The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, November 27, 1915, Image 2
TO W\ll-W
fi?V/LLC ?,?
CHAPTER I.
Tho leaves of poplar and oak hung
?till limp, no ghost of breeze
found its way down there to stir them
Into movement or whisper. Banks of
rhododendron, breaking Into a foam of
bloom, gave the teeming cf groen and
white capped waves arrested and so?
lidified by some sudden paralysis of
nature. Sound Itself sppearod dead,
save for hashed minors that only ac?
centuated the stillness of the Cumber?
land forest. \
Now, aa evening sent her warning
with gathering shadows that began to
lurk in tho valleys, two mounted fig
area made no sound either, save when
a hoof splashed on a slippery surface
or saddle-leather creaked under the
patient scrambling of their animals.
In front rode a battered mountain?
eer astride a rusty, brown mule.
The second figure came some yards
bah tad, carefully following In tho
other's wske on a mule which limped.
This second mule bore a woman, rid
tar astride. She was a young weman,
and II just uow her slender shoulders
? drooped a little, still even In
tb r droop they hinted at a gallant
r "o of carriage.
1 he girl was very slender snd,
t- igh convoyed by the drab mission?
ary. "Good Anse" Talbott, ridlr.g
astride a lame mount and sccoutered
wit i saddlebags and blanket re 11, her
clot ass were not of mountain calico,
but of good fabric, skillfully tailored,
and she carried her head erect.
dubitably this was a "furriner;"
a woman from the other wcrld of
"down below." But who was she, and
why had she come? As to that, word
had pone ahead of her snd bcon duly
reported to the one man who knew
things hereabout; who made it a point
to know things, and whose name stood
aa a challenge to Innovation in the
mountains.
When at morrtng she had started i
out from the shack town at the er.d
of the rails, 'Bad Anse" Havey's In- j
formers had ridden not far behind h?r I
Later they had pushed iliead and re?
layed their message to their chief.
Saw hi.d often heard iLe name til
Bad Anse tfavey. The yellow press of
tae state, and oven of the uatim, waa,
fond of using It. Whenever to the law-1
leea mountains came a fresh upblazing
of feudal hatred and blood was let, it
waa customary to say that the affair
bore the earmarks of Bad Anso's In?
citement Certain It wss that in his
own territory this msn was overlord
snd dictator.
Like one of the untamable eagles
that circled the windy crests of his!
mountains, he had watched with eyes
that could gaze unblinking into the
sun all men who cane and went
through the highlands where his aerie
perched. Those whom he hated, un?
less they, too. were of the eagle breed,
tierce snd resourceful and strong of
talon, could not remain there.
This slender young woman, astride
a amis, was coming ss the avowed
outrider of s new or?er. She meant
to make war on the whole fabric of
Illiteracy and squalid Ignorance which
lay intrenched here. Consequently her
arrival would interest Bad Anse Ha
vsy.
Once, when they hsd stopped by a
wayside mill to let their mules pant at
the water trough, she had caught a
scrap A conversation that was not
meant for her ears; a scrap laughingly I
tossed from bearded Up to bearded
Hp among the hlckory-shirted loltor
srs at the mill door.
"Reckon thet thar's tho fotched-ln
woman what alms tor start a school
over on the head of Tribulation,"
drawled one native. "I heard tell cf
her t'other day."
With a somewhat derisive laugh an
othor had contributed.
"Mebby she hain't talked thot nro
Jeck over with Bsd Anse yit. Hit
mought be a right good Idee fer thet
gal tor go on buck down below, waar
ehe blongs at."
The girl was thlnklrg of all this
acw as she rode In the wake of her
silent escort.
In a moment of almost cringing de?
spair she wished indeed that NM were
"back thsr down bei >w whar sho
blonged at."
Then, almost fiercely, drawing bark
her aching shoulders, sho cast her
ayes about on the darkening MM I
and raised her voice In anxious In?
quiry: "How much farther do wo have
to g. r
The man rldlrg ahead ?d not tvn
his fsce. but flur.g his answer St B>
thotlcslly backward over his shoulder:
"We k t r > keep rU .it on till we sjsjsjssj
ter a i<*eilln'-h use. I'll etnhV fer
old msn Ficteh McNssh's ealln a
leeth? M <r rise of a mile fruu hyar.
I low mebby he nuu&ht shelter us
tin r
"And If h? daaatVtt"
mM he doess/t wo ve got ter rl>
a** n ipsJI further."
Tke sclrl cl .sc I her eyes fo? a fse>
ane'.t sud pre ? ? 1 her lip let ween ter
te t.
At laWl * sc Men tin In the r*Mid
k brrur.'*' '.?* vb m a vre* bed aatek >t
L hmr ? rlay, rin ? : bj i dilapidated pa'
mjp4 Ic.n-e, v...ii.i wtlfjfc Kiooa*ud a
squalid and unlightcd cabin of logs.
At sight of its desolation the girl's
heart sank. A square hovel, window
less and obviously of one room, held
up a wretched lean-to that sagged
drunkenly against its end. The open
door was merely a patch oi greater
darkness in the gray picture. Behind
It loomed the mountain like a crouch?
ing ColCSSUS.
