully masked entrance to a cave. + +An untrained eye would never have made note of the few signs which made +it clear to him, at once, that this cave was, as it had been long years +before when he had known it well, a place of frequent call for footsteps +skilled in mountain cunning. No path was worn to its rough entrance, +but, here and there, a broken grass-blade, in another place a pebble +recently dislodged from its accustomed hollow, elsewhere a ragged bit of +paper, torn from a tobacco-package, proved to him that, although hidden +in the wilderness of old Mount Nebo's scarred and inaccessible sides, +this spot was yet one often visited by many men. + +A grim smile stirred the leathern folds of his old cheeks. + +"Thar yet," he thought, "an' doin' business yet." + +Again, after he had worked about to get a better view. + +"Best-hidden still in these here mountings. Revenuers never _will_ get +run of it." + +The place had a mighty fascination for him, as if it might have played a +tremendous part in long-gone passages of his own life. As he stood +gazing at it cautiously, the mountaineer seemed definitely to emerge +from his low-country dress and superficial "bluegrass" manner, fastened +on him by long years of usage. Old expressions of not only face but +muscles came clearly to the front. Now, no person watching him, could +ever for a moment doubt that he was mountain-born and mountain-bred, if +they but knew the ear-marks of that people--almost a race apart. The +sight of the old cave-mouth plainly stirred in him a horde of memories +not wholly pleasant. Leathern as his face was, it none the less showed +his emotions with remarkable lucidity now that he was off his guard. Now +sly cunning dominated it, with, possibly, a touch left of the early fear +to flavor it. + +"I bet a hundred revenuers in these mountains have looked for that there +still," he thought, "an' no one ever found it, yet. Forty years it's +been thar--through three generations o' th' Loreys--damn 'em!--an' no +one's ever squealed on 'em. I ... wonder...." + +A look of vicious craft and malice wholly drove away the searching +curiosity which had possessed the old man's features. For a time he +plainly planned some work of bitter vengefulness. Then, with shaking +head, he evidently abandoned the enticing thought. + +"Too resky," he concluded, and edged a little nearer to the thicket's +edge. "Might stir up old--" + +He paused suddenly, alert and keenly listening. From another path than +that by which he had approached the place there came the sound of voices +raised in talk and laughter. He easily identified them, to his great +surprise, as those of some young mountain-girl and some young bluegrass +gentleman. Their tones and accents told this story plainly. Surprised +and curious, he went farther, his head bent, with study of the voices, +peering, meanwhile, through the thicket's tangle to get sight of them +as soon as they appeared within the clearing. Suddenly he dropped his +jaw in blank amazement. + +"Frank Layson!" he exclaimed. + +The girl's voice he did not recognize, but knew, of course, from its +peculiar accent, that it was some mountain maiden's. + +"Well!" he exclaimed beneath his breath in absolute astonishment. "I +didn't think it of Frank Layson! What would Barbara--" + +The pair emerged, now, from a gully by-path, and came into view. He +tightly shut his jaws and watched them with a peering, eager curiosity. + +A moment later, and by her wonderful resemblance to her dead mother, he +recognized the girl. + +She, above all people, must not know that he was there, even if she only +thought him to be Horace Holton, newcomer among the bluegrass gentry in +the valley. His plans had been laid carefully, and for her to find them +out would almost certainly upset them all. He was far from anxious to +meet Layson, there among the mountains, for it would mean awkward +questioning, but he was doubly anxious to avoid a meeting with the girl, +first because she owned the land on which he had secured the bits of +rock then nestling in his pocket, and, second, because she was the +daughter of-- + +His thoughts were interrupted, for, for a second, he thought they must +have seen him, so definite was their approach straight toward the +thicket where he hid. He crouched, frightened. It would be a very +awkward matter to be found there by them, and, besides, he did not know +who might be out of sight within the hidden still. It was quite possible +that there might lurk a deadly enemy. He must worm back through the +thicket with great caution, and, following the secluded ways which he +had traversed in his coming, get back to the railroad camp, where was +safety. + +He stepped backward hastily, and, in so doing, trod upon a rotten +branch. He had not been as cautious as he had intended, and this +mis-step unbalanced him and sent him to the ground, with a tremendous +crashing of the brittle twigs and dead-wood. + +Springing to his feet while the young people, startled by the great +disturbance, paused where they were standing, for an instant, he hurried +back into the hidden, thicket-bordered path, now using all his +recrudescent skill of silent woods-progression, and made complete +escape, leaving them not sure that the disturbance had been caused by +human blundering and not some vagrant beast's. + +Madge held back, but Layson hurried to the thicket, with gun raised +ready for a shot. + +Just then, from the carefully concealed cave-entrance, came Joe Lorey, +rifle poised for trouble, eyes gleaming fiercely, evidently keyed to +meet a raid by revenuers. + +It was plain enough that he believed the noise which had disturbed, +alarmed him, had been made by this young sportsman. Indeed, as he who +really had caused the uproar was, now, well on a cautious backward way +along the path by which he had come up, and the girl and Layson were the +only folk in sight, the young moonshiner's mistake was natural. + +Madge, almost as much disturbed as Lorey was by the crashing in the +thickets, was looking in the direction whence the noise had come, and, +at first, did not see him. When she did she smiled at him, and called to +him, but, absorbed in study of the bluegrass youth who had so suddenly +appeared there in his secret place among the mountains in company with +the girl whom he, himself, adored, Joe did not answer her, at first. +When he did it was with nothing more than a curt nod. He was astonished +and alarmed to see her in such company. + +After that curt nod he waited for no explanation, but, like a shadow, +slipped into a thicket, disappearing instantly. No Indian from Cooper's +tales could have more instantly obliterated all trace of himself, could +have more quickly, noiselessly, mysteriously disappeared amongst the +greenery, than did this mountaineer. His movements, made with the +instinctive cunning of the woodsman and with muscles trained not only by +wild life there in the mountains to speed, endurance and exactitude, +but by many an hour of stealthy stalking of the "revenuers" sent to +search out his moonshine still, raid it, take him prisoner, were almost +magically active, cautious, furtive and effective. + +For an instant Madge herself, accustomed to the native's skill in +woodcraft, as she was, gazed after him, astonished by the magic of his +disappearance, and, at first, piqued not a little by his scanty +courtesy. Then realizing that the mountaineer was, possibly, quite +justified in feeling grave suspicions of the stranger who was with +her--of any stranger coming thus, without a herald to the mountains--she +turned again to Layson, and, with her hand lightly guiding him by touch +as delicate, almost, as a wind-blown leaf's upon his sleeve, led him to +the nearest mountain path and on, toward a point whence she could +clearly point out to him the way to his own camp. + +And, suddenly, her own heart throbbed with worry. Had she not done wrong +in bringing this unknown and, therefore, this mysterious stranger so +close upon the heart of Lorey's secret? She had chosen the path +thoughtlessly. She realized that, now, and much regretted it. The man +had wholly won her confidence, but had it been considerate or fair to +Joe, her lifelong friend, or to the other people of the mountains who +had things to hide from strangers, to be quite so frank with him in her +revelation of the byways of the wilderness? + +Between the mountain-dwellers and the people of the lowlands never +could exist real confidence or friendship. From her babyhood she had +been taught to feel suspicion of all strangers: that was, indeed, first +article in the creed of all folk mountain-born. Why had she so freely +dropped her mantle of reserve before _this_ stranger? That he had saved +her from the bush-fire was excuse for her own gratitude, but was it +valid reason for exposing her best friends to danger at his hands, if +they proved treacherous? The revenuers, she had been informed, were men +of devilish craft, unscrupulous cunning. Might not this youth with the +fine clothes, the splendid manner, the great learning, the soft voice, +the quick resource and the undoubted bravery, very well be one of them? + +She had once heard a mountain preacher draw a picture of the devil, +which made him most attractive and in the same way that this youth was +most attractive. Certain of the sympathies of his rough hearers, the man +had painted Beelzebub with broad, rough, verbal strokes, as a bluegrass +gentleman intent on the destruction of the honor, independence, liberty +of mountaineers. The mountaineer has never and will never understand +what right the government of state or nation has to interfere with +whatsoe'er he does on his own land with his own corn in his own still. +Just why he has no right to manufacture whiskey without paying taxes on +the product he really fails to comprehend. He regards the "revenuer" as +the representative of acute and cruel injustice and oppression. When he +"draws a bead" on one he does it with no such thoughts as common +murderers must know when they shoot down their enemies. He does not +think such killings are crude murder, any more than he regards feud +killings as assassinations. + +With such ideas Madge had been, to some extent, imbued. With feud +feeling she was quite in sympathy--had not she lost her loved ones +through its awful work? Could she ever have revenge on those who had +thus bereaved her through any means save similar assassination? + +And certainly the revenuers were her enemies, for they were the foemen +of her friends. If this young man should be a revenuer she might have +done a harm incalculable by guiding him along the secret mountain byways +which they had been travelling. + +Her heart was in her throat from worry, for an instant. Had she, whose +very soul was fiercely loyal to the mountains and their people, been the +one to show an enemy the way into their citadel? Had she, bound +especially to Joe Lorey, not only by the ties of lifelong friendship but +by that other comradeship which had grown out of mutual wrongs and +mutual hatred of Ben Lindsay (not dimmed, a whit, by the mere fact that, +terrified, he had, years ago fled from the mountains), done Joe the +greatest wrong of all by leading this fine stranger to the very +entrance of his hidden still? _Was_ he a revenuer in disguise? + +The magnitude of her possible indiscretion filled her with alarm. That +crashing in the bushes back of them might have been made by some +associate of his, who had trailed them at a distance, ready to give +assistance, if needs be, or, in case all things went right and the +bolder man who had gone first and fallen into the great luck of an +acquaintance with her had no need of help, to corroborate his +observations, help him to scheme the way by which to make attack upon +the still when the time for it should come. + +As she considered all these possibilities, quite reasonable to her +suspicious mind, she shuddered. + +But then, as she went slowly down the mountain path beside the stranger +she looked up and caught the frank calm glances of his eyes. + +Surely there was nothing of cowardice such as would fool a trusting girl +into betrayal of her friends, in them; surely there was not the low +craft of a spy in them; surely their clear and unexcited gaze was not +that of a keen hunter, unscrupulously on the trail of human game, who +has just learned through the innocent indiscretion of a girl who trusted +him, the secret of its covert. + +As she looked at him she was convinced of two things, vastly comforting. +One was that Layson had no knowledge of the still; that, untrained to +mountain ways and unsuspicious, he had not even guessed at the secret +of the little hidden place among the mountains. Another was--and this +gave her, although she could have scarcely explained why, a greater +comfort than the first had--that had he had that knowledge he would not +have used it meanly. + +She thrilled pleasantly with the complete conviction that the man whom +she had liked so much at first sight, the man who had shown such pluck +in saving her from fire, the man who had exhibited such thoughtfulness +and helpfulness in starting her upon the rocky path toward education, +was true and fair and fine--was, in the curt language of the mountains, +"decent." + +When she left him at the foot of the rough path which wound up to the +cabin where she lived alone, she had quite recovered confidence in him. +She eagerly assented to his suggestion that they meet again, the +following day, for the continuation of her studies. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Their next lesson was in a new school-room. The clearing where they had +had their first, was, now, charred and blackened, not attractive, after +the small fire; so, after going to it, the following day to look it over +with that interest with which the man who has escaped from peril seeks +again, the scene of it in curiosity, they found another glade wherein to +carry on their delving after knowledge of the ABC's. + +There, beneath a canopy of arching branches and the sky, between +rustling walls of greenery pillared by the mighty boles of forest trees, +they had the second lesson of the course which was to open up to Madge +the magic realm of books and of the learning hidden in them. + +Nor did her investigations now, confine themselves, entirely to the +things the small book taught. She questioned Layson about a thousand +things less dry and matter-of-fact than shape of printed symbols and the +manner of their combination in the printed word. Life, life--that was to +her, as it has ever been to all of us, the most fascinating thing. Here +was one who had come from far, mysterious realms which she had vaguely +heard about in winter-evening gossip at the mountain-cabin firesides; +realms where men were courteous to women, careful in their speech; where +women did not work, but sat on silken chairs with black menials ready to +their call to serve their slightest wish; where maidens were not clad as +she was clad, and every woman she had ever known was clad, in calico or +linsey-woolsey homespun, but richly, wondrously, in silks and satins, +laces, beaded gew-gaws. In her imagination's picture, the maids and +matrons of the bluegrass were as marvellous, as fascinating, as are the +fairies and the sprites of Anderson and Grimm to girls more fortunately +placed. No tale of elf born from a cleft rock, touched by magic wand, +ever more completely fascinated any big-eyed city child, than did the +tales which Layson told her--commonplace and ordinary to his mind: mere +casual account of routine life--about his family and friends down in the +bluegrass, the enchanted region separated from them where they sat by a +hundred miles or so of rugged hills and billowing forests. Her eager +questions especially drew from him with a greed insatiable account of +all the gayeties of that mysterious existence. + +"And that aunt of yours--Muss Aluth--Aluth--" + +"Miss Alathea Layson?" he inquired, and smiled. + +"Yes; what queer names the women have, down there! Is she pretty? Does +_she_ dress in silks and satins, too, like the girls that go to them big +dances?" + +He laughed. "None of them are always dressed in silks and satins," he +replied. "Perhaps I've given you a wrong idea. We work down there, as +hard, perhaps, as you do here, but we have more things to work with. +Don't get the notion, little girl, that all these things which I have +told you of are magic things which surely will bring happiness! There is +no more of that, I reckon, in the bluegrass than there is here in the +mountains. Silks and satins don't make happiness, balls and garden-fetes +don't make it. A girl who's sobbing in a ball gown can be quite as +miserable as you would be, unhappy in your homespun." + +She was impatient of his moralizing. "I know that," she said. "Dellaw, +don't you suppose I've got some sense? But it ain't _quite_ true, +neither. Maybe if I was going to be unhappy I'd be just as much so in a +silk dress as I would in this here cotton one that I've got on; but I +guess there's times when I'd be happier in the silk than I _would_ be in +this. My, I wisht I had one!" + +He looked at her appraisingly. She would, he thought, be wondrous +beautiful if given the accessories which girls more fortunate had at +their hand. Beautiful, she was, undoubtedly, without them; with them she +would be--he almost caught his breath at thought of it--sensational! + +Mentally he ran over all the girls he knew in a swift survey of memory. +Not one of them, he thought, could really compare with her. Even Barbara +Holton, with her haughty, big featured, strikingly handsome face, +although she had attracted him in days passed, seemed singularly +unattractive to him, now. + +While he sat, musing thus, almost forgetful of the puzzling ABC, she +gazed off across the valley dreamily, the ABC's as far from her. It was +a lovely prospect of bare crag and wooded slope, green fields and +low-hung clouds, with, at its center, here and there the silver of the +stream which, back among the forest trees, supplied the water to the +hidden pool where she had watched him, furtively, the first time she had +ever seen him. But it was not of the fair prospect that the girl was +thinking. The coming of the stranger had brought into her life a hundred +new emotions, ten thousand puzzling guesses at the life which lay beyond +and could produce such men as he. Were all men in the bluegrass like +Frank Layson--courteous, considerate, and as strong and active as the +best of mountaineers? If so--what a splendid place for women! She was +sure that men like him were never brutal to their wives and daughters, +sisters, mothers, as the mountaineers too often are; she was certain +that they did not craze themselves with whisky and terrify and beat +their families; she was sure that when one loved a girl the courtship +must be all sweet gentleness and happiness and joy, not like the quick +succession of mad love-making and fierce quarrels which had +characterized the heart-affairs that she had watched, there in the +mountains. + +She, herself, had had no love-affairs. Instinctively she had held +herself aloof from the ruck of the young mountain-men, neither she nor +they knew why, unless it was because she owned the valley land and so +was what the mountain folk called rich. Most of them had tried to pay +her court, but none of them, save Joe, had in the least attracted her, +and she had let them know this (strangely) without arousing too much +anger. + +Now she had one suitor, only, who was at all persistent--Joe. She had +sometimes thought she loved him. Now she knew, quite certainly, that she +did not, and, in a vague way, was sorry for him, for she was quite +certain of his love for her. It never once occurred to her that she was +rapidly falling in love with the young man by her side. She had not +thought of him as being socially superior: the spirit of independence, +of equality of men, is nowhere stronger, even in this land of +independence and equality, than it is among the mountains of the +Cumberland; but she knew he was most wise. Had not the puzzling symbols +in the spelling-book been, to him, as simple matters? She knew that he +was gentle-hearted, for the kindness of his acts proved that. She knew +that he was, really, a gentleman, for his manner was so perfectly +considerate, so ever kind. She did not realize that she was thinking of +him as a lover; but she dreamed, there, of the girls down in the +bluegrass and wondered how it must seem to them to have lovers such as +he. She could but very vaguely speculate as to their emotions or +appearance, but her speculations on both points, vague as they might be, +made her suffer strangely and cast queer, furtive little side-glances at +him. In her heart were stirrings of keen jealousy of these distant +maidens, but this she did not realize. + +She broke into his revery with: "Don't you know any women, down there, +but your aunt?" + +"Er--what?" + +"Don't you know any women, down there, but your aunt?" + +"Why, yes," said he, and laughed. "I know a lot of women, down there; +lots and lots of women, certainly." + +"All them that go to balls, and such?" + +"Many of them." + +"Do you like to dance with them?" + +"Oh, yes; of course." + +"Tell me--all about the things they wear." This was not quite the +question she had started out to ask, but an answer to it might be very +interesting. + +She settled comfortably back upon the boulder she had chosen as a seat, +her hands clasped about one knee, her face turned toward him eagerly, +her eyes sparkling with keen zest. + +But he looked at her, appalled. "Why," said he, "why--I don't believe I +can. I know they always seem to be most charming in appearance, but just +how they work the magic _I_ don't know." + +"Can't you tell me nothing?" Her voice showed bitter disappointment. She +unclasped the hands about her knee and sat dejected on the boulder. She +gave him not the slightest hint of it, but, suddenly, a plan had come +into her mind. + +He looked at her regretfully. "Perhaps you'd better question me," said +he. Maybe I can scare up details if you'll let me know just what you +wish to hear about." + +"How are their dresses made?" she asked. + +"Oh, skirt, and waist, and so on," he airily replied. + +She made a gesture of impatience. "Well, then, how is the skirt made? +Tell me that. Tell me everything that you remember about skirts. Are +they loose as mine, or tighter?" She rose and stood before him, in her +scant drapery of homespun, turning slowly, so that he might see. + +It was very clever. Instantly it brought to mind the last girls he had +seen down in the lowlands at a lawn-party, with their wide and much +beruffled skirts. + +"Oh, they're looser," he said gravely. "Much, much looser. Why, they are +as big around as that!" He made a sweeping, circular gesture with his +arms. + +"What for trimmings do they have?" + +"Oh, all sorts of things--ruffles, frills, embroidery and laces." + +"What's embroidery?" + +He tried to tell her, but he did not make it very clear, and, realizing +that he had done quite his best although he had not done so very well, +she sighed and dropped that detail of the subject. But she knew what +frills and ruffles were. + +"And how about their waists?" said she. "Like mine, are they?" + +He looked, appraisingly, at the loose basque, which, because of the +budding beauty of her form rather than because of any merit of its own, +had seemed to him most charming and attractive. Close examination did +not show this to be the case. It was a crude garment, certainly, of +crude material, crude cut, crude make. The beauty all was in the +wearer's soft young curves and lissome grace. + +"No," he answered, honestly, "they're not like that. In the summer, and +for evenings--such as dances and the like--they are cut low at the neck. +And they are tighter." + +"I suppose," said she, "they wear them things that they call corsets, +under 'em. I've heard of 'em--I saw one, once--but I ain't never had +one. Maybe I had better get one." + +He spoke hastily. At that moment, as he gazed at her slim grace, +undulant, untrammelled and as willowy as a spring sapling's, it seemed +to him that it would be a sacrilege to confine it in the stiff rigidity +of such artificialities as corsets. It seemed a bit indelicate, to him, +to talk to her about such matters, but her guilelessness was so real and +he was so assured of his own innocence, that he did what he could to +make things clear to her. He descanted with some eloquence upon the +wickedness of lacing, the ungracefulness of artificial forms and the +beauty of her own wholly natural grace. + +"I'm glad you think I'm pretty," she said frankly, plainly greatly +pleased, "but I reckon I'd be prettier if I had one of them there +corsets." + +His protests to the contrary were not convincing, in the least. + +So the lessons from the book did not go so very far that day. + +"Furbelows have always interested females, I suppose," said he, "but I +didn't really think you'd lose your interest in spelling-books because +of them." + +"I ain't lost interest in spelling-books," she said. "I ain't lost +interest, at all. After I've studied good and hard I can read all about +such things in the picture-papers that Mom Liza has down to the store. +They've got all kinds of pictures in 'em--all of fancy gowns and hats +and things like that. She showed one to me, once, but all I could make +out was just the pictures, and she couldn't manage to make out much +more. She can read the names on all the letters comin' to the +post-office, for there's only three folks ever gets 'em, but she ain't +what you'd really call a scholar." + +He laughed heartily. "So, even in the mountains, here, they take the +fashion papers, do they?" + +"No; she don't pay for 'em," she gravely answered. "They're always +marked with red ink, 'Sample Copy,' so she says; but they send 'em ev'ry +once a while. If you're in th' post-office, you get a lot o' things, +like that--all sorts o' picture-papers, an' cards, all printed up in +pretty colors, to tell what medicines to take when you get sick." + +"Ah, patent-medicine advertisements." + +"Yes; that's what she calls 'em, an' she's read me some powerful amazin' +stories out of 'em--them as was in short words--of folks that rose up +almost from th' dead! They're wonderful!" + +"They are, indeed!" + +"But what I always liked th' best was them there papers tellin' about +clo'es." + +"Eternal feminine!" + +"I don't know what you mean by that, but they are mighty peart, some o' +them dresses pictured out in them there papers." + +"I've not the least doubt of it." + +"And I suppose they are th' kind th' girls you know, down in th' +bluegrass, wear for ev'ry day!" she sighed. + +He looked at her in quick compassion and in protest. + +"Madge," he said, "please listen to me. It's not dress that makes the +woman, any more than it is coats that make the man. You would like me +just as well if I were dressed in homespun, wouldn't you?" + +"That's different." + +"It isn't; it's not, a bit." + +"Laws, yes! It's--oh--heaps different!" She nodded her lovely head in +firm conviction. "It's heaps different and I'm goin' to know more about +such things as clo'es. I ain't plumb _poverty_ poor, like lots o' folks, +here in th' mountings. I got land down in th' valley I get rent +from--fifty dollars, every year! I'm goin' to find out about such +things." + +He looked at her, almost worried. It would be a pity, he thought +instantly, for this charming child of nature to become sophisticated and +be fashionably gowned; but, of course, he made no protest. + +"You can learn a little something about such things if you stay right +here," said he. "I'm going to have visitors, sometime before the +summer's over, at my camp. My aunt, Miss Alathea, will be here, and our +old friend, Colonel Sandusky Doolittle. He's a great horseman." + +Instantly the girl showed vivid interest, not, as he had thought she +would, in his aunt, Miss Alathea, but in the Colonel from the +Bluegrass, who also was a horseman. + +"Horseman, is he?" she exclaimed, her eyes alight. + +"Yes; he's famous as a judge of horses." + +"At them races that they tell about? Oh, I'd like to see one of them +races!" + +"Yes, he goes to races, everywhere, although he always means to stop +immediately after the next one. It has been the races which have kept +him poor and kept him single." + +"How've they kept him poor?" + +He told her about betting, while she listened, wide-eyed with amazement +at the mention of the sums involved. + +"How've they kept him single?" + +"He's been in love with my Aunt Alathea for a good many years, but she +won't marry him until he keeps his promise to avoid the race-tracks." + +"What makes your aunt hate hawsses?" + +"Oh, she loves good horses, but the Colonel always bets, and, as I have +said, it keeps him poor. It's the gambling that she hates, and not the +horses. Every year he plans to keep away from all horse-racing for her +sake; every year he tries to do it, but quite fails." + +She laughed heartily. "An' she thinks he loves th' races more than he +does her?" she asked. Then, more soberly: "I don't know's I blame her, +none. When's she comin'? I'll be powerful glad to see her." + +"I don't know just when she's coming, but she's promised me to have the +Colonel bring her up here. I want to have her see the beauty of the +mountains." + +"I'll like him, sure, whether I like her or not." + +He was astonished. "But you said you would be sure to love her!" + +"Uh-huh; but I'd be surer to like anyone who is as fond of hawsses as +you say he is. Why, when I ride--" + +"I didn't know you ever rode a horse. I've only seen you on your ox." + +"Poor old Buck! It's true, I have been ridin' him, when I felt lazy, +lately, but my pony--ah, that's _fun_!" + +"Where is he?" + +They had started strolling down the trail and were near the pasture +bars, where she had left Joe Lorey on the morning of her bath, after +having ridden down to them upon her ox. + +She hurried to them, now, and, leaning over them, puckered her red lips +and sent a shrill, clear whistle out across the pasture. Immediately +from a thicket-tangle at the far end of the half-cleared lot appeared a +shaggy pony, limping wofully, but with ears pricked forward as a sign of +welcome to his mistress. + +"Come on, Little Hawss!" she called. "Come on! It hurts, I know, for +you to step, but come on, just th' same. I got a turnip for you." + +She turned to Layson with an explanation. "He's lame, poor Little Hawss +is. Don't know's he'll ever get all right ag'in." + +"Oh!" said Layson. "And I didn't even know you had a horse." Horses are +less common in the mountains than are oxen, although nearly every +mountain farm has one, for riding. Oxen, though, are the section's +draught-animals. + +"Didn't think I had a hawss?" she said, and laughed. "I'd _die_ without +a hawss! Why, they say, here in the mountains, that I'm a good rider. +I've raced all the boys and beat 'em on my Little Hawss." + +She petted the affectionate, uncouth little beast and fed him slowly, +lovingly. "Little Hawss, before he hurt his hoof, was sure-footed as a +deer. Didn't have to be afraid to run him anywhere, on any kind of road +at any time of day or night," said she. "Never stumbled, never missed +the way, and, while he don't _look_ much--he never did--he could just +carry _me_ to suit me! But--well, I don't know as he will ever carry me +again!" + +Layson, himself a great horse lover, went up to the shaggy little beast +and petted him. The pony knew a friend instinctively and rubbed his nose +against the rough sleeve of his jacket while he munched the turnip. + +Madge stooped and lifted the poor beast's crippled foot. + +"Looks bad, don't it?" she said anxiously, asking Frank's opinion as an +expert. + +He looked the bad foot over carefully and shook his head. + +"Madge, I am afraid it does," said he. "But wait until the Colonel +comes. He'll tell you what to do. No man knows horses better than the +Colonel does. + +"I've never told you of my horse, have I?" he asked. + +"Why, no; you got one, too?" + +He drew a long breath of enthusiasm at the mere thought of his greatest +treasure. "Such a mare," said he, "as rarely has been seen, even in +Kentucky. She's famous now and going to be more so. She's the very apple +of my eye." + +The girl looked at him wide-eyed with a fascinated interest. "What color +is she?" + +"Black as night." + +"And gentle?" + +"Ah, gentle as a dove with friends; but she's not gentle if she happens +to dislike a man or woman! Why, if she hates you, keep away from her. +She'll side-step with a cunning that would fool the wisest so's to get a +chance for a left-handed kick; she'll bite; she'll strike with her +forefeet the way a human fighter would." + +"Oh!" said the girl. "Ain't it a pity she's so ugly?" + +"I said she's gentle with her friends. She'd no more kick at me than I +would kick at her. She knows it. She's intelligent beyond most +horseflesh." + +"Has she ever won in races?" + +"She's won in small events, and great things are expected of her by more +folk than I when she gets going on the larger tracks. I'm counting on +her for good work this year, after I go home again." + +"Ah," sighed the girl, carried quite away by his excited talk about his +favorite, "how I'd love to see her run!" + +"It's poetry," he granted; "the true poetry of motion." + +"And this Cunnel--Cunnel--" + +"Colonel Doolittle?" + +"Uh-huh. Will he help me, do you s'pose, to get my Little Hawss cured of +his lameness?" + +"You may count on that." + +"Who else is comin' here to see you?" she inquired, as they left Little +Hawss wistfully agaze at them across the old log fence. + +Layson, for no reason he could think of, felt a bit uncomfortable, as he +replied. He temporized before he really told her of what worried him. + +"Well," said he, "there'll be old Neb--" + +"Who's he?" + +"A servant who has been in our family for years. He is a fine old +darkey and we love him--everyone of us." + +"And will he be all?" + +"No; I understand that Mr. Horace Holton, also, will come with the +party. Mr. Holton and his daughter." + +It is possible that he may have flushed a little, as he spoke about this +matter, or there may have been some slight hint of the unusual in his +voice. At any rate, the notice of the girl was instantly attracted. + +"Daughter?" she inquired. + +"Yes," said Frank, "his daughter Barbara." + +"How old is she?" Madge's curiosity had been aroused at once. + +"About your age." + +She was delighted. "And will I surely see her?" + +"Yes; of course." + +"Do you suppose she'll like me?" + +Layson, from what he knew of Barbara Holton, scarcely thought she would. +He could not make his fancy paint a picture of the haughty lowlands +beauty showing much consideration for this little mountain waif; but he +did not say so. He answered hesitatingly, and she noticed it. + +"You don't think she'll like me!" she exclaimed. + +"I didn't say so. Certainly she'll like you. Who could help it, Madge?" +He smiled. It did not seem to him, as his eyes studied her, that anybody +of sound sense could. + +She sighed. "A woman could." She spoke with an instinctive wisdom which +her isolated life among the crags and peaks had not deprived her of. "A +woman always can. But, my, I hope she will!" + +"She will," said Frank. "She will. And my dear Aunt--oh, you will love +her." + +"Miss Aluth--Aluth--?" She stopped, questioningly, still bothered by the +name. + +"Miss Alathea," he prompted. "She'll like you and you'll love her." + +The girl smiled happily. "Uh-huh." Her acquiescence was immediate. +"Reckon maybe I'll love _her_, all right, and I _hope_ the other will +come true, too." Suddenly she was stricken with a fear. "But she won't, +though--dressed the way I be!" + +"What you wear would make no difference to my Aunt Alathea," Frank +protested, "any more than it would make to Colonel Doolittle." + +She did not speak again for quite a time, walking along the narrow +mountain-path with eyes fixed, but unseeing, on the trail. It was plain +that in her mind grave problems were being closely studied. + +"Maybe," she said, at length, "I won't be so very _awful_ as you +_think_!" + +They had reached the path which led first to the bridge across the +mountain-chasm making the rock on which her cabin stood an island, and +then, across this draw-bridge, to the cabin itself. She waved a gay and +unexpected good-bye to him. + +He felt strangely robbed. He had expected another half-hour with her. +It astonished him to learn through this tiny disappointment how +agreeable the little mountain maid's society had come to be. + +He was wakeful that night till a later hour than usual. + +Somehow he was not as thoroughly delighted as he felt that he should be +by the prospect of his guests' arrival. His journey to the mountains and +his sojourn there had been considered rather foolish by his friends, but +he had wished to make quite sure that what was said about the wild +mountain lands which formed the greater portion of his patrimony--that +they were practically valueless--was true, ere he gave up all hope of +profiting from them. + +The building of the railroad through the valley had imbued him with some +hope that they might not prove to be as useless as they had been thought +to be, and it had been that which had induced him, at the start, to make +the journey. + +Once arrived he had found the mountain air delightful, the fishing fine, +the shooting all that could be wished, and had enjoyed these to their +full, investigating, meanwhile, his rough property; but as he lay there +in his shack of logs and puncheons he acknowledged to himself that it +was none of these things which now made the mountains so attractive. It +was the nymph of the woods pool, the mountain-side Europa on her bull, +his little pupil of the alphabet, in plain reality, who now held him to +the wilderness. + +He wondered just what this could mean. Could it be possible that he was +thinking seriously of the little maid _in that way_? + +He almost laughed at the idea, there alone in the woods cabin, with the +stars in their deep velvet canopy twinkling through the window at him +and the glow of his cob pipe for company. + +But his laugh was not too genuine. He found himself, to his amazement, +comparing Madge, the mountain girl, with Barbara Holton, the elegant +daughter of the lowlands, and finding many points in favor of the little +rustic maiden. He wondered just how serious his attentions to fair +Barbara had been thought to be by her, her father, Horace Holton, and by +other people. There were many things about Madge Brierly, which, as he +sat there, reflective, he found admirable, besides her vivid, vigorous +young beauty. He could not bring himself, as he sat thinking of the two +girls, widely separated as they were in the great social plane, unevenly +matched as they had been in early training, to admit that the whole +advantage was upon the side of Barbara Holton. + +And above him, in her lonely little cabin on the towering rock, upon all +sides of which the mountain-torrent, making it an isle of safety for her +there in the wilderness, roared rythmically, the mountain maiden who so +occupied his thoughts was busy with her crude wardrobe. + +In complete dissatisfaction she put aside, at length, every garment of +her own which she possessed as unsuitable for the great day when she was +to meet the bluegrass gentlefolk. + +Then, remembering suddenly an old chest which held her mother's wedding +finery, she strained her fine young muscles as she dragged it out of +storage; and sitting on the floor beside it where the great blaze of +pine-knots in the big "mud-and-broke-rock" fireplace lighted it and her +with flickering brilliance, she went through it with reverent fingers, +searching, searching for such garments and such adornments as it might +hold to make her fit to meet the friends of the young lowlander who had +captured her imagination with his bravery, resource and courtesy. + +There were a few things in the chest which pleased her, and she smiled +as she discovered them, smiled as she tried them on, smiled as she saw +the image wearing them in the cracked mirror by the side of the big +fireplace. She had to make experiments with dripping tallow dips before +she got a light which would enable her to get the full effect of an +ornate old poke-bonnet which was the chief treasure from the chest, but +finally she did so, and exclaimed in pleasure as she managed it. + +It was, indeed, a charming picture which she saw there in the glass--a +face with rosy cheeks, bright eyes, red lips set off with softly waving +auburn hair and framed delightfully in the old arch of shirred red +silk--and when she took it off, at last, she was convinced that one, at +least, of her big problems had been solved. She had a bonnet, certainly, +which was as lovely as the finest thing that any bluegrass belle could +wear. There was not the slightest doubt that all its shirring was of +real, _real_ silk! She had run her fingers over it caressingly, +delighted by its sheen and gloss when she had been a little girl; now +she fondled it with loving touch, high hopes. Surely no young lady +visitor, even from the far off and to her mysterious bluegrass could +have anything much finer than that bonnet with its silken facings! She +tied the wide strings underneath her chin in a great, flaring bow, and +peeped forth from the cavernous depths of the arched "poke" with quite +unconscious coquetry, flirting, with the keenest relish and most +completely childish pleasure with the charming creature whom she saw +reflected on the little mirror's cracked, imperfect surface. + +It was while she stood thus, innocently coquetting with her own +delightful picture, that a great plan for the plenishment of her +otherwise imperfect wardrobe popped into her active, searching mind. +Carefully she considered this, first before the glass and then, with +feet crossed and clasped hands between her knees, before the roaring +fire of resinous pine-knots in the old fireplace. + +Having finally decided that it was a good one, she went about the cabin +seeing to the fastenings of doors and windows, wholly unafraid despite +her solitude. There was but one way of approaching this, her fastness in +the rocks, and the bridge, had been drawn up for the night. Safe she was +as any Rhenish baron in his moated stronghold. + +Conscious that a busy day was looming large before her, she now blew out +her candles and crept into her little curtained bed, to dream, there, +vividly, of haughty beauties from the bluegrass staring in astonishment +as they first glimpsed the beauty of a little mountain girl in such a +gorgeous outfit as they had not in all their pampered lives conceived; +of lovely aunts who smiled with pleasure when they saw their handsome +nephews step up to this splendid maiden and take her hands in theirs; of +wondrous youths--ah, these images were never absent from the scenes her +fancy painted!--who scorned the haughty bluegrass beauties in favor of +the freckled little fists of those same brilliant mountain maidens, and, +lo! by taking those same freckled fists in theirs, removed the freckles +and the callouses of work as if by magic, making them as white and +fine--aye, whiter, finer!--than the haughty bluegrass beauty's. And in +her dreams, too, was a gallant horseman, wise in equine ways, who came +to her with handsome chargers trailing from fair-leather lead straps to +present her with the thoroughbreds because her little, shaggy pony +limped. + +Queer fancies of the strange life of the lowlands which he had +described to her, flashed, also, through her ignorant but active brain +in fascinating visions. She thought she saw the houses on the tops of +houses which he had described to her, in efforts to assist her to +imagine structures more elaborate than the little, single storied cabins +which were all that she had ever seen. Strange conceptions of the +railroad, with its monstrous engines puffing smoke and fire would have +been terrifying had there not been, ever at her side as dreams revealed +them, a stalwart youth in corduroys to bear her from their path through +rings of burning thickets. + +Again she trembled in imagination at the thought of meeting the fine +ladies who would be dressed with such elaboration and impressive +elegance; but each time, when her dream seemed actually to lead her to +them, there he was to help her through the great ordeal with heartening +smiles and comforting suggestions. + +Her sleep was restless, but delightful. Once she woke and left her bed +to peer out of the window, wondering if, by chance, she might not +glimpse a light in Layson's camp far down the mountain-side. She was +disappointed when she found she could not, but went back to bed to find +there further compensating dreams. + +There might have been still greater compensation for her had she known +that at the very moment when she peered out through the darkness, +looking for some vagrant glimmer of a light from Layson's camp, he had, +himself, just gone back to his cabin after having stood a long time +staring through the darkness toward her own small cabin in its fastness. + +He was thinking, thinking, thinking. The little mountain maid had +strangely fascinated the highly cultivated youth from the far bluegrass. +He did not know quite what to make of the queer way in which her fresh +and lovely, girlish face, obtruded itself constantly into his thoughts. +And as for the haughty bluegrass belle whom poor Madge dreaded so--he +did not think of her, at all, save, possibly, with half acknowledged +annoyance at the fact that she was coming to spy out his wilderness and +those who dwelt therein. He would have been a little happier if he could +have remained there, undisturbed, for a time longer. + +Day had not dawned when Madge awoke. The sun, indeed, had just begun to +poke the red edge of his disc above Mount Nebo, when, having built her +fire and cooked her frugal breakfast, she loosed the rope which held the +crude, small draw-bridge up and lowered the rickety old platform until +it gave a pathway over the deep chasm and carried her to the mainland, +ready for the journey to the distant cross-roads store. + +Dew, sparkling like cut diamonds, cool as melting ice, was everywhere in +the brilliant freshness of the morning; the birds were busy with their +gossip and their foraging, chattering greetings to her as she passed; in +her pasture her cow, Sukey, had not risen yet from her comfortable night +posture when she reached her. The animal looked up gravely at her, +chewing calmly on her cud, plainly not approving, quite, of such a very +early call. While the girl sat on the one-legged stool beside her, +sending white, rich, fragrant streams into the resounding pail, her +shaggy Little Hawss limped up, nosing at her pocket for a turnip, which +he found, of course, abstracted cleverly and munched. + +Having finished with the cow she set the milk in a fence-corner to wait +for her return, and, when she left the lot, the pony followed her, +making a difficult, limping way along the inside of the rough +stump-fence until he came to a cross barrier. Then, as he saw that she +was going on and leaving him behind, he nickered lonesomely, and, +although she planned, that day to accomplish many, many things, and, in +consequence, was greatly pressed for time, she went back to him and +petted him a moment and then found another turnip for him in her pocket. + +The journey which began, thus, with calls on her four-footed friends, +was solitary, afterward, although in the narrow road-bed, here and +there, she saw impressions of preceding footsteps, big and deep. They +aroused her curiosity, and with keen instinct of the woods she studied +one of them elaborately. Rising from her pondering above it she decided +that Joe Lorey had gone on before her, and wondered what could possibly +have sent him down the trail so early in the morning. When she noted +that his trail turned off at the cross-roads which might lead to +Layson's camp (or other places) her heart sank for a moment. She +realized how bitterly the mountaineer felt toward the bluegrass youth +whom he considered his successful rival and she hoped that trouble would +not come of it. She did not love Joe Lorey as he wished to have her love +him, but she had a very real affection for him, none the less. +And--and--she did--she did--she _did_--this morning she acknowledged +it!--love Layson. The matter worried her, somewhat. Trouble between the +men was more than possible, she knew; but, on reflection, she decided +that Joe had not been bound for Layson's camp, but, by a short cut, to +the distant valley. This alone would have explained his very early +start. He was not one to seek to take his enemy while sleeping, and she +knew and knew he knew that the lowlander slept late. Lorey would not do +a thing dishonorable. She put the thought of trouble that day from her, +therefore, yielding gladly to the joyous and absorbing magic of the +growing, splendid morning. + +The rising sun, with its ever changing spectacle, exhilerating, +splendid, awe-inspiring, there among the mountains, raised her spirits +as she travelled, and drove gloomy thoughts away as it drove off the +brooding mists which clung persistently, tearing themselves to tattered +ribbons ere they would loose their hold upon the peaks beyond the valley +and behind her. + +A feeling of elation grew in her--elation born of her abounding health, +fine youth, the glory of the scene, the high intoxication of first love. + +She beguiled the way with mountain ballads, paused, here and there, to +pluck some lovely flower, accumulating, presently, a nosegay so enormous +as to be almost unwieldy, whistled to the birds and smiled as they sent +back their answers, laughed at the fierce scolding of a squirrel on a +limb, heard the doleful wailing of young foxes and crept near enough +their burrow to see them huddled in the sand before it, waiting eagerly +for their foraging mother and the breakfast she would bring. + +When the trail crossed a clear brook she paused upon the crude, low +bridge and watched the trout dart to and fro beneath it; where it +debouched upon a hill-side of commanding view she stopped there, +breathing hard from sheer enjoyment of the glory of the prospect spread +before her in the valley. + +She was very happy, as she almost always was of summer mornings. The +mountain air, circulating in her young and sturdy lungs, was almost as +intoxicating as strong wine and made the blood leap through her +arteries, thrill through her veins. + +The worries of the night before seemed, for a time, to have been +groundless. She ceased to fear her meeting with the bluegrass gentlefolk +and looked forward to it with real confidence and pleasure. Her +confidence in Layson was abounding, and she assured herself till the +thought became conviction that he never would permit her to subject +herself to anything which properly could be humiliating. + +The problem of her garb, too, began to seem far less insoluble than it +had seemed the night before. She felt certain, as she travelled with her +springing step, that she would find it possible to meet creditably the +great emergency with what she had at home and could discover at the +little general-store which she was bound for. + +When she reached the tiny, mud-chinked structure at the cross-roads, +though, and caught her first glimpse of its lightly burdened shelves, +her heart sank for an instant. Could it be possible that from its stock +she would be able to select material with which she could compete with +folk from the far bluegrass in elegance of garb? + +But after she had made investigation and had interested in her project +the lank mountain-woman who presided at the counter, she lost fear of +the result. Together they made careful study of the fashion-papers which +the woman had preserved and which the girl had, the night before, +remembered with such vividness. Through discussion and reiterated +reassurance from her friend, she finally arrived at the decision that +with what she had at hand at home and what she could buy here, she could +prepare herself to meet the elegant lowlanders with a fairly ample +rivalry. + +There were few bolts of cloth, of whatever quality or character in the +pitiful little general-store's stock which both women did not finger +speculatively that morning; there was not a piece of pinchbeck jewelry +in the small showcase which they did not study carefully. Especially +Madge dwelt on combs, for Layson, once, had mentioned combs as parts of +the adornment of the women whom he knew. There in the mountains young +girls did not wear them, save of the "circular" variety, designed to +hold back "shingled" tresses. But from underneath a box of faded +gum-drops and the store's one carton of cigars, came some of imitation +tortoise-shell, gilt ornamented, of the sort old ladies sometimes stuck +into their hirsute knots for mountain "doings" of great elegance, and +the best of these Madge bought. Also she bought lace--great quantities +of it, although, even after she had made the purchase, she had some +doubt of just what she would do with it; she also had some doubt about +its quality, for in the chest at home there had been lace, ripped from +her mother's wedding gown, of far different and more convincing texture +and design. She realized, however, that what was there must be what must +suffice and purchased nearly all the woman had of cheap, machine-made +mesh and home-worked, coarse-threaded tatting. + +She could not manage gloves. The store had never had gloves in its stock +designed for anything but warmth, and, although Layson had explained to +her, in answer to her curious pleadings, that the girls he knew down in +the bluegrass sometimes wore gloves covering their bare arms to the +elbows, she gave up the hope of finding anything of that sort without a +visit to the distant valley town, and this was quite impossible, now +that her pony had gone lame, so she sighed and gave up gloves entirely. + +But she bought ribbons by the bolt, some gay silk-handkerchiefs, a +little of the less obtrusive of the jewelry, and needles, thread and +such small trifles by the score to be utilized in making alterations in +the finery from her dead mother's treasure chest at home there in the +mountain cabin. It was with heart not quite so doubtful of her own +ability to shine a bit, that, after she had borrowed every fashion-plate +the woman owned (many of them ten years old; not one of them of later +date than five years previous), she set out upon the long and weary +homeward way. + +Instinctively as she progressed she searched the soft mud in the +shadowed places of the road, the soft sand wherever it appeared, for +signs that those great foot-marks which she had thought she could +identify as Lorey's in the morning, had returned while she was at the +store. Nowhere was there any trace that this had happened, and again she +thrilled with apprehension. Almost she made a detour by the road which +led to Layson's camp to make quite sure that all was right with the +young "foreigner," but this idea she abandoned as much because she felt +that such a visit would necessitate an explanation which she would +dislike to make, as because her many burdens would have made the way a +long and difficult one to tread. How could she tell Layson that Joe +Lorey might resent his helping her to study, might resent the other +hours which they had spent so pleasantly among the mountain rocks and +forest trees together, might, in short, be jealous of him? + +Her shy, maiden soul revolted at the thought and perforce she gave +investigation up, her thoughts, finally, turning from the really remote +chance of a difficulty between the men to the pleasanter task of +carrying on her planning for new gowns and small accessories of finery. + +The homeward way was longer than the journey down had been, because of +her new burdens and the frequently steep mountain slopes which she must +climb, but she travelled it without much thought of this. + +Never in her life had come excitement equal to that which possessed her +as she thought about the visitors, longed to make a good impression and +not shame her friend, wondered how the bluegrass ladies would be +dressed, would talk, would act, and what they all would think of her. +She had decided, in advance, that she would like Miss Alathea, aunt of +her woodland instructor; she knew positively that she would like the +doughty colonel, lover of god horses, barred from racing by his love for +Frank's inexorable aunt. + +But the other members of the party he had told about--the Holtons--she +was not so sure that she would care for them. Frank, himself, when he +had told her of them, had spoken of the father without much enthusiasm, +and she felt quite sure that she could never like the daughter. She had +noticed, she believed, that when it came to talk of her her friend had +hesitated with embarrassment. Could it be possible that this young lady +who had had the chances she, herself, had been denied, for education and +for everything desirable, would seem to him, when she appeared upon the +scene, less lovely, less desirable, than a simple little mountain maid +like poor Madge Brierly? The thought seemed quite incredible and the +worry of it quite absorbed her for a time and drove away forebodings +about the possible hatred of Joe Lorey for Layson and his possible +expression of resentment. She even ceased her wonderings about the +footsteps which had gone down the road, that morning, and which, so far +as she could see, had not come back again. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +They were, indeed, the great imprints of Joe Lorey's hob-nailed boots, +quite as she suspected. Long before the sun had risen the young +mountaineer, distressed by worries which had made his night an almost +sleepless one, had risen and wandered from his little cabin, lonelier in +its far solitude, even than the girl's. For a time he had crouched upon +a stump beneath the morning stars with lowering brows, sunk deep in +harsh, resentful thought, forgetful of the falling dew, the chill of the +keen mountain air, of everything, in fact, save the gnawing apprehension +that the "foreigner," who had invaded this far mountain solitude might, +with his better manners, infinitely better education and divers other +devilish wiles of the low country, snatch from him the prize which he +had grown up longing to possess. + +The youthful mountaineer's distress was not without its pathos. He loved +the girl, had loved her since they had been toddling children playing in +the hills together. Never for an instant had his firm devotion to her +wandered to any other of the mountain girls; never for an instant had +he had any hope but that of, some day, winning her. That he recognized +the real superiority of Layson made his worry the more tragic, for it +made it the more hopeless. + +A dull resentment thrilled him, not only against this man, but against +the whole tribe of his people, who were, in these uncomfortable days, +invading the rough country which, to that time, had been the undisputed +domain of the mountaineer. He thought with bitterness about the growing +valley towns, which he had sometimes visited on court days when some +mountain man had been haled there to trial for moonshining or for a feud +"killing." He did not understand those lowland people who assumed the +right to dictate to him and his kind as to the lives which they should +lead in their own country, and he hated them instinctively. Vaguely he +felt the greater power which education and a rubbing of their elbows +with the progress of the world had given them and definitely resented +it. Scotch highlander never felt a greater hatred and distrust of +lowland men than does the highlander of the old Cumberlands feel for the +people who have claimed the rich and fertile bottom lands, filled the +towns which have sprung up there, established the prosperity which has, +through them, advanced the state. The mountain men of Tennessee and of +Kentucky are almost as primitive, to-day, as were their forefathers, +who, early in the great transcontinental migration, dropped from its +path and spread among the hills a century ago, rather than continue with +the weary march to more fertile, fabled lands beyond. + +It had not been, as Madge had feared, his definite hatred of Frank +Layson which had started him upon the road so early in the morning, but, +rather, an unrest born of the whole problem of the "foreigners'" +invasion of the mountains. His restless discontent with Layson's +presence had left him ready for excitement over wild tales told in store +and cabin of what the young man's fellows were doing in the valley. He +had determined to go thither for himself, to see with his own eyes the +wonder-workers, although he hated both the wonders and the men who were +accomplishing them. + +What did the mountain-country want of railroads? What did it want of +towns? The railroads would but bring more interlopers and in the towns +they would foregather, arrogant in their firm determination to force +upon the men who had first claimed the country their artificial rules +and regulations. Timid in their fear of those they sought to furtively +dislodge and of the rough love these men showed of a liberty including +license, they would huddle in their storied buildings, crowd in their +trammelled streets, work and worry in their little offices absurdly, +harmfully to the rights of proper men. Like other mountaineers Joe had +small realization of the advantages of easy interchange of thought and +the quick commerce which come with aggregation. He thought the +concentration of the townsfolk was a sign of an unmanly dread of those +first settlers whom they wished to drive away unjustly, subjugate and +ruin. + +Throughout the mountains blazed a fierce resentment of the railroad +builders' presence and their work; in no heart did it burn more fiercely +than in poor Joe Lorey's, for the fear obsessed him that a member of the +army of invaders had succeeded in depriving him of the last chance of +getting that which, among all things on earth, he longed for most--Madge +Brierly's love. He did not stop to think that before the "foreigner" had +come the girl had more than once refused to marry him, begging him to +remain her good, kind friend. Such episodes, in those days, had not in +the least disheartened him. He had always thought that in the end the +girl _would_ "have him." But now he was convinced his chance was gone, +his last hope vanished. The "foreigner" had fascinated Madge, made him +look cheap and coarse, uncouth and undesirable. + +As he had walked along the roads which, later in the morning, Madge had +followed, he had frowned blackly at the sunrise and the waking birds, +kicked viciously at little sticks and stones which chanced along his +way. Never a smile had he for chattering squirrel or scampering +chipmunk; fierce, repellant was the brown brow of the mountaineer, +despite the glory of the morning, and black the heart within him with +sheer hatred of Frank Layson and the class he represented. + +His journey was much longer than the girl's, for it did not end till he +had reached the rude construction camp of the advancing railroad +builders in the valley far below the little mountain-store. There he +gazed at what was going on with a child's wonder, which, at first, +almost made him lose his memory of what he thought his wrongs, but, +later, aggravated it by emphasizing in his mind his own great ignorance. + +Through a tiny temporary town of corrugated iron shanties, crude +log-and-brush and rough-plank sheds, white canvas tents, ran the raw, +heaped earth of the embankment. About it swarmed a thousand swarthy +laborers, chattering in a tongue less easy to his ears than the harsh +scoldings of the squirrels he had seen while on his way. Back behind +them stretched two lines of shining rails, which, even as he watched, +advanced, advanced on the embankment, being firmly spiked upon their +cross-ties so as to form a highway for the cars which brought more dirt, +more dirt, more dirt to send the raw embankment on ahead of them. + +At first the puffing, steam-spitting, fire-spouting locomotive with its +deafening exhaust and strident whistle, clanging bell and glowing +fire-box actually frightened him. As he stood close by the track and it +came on threateningly, he backed away, his rifle held in his crooked +arm, ready for some great emergency, he knew not what. A laborer laughed +at him, and his hands instinctively took firmer grip upon the rifle. The +laborer stopped laughing. + +Some lessons of the temper of the mountaineers already had been learned +along the line of that new railroad, and, driven from his wrath by the +appearance of new marvels, Joe, at greater distance, sat upon a stump +and watched, wide-eyed, and undisturbed, unridiculed. + +For a long time his resentment wholly drowned itself in wonder at the +puzzle of the engines, the mechanism of the dump-cars, the wondrous +working of the small steam crane which lifted rails from flat-cars, and, +as a strong man guided them, dropped them with precision at the time and +place decided on beforehand. He noted how the men worked in great gangs, +subject to the orders of one "boss," a phenomenon of organization he had +never seen before, with unwilling admiration. + +But presently, from a point well in advance of that where rails already +had been laid and upon which his attention had been concentrated because +of the machinery there, there came a mighty boom of dynamite. It +startled him so greatly that he sprang up, bewildered, ready for +whatever might be coming, but wholly at a loss as to just what the +threatening danger might be. His fright gave rise to jeering laughter +from the men who had been watching with a covert eye the rough, +determined looking mountaineer, squatting on the stump with rifle on +his arm. He turned on them so fiercely that they shrank back, terrified +by the look they saw in his grey eyes. + +Then, noting that the noise had not appalled them in the least and +assuming that what was surely safe for them was safe enough for him, he +sauntered down the line, attempting to seem careless in his walk, until +he reached the gang which was busy at destruction of a high, obstructive +cropping of grey granite. + +For hours he sat there watching them with curiosity. He saw them pierce +the rocks with hammered drills; he saw them then put in a small, round, +harmless looking paper cylinder which, of course, he knew held something +like gunpowder; he saw them tamp it down with infinite care, leaving +only a protruding fuse; he saw them light the fuse and scamper off to a +safe distance while he watched the sputtering sparks run down the fuse, +pause at the tamping, then, having pierced it, disappear. The great +explosions which succeeded were, at first, a little hard upon his +nerves, but he saw that those who compassed them did not flinch when +they came, and, after he had dodged ridiculously at the first, received +the second with a greater calm, keyed himself to almost motionless +reception of the third, and managed to sit listening to the fourth with +self-possession quite as great as theirs, his face impassive and his +frame immovable. + +He noted with amazement the great force of the infernal power the +burning fuses loosed, and knew, instinctively, that the explosive was a +stronger one than that with which he had been thoroughly familiar since +his earliest childhood--gunpowder. He wondered mightily what it could +be, and, finally, summoned courage to inquire of one of the swart +laborers. + +These were the first words he had spoken that day, and, although the man +was courteous enough in answering, "Dynamite," he thought he saw a smile +upon his face of veiled derision, and resented it so fiercely that +instead of thanking him he gave him a black look and sauntered off. But +he had learned what the explosive was; before he went away he had seen +it used in half-a-dozen ways and had a visual demonstration of the +necessity for caution in its handling. One of the young and cocky +engineers, whom he so hated, dropped by dread mischance a heavy hammer +on a stick of it, and the resulting turmoil left him lying torn and +mangled on the rocks. + +Lorey felt small sympathy for the man's suffering, although he never had +seen any human being mutilated thus before. Many a man he had seen lying +with a clean hole through his forehead, the neat work of a definitely +aimed bullet; assassination and the spectacles it carried with it could +not worry him: his childhood and young manhood had been passed where +"killings" were too frequent; the man, like all the others there at +work, was his enemy, and he sorrowed for him not at all; but this +tearing, mangling laceration of human flesh and bone was horrifying to +him. + +Later, though, a certain comfort came to him from it. The whole scene +had impressed him and depressed him. He remembered what Madge Brierly +had said about the engineers with their blue paper plans and their +ability to read from them and work by them. He saw them at their work, +and the spectacle made him feel inferior, which had never happened in +his free, untrammeled life of mountain independence before. There were a +dozen men about the work of the same type as Layson's, and their calm +cocksureness as they directed all these mysteries amazed him, +overwhelmed him, made him feel a sense of littleness and unimportance +which was maddening. Why should they know all these things when he, Joe +Lorey, who had lived a decent life according to his lights, had labored +with his muscles as theirs could not labor if they tried to force them +to, had lived upon rough fare and in rough places while they had had +such "fancinesses" as he saw spread before them at their mess-tent +dinner (and crude fare enough it seemed to them, no doubt) knew none of +them? He could see no justice in such matters and resented them with +bitter heart. If their own infernal powder had killed one of them he +would not mourn. He tried to look back at the accident with +satisfaction. + +Had he gone down to that crude construction camp without the jealousy +of Layson in his heart, he might, possibly, have merely gazed in wonder +at the cleverness of all this work, despite his mountaineer's resentment +of the coming of the interlopers; but, with that resentment in his heart +to nag and worry him, he achieved, before the day was over, a real +hatred of the class and of each individual in it. Layson had come up +there to his country to rob him of the girl he loved; now these men were +coming with their railroad to change the aspect of the land he had been +born to and grown up in, making it a strange place, unfamiliar, +unwelcoming and crowded. He hated every one of them, he hated the new +railroad they were building, he hated their new-fangled and mysterious +machinery which puzzled him with intricate devices and appalled him with +its power of fire and steam. + +By the time the afternoon was two hours old he was in a state of sullen +fury, silent, morose, miserable on the stump which he had chosen as his +vantage point for observation. More than once an engineer looked at him +with plain admiration of his mammoth stature in his eyes; many a +town-girl, seeing him, like a statue of The Pioneer upon a fitting +pedestal, made furtive eyes at him, for he was handsome and attractive +in his rough ensemble; but he paid no heed to any of them. He was giving +his mind over to consideration of his grievance against these men who +came, with steam and pick and shovel, dynamite and railroad iron, +invading his domain. + +He thought about his secret still, hidden in its mountain fastness, and +realized that this new stage of settlement's inexorable march meant +danger to it; he thought about the game which roamed the hills and +realized that with the coming of the crowd it would soon scatter, never +to return; he thought about the girl up there, his companion in +adversity, his fellow sufferer from mutual wrong, the one thing which he +had had to love, the shining prize which it had been his sole ambition +to possess for life; he thought of her and then about the man, who +(product of the same advantages which made these men before him clever +with their blue-prints and their puffling monsters) had come there +searching profit from the land which he had never loved or lived on, +and, seeing Madge, had, Joe thoroughly believed, exerted every wile of a +superior experience to win her from him by fair means or foul. He +thought of them and hated all of them! + +He was a most unhappy mountaineer who sat there on the stump, impassive +and morose as the sun progressed upon its journey toward the western +horizon. All the organized activity in the scene about him filled him +with resentment and despair. In the hills he ever felt his strength: +they had presented in his whole lifetime few problems which he could not +cope with, conquer; but here in that construction camp he felt weak, +incompetent, saw full many a puzzling matter which he could not +understand. He watched the scene with bitter but with almost hopeless +eyes. These new forces working here at railroad building, working in the +hills to rob him of the girl he loved, seemed pitilessly strong and +terribly mysterious. He never had felt helpless in all his life, before. +It made him grind his teeth with rage. + +But, though it angered him, the tense activity of the construction camp +was fascinating, too. Especially was his attention held spellbound by +the ruthless work of the advancing blasting gangs. What power lay hidden +in those tiny sticks of dynamite! How lightly one of them had tossed +that poor unfortunate in air and left him lying mangled, broken, +helpless on the ground when it had spent its fury! _What a weapon one of +them would make, upon occasion_! + +This thought grew rapidly in his depressed and agitated mind. What a +weapon, what a weapon! Presently the blasting gangs and what they did +absorbed his whole attention. He no longer paid the slightest heed to +the puffing locomotives, busy with their dump-cars, to the mysterious +steam-shovel, to the hand cars with their pumping, flying passengers. +The dynamite was greater than the greatest of them. One stick of it, if +properly applied, would blow a locomotive into junk, would tear a +dump-car, with its massive iron-work and grinding wheels, apart and +leave mere splinters! + +His thoughts roamed back to his home mountains and pondered on the +probable effect of this incursion on his personal affairs. Not satisfied +with tearing up the placid valley, these foreigners would, presently, +invade the very mountains in their turn. He saw the doom of that small, +hidden still which had been his father's secret, years ago, was now his +secret from the prying eyes of law and progress. That the "revenuers," +soon or late, would get it, now that their allies were building steel +highways to swarm on, was inevitable. His heart beat fast with a new +anger, anticipatory of their coming to his fastness. + +Lying not six feet from him as he sat there thinking bitterly of all +these things, the foreman of the blasting gang had gingerly deposited a +dozen sticks of dynamite upon a soft cushion of grey blankets. Joe +looked at them as they lay there, innocent and unimpressive. If he had +some of them in the hills and the revenuers came to raid his still-- + +The thought sprang into being in his mind with lightning quickness and +grew there with mushroom growth. Never in his life had Lorey stolen +anything, although the government would have classed him as a criminal +because he owned that hidden still. His standards, in some things, were +different from yours and mine, but he had never stolen anything and +scorned as low beyond the power of words to tell a man who would. But +now temptation came to him. He wanted some of that explosive. Should he +buy it, its purchase by a mountaineer would certainly attract attention +and might thus precipitate the very thing he wished to ward away--a +watch of him, and, through that espionage, discovery of his secret place +among the hills. And were not the railroad and the men who owned it +robbing him by their progression into his own country? They were robbing +him of peace and quiet, of the possibility of living on the life he had +been born to and had learned to love! One of the class which fostered +him was robbing him, he feared with a great fear, of the sweet girl whom +he loved better than he loved his life. Surely it would be no sin, no +act of real dishonesty for him to slip down from his stump when none was +looking and secure a stick or two of the explosive! + +Speciously he argued this out in his mind and reached the wrong +conclusion which he wished to reach. + +If he could but get one of those sticks of dynamite! When progress came, +as, now, he felt convinced it would, to drive him from his mountains and +the still which made life possible to him, he could meet it, at the +start, with one of its own weapons. That, even though he had a hundred +such, he could fight the fight successfully, could, in the end, find +triumph, he did not for an instant think. The might of the encroaching +army had impressed him, and he knew that, soon or late, he would be +forced to yield to it; but he coveted those sticks of dynamite. One of +them would give him some slight power, at least. He acknowledged to +himself that he would steal one if he got the chance, despite his innate +hatred of all pilferers. Such theft would merely be the taking of an +unimportant tribute from the power which would, eventually, claim much, +indeed, from him. + +From the distance came the screaming whistle of a locomotive pulling in +along the newly built roadway to eastward. It was followed by a flurry +of excitement among all the men at work around about him. + +"There comes the mail," he heard one handsome young chap shout. + +He wore a suit like that which Joe had learned to hate because Frank +Layson wore it. + +This youth started running down the track, bright-eyed, expectant, and a +dozen others ran to follow him, leaving blue-prints, their surveyors' +instruments and other tokens of their mysterious might of education, +lying unheeded on the ground behind them. There was much excitement. +Even the rough laborers stopped delving at their tasks for a few +minutes, to straighten from their work and stand, with curious eyes +agaze down-track. + +In the distance Joe saw smoke arise above the tops of the invaded +forest-trees. Then he heard the growing clangor of a locomotive's bell, +then other whistling and the approaching rumble of steel wheels upon +steel rails, the groan of brake shoes gripping, the rattle of contracted +couplings, the impact of car-bumpers. + +The excitement grew among the working gangs. Even the laborers left +their tasks and started down the rough surface of the new embankment +toward the place, a quarter-of-a-mile away, where the train would stop +at the end of the crude ballasting. + +Lorey sat there on his stump, apparently impassive, watching all this +flurry with resentful, discontented eyes. He himself was infinitely +curious about the coming train; but he could not bring himself to go to +see it. He had never seen a railway train, but it somehow seemed to him +that if he hurried with the rest to meet this one it would mean a +certain sacrifice of dignity in the face of the invading conqueror. He +sat there, grimly wondering what it might be like, what the people whom +it brought were like, until, suddenly, he discovered that he was alone. +The last workman yielding to temptation, free from supervision for the +moment, had run down the bank to meet the train, get mail, see who had +come. Lying not a dozen feet away from Joe on their grey blanket were +the sticks of dynamite. + +Lithe, quick and silent as one of the mountain wild-cats he had so often +trailed through his domain, he slipped down from his stump, caught up a +stick of the explosive, tucked it carefully into his game-bag, took his +place again upon the stump, impassive, calm, apparently quite unexcited. + +When the men came trooping back, opening letters, tearing wrappers from +their newspapers, gossipping, he still sat on the stump as they had left +him. Not one of them suspected that he once had left it. + +"Bright and lively as a cigar-store Indian," he heard one care-free +youth exclaim as he went by him. + +He did not know what the man meant; he had never seen a cigar-store +Indian; but he knew a jibe was meant. It did not anger him, as it would +have done, a few moments earlier. Now he had exacted his small tribute. +They could stare at him and jibe, if they were so inclined. Hidden +carefully there in his game-bag was one of their own weapons for their +fight against the wilderness, which, in course of time, might be a +weapon of the wilderness in fighting against some of them. + +Presently he climbed down from the stump and strolled back along the raw +embankment toward the little group still standing near the train which +had arrived. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The young moonshiner stiffened instantly as he neared the group of newly +arrived travellers, for the first word he heard from them was the name +of him whom, among all foreigners, he hated with most bitterness. An old +darky, plainly the servant of the party, and such a darky as the +mountain country had never seen before, was inquiring of a bystander +where he could find "Marse" Frank Layson. + +The man of whom he asked the question had not the least idea, nor had +anyone about the railroad working. Most of the men had never heard of +Layson, and the few who had become acquainted with him through chance +meetings since he had been stopping in his cabin in the mountains, knew +most indefinitely where the place was located. Lorey could have quickly +given the information, but had no thought of doing so. He stood, +instead, staring at the party with wondering but not good-natured eyes, +and said no word. He certainly was not the one to do a favor to his +rival or his rival's friends. + +The group of strangers were thrown into confusion by the difficulty of +getting news of him they sought, and, while they discussed the matter, +Lorey had a chance to study them. He stood upon the rough plank +platform, leaning on his rifle, with the game-bag and its burden of +purloined explosive hanging slouchily beneath one arm, his coon-skin cap +down well upon his eyes, those eyes, half closed, gazing at the +newcomers with all the curiosity which they would have shown at sight of +savages from some far foreign shore. + +He was not the only one about the temporary railroad station who eyed +the group with curiosity and interest. Two of the travellers were ladies +from the bluegrass and scarcely one of all the natives lingering about +the workings had ever seen a lady from the bluegrass, while, to the +young surveyors and the group of civil engineers who had, for months, +been exiled by their work among the mountains from all association with +such lovely creatures, it was a joy to stand apart and covertly gaze at +them. Many a young fellow, months away from home, who had grasped the +newspapers and letters which had come in with the other mail with eager +fingers, anxious to devour their contents, had, after the two ladies had +descended from the train, almost forgotten his anxiety to get the news +from home, and stood there, now, with opened letters in his hands, +unread. + +The ladies were very worthy of attention, too. Miss Alathea Layson, the +elder of the two, was slight, beautifully groomed despite the long and +dirty trip on rough cars over the crude road-bed of a newly graded +railway. A woman whose thirtieth birthday had been left behind some +years before, she still had all the brightness and vivacity of the +twenties in her carriage and her manner. Her voice, as it drifted to the +young moonshiner, was a new experience to him--soft, well modulated, +cultivated, it was of a sort which he had never heard before, and, while +it seemed to him affected, nevertheless thrilled him with an +unacknowledged admiration. + +It was she who showed the greatest disappointment about the general +ignorance concerning Layson's whereabouts, and that voice made +instantaneous and irresistible appeal to the older men among the party +of engineers and surveyors, who, finding an excuse in her discomfiture, +flocked about her, hats off, backs bent in humble bows, proffering +assistance, three deep in the circle. + +The other lady traveller, whom Miss Alathea called Miss Barbara, more +especially attracted the attention of the younger men, and, as they +stood aloof to gaze at her, held such mountain dwellers as were near, +paralyzed with wonder and admiration. Nothing so brilliantly beautiful +as she in form, carriage, face, coloring or dress had ever been seen +there in the little valley. + +She was a florid girl of twenty, or, perhaps, of twenty-one or two. Her +eyes were the obtrusive feature of her face, and she used them with a +freedom which held callow youth spellbound. Her gown was more +pretentious than that of her more elderly companion. This, of course, +was justified by the difference between their ages; but there seemed to +be, beyond this, a flaunting gayety about it and her manner which were +not, in the eyes of the older and wiser men among the group who watched, +justified by anything. It would have been a hard thing for the most +critical of them to have definitely mentioned just what forced this +strong impression on their minds, but it was forced upon them very +quickly. One of them, a cute and keen observer as he was, of many years +experience, decided the moot point, though, and whispered his decision +to a grizzled man (the engineer in charge of the whole enterprise upon +that section of construction) who stood next him. + +"The elder one is of the old-time Southern aristocracy," he said. "The +younger one is one of the newcomers--her father has made money and she +is breaking in by means of it." + +His companion nodded, realizing that the guess was shrewd and justified, +even if it might, conceivably, be inaccurate. + +"She certainly is very striking," he said, nodding, "but the elder one +is the aristocrat." + +The other member of the party was a big man, nearing fifty, with a broad +face on which geniality was written in its every line, wearing the +wide-brimmed Southern hat, typical long frock-coat with flaring skirts, +black trousers, somewhat pegged, and boots of an immaculate brilliance. + +His voice was loud, hearty and attractive, as he made inquiries, here +and there, about the young man whom they had hoped to find in waiting +for them at the station, although they had arrived, owing to the +exigencies of travel by a new road, not yet officially opened to +traffic, a day before they had expected to. + +"I suh," said this gentleman, "am Cunnel Doolittle--Cunnel Sandusky +Doolittle, and am looking for this lady's nephew, Mr. Layson, suh. If +you can tell me where the youngster is likely to be runnin', now, you +will put me under obligations, suh." + +None, however, knew just how Layson could be reached. Most of them knew +him or had heard of him, but they were not certain just where his camp +in the mountains was located. + +"I regret, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel, turning to the disappointed +lady at his side, after having completed his inquiries, "that there is +no good hotel heah. If there were a good hotel heah, I would take you to +it, ma'am, and make you comfortable. Then, ma'am, I would search this +country and I'd find him in short order. He probably did not receive my +letter saying that we would arrive to-day and not to-morrow." + +One of the engineers proffered to the ladies the use of his own canvas +quarters till some course of action should have been decided on, an +offer which was gratefully accepted. + +Soon afterward inquiries by the Colonel brought out definite information +as to the exact location of Frank's camp. A railway teamster, also, it +appeared, was starting in that direction after ties and offered to +transport a messenger as far as he was going, directing him, then, so +that he could not lose his way. Old Neb, the darky, thereupon, was +started on the search. + +He was a different sort of negro from any which the mountain folk had +ever seen, and wore more airs than his "white folks." Dressed in a black +frock-coat as ornate as the Colonel's, although its bagging shoulders +showed that it had been a gift and not made for him, his hat was a silk +tile, a bit too large, and in one hand was a gold-headed cane on which +he leaned as his old legs limped under him. Among the mountaineers about +he was an object of the keenest curiosity, although down in the +bluegrass, where old family negroes frequently were let to grow into a +childish dignity of manner after years of faithful service and were not +disturbed in their ideas of their own importance, he would have been +regarded as merely an amusing infant of great age, reaping a reward for +by-gone merits in the careful consideration and indulgence now extended +to him. His inordinate vanity of his personal appearance and his dignity +might have given rise to smiles, down there; here there were those upon +the platform who laughed loudly as he walked away, boasting +vaingloriously, although he evidently feared the trip with the rough +teamster, that he would find "young Marse Frank" in a jiffy and have him +there in no time. + +It was while the aged negro was climbing somewhat difficultly to the +side of the good-natured railroad teamster who had promised to give him +a lift upon his way and then supply directions for his further progress, +that Joe Lorey, who had been an interested spectator of the affair, +contemptuous, amused by the old darky, saw, coming through the crowd +behind him and well beyond the range of the newly arrived strangers, the +roughly dressed, mysterious old man whom he had seen, once or twice, up +in the mountains, whom Madge had seen, tapping with his little hammer at +the rocks. Lorey looked toward him with a face which scowled +instinctively. He disliked the man, as he disliked all foreigners who +dared invasion of his wilderness; he would have feared him, too, had he +known that it had really been him and not young Layson and Madge Brierly +who had made the noise there in the thicket which had disturbed him, +that day, when, armed to meet a raid of revenuers, he had rushed out +from his still to find the girl and the young bluegrass gentleman in a +close company which worried him almost as much as the appearance of the +officers, in fact, could have done. + +He was a "foreigner," this old man with the manner of the mountains, +and, sometimes, their speech, for he wore bluegrass clothes; therefore +he was one to be classed with the others in his bitter hatred. He was +standing almost in his path, and, by stepping to one side, could have +saved him a small detour round a pile of boxed supplies; but he did not +move an inch, stiffening, instead, delighted at obstructing him. + +The old man, as he went around, looked sharply at him, and then smiled, +almost as if he recognized him and could read his thoughts; almost as if +he realized the man's instinctive hate; almost as if he felt a +certainty, deep in his soul, that so great was the disaster hovering +above the mountaineer that it would be scarcely worth his own while, +now, even to think resentfully of this small insult. + +A moment later, though, and the expression of his face had changed +completely. The first glimpse of the new come party standing, now, deep +in discussion of the railway work, before the engineer's white, +hospitable tent, made him start back in amazement. + +For an instant he stood wavering, as if he were considering the plan of +trying to depart without approaching them or being seen by them, but +then he shrugged his shoulders and advanced, trying to show upon his +face surprised good-nature. + +"Wall, Colonel Doolittle!" he cried. "And you, Miss Layson, and--why, +there's Barbara!" + +"_Father!"_ said the girl, in absolute amazement, hurrying toward him. + +"Ah, Mr. Holton!" said Miss 'Lethe, bowing to him as the Colonel, +plainly not too greatly pleased by the necessity for doing so, advanced +toward him with extended hand. + +"What brings you all up here?" asked Holton, after the greetings had +been said. + +"We came up to see Frank and the beauties of his long-forgotten land," +Miss 'Lethe answered, in her softly charming voice. "He has property up +here, you know, which has been for years a family possession, but which +has been considered valueless, or almost so. When he learned that this +new railway was to pass quite close to it, he decided to investigate it +carefully and see just what it really amounted to." + +Holton smiled a little wryly as she completed her explanation. "He's +stayed here, studyin' it, a long time, ain't he?" + +"Yes," Miss Alathea answered. "When he once reached here he seemed to +find new beauties in the country every day. He wrote us the most glowing +letters of it, and these letters and--and--other things, decided me to +come and see him and the property he is so fond of. The Colonel was +polite enough to volunteer as escort, your daughter to come as a +companion." + +Holton winked mysteriously at Colonel Doolittle. "You come at the right +time," said he. "I'll have some things to tell you of this country and +just what the railroad's going to do for it if you should care to +listen." + +The Colonel's eyes, plainly those of one who read the tale of character +upon the faces of the people whom he met, looked at him with no great +favor, but he smiled. "We've already learned some things which have +astonished us," he said. Then, though, despite the fact that his remark +had greatly aroused Holton's curiosity, evidently, he changed the +subject somewhat abruptly, and turned grandiosely to Miss 'Lethe. + +"May I offuh you my ahm, ma'am, for a little stroll about heah?" he +inquired. "The greatest disadvantage which I see about this country is +the lack of level places big enough to put a race-track in, ma'am. So +far as I can see from lookin' round me, casual like, you couldn't run a +quahtuh, heah, without eitheh goin' up a hill or comin' down one." + +"_Isn't_ it rough!" said Barbara, with a gesture of aversion which +seemed a bit affected. + +Holton looked at her with what was plainly admiration. It was clear +enough that, in a way, he was fond of his showy daughter. He ran his eye +with satisfaction over her costume, from head to foot, and nodded. + +"You ain't never seen much of rough life, now have you, Barbara?" He +turned, then, to Miss Alathea. "These young folks, raised the way we +raise 'em, nowadays, get thinkin' that the whole world has been +smoothed out for their treadin'--an' they ain't far wrong. We _do_ +smooth out the world for 'em. Now, there's your nephew, Frank; he--" + +"Oh, he _likes_ it, here, as I have said," she answered. + +"But it is so--_uncouth_" said Barbara, plainly for the benefit of one +or two admiring youths from the surveying party, who were standing near. +"And some of the people look so absolutely vicious--some of the natives, +I mean, of course, you know. Now look at that young fellow, over there!" + +The girl had nodded toward Joe Lorey, who was standing not far off, +observing them with an unwavering and disapproving, almost definitely +hostile stare. + +"He looks," the girl went on, "as if he hated us and would be glad to do +us harm. So violent!" + +"He's from up the mountains," one of the young engineers said, glancing +toward him. "It's funny how those mountain people _all_ hate us. You +see, they say, the hills around about here are all full of moonshiners +and they believe the coming of the railroad will bring with it law and +order and that when that comes, of course, their living will be gone." + +"Moonshiners?" said Barbara. "Pray, what are moonshiners?" + +Her father grimly smiled again. He knew that she knew quite as well what +moonshiners were as any person in the group, but her affected ignorance +of rough things and rough men amused him. + +"Distillers of corn whisky who refuse to pay their taxes to the +government," the youth replied. "The revenue officials have had dreadful +times with them, here in the Cumberland, for years. Sometimes they have +really bloody battles with them, when they try to make a raid." + +"How terrible!" said Barbara, and shuddered carefully. She looked again +at Lorey, who, conscious that he was the subject of their conversation +and resentful of it, stared back boldly and defiantly. "And do you think +that he--that very young man there--can possibly have ever actually +_killed_ a man?" + +The engineer laughed heartily. "That he may _possibly_ have killed a +man," said he, "there is no doubt. I don't know that he has, however, +and it is most improbable. I don't even know that he's a moonshiner." + +Among the others who had left the train, which, now, had been switched +off to a crude side-track, the cars left there and the locomotive +started at the handling of dirt-dump-cars, were two tall, sunburned +strangers, whom Miss Alathea, who had noted them as she did everyone, +had classed as engineers or surveyors, but who had not, when they had +arrived, mingled with the other men employed on the construction of the +railroad. While the young man and Barbara were talking about +moonshiners, one of them had drifted near and he gave them a keen +glance at the first mention of the word. Now he turned, but turned most +casually, to follow with his own, their glances at Joe Lorey. Then he +sauntered off, and, as he passed Holton, seemed to exchange meaning +glances with him. + +Soon afterward Lorey turned away. The day was getting on toward noon. +The long tramp back to his lonely cabin in the mountains would consume +some hours. The sight of all these strangers, all this work on the new +railroad worried him, made him unhappy, added to and multiplied the +apprehension which for weeks had filled his heart about Madge Brierly +and young Layson. He battled with a mixture of emotions. There was no +ounce of cowardice, in Joe. Never had he met a situation in his life +before which he had feared or which had proved too strong for him. All +his battles, so far, and they had been many and been various, as was +inevitable from the nature of his secret calling, had resulted in full +victories for his mighty strength of body or his quick foot, certain +hand, keen knowledge of the mountains and the woods resource and wit +that went with these; but now things seemed to baffle him. His soul was +struggling against acknowledgment of it, while his mind continually told +him it was true. Everything seemed, now, to be against him. + +He knew, but would not admit, even to himself, that the march of +progress must inevitably drive out of existence the still hidden in his +cave and make the marketing of its illicit product doubly hazardous, +nay, quite impossible. He knew that he must give it up; he realized that +real good sense would send him home, that day, to bury the last trace of +it in some spot where it never could be found again. But his stubborn +soul revolted at the thought of being beaten, finally, by this +civilization which he hated; he would not admit, even in his mind, that +it had bested him, or could ever best him. He ground his teeth and +pressed his elbow down against the stock of his long rifle with a force +which ground the gun into his side until it hurt him. He would never +give up, never! Let them try to get him if they could, these lowlanders! +He would not be afraid of them. His father had not been--and he would +never be. + +And there was a voice within him which kept whispering as did the one +which counselled the abandonment of his illegal calling, the abandonment +of that other effort, infinitely dearer to him, to win Madge Brierly's +love and hand in marriage. His common-sense assured him that she was not +made for such as he, that, while she had been born there in the +mountains there were delicacies, refinements in her which would make her +mating with his rude and uncouth strength impossible, would make it +cruelly unhappy for her, even should it come about. But this voice he +steadfastly declined to listen to, even more emphatically than he did to +that which counselled caution in his calling. Again he ground his +teeth. His heels, when they came down upon the rocky mountain trails up +which he soon was climbing, fell on the slopes so heavily that, +constantly, his progress was followed by the rattle of small stones down +the inclined path behind him, constant little landslides. And, at +ordinary times, Joe Lorey, awkward as he looked to be, could scale a +sloping sand-bank without sending down a sliding spoonful to betray the +fact that he was moving on it to the wild things it might startle. + +Heavily he resolved within his soul, against his own best judgment, to +keep up both fights and win. + +The dynamite which he had stolen and which nestled in his game-sack +comforted him, although he did not know how he would use it. Many times, +as he worked through the narrow trails, jumped from stepping-stone to +stepping-stone in crossing mountain-streams, pulled himself up steep and +rocky slopes by clutching swaying branches, or rough-angled boulders, he +let his left hand slip down to the side of the old game-sack, where, +through the soft leather, he could plainly feel the smooth, terrific +cylinder. + +He swore a mighty mountain oath that none of the advancing forces ever +should win victory of him. If the revenuers ever tried to get him, let +God help them, for they would need help; if Frank Layson stole his girl +from him, then let God help him, also, for even more than would the +revenuers the young bluegrass gentleman would need assistance from some +mighty power. + +But a fate was closing on Joe Lorey which all his uncouth strength could +not avert. As he had left the railway those two men whom simple-minded +Miss Alathea had supposed were engineers, but who had not mingled with +the throng of railway builders had looked at Horace Holton for +confirmation of their guess. In a quick glance, so keen that they could +not mistake its meaning so instantaneous that none else could suspect +that the three men were even casual acquaintances, he had told them they +had guessed aright. + +They sauntered off and disappeared in the direction whence the +mountaineer had gone, and, though his feet were well accustomed to the +trails and were as expert in their climbing as any mountaineer's for +miles, these men proved more expert; though his ear was as acute as a +wild animal's, so silently they moved that never once a hint that they +were following, ever following behind him, reached it; their endurance +was as great as his, their woods-craft was as sly as his. + +A fate was closing on Joe Lorey. The march of civilization was, indeed, +advancing toward his mountain fastnesses at last. And nothing stays the +march of civilization. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +The afternoon was waning as Joe climbed a sudden rise and saw before him +Layson's camp. + +Through a cleft in the guardian range the sun's rays penetrated red and +fiery. Already the quick chill of the coming evening had begun to +permeate the air. A hawk, sailing from a day of foraging among the +hen-yards of the distant valley, flew heavily across the sky, burdened +with plunder for its little ones, nested at the top of a black stub on +the mountain-side. Squirrels were home-going after a busy day among the +trees. The mournful barking of young foxes, anxious for their dinners, +thrilled the air with sounds of woe. Among the smaller birds the early +nesters were already twittering in minor among the trees and thickets; a +mountain-eagle cleft the air in the hawk's trail, so high that only a +keen eye could have caught sight of him. Daylight insects were beginning +to abate their clamor, while their fellows of the night were tuning for +the evening concert. Mournfully, and very faintly, came a locomotive's +wail from the far valley. + +Joe Lorey paused grimly in his progress to stare at the rough shack +which housed the man he hated. He was no coward, and he would not take +advantage of the loneliness and isolation of the spot to do him harm +surreptitiously, but vividly the thought thrilled through him that +someday he would assail him. Smoke was curling from the mud-and-stick +chimney of the little structure, and he smiled contemptuously as he +thought of how the bluegrass youth was doubtless pottering, within, +getting ready to go down into the valley to greet his fine friends and +be greeted. He had no doubt that long ere this the aged negro had +reached him with the news of their arrival. He wondered, with a fierce +leap of hope, if, possibly, their coming might not be the signal for the +man's departure from the country where he was not wanted. + +This hope keenly thrilled him, for a moment, but, an instant later, +when, through the small window, he saw the youth seat himself, alone, +before a blazing fire of logs, stretch out his legs and lounge in the +comfort of the blaze, it left him. He wondered if Layson did not intend +to go down at all to meet his friends. + +Just then his quick ear caught the sound of stumbling, hurried +footsteps, plainly not a mountaineer's, down in the rough woodland, +below. Instantly his muscles tautened, instantly he brought his rifle to +position; but he soon let it fall again and smiled, perhaps, for the +first time that day. + +"Lawsy! Lawsy!" he could hear a scared voice muttering. "Lawsy, I is +los', fo' suah!" + +His smile broadened to a wide, malicious grin of satisfaction. The black +messenger who had been started with the news, evidently had not fared +well upon the way, and was, but now, arriving. "It's that nigger +wanderin' around up hyar," he mused. And then: "I'm goin' to have some +fun with him." + +Silently he slipped down the path by which he had so recently ascended, +and, at a good distance from the cabin, but still well in advance of the +unhappy negro, hid behind a rock, awaiting his approach. + +Old Neb, advancing, scared tremendously, was talking to himself in a +loud, excited voice. + +"Oh, golly!" he exclaimed. "Dis am a pretty fix for a bluegrass cullud +gemman! Dis am a pretty fix--los', los' up heah, in de midst of wolves +an' painters!" + +Joe, from behind his rock, wailed mournfully in startling imitation of a +panther's call. + +The darkey almost fell prone in his fright. "Name o' goodness!" he +exclaimed. "Wha' dat? Oh--oh--dere's a painter, now!" + +Joe called again, more mournfully, more ominously than before. + +Neb's fright became a trembling panic. "Hit's a-comin' closer!" he +exclaimed. "I feel as if de debbil's gwine ter git me!" He stooped and +started on a crouching run directly toward the rock behind which Joe was +hiding. + +As the old man would have passed, Joe jumped out from his ambush, and, +bringing his right hand down heavily upon the darky's shoulder, emitted +a wild scream, absolutely terrifying in its savage ferocity. With a howl +Neb dropped upon his knees, praying in an ecstasy of fear. + +"Oh, good Mister Painter, good Mister Debbil--" he began. + +Inasmuch as he was not devoured upon the instant, he finally ventured to +look up and Joe laughed loudly. + +So great was the relief of the old negro that he did not think of anger. +A sickly smile spread slowly on his face. "De Lawd be praised!" he said. +"Why, hit's a man!" + +"Reckon I am," said Joe. "Generally pass for one." Then, although he +knew quite well just why the man had come, from whom, for whom, he asked +sternly to confuse him: "What _you_ doin' in these mountings?" + +"I's lookin' fo' my massa, young Marse Frank Layson, suh," Neb answered +timidly. + +"You needn't to go fur to find him," Lorey answered bitterly. "You +needn't to go fur to find him." + +The old negro looked at him, puzzled and frightened by his grim tone and +manner. + +"Why--why--" he began. "Is it hereabouts he hunts fo' deer? He wrote +home he was findin' good spo't in the mountains, huntin' deer." + +Joe's mouth twitched ominously, involuntarily. The mere presence of Old +Neb, there, was another evidence of the great advantage, which, he began +to feel with hopeless rage, the man who had stolen that thing from him +which he prized most highly, had over him. The negro was his servant. +Servants meant prosperity, prosperity meant power. Backwoodsman as he +was, Joe Lorey knew that perfectly. His face gloomed in the twilight. + +"Yes," he answered bitterly, "it's here he has been huntin'--huntin' +deer--the pootiest deer these mountings ever see." Of course the old +negro did not understand the man's allusion. He was puzzled by the +speech; but Joe went on without an explanation: "But thar is danger in +sech huntin'. Your young master, maybe, better keep a lookout for +his-self!" + +His voice trembled with intensity. + +In the meantime Layson was still seated thoughtfully before his fire of +crackling "down-wood," busy with a thousand speculations. Just what +Madge Brierly, the little mountain girl, meant to him, really, he could +not quite determine. He knew that he had been most powerfully attracted +to her, but he did not fail to recognize the incongruity of such a +situation. He had never been a youth of many love-affairs. Perhaps his +regard for horses and the "sport of kings" had kept him from much +travelling along the sentimental paths of dalliance with the fair sex. +Barbara Holton, back in the bluegrass country, had been almost the only +girl whom he had ever thought, seriously, of marrying, and he had not, +actually, spoken, yet, to her about it. When he had left the lowlands +for the mountains he had meant to, though, when he returned. There were +those, he thought, who believed them an affianced couple. Now he +wondered if they ever would be, really, and if, without actually +speaking, he had not led her to believe that he would speak. He was +astonished at the thrill of actual fear he felt as he considered the +mere possibility of this. + +The news which had been brought to him by mail that upon the morrow he +would see the girl again, in company with his Aunt and Colonel +Doolittle, had focussed matters in his mind. Did he really love the +haughty, bluegrass beauty? He was far from sure of it, as he sat there +in the little mountain-cabin, although he had been certain that he did +when he had left the lowlands. + +It seemed almost absurd, even to his young and sentimental mind, that +one in his position should have lost his heart to an uneducated girl +like Madge, but he definitely decided that, at any rate, he had never +loved the other girl. If it was not really love he felt for the small +maiden of the forest-fire and spelling-book, it surely was not love he +felt for the brilliant, showy, bluegrass girl. + +He was reflecting discontentedly that he did not know exactly what he +felt or what he wanted, when he heard Joe Lorey's startling imitation of +the panther's cry, outside, and, rising, presently, when careful +listening revealed the fact that the less obtrusive sound of human +voices followed what had seemed to be the weird, uncanny call of the +wild-beast, he went to the door and opened it, so that he could better +listen. + +Joe and the negro had not been in actual view of Layson's cabin, up to +that time. A rocky corner, rising at the trail's side, had concealed it. +Now they stepped around this and the lighted door and windows of the +little structure stood out, despite increasing darkness, plainly in +their view. + +Almost instantly old Neb recognized the silhouette of Layson's figure +there against the fire-light from within. + +"Marse _Frank_!" he cried. "Marse _Frank!_" + +Layson, startled by the unexpected sound of the familiar voice there in +the wilderness, rushed from the door, took Neb's trembling hand and led +him to the cabin. + +"Neb, old Neb!" he cried. "By all that's wonderful! How did you get here +alone? I thought you all were to come up to-morrow. Where is Aunt +'Lethe, and the Colonel, and--and--" + +Neb, his troubles all forgotten as quickly as a child's, stood wringing +his young master's hand with extravagant delight. Joe Lorey disappeared +like a flitting shadow of the coming night. + +"Dey're all down at de railroad, suh," said Neb. "Dey're all down at de +railroad. Got heah a day befo' dey t'ought dey would, suh, an' sent me +on ahead to let you know. I been wanderin' aroun' fo' a long time +a-tryin' fo' to fin' yo'. Dat teamster what gib me a lif', he tol' me +dat de trail war cleah from whar he dropped me to yo' cabin, but I +couldn't fin' it, suh, an' I got los'." + +"And the others all are waiting at the railroad for me? I was going down +to meet them to-morrow." + +"Dey don't expect you till to-morrow, now, suh. Ev'rybody tol' 'em that +you couldn't git dar till to-morrow. I reckon dey'll be com'fable. Fo'ty +men was tryin' fo' to make 'em so when _I_ lef." The old darky laughed. +"Looked like dat dem chaps wat's layin' out dat railroad, dar, ain't +seen a woman's face fo' yeahs an' yeahs, de way dey flocked aroun'. Ev'y +tent in de destruction camp war at deir suhvice in five minutes." + +Frank was busy at the fire with frying-pan and bacon. The old negro was +worn out. The young man disregarded his uneasy protests and made him sit +in comfort while he cooked a supper for him. + +"So you got lost! Who finally set you straight? I heard you talking, +there, with someone." + +"A young pusson, suh," said Neb, with dignity. Lorey had befriended him, +he knew, at last; but he had scared him into panic to begin with. "A +young pusson, suh," he said, "what made me think he was a paintuh, suh, +to staht with. Made me think he was a paintuh, suh, or else de debbil, +wid his howlin'." + +Layson laughed long and heartily. "Must have been Joe Lorey," he +surmised. "I heard that cry and thought, myself, it was a panther. He's +the only one on earth, I guess, who can imitate the beasts so well. +Where is he, now?' + +"Lawd knows! I see him dar, close by me, den I seed you in de doah, an' +when I looked aroun' ag'in, he had plumb faded clean away!" + +"They're wonderful, these mountaineers, with their woods-craft." + +"Debbil craf, mo' like," said Neb, a bit resentful, still. + +Frank smiled at the thought of his dear Aunt, precise and elegant, +compelled to spend the night in a construction camp beneath +white-canvas. + +"What did Aunt 'Lethe think about a night in tents?" he asked. + +"Lawd," said Neb, plainly trying to gather bravery for something which +he wished to say, "I didn't ax huh. Too busy with my worryin'." + +"Worrying at what, Neb?" + +"Oveh dat Miss Holton an' her father." + +"Mr. Holton didn't come, too, did he?" + +"No; he didn't come wid us, suh; but he met us dar down by de railroad. +Wasn't lookin' for him, an' I guess he wasn't lookin', jus' exactly, to +see us. But he was dar an' now he's jus' a membuh of ouah pahty, suh, as +good as Cunnel Doolittle. Hit don't seem right to me, suh; no suh, hit +don't seem right to me." + +"Why, Neb!" + +"An' dat Miss Barbara! She was dead sot to see you, an' Miss 'Lethe was +compelled to ax her fo' to come along. She didn't mean to, fust off; no +suh. But she had to, in de end. Den I war plumb beat when I saw Mister +Holton stalkin' up dat platfohm like he owned it an' de railroad an' de +hills, and de hull yearth. But he's bettuh heah dan down at home, Marse +Frank. He don't _belong_ down in de bluegrass." + +"I'm afraid you are impertinent, Neb. Don't meddle. You always have been +prejudiced against Barbara and her father." + +The old negro answered quickly, bitterly. "I ain't likely to fuhgit," +said he, "dat de only blow dat evuh fell upon my back was from his han'! +I guess you rickollick as well as I do. He cotch me coon-huntin' on his +place an' strung me up. He'd jes' skinned me dar alive if you-all hadn't +heered my holler in' an' run in." + +Layson was uneasy at the turn the talk had taken. "That was years ago, +Neb," he expostulated. + +"Don't seem yeahs ago to me, suh. Huh! De only blow dat evuh fell upon +my back! But yo' snatched dat whip out of his ban' an' den yo' laid it, +with ev'y ounce of stren'th war in yo', right acrost his face!" + +Layson, unwilling to be harsh with the old man and forbid him to say +more, ostentatiously busied himself, now, about the table with the +frying-pan and other dishes, hoping, thus, to discourage further talk of +this sort. + +"No, suh," Neb went on with shaking head, "I jus' nachelly don' like +him. Don't like _either_ of 'em. An' he, Marse Frank, he nevuh _will_ +fuhgit dat blow, an' don't you think he will!" + +"That's all over, long ago," said Frank, as he put the finishing touches +on the old man's supper. "And what had Barbara to do with it? She can't +help what her father does." + +Neb drew up to the table with a continuously shaking head. For months he +had desired to speak his mind to his young master, but had never dared +to take so great a liberty. Now the unusual circumstances they were +placed in, the fact that he had been lost in the mountains in his +service and half scared to death, imbued him with new boldness. + +"She kain't he'p what he does, suh, no," said he. "But listen, now, +Marse Frank, to po' ol' Neb. De pizen vine hit don't b'ar peaches, an' +nightshade berries--dey ain't hulsome, eben ef dey're pooty." + +"Neb, stop that!" Layson commanded sharply. + +The old negro half slipped from the chair in which he had been sitting +wearily. Once he had started on the speech which he had made his mind +up, months ago, that, some day, he would screw his courage up to, he +would not be stopped. + +"Oh, honey," he exclaimed, holding out his tremulous old hands in a +gesture of appeal, while the fire-light flickered on a face on which +affection and real sincerity were plain, "I's watched ovuh you evuh +sence yo' wuh a baby, an' when I see dat han'some face o' hers was +drawin' of yo' on, it jus' nigh broke my ol' brack heaht, it did. It +did, Marse Frank, fo' suah." + +The young man could not reprimand the aged negro. He knew that all he +said came from the heart, a heart as utterly unselfish and devoted in +its love as human heart could be. + +"Oh, pshaw, Neb!" he said soothingly. "Don't worry. Perhaps I did go +just a bit too far with Barbara--young folks, you know!--but that's all +over, now." Again he wondered most uncomfortably if this were really +true, again his mind made its comparisons between the bluegrass girl and +sweet Madge Brierly. "There's no danger that Woodlawn will have any +other mistress than my dear Aunt 'Lethe for many a long year," he +concluded rather lamely. + +The emotion of the ancient darky worried him. It was proof that evidence +of a love affair with Barbara Holton had been plain to every eye, he +thought. + +Neb now slid wholly from the chair and dropped upon his knees close by +the youth he loved, grasping his hand and pressing it against his +faithful heart. + +"Oh, praise de Lawd, Marse Frank; oh, praise de Lawd!" he cried. + +Old Neb slept with an easier heart, that night, than had throbbed in his +old black bosom since the probability that Barbara Holton would be a +member of the party which was to visit his young master in the +mountains, had first begun to worry him. But long after he had found +unconsciousness on the boughs-and-blanket bed which he had fashioned for +himself under Frank's direction, Layson, himself, was wandering beneath +the stars, thinking of the problem that beset him. + +He was sorry Barbara was coming to the mountains. Why had his Aunt +'Lethe brought her? What would that dear lady think about Madge Brierly, +wood-nymph, rustic phenomenon? What had Horace Holton been doing in the +mountains, secretly, to have been surprised, discomfited as Neb had said +he was, at sight of the Colonel, Miss 'Lethe and his daughter? + +But before he had finished the pipe which he had carried into the crisp +air of the sharp mountain night for company, his thought had left the +Holtons and were seeking (as they almost always were, these days and +nights), his little pupil of the spelling-book, his little burden of the +brush-fire flight. He looked across the mountain-side toward where her +lonely cabin hid in its secluded fastness. There was a late light +to-night ashine from its small window. + +"She'll like her," he murmured softly in the night. "She'll _love_ her. +Aunt 'Lethe'll understand!" + +And then he wondered just exactly what it was that he felt so very +certain his Aunt 'Lethe would be sure to understand. He did not +understand, himself, precisely what had happened to him, his life-plans, +heart-longings. + +Strolling there beneath the stars he gave no thought to poor Joe Lorey, +until, like a night-shadow, the moonshiner stalked along the trail and +passed him. Layson called to him good-naturedly, but the mountaineer +gave him no heed. Frank stood, gazing after him in the soft darkness, in +amazement. Then a quick, suspicious thrill shot through him. The man was +bound up the steep trail toward Madge's cabin. Presently he heard him +calling. He went slowly up the trail, himself. + +The girl came quickly from her cabin in answer to the shouting of the +mountaineer. + +"What is it, Joe?" she asked. + +"I want a word with you. I've come a purpose," Lorey answered sullenly. + +The girl was almost frightened by his manner. She had never seen him in +this mood; he had never come to her, alone, at night, before. "Well, +Joe, you'll have to wait," said she. "I've got some things to do, +to-night." Her sewing was not yet half finished. + +Standing on her little bridge, she held with one hand to the worn old +rope by means of which she presently would pull it up. She did not take +Joe very seriously; in the darkness she could not see the grim +expression of his brow, the firm set of his jaw, the clenched hands, one +of which was pressed against the game sack with his powerful plunder +hidden in it. She laughed and tried to joke, for, even though she did +not guess how serious he was, her heart had told her that some day, ere +long, there must of stern necessity be a full understanding between her +and the mountaineer, and that he would go from her, after it, with a +sore heart. In the past she had not wished to marry him, but she had +never definitely said, even to herself, that such a thing was quite +impossible for all time to come. Now she knew that this was so, although +she would not acknowledge, even to herself, the actual reason for this +certainty. No; she could never marry Joe. She hoped that, he would never +again beg her to. + +"Come back some other time, when I ain't quite so busy," she said trying +to speak jokingly. "Tomorrow, or nex' week, or Crismuss." + +He stood gazing at her sourly. "I'll come sooner," he said slowly. +"Sooner. An' hark ye, Madge, if that thar foreigner comes in atween us, +I'm goin' to spile his han'some face forever!" + +"What nonsense you do talk!" the girl exclaimed, but her heart sank +with apprehension as the man stalked down the path. She did not pull the +draw-bridge up, at once, but stood there, gazing after him, disturbed. + +Again he met Layson, still strolling slowly on the trail, busy with +confusing thoughts, puffing at his pipe. The mountaineer did not call +out a greeting, but stepped out of the trail, for Frank to pass, without +a word. + +"Why, Joe," said Layson, "I didn't see you. How are you?" He held out +his hand. + +The mountaineer said nothing for an instant, then he straightened to his +lank full height and held his own hand close against his side. "No," he +said, "I can't, I can't." + +Layson was astonished. He peered at him. "Why, Joe!" said he; and then: +"See here--what have I ever done to you?" + +Joe turned on him quickly. "Done?" he cried. "Maybe nothin', maybe +everythin'." He paused dramatically, unconscious of the fierce +intentness of his gaze, the lithe aggressiveness of his posture. "But I +warns you, now--you ain't our kind! Th' mountings ain't no place for +you. The sooner you gits out of 'em, the better it'll be fer you." + +Layson stood dumbfounded for a moment. Then he would have said some +further word, but the mountaineer, his arm pressed tight against that +old game-sack, stalked down the trail. Suddenly Layson understood. + +"Jealous, by Jove!" he said. "Jealous of little Madge!" Slowly he turned +about, puffing fiercely at his pipe, his thoughts a compound of hot +anger and compassion. + +Madge, filled with dread of what her disgruntled mountain suitor might +be led to do by his black mood, had not yet re-crossed her draw-bridge, +but was standing by it, listening intently, when she heard Layson's +footsteps nearing. Her heart gave a great throb of real relief. She had +not exactly feared that trouble really would come between the men, +but--Lorey came of violent stock and his face had been dark and +threatening. + +She saw Layson long before he knew that she was there. + +"Oh," she cried, relieved, "that you?" + +He hurried to her. "I thought you mountain people all went early to your +beds," said he, and laughed, "but I met Joe Lorey on the trail and here +you are, standing by your bridge, star-gazing." + +Of course she would not tell him of her worries. She took the loophole +offered by his words and looked gravely up at the far, spangled sky. +"Yes," said she, "they're mighty pretty, ain't they?" + +Layson was in abnormal mood. The prospect of his Aunt's arrival, the +certainty that something more than he had thought had come out of his +mountain sojourn, the fact that he was sure that he regretted Barbara +Holton's coming, old Neb's arrival, and his raking up of ancient scores +against the lowland maiden's father, his meeting with Joe Lorey and the +latter's treatment of him, had wrought him to a pitch of mild +excitement. The girl looked most alluring as she stood there in the +moonlight. + +"My friends are in the valley and are coming up to-morrow," he said to +her. "Do you know that this may be the last time I shall ever see you +all alone?" + +She gasped. He had not hinted at a thing like that before. "You ain't +going back with them, are you?" she asked, her voice a little tremulous +from the shock of the surprise. "You ain't going back with them--never +to come hyar no more, are you?" + +He stepped nearer to her. "Why, little one," he asked, "would you care?" + +"Care?" she said with thrilling voice, and then, gaining better +self-control, tried to appear indifferent. "Why should I?" she said +lightly. "I ain't nothin' to you and you ain't nothin' to me." + +His heart denied her words. "Don't say that!" he cried. "You don't know +how dear you've grown to me." He stepped toward her with his arms +outstretched. He almost reached her and he knew, and she knew, +instinctively, that if he had he would have kissed her. + +[Illustration: "NO MAN CAN CROSS THIS BRIDGE, UNLESS--UNLESS,--"] + +She shrank back like a startled fawn, when his foot was almost on the +bridge that spanned the chasm between them and her cabin. + +"Don't you dare to touch me!" she said fiercely. + +She sped back upon the little bridge, and, when he would have followed, +held her hand up with a gesture of such native dignity, offended +womanhood, that he stopped where he was, abashed. + +"No--no, sir; you can't cross this bridge," said she. "No man ever can, +unless--unless--" + +Almost sobbing, now, she left the sentence incomplete; and then: "Oh, +you wouldn't dared act so to a bluegrass girl! But I know what's right +as well as them. It don't take no book-learnin' to tell me as how a kiss +like that you planned for me would be a sign that really you care for me +no more than for the critters that you hunt an' kill for pastime up hyar +among the mountings." + +He would have given much if he had never done the foolish thing. He +stood there with lowered eyes, bent head, abashed, discomfited. + +"An' I 'lowed you were my friend!" said she. + +Now he looked up at her and spoke out impulsively: "And so I am, Madge, +really! I was ... wrong. Forgive me!" + +She dropped her hands with a weary change of manner. "Well, I reckon I +will," said she. "You've been too kind and good for me to bear a grudge +ag'in you; but ... but ... Well, maybe I had better say good-night." + +She walked slowly back across the bridge without another word, pulled +on its rope and raised it, made the rope fast and slowly disappeared +within her little cabin. + +"Poor child!" said he, and turned away. "I was a brute to wound her." + +As he went down the trail, darkening, now, as the moon slid behind the +towering mountain back of him, his heart was in a tumult. "After all," +he reflected, "education isn't everything. All the culture in the world +wouldn't make her more sincere and true. She has taught _me_ a lesson I +shan't soon forget." + +His thoughts turned, then, to the girl who would come up with the party +on the following day. + +"I--wonder! Was there ever, really, a time when I loved Barbara?... If +so, that time has gone, now, never to return." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +His visitors took Layson by surprise, next morning. They had started +from the valley long before he had supposed they would. + +Holton saw him first and nudged his daughter, who was with him. They +were well ahead of Miss Alathea and the Colonel, who had been unable to +keep up with them upon the final sharp ascent of the foot-journey from +the wagon-road. The old man grinned unpleasantly. He had rather vulgar +manners, often annoying to his daughter, who had had all the advantages +which, in his rough, mysterious youth, he had been denied. + +"Thar he is, Barb; thar he is," he said, not loudly. Miss Alathea and +the Colonel, following close behind, were a restraint on him. + +The girl's face was full of eagerness as she saw the man they sought. He +was busy polishing a gun, but that his thoughts were occupied with +something less mechanical and not wholly pleasant the slight frown upon +his face made evident. "Mr. Layson! Frank!" she cried. + +The young man turned, on hearing her, and hurried toward her and her +father with his hands outstretched in welcome. He was not overjoyed to +have the old man visit him, just then; he was even doubtful of the +welcome which his heart had for the daughter; but he was a southerner +and in the gentle-born southerner real hospitality is quite instinctive. + +"Mr. Holton--Barbara," said he. "I am delighted. Welcome to the +mountains." He grasped their hands in hearty greeting. "But where are +Aunt Alathea and the Colonel?" + +Holton tried to be as cordial as his host. That he was very anxious to +appear agreeable was evident. "Oh, them slow-pokes?" he said, laughing. +"We didn't wait for them. We pushed on ahead. We reckoned as you would +be glad to see us." + +"And so I am." + +"One in particular, maybe," Holton answered, with a crude attempt at +badinage. He glanced archly from the young man to his daughter. + +"Father!" she exclaimed, a bit annoyed, and yet not too unwilling that +the fact that she and Layson were acknowledged sweethearts should be at +once established. + +"Oh, I ain't been blind," said Holton, gaily, going much farther than +she wished him to. "I've cut _my_ eye-teeth!" + +Then he turned to Layson with an awkward lightness. "Barbara told me +what passed between you two young folks afore you come up to the +mountings," he explained. And then, with further elephantine airyness: +"I say, jest excuse me--reckon I'm in the way." He made a move as if to +hurry off. + +Layson was not pleased. The old man was annoying, always, and now, after +the long revery of the night before about Madge Brierly, this attitude +was doubly disconcerting. "Not at all, Mr. Holton," he said, somewhat +hastily. "I'm sure we'd rather you'd remain. Are you sure the others are +all right?" + +"Close behind us." + +"I'll go and make sure that they do not lose their way." + +Holton looked at his daughter in a blank dismay after the youth had +started down the hill. "I say, gal," said he, "there's somethin' wrong +here!" + +She was inclined to blame him for the deep discomforture she felt. "Why +couldn't you let us alone?" she answered angrily. "You've spoiled +everything!" + +The old man looked at her, with worry on his face. "Didn't you tell me +'t was as good as settled? You said you were dead sure he meant to make +you his wife." + +She was still petulant, blaming him for Layson's unexpected lack of +warmth. "Yes, but you needn't have interfered!" + +Holton was intensely puzzled, worried, almost frightened. He was as +anxious to have this young man for a son-in-law as his daughter was to +have him for a husband. Her marriage into such a celebrated bluegrass +family as the Laysons were, would firmly fix her social status, no +matter how precarious it might be now, and the match would be of great +advantage to him in a business way, as well. He stood there, thinking +deeply, very much displeased. + +"There's somethin' more nor me has come between you," he said finally, +his face flushing with a deep resentment. "I tell you, gal, what I +believed at first, deep in my heart, air true. He was only triflin' with +you. Them aristocrats down in the bluegrass don't hold us no better than +the dust beneath their feet, even if we have got money. It's _family_ +that counts with them. Didn't he lay his whip acrost my face, once, as +if I was a nigger?" His wrath was rising. "And now he shows that he was +only triflin' with you with no real intentions of doin' as we thought he +would!" The man was tremulous with wrath. "Oh, I'll be even with him!" + +Barbara was greatly worried by the situation. All her life, despite the +fact that she was beautiful, despite the fact that her father was a rich +man--richer, by a dozen times, than many of the people for whose +friendship she longed vainly--she had vaguely felt that there was an +invisible gulf between her and the girls with whom she came in contact +at the exclusive schools to which she had been sent, between her and +the gentlefolk with whom, in some measure, she had mixed since she had +left school-walls. "Father," she asked anxiously, "why do people look +down on us so?" + +He faced her with a worried look, as if he feared that she might guess +at something which he wished should remain hidden. "They say I made my +money tradin' in niggers," he replied, at length. "Well, what of it? +Didn't I have the right?" + +"Are you sure there's nothing else?" + +He seemed definitely startled. "Girl, what makes you ask?" + +"Because sometimes memories come to me." + +"Memories of what?" + +"Of--my childhood," she said slowly, "of passes among +mountains--mountains much like these." + +He regarded her uneasily. "Oh, sho, gal!" he exclaimed, trying to make +light of it. "Reckon you've been dreamin'. You were never hyar before." + +But she looked about her, unconvinced, and, when she spoke, spoke +slowly, evidently trying to recall with definite clarity certain things +which flitted through her mind as vague impressions only. "Why does +everything seem so familiar, here, then, as if I had just wakened in my +true surroundings after a long sleep in which I had had dreams?" There +was, suddenly, a definite accusation in her eyes. "Father, you are +trying to deceive me! I was once a child, here in these very +mountains!" She stared about intently. + +The speech had an amazing effect on the old man. He stepped close to +her. "Hush!" said he, imperatively. "Don't you dare speak such a word +ag'in!" + +She peered into his eyes. "There _is_ a secret, then! We lived here, +long ago!" + +"Stop, I tell you!" he commanded. "Don't hint at such things, for your +life." He dropped his voice to hoarse whisper. "Suppose I did live hyar, +once. I was a smooth-faced youngster, then; my own mother wouldn't know +me, now." + +The sound of voices coming up the mountain-trail interrupted the +dramatic scene. + +"Sh!" said he. "They're comin'!" + +Frank was piloting his Aunt and Colonel Doolittle. "This way, Aunt +'Lethe," they could hear him say. + +An instant later he appeared, leading the way up the steep trail. His +Aunt, Neb and the Colonel followed him. + +"Now, Aunt 'Lethe," he said gaily, "you can rest at last. Colonel, I can +welcome you in earnest. This is, indeed, a pleasure." + +The Colonel was puffing fiercely from the hard work of the climb, but +his broad face glowed with pleasure. He took a long, full breath of the +exhilerating mountain air. "Pleasure? It's a derby-day, sir, +metaphorically speaking." As he rested he eyed the youngster with +approval. "Frank," said he, "you've grown to be the very image of my old +friend, Judge Layson. Ah, five years have made their changes in us +all--except Miss 'Lethe." He bowed gallantly in her direction, and she +gaily answered the salute. + +Barbara advanced, enthusiastically, looking at the Colonel with arch +envy in her eyes. "Five years you've been in Europe, surrounded by the +nobility. Oh, Colonel, what happiness!" + +He shook his head. "Happiness away from old Kentucky, surrounded by a +lot of numb-skulls who couldn't mix a fancy drink to save their lives, +who know nothing of that prismatic, rainbow-hued fountain of youth, a +mint-julep? Ah!" + +"But, Colonel," said the girl, "the masterpieces of art!" + +"Give me," said he, "the masterpieces of Mother Nature--the bright-eyed, +rose-cheeked, cherry-lipped girls of old Kentucky!" + +There was a general laugh. The Colonel's gallantry was ever-blooming. +Frank applauded and the ladies bowed. + +"By the way, Frank," said the Colonel, after they had been made +comfortable in a merry group before the cabin-door, "where is that +particular masterpiece of Nature which you've written us so much about? +Where is the--Diana?" + +Miss Alathea smiled at her somewhat worried nephew. "The 'phenomenon,'" +said she. + +"According to Neb, who told us of her as we worked up that steep +trail," said Barbara, "the 'deer.'" She laughed, not too good naturedly +Neb, who was standing waiting orders near, grinned broadly. + +"Neb, you rascal!" exclaimed Frank. + +"Come, where is she, Frank; where is she?" asked the Colonel. + +The youth was not too much embarrassed, but he gave a quick, side-glance +at Barbara. "She is probably getting ready to receive you," he replied. +"I told her I expected you and she's been very much excited over it." + +"Adding to nature's charms the mysteries of art," the Colonel said, +approvingly. "We shall expect to be overwhelmed. And, meantime, while +we're waiting, we might as well explain to you the business which has +brought us up here." + +His face showed him to be the bearer of good news. He rose, excitedly, +and went to Frank, to put his hand upon his shoulder. "Now, my boy, keep +cool, keep cool! I tell you, Frank, it's the biggest thing out. It'll +make a millionaire of you as sure as Fate before the next five years +have passed!" + +Layson was taken wholly by surprise. No one had in the least prepared +him for anything of this sort. He had supposed the party had come up to +see him merely for the pleasure of the trip. "I don't understand," said +he. + +"Keep cool, keep cool!" the Colonel urged. "It is colossal, +metaphorically. You see, I was over there in Europe, promoting a South +American mine, when I happened to see in a Kentucky paper that the +Georgetown Midland was to be put through these mountains near the land +your father bought. That land, my boy, is rich in coal and iron!" + +The young man's face shone with delight. "He always said so!" he +exclaimed. "I meant, sometime, to investigate." + +"I've saved you the trouble. I came back on the next steamer, organized +a syndicate in New York City, sent an expert out to carefully look into +things, and, on his report, a company is willing to put in a $200,000 +plant to develop your land. All you've got to do is to take $25,000 +worth of stock and let your coal-land stand for as much more." + +The youth's face fell. "Twenty-five thousand dollars!" he exclaimed. +"Why, Colonel, I have not one fifth of it!" + +"Ah," said the Colonel, smiling, "but here, like a good angel, comes in +your dear Aunt 'Lethe!" He smiled at her. "Isn't it so, Miss 'Lethe?" + +Frank spoke up quickly. "Surely," he exclaimed to her as she advanced +toward him, with smiles, "you know I'd never take your money!" + +"You must, Frank," she insisted. "The Colonel says it is the chance of a +lifetime." + +"Why, Auntie, it's your whole fortune. I wouldn't risk it." + +"But you could pay it all back in a month." + +"How?" he asked, not understanding in the least. + +"By selling Queen Bess." + +He flinched. The thought had not occurred to him. "Sell Queen Bess!" +said he. "The prettiest, the fastest mare in all Kentucky! Never!" + +"My boy," said the Colonel, "the odds are far too heavy--a million +against the mare. You can't stand 'em." + +"Oh, Frank," said his Aunt, impulsively, "if you'll only take the money +and give up racing!" + +He laughed. Miss Alathea's strong prejudice against the race-tracks was +proverbial. "So that's what you're after!" he exclaimed. "You dear old +schemer!" + +"With your impulsive, generous nature, racing is sure to ruin you." + +The Colonel looked first at Frank with ardent sympathy aglow in his +eyes; then, after a hasty glance at Miss Alathea, he quickly changed the +meaning of his look and spoke admonishingly. "The voice of wisdom!" he +exclaimed. "Ah, Frank, from what I hear I judge you're too much of a +plunger--like a young fellow I once knew who thought he could win a +fortune on the race-track." He began, now, to speak very seriously. "He +was in love with the prettiest and sweetest girl in old Kentucky, but +he wished to wait till he could get that fortune, and he chased it here +and there, looking for it mostly on the race-tracks, until he had more +grey hairs than he had ever hoped to have dollars; he chased it till his +dream of happiness had slipped by, perhaps forever. My boy, the +race-track is a delusion and a snare." + +Miss Alathea looked at him with pleased surprise. "Colonel, your +sentiments astonish and delight me." + +"How can you refuse," the Colonel said, "when such a woman asks? For one +who loves you, you should give those pleasures up without a pang." + +In the pause that followed he reflected on the history of the youth to +whom he had referred, for that young man was himself. He had loved Miss +Alathea twenty years, but the Goddess Chance had kept him, all that +time, too poor to ask her hand in marriage. His heart beat with elation +as he realized that, possibly, the scheme which he had come there to the +mountains to propose to Frank, might remedy the evils of the situation. + +Frank had been thinking deeply. "But what certainty is there," he +inquired, "that I can sell Queen Bess at such a price?" + +Now the Colonel spoke with animation. "Absolute. I've a written offer +from the Dyer brothers to take her for twenty-five thousand dollars, if +she is delivered, safe and sound, on the morning she's to run in the +Ashland Oaks. It's a dead sure thing, my boy. You can't refuse." + +The young man hesitated, still. "I'll investigate, and--well, I'll see." +He walked away, deep in thought. + +The Colonel turned from him to Miss Alathea. "Miss 'Lethe, congratulate +yourself. The victory is won." + +Frank turned upon his heel and spoke to Holton. "What do you think of +this investment?" he inquired. + +"Wal," said Holton, "I think it's a blamed good thing. I'd only like the +chance to go into it, myself." He went closer to the youth and spoke in +an instinctively low tone. "By the way, this gal, hyar, Madge Brierly, +owns fifty acres o' land down there in the valley, that's bound to be +wuth money. Like enough, with your help, I could buy it for a song. I'll +make it all right with you. What do you say? Is it a bargain, Layson?" +He held out his hand, evidently with no thought but that the +questionable offer would be snapped up at once. + +Layson drew back angrily. "No," he replied. + +Holton, seeing that he had made a serious mistake, tried to correct it. +"Oh, shucks, now! I didn't mean no harm. That's only business." + +Layson was intensely angered. "I won't waste words on you," he said, +"but think twice before you make me such a proposition again." + +Holton's wrath rose vividly. "Damn him!" he muttered as he walked away. +"I'll pay him back for that! I'll get that gal's land in spite of him, +and I won't stop at that. I'll pay him back for ... everythin'! I'll +teach him what it air to stir the hate o' hell in a man's heart!" + +Barbara, distressed anew by this unpleasant episode, had started to go +after him, when the weird cry of an owl, a long drawn, tremulous: +"Hoo-oo-oo!" came from somewhere in the forest, close at hand. It +startled her. "Heavens!" said she. "What's that?" + +Neb, who also had been startled at the first penetrating, weird call, +bethought himself, now, and answered her: "It's de deah." + +"The phenomenon!" exclaimed Miss Alathea. + +"The Diana!" said the Colonel, looking at Frank slyly. + +"Yes; she's coming," Frank said gaily, and then, looking down the path, +started violently. "Heavens, she's coming!" + +The Colonel, who also had looked down the path, hurriedly approached +him, feigning worry. "Frank, I haven't got 'em again, have I?" + +Madge approached them slowly in the quaint, old-fashioned costume she +had resurrected from the chests of her dead mother's finery and re-made, +very crudely, in accordance with the fashion-plates which she had found +down at the cross-roads store. The result of her contriving was a +startling mixture of fashions widely separated as to periods. Her +untutored taste had mixed colors clashingly. Her unskilled fingers had +sewed very bunchy seams. + +The girl was much embarrassed: it required the last ounce of her bravery +to advance. Before she actually reached the little group, she half hid, +indeed, behind a tree. It was from this shelter that she called her +greeting: "Howdy, folks, howdy!" + +Frank went toward her with an outstretched hand. "Come, Madge," said he, +encouragingly. + +"Reckon I'll have to," she assented, with a bashful smile and took a +step or two reluctantly. But she had never seen folk dressed at all as +were these visitors from the famed bluegrass, and her courage again +faltered. Instantly she realized how wholly her own efforts to be +elegant had failed. She hung back awkwardly, pathetically. + +"Don't be nervous, Madge; just be yourself," Frank urged her. + +"Free and easy? Well, I'll try; but I'm skeered enough to make me wild +and reckless." + +Frank led her forward, while she made a mighty effort to accept the +situation coolly. "These are my friends, Madge. Let me introduce you." + +She got some grip upon herself and smiled. "Ain't no need. Know 'em all +by your prescription." With a mighty effort she approached the Colonel. +"Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, howdy!" + +The Colonel was delighted. Her knowledge of his name was flattering. He +had forgotten her strange costume the moment his glance had caught her +wonderful, deep eyes. "Howdy, howdy!" he said heartily, shaking her hand +vigorously. "Why, this is real Kentucky style!" It won't take _us_ long +to get acquainted." + +"Know all about you now," she said. "Great hossman. Colonel, I'll have a +race with you, sometime." + +"What, you ride?" said the delighted Colonel. + +"Ride! Dellaw!" said she, with, now, unembarrassed animation. The +subject was that one, of all, which made her most quickly forget +everything beside. "Why, me and my pony takes to racin' like a pig to +carrots. Before he lamed himself, whenever th' boys heard us clatterin' +down th' mounting, they laid to race us back. Away we went, then, +clickity-clip, up th' hills and around th' curves--an' I allus won." + +The Colonel realized with a great joy that he had found a kindred +spirit. "Shake again!" he said to her, after further most congenial +talk, and then turned to Frank. "My boy, you're right. She _is_ a +phenomenon--a thoroughbred, even if she hasn't any pedigree." + +Up to this time the ladies had remained somewhat in the background, +watching the young mountain girl as the Colonel drew her out. + +Madge now turned to Frank, but looked at Barbara. "Is that the young +lady from the bluegrass?" The girl was hurt and really offended by the +stranger's aloof manner. "Looks like she can't see common folks." + +"That is Miss Barbara." He led the mountain girl toward her. "Barbara, +this is my friend--er--Madge." He was, himself, a little disconcerted. + +The maiden from the lowlands bowed, but said no word. For an instant +Madge shrank back, but then she advanced with an unusual boldness. Her +spirit was aroused. + +"Howdy, Miss Barbarous, howdy!" she exclaimed and held her hand out to +the handsomely dressed girl. + +But Miss Barbara was annoyed by the whole happening. She felt that this +uncultivated country girl was getting far too much attention. The +child's unconscious pun upon her name infuriated her. She did not answer +her, but raised a lorgnette and stared at her. + +Madge was ready with an instant sympathy. "Oh, that's why you couldn't +see, poor thing! Spectacles at your age!" Whether she really thought +this was the case, not even Frank could tell by looking at her. + +Miss Holton was incensed. The haughty treatment she had planned to, give +the mountain girl had not had the results she had expected. "There's +nothing whatever the matter with my eyes!" she exclaimed hastily. + +"Wouldn't think you'd need a machine to help you star-gaze at folks, +then," said the mountain girl. "But maybe it's the fashion in the +bluegrass." + +Frank hurried up with Holton, planning a diversion. "This is Mr. Holton, +Madge." + +"Howdy, sir," said she, and then started in astonishment. "Ain't I seen +your face before, sir?" + +"Wal, I reckon not," said Holton most uneasily. "I was never hyar in +these hyar mountings afore." + +She stepped closer to him, gazing straight at his grey eyes. They seemed +strangely to recall the very distant past, she knew not how. There were +other things about him which seemed much more immediately familiar, +although his more elaborate garb prevented her, for the moment, from +recognizing him as the stranger with the hammer, who had, that day of +the forest-fire, been tap-tapping on the rocks upon her pasture-land. +"Your eyes seem to bring something back." She plainly paled. She knew +that their suggestion was a dreadful one, but could not make it +definite. + +Miss Alathea noted her agitation instantly, and hurried to her side. +"Poor child, what is the matter?" + +Madge had regained control of her features, which, for an instant, had +shown plain horror. "Tain't nothin', ma'am. It couldn't be. It's all +over now." She smiled gratefully at Miss Alathea. "An' you're his aunt, +ain't you? I'd know you for his kin, anywhere. Why, somehow, you remind +me of my lost mother." + +"Thank you, my dear. You must be very lonely, up here all alone." + +"I am, sometimes," said the girl, "but I have lots of fun, too. The +woods are full of friends. Th' birds an' squirrels ain't afraid o' me. +They seem to think I'm a wild thing, like 'em." + +"It's true," said Frank, with an admiring, cheering look at the little +country girl. "Their confidence in her is wonderful." + +The bluegrass girl's annoyance was increasing. She had come up to the +mountains thinking that, among such crude surroundings, her gowns and +the undoubted beauty they adorned, would hold the center of the stage, +and by contrast, hold Layson quite enthralled; but here, instead, was a +brown-faced country maid in grotesque, homemade costume, attracting most +of his attention. She was conscious that by showing her discomfiture she +was not strengthening her own position, but she could not hide it, could +not curb her tongue. + +"A rider of races," said she; "a tamer of animals! What accomplishments! +Do you actually live here, all alone?" + +"Come," said Madge, determined to be pleasant, "and I'll show you." She +led the bluegrass girl to a convenient point from which her cabin was in +sight. + +"In that little hut!" said Barbara, not impressed as Madge had +innocently thought she would be. "Shocking!" + +The girl was angered, now. "So sorry I didn't have your opinion afore! +But, maybe, you wouldn't think it were so awful, if you knowed how +'twere I come to live there." + +Frank had written something of the poor girl's tragic story to his aunt. +She was all interest. "Won't you tell us, please?" she asked. + +Holton seemed to show a strange disinclination to listen to the +narrative. "Ain't got no time for stories," he objected. "Gettin' late." + +"We'll take time, then," said Frank. + +"Go on, little one," urged Colonel Doolittle. "We're listening." + +Impressed and touched by the sympathy in the horseman's tone and the +interest in Miss Alathea's eyes, Madge told with even greater force and +more effect than when she had related it to Layson the story of the +tragedy which had robbed her at a blow of father and of mother, the +black, dreadful tale of merciless assassination which had left her +orphaned in the mountains. Her audience attended, spellbound, even the +disgruntled and unsympathetic Barbara listening with unwilling +fascination. Only Holton turned away, with a gesture of impatience. He +plainly did not wish to waste time on the girl. Or was it that? He +seemed to be uneasy as he walked to and fro upon the rock-ledge near +them, whence, had he cared for it, he could have had a gorgeous view of +mountain scenery. But, although he said, as plainly as he could without +actual rudeness, that the girl and her sad tale of tragedy were not +worth attention, he was not successful in his efforts wholly to refuse +to listen to her. + +"Infamous!" said Miss Alathea, when the child had finished. + +"And that scoundrel has gone free!" exclaimed the Colonel, in disgust. + +"_That's_ how I come to live alone, here," Madge went on, addressing +Barbara, particularly. The girl had made her feel it necessary to offer +some defense. "After my mammy died I didn't have no place to go, an' so +I just stayed on here, an' th' bridge my daddy built for his protection +I have kept for mine. Maybe he has told you of it." She indicated Frank. +They nodded. + +"And nothing has been heard of the infernal traitor, all these years?" +the Colonel asked. + +"He left the mountings when he found how folks was feelin'--they'd have +shot him, like a dog, on sight. But it don't make no differ where he +goes; it don't make a bit of differ where he goes." + +"What do you mean by that?" the Colonel asked, and as he spoke, Holton, +suddenly intent, paused in his pacing of the ledge to listen. + +"I mean, no matter where he goes he'll have to pay for it, come soon, +come late. Th' day air sure to come when Joe, Ben Lorey's son, 'll meet +him face to face an' make him answer for his crime!" + +"God-speed to him!" exclaimed the Colonel, fervently. + +Madge, in a gesture full of drama, although quite unconscious, raised +her head, looking off into the vastness of the mountains, her hands +thrust straight down at her sides and clenched, her shoulders squared, +her chest heaving with a mighty intake. The little mountain-girl, as she +stood there, thrilling with her longing for revenge, with prayers that +some day the sinner might be punished for his dreadful crime, made an +impressive figure. + +"Come soon or late!" she sighed. "Come soon or late!" + +The party watched her, fascinated, till Holton took his daughter's arm +and urged her, uneasily, out of the little group. + +Later Madge asked the Colonel to go with her to the pasture lot and take +a look at Little Hawss. Gladly he went with her, tenderly this expert in +Kentucky racers, the finest horses in the world, examined the shaggy +little pony's hoof. He told Madge what to do for him and promised to +send up a lotion with which to bathe the injured foot, although he +gently warned her that she must not hope that Little Hawss would ever do +much racing up and down the mountain trails again. She choked, when he +said this, and the horseman's heart went out to her. + +"Little one," said the Colonel, as the party was preparing to go down +the mountain, "you're a thoroughbred, and Colonel Sandusky Doolittle is +your friend from the word 'go.'" He took her hand in his and smiled down +into her eyes. + +Then, turning to Miss 'Lethe: "Do you know, Miss 'Lethe, there's +something about this little girl that puts me in mind of you, when I +first met you? You remember?" + +"Ah, Colonel, that was twenty years ago--the day I was eighteen." + +"And I was twenty-five. Now I'm forty-five and you--" + +"Colonel!" + +"Are still eighteen.' He bowed, impressively, with that charming, +gallant smile which was peculiar to him. + +"Aren't you going down with us, Frank?" asked Barbara, looking at the +youth with plain surprise when she noted that he lingered when she and +her father were ready for the start. + +"I wish to speak to Madge, a moment. I'll overtake you." + +The bluegrass beauty looked at him, wrath blazing in her eyes, then +turned away with tossing head. + +"Good-bye," said Madge, and held her hand out to her. + +Barbara paid no attention to the small, brown hand, but, instead, opened +her parasol almost in the face of the astonished mountain-girl, who +jumped back, startled. "Oh, very well," said Barbara to Frank. + +Madge turned to him, the softness of the mood engendered by her talk +with the Colonel and Miss 'Lethe all gone, now. Her face was flushed +with anger. "Dellaw!" said she. "Thought she was goin' to shoot!" + +Now Barbara spoke haughtily. "Good afternoon, Miss Madge. You have +entertained us wonderfully, wonderfully." + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +It was late on an afternoon several days after the party from the +bluegrass had gone down from the mountains when Layson, with a letter of +great import in his pocket sought Madge Brierly. + +He was very happy, as, a short time before he reached her isolated +cabin, he stepped out to the edge of that same ledge where Horace Holton +had found the view too full of memories for comfort, to look off across +the lovely valley spread before, below him. There were no memories of +struggle and bloodshed to arise between him and that view and for a time +he gloried in it with that bounding, pulsating appreciation which can +come to us in youth alone, as his eyes swept the fair prospect of wooded +slope and rugged headland, stream-ribbon, mountain-meadow, billowy +forest. Then, with a deep breath of the wondrous air of the old +Cumberlands, which added a physical exhileration almost intoxicating to +the pleasure of the thoughts which filled his mind, he went slowly up +the rugged twisting path to Madge's cabin. There, standing by the +bridge he called, and, presently, the girl appeared. + +He smiled at her. He did not wish to tell her, too quickly, of the news +the letter held. + +The girl was still full of the visit and the visitors. They had seemed +to her, reared as she had been in the rough seclusion of the mountains, +like denizens of another, wondrously fine world, come to glimpse her in +her crude one, for a few hours, and then gone back to their own glorious +abiding place. + +She did not admit it to herself, but they had left behind them +discontent with the life she knew, her lack of education, almost +everything with which, in days gone by, she had been so satisfied. + +Layson, watching her as she approached, was tempted to enjoy her as she +was, for a few minutes, before telling her the news which, young and +inexperienced as he was, he yet knew, instinctively, would change her +for all time. + +"Well," he said, "how did you like them, Madge?" + +The girl sat upon a stump and looked off across the valley. Her hands +were clasped upon one knee, as she reflected, the fading sunlight +touched her hair with sheening brilliance, her eyes, at first, were +dreamy, happy. + +"Oh, I loved your aunt!" said she. "She made me think of my own +mammy.... She made me think of my own mammy." + +"And she was quite as much in love with you." + +"Was she?... And Cunnel Doolittle! Ain't he _splendid_? And how he do +know hosses! Wouldn't I _love_ to see some of them races that he told +about? Wouldn't I love to have a chance to learn how to become a lady +like your aunt? She's just the sweetest thing that ever lived." + +"And ... and ... Miss Barbara?" said Layson, with a little mischief in +his wrinkling eyelids. + +The girl shrugged herself together haughtily upon her stump. He had seen +lowlands girls use almost the same gesture when, in drawing-rooms, some +topic had come up which they did not wish to talk about. + +"Huh! Her!" said Madge and would have changed the subject had he let +her. + +"Really?" he asked, wickedly. "Didn't you like her?" + +"I ain't sayin' much," said Madge, "because she's different from me, has +had more chance, is better dressed, knows more from books an' so on, an' +it might seem like I was plumb jealous of her. Maybe I am, too. But, +dellaw! Her with her pollysol! When she opened it that way at me I +thought it war a gun an' she war goin' to fire! Maybe I ain't had no +learnin' in politeness, but it seems to me I would a been a little more +so, just the same, if I'd been in her place. She don't like me, she +don't, an' I--why, I just _hates_ her! Her with her ombril up, an' not a +cloud in sight!" + +Layson looked at her and laughed. The letter in his pocket made it seem +probable that she would not need, in future, to submit to such +humiliations as the bluegrass girl had put upon her, so his merriment +could not be counted cruel. + +"Jealous of her?" he inquired, quizzically. + +She sat in deep thought for a moment and then frankly said: "I reckon +so; a leetle, teeny mite. Maybe it has made me mean in thinkin' of her, +ever since." + +"You're honest, anyway," said he, "and I shall tell you something that +will comfort you. She was as jealous of you as you were of her." + +"_She_ was!" the girl exclaimed, incredulous, surprised. "Of _me_?" +You're crazy, ain't you?" + +"Not a bit." + +"What have _I_ got to make _her_ jealous?" + +"A lot of things. You've beauty such as hers will never be--" + +"Dellaw!" said Madge, incredulously. She had no knowledge of her own +attractiveness. "Don't you start in makin' fun o' me." + +"I'm not making fun of you. You're very beautiful--my aunt said so, the +Colonel said so, and _I've_ known it, all along." + +No one had ever said a thing like this to her, before. She looked keenly +at him, weighing his sincerity. When she finally decided that he really +meant what he had said, she breathed a long sigh of delight. + +"They said that I--was _beautiful_!" + +"They did, and, little girl, you are; and you have more than beauty. You +have health and strength such as a bluegrass girl has never had in all +the history of women." + +"Oh, yes," said she, "I'm strong an' well--but--but--" + +"But what?" + +"But what?" she quoted bitterly. "But I ain't got no eddication. What +does strength and what does what you tell me is my beauty count, when I +ain't got no eddication? Why--why--I looked plumb _foolish_ by the side +of her! You think I don't know that my talk sounds rough as rocks +alongside hers, ripplin' from her lips as smooth as water? You think I +don't know that I looked like a scare-crow in all them clo'es I had +fixed up so careful, when she come on with her gowns made up for her by +_dressmakers_? Why--why--I never _see_ a dressmaker in all my life! I +never even see one!" + +"Well," said he, and looked at her with a slow smile, "there probably +will be no reason why you may not see as many as you like, in years to +come," + +She was amazed. "This some sort o' joke?" + +"No, Madge. How would you like to be rich?" + +"Me?... Rich? Oh ... oh, I'd like it. _Then_ I could go down in th' +bluegrass, study, l'arn, an'--I could do a heap o' good aroun' hyar, +too" She sighed. "But thar never was nobody rich in these hyar mountings +an' I reckon thar never will be." + +"Perhaps you may be," said the youth, and there was a serious quality in +his voice which made her start and then lean forward on her stump to +gaze at him with searching, eager eyes. + +"Your land down in the valley," he went on, "may contain coal and iron +enough to give you a fortune. Now there are bad men in this world, and I +want you to promise me to sell it to nobody without first coming to me +for advice." + +"Promise?" said the girl, the wonder all ashine in her big eyes. "In +course I'll promise that. But is there r'ally a chance of it?" + +"There really is." + +"Oh, if I only knowed, for shore! Seems like I couldn't wait!" + +"You shall know, to-night, or, maybe, sooner. I have the engineers +report, but I must study it out carefully and make sure what boundaries +he means. I'm almost certain they include your land. As soon as I find +out I'll come back here and call to you and let you know." + +"I reckon you won't have to call! I'll be watchin' for you every +minute." + +"Well, I'm off. But remember what I said about letting anyone buy any of +your land from you. Don't sell an inch, don't give an option at +whatever price, to anyone without consulting me." + +When he had left, the girl still sat there, dreaming on her stump after +she had watched him out of sight. + +The news that she might become rich had stirred her deeply for a moment, +but, soon she wondered if riches, really, would mean everything, and +decided that they would not. + +"Somehow," she mused, "somehow I don't care much about it, not +unless--unless--oh, I can't think of nothin' in th' world but him! An' +he says he's goin' to go away, never to return no more!... Other folks +has gone away, afore, but it didn't seem to hurt my heart like this. I +wonder what is ailin' me." + +Her thought turned back to that half-bitter, half-delightful moment when +he had tried to kiss her at the bridge. "Why, even then," she mused, +"thar were somethin' seemed to draw me to him in spite o' myself. Never +felt anythin' like it afore. It war--just as if I war asleep, all over, +an' never wanted to wake up! I wonder if I wish he warn't comin' back, +to-night--not half so much, I reckon, as I wish he warn't never goin' +away!" + +She left her resting place upon the stump, and, torn by varying +emotions, found a place upon the trail where she could look off to his +camp. She was standing there, leaning listlessly against a tree, when +the sound of someone coming made her turn her head. She saw Joe Lorey. + +"Madge," said he, approaching, "I wants a word with you," + +She did not wish to talk with him. Her mind was far too busy with its +thoughts of Layson, its dismay at the prospect of his departure. "No +time, Joe; it's too late," said she. She started to go by him toward her +little bridge. + +But he was not inclined to be put off. The mountaineer's slow mind had +been at work with his great problem and he had quite determined that he +would take some action, definite and unmistakable, without delay. He had +leaned his ever-present rifle up against a stump, had laid the old +game-sack, still burdened with the stolen dynamite, upon the ground, +close to it, and was prepared to talk the matter out, to one end or the +other. He loved her with the fierce love of the primitive man; his +rising wrath against the circumstances amidst which he seemed to be so +powerless had made him sullen and suspicious; mountain life, continual +defiance of the law, unceasing watchfulness for "revenuers," does not +teach a man to be smooth-mannered, half-way in his methods. He made a +move as if to catch her arm; she darted by him, running straight toward +the old game-sack. + +That burden in the game-sack had been a constant horror to him ever +since he had first stolen it down at the railroad workings. The mighty +evidence of the power of the explosive which had been shown to him when +it had torn and mangled its poor victim there, had filled him with a +terror of it, although it had also filled him with determination to make +use of that great power if necessary. But now, as he saw her running, +light-footed, lovely, toward the bag which held it, running in exactly +the right way to stumble on it if a mis-step chanced, his heart sprang +to his throat. What if the dire explosive he had planned to use upon his +enemies should prove to be the death of the one being whom he loved? He +sprang toward her with the mighty impulse of desperate muscles spurred +by a panic-stricken mind and caught her, roughly, just before her foot +would have touched and spurned the game-sack. + +"Stop!" he cried, in desperation. + +She was amazed that he should take so great a liberty. She stopped, +perforce, but, after she had stopped, she stood there trembling with hot +anger. "Joe Lorey," she exclaimed, "you dare!" + +Now he was all humility as he let his hand fall from her arm. "It was +for your sake, Madge," said he. "A stumble on that sack--it mout have +sent us both to Kingdom Come!" + +She looked at him incredulously, then down at the sack. "That old +game-sack? Why, Joe, you're plumb distracted!" + +"I'm in my senses, yet, I tell you," he persisted. "T'other day I went +down where they're blastin' for th' railroad. I see 'em usin' +dynamighty, down thar, an' I watched my chance an', when it come, I +slipped one o' th' bombs into that game-sack. Ef you'd chanced to kick +it--" + +She was impressed. "Dynamighty bombs? Dellaw! What's dynamighty bombs?" + +"It's a giant powder, a million times stronger nor mine." He reached +into the sack and, with cautious fingers, took out the cartridge and the +fuse, exhibiting them to her. "See here. I seed 'em take a bomb no +bigger nor this one, an' light a fuse like this, an' when it caught it +ennymost shook down a mounting! I seed a poor chap what war careless +with one, an' when they picked him up, why--" + +"Don't, Joe!" said the girl, looking at the cartridge with the light of +horror shining in her eyes. "What you doin' with such devil's stuff?" + +"I got it for th' revenuers," he said frankly. The mountaineers of the +old Cumberland, to this day, make no secret of their deadly hatred for +the agents of the government excise. "They're snoopin' 'round th' +mountings, an' if they find my still I plan to blow it into nothin', an' +them with it." + +She recoiled from him. "No, no, Joe; you'd better gin th' still up, nor +do such work as that!" + +"I'll never gin it up!" said he, with a set face. "It's mine; it war my +father's long before me. There's only one thing could ever make me gin +it up." + +"What's that?" The girl was still spellbound by the fascination of the +dynamite which she had come so near to treading on. Her eyes were fixed +upon the cartridge in his hand with horror, wonder. + +He stepped closer to her. "I mout gin it up for you!" + +"For me?" + +"You know I've loved ye sence ye were that high," said he, and measured +with his hand a very little way up the side of the old stump. "Many a +time I've listened hyar to your evenin' hymn, an' thought I'd rather +hear you singin' in my home than hear th' angels singin' in th' courts +o' Heaven. Say th' word, Madge--say you'll be my little wife!" + +The girl was woe fully affected. Her eyes filled and her bosom heaved +with feeling. It cut her to the soul to have to hurt this playmate of +her babyhood, defender of her youth, companion of her budding womanhood; +their lives had been linked, too, by the great tragedy which, years ago, +had orphaned both of them. But, of late, she had felt sure that she +could never marry him. She would not admit, even to herself, just why +this was; but it was so. "No, no, Joe; it can never be," she said. + +He knew! "And why?" said he, his face blackening with bitter feeling, +his brows contracting fiercely. "Because that furriner from the blue +grass has come atween us!" + +Madge, surprised that he should guess the secret which she had scarcely +admitted, even to herself, was, for a second, frightened by his +keenness. Had she shown her feelings with such freedom? But she quickly +regained self-control and answered with a clever counterfeit of +lightness. "Him? Oh, sho! He'd never think o' me that way!" + +"Mebbe so," said Joe, "but I know you think more o' th' books he teaches +you from than o' my company. From th' thickets borderin' th' clearin' +where you've studied, I've watched you settin' thar with him, wen I'd +give th' world to be thar in his place. Why, I'd ennymost gin up my life +for one kiss, Madge!" He looked at her with pitiful love and longing in +his eyes; but this soon changed to a sort of mad determination. "I'll +have it, too!" he cried, advancing toward her. + +She was amazed, not in the least dismayed. Indeed the episode took from +the moment some of its emotional strain. That he should try to do this +utterly unwarrantable thing took a portion of the weight of guilty +feeling from her heart. It had been pressing heavily there. "You +shan't!" she cried. "Careful, Joe Lorey!" + +She eluded him with ease and ran across her little bridge. He paused, a +second, in astonishment, and, as he paused, she grasped the rope and +pulled the little draw up after her. + +"Look out, Joe; it air a hundred feet, straight down!" she cried, as +she saw that the baffled mountaineer was trembling on the chasm's edge, +as if preparing for a spring. "Good night, Joe. Take my advice--gin up +th' still, an' all thought of makin' a wife of a girl as ain't willin'." + +Half laughing and half crying she ran up the path which wound about +among the thickets on the rocky little island where her rough cabin +stood, secure, secluded. + +The mountaineer stood, baffled, on the brink of the ravine. Much +loneliness among the mountains, where there was no voice but his own to +listen to, had given him the habit of talking to himself in moments of +excitement. + +"Gone! Gone!" he said. "Gone laughin' at me!" He clenched his fists. +"And it is him as has come atween us!" He turned slowly from the place, +picked up his rifle, slung the game-sack, saggin with the weight of the +dynamite, across his shoulder by its strap, and started from the place. + +He had gone but a short distance, though, before he stopped, +considering. Murder was in Joe Lorey's heart. + +"She said he war comin' back," he sullenly reflected. "I'll ... lay for +him, right hyar." + +He looked cautiously about. His quick ear caught the sound of footsteps +coming up the trail. + +"Somebody's stirrin', now," he said. "Oh, if it's only him!" + +He slipped behind a rock to wait in ambush. + +But it was not his enemy who came, now, along the trail. Horace Holton, +held to the mountains by his mysterious business, had left the others of +the party to go home alone, as they had come, and returned to the +neighborhood which housed the girl who owned the land he coveted. + +Joe, suspicious of him, as the mountaineer who makes his living as a +moonshiner, is, of course, of every stranger who appears within his +mountains, stepped forward, suddenly, his rifle in his hand and ready to +be used. He had no idea that the man had been a member of the party from +the bluegrass. + +"Halt, you!" he cried. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Holton, full of scheming, was returning up the trail after having said +good-bye to Barbara, Miss Alathea and the Colonel at the railway in the +valley, climbing steadily and skillfully, without much thought of his +surroundings. The locality, familiar to him years before (although he +had at great pains indicated to everyone but Barbara that it was wholly +strange to him) showed but superficial change to his searching, +reminiscent eyes. His feet had quickly fallen into the almost automatic +climbing-stride of the born mountaineer, and his thoughts had gradually +absorbed themselves in memories of the past. Joe Lorey's sudden command +to halt was somewhat startling, therefore, even to his iron nerves. +Instinctively and instantly he heeded the gruff order. + +Dusk was falling and he could not very clearly see the moonshiner, at +first, as he stepped from behind the shelter of his rock. He moved +slowly on, a step or two, hands half raised to show that they did not +hold weapons, recovering quickly from the little shock of the surprise, +planning an explanation to whatever mountaineer had thought his coming +up the trail at that hour a suspicious circumstance. That he was one of +Layson's friends from the low-country would, he thought, be proof enough +that he was not an enemy of mountain-folk. Layson, he knew, was +generally regarded with good will by the shy dwellers in this +wilderness. + +But when he clearly saw Joe Lorey's face a thrill shot through him far +more lasting than the little tremor born, at first, of the command to +halt. + +He had not seen the youth before. Joe, half jealous, half contemptuous, +of Layson's fine friends from the bluegrass, had kept out of their +sight, although he had watched them furtively from covert almost +constantly; and, it chanced, had not been so much as mentioned by either +Frank or Madge while the party from the bluegrass lingered at the camp, +save when Madge told the tragic story of her childhood while Holton +stood aloof, for reasons of his own, hearing but imperfectly. + +Now the unexpected sight of the young man, for some reasons, made the +old one gasp in horror. There was that about the face, the attitude, the +very way the lithe moonshiner held his gun, which made him seem, to the +astonished man whom he had halted, like a grim vision from the past. "My +God!" he thought. "Can the dead have come to life?" + +For an instant he went weak. His blood chilled and the quick beating of +his heart changed the deep breathing of his recent swinging stride into +short, sharp gasps. + +It was only for an instant, though. His life had not been one to teach +him to falter long in the face of an emergency. Quickly he regained +poise and reasoned calmly. + +"No," he thought, "it's Joe, Ben Lorey's son. Th' father's layin' where +he has been, all these years. I'm skeery as a girl." + +Joe advanced upon him truculently. "Say," he demanded, "what's yer name +an' what ye want here?" His ever ready rifle nested in the crook of his +left arm, his brow was threatening, his mouth was firmly set an instant +after he had spoken. + +Holton, recovering himself quickly, spoke calmly, propitiatingly. "My +name's Holton. I want to see th' gal as lives up yander. Want to buy her +land of her." + +Lorey, satisfied by this explanation that the stranger was not a +government agent, as he had, at first suspected, relaxed his tense +rigidity of muscles. From fear of revenuers his disturbed mind returned +quickly to the bitterness of his resentment of what he thought Madge +Brierly's infatuation for the young lowlander. + +"It's too late," he said. "Thar's only one man as she'd let down that +bridge for, now--th' man I thought ye might be--Frank Layson." + +Holton, quick to see the possibility of gaining an advantage, realizing +from the young man's tone that he was certainly no friend of Layson's, +guessing, with quick cunning, at what the situation was, decided that +the thing for him to do was to reveal the fact that, in his heart, he, +also, hated Layson. + +"So ye took me for a revenuer or Frank Layson, eh?" said he. "I know +what th' mountings think o' revenuers, an' I reckon, from yer handlin' +o' that rifle, that you're no friend o' Layson's." + +Joe, full of the fierce bitterness of his resentment, was ready to +confide in anyone his hatred of the "furriner" who had come up and won +the girl he loved. He let the barrel of his rifle slip between his +fingers till its stock was resting on the ground. + +"I hates him as I hates but one man in th' world!" he said, with bitter +emphasis. + +"Who's that?" said Holton, thoughtlessly, although, an instant +afterward, he was sorry that he had pursued the subject. + +"Lem Lindsay," Lorey answered; "him as killed my father. Frank Layson's +come between me an' Madge Brierly, an' he's got to cl'ar my tracks!" His +voice thrilled with the intensity of his emotion, and, suddenly, he +caught his rifle up, again, into his crooked elbow, where it rested +ready for quick usage. "If you plans to warn him--" he began. + +"Warn him!" said the older man, with a bitterness, real or +counterfeited, whichever it might be, as fierce as that which rang in +the young moonshiner's own voice, "I hate him as much as you. I'd rather +warn you." + +"Warn me o' what?" Lorey had begun to lose suspicion of the stranger. +If, really, he hated Layson, he might make of him a useful ally. + +"Your name's Lorey," Holton answered, with his keen eyes fixed intently +on those of the man who stood there, tensely listening to him, "an' yo' +keep a still." + +Now Lorey again caught his rifle quickly in both hands; his face showed +new apprehension, and a terrible determination, desperate and dreadful. +If this stranger knew about the still, was it not certain that he was a +government spy and therefore worthy of quick death? + +"Keerful!" he said menacingly. "Hyar in th' mountings that word's worth +your life!" The youth, with frowning brow and glittering, wolfish eyes, +stood facing Holton like an animal at bay, with what amounted to a +threat of murder on his lips. + +"I'm speakin' it for your own good," the old man answered, throwing into +his voice as much of frankness as he could command. "I tell you that th' +revemooers have got word about your still." + +"Then somebody's spied an' told 'em." + +Here was Holton's chance. The vicious scheme came to him in a flash. +Layson he hated fiercely; this youth he hated fiercely. What plan could +be better than to set the one to hunt the other? If Lorey should kill +Layson it would remove Layson from his path and make his way clear to +the purchase of Madge Brierly's coal-lands at a small fraction of their +value. And, having killed him, Lorey would, of course, be forced to flee +the country, for the hue and cry would be far-reaching. Such a killing +never would be passed over as an ordinary mountain murder generally is +by the authorities. Thus, at once, he might be rid of the young +bluegrass gentleman he hated and the young mountaineer he feared. + +"You're right," said he. "Somebody's spied an' told 'em. Somebody as +stumbled on yore still while he was huntin'." + +Lorey looked at him, wide-eyed, infuriated. Instantly he quite believed +what Holton said. It dove-tailed with his own grim hate of Layson that +Layson should hate him and try to work his ruin by giving information to +the revenuers. "Somebody huntin'!" he exclaimed. "Frank Layson! Say it, +say it!" + +"Promise you'll never speak my name?" said Holton. He had no wish to be +mixed up in the tragic matter, and he knew, instinctively, that if Joe +Lorey gave his word, moonshiner and lawbreaker as he was, it would be +kept to the grim end. + +"I promise it, if it air th' truth you're tellin' me," said Lorey. + +"It's true, then," Holton answered. "You can see for your own self that +I'm a stranger hyar. I couldn't a' knowed o' th' still exceptin' through +Frank Layson." + +The simple, specious argument to Lorey was convincing. "It air true," he +admitted slowly. "Nobody else would a' gin ye th' word." The angry youth +paused in black, murderous thought. "He air a-comin' hyar, to-night," he +went on presently. "I heered him tell Madge Brierly that he war comin' +back, this evenin'. You better--maybe you had better git along." He had +no wish for witnesses to what he planned, now, to accomplish, when +Layson should come back to Madge, as he had promised, with the +engineer's report upon her coal lands. + +Holton nodded, grimly satisfied that he had planted a suspicion which +might flower into his own revenge. That blow which Layson had delivered +on his face, in the old days, had left a scar upon his soul, and now +that the young man seemed likely to add to this unforgotten injury the +new one of retiring from the field as suitor for his daughter, and, +further, interfering with his plans to rob Madge Brierly of her coal +lands, his hatred of him had become intense, insatiable. What better +fortune could he wish than to pit this mountain youth, whom, also, for a +reason carried over from dark days in his past life, he hated, against +the young man from the bluegrass whom he hated no less bitterly? + +"Go by _that_ path, thar," said Lorey, suddenly, and pointing, as Holton +started to return by the direct route he had followed as he came. "It +air round-about, but it'll lead you to th' valley. I'll run no risk o' +your warnin' him." + +"Don't you be skeered," said Holton. "I'll keep mum, no matter what +happens." + +With a grim smile he started down the path which the mountaineer had +pointed out. + +"Laid his whip acrost my face!" he muttered as he went. "Trifled with my +gal! Him an' Ben Lorey's son--let 'em fight it out! I'm so much th' +better off." + +And Lorey, slipping back into the shadow of a rock, after he had made +quite certain that the stranger was following his directions, was +reflecting, bitterly: "He's come atween me an' th' gal I love! He's put +th' revenoo hounds upon my track! Oh, if he had a dozen lives, I'd have +'em all!" + +For ten alert and watchful minutes, which seemed to stretch to hours, he +crouched there, waiting, waiting, waiting, for the coming of the man he +hated. During five of these he listened to the sounds of Holton's +downward progress, brought to his keen ear on the soft breezes of the +young night. There came the crackling of a twig, the thud, thud, thud +of a dislodged stone bounding down the slope, the rustle of leaves as +the old man shuffled through a pocket of them gathered in the lea of +some protruding rock by vagrant winds. Then all was still. He did not +guess that Holton had been anxious that these sounds should reach him; +that he had stumbled down the trail with awkward feet with no thought in +his mind but to be certain that the sounds should reach him. Such was +the case, however, and, after he felt sure that the crouching +mountaineer above must be convinced that he had gone on to the valley, +the old man turned, catlike, re-ascended with a skill as great as +Lorey's own, and, with not a sound to warn the mountaineer that he had +retraced any of his steps, took cautious place behind a rock upon the +very edge of the open space where, when Layson came, he felt quite sure +a tragedy would be enacted. + +Then Layson came blithely up the trail. He had gone through the +engineer's report with care. The coal prospects included the girl's +land. He was full of rare elation at thought of the good luck which had +descended on the little mountain-maid, full of pleasant plans for a +bright future from none of which she was omitted. + +His dreams were rudely interrupted as Joe Lorey stepped ominously from +behind the rock where he had waited for him. + +"Hold up your hands!" the mountaineer commanded, with his rifle +levelled at the advancing youth. + +"Joe Lorey!" exclaimed Layson. + +"You know what air between us. Your time air come. If you want to pray, +do it quick, for my finger air itchin' to pull th' trigger." + +Layson's blood and breeding told, in this emergency. He did not flinch a +whit. "I'm ready," he said calmly. "I'm not afraid to die, though it's +hard to meet death at the hands of a coward." + +"Coward!" said the mountaineer, amazed. "You call me that?" + +"The man who shoots another in cold blood, giving him no chance for his +life, deserves no better name." + +This appealed to Lorey. So had his father died--at the hands of one who +killed him in cold blood, giving him no chance for his life. "You shan't +die callin' me that!" he cried. He leaned his rifle against a nearby +rock, threw his knife upon the ground beside it, pulled off his coat, +and thus, unarmed, advanced upon his enemy. "We're ekal now," he said +with grim intensity, and pointed to the chasm through which ran the +stream which made Madge Brierly's refuge an island. "That gully air a +hundred feet straight down," he said, "an' its bottom air kivered with +rocks. When we're through, your body or mine'll lay there. Air you +ready?" + +Holton, tense with excitement, was watching every move of the two men +from his hidden vantage point. Upon his face was the expression of an +animal of prey. + +"Ready!" said Frank, quietly. + +It was a terrific struggle which ensued. The trained muscles of the +lowland athlete were matched against the lithe thews of the mountaineer +so evenly that, for a time, there was doubt of what the outcome might +be. Holton, watching, watching, thrilled with every second of it. Little +he cared which man won; the best thing which possibly could happen, for +his own good, he reflected, would be that both should crash down to the +bottom of the gully locked in one of their bear-hugs, to fall together +on the jagged rocks below. The fierce breathing of the contestants, the +shuffle of their struggling feet upon the ground, the occasional +involuntary groan from one man or the other as his adversary crushed him +in embrace so painful that an exclamation could not be suppressed, were +all music to the ears of the old man behind the rock. Both youths were +perils to him. Let them kill each other. He would be the gainer, +whatever the outcome of the battle. + +Suddenly Frank's foot slipped on a rolling pebble. Instantly Lorey had +taken advantage of the mishap, and, with a quick wrench, thrown him +crashing to the earth. He lay there, scarcely breathing, utterly +unconscious. + +The mountaineer bent over him, ready to meet the first sign of revival +with renewed attack, his bloodshot eyes strained on the face of the +young man upon the ground. Then, anxious to be satisfied that his +prostrate enemy was not feigning, he knelt by him and peered into his +face, placed his hand upon his chest above his heart, felt his pulse +with awkward fingers. He wondered, now, if he had not killed him, +outright, for Frank's head had struck the ground with a terrific impact. +But Layson's nostrils soon began to dilate and contract with a spasmodic +breathing. He still lived. + +Rendered careless by the excitement of the moment, Joe again yielded to +the habit engendered by much solitude and spoke his thoughts aloud. + +"It'll be long afore he'll stir," he muttered. "I'll throw him down into +th' gully." + +He rose, and, going to the side of the ravine, peered over with a +fearful curiosity at the brawling torrent, cut into foam-ribbons by a +horde of knife-edged rocks. Then he went to Layson and stretched out his +hand to grasp his shoulder. + +Occurred a psychological phenomenon. He found his courage fail at +thought of laying hands upon the man as he was stretched there helpless. + +"I--I can't touch him!" he exclaimed. "It'd be--why, it'd be like +handlin' th' dead!" + +He drew back, nonplussed, ashamed of his own timidity, yet unable to +overcome it. He had felled the man and meant to kill him, yet, now, he +could not bring himself to lay a hand upon him. + +The thought then flashed into his mind of the dreadful contents of his +old game-sack. + +"Th' bomb," he said. "Th' dynamighty bomb that I was savin' for th' +revenuers! Let that finish out th' man as set 'em onto me!" + +He took the bomb from the old sack with trembling fingers, laid it by +Frank's side and, with a match which flickered because the hands which +held it were unsteady as a palsied man's, set fire to the fuse. Then he +drew off to one side. + +"Now, burn!" he said, with set teeth and lowering brow. "Burn! Burn!" + +For a second he stood there, watching the sparking sputter of the powder +as it slowly ate its way along the little paper tube. Then, suddenly, a +dreadful thought occurred to him. The girl! What if Madge Brierly should +come to meet the lowlander before the bomb exploded, should see him +lying there, should hurry to him, frightened, and get there just in time +to-- + +He shuddered. He must protect the girl he loved! She could reach the +side of the endangered man only by means of the small bridge. But one +rope held it in position above the deep, precipitous-sided gully. + +He raised his rifle to his shoulder. It was a hard shot, one which most +men would have deemed impossible, but there was a star in line. He +fired. The bridge crashed down, a ruin, the severed rope now dangling +limply, freed of the burden it had held for many years. + +"She's safe!" said he. + +For another instant he stood studying the spluttering fuse. From what he +had seen at the railroad workings he knew it was destined to burn long +enough so that many workmen could get out of danger before the spark +reached the strong explosive in the cartridge. He need not hurry. + +"In three minutes it'll all be ended," he reflected. "He's as helpless +as a baby; he can't strike back, now; it's no more nor he deserves. I'm +goin'." + +He straightened up and would have hurried off, had not, at just that +moment, the sweet voice of the girl he loved rung through the brooding, +fragrant evening air, in song. + +It brought him to himself, it filled him with a horrified realization of +the foulness of the deed which he was contemplating. + +"No--no!" said he. "Why, I'd be the coward that he called me!" + +He hurried to the fuse and, with trembling eagerness, stamped out the +spark which, now, was creeping close indeed to that point where it would +have blossomed into the terrifying flower of death. + +"I'll fight him ag'in," he said; and then, addressing the now +extinguished fuse, the harmless cartridge of explosive: "You lie thar +and prove ter him I ain't no coward!" + +He hurried down the trail. + +Holton, vastly disappointed, crept out from his hiding place. "The +fool!" he muttered. "Oh, the fool! That thar little spark would a' put +me even an' made me safe fer life! An' it war lighted--it war lighted!" + +His regret was keen. He raged there like a madman robbed of his intended +prey. Then, suddenly: + +"But--who'll believe him when he says he put it out? I'll--do it!" + +He hastily took out a match, struck it, relighted the dead fuse. + +"It'll be his work, not mine!" he thought, exultantly, as he paused to +see that the fuse would surely burn. + +As he turned to hasten from the spot he caught a glimpse of something +white across the gully at the thresh-hold of the girl's cabin. For a +second this was terrifying, but he quickly regained poise. The bridge +was gone. She could not reach the side of the endangered man to save +him, she could not reach the mainland to pursue him and discover his +identity. He fled. + +The girl was worried by the long delay in Layson's coming. For fully +half an hour she had been listening for his cheery hail--that hail which +had, of late, come to mean so much to her--as she worked about her +household tasks. The last words he had said to her had hinted at such +unimagined possibilities of riches, of education, of delirious delights +to come, that her impatience was but natural; and, besides this, Joe's +words had worried her. She did not think the mountaineer would ever +really let his jealousy lead him to a foul attack upon his rival, but +his words had worried her. She stood upon her doorstep, hand above her +eyes, and peered across the gorge toward where the trail debouched into +the little clearing. + +Nothing was in sight there, and her gaze wandered along the little rocky +field, in aimless scrutiny. Finally it chanced upon the prostrate form +of the young man. + +"What's that lyin' thar?" she thought, intensely startled. And then, +after another moment's peering: "Why, it's Mr. Frank!" + +She was amazed and frightened. Then her eye caught the little sputtering +of sparks along the fuse. It further startled her. + +"It's Mr. Frank and somethin's burnin' close beside him!" + +Suspicion flashed into her mind like lightning, followed, almost +instantly, by firm conviction. + +"It's a fuse," she cried, "an' thar by him is th' bomb! It's Joe Lorey's +work! Oh, oh--" + +She sprang down the rough path toward the place where, ever since she +could remember, the little bridge had swung. Now, though, it was gone. + +"The bridge!" she cried. "The bridge! It's gone! I can't cross! I've got +to see him die!" + +Her frantic eyes caught sight of the frayed rope, dangling from the +firm supports which had so long held up the bridge by means of it. +Instantly her quick mind saw the only chance there was to save the man +whom, now, she knew she loved. She sprang for the rope and caught it, +gave herself a mighty push with both her agile feet, and, hanging above +certain death if hold should fail or rope break, swung across the chasm +and found foothold on the mainland. + +In another second she was at the side of the unconscious man. Another +and she had the cartridge, sputtering fuse and all, in her right hand, +another and the deadly thing was hurtling to the bottom of the deep +ravine, whence an almost immediately ensuing crashing boom told her that +she had not arrived a moment sooner than had been essential to the +salvation of the man she loved. + +She knelt by Frank, pulled his head up to her knee, chafed at his +insensate hands, and called to him wildly, fearing that he was dead. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Joe Lorey was unhappy in his mountains. After the visiting party had +gone down from Layson's camp, and, in course of time, Layson himself had +followed them because of the approach of the great race which was to +make or mar his fortunes, the man breathed easier, although their coming +and the subsequent events had made, he knew, impressions on his life +which never could be wiped away. He hated Layson none the less because +he had departed. He argued that he had not gone until he viciously had +stolen that thing which he, Lorey, valued most: the love of beautiful +Madge Brierly. He brooded constantly upon this, neglecting his small +mountain farm, spending almost all his time at his illegal trade of +brewing untaxed whisky in his hidden still, despite the girl's continual +urgings to give up the perilous occupation before it was too late. He +had told her that he would, if she would marry him; now that she would +not, he told her surlily that he would continue to defy the law even if +he knew that every "revenuer" in the state was on his trail. He was +conscious that there was real danger; he believed that Layson knew about +the still and that the bitter enmity resulting from the fight which had +so nearly proved his death might prompt him to betrayal of the secret; +but with the stubbornness of the mountaineer he clung doggedly to his +illegal apparatus in the mountain-cave, kept doggedly at the illegal +work he did with it. It was characteristic of the man, his forbears and +his breed in general, that, now, when he knew that deadly danger well +might threaten, he sent more moonshine whisky from the still than ever +had gone from it in like length of time, either in his father's day or +his. + +That his actual and only dangerous enemy was Holton, he did not, for an +instant, guess. He knew of not the slightest reason why this stranger +should include him in the hatred he had sworn he felt for Layson--that +hatred which, he had assured him, was as bitter as his own. He would +have been as much astonished as dismayed had he known that Holton's +almost instant action, upon arriving at the county-seat, had been to +make a visit to the local chief of the Revenue-Service--cautiously, at +night, for to be known as an informer might have cost his life at other +hands than Lorey's, would have made the mountain for far miles blaze +vividly with wrath against him. + +So, defiant of the man he thought to be his foe, unconscious of the +hatred of the man who really was, Lorey was working in his still when a +small boy, sent up from a cabin far below, dashed, breathless, to him +with the news that revenue-men were actually upon their way in his +direction. He had scarcely time to put his fire out, hide the lighter +portions of his apparatus and flee to a safe hiding-place, nearby, +before, clambering with lithe skill and caution almost equal to his own +along the rocky pathways of the mountain-side, armed like soldiers +scouting in a hostile country, cool-eyed as Indians, hard-faced as +executioners, they actually appeared. + +For a time, as Lorey watched their progress from his covert, he held his +rifle levelled, held his finger on its trigger, determined to kill them +in their tracks; and it was no thrill of mercy for the men or fear of +consequences to himself which saved their lives. It was rather that he +did not wish further to risk his liberty until he had had opportunity to +glance along the gleaming barrel of his rifle as it was pointed at Frank +Layson's heart. + +After the men had gone he went back to his still to view the ruins they +had left behind them. His wrath was terrible. Madge, who had, of course, +learned what had happened almost instantly, for the still was scarcely +out of hearing of her cabin, tried vainly to console, to calm him. He +turned on her with a rage of which, in all her life among hot-tempered +mountaineers, she had never seen the equal, and chokingly swore +vengeance on the man who had given the information which had resulted +in the raid. + +"They come straight to th' still," he told her, "never falterin', never +wonderin' if, maybe, they was on th' right path. Ev'ry inch o' th' hull +way had been mapped out for 'em, an' they didn't make a mis-step from +th' valley to th' very entrance o' th' cave. I'll git th' chap that +planned their course out for 'em thataway! I'll git 'im, Madge! I'll git +'im, sure!" + +Her heart sank in her breast like lead. She knew perfectly whom Lorey +meant. She knew as perfectly that Layson never had informed upon the +moonshiner, but she also knew that Heaven itself could not, then, +convince the man of that. + +"Who do you mean you'll git, Joe?" she faltered, hoping against hope +that she was wrong in her suspicions. + +"You know well enough," he answered. "Who would I mean but that damn' +furriner, Frank Layson? He warn't satisfied with comin' here an' +stealin' you away from me! He had to put th' revenuers on th' track o' +th' old still that was my dad's afore me, an' has been th' one thing, +siden you, I've ever keered fer in my life." + +"You're wrong, Joe," she insisted. "You're shore wrong. Frank Layson'd +never do a coward's trick like that!" + +"He done it!" Lorey answered doggedly. "He done it, an' as there is a +God in Heaven he air goin' to pay th' price fer doin' it!" + +With that he stalked off down the trail, his rifle held as ever in the +crook of his elbow, his brows as black as human brows could be. + +For a time she sat there on a rock, gazing after him, half-stupefied, +with eyes wide, terror-stricken. What could a mere girl do to avert the +dreadful tragedy impending? Tireless as he was, she knew that he could +keep upon the trail for twenty-four hours without a pause, and that such +travelling, with the lifts which he would get from mountain teamsters, +would take him to the home of the man whose life he had determined to +snuff out at any hazard. Beside herself with fright for Frank, she sped +back to her cabin, took what food was ready-cooked and could be bundled +up to carry on the journey, put on her heaviest shoes and started for +the door. But, suddenly, the thought flashed through her mind that, even +as Joe Lorey was bound down the trails to meet his rival, so would she +be bound down them to meet her own. She could not bear the thought of +facing Barbara Holton, clad, as she was now, in rough, half-shapeless, +mountain-homespun. She made another bundle, larger than the one which +held her food, by many times, and, when she finally set off, this bundle +held the finery which she had so laboriously prepared in the mad hope of +rivaling the work of the bluegrass belle's accomplished city +dressmakers. + +Down in the bluegrass home of the ancient Layson family all was +excitement in anticipation of the race which was to mean so much to the +fortunes of the young master of the fine old mansion which, with +pillared porticos and mighty chimneys, dominated the whole section. +Layson's heart was filled with confidence whenever he went to the +stables to view the really startling beauty of the lovely animal on +which his hope was pinned; it sunk into despair, when, seated in his +study in the house, away from her, he counted up the cost of all which +he would lose if she did not run first in the great race. + +None but the Colonel, Miss Alathea and himself had an idea of the real +magnitude of the stakes dependant on Queen Bess. Upon the glossy +shoulders of the lovely mare rested, indeed, a great burden of +responsibility. If she won she would not only secure the large purse for +the owner, but be salable for a price which would enable him to take +advantage, fully, of the offer which the syndicate had made to develop +his coal lands. If she failed--well, the fortunes of the house of Layson +would be seriously shattered. + +No wonder, then, that Uncle Neb, in whom his master's confidence was +absolute, had strict injunctions closely to guard the mare. The faithful +negro watched her with a vigilance which was scarcely less unremitting +in the daytime than it was at night when he slept upon the very straw +which bedded her. + +Miss Alathea, intensely prejudiced against horse-racing and the gambling +which invariably goes with it, by the Colonel's wasted life and her own +ensuing loneliness, nevertheless prayed night and day that Queen Bess +would be victorious, for Frank had finally refused, point-blank, to let +her risk her fortune in the scheme for the development of his +coal-lands, and so, if the mare lost and the eastern firm refused to +purchase her at the large price which would enable him to join the +syndicate, his great chance would be gone. Perhaps not once in the +world's history had any maiden-lady, constitutionally opposed to betting +and the race-track, given as much thought to an impending contest +between horses on which great sums were certain to be won and lost, as +Miss Alathea did, these days. + +And if Miss Alathea was excited, what should be said about the gallant +Colonel? Every day he visited the Layson place; every day he scrutinized +the mare with wise and anxious eyes; every day he from his soul assured +her owner and her owner's aunt that it was quite impossible that she +should lose; every day he cautioned Neb, her guardian, to let no human +being, whom he did not know and whom he and his master had not every +cause to trust implicitly, approach the splendid beast. Wise in the ways +of race-tracks and the unscrupulous men who have, unfortunately, thrown +the sport of kings into sad disrepute, he feared some treachery +continually. + +Neb scarcely left the stable-yard, by day, unless the mare went with +him, by night he slept so that he could, by reaching out a wrinkled, +ebon hand, actually touch her glossy hide. He fed her himself with oats +and hay which he examined with the utmost care before they found her +manger or her rack; he watered her himself with water from a well within +the stable and guarded by locked doors, drawn in a pail which, +invariably, he rinsed with boiling water before he filled it up for her. +No drugs should reach that mare if _he_ could help it! None but himself +or his "Marse Frank" was under any circumstances permitted to get on her +back. If watchfulness could possibly preserve the mare unharmed and in +fine shape until the day of the great race, Neb plainly meant to see +that this was done. Even the amateur brass-band and glee-club into which +he had organized the stable-boys and other negro lads about the place, +and of which he acted as drum-major--the proudest moment of his life +were when he donned the moth-eaten old shako which was his towering +badge of leadership--must practice nowhere save within the stable-yard, +where he could train them and, at the same time, keep watchful eyes upon +Queen Bess' quarters. + +The negroes, young and old, about the place, indeed, were wild with +their enthusiasm for the mare. The day before the race a delegation of +them, full of eagerness, met Neb as he came out of the stable. + +"Say, Unc Neb," said one of them, "we-all's made a pool." + +"Pool on de races?" + +"Uh-huh! An' we-all wants to know jes' what we ought to put ouah money +on." + +They well knew what he would say. + +"Queen Bess, fo' suah," he answered, to their vast delight. "Queen Bess +ebery time. She's fit to run fo' huh life." + +The boys accepted the suggestion with a shout, and he was about to enter +into one of the long dissertations on the strong points of his equine +darling, when he was informed that some stranger was approaching. He +peered down the road with his old eyes, but could not recognize the +visitor. + +"Who is it?" he asked one of the black lads. + +"Marse Holton." + +"Marse Holton!" he repeated dryly. "Run along, now, honiest. Unc' Neb +gwine be busy. I won't hab dat ar Marse Holton pryin' round dat mare. +Hoodoo her fo' suah." He sidled to the stable door, and, careful to see +that his bent body hid the operation from the coming visitor, turned the +key in the big lock. The key he then slipped into his capacious trousers +pocket. + +"Hello, Neb," said Holton, affably, as he came up. + +"Ebenin', suh." Neb added nothing to this greeting and went +nonchalantly to a distant bench to sit down on it carelessly. + +"I say, Neb," said Holton, "I expect to do a little betting, so I +thought I'd jest drop over and take a look at Layson's mare." + +Neb sat immovable upon his bench. At first, indeed, he did not even +speak, but, finally, he looked at Holton calmly, took the key out of his +pocket, tossed it in the air, caught it as it came down, put it back +into his pocket and dryly said: "T'ink not, suh." + +Holton, paying no attention to him, had gone on to the stable-door and +tried it. Finding it to be fast locked, he turned back toward the +darkey. "The door's locked, Neb," he said. + +"Knowed dat afore, suh," Neb replied. + +Holton was nettled by his nonchalance. "Open that door!" he ordered. + +"Not widout Marse Holton's ohduhs, suh," Neb answered calmly. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Holton, angrily. + +"Jus' what I say, suh." + +Holton made a slightly threatening movement toward him, but Neb did not +even wink. + +"Don't git riled, suh--bad fo' de livuh, suh." + +Holton, now, was very angry. "Look here," he said, advancing on the aged +negro angrily. "Do you dare insult a friend and neighbor of Mr. Layson?" + +Neb slowly rose and answered with some dignity: "I dares obey Marse +Frank's plain ohduhs, suh. Dat mare represents full twenty-fi' thousan' +dolluhs to him" (Neb rolled the handsome figures lovingly upon his +tongue), "an' dere's thousan's more'll be bet on huh to-morruh." He +looked at Holton with but thinly veiled contempt. "Plenty men 'u'd risk +deir wuthless lives to drug huh." + +"Oh, shucks!" said Holton, trying to control his temper because of his +great eagerness to get in to the mare. "She would be safe with me; you +know it." + +"I knows Marse Frank hab barred ebery window an' sealed ebery doah but +dis one, an' gib me ohduhs to let no one in 'cept he is by. I stan's by +dem ohduhs while dere's bref in my ol' body." + +Holton was infuriated. "It's lucky for you I'm not your master!" + +"Dat's what I t'ink, suh." + +"If you _was_ my nigger, I'd teach you perliteness with a black-snake +whip! I'll see what Layson'll say to such sass as you've gin me. Jest +you wait till you hear from him." + +Neb was not impressed by the man's wrath. "Huhd from him afoah, suh. Oh, +I'll wait, I'll wait." + +He went up to the stable-door, unlocked it and stood in the open portal. +Holton would have followed him, but Neb began to close the door. + +"You'll wait, too, suh," said the negro, grinning, "on de outside, +suh." + +He closed and locked the door on the inside. + +Holton was beside himself with wrath. "Damn him! Damn him!" he +exclaimed. "Damn him and damn his proud young puppy of a master! I'll +ruin him! I'll set my foot on him and smash him, yet!" + +Baffled, he walked down the drive. + +"There's a way," he told himself. "It's bold and risky, but nobody'll +suspicion me. I've kept straight here in the bluegrass. The mountains +and all as ever knowed me thar are far away!" + +But all who had known him in the mountains were not as far away as he +supposed. Even as he spoke a dusty, weary figure in worn homespun, +carrying a mammoth bundle, limping sadly upon bruised and blistered +feet, came through the shrubbery, approaching the great stables from the +far side of the big house-lot. Holton looked at this wayfarer with +amazement. + +"Madge Brierly!" he cried. "Gal, what are you a-doin' here?" + +"Don't know's I've got any call to tell you," Madge replied, almost as +much astonished at the sight of him as he had been at sight of her. Then +she smiled roguishly at him. "Maybe you'll find out, though." + +"I tell you this ain't no place for you," he admonished her. "Lordy! +They takes up folks that looks like you, for vagrants. Take my advice, +turn back to the mountings." + +She looked at him with that same smile, still unimpressed. + +For no reason which he could have well explained the man was almost +panic-stricken in his keen anxiety to get the girl away from the old +Layson homestead and the possibility of meeting those who dwelt therein. + +"Here, if you'll go," he added, and thrust his hand into his pocket, +"I'll give you money--money to help you on your way." + +Still she smiled at him with that aggravating, meaning smile; that smile +which he could by no means fathom and of which she scarcely knew the +meaning. "No," she said, "I don't want your money. You couldn't hire me +to leave the bluegrass till I've seen Frank Layson." + +Seeing that she was determined, unable to conjecture what she had come +down for, realizing, upon second thought, that it was most improbable +that she had any tale to tell of him, he reluctantly gave way. "As you +will, then," he said slowly. "But let me warn you that you won't be +welcome hyar. You'll learn the difference between the mounting and the +bluegrass folks. You'd better think it over and turn back." + +"I'll not," said she. + +As he walked disgustedly away she watched him curiously. "I wonder why +he is so sot on makin' me go back?" she mused. "Maybe he air right in +sayin' that I won't be welcome; but I'll do my duty, just th' same!" + +Neb came out from the stable. The girl saw him with delight. "Dellaw!" +she said. "How tired I be! Howdy, Uncle Neb; howdy!" + +"Sakes alive!" he cried. "It's de frenomenom, come down frum de +mountains! Howdy, honey, howdy!" He hurried toward her and saw that she +was near to tears from weariness and the strain of what she had gone +through and what she had to tell. "Why, chil', what's de mattuh?" + +"Pebble in my shoe," she answered, and busied herself as if removing +one. "All right in a minute. This air a long way from th' mountings." + +"Honey, you don't mean you _walked_!" + +"Had to. Wings ain't growed, yet. Say; I've come to bring a word to Mr. +Frank. Is he to home?" She motioned toward the stable, which was the +finest building she had ever seen. + +"Yes; but he don't lib dar, honey." + +"Don't he? Who does, then?" + +"Queen Bess." + +"Queen Bess!" The girl was thunderstruck; her worry choked her. She knew +Frank owned a blooded mare, but did not know her name, and she had but +vaguely heard of queens. "Well--air she to home?" + +"Yes; an' Marse Frank, an' Miss 'Lethe, an' Miss Barbara's comin', purty +soon, to see huh." + +"Miss Barbarous!" said Madge, aroused by the mere mention of the girl +who, from the start, she had recognized, instinctively, as her real +enemy. It had been thought of her, alone, which had made her bear the +weary burden of the bundle on the long journey from the mountains. "I'd +like to fix a little, 'fore she comes. I got some idees o' fashion from +her, when she was up thar, an' I been workin' ev'ry minute I could +spare, since then, on a new dress. Ain't thar some place I can go to +fashion up before they come?" + +The old negro was acutely sympathetic. He disliked Miss Barbara and +liked the mountain girl. His old black head, thick as it was, sometimes, +had quickly recognized the fact that Barbara regarded Madge as one to be +despised, humiliated, while his master treated her with much +consideration and thought highly of her. He did not like the daughter of +Horace Holton any better than he liked the man himself. If he could help +the mountain girl he would. The only place where she could possibly find +privacy, without going to the house, was in the stable with the +race-horse. He would have trusted no one else on earth with her; to +distrust Madge, however, did not once occur to him. + +"Missy," he said slowly, "I reckon you can go right in dar wid Queen +Bess." + +She was a bit appalled. "Maybe she wouldn't like it," she objected. + +"She won't keer if you don't go too close." + +"I'm kinder 'feared." + +"Don't gib her no chance to kick. You's all right, den." + +"Kick!" said the girl, amazed. Kicking did not seem to her to fit the +character of queens. + +Neb unlocked the stable door. "Or bite," he added. + +"Bite! Dellaw!" the girl exclaimed, still more amazed. How little she +had learned of royalty up in the mountains! + +The aged negro threw the door wide open. "Go in, honey, now; go in," he +said. + +"I'm skeered!" she said, and tiptoed to the stable door. She peered in +cautiously. Then she turned and faced him with much-puzzled eyes. "I +don't see nothin' but a hoss," she said. + +"Uh-huh; dat's Queen Bess." Old Neb stood chuckling, looking at her. + +"Queen Bess is Mister Frank's race-hoss!" she cried, delighted by the +revelation. "Well, now, I feel to home." She went into the stable with +her bundle, half-closed the door and then peeped out at Neb. "You won't +let any one come in?" + +He held the key up reassuringly. "Don't you see I's got de key, honey?" + +"I'd feel safer if I had that key myself," said she, and snatched it +from him. An instant later and the door was closed and locked on the +inside. + +Neb was alarmed. He had disobeyed plain orders in letting her go in at +all. For him to let that key out of his possession was a further +violation which he feared to be responsible for. He pounded on the door. +"Open de doah, honey," he implored. "I mus' hab dat key!" + +"All right," said she, "soon's I am dressed." + +He fell back from the door dismayed. "De Lawd help me!" he groaned. +"What's I gwine ter do? An' I war so mighty firm 'bout dat key wid Marse +Holton!" He paced the space before the stable door in agitation. "But I +reckon she'll be t'rough befo' Marse Frank comes," he comforted himself. + +She was not, though. While Neb still paced the stable yard in acute +worry, Frank, Miss Alathea, Barbara and Holton came toward him in a +laughing group. He almost fainted. + +"Here we are, Neb," his master cried, "ready for a look at Queen Bess." + +"Yessah, yessah, pwesently!" Neb stammered, and would have paled had +nature made provision for such exhibition of his feelings. "I jus' +nachelly hab got to speak to dem ar stable boys a minute, fust. Jus' +'scuse me fo' a minute, suh." He vanished hurriedly, hoping that by this +diversion he could gain a little time for Madge and for himself. + +Layson gazed after him with some astonishment, then went and tried the +stable door. "Of course the door's locked," he explained, annoyed, "but +he'll be back here in a minute." + +Miss Alathea smiled. The attitude of the young master toward the aged +negro often was amusing to her. She liked to watch the constant evidence +of that rare affection which formed an inseparable bond between them. + +Suddenly she heard the crunching of a man's heavy footsteps on the +gravel, back of them. Turning, she saw that the newcomer was the +Colonel, and the Colonel in great haste. This was most impressive, for +the Colonel did not often hurry. + +"Here comes the Colonel, Frank," she said, "and see how he is hurrying!" + +"Something's up," her nephew answered, "when the Colonel hurries." Then, +as the horseman came up to them: "Why, Colonel, what's the matter?" + +"A shock! A regular shock! As I came from Lexington, just now, I saw you +standing here, so I sent the boy on with the buggy and cut across to +meet you. Just as I passed the thicket by the spring I caught a glimpse +of a man, who then vanished like a ghost, but I swear that man was that +lank mountaineer, Joe Lorey, and that he tried to keep out of my sight." + +"Joe Lorey!" Frank exclaimed. "What can he want down here?" + +"Who knows? Maybe to finish the work he began in the mountains." + +"More than likely," Holton ventured. "A rifleshot in the back, or a +match touched to a building." + +"_I_ don't believe it," Frank said stoutly. "The man who laid down his +weapons to give me a fair, square fight, wouldn't stoop to things like +that." + +"'Pears to me the man who fired that bomb 'u'd do most anythin'," said +Holton. + +"That was in a fit of anger. Lorey swore to Madge that he thought better +of his impulse to do murder, stamped upon the burning fuse, and believed +that he had put it out, and I believe him." + +He saw, now, that his aunt was badly frightened, and cautioned the other +men. "Not another word about him, now, at any rate, or Aunt 'Lethe won't +once close her eyes to-night." + +"Well," said the Colonel, quite agreeing with him and hastening to +change the subject, "here's something much more interesting, anyway. A +letter from the Company. Looks official and important." + +Frank took the letter, opened it and gazed at it in some dismay. "I +should think so," he exclaimed. "An assessment of $15,000 on my stock." + +"Fifteen thousand devils!" + +"No; fifteen thousand dollars." + +The Colonel took the letter from his hand and looked at it with worried +eyes. "And you've got to meet it, Frank, or lose what you've put in." + +Miss Alathea went to her nephew anxiously. "You'll sell Queen Bess, now, +won't you?" she implored. "You could pay it then. Best sell her." + +The young man stood there, deep in worried thought. "If I were quite +convinced of the Company's good faith in everything, I'd risk it all, +even the loss of Woodlawn, my old home," he answered. + +Neb now appeared from around a corner of the stable, evidently having +decided that the girl had had enough time for her toilet, or afraid to +wait another minute. His appearance created a diversion. + +"Here, Neb," said Frank, "we've had enough nonsense. Let's see Queen +Bess, now." + +Neb looked anxiously for signs that Madge was ready to see visitors, he +listened at the door. He saw no sign, he heard no signal. He was scared, +but he was faithful to his promise to the girl. He planted his old back +against the door. "Now de trouble am commencin'!" he assured himself. + +Holton looked at him with a sour smile. "I hope," he said to Frank, +"that you'll have better luck nor me. Neb wouldn't open that door for +me." + +"Dem was yo' ohduhs, suh," said Neb, appealing to his master. + +"An' he was powerful sassy in the bargain," Holton went on, full of +malice, hoping to make Neb suffer for defying him. + +Layson, however, much as he was now annoyed by the old darky's +hesitation about opening the stable door for him, himself, did not +propose to chide him for having kept his trust and held it closed to +others. "You mustn't mind Neb," he said to Holton. "He's a privileged +character around here. I had told him to admit no one, and, as usual, he +obeyed my orders blindly." + +"Yes, suh," Neb declared, delighted, "went it blind, suh." + +"His obedience," his master went on boastingly, "is really phenomenal. +He wouldn't open that door for anybody. He'd guard the key with his own +life." He turned to Neb. "Wouldn't you, now, Neb?" + +Neb was disconcerted. It was true enough that from most people he +certainly would have guarded that key with his life. But at that moment +there was one within the stable from whom he had _not_ guarded it. +"Yes--yessah!" he said hesitantly. And as he said it he would have given +anything he had if he could have laid his hands upon that self-same key. + +Frank smiled at him. "But I suppose you'll let _me_ have a look at her." + +"Yes--yessuh--in a--in a minute, suh." + +Layson was annoyed. "Why not at once?" He was beginning to be +frightened. Could something Neb was trying to hide have happened to the +mare? + +"Bekase--bekase--" Ned stammered, "well, to tell de trufe, suh, bekase I +is afeared she ain't quite dressed." + +"Not dressed! The mare not dressed! Have you lost your senses? Open that +door--quick!" + +"Marse Frank, I cain't. I nachully jus' cain't." + +Holton was enjoying this. "You see," he said, "he won't open it for +nobody. Not even for th' man as owns it an' th' mare behind it." + +"Give me the key!" said Frank. + +"De key--de key--" Neb stammered. + +"I said the key!" + +The old negro advanced pitifully. "Fo' de lawd, Marse Frank, I hasn't +got it!" + +"He'd guard it with his life!" said Holton, with deep sarcasm. + +"Where is it?" Frank demanded. + +"In dar," said Neb, and pointed to the stable. + +Layson, astonished and annoyed beyond the power of words by the old +negro's strange performance, fearful of the safety of his mare, entirely +puzzled, sprang toward the stable window and was about to pull himself +up by the ledge so that he might look in. + +Neb seized him and pulled him from the aperture with a desperate agility +which strained his aged limbs. "Fo' de Lawd's sake, now, Marse Frank," +he cried, "don't yo' dare look t'rough dat stable winder!" + +Frank, now, was badly frightened. "Is there some one in there with Queen +Bess?" he asked. + +"A young pusson to see you, suh," Neb admitted. + +"And you let that person have the key?" + +"No, suh; it were taken from me." + +Layson was in panic. "Heaven knows," he exclaimed, "what can have +happened here!" He rushed to the stable door and pounded on it with his +fists. "Open at once, or I'll break in the door," he cried. + +Neb, now, had gone up to the window and looked through it with desperate +glance. What he saw was reassuring. He turned back toward his master +smiling. "Hol' on, Marse Frank, de young pusson am a-comin' out," he +said. + +"Well," said Layson, threateningly, "I'm ready for him." He braced +himself to spring upon some malefactor. + +The door opened and Madge appeared before their astonished eyes, garbed +in a gown which she had fashioned after that which Barbara had worn up +in the hills. + +"Madge!" cried Frank, amazed. + +The Colonel, laughing, approached the girl with outstretched hand; Neb, +relieved, dived through the stable door; Miss Alathea, who had been +under a great strain while the dramatic little scene had been in +progress, dropped limply on Neb's bench. + +Madge, with a retentive memory of the way Miss "Barbarous" had greeted +her back in the mountains, stepped toward that much-astonished maiden, +opened her red parasol straight in her face, and courtesied to the rest. + +"Howdy, folks; howdy!" she said, happily. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +The party stood, nonplussed. Frank was first to show signs of recovery, +and, after a moment of completely dazed astonishment, advanced to Madge +with hand outstretched. Her appearance, astonishing as it had been, had +been as great a relief as he had ever known in all his life. Neb's worry +and insubordination had filled him with the keenest apprehension. But he +had no doubts of Madge. If she had been there with the mare, the mare +was certainly all right, no matter how puzzling the affair might seem to +be upon its surface. + +"Why, little one, this is, indeed, a great surprise and pleasure!" he +exclaimed, with sincere gallantry. + +Madge looked at him with doubtful eyes, from which the doubt, however, +was fast clearing. "Oh, say; are you-uns r'ally glad to see me?" + +"No one could be more welcome," he assured her, and the honest pleasure +in his eyes convinced her that he did not speak for mere politeness' +sake. + +And now Miss Alathea, recovering from the shock of all that had preceded +the girl's unexpected appearance, went to her cordially. "We are more +than glad, my child," she told her. + +"Glad's no name for it," the gallant Colonel said, advancing in his +turn. + +There could be no doubt of the sincerity of any one who, thus far, had +expressed a welcome for her; but the voice which now came coldly from +Miss Barbara was less convincing. She did not approach the mountain +girl, but sat somewhat superciliously upon a bench and spoke frigidly. +"It is an unexpected pleasure." + +Madge, not trained to hide her feelings under softened words, turned on +her angrily. "Humph! I wasn't askin' you," she said. Then, to the +others: "I didn't know but what my droppin' in, permiskus like--" + +"A Kentuckian's friends," said Frank, "are always welcome." + +"Friends from the word go, remember," said the Colonel. + +"Thankee, Colonel," said the girl. "We'll have that race, some day; but +I won't ride agin you if you ride Queen Bess. Oh, wouldn't I like to see +her go!" + +"So you shall," said Frank. "Neb, is she ready?" + +"Yessuh; all saddled, sur, an' bridled." + +"Oh, let me bring her out," cried Madge. "I'd love to." + +"Lawsy, honey," said the negro, "you couldn't bring her out. She's dat +fretful an' dat nervous dat she'd kill yo', suah." + +"Get out, Neb!" Madge cried, scornfully. "I ain't afeard of her. Wild +things allays has made friends with me. I've never seen a horse so +skeery that I couldn't manage him--couldn't make him foller me." + +She pushed the hesitating Neb out of her path and went into the stable. + +Layson, who was for the moment, at a distance, had not heard all her +talk with Neb, but saw her as she went into the stall where none but he, +himself, and Neb, dared go, and it was stable talk that, soon or late, +Queen Bess would prove to be a man killer! + +"Neb, stop her! She'll be killed!" he cried. + +Neb ran, as fast as his old legs would carry him, into the stable; Frank +hurried to the stable door. + +"Madge! Madge!" he cried, and then: "Why--look! The mare is following +her as might a kitten!" + +He stepped aside and Madge came from the stable with Queen Bess behind +her, ears pricked forward eagerly as she kept her eyes on Madge's pursed +up, cooing lips, head dropped, neck stretched in graceful fashion, +lifting her dainty feet as proudly as ever did the queen whom she was +named for. + +"Come on, you beauty!" the girl cried. "Oh, it would be like heaven to +ride you; and I could do it, too!" + +"Take her to the track, Neb," Layson ordered. "I'll follow and give her +her exercise." + +Madge, unable to resist the impulse which was thrilling her with +longing, motioned Neb away as he approached to take the mare. "Go 'way! +Go 'way!" she said. Then, to the mare: "Come on, you dear, come on." She +went on slowly, while the mare, in calm docility, trailed after her. The +spectators, who knew the beast, gazed spellbound. + +Constantly the girl's pleased eyes were on the beautiful creature +following. Never had she seen so perfect an animal; never had she known +one giving such plain signs of high intelligence. The mare's big eyes, +broad forehead, delicate muzzle, arching neck, strong withers, mighty +flanks, and slender ankles marked her, to the veriest novice, a +thoroughbred of thoroughbreds; her docile and obedient march showed what +seemed like an almost magic power in the delighted mountain maid. Every +drop of blood in the girl's body tingled with excitement, all her +muscles thrilled with mad desire to mount the wondrous beast and be away +as on the wind's wings. She could imagine what the mare's long strides +would be, she could imagine how exhilerating she would find the steady, +perfect motion of the mighty back. + +"Oh, I can't stand it!" she exclaimed, at length. "I've got to do it!" + +She paused, and eagerly the mare stepped up to her, nuzzleing her +caressing hand. Then, with a bound, the girl was on the graceful +creature's back, landing in her place as lightly as a wind-blown +thistle-down, as gracefully as a fairy horsewoman. + +"Heavens!" cried Barbara. "She's on Queen Bess!" + +"She'll be killed!" Miss Alathea screamed, in terror. + +The Colonel, only, recognized her instantly as a born horsewoman. His +expert eye observed with rare delight the ease with which she mounted, +the perfect poise with which she found her seat, the absolute adjustment +of her lithe young motions to the movements of the mare beneath her from +the very moment she had reached her back. + +"No danger; she rides like a centaur." + +With the others he had stopped, with eyes for nothing but the girl +before them and the splendid animal she rode. "Ah, what a jockey she +would make!" + +Barbara liked this exhibition of the mountain girl's abilities no better +than she had liked anything which Madge had done. Her lip curled +somewhat scornfully. "What a pity that her sex should bar her from that +vocation!" she said coldly. + +She turned to Frank, who was watching Madge with startled eyes, worried +as to the result of this mad prank on both the girl and mare. + +"Frank," said Barbara, "what a figure she will make to-night at your +lawn-party! How your friends will laugh at her!" + +Layson cast a quick, sharp glance at her. She was not advancing her own +cause by trying, thus, to ridicule the mountain maiden. "I'll run the +risk," he said. "She is my guest, you know, and, as such, will surely be +given every consideration and courtesy by all." + +"Oh, certainly," said Barbara, seeing that she had gone, perhaps, too +far. "If you wish it. I should be glad to please you, once again." + +"Nothing could please me more than to have you show her what kindnesses +you can. I know she will feel strange and worried." + +Madge, sitting Queen Bess with an ease and grace which that intelligent +mare had never found in any other rider, and, now, far from them at the +other end of the great training-field, absorbed the youth's delighted +glances. + +"Can't you forget her for an instant?" exclaimed Barbara. "You haven't +been at all the same since you came back from the mountains! Once we +were always together. Now I never see you unless I come over here; and +no matter what I do, you don't seem to care." + +Layson was uneasy. He had been aware, for a long time, that, sooner or +later, a complete understanding of his changed feelings toward this +girl, must, in some way, be accomplished. Now seemed a good time for +it, yet he hesitated at the thought of it. But the thing had to be gone +through with. "I know I used to play the tyrant, Barbara; but it wasn't +a pleasant role, and I was always half-ashamed of it." + +The girl flared into a passion. "What do you mean?" + +"Barbara, I have had no right to go so far, no right to ask so much of +you. From the bottom of my heart I beg forgiveness. Let us forget it all +and just be friends again." And, even as he spoke, his eyes were +wandering toward the girl whom Queen Bess had so utterly surrendered to. +The mare, known since she had first been saddled, as a terror to all +riders, was carrying her as gently as the veriest country hack had ever +borne an old lady from the farm to market. + +Barbara saw where his attention was, and resentment thrilled her. +"Friends? Never! Frank Layson, I believe I hate you!" + +"Oh, very well," said he, plainly not too much impressed, "if you want +to be unreasonable, why, of course--" + +The girl was frightened at the length to which she had permitted her +ill-temper to carry her. "Oh, no, Frank," she hastily corrected, "I +didn't mean that. Of course I am your friend." + +"Thank you, Barbara," said he, with a calmness which was maddening to +her. "I am sure we understand each other, now." And then, still further +maddening her: "I must go now, and look after Madge and dear Queen +Bess. I never should forgive myself if anything should happen to the +girl. But nothing will. See how splendidly she rides!" + +The girl upon the horse, as if conscious of his anxiety about her, now +turned her mount back toward the field-end where the onlookers were +loosely grouped and came toward them at a slow and gentle canter--a gait +which none had ever seen Queen Bess take before, when a stranger was +upon her back. She leaped from the mare by Layson's side, and Neb, ever +anxious for the welfare of his equine darling, began work without delay +at rubbing Queen Bess down. + +"Reckon you'll never forgive me," Madge apologized to Layson, "but I +just couldn't help it. Never even saw a mare like her, afore. My pony's +no-whar alongside of her. I felt like an angel sittin' on a cloud an' +sailin' straight to heaven!" She turned and petted the black beauty. +"Oh, you darling!" + +"Got to take her in, now," Neb said, preparing to lead the mare away. He +spoke apologetically as if the girl had rights which, now, should be +consulted. He had never made a like concession in the past to anyone +except his master. + +"Go 'way, go 'way," said Madge, taking the reins from his black hand. +"Ain't no use o' leadin' her--you jest watch her foller me!" + +She looped the reins about the mare's arched neck, started off, and, +without so much as flicking her long tail, Queen Bess fell in behind, +obedient to her cooing, murmurous calls. + +Frank laughed. "If," he said to the whole party, "you wish to have a +look at the mare's quarters, I think Neb will now admit us." + +All but the Colonel started toward the stable, but he hesitated, looking +toward Miss Alathea. While the others had been spellbound by the girl +and horse, he, the most enthusiastic horseman of them all, had been +divided in attention between them and the lady whose notice he +attracted, now, by means of sundry hems and haws. + +"Miss 'Lethe, just a moment," he said softly. She paused and then went +up to him. He held out a newspaper, suddenly at a loss for words, now +that there was a prospect of a moment with her wholly uninterrupted. +"Here," said he, a little panicky, "is a full account of the revival, +sermon and all. Make your hair stand on end to read it." + +She took the paper, undeceived by his small subterfuge to gain +attention, but interested, as she always was in such things, in the +account of the revival. "This really is interesting." She sat down on +the bench, as they reached the stable-yard again, and pored above the +newspaper. + +In the meantime the Colonel tried to screw his courage to the sticking +point. "Colonel Sandusky Doolittle," he adjured himself, "if you don't +say it now, then you forever hold your peace, that's all!" He went to +his buggy, which had been brought to the stable yard, and from +underneath its seat took a box containing a bouquet of sweet, +old-fashioned flowers. Miss Alathea, absorbed in the account of the +revival, did not notice him at all. "This will do the business," he +reflected. "Now, Sandusky Doolittle, keep cool, keep cool!" Nervously, +as he gazed at her, his fingers worked among the flowers, dismembering +them unconsciously. "A Kentucky Colonel," he was saying to himself in +scorn, "afraid of a woman!" His fingers tore the flowers with new +activity as his nervousness increased, making sad work with the +magnificent bouquet. "Of course she is an angel," he reflected, and +then, with a grim humor, "or will be before I ask her, if I wait another +twenty years! But I shall ask her, I shall ask her!" He stepped toward +her boldly, but paused before her in a wordless panic when he had +approached within a yard. "Heavens!" he thought. "My heart is going at a +one-forty gait and the jockey's lost the reins. I'll be over the fence +in another minute if I don't hold tight! But I have got to do it, this +time." He dropped the stems of the flowers, still bound together by +their lengths of wide white ribbon, into the elaborate box from which, +so lately, he had taken them in their uninjured beauty, not noting the +sad wreck which his too nervous fingers had produced, put on the cover +and approached still nearer. With the box held toward her bashfully, he +managed, then, another step or two. "Miss 'Lethe," he said stammering, +"lawn party to-night--bouquet for you--brought it from Lexington--for +you--for you, you know." + +The Colonel never was embarrassed save when he was endeavoring to +propose marriage to Miss Alathea and he always was embarrassed then. She +recognized the situation from the mere tone of his voice and looked up +hopefully. + +"Oh, Colonel, how kind!" said she, as she held delighted hands out for +the box. "I know it is beautiful." + +"It was quite the best I could do, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel. + +"You have such splendid taste! I'm sure it's lovely." She opened the box +and looked, expectantly, within. "Why, Colonel," she cried, +disappointed, "where are--where are the flowers?" + +"Why--why--why," he stammered, and then saw the mutilated blossoms on +the ground around him. "Why, I don't know--don't know," said he. "'Don't +ask me." + +She was rummaging among the stems, nonplussed. "Why, here's a note!" she +said. + +"Thank heaven!" the Colonel thought, "the note's there yet!" Then, +growing bold: "Miss 'Lethe, if you've a kindly feeling for me in your +heart, read that note; but don't you get excited; keep cool, keep cool!" + +"Why, certainly," said she. "I see no cause for excitement." She +unfolded the note and read, aloud, and very slowly, for the Colonel's +hand was not too easy to decipher. "'My dear, dear Miss 'Lethe: Woman +without her man is a savage.'" She looked up, naturally astonished by +this unusual statement. "Why, Colonel," she exclaimed, "what can you +mean by saying woman is a savage without her man?" + +He stood appalled for just a second and then realized the error into +which his ardor had misled him. "Great Scott!" he cried. "I forgot to +put in the commas! It ought to read this way: 'Woman, without her, man +is a savage.' Go on, Miss 'Lethe, please go on." + +She read again: "'I feel that it is time for me to become civilized--in +other words, to come in out of the wet. To me you have been, for twenty +years, the embodiment of woman's truth, purity and goodness. But +constitutional timidity and chronic financial depression, due to the +race-track, have hitherto kept me silent.'" Miss 'Lethe looked up at him +with a strange expression on her face. "Colonel," she exclaimed, "what +does this mean?" + +"Go on, Miss 'Lethe," was the answer, "please go on, go on." He made a +mighty effort to secure control of his unruly nerves, and, almost +unconsciously, while her head was bent above the note, took a small +flask from his pocket and imbibed from it. It steadied him. + +She read again: "'I am convinced that my interest in the company will +yield me a competence; accordingly, behold me at your feet!'" + +Miss 'Lethe looked down somewhat mischievously. She did not see the +Colonel where his note declared he would be. She glanced again at the +paper in her hands and saw a word which, at first, had quite escaped +attention. "'Metaphorically,'" she read, and then the signature: +"'Colonel Sandusky Doolittle.'" + +"Colonel!" she exclaimed. + +"Miss 'Lethe," he replied, and, discovering that the flask was still in +plain view in his hand, slipped it into his sidepocket upside down. + +"Colonel, put that bottle right side up and listen to me," she said +calmly. "Do you really love me?" + +"Do I love you? With a fervor--er--a--passion--er--will you excuse me if +I smoke?" He took a black cigar from his vest pocket, in another effort +to control his nerves, and lighted it as might an automatic smoker. + +"I am going to put you to the proof," said she. "Could you, for my sake, +come down from ten cigars a day to five?" + +The Colonel was dismayed. "To five cigars a day! Impossible!" He caught +himself. That scarcely was the way to answer the request of the woman he +adored so fervently. "I mean," he hastily corrected, "is--is that all?" +He made a motion as if to throw away the weed he had just lighted, but +thought better of it. "I will make the descent to-morrow," he said +earnestly. + +"Could you restrict yourself to three mint-julips, daily?" + +"Three! A man couldn't live on three! He'd have to--have to take such +poisons as--as cold water into his system." + +"Remember, Colonel, I would mix them." + +"That settles it! Three goes!" He fervently reached toward her, plainly +planning to embrace her. + +"Wait, Colonel," she exclaimed, "there is one more condition. Could you, +for my sake, promise never to enter another race-track?" + +He started back from her in horror. "Never enter another race-tack! I, +Colonel Sandusky Doolittle, known everywhere, from Maine to California, +as a plunger, give up the absorbing passion of my life!" + +"Remember what you said to Frank," said she. "'It's a delusion and a +snare.' But, of course, if you think more of a delusion than you do of +me--" + +"No; hang it!" cried the Colonel, "I think more of you. Twenty +years--the longest race on record and a win in sight! I'll not lose by a +balk at the finish! I promise you, Miss 'Lethe, on the honor of a +Kentuckian." + +"Then, Colonel, I must confess, I have loved you, also, for every one +of those long twenty years." + +"Twenty years!" He turned his head aside and muttered: "What a damned +fool I have been!" Then, to her, he said, exultantly: "Aha! A neck +ahead!" + +It is difficult to say what would have happened, then, if Madge, Holton, +Barbara and Frank had not come from the stable, chattering about Queen +Bess. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +Joe Lorey, mad with wrath, his heart filled with the lust of killing for +revenge, infuriated to the point where he felt need of neither food nor +sleep, yet made less rapid time down the rough mountain paths than had +the girl. Love-lent wings are swifter than an impulse born of hatred and +resentment can be. She had flown upon such wings to save the man who +filled her innocent thoughts with longing; Joe had gone clumsily, +despite his cunning as a mountaineer, for leaden, murderous thoughts had +weighed him down, hampering the quickness of his wit, delaying his fleet +feet, confusing the alertness of his watchfulness for faint-limned +trails, loose areas perilous of slides upon steep slopes. Indeed, though +hate had driven him, Joe Lorey never in his life had made so very slow a +journey to the bluegrass as that which he had started on from his +wrecked still, with hatred of Frank Layson, who he thought had viciously +betrayed him, blazing in his heart. + +Hours after the light-footed girl, spurred by her fear for one whom she +but dimly guessed that she had learned to love, had arrived at the +bluegrass mansion and been welcomed by the owner of Queen Bess, the +mountaineer reached the confines of the splendid farm, and lurked there, +waiting for night-fall to make his entrance into the house grounds safe. + +The rough youth's mental state was pitiable. Tragedy had pursued him, +almost from his life's beginning, he reflected, as he furtively awaited +opportunity for the revenge which he had planned. The fierce feud of the +mountains had robbed him of his parents, and, with them, of the best +years of his youth; the rough life of the mountains had robbed his +strong young manhood of those opportunities which, he dimly realized, +might have made him different and better; when love for sweet Madge +Brierly had come to him, Fate had brought up from the bluegrass the +young stranger, who, with his superior learning, polished manner and +smooth speech, had found the conquest of the girl (Joe bitterly +reflected) all too easy; and finally had come the crowning, black +disaster--the betrayal of his still to the agents of the government, its +destruction and his transformation from a free man of the mountains into +a furtive outlaw. + +He could not see that life held anything but gloom for him--black, +impenetrable, ever thickening. He had but one thing left to live for--a +revenge as dark as were the wrongs which he had suffered. + +He knew that government agents have shrewd wits, keen eyes, strong arms, +and never let a moonshiner escape if, through any strategy, they may +bring about his capture; he knew that since the discovery and +destruction of his still he was a marked man; so it was nearing dusk +when, after intensely cautious and immensely skilful manoeuvering +against discovery, he actually entered the Layson grounds. + +The long, exciting afternoon, full of Queen Bess, a certain sense of +triumph over Barbara Holton, the extent of which she could not guess, +countless thrills of gratitude and exultation born of the kindness and +consideration shown her by Miss Alathea and the Colonel, had sped away +before Madge realized that it had been half-spent. Now, though, the +deepening twilight warned her of the flight of time and told her that +she must, perforce, perform the task for which she had descended from +the mountains. + +All the others except Frank had drifted toward the house, and she had +hung behind for the express purpose of getting private speech with him, +when she had the day's first opportunity. + +"Mr. Frank," said she, "afore we go into th' house I got a word to say +to you as I don't want nobody but you to hear." + +A quick glance at her face showed him that what she had to say was, +really, of great importance, for her lovely mouth was serious, her deep +eyes were full of worry, her smooth brow was nearer to real frowning +than he had ever seen it. + +"Why, Madge, what is the matter?" + +She put her hand upon his arm, turning her sweet face up to him with a +revelation of solicitude which, had she known how plain it was, she +would have hidden at all hazard. "It may mean life or death to you," she +told him solemnly. + +"Life or death to me, little girl? What are you talking of?" said he, +almost incredulous. + +"Joe Lorey's still were raided by the revenuers after you come down!" + +"It can't be possible!" + +"It is. It lies in ruins and in ashes an' he is hidin' out among th' +mountings, somewhars, in danger, ev'ry minute, of arrest an', then, of +prison. 'Twas all he had in th' wide world." + +"Poor fellow! I am sorry," said Layson, with quick sympathy. "I'll see +what can be done. And you say he's hiding out up in the mountains?" + +She hesitated. "I said so, but I reckon it ain't true, exactly. It was +that that made me hurry down to speak to you. Some say as how he has +come down into th' bluegrass to find th' man as gin th' word. It is a +crime as never is forgiven in th' mountings." + +As she spoke, unseen, behind them, a dark, slouching, furtive figure +slipped across an open space and took a crouching stand behind a tree +near by. Had they listened without speech they might have heard the +heavy breathing of the very man of whom they spoke, might have heard the +sharp click of the lock of his long rifle as he brought its hammer to +full cock. Had they turned about they might have seen the blue glint of +the day's last light upon that rifle's barrel, which was levelled +straight at Layson's heart. But they saw none of these things nor heard +a sound. + +"Who does he think betrayed him?" Layson asked, with deep interest, but +no trace of guilty knowledge, thrilling in his voice. + +Madge hesitated. Then she blurted out the truth. "Who?" she repeated, +"Why--why you! _YOU_--YOU!" + +The rifle barrel steadied to its mark, the finger curled to press upon +the trigger. + +"Why, Madge," said Layson, earnestly, "I didn't even know he had a +still! I swear it!" + +There was an honest ring in the youth's voice which could not be +mistaken. + +"I knowed it warn't your doin'," the girl said with a great sigh of +relief. + +And as she spoke the rifle barrel slowly fell. + +"I knowed it warn't your doin', but Joe'll never believe it. Night an' +day you'll have to be close on your guard. There's no tellin' what +minute your life may be in danger." + +"I don't believe it of Joe Lorey," Layson answered earnestly. "We +fought, and he fought fair." + +After they had gone, Joe crept out from his hiding place among the +shrubbery and looked after them with puzzled, pain-filled eyes, like a +great animal's. + +"If they'd only knowed that I war standin' in th' shadder there!" he +mused. "If he hadn't spoke them words I'd pulled th' trigger, but he +spoke up like as ef 't war true an' I jest couldn't do it." + +A cautious footstep on the close-knit sward, which would have been +inaudible to any ear less keen than his, attracted his attention, +suddenly, and he slipped back to his leafy hiding-place. Peering from +the covert he saw Holton coming. The man was furtive, apprehensive in +his every movement, suspicion breeding. When Joe stepped out from his +thicket boldly, to confront him, the ex-slave-dealer fell back, +frightened. + +"Hello, sir," was Joe's laconic greeting. + +"Joe Lorey!" exclaimed Holton. + +"That's me," Joe boldly granted. He peered at him so closely that Holton +shrank away from him, involuntarily. "And you--why you're the man as gin +th' word that Frank Layson had warned th' revenooers of my still." + +"I told ye for yer good," said Holton, clearly recognizing that his +position was unfortunate. "An' recollect you promised not to tell anyone +my name." + +Joe nodded gravely. "While I believe ye told th' truth I'll keep my +word," he answered. "But I wants to tell you that I heered Frank Layson +deny it, hyar, to-night, an' it sounded like he war speakin' th' plain +truth. See hyar, sir, you nearly egged me on to doin' murder." He +reached forward and seized Holton by the shoulder roughly, with a grasp +so powerful that the old man, though he was of sturdy frame and mighty +muscle, knew that he was helpless in the grip. "Now look me in th' face. +Tell me as you vally your own life--war it truth or lies, you told me?" + +"It war th' truth," said Holton, doggedly; "th' truth an' nothin' else." + +Joe shook his head incredulously. "I'd like better proof nor your word, +stranger, for, some way, your voice it don't ring true, nor yer eye look +honest." + +"I'll gin ye th' proof," said Holton desperately. "Ye know that I war +never near yer still. Layson told me it war in th' wall of a +ravine--Hangin' Rock Ravine--an' a big oak stood in front of it an' hid +the mouth o' th' cave. Thar, do ye believe me, now?" + +Joe nodded, slowly, thoughtfully. "No man as lived up in th' mountings +would have told ye." He considered ponderously for a moment. "Yes, I +reckon that I'll have to take yer word. 'T was him as done it." + +"Of course it war," said Holton, and then, perhaps, a bit too eagerly: +"an' you'll make him pay for it?" + +"Yes," said Joe, "but I've another score to settle, first, another man +to find--Lem Lindsay." + +Holton was plainly startled, although Joe could not guess just why he +should be. "Lem Lindsay!" he exclaimed. + +"Yes; the man as murdered my father. I've had word of him, at last. I've +heard as how he war seen, years ago, in New Orleans--he war a +nigger-trader, then--an' that he's come up in th' bluegrass country, +since, like enough under another name." He looked at Holton eagerly. "I +say, sir, you don't know a man like that, do you?" + +Holton spoke a little hurriedly. "No, no; there ain't no man like that +in these parts." + +"It don't make no differ whar he bides," said Joe. "Soon or late our +paths'll cross an' bring us face to face. When he struck down my father +it war sealed and signed above that he war to fall by my hand; an' +there's a feelin' in my heart that that hour air drawin' nigh." He +nodded and then turned away. "Good-night, stranger." + +Holton was thoroughly alarmed. Many things distressed him. He could +plainly see that his daughter's love-affair with Layson had gone wrong, +he realized that there was little chance that he could buy Madge +Brierly's coal lands at anything but a fair value, and now--to fall by +his hand! + +"I'll make that false," he muttered, "Why, I've got to do it!" + +He moved away among the trees, but stopped in frequent thought as he +progressed. + +"They'll lay the crime on Lorey," he reflected, after he had laid his +plan. "They'll hunt him down and lynch him and I shall be safe. +Layson'll be ruined, he'll have to sell Woodlawn, and my gal'll be th' +missus there, in spite of him. I've got to do it." + +Like a shadow of the night he hurried through the grounds until he +reached the stable where Queen Bess was thought to be secure. + +"Every window barred, every door is sealed but this!" he cunningly +reflected as he paused at the front entrance. + +With frantic haste, lest he should be discovered at the work, he piled +brush from a near refuse pile against the door and stuffed wisps of +grass and hay into the bottom of the heap. Into this tinder pile he +thrust a lighted match and disappeared, just as Madge came to the bench +where she had paused when she first came to Woodlawn, early in the +afternoon. + +It was plain enough, from her dejected looks and listless attitude, that +the dance had given her no pleasure, but, on the contrary, had filled +her with distress. + +"I couldn't stand it thar, no longer," she was thinking, bitterly. "I +war jest a curiosity, like a wild woman. Miss Barbarous poked fun at me +till I war plumb afraid I'd fly at her like a wild-cat, so I jest +slipped away. Oh, I see, now, as I never seed afore; the differ that +there is 'twixt Mr. Frank an' me! An' I know, now, what 't is air ailin' +me. I loves him. Oh, I loves him better nor my life! But it can't never +be." She dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. "Good-bye, good, +kind, Mr. Frank, good-bye!" She stretched her arms out toward the +mansion she had lately left, where lights were twinkling gaily, whence +sounds of music now came faintly to her ears. "You'll soon forget the +little mounting girl. You'll never know she loved you. I'm goin' +back--back to the old mountings." + +As she rose an ominous crackling caught her ear and held her at +attention, then, in a horrid flash, the fire blazed out among the hay +and brush which Holton had piled up against the stable door. + +"Oh, oh!" she cried. "Th' stable is burnin'! Fire! Fire! Fire! Neb, are +you in there? Don't you hear me, Neb? Th' stable air on fire!" + +Neb's voice came from the dim interior, muffled and skeptical. "What +dat?" he said. "Don't want no foolishness 'round heah. I's ahmed." + +"It's me, Neb, me," she cried. "Th' stable 's burnin', Neb!" + +"Gorramighty!" she heard Neb exclaim, now in a voice expressive of great +fright. "Dat's so, dat's so! Quick, honey, open up de doah!" + +Madge was working at the biggest log which Holton had thrust against +the door to feed the blaze. The flames and smoke surged 'round her as +she struggled with the unwieldy thing, her hands grasped, more than +once, live coals, without making her release her hold. Once or twice the +bursting flames, swung hither and swung yon by the light, vagrant +breezes of the night and the drafts born of the fire, itself, flared +straight toward her face, and, to save her hair, which, once igniting, +would, she knew, make further work impossible, she had to draw back for +a second; but each time, as she saw another chance, she sprang again to +the desperate task. At last, after a dozen efforts, she had thrust the +blazing log so far from the already burning door that Neb could push it +open. He stumbled out, his old hands held before him, gropingly, +half-suffocated. + +"Neb, you ain't hurt," said she. + +"You go ring dat bell," said he, pointing to a standard bearing at its +top an ornamental iron crotch in which a big plantation bell was swung. +"Soon's I get my bref from all dat smoke I'll go back an' git Queen +Bess." + +The girl sprang to the rope and soon the bell was ringing out a wild +alarm. + +"Hurry, Neb!" she cried. "Oh, hurry! Th' fire's a-gainin', ev'ry second! +Hurry!" + +Neb dashed back into the stable upon trembling limbs, while, without a +pause, the girl kept up the clangor of alarm. Her eyes were ever on the +door through which the faithful black had disappeared, watching +anxiously to see him come out with the mare. + +But second after second--seconds which seemed to her like hours--went by +and he did not appear again. Her heart began to beat with frantic fears +that Neb, himself, as well as the superb animal which she had already +learned to love, had fallen victim to the fire, when, at last, he +stumbled from the door. + +"'Tain't no use," he said, as he weakly staggered up to her. "It kain't +be done. Queen Bess am crazy wid de fiah. She jes' won't come out! I +cain't _git_ huh to come out." He sobbed. "An' she am all dat Marse +Frank hab on earth!" Beside himself he ran off toward the house, +shouting for his master wildly. + +"All he has on earth!" the girl exclaimed, the bell-rope falling from +relaxing hands. An instant she stood there in thought, horrified at the +idea of the catastrophe which threatened Layson. Then: "I'll save her! +She will follow me!" + +Without a second's hesitation, with no thought for her own safety, she +drew her skirts about her tightly, wrapped her shawl around her head to +save her hair and dashed through the growing flames about the +stable-door, into the inferno which now raged within the structure, just +as Neb, running with a lurching step, but with a speed remarkable in +one so old and stiffened by rheumatic pains, dashed back to the scene of +the disaster, in advance of Frank, the Colonel, Holton, Miss Alathea and +the other inmates of the house, guests, servants, all. + +[Illustration: "BACK! BACK! I'M A-COMIN' WITH QUEEN BESS!"] + +Without a word, as he approached, Frank pulled off his coat, evidently +preparing for a desperate dash through the now roaring flames to rescue +his beloved mare. Then, bracing himself for a great spring through the +lurid barrier, he cried, "I'll save her!" and would have leaped into the +flaming entrance if Neb had not caught his arm with desperate grip. + +"No, honey," the old negro cried, "yo' shan't go in!" + +The Colonel joined the negro in restraining the half-crazed owner of +Queen Bess. "It's no use, Frank," said he. "We'll not let you go in." + +They dragged the struggling youth back from the fire just as, to their +amazement, an exultant voice rang from the inside of the burning +building. "Back! Back!" it cried. "I'm a-comin' with Queen Bess!" + +An instant later Madge sprang out through the flames, followed by the +mare, about whose head the mountain girl had wrapped her shawl. + +"Come, girl! Come, girl!" said Madge, alert of eye, cool-witted, +soothing. + +As docilely as she had followed her that afternoon, the mare stepped +through the blazing door and out into the stable-yard. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Lexington was in a wild state of excitement on the morning of the year's +great race, the Ashland Oaks. In a private parlor of the Phoenix Hotel +the two men who were, perhaps, most deeply interested of all in it, were +weary of their speculations after they had gone, for the thousandth +time, over every detail of possible prophecy and speculation. The +Colonel sat beside a table upon which stood a "long" glass from which +protruded, and in which nestled fragrant mint-leaves. At the bottom of +the glass there lingered, yet, the good third of a julep. + +"There's one capital thing about a mint-julep," he said comfortably, and +smacked appreciative lips. "One always suggests another." He drained his +glass and rose. At the other side of the room was the bell-button. His +finger was extended and about to touch it when he stopped to think. "No! +Great heavens!" said he. "That makes my third, already, and I'm as dry +as the desert of Sahara." He sat down again, an air of martyrdom upon +his face. "Ah, well, Miss 'Lethe's worth it. I say, Frank, anything new +in the extra?" + +The youthful owner of Queen Bess, to whom it seemed as if almost life +itself were staked on the result of the coming contest at the track, +lowered, with a nervous hand, for an instant only, the newspaper he had +been poring over. + +"Only this," he said, and slowly read: "'Queen Bess is still the +favorite for the Ashland Oaks. The report that she was injured in the +fire by which her stable was burned, proves to be a canard. Her owner +declares her to be unhurt and in fine condition.'" + +The Colonel nodded his approval. "That's what I've telegraphed the Dyer +brothers. I'm sure they won't refuse to take her when they know the +facts in the case. It was a close shave, though. If it hadn't been for +that little thoroughbred from the mountains--" + +"When she rushed into the flames, last night, wasn't she magnificent!" +said Frank, flushing with enthusiasm. "And when she came out, leading +Queen Bess to safety, she looked like an angel!" + +The Colonel coughed in deprecation. "The simile's off, a little bit, +ain't it? Angels are not supposed to come out of the flames." + +"At least, Colonel, you'll admit that she's the best and bravest little +girl you ever knew." + +The Colonel smiled. "Yes; but, my boy, this enthusiasm is alarming." He +laughed outright. "It seems to indicate another conflagration, with +Cupid as the incendiary." + +The youth colored. "Oh, nonsense!" + +"Be more careful, Frank," his friend urged, becoming serious. "She's a +dear, simple little thing, not used to the ways of the world. Don't let +her get too fond of you." + +"What do you mean?" + +"See here, my boy. I know you young fellows don't want an old fool, like +me, interfering with your affairs, but I've taken that little girl right +to my heart. I tell you, Frank, she's too brave and true to be trifled +with. She's not that kind." + +Layson flushed hotly. The intimation, even from the Colonel, was more +than he could bear with patience. "Stop!" he cried. "You've said enough. +What you mean to insinuate is false!" + +The Colonel rose, embarrassed. The youth's earnestness astonished him. +Could it be possible that this scion of an ancient bluegrass family, +this leader of the younger set in one of the most exclusive circles in +Kentucky, could really be thinking seriously of that untutored +mountain-girl? "My boy, forgive me!" he exclaimed. "I--I didn't +understand. I never dreamed there could be anything--er--serious. I +thought, of course--" + +Frank paced the floor with nervous tread. Other things than the +impending contest for the Ashland Oaks had been worrying him of late. +Since he had left the mountains there had scarcely been a moment, waking +or sleeping, when the face of the sweet mountain girl who had fascinated +him among her rocks and forests, and had come down to the bluegrass to +save not only his life but the life of his beloved mare, had not been +vividly before him. Untutored she might be, uncouth of speech, unlearned +in all those things, in fact, which the women he had known had ever held +most valuable, but her compensating virtues had begun to take upon +themselves their actual values--values so overwhelming in their +magnitude that her few lackings grew to seem continually less important +in his mind. + +"Never mind, Colonel," he said slowly, "you can't say anything to me but +what I've said, over and over again, to myself. I know she's ignorant +and uncultured. I know what it would mean if I should marry her. If I +were to choose for a wife a fashionable girl, whose life is centered in +the luxury which surrounds her, the world would smile approval; but for +Madge, with her true, brave heart and noble thoughts, there would be +only sneers and insults because she happened to be born up there in the +mountains. That is the kind of people we are down here in the +bluegrass." He smiled, somewhat bitterly. "And I--well, I'm too much +like the rest to need any warning--too much of a coward to think of +making her my wife." + +He sat, dejectedly, in a chair by the long table, and, with face held +between his hands and elbows planted on the board, looked across it, +through the open window, out into the thronging street with gloomy +eyes. For days he had been fighting battle after battle with himself. He +could not make his mind up as to what he ought to do. He knew he loved +the mountain-girl, but--but-- + +"There, there, my boy, I'm sorry," said the Colonel, sympathetically, +apologetically. "Let's drop the subject. The ladies will be here, soon. +Before they come I'll step over to the office and get the answer from +the Dyer Brothers." He rose, looking at his watch. "It's nearly time it +was here. They were to wire promptly. I'll bring it to you as soon as it +comes." He went to Frank and put his hand upon his shoulder +comfortingly. "Don't worry, my boy. It will all come out, all right. +Ahem! I mean there's nothing the matter with the mare and the sale will +go through." + +"I hope so," said Frank, rising without much show of energy. He was +clearly on the edge of real discouragement. "If it doesn't--and that +assessment to be met--ah, well! What's the use of worrying? It doesn't +help the matter any." He walked slowly to the window and looked out. +"Here come Madge and Aunt 'Lethe," he announced, "through with their +shopping at last. How different Madge looks from the little +mountain-girl I first knew!" He turned and faced the Colonel. "Ah, if +the world knew her as I do--" + +The Colonel left the room, bound for the telegraph-office, just before a +shrill scream came from the corridor, without, startling Layson greatly. + +"Oh, dellaw!" the frightened voice said. "Le' me out! Le' me out!" + +He recognized the voice, at once, as belonging to the girl whom he had +been discussing with the Colonel, and it was so full of terror that he +rushed quickly to the door, prepared to rescue her from some dire peril. + +"What can be the matter?" he thought, frightened. + +At the door he met Madge, white of face and startled, coming in. + +"Why, Madge! What is it?" + +She leaned against the writing-table, gasping. It was plain enough that +she had been greatly frightened. + +"Wait till I git my breath," she said; and then: "They got us into a +little room, and, all of a sudden, we started skallyhootin' fer th' +roof--room an' all!" + +Frank fell back, relieved, and trying not to show amusement. + +"That was the elevator," he explained. "A machine to carry you upstairs +and save you the work of climbing." + +"Dellaw!" exclaimed the girl, not yet entirely calm. "As if I couldn't +walk! Thought we was blowed up by another dynamighty bomb!" + +Miss Alathea entered hurriedly, looking about the room, in evident +distress. At sight of Madge she gave a great sigh of relief. "My dear, +I'm so sorry you were frightened!" + +The girl laughed nervously, pulling herself together. "I understand, +now, Miss 'Lethe, and I'm as cool as a cucumber." + +There was a group of darkies at the door, and, suddenly, they all began +to grin. Miss 'Lethe knew the sign. + +"The Colonel's coming," she said positively. "Their faces show it. Look +at them?" + +Her guess proved a true prophecy. The Colonel, plainly busy with +absorbing thoughts, was striding along the uneven old brick sidewalk, +seeing nothing, hearing nothing, when the crowd of darkies, sure of his +good-nature, beneficiaries from past favors, many times, surrounded him, +beseeching him for tips upon the coming races. Very different were these +city darkies from the respectful negroes of the Kentucky plantations of +the time. They swarmed about him in an insistent horde. + +"Who gwine win dat race, Marse Cunnel? Who gwine win dat race?" they +chorussed. + +He stopped and beamed at them good-naturedly. + +"Who's going to win?" said he. "Queen Bess, of course." + +He joined the group, inside, with a bundle in one hand and an open +telegram in the other. "Good morning, ladies. Miss 'Lethe, you're +looking fresh and blooming as you used to twenty years ago." He tried to +catch himself, but failed. "As fresh and blooming," he corrected, "as +usual, Miss 'Lethe." His bow was very courtly and her own no less so. + +"Frank, my boy," said he, turning to the youthful owner of Queen Bess, +"I've got their answer, and it's all right." + +Frank had been acutely worried. There had been some question of the sale +of the mare to the Dyer Brothers before the fire; now that this disaster +had occurred and stories had been started, as, of course, he knew they +must have been, about injuries to her, there might be, he had feared, +good reason to expect the celebrated horsemen to withdraw their +proposition. The Colonel's news, therefore, was very welcome. + +"They take the mare?" he asked, all eagerness." + +"N-o," began the Colonel, "but--" + +Frank's face fell, instantly, and his shoulders drooped despairingly. +"Then it's all wrong." + +"Not yet," said the Colonel, "score again." He raised the telegram and +read from it: "'Can't take mare without positive proof that she's all +right. Let her run in the Ashland Oaks, to-day. If she wins, we take +her.'" The Colonel looked up beamingly. "Do you hear? They take her!" + +The condition which, now, the Dyer brothers made, when, before this, +they had made none, bothered Frank. The telegram did not elate him quite +as much as the old horseman had supposed it would. "Ah, if she wins!" +said he. + +Miss Alathea spoke up, eagerly. "Oh, Frank, of course she'll win." + +"She's _got_ to win!" exclaimed the Colonel with much emphasis. + +Frank was in a pessimistic mood. "I'm not so sure," said he, a little +gloomily. The strain of the past days had been a hard trial for the +youth. "If that imp of a jockey, Ike, should get in range of a whiskey +bottle--however, he has promised not to leave his room." + +The Colonel laughed. "Ike leave his room?" he said. "You're right--he +won't; but it will not be his promise that will keep him from it. He +couldn't leave it if he would." + +"Why not?" inquired Miss 'Lethe. + +"Because," the Colonel answered, "I have got his clothes!" + +"His clothes!" said Frank, astonished. + +"Yes--a Napoleonic device. When I went to see him, this morning, I found +him in bed. I knew how it might be if he got out, so I saw to it that +his meals would reach him promptly, and borrowed the one suit of clothes +he brought with him, under pretence of needing them to help me order a +new jockey-suit for him to wear in the great race. I've been fair about +it, too--I've got the new clothes for him." He pointed to the bundle +which he had just brought in. "They're in there--and they'll not +disgrace Queen Bess. They're the best I could get." + +Frank, less interested in the clothes than in the fact that the jockey, +now, was quite secure against temptation, sighed with satisfaction. +"Then he's safe," said he. + +The Colonel nodded, notably well satisfied with his performance. Miss +Alathea, shocked, as she tried to be, by all this business, adjunct of +gambling, every bit of it, yet smiled admiringly at the big horseman. +Only Madge, learned, through much experience with mountaineers, whose +greatest curse is whisky, in the ways of men addicted to its use, was +not convinced that all was surely well. + +"I'd keep a watch on him, just the same," she said. Now that she +understood the vast importance of this race to Layson her whole heart +was wrapped up in its fortunes. "When a man wants whisky he gener'ly +finds a way to git it." + +"You're right, Madge," Frank agreed. "I think I'll go and look after +him, now." + +He started toward the door just as a knock sounded on it. When he opened +it he found Horace Holton standing waiting for admittance. The man +seemed to be excited. + +"I don't want to intrude, sar," said the ex-merchant in slaves, "but I +come to tell you what you'd orter know. Th' news of th' fire, last +night, hev set ev'rybody wild. They're lookin' to you, sar, to sw'ar out +a warrant for Joe Lorey an' set th' sheriff on his track." + +Frank came back into the room with the old man, worried by the news +which he had brought. He had been thinking of this very matter and he +was not at all convinced that he wished to swear a warrant out for +Lorey. Finally, after a few seconds of silent and deep thought, he shook +his head. "I want more proof, first," he declared. + +Holton was astonished and ill-pleased. "What more proof d' ye want?" he +asked. "Ain't it as plain as day that he come down from th' mountings to +get even with you for th' raidin' of his still? Who else would 'a' done +it?" + +Madge was listening with flushed face and frowning brow. She did not, +for a second, think Joe Lorey was the culprit. Her suspicions had not +wholly crystalized, but she had known the mountain-boy since she had +known anyone, and she could not believe that he would fire a building in +which was confined a dumb and helpless creature. She knew him to be +quite as fond of animals as she was. She believed Holton, also, had some +ulterior reason, which she did not fathom, then, for trying to fasten +suspicion on the lad. In her earnestness, as she considered these +things, she stepped close to the old man, almost truculently. "That's +what I mean to find out," she declared. "Who else done it." + +Holton was angered by her manner and her opposition. He had not expected +to meet any difficulty in the execution of his plan to throw the blame +of the outrageous crime at Woodlawn, on the shoulders of the +mountaineer. "What have you got to do with it?" he angrily demanded. + +She was not impressed by his quick show of temper. "Reckon I've got as +much to do with it as you hev," she replied. "Joe Lorey wouldn't never +plan to burn a helpless dumb critter. He ain't no such coward." + +"Who else had a call to do it?" said the old man, placed, unexpectedly, +on the defensive. "Who else war an enemy of Mr. Layson's?" + +Madge spoke slowly. She was not sure, at all, whom she was accusing; her +suspicions were indefinite, obscure, but they were taking form within +her mind. "Thar's one as I knows on," she slowly answered. "It's th' one +as told Joe Lorey that Mr. Frank had set th' revenuers onto him." Her +conviction strengthened as she spoke, and, as she continued, she looked +Holton firmly in the eye and spoke with emphasis. "Show me th' man as +told that lie, an' I'll show you th' scoundrel as tried to burn Queen +Bess!" + +Layson liked the spirit of her warm defense of her old friend, and, +himself, knew enough about the moonshiner to make it seem quite +reasonable. He knew that Joe was a crude creature, but believed, and had +good reason to believe, that he had his code of honor which he would +abide by at all cost. It was impossible for him to feel convinced that +this would have permitted him to set fire to the stable. "Madge, I +believe you're right," said he. + +Holton was nonplussed. Things were not going as he had expected and had +wished them to, at all. "Oh, shore, it war Joe Lorey," he protested. "It +couldn't 'a' been nobody else. I warns you, here an' now, Layson, that +ef you don't set th' law after him he'll be lynched before to-morrer +night." + +Layson was a little angered by the man's persistence. "I'll see that +that doesn't happen," he replied, "and I'll leave no stone unturned to +find the scoundrel who really did the deed, and have him punished. But +I'm not certain that the man will prove to be Joe Lorey." + +Holton, angry, baffled and astonished, left the room, with a maddening +conviction growing in his mind that things were going wrong and would +continue to go wrong. He almost regretted, now, that he had yielded to +the impulse to set fire to the stable. If Layson would not let him throw +suspicion where he had intended it should fall, then one part of his +plan would have failed utterly: he would not have put Joe Lorey, who, at +liberty, must ever be a peril to him, from his path; and, furthermore, +if they kept on with investigation, in the end they might--they +might--but he would not let himself believe that, by any possibility, +the real truth could come out. He assured himself as he stepped out into +the crowded street that he was safe, whether or not the crime was ever +fastened on Joe Lorey. + +Layson, after Holton left, looked around upon the party with a worried +eye. "I can't take this matter up, yet," he declared. "Until the race is +over I can think of nothing else. Colonel, I'll look after Ike, and then +we'll be off to the track." + +"So we will, my boy," the Colonel answered, "so we will. Ah, what a race +it will be!" As Frank went out, the horseman rubbed his hands with keen +anticipations of delight. + +"Oh, Colonel," exclaimed Madge, brought back by this turn in the +conversation to contemplation of the most exciting prospect which had +ever been before her, "won't we have fun?" + +"Won't we?" said the Colonel, very happily. + +But then Miss Alathea spoke. She had listened to all the talk about the +fire, the incendiary, the pursuit, and its dreadful possibilities of +lynching, with the keenest of distress. Now the Colonel's calm +declaration that, presently, they would be off to the race-track which +he had sworn forever to taboo, shifted her mind suddenly from those +unpleasant topics. + +"Colonel!" she exclaimed, in pained astonishment. "Do you forget your +promise?" + +"Er--er--" the old horseman began and became speechless. + +Madge was all excitement. "Mr. Frank has told me all about it," she said +gaily. "I kin see it, now--th' grand-stand filled with folks, th' +jockeys ridin' in their bright colors, th' horses a-champin' an' +a-pullin' at their bits--an' then--th' start!" The girl had dreamed +about such scenes before she had so much as guessed that she might ever +witness one, and now, when she was actually about to go out to the +track, herself, and with her own eyes gaze upon the greatest race which +old Kentucky had known for many a year, it seemed too good to be true. +Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, her feet danced as if they might be in +the stirrups, her hands clutched on imaginary reins. "All off together, +a-goin' like th' lightnin'!" she exclaimed. "Queen Bess a-lyin' back an' +lettin' th' others do th' runnin', Ike never touchin' her with whip nor +spur until th' last, an' then jest liftin' her in as if she had wings!" + +"Stop! Stop!" cried the Colonel. "Not another word, or I'll drop dead in +my tracks!" Then, cautiously, to Madge: "I say, little one, couldn't you +let me have a word alone with Miss 'Lethe?" + +The girl nodded wisely. "I understand," said she; and then, with a quick +glance at Miss Alathea, who was not attending, and an earnest and +imploring look at the poor Colonel: "Whatever you do don't you forget +that we are goin' to th' races!" She left the room. + +Forget! The Colonel was not likely to forget about those races! He was +in deep misery of mind. "Miss 'Lethe?" he said timidly. + +"Yes, Colonel," said the charming lady, turning toward him. + +"Miss 'Lethe, have you the remotest idea of the agony I'm suffering?" + +"Why, Colonel, what's the matter? Aren't you well?" Miss 'Lethe's keen +anxiety was instantaneous. + +"Yes--yes--I'm well--that is, I am now, but I shouldn't wonder if I'd be +dead before night. Miss 'Lethe, when we made our little arrangement, +yesterday, I didn't know that the sale of the mare, your twenty-five +thousand dollars, the assessment on Frank's stock, everything was going +to depend upon this race. I tell you, if I don't see it, I'm liable to +an attack of heart-disease." + +"Ah, Colonel," said she, sadly, "I see where your heart really is!" + +"With you, Miss 'Lethe, always with you," he urgently assured her; but +there was pleading in his eyes which really was pitiful. + +"Remember your solemn promise." + +"But one little race," he begged. "That wouldn't count, would it? And +then swear off forever." + +"No, Colonel; no," she firmly answered, "for if you yield, this time, +I'll know that in the race for your affections the horse is first, the +woman second." + +The Colonel sank dejectedly into a chair. "I can't permit you to think +that," said he. "I'll--keep my promise." + +She went to him, delighted. "Ah, I was sure you would," said she. "Now I +can go and finish my shopping in peace. It's all for your good, +Colonel--for your good." With a happy smile she left him there, alone. + +"For my good!" exclaimed the Colonel, ruefully. "That's what the teacher +used to say, but the hickory smarted, just the same. Of course Miss +'Lethe is first--but--but--the horse is a strong second!" + +To add to the man's agony, Madge, now, returned, dressed and ready for +the most exciting moments of her life. "I'm all ready, Colonel," she +said eagerly. "Think we'll have good seats? I do hope I'll be whar I kin +see!" + +He would not, yet, disappoint the child; he would not, yet,--he could +not--admit that he, himself, was to meet with such a bitter +disappointment. "You'll see, all right," he told her, "and so will I." +But, after a second's thought he added: "I will if I can hire a +balloon!" + +They heard Neb's excited voice out in the corridor, and, an instant +later, the old darkey hurried in. Immediately the Colonel knew, from his +appearance, that something had gone seriously wrong. + +"What is it, Neb; what is it?" he demanded. + +"Fo' de Lawd, sech news!" said Neb. "Sech news!" + +"Neb, Neb, what's the matter?" Madge asked, frightened by his manner. + +"Somebody," said the negro, "done gone smuggle in a bottle o' whiskey to +dat mis'able jockey, Ike, an' he am crazy drunk!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +"Drunk!" cried the Colonel, shocked inexpressibly. "And the race this +afternoon!" + +"Marse Frank said you was to come, suh, an' help sobuh him." + +Madge approached the Colonel anxiously. "Yes; sober him, if you have to +turn him inside out!" + +"'Fraid he's done on bofe sides, missy; drunk cl'ar t'rough," said Neb. + +The Colonel grasped his hat. "We'll try, we'll try," he said. "Oh, +whisky, whisky! What a pity anyone can get too much of so good a thing!" + +"I neber could, suh," Neb replied, "but dat 'ar jockey--" + +They hurried out together. + +Madge was in intense distress. She knew what this might mean. If Queen +Bess could not run--and she could not, certainly, without a jockey--the +Dyer Brothers would not buy her, probably; and if she were not sold in +time, then Layson would be quite unable to meet the assessment on his +stock in the coal-mining company. She was by no means certain what this +was, or what the reason for it, but she had heard talk of it and knew +that it was very serious. Almost beside herself with her anxiety, she +could do nothing save sit there and wait for news. The entrance, even of +Barbara Holton, who came in, now, was a relief to her overtaxed nerves. + +"Say," said she, admitting Barbara nearer to good-fellowship than she +had ever done before, "I reckon you have heered the news--Ike's +drunk--dead drunk!" + +Barbara regarded her excitement with a careful calm. She, herself, had +been excited by the news when it had reached her, but a moment since, +but she would not let this girl know that. Her role was to endeavor to +force the mountain girl back into what she thought her place, at any +cost. + +"Yes, I've heard," said she, "and it's too late to get another jockey, +so Queen Bess can't run." + +She had formed a plan, deep in her mind, and had sought the +mountain-girl with the skilful scheme. + +"Then Mr. Frank is goin' to be ruined!" Madge exclaimed, dejectedly. + +"Not unless you wish it," Barbara replied, looking straight into her +eyes. + +"Dellaw! Me wish that? Just you tell me what you mean!" + +The bluegrass girl stood looking at the mountain maiden with appraising +eye for a few seconds. Then she crossed the room and stood close by her +side, while she tapped upon the table nervously with her carefully +gloved fingers. + +"If this sale fails, as it seems it must," she said, slowly, "it rests +with you whether my father will advance the money to pay the assessment +on that stock of Mr. Layson's." + +"Your father give him the money?" Madge said in astonishment. "Well, I'd +never thought o' that! But what have I got to do about it?" + +The situation was a hard one, even for the self-possession of the +lowlands girl, who had inherited her father's coolness in emergency as +well as some other traits less desirable. Her color rose and she tried, +earnestly, to gather words which would express the thought she had in +mind without including a confession of the weakness of her own position. +This she could not, do, however. She walked over to the window, gazed +from it, for a moment, at the passing crowds, and then returned to +Madge, to tell her bluntly: "I want you to go away from here." + +"Me go away? What for?" + +It was impossible, Barbara now discovered, to make her meaning wholly +clear, without some measure of humiliation. The first thing that was, +obviously, necessary was a statement of facts as they were, and this +must include confession of her own sore weakness. She hesitated, trying +to avoid it, but when she quite decided that it could not be helped, +plunged on with a perfect frankness. What she wished was immediately to +gain her point. If she must eat a bit of humble pie in order to +accomplish this, why, she would eat it, much as she disliked the diet. + +"Can't you see that it is you who stand between Frank and me?" she +cried. "If it hadn't been for you, I should have been his promised wife! +If you will go away and never see him again, I can win him back." + +Madge was dumbfounded. The cold and utter selfishness of the girl's +proposal was astounding. She looked at Barbara with eyes in which +incredulous amazement gave way, slowly, to an expression of chill +wonder. "Say, you don't seem to squander many thoughts on other people! +S'posin' I happen to love him a little, myself!" + +Barbara laughed scornfully. Sprung from low stock, herself, but reared +in luxury, she had the most complete contempt for anyone whom +circumstances had denied advantages such as she had known. "You--_you_ +love him!" she exclaimed. + +The words had slipped from Madge's lips without forethought, and, +instantly, she very much regretted them; but, now that she had uttered +them she did not so much as think of trying to recall them or deny their +truth. "Yes, and I ain't ashamed of it," said she. "I _do_ love him--a +thousand times better nor you ever dreamed of." + +"What good will it do you?" asked her rival, coldly. "You don't suppose +he'll ever think of making you his wife! Why, look at the difference +between you and me!" + +"Yes," said Madge, sarcastically, "there _is_ a powerful sight of +differ! You'd be willin' to ruin' him to win him, while I'd be willin' +to gin up my happiness to save him!" + +Barbara, more in earnest than she ever had been in her life before, took +a quick step toward the mountain girl. "Then prove it by going away," +said she, "and I will see that my father advances Frank Layson the money +he needs." She looked at her eagerly. "Do you promise?" + +"No," said Madge, with firm decision. "No; I won't." + +"Then it is you who will ruin him." + +While they had been talking an idea had sprung to sudden flower in +Madge's mind. It was a daring, an unheard of plan that had occurred to +her. There were details of it which filled her with shrinking. She knew +that if she put it into practice, and it ever became generally known, +she would be the talk of Lexington and that not all that talk would be +complimentary. She knew that, after she had carried out the plan, even +the man for whom she thought of doing it might look at her with scorn. +But it was the only plan which her alert and anxious brain could find +which promised anything at all. And if it won, perhaps--perhaps--he +might not scorn her! At any rate it was a sacrifice, and sacrifice for +him was an attractive thought to her. + +"Me ruin him?" she said to Barbara. "Don't you be too sure! There is a +shorter and a better way nor yours, to save him, an' I'm goin' to try +it!" + +The bluegrass girl, astonished, would have questioned her, but Madge +waited for no questioning. Without another word she hurried from the +room, in a mad search for Colonel Doolittle. + + * * * * * + +From the country round about for miles the planters had come into +Lexington upon their blooded mounts, their wives, daughters, +sweethearts, riding in great carriages. Now and then a vehicle, coming +from some far-away plantation, was drawn by a gay four-in-hand, and the +drivers of such equipages, negroes always, showed a haughty scorn of +their black fellow-men who travelled humbly on the backs of mules, or +trudged the long and dusty way on foot. Gorgeous were the costumes of +the ladies whom the carriages conveyed; elegant the dress of the gay +gentlemen who rode beside the vehicles on prancing steeds, gallant +escorts of Kentucky's lovely womanhood, prepared, especially, to watch +the carriage-horses when the town was reached and guard against +disasters due to their encounter with such disturbing and unusual things +as crowds, brass-bands and other marvels of a great occasion. + +Everywhere upon the sidewalks people swarmed like ants, delighted with +the calm perfection of the day, the magnetism of the crowds, the blare +of martial music, the novelty of passing strangers, and, above all, by +the prospect of the great race which, for weeks, had been the theme of +conversation everywhere throughout the section. + +In the spacious corridors and big bar-rooms of the city's hostelries the +rich men of the section vied with flashily dressed strangers, in +magnitude of wagers, and the gambling fever spread from these important +centers to the very alleys of the negro quarters. Poor indeed was the +old darkey who could not find two-bits to wager on the race; small, +indeed, the piccaninny who was not wise enough in the sophisticated ways +of games of chance to lay a copper with a comrade or to join a pool by +means of which he and his fellows were enabled to participate in more +important methods of wooing fickle Fortune. + +Here and there and everywhere were the piccaninnies from Woodlawn, the +Layson place, crying the virtues of the mare they worshipped and her +owner whom they each and everyone adored, boasting of the wagers they +had made, strutting in the consciousness that ere the moment for the +great race came "Unc" Neb would gather them together to add zest to the +occasion with their brazen instruments and singing. The "Whangdoodles" +were the envy of every colored lad in town who was not of their high +elect, and created, about noon, a great diversion upon one of the main +streets, by gathering, when they were quite certain that their leader +could by no means get at them, and singing on a corner for more coppers +to be wagered on Queen Bess. The shower of coin which soon rewarded +their smooth, well-trained harmonies, burned holes in their pockets, +too, until it was invested in the only things which, on this day, the +lads thought worth the purchasing--tickets on the race in which the +wondrous mare would run. + +Through the gay crowd old Neb was wandering, disconsolate, burdened with +the melancholy news of the defection of the miserable jockey, looking, +everywhere, for Miss Alathea Layson, but without success. He stopped +upon a corner, weary of the search and of the woe which weighed him +down. + +"Marse Frank," he muttered, "say I war to tell Miss 'Lethe de bad news; +but he didn't tell me how to find a lady out shoppin'. Needle in a +haystack ain't nawthin'! Reckon 'bout de bes' dat I kin do is stand heah +on dis cohnuh an' cotch huh when she comes back to de hotel." + +He stood there for fully fifteen minutes, peering in an utter desolation +of woe, at every passing face, but finding nowhere that one which he +sought. Then, at a distance, he saw the Colonel coming. The expression +on the horseman's face amazed him and filled him with an instant hope +that something had turned up to rob the situation of the horror which +had darkened it, for him, ever since he had discovered that the jockey +had disgraced himself. + +"Dar come Marse Cunnel," he exclaimed, in his astonishment, "_a-lookin' +mighty happy_! Dat ain't right, now; dat ain't right, unduh de +succumstances." + +He hurried to the Colonel, who, instead of seeming sorrowful, +discouraged, wroth, beamed at him with a genial eye. + +"What's the matter, Neb?" he asked. "You look like a funeral!" + +"Dat's de way I feel, suh; wid no jockey fo' Queen Bess an' Marse Frank +good as ruined." + +"Neb," said the Colonel, coolly, "you don't mean to be a liar, but you +are one." + +"What?" cried the darkey in delight. "Oh Marse Cunnel, call me anyt'ing +ef tain't so about de mare!" + +"Of course it isn't," said the Colonel happily. "I have found a jockey, +Neb; a jockey." + +"Praise de Lawd!" cried the old negro. + +"One of the best," the Colonel went on, gaily. "Just come in from +the--from the east. I engaged him at once, so you get word to Frank. In +five minutes we'll be on our way out to the track." + +Neb's spirits had instantly revived. Six inches droop was gone from his +old shoulders. "It'll be de grandest race eber run in ol' Kentucky! +Lawsy, Cunnel, won't it tickle you to death to see Queen Bess romp in a +winnuh?" + +Instantly the Colonel's high elation faded. More than the droop which +had been in Neb's shoulders now oppressed the horseman's. His face +clouded. "There _he_ goes, too!" he cried. "Neb, another word like that +and I shall brain you! Do you hear me? I--I shan't be there!" + +"Not be dar!" Neb exclaimed. "Kain't swaller dat, suh. Ef you should +miss dat race, why, you'd drop daid." + +"I believe you, Neb--believe you. I say, Neb, look here. I have promised +on the honor of a Kentuckian, never to enter another race-track. I must +keep my word; but, for the Lord's sake, isn't there a knot-hole, that +you know of, somewhere in the fence, which would let me see the race +without going inside?" + +Neb knew that race-track as he knew the plot of hard-trodden ground +before the little cabin where he had been born back of the big house out +at Woodlawn. Many a race had he seen surreptitiously when he had not +funds to buy admission to the track. He grinned, remembering talk which +he had heard between the Colonel and Miss 'Lethe, and understanding, +now. He laughed. "Oh, I yi!" he cried. "Marse Cunnel, dar ain't +nobody'll git ahead of you! You bet dar is a knot-hole, not fur off frum +de gran'-stan', neither, an' a tree, too, you could climb, stan's mighty +handy." + +The Colonel groaned. "I climb a tree to peek above a race-track fence!" +said he. "No; never. They'd think I was trying to save my admission +fee! The knot-hole will have to do for me, Neb. You've saved me. Heaven +bless you! Have a cigar--they're good." + +"T'ankee, suh," said Neb, reaching for the weed the Colonel now held +toward him. "Lawsy, ain't dat jus' a whoppuh? Whah you-all git sech +mon'sous big cigahs as dat?" + +"I'm only smoking half as many, now, so I get 'em double size," the +Colonel answered, sighing but not wholly miserable. + +Neb did not see the humor of this detail. He was thinking of the race +and of Queen Bess. "Hooray fo' de Cunnel!" he exclaimed, irrelevantly, +to a little group of colored men who had been gathering. "Whatever he +says yo' kin gamble on. Lawsy, ain't I glad I's got my money on Queen +Bess? Golly, won't Marse Holton jes' feel cheap when he done heahs dis +news? Seen him down dar in de pool-room, not so long ago, a-puttin' up +his money plumb against Queen Bess. Goin' to lose it, suah, he will." He +went off, muttering, and shaking his old head. "Somehow I jes' feels it +in mah bones dat he ain't true to Marse Frank, yessuh. If I evah fin's +it out fo' suah, I'll jes' _paralyse_ him!" + +He had quite forgotten that he had come out to find Miss Alathea, and +was not looking for her when he actually stumbled into her. + +"Why, Neb, what are you doing?" she said, recoiling. + +"Pahdon, pahdon, please, Miss 'Lethe," said the negro. "I was thinkin' +of de sweet bimeby an' waitin' fo' to tell de news to you--fust dat Ike +got drunk an' Marse Frank war gwine hab to scratch de mare--" + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Then Frank--why, he'll lose everything!" + +"Hol' on, Miss 'Lethe; dat de fust half, only. Secon' half am dat Marse +Cunnel found a jockey an' Queen Bess am gwine ter run." + +"Bless his heart!" she cried. "I wonder if it's wrong for me to pray +that that jockey will win." She looked, almost embarrassed at the aged +negro for a moment, and then, mustering up courage, said: "Neb, look +here. I'm ashamed to acknowledge so much interest in a horse-race, but +it seems as if I can't wait to hear of the result." + +"Lawsy, I don't blame you, none; feel dat way mahse'f." + +"I must know the result the instant the race is decided." + +"Send yo' wuhd right off, Miss 'Lethe." + +"Oh, I can't wait for that. Neb, I never did such a thing before and +never will again, and, even now, I won't enter a race-track; but, Neb, +isn't there some place outside the fence where I could watch the race +without actually going in?" + +Neb doubled up in silent laughter. The old negro was enjoying life, +exceedingly, on this, the day, which, for a time, had seemed so full of +gloom. The white folks were quite at his mercy. "You bet dar is," said +he, "a knot-hole not fur f'm de gran'-stan', an' a tree what you could +climb, right handy." + +Miss Alathea was not favorable to the thought of climbing trees, and +said so. "No, no; the knot-hole will be far better for me." + +"But, Miss 'Lethe, why, de Cunnel--" + +She did not let him make his explanation. "Sh! Sh!" she hissed. "Not a +word of this to him, or anyone! Will you show me, when the time comes?" + +"Oh, I'll show you," Neb replied, and before he had a chance to add a +word she had hurried off into the crowd. + +"I war gwine to tell her dat de Cunnel'd be dar, too, but she wouldn't +wait to heah. Wal, I reckon she'll jes' fin' 'im when she git dar." + +Down the street his piccaninny band came straggling, looking for him. + +"Hol' on, chillun; hol' on," he cried, and joined them. "Now yo' lissen. +Yo' is not to make a squawk until the end of de Ashlan' Oaks. Yo's to +sabe yo' bref to honuh ouah Queen Bess. If she wins, yo' staht in +playin' 'Dixie' as yo' nevuh played afo'. If she loses yo's to play, +real slow an' mo'nful, 'Massa's in de Col', Col', Groun'.'" + +In the meantime the Colonel, in a quiet spot, had joined the jockey who +had been discovered to take the place of drunken Ike. The unknown rider +was wrapped closely in an ulster, from beneath which riding boots, +unusually small, peeped, now and then, as the feet within them moved +somewhat nervously about. + +"All right, are you?" he inquired. + +"I ain't afeared," the jockey answered, "but I'm powerful nervous. Never +had on clo'es like these before, an'--don't you look at me!" + +Strange talk, this was, for the jockey who was soon to ride Queen Bess +for the capture of the Ashland Oaks and the salvation of the fortune of +the house of Layson! + +"Don't look at you!" said the Colonel, in expostulation, and, in the +next sentence, revealed a secret which he was guarding carefully from +everyone. "See here, little girl, you've got to face thousands and not +wince, and you can't ride in that overcoat, either." + +But the jockey wrapped the coat still tighter. "Oh, sho! That can't make +no differ--just a little coat!" + +"I tell you it's impossible. It would give the game away at once. Come, +take it off. Practice up on me." + +The jockey shivered nervously. "Reckon I will hev to. Say, turn your +back till I am ready." + +The Colonel turned his back, somewhat impatiently. The time was getting +short. "All right, but hurry up." + +The jockey pulled the long coat partly off, then, in a panic, shrugged +it on again. "Oh, now, you're lookin'!" + +"Not a wink," declared the Colonel. + +"Wal, here goes!" This time the coat came wholly off and the jockey who +had been discovered to take the place of drunken Ike stood quite +revealed. The voice which warned the Colonel of this was a faint and +faltering one. "Now," it said timidly. + +The Colonel turned. "Hurrah!" + +The jockey held the coat up in a panic. + +"See here, now--none o' that!" the Colonel warned. "Give it to me." He +reached his hand out for the coat, and, reluctantly, the jockey let him +take it. + +There stood the trimmest and most graceful figure ever garbed in racing +blouse, knickers, boots and cap, with flushed face, dilating, frightened +eyes and hands not a little tremulous. The girl who had told Barbara +Holton that she would not hesitate to make a sacrifice to save the man +she loved was making one--a very great one--the sacrifice of what, her +whole life long, she had considered fitting woman's modesty. Queen Bess +must win and there was no one else to ride her. The mountain-girl shrank +from the thought of going, thus, before a multitude, as shyly as would +the most highly educated and most socially precise girl in the +grand-stand, near, which, now, was filling with the gallantry and +beauty of Kentucky; but she did not let her nervous tremors conquer her. +There was no other way to save the day for Layson, and, somehow, the day +must certainly be saved. + +The Colonel, now, spoke very seriously as she stood there, shrinking +from his gaze. There was not a smile upon his face. It was plain that he +regarded the whole matter with the utmost gravity. + +"Now, little one, you begin to realize what this means," said he. +"Or--no, you don't and I've got to be square with you if it spoils the +prettiest horse-race ever seen in old Kentucky. I tell you, my dear +child, we're mighty particular about our women, down here in the +bluegrass. We'd think it an eternal shame and a disgrace forever for one +of them to ride a public race in a costume like the one that you have +on, and it would mean not less than social ruin to the man that married +her. If anyone should find it out, what you are going to do might stand +between you and your happiness. I'm warning you because I know I ought +to. Think it over and then tell me if you're willing to face it--willing +to take all the risks." + +"I don't need to think it over," Madge said firmly. "I said as I'd gin +up my happiness to save him, an' I will. Colonel, I've got on my +uniform, I've enlisted for th' war, an' I am goin' to fight it through!" + +"A thoroughbred!" he cried. "A thoroughbred, and I always said it of +you. Come on, little one." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Brilliant as a garden of flowers was the grand-stand where the fairest +of old Kentucky's wondrous women were as numerous as were her gallant +men; full of handsome figures were the lawns, where old Kentucky's youth +and manhood strolled and smoked and gossipped of the day's great race to +come; like an ebon sea in storm was the great crowd of blacks which in +certain well-defined limits crowded to the rail about the track. The +blare of the band kept the air a-tremble almost constantly, the +confused, uneven murmur of a great crowd filled the pauses between +brazen outbursts. Everywhere was life and gayety, intense excitement, as +the moment for the starting of the famous Ashland Oaks approached. The +cries of the book-makers rose, strident, from the betting-ring; on the +tracks the jockeys, exercising or trying out their mounts, were, each +after his own kind, preparing for the struggle of their lives; +stable-boys, and the hundred other species of race-track hangers-on +which swarm at such times to the front, were everywhere in evidence; +touts with shifty eyes slipped, here and there, among the sightseers, +looking for some credulous one who might be willing to pay well for +doubtful information. Every minute amidst the throng the words "Queen +Bess" might be heard at any chosen point, as the crowd gossipped eagerly +about the horse which had been looked on as the favorite, but which, +many positively now declared, had been so injured in the fire that she +would run but poorly in the race which, it had been thought, would be +the most sensational effort of her life. + +Frank, nervous and excited, stood in the paddock, watch in hand, with +old Neb by his side. + +"Why doesn't that jockey come?" he asked, for the hundredth time, almost +beside himself with worry as the moments slipped away. + +"He'll come, Marse Frank," said Neb. "You kin gamble on de Cunnel." + +"If I only knew what kind of a jockey he is!" Then, as Horace Holton +came up, smiling greetings: "Holton, how's the betting?" + +"Can't you hear?" said Holton, as a vagrant breeze brought to their ears +bits of the vocal tumult from the betting-ring. + +"Ten to nine against Queen Bess," Frank heard a voice call loudly, +although the crowd's great murmur made the words come indistinctly to +his ears. "Even on Catalpa," was the next penetrating cry, and then: +"Two to one, Evangeline!" + +The young owner shuddered. Could it be possible that Neb was right and +that the Colonel's jockey would appear on time, or were the dire +predictions of defeat which, he knew, were being made everywhere around +him, true prophecies? Tales of all but fatal injuries to the handsome +mare had been freely circulated, and, despite denials in the newspapers, +were still alive, and these he knew to be quite false; but he knew of +the other dire disaster--the defection of his jockey--of which the crowd +was also well aware. He had not the slightest doubt that if Queen Bess +should run at all she would do all that her best friends expected of her +and more; but it seemed to him a possibility that he would find it +necessary, at the last minute, to withdraw her from the race entirely, +for sheer lack of a rider. + +Again the breeze brought from the betting-ring the loud shouts of the +book-makers. The message that they told was most depressing to the +worried owner. + +"Why, this morning she was the favorite," he said, "and now the odds are +all against her!" + +Holton nodded. "On the strength o' this jockey as nobody knows. Got any +money on, yourself, Layson?" + +"Not a cent. I've enough at stake, already." + +Holton smiled unpleasantly, intimating that Frank's lack of betting on +his horse was proof positive that the worst tales told were true. "That +settles it. The bookies are right. Th' mare's no chance with a new +jockey, an' you know it." + +"If I were betting," said Frank angrily, "I'd back her with every dollar +that I have on earth." + +Holton smiled at him unpleasantly. "I say she can't win and you know +it." He waited for some answer from the anxious owner, but received +none. Then, taking out his check-book: "See here--I'll bet you +five-thousand even against her!" + +Frank, annoyed but helpless, shook his head. "I haven't the money," he +admitted. + +"You ain't got the sand!" said Holton, aggravatingly. + +Frank turned from him angrily, and old Neb, who had listened, stepped +quickly up to him. "Marse Frank," he pleaded, "don' yo' let dat +white-trash bluff yo'!" The old darkey's voice was tremulous, his eyes +were moist with feeling for his humiliated master. A great resolve +thrilled through him. "See heah, honey, I's be'n sabin' all mah life. +I's got a pile o' money in de bank. Take it all, now, honey, an' bet it +on Queen Bess." + +Frank shook his head, but smiled at the old darkey, touched alike by his +devotion to himself and confidence in the mare they both loved. "No, no, +Neb; not your money," he replied. He stood in deep thought, for a +moment, tapping the ground nervously with worried foot. "But I'll back +the mare for all _I'm_ worth!" he finally declared. "If she loses, I'm a +ruined man, anyway." He turned, now, to Holton. "Holton," he said, +"I've got just three thousand dollars in the bank. I'll put it all on +Queen Bess against your five-thousand." + +It seemed, almost, as if Holton had been waiting for this offer, for his +smile broadened as he found that he had goaded Layson into making it. +"I'll take it," he said quickly, and then, turning to the crowd about +them, among which were some of the state's best citizens, he added: +"Gentlemen, you're witnesses. Three-thousand against five-thousand on +Queen Bess." + +They nodded, and not one of them but looked at Layson with +commiseration, as at a man foredoomed to bitter disappointment. + +Neb, however, grinned at Holton impishly. "Yes; you'll look mighty sick +when yo' hab to pay it, too." + +From the judge's stand rang out the silvery notes of a quavering +bugle-call, and Holton smiled unpleasantly. + +"The call to th' post," said he, "an' whar's your jockey?" + +"He'll be here on time," said Frank, voicing a confidence which it was +hard for him to feel. He turned, then, to the darkey. "Neb, bring out +Queen Bess." + +The excitement, all around them, was intensifying, every minute. +Jockeys, now, were mounting their horses, and riding off for the short +canter to the judges' stand. As each appeared in view of the great +crowd in and about the grand-stand a mighty shout arose. + +Holton's smile was broadening. "If that jockey doesn't show up mighty +quick," he sneered, "you're out of the race." + +Just as he spoke old Neb returned, with the superb mare behind him, +saddled, bridled, ready for the race, fretting at her bit, impatient of +the crowds and noise. + +"Who knows whether he's coming, at all?" said Holton, a bit dashed at +sight of the fine mare's superb condition, but still sneering. "Nobody's +seen him." + +Neb looked off toward the weighing-room. "Yo' 're wrong," he shouted, +capering with amazing spryness for one whose limbs were old and stiff, +"fo' heah he comes!" + +Every member of the party turned, in haste, to look in the direction +whence Neb pointed. + +They saw a slight, graceful figure, dressed in the brilliant colors of +the Layson stable, which, without so much as glancing at them, ran to +Queen Bess and took a place upon the far side of the mare, where, +stooping as if to look carefully to the saddle-girths, its face was +quickly hidden. But, even as the jockey stooped, one of his hands held +out to Frank, across the saddle, a little folded paper. + +Without paying much attention to the jockey, Layson took this note and +hastily unfolded it. "It's from the Colonel," he announced. "I knew +he'd never fail me." + +Then he read, aloud, so all might hear: + +"This will be handed to you by a jockey I have just engaged. He comes +from the east and is highly recommended. I know his endorser. Regretting +that the promise of a Kentuckian prevents me from being with you, I am +yours regretfully, on the outside, SANDUSKY DOOLITTLE." + +"It's all right!" Frank shouted, gleefully, and then, to the strange +jockey: "Quick, on the mare and off to the post!" + +Without a word, without a second's pause, Madge, for the unknown jockey +was, of course, the little mountain girl, jumped upon Queen Bess and +hastily rode off, to be greeted, with a mighty outburst of cheering and +applause as the favorite appeared before the waiting crowds in +unmistakably fine condition and mounted by a rider whose every movement +showed a perfect knowledge of the work and complete sympathy with the +beautiful animal he rode. + + * * * * * + +Doomed by his promise on the honor of a gentleman to Miss Alathea, to +witnessing the race from the outside, if he witnessed it at all, Colonel +Sandusky Doolittle, fully aware of the unusual interest of the moments, +some account of which has just been made, was sunk in melancholy after +he had sent Madge through the magic portals, with explicit instructions +as to exactly what to do when once she was safe inside. He was breathing +hard from the mere exertion of preventing his unruly feet from running +to the gate, of keeping his unruly hand from diving deep into his pocket +for the entrance fee. These preventions he accomplished, though, without +once really weakening, and was safe at a good distance from the tempting +gate when the crowd within began to shout as the horses were brought +out. + +"There, they're bringing out the horses!" he exclaimed, unhappily. He +set his jaws as might one who, with a great effort, abstains from food +when famishing. "I didn't go in!" he muttered. "I've kept my word, +though it has nearly finished me!" + +Anxiously, if hurriedly, he searched along the fence for the knot-hole +Neb had told him of. Twice, in his great eagerness, he passed it by, +but, on the third inspection he discovered it, and placed his eye to it. +In a moment he backed away, dejectedly. "I can't see worth a cent!" he +bitterly complained. "It's not hole enough for me!" Lost, in his +disappointment, even to shame for the wretched pun, he straightened up, +surveying his immediate surroundings. + +Close by was the tree which Neb had also spoken of. He examined it with +an appraising eye, then looked about to see what spectators were near. +No one was in sight save a pair of piccaninnies, down the fence a +hundred yards or so, with eyes glued to other knot-holes or to cracks. + +"To the deuce with dignity!" he cried. "I'll just inspect that tree." + +He was doing this with care, when, breathless and eager, a lady hurried +toward him. As the tree intervened between them he did not see her +coming, nor did she note his presence. It would have been quite plain to +anyone who had observed her that she was engaged upon a quest much like +that which he had pursued, for she carefully inspected each plank in the +high fence, as, slowly and cautiously lest she should pass unheeded that +which she was seeking eagerly, she made her way in his direction. + +"Everybody's at the races," she thought, comforting herself. "I'm +perfectly safe. No one in the world will see me.... But where _is_ that +blessed knot-hole?" + +Suddenly her eye chanced on it, and, an instant later, was applied to +it, the while the Colonel paused, with his back to her, still anxiously +inspecting the tree. + +"Ah!" said Miss Alathea, aloud, as she caught a glimpse of something +interesting inside the fence. + +Instantly the Colonel turned and looked down at her, startled. Then: "A +woman!" he exclaimed, beneath his breath. "A woman at my knot-hole!" + +Firmly determined to maintain his right he sternly approached her. + +"Madam!" he exclaimed, as incensed by her usurpation of the knot-hole +as he would have been, at ordinary times, by theft of watch or +pocket-book, and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. + +She shrank back from the knot-hole, startled and indignant. "Sir!" she +cried, and then, as he recognized her, she turned and saw who had +addressed her. + +"Colonel Sandusky Doolittle!" she exclaimed, amazed. + +"Miss Alathea Layson!" cried the Colonel, equally amazed, at first, but +winding up his gesture of surprise with a low and courtly bow. + +"Colonel, what are you doing here?" + +"Madame," he countered, "what are _you_ doing here?" + +Miss Alathea's dignity forsook her. "Colonel," she confessed, "I +couldn't wait to hear the result." + +"No more could I," he somewhat sheepishly admitted. + +"But I didn't enter the race-track," she explained in haste. + +"I was equally firm." + +"And Neb told me of this knot-hole." + +"The rascal--he told me of it, too." + +"Colonel," she said, smiling, "we must forgive each other. If you really +must look, there is the knot-hole." + +"No, Miss 'Lethe," he said gallantly, "_I_ resign the knot-hole to you. +I shall climb the tree." Without delay (for sounds from the barrier's +far side hinted to his practiced ear that matters of much moment were +progressing, there) he scrambled with much more difficulty than dignity +into the spreading crotch. + +"Oh, be careful Colonel!" Miss Alathea cried, alarmed. "Don't break your +neck!" But she added, as an afterthought: "But be sure to get where you +can see." + +"Ah, what a gallant sight!" he cried as he found himself in a position +whence he could command a view of the exciting scene within the barrier. +"There's Catalpa ... and Evangeline ... and ... yes, there is Queen +Bess!" + +A burst of cheering rose from the crowd within. + +Miss Alathea was on tip-toe with excitement. "What's that?" she begged. + +"A false start," he answered, scarcely even glancing down at her. +"They'll make it this time, though," he added, and she could see his +knuckles whiten with the strain as he gripped a rough limb of the tree +with vise-like fingers. + +A moment later and the shouting became a very tempest of sound. + +"They're off!" he cried, staring through his field glasses in an +excitement which promised, if he did not curb it, to send him tumbling +from his shaky foothold. "Oh, what a splendid start!" + +"Who's ahead?" inquired Miss Alathea, very much excited. "Colonel, who's +ahead?" + +"Catalpa sets the pace, the others lying well back." + +"Why doesn't Queen Bess come to the front?" Miss Alathea cried, as if he +were to blame for the disquieting news he had reported to her. "Oh," she +exclaimed, to the Colonel's great astonishment, "if I were only on that +mare!" + +"At the half," the Colonel shouted, beside himself with worry, +"Evangeline takes the lead ... Catalpa next ... the rest are bunched." + +Miss Alathea, at the moment, was trying to see satisfactorily, through +the very knot-hole which the Colonel had abandoned. She sprang from it +hastily, however, and to the foot of the tree which acted as his +pedestal, when he exclaimed: + +"Oh, great heavens! There's a fall ... a jam ... and Queen Bess is left +behind three lengths!" He leaned so far out that he heard the limb +beneath him crack, and, in hastening to a firmer footing, almost lost +his balance. This startled him, and, for an instant, took his eager gaze +away from the struggling horses on the track within, but he quickly +regained poise. "She hasn't the ghost of a show!" he cried, +disheartened. "Look! Look!" + +Miss Alathea hugged the tree and looked, not at the horses, for that was +quite impossible, but up at him with wide, imploring eyes. + +"She's at it again, though, now!" he cried. "It's beyond anything +mortal, but she's gaining ... gaining!" + +Miss Alathea's excitement now was every bit as great as his. She had +never seen a race in all her life, yet, now, she performed there at the +foot of the great tree, a series of evolution not unlike those of many a +"rooter" at the track within. She jumped up and down upon her toe's, +clenched her hands and cried: "Oh, keep it up! Keep it up!" + +"At the three-quarters she's only five lengths behind the leader and +still gaming!" cried the Colonel, in excited optimism. + +Miss Alathea could no longer endure the agony of waiting on the ground +for his reports. Instead she tried to scramble to his side, but, +failing, utterly, to accomplish this unaided, held her hands up to him, +crying: "Oh, pull, pull! I can't stand it! I've just got to see!" + +The Colonel turned upon his perch and looked down at her, smiling. +"Coming up, Miss 'Lethe?" he inquired. "All right, don't break your +neck, but get where you can see." Hastily he gave her such assistance as +his absorbed attention to the events within the fence permitted, and, +with a wild scramble, she found herself close by his side, holding half +to him, half to a curving branch. + +"Look! Look!" he cried, again. "In the stretch! Her head is at Catalpa's +crupper ... now at her saddle-bow ... but she can't gain another inch. +Still ... yes ... yes ... she lifts her! See!... See!... Great God! She +wins!" + +Within the fence wild pandemonium broke loose. The crowd went mad with +shouting. Hats, handkerchiefs, canes, umbrellas, flew into the air as if +blown upward by the mad explosion of the crowd's enthusiasm. The band +was playing "Dixie." + +Frank and Neb rushed forward to lift from the winner the victorious +jockey, who by such superb riding as that track had never seen before, +had snatched victory from defeat after the mare had been delayed in the +bad pocket which, from his distant point of survey, had alarmed the +Colonel. The jockey eluded them, however and, with face averted, hurried +with the splendid mare back to the paddock, and there disappeared, +disregarding the crowd's wild shouts of acclamation. + +Holton stood near Frank, white-faced and angry. Old Neb, as he ran +beside Queen Bess, looked back at him and grinned. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Miss Alathea, on the day after the great race, sat waiting for the +Colonel in the handsome old library of Woodlawn, worrying about her +unconventionalities of the preceding day. When she heard his voice, out +in the hall, telling Neb to carry certain bundles into the library and +knew, of course, that he would follow after them almost immediately, her +heart throbbed fiercely in her bosom. She shrank back into a window +recess, too embarrassed to face him without first pausing to gather up +her courage. + +"Put 'em there, Neb," said the Colonel, pointing to the table, and then, +after the packages had been arranged to suit him: "Here, take this, and +drink to the jockey that rode Queen Bess." + +"T'ankee, Marse Cunnel, t'ankee," Neb replied, pocketing the tip. "Oh, +warn't it gran'? An' yo' climbed de tree, arter all!" + +"Sh! Clear out, you rascal!" + +Neb did not go at once, but, with the boldness of an old and privileged +retainer, stood there, chuckling. "Climbed de tree!" he gurgled. "An' +so did Miss 'Lethe!" + +With this he slapped his knee, and, laughing boisterously, left the room +as the embarrassed lady of the house stepped out of her concealment. + +"Ah, Miss 'Lethe," said the Colonel, "good morning." + +"I expected you back from Lexington last night, Colonel." She looked at +him reproachfully. + +"Stayed over to celebrate, my dear," the Colonel answered. "Stayed to +celebrate the victory." With a beaming face he advanced upon the lady, +plainly planning an embrace. + +But she eluded him. "Wait a moment, Colonel. On what did you celebrate?" + +The Colonel laughed. "Oh, I didn't forget. I celebrated on ginger-ale +and soda-pop." + +Miss Alathea smiled with happy satisfaction. She eluded him no longer, +but, herself, went to him and bestowed the kiss. + +"I doubt if my stomach ever recovers from the insult," said the Colonel, +delighted by the kiss but remembering the mildness of the beverages +which had marked his jubilation. "Miss 'Lethe, a julep--a +mint-julep--before I perish." + +With a smile she crossed the room to where, upon the side-board (a +side-board is an adjunct of all well-regulated libraries in old +Kentucky), a snowy damask cloth concealed glorious somethings. With a +graceful sweep she took it from them and revealed three juleps in their +glory of green-crowns. "Look, Colonel!" + +"Three! Great heavens!" the Colonel cried, delighted. He took one and +disposed of it in haste. + +"I mixed them myself," Miss 'Lethe said. + +The Colonel drank another, but less rapidly. + +"Remember," she said, warningly, "three and no more!" + +"Yes, yes," he granted. "I must save the other one." It was difficult to +sip it, for Miss Alathea's juleps were like nectar to his thirsty +palate, but he restrained himself and drank of this last ambrosial glass +with great deliberation, trying to make it last as long as possible. + +"What are all those bundles, Colonel?" asked Miss Alathea, pointing to +the packages which old Neb had brought in. + +"They're for Madge. She bought them yesterday." He sighed. "Ah, will you +ever forget yesterday?" + +"Oh, don't speak of it!" + +"Can't help it." The Colonel waxed enthusiastic at the mere memory of +the great occasion. "Whoopee!" he cried. "What a race it was!" + +"To think," said Miss Alathea, "that I--_I_--should enter a race-track!" + +"To think that _I_--should stay out of one!" + +"It was all your fault, Colonel," said Miss Alathea. "In your excitement +after the race you grasped my hand and I was compelled to follow." + +"How strange!" exclaimed the Colonel, slowly, with a slight smile +tickling at the corners of his mouth. "At times I fancied you were in +the lead, I following." + +"Colonel," said the lady slowly, "perhaps I might as well confess. I've +made a discovery. The sin isn't so much in looking at the horses +run--it's in betting on them. That's where souls are lost." + +"And likewise money," said the Colonel, nodding, gravely. + +"So, Colonel, if you'll promise not to bet, I've no objection to your +attending the races in moderation." + +In delighted amazement the Colonel forgot that that last julep could be +brought to a quick end by hurried management and took a hasty and a +mammoth swallow. "What!" he cried. "Can I believe it? Miss 'Lethe, +you're an angel! It's the last drop in my cup of happiness!" + +Miss Alathea shyly smiled--smiled, indeed, a bit shame-facedly. "There's +one condition, Colonel--that you take me along--yes, to watch over you." + +"Take you with me?" said the Colonel. He paused in puzzled contemplation +of her for an instant. "Oh, I catch on. You'll go with the children to +see the animals!" He laughed. "You rather like it." He became +enthusiastic. "No more knot-holes or trees for us! At last--two souls +with but a single thought, two hearts that beat when Queen Bess won! +Here's to our future happiness!" + +He raised the glass and would have drunk from it, but, now, alas! the +glass was empty. It surprised and grieved him, but, when Miss Alathea +held her hand out, quietly, for the vessel which had held the final +julep but which now held it no longer, he yielded it up gracefully nor +asked her to refill it. + +As Miss Alathea placed the empty glass upon the side-board Madge entered +from the hallway. She ran up to the Colonel. "I heard you'd come," she +said, "an' couldn't wait. Say, air it all fixed about Queen Bess?" + +"Fixed?" cried the gallant horseman. "Well I should remark! Queen Bess +is sold and paid for and a draft for the assessment forwarded to the +Company. Inside of a year Frank will have the income of a prince." + +"All," said Miss Alathea, "owing to that mysterious jockey who +disappeared immediately after the race. Oh, I'd like to kiss that boy!" + +"If you did, I should not be jealous," said the Colonel with an air of +generosity. + +"Miss 'Lethe, kiss me. Won't I do as well?" Madge asked, going to her. + +Miss Alathea kissed her, but was still thinking of the unknown jockey, +who, in the nick of time, had come from nowhere, materialized from +nothing, to save the day for Frank by riding Queen Bess to victory. "I +feel as if I must know his name," she said. "Madge, help me persuade the +Colonel to tell us." She went to him and petted him. "Colonel, you will +not refuse me!" + +Madge looked at him apprehensively, warningly. "An' I reckon you won't +refuse me, Colonel." Then, going close to him, she whispered: "Remember, +mum's the word!" + +"Away, you tempters, away!" the Colonel cried, and waved them from him. +"It's a professional secret, and I've promised to keep it on the honor +of a Kentucky gentleman--just as I promised you, Miss 'Lethe." + +"As you promised me? That's enough, Colonel--not another word!" + +Madge nodded, smilingly. "That's right, Colonel. Mustn't break your +word." Just then she caught sight of the bundles which the Colonel had +had Neb bring in. "Oh, are them my bundles, Colonel?" + +"Every one of them." + +The girl hurried to the mysteriously fascinating packages and began +investigation of their contents. "Thank ye, thank ye!" she exclaimed, +while she was busy with the wrappings. "Awful good of you to bring 'em." +Then, to Miss Alathea in explanation: "Things I bought yesterday, Miss +'Lethe, all by myself. Jus' went wild. Reckon I'll let you an' th' +Colonel see 'em." She took a large, dressed doll out of its wrappings. +"Look at that!" + +"What a beauty!" cried the Colonel. + +"Can talk, too." Madge pressed the wondrous puppet's shirred silk chest. +"Ma-ma," it cried. "Ma-ma." + +"Never had nothin' but a rag-doll, myself," the girl went on, delighted +by their approval of this automatic wonder. "'Tain't for me. It's for a +little girl as lives up in th' mountings." + +From the doll she turned to an amazing jumping-jack, the next treasure +taken from the packages. She pulled the toy's animating strings and +watched its antics with delight. "Mos' as lively as a Kentucky Colonel +climbin' a tree," said she, and laughed roguishly at the horseman. "Oh, +I heard of it; I heard of it." + +The Colonel tried in vain to protest, Madge's laughter kept up merrily, +as she took an old-fashioned carpet-sack from quite the biggest of the +bundles and began to pack her purchases in it, until the Colonel and +Miss Alathea left the room, gaily protesting at her ridicule. + +Instantly all of the signs of high elation vanished from the girl's +face. She drooped. Left alone, it quickly became plain that her recent +animation had been forced, unreal. "Well I guess I'd better not open up +th' other bundles," she said listlessly. "I'll pack 'em as they be. It's +time I started too. I'm goin' back to the mountings." Softly she hummed +the air the darkies had been singing when she came into the room. + + "Weep no more, my lady, oh, weep no more to-day, + I will sing one song of my old Kentucky home, + Then my old Kentucky home, good-night!" + +There was infinite pathos in her half-unconscious rendition of the +plaintive, darkey melody. To the mountain girl the moment was full of +sadness. She had come down from her mountains to save the man she loved +from the assassin's bullet and had saved him, not from that alone, but +from a crushing blow to hope and fortune. Her work was done. All that +now was left to her was to go back to her little cabin, hiding the +secret of her love for him in her sore heart, enshrining, there, the +memory of every minute she had ever passed with him as holy memories to +comfort her in days to come. Melancholy thoughts pressed on her hard. + +Frank entered. + +He stopped short in the doorway, looking with amazement at her work of +packing for departure. + +"Why, Madge!" said he. "What does this mean? Packing up! Surely you're +not going away!" There was a thrill of real distress in his pleasant, +vibrant voice which comforted her. + +"Yes, I'm going back to th' mountings. I was ... goin' afore, but I +couldn't miss that hoss-race." + +"Madge," he cried impulsively, "you must not and you shall not go. I +cannot bear to think of you wasting your life in the lonely mountains. +Madge, your land will make you rich, and with your brightness you could +study and learn. Education will make you an ornament to any society." + +She shook her head. "As fur as I can see," said she, "society ain't what +it is cracked up to be. I don't seem to have no hankerin' after it. Oh, +o' course, I'd like to have all this softness an' pootiness around me, +always; I'd like to go out in th' world an' see th' wonders as I've +heard of; but I don't think that 'u'd satisfy me. I'd still be hankerin' +an' thirstin' arter somethin' that I couldn't have. There's been a +feelin' in my heart, ever sence I come here, that'll take th' air o' th' +mountings to cl'ar away. Like enough, up there among th' wild things +that love me, amongst th' rocks an' hills, I'll find th' rest an' peace +I ain't had since I come away." + +The youth looked at her with wide, worried eyes. He had not thought the +situation out in any very careful detail; but he had, at no time, +contemplated her immediate departure. Now that it seemed imminent it +brought his feelings to a focus, showed him, instantly, that he could +not bear to have this mountain maiden who had done so much for him thus +vanish from his life. A realization that he loved her deeply, tenderly, +unchangeably rushed over him. That she was a child of nature, uneducated +and unaccustomed to the world he knew became a matter of but small +importance to him as he stood there watching her, while, sadly but +deliberately, she kept on with her work of packing in the carpet-bag her +small possessions and the many gifts which she had purchased in the city +for the children of her "mountings." That the world which he had ever +thought his world might laugh at her and ridicule him if he married her +he knew, but, suddenly, this seemed of little consequence. The errors in +her education could be readily corrected and her heart and instincts +were more nearly right, already, than those of any lowland girl whom he +had ever known. + +"Madge," he cried, "I cannot give you up! I love you!" + +The girl's hands stopped their busy work among the bundles. Her cheeks +paled and her lips parted to a gasping little intake of breath. It had +not, once, occurred to her modest, self-sacrificing mind that, even as +the bluegrass gentleman had found her heart and taken it forever and +forever to be his own, no matter where she was or how great might the +distance be which separated them, so, also, had his heart really and +forever passed to her, the simple, unlettered and untrained little +maiden of the wilderness. It seemed impossible, incredible. + +"You love me!" + +"Yes, I love you as I never have, as I never can love any other woman. +Madge, dearest, I want you for my wife!" + +The great desire, the certainty that if he did not win her then all +other triumphs would be empty, meaningless, had come suddenly upon him, +but it had come with overwhelming force. His voice was vibrant with a +passion which surprised himself. + +"No, no; it can never be!" she said tremulously. Her heart was in a +turmoil, her hands trembled with excitement. Ah, it was hard for her to +put away from her the brilliant vista which had opened there before her +startled eyes! But she was sure that she must do it; that if she loved +this man she must forswear him for his own dear sake. What right had +she, a mountain-girl, to come down there to the bluegrass to shame him +in the face of friends and foes by her ignorance and awkwardness? Her +heart yearned toward him with a warmth and fervor which she had not +known as possible to human longings, but--no, no, for his sake she must +give him up, as, for his sake, she had made the long, desperate journey +from the mountains to save him from Joe Lorey's bullet, as, for his +sake, shrinking and dismayed, conscious that in doing it she might very +well be sacrificing his respect for her, she had donned the blouse and +breeches of a jockey, yesterday, to ride his mare to victory when none +other had been there to save the day for him. That had been a sacrifice +almost beyond the power of words to tell--a sacrifice of modesty; now +came an even greater one, but one which, none the less, must certainly +be made. "No, no," said she again, "it can never, never be!" + +"But I want you--just as you are! What do I care for the world, without +you, or for what it says, so long as you are mine?" + +A flood of bitterness rushed to her heart. Ah, why, why, had fate made +it so necessary that, to save him, she must do what, yesterday, she had +been forced to do! + +"You're thinkin' of my ignorance, an' such," she said, with sad eyes +bent upon the gifts which, now, although she looked at them, she did not +see and had forgotten. "But there's more nor that as stands between us, +Mr. Frank." + +"You mean you don't love me?" + +"No, no; oh, what air th' use o' denyin' it? I love you! It's that--it's +that that drives me from you, an' that breaks--my--heart!" + +He went close to her and tried to take her hands in his. "Madge, dear," +he said softly, "I want you to listen to me. I tell you I shall not let +any foolish pride or any fears for the future stand in the way of our +happiness. When I thought, a moment ago, that I might lose you forever, +I saw what my life would be without you; and, now that I know you love +me, nothing shall come between us. Madge, dear heart, I want you to put +your hand in mine." + +She drew away, but it was plain that she was sorely tempted. "Ah, if I +only dared!" said she. + +"Come, Madge, darling!" he said fervently, opening his arms to fold her +to his heart. + +"No, no," she said, "it wouldn't be right." The Colonel's words: "We'd +think it an eternal shame and a disgrace for one of our women to ride a +race in a costume such as you have on," rang in her mind and filled her +with despair. "The Colonel said--" she began, weakly. + +"Oh, damn the Colonel!" Frank cried angrily, wondering why any one +should meddle with his heart-affairs. + +And as he spoke the Colonel entered hurriedly, evidently bearing news of +import. + +Startled by the young man's earnest words, he stopped short in +astonishment. "Why--what's that, sir?" he exclaimed amazed, and then, +seeing clearly that he had broken in upon a fervent sentimental +situation and unwilling to believe that Frank could really have meant +him when he had been so emphatic, turned his thoughts, again, to the +news which had brought him in such haste. + +"I say," he said, excitedly, "I've been cross-examining that rascal, +Ike, and I've found out who smuggled the whiskey to him." + +"Who was it?" Madge and Frank cried almost in unison. + +"That double-distilled, three-ply scoundrel, Horace Holton," said the +Colonel, angrily. + +"Holton!" Frank exclaimed. "I wouldn't have believed it!" + +"I would," Madge commented. + +"I'll find him and settle with him for it!" Frank angrily exclaimed. + +"I'm afraid that's easier said than done," the Colonel answered, "but +I'm with you, and we'll do our best." + +Through the windows came the noise of baying hounds. It instantly +attracted their attention, as it ever will that of Kentuckians. "What's +that? A fox-hunt?" + +Frank had hurried to the window and was looking out. "No," he answered, +in incredulous amazement, "it's Holton and his gang. They're hunting Joe +Lorey with dogs!" + +Madge hurried to his side, distressed beyond the power of words to tell. +"Oh, oh!" she cried. "They're coming this way, and--and--who's that?" + +As she spoke Joe Lorey dashed up, breathless to the window. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +The moonshiner stood there, pathetic in his beaten strength before them. + +"They're huntin' me with dogs!" he said. "They're goin' to string me up +without justice or mercy!" + +Madge hurried to his side. "Joe, they shan't do it!" she exclaimed, and +took his hand. + +"It'll take more nor you to save me, little one," he said, and smiled +down at her pitifully. "There's no hope for me, now. That's why I've +come hyar, to say to you all, afore I die, that I am innocent o' firin' +th' stable." He threw back his shoulders and stood before them, +impressive and convincing. "Afore God, I am innocent!" + +Frank looked at him with eyes which, as they gazed, altered their +expression. He had thought the man quite possibly guilty of a vicious +act--a foul attempt to burn a helpless animal in order to obtain revenge +upon the man who owned her. But as he gazed he could not doubt that he +was speaking simple truth. "Joe," he said impulsively, "I believe you!" + +Joe turned to him with gratitude plain upon his face. "You believe +me--arter all that's passed?" He looked straight into the eyes of the +young man he had hated, with a searching, earnest gaze. "Then," he said, +after a second's pause, "I believe as what you said, that night, war +true. It war never you as ruined me." He held his hand out to the man +whom, not so long ago, he had wished, with all his heart, to kill. + +Frank grasped it with a hearty grip, just as the terrifying baying of +the hounds approached the house. + +"Frank, they're coming here!" the Colonel cried, excited. + +Joe turned away from Frank, looking here and there like a hunted animal. +"Oh, it's hard to die afore I've met Lem Lindsay!" he said hopelessly. +It was quite plain that he considered his fate sealed. + +Even as he spoke Holton and half-a-dozen others sprang to the broad +gallery which fronted the whole room. Holton was plainly the leader of +the party, for when he motioned all the others back, they obeyed his +signal without protest, while he, himself, peered eagerly in through a +wide, open window. + +Frank, angered beyond measure by this bold intrusion, would have sprung +toward him, to attack him, had not the Colonel waved him back. + +"Frank, my boy," said he, "keep cool, keep cool!" + +As he spoke, without apology, Holton stepped through the window into +the room, itself. + +"Layson," he said curtly, "I'm a committee o' one to ask if you'll turn +over that man, an' make no trouble." He jerked a thumb toward Joe. + +Layson was wrathful at the man's intrusion; he had been impressed by +what the fugitive had said. "No," he answered, hotly. "Joe Lorey's in my +house, under my protection, and, by the eternal, you shan't lay a hand +on him!" + +The Colonel smiled, delighted. "Kentucky blood!" he cried. "I'll back +you to a finish!" + +He ranged himself by Frank, and Madge, as belligerent as either of them, +hurried, also, to his side. + +"I'm with you, Colonel," she exclaimed, with the spirit of the +mountain-bred, "and we'll win ag'in, as we did once before!" + +Joe saw this with distress. Layson's generosity had softened him. He +knew, perfectly, by this time, that Madge was not for him, and her +spirit in joining his defenders--the very men whom he had thought his +enemies--touched him deeply. The realization came to him with a quick +rush that he had wronged the bluegrass folk whom he had hated with such +bitterness. He looked first at those who wished to take him prisoner and +make him suffer for a crime of which he was not guilty, and then at his +defenders, who had every reason to doubt him, but still, without a +question, had accepted his own plea of innocence. He had already made +these people trouble. Now was his opportunity to save them from an +awkward situation and, perhaps, a perilous one. There might be shooting +if he offered to resist or let these good friends attempt to defend him. +That would endanger them, and, worse, endanger Madge. "I'll go. I don't +want to make no trouble," he said hastily. + +Holton nodded with approval. He wished to take the man as quickly and as +simply as he could. Every complication which could be avoided would make +less probable discovery of the fact that he, himself, and not the +fugitive young mountaineer, was the real culprit. + +"That's sensible," he said, "for them men, out thar, are bound to hev +you, by fair means or foul." + +"Those men will listen to reason," Frank said with a determination which +disconcerted the ex-slave dealer. "They shall hear me!" He stepped +toward the open window. "Colonel, come with me." Without waiting for him +he stepped to the gallery outside. + +The Colonel started to go also, but, seeing that Holton, too, was about +to hurry out, paused long enough to go up to him threateningly. "Don't +you dare to follow!" he warned him. "We'll play this hand alone." The +man fell back and the Colonel kept his eyes on him as, slowly, he joined +Frank on the gallery. + +Holton's discomfiture lasted but a moment. As soon as the Colonel had +passed out of sight he got his wits back and looked threateningly at +Madge and the mountaineer. "We'll see about that," he declared +viciously, and, making a movement of his hand which indicated that he +must be armed, although he had not shown a weapon, so far, moved toward +another window which also opened on the gallery. + +But he had not counted on old Neb. The darkey found in this emergency +the opportunity for which he had been waiting many years. Lapse of time +had never dulled his keen resentment of the blow the man had struck him; +now it was with keen delight that he stepped out of the shadow just +outside the window, with a carelessly held pistol in his hand, which +somehow appeared to cover Holton. "De Cunnel said you'd please stay +heah, suh," he said placidly; but the pistol gave his words an emphasis +which could not be mistaken. + +Holton paled with rage, but did not take another forward step. + +As he fell back Joe Lorey spoke. The murmur of the mob outside, incited, +he well knew, to hunger for his life, and the loud voices of the Colonel +and of Frank, raised in expostulation, made an accompaniment for what he +had to say to Holton, and that he still was in grave danger made his +attitude more menacing, his words more impressive. + +"Yes," he said to Holton, while Madge gazed, spellbound, "you hold on. +I've a word to say to you." + +"Say it, then, and say it quick," said Holton, trying to make his tone +contemptuous. + +"I'll say it quick, and I'll say it plain. You know as it war never me +as fired that stable. You war there an' saw me leave afore th' fire. +It's yer place to cl'ar me. Why air you a-houndin' me to my death?" + +Holton was uncomfortable. "Them men out thar believe ye guilty. It ain't +my work," he said. + +The mountaineer was not deceived. He knew this man to be his enemy, +although he knew no reason for his hatred. "It's you as air settin' 'em +on," he said, "as you set me on Frank Layson when you told me that lie +ag'in him in th' mountings." + +Madge had listened, speechless, during this dramatic scene, but stood +watching it, alert and ready to lend aid to her friend, if opportunity +arose. Now, at Joe's words, she started forward. + +"Was it him as told you?" she inquired, amazed. + +Joe did not answer her, but continued to face Holton and address him. "I +believed you," he went on, "because I thought you couldn't a-knowed o' +th' still except through him; but since he never told you, it air proof +to me that you have been in these here mountings, sometime, afore." +Strange suspicions were glittering from his hostile eyes as he faced the +now thoroughly alarmed man who, a moment since, had been the blustering +bully. + +"I tell you I were never thar!" said Holton hurriedly. + +"Then how did you know of th' cave an' the oak?" said Joe, accusingly. +The glitter of suspicion in his eyes was growing brighter every second. +"It's plain to me as how you've passed many a day thar in them +mountings. Thar's somethin' bound up in yer past as has egged you on +ag'in me. I wants to know what that thing is--I wants to know just who +an' what ye air!" + +"It's easy enough to show who Horace Holton is," the man said, +blustering, but he was very ill at ease. "What do I care what you want?" +And then he made a slip. "You can't bring no proof--" he began, but +caught himself. + +Madge had been watching him with new intentness. The excitement of the +moment may have sharpened the girl's wits, or, possibly, its hint of +peril may have brought to Holton's face some detail of expression, +which, during recent weeks, had not before appeared upon it. + +"But I kin," she said, slowly. "I war right in what I thought when I +first saw you in th' mountings. I _had_ seen your face afore!" + +"Don't you dare say that!" cried Holton, stepping toward her angrily. +The man who had been the accuser, was, strangely, now, quite plainly, +half at bay. + +"That look ag'in!" the girl said, studying his face. "That look war +printed on my baby brain!" + +"Silence, I say!" cried Holton, now badly frightened. He had not +counted on this recognition. + +"Never!" the girl said boldly. She was certain, now, as she looked at +him, that the suspicion which had flashed into her mind was accurate. +Her cheeks paled and she stepped toward him with set face, clenched +hands. Every fibre in her thrilled with horror of him, every drop of +blood in her young body cried for vengeance on him. "I'll rouse th' +world ag'in ye!" she exclaimed, so tensely that even Lorey looked at her +with alarmed amazement. "I'll rouse th' world ag'in ye, for I'm standin' +face to face with my own father's murderer--Lem Lindsay!" + +"Lem Lindsay!" said Joe, wonderingly, and then, with the expression on +his face of a wild-beast about to spring upon his prey: "At last!" + +Holton shrank away from them in terror which he could not hide. His +bravado was all gone. He was, no longer, the accuser, but, with the +mention of that name, had changed places with Joe Lorey and become the +fugitive, shrinking, alarmed. + +"'Sh! Don't speak that name!" he pleaded. He made no effort at denial. +There was that in the girl's eyes which told him that her recognition +had been absolute. "I've been hidin' it for years." He spoke pleadingly. +"Look hyar. I've got everythin' that heart can wish. Joe Lorey, I'll +save you from them men. I'll sw'ar I saw you leave the stable afore th' +fire begun." He moved his eyes from one of the accusing faces to the +other, terrified. "I'll make ye both rich if you'll never speak that +name ag'in!" + +[Illustration: "I'M STANDIN' FACE TO FACE WITH MY OWN FATHER'S +MURDERER--LEM LINDSAY"] + +"Your weight in gold would make no differ!" Joe cried menacingly. "Lem +Lindsay, it air Heaven's work that's given you into my hands!" He went +toward him slowly, menacingly, with his strong fingers working with +desire to clutch his shrinking throat. "It air Heaven's will as you +should meet your fall through Ben Lorey's son!" + +Holton, desperate, gathered courage for a last effort to escape from the +net which he had woven to his own undoing. With a quick movement he drew +from his belt, where his long coat had concealed its presence, hitherto, +a gleaming knife, and, with it upraised, rushed at Joe viciously. "I'm a +free man, yet," he cried, "an' I'm a-goin' to stay free!" + +Joe, alert, calm-eyed, cool-witted, waited for him with a hand upraised +to catch his wrist, with muscles braced to meet the fierce attack. + +Madge rushed to the window, calling loudly: "Colonel! Mr. Frank!" + +But Holton and Joe Lorey were, by that time, locked in a desperate grip +and struggling with the energy of men battling for their lives. Twisting +and straining, each striving with the last ounce of energy within him to +get the better of the other, they plunged across the room and out into +the hall. + +Just as Frank and the Colonel hurried in, a shot was heard and then a +heavy fall. An instant later Joe came to the door. + +"Heaven's will are done!" he said, quite simply. + +Layson rushed toward him, but paused, aghast, looking off through the +open door. "Joe, you've killed him!" he exclaimed. + +"An' I had a right!" said Joe, now strangely calm. "When he killed my +father it were ordained that he should fall by my hands. I ain't afeared +to stand my trial." + +"The men outside have promised," Layson said, dismayed by this new and +terrible complication, "that you shall have a fair trial on the other +charge. They've gone, now, for the sheriff. But this charge," he looked +toward the door which led into the hall, "will be more serious!" + +"I can clear him of 'em both," said Madge. "I'll sw'ar th' killin' was +in self-defense; I'll sw'ar that Holton owned, before me, that he saw +Joe leave th' stable afore th' fire." + +"He saw him!" exclaimed Frank, astonished. "What was Holton doing +there?" + +"Oh, don't you see?" said Madge. "He war your enemy--th' man as told Joe +th' lie ag'in you in th' mountings, th' man as tried to burn Queen +Bess." + +The Colonel had entered, quickly, from the gallery, and stood listening, +amazed and fascinated. Now, after a moment's pause to think the matter +out, he advanced to Joe with outstretched hand. For the man who had +been guilty of that vile mischief he felt no regret, for the man who +had, in a fair fight and with good reason, shot him down, he felt full +sympathy. "Tried to burn Queen Bess!" he cried. "Joe, the jury'll clear +you without leaving their seats! Come, my boy--the sheriff's here, and +you will have to go with him; but don't you worry. I'll see you +through." + +Joe stood, thinking, with bowed head and frowning brow. Suddenly he +looked up and cast his eyes about upon the company. "Before I goes, I +wants to say a word to Madge," said he, and turned to her with an +impressive earnestness. "Little one, don't you never fret about me, no +more." He took her hand and she gave it to him gladly. "I see, now, as +you was never made for me." He took a step toward Frank and led her to +him. "I see whar your heart is, an' I puts your hand in his." With bowed +head he relinquished the brown hand of the mountain-girl whom he had +loved since childhood, to the outstretched hand of the young +"foreigner," whom he no longer looked at with the hatred which had so +long thrilled his heart. "And--now I says good-bye. God bless you both!" + +He went out, slowly, with the Colonel. + +"Madge, he's right," said Frank, "this little hand is mine." + +He would have clasped her in his arms, but, finally, she held him off. + +"No, no," said she, "not till you know my secret. It was I who rode +Queen Bess," + +"You rode Queen Bess!" + +The Colonel was re-entering the room. "But the world will never know +it," he said gallantly, "on the honor of a Kentuckian." + +Frank's smile was radiant. "If it did, I should say: 'Here, Madge, in my +arms, is your shelter from the world.'" He drew her to him gently. +"Madge, my little wife!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN OLD KENTUCKY*** + + +******* This file should be named 13933.txt or 13933.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/9/3/13933 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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