At first she thought it an abandoned
shack, but as they drew near the stile
a dark objoct lazily rose, resolving it?
self into a small boy of perhaps
eleven. He had been sitting hunched
up there at gazo with his hands
clasped around his thin knees.
As he came to his feet he revealed
a thin stature swallowed up in a hick?
ory shirt and an overample pair of
butternut trousers that had evidently
come down in honorable heritage from
elder brethren. His small face wore
a sharp, prematurely old expression
as he stood staring up at the new arri?
vals and hitching at the single "gal
lus" which supported the family
breeches.
"Airy one o' ye folks got a chaw o'
terbaccy?" he demarded tersely, then
added In plaintive tfternote: "I hain't
had a chaw terday."
"Scnny," announced the colorless
mountainoer with equal succlnctnesf,
"we wont ter be took in. We're be
nlghted."
"Ye mought ax Fletch," was the
stolid reply, "only he hain't hyar. Hes
airy one o' ye folks got a chaw o'
terbaccy."
"I den't chaw, ner drink, ner smoke,"
answered the horseman quietly, In the
manner of one who teaches vy pre?
cept. "I'm a preacher of ther Gawspel.
Air ye Fletch's boy?"
/'Huh-huh. Ham't thet woman got
no terbaccy nuther?"
Evidently, whatever otb r charac?
teristics went Into this youth's na?
ture, he was admirably gifted with te?
nacity and singleness of purpose.
Over Her Stood the Woman Who Had
Been Acis.es the Stile.
Juanita Holland smiled as she shook
her head and replied: "I'm a woman,
and I don't use tobacco."
"The hell ye don't!" Tho boy
paused, then added scornfully. "My
mammy chaws and smokes, too?but
she den't straddle no hess."
After that administration cf rebuke
ho deigned i ? ce more to recognize
tho missionary's insistent queries,
though he did so with a laconic impa?
tience.
"I tell ye Fletch hain't hyar." Tho
bey started disgustedly away, but
;d in passing to jerk his head
toward the house and added: "Ye
mought ax thet woman ef ye'vo a mind
ter.'
Tin travelers raised their eyes and
Raw a second figure standing with
ha" Is en hips staring at them from
tho distance. It was tho slovenly fig?
ure cf a wo:r.an, clad In a colorless
and shapele.-.s skirt and an equally
shaneless Jacket, which hung unbelted
ab tit her thick waist. As she camo
slcwly forward the girl began tc tako
In other details. The woman was
I arefoatad and walked with a Bharn
>llni: galt which mado .Tuanit'.i think
of bears pachig their barred inclos
?rej In a z?o. Her face was hard and
unsmiling, and the wrinkles about her
< were those of anxious and lean
years, hut the eyes then.selves were
n.t urklnd. Htf lips were tight
ejan&ped CD the stom of ? clay pipe.
" El ml '. ma'am." began tho moun?
taineer. "I'm Good Ans? Talbott. I
r. ek : mobby yo've beerd of me. This
' v la Miss Holland from down be
i w. I lowed Pleten mought let us
tarry hyar till sunup."
"I reckon ho nought ef he war hyar
?though we don't toiler taking in
ftraa?*ra?H was tho dubious reply,
? bal ae ain't hyar."
"Where air he ut?"
"D ri't know. Didn't ye see him
uowa the loud AS yo rid ulopg?"
??Wall, now?" drawled the mission?
ary, "I hain't skeercely as well ac?
quainted hyarabouts as further up
Tribulation. What manner o' lookin'
man air he?"
"Ho don't look like nothin' much,"
replied his wife morosely. "He's jest
an ornery-lookin* old man."
"Whither did ho sot out ter go when
he left hyar?" I
Tho woman shook her head, then
a grim flash of latent wrath broke in
her eyes.
"I'll Jest let ye hov the truth,
stranger. Some trlflin' fellers done
ea'ntered past hyar with a jug oX
licker, an' thet fool Fletch hes Jest
done follered 'cm off. Thet's all thar
Is to hit, an' he hain't got no license
tor ack thetaway nuther. I reckon
I by now he's a-layin' drunk somo
whars."
For a moment there was silence,!
through which drifted tho distant
tinkle of cowbells down the creek.
Beyond the crests lingered only a
lemon afterglow as relict of the dead
day. The brown, colorless man astride
! his mule sat stupidly looking down at
tho brown, colorless woman across the
stile. The waiting fcirl heard the
preacher inquiring which way tho
I master of tho house had gone and
sumising that "mebby he'd better set
out in search of him;" the words
seemed to come from a great dis?
tance, and her head swam giddily.
Then, overcome with disgust and
weariness, Juanita Holland saw the
afterglow turn slowly to pale gray
and then tc black, shot through with
orange spots. Then she grew sud?
denly indifferent to the situation,
' swayed in her saddle, and slipped
J limply to the ground.
Tho young woman who had come to
! conquer the mountains and carry a
torch of enlightenment to their illit?
eracy had fainted from discourage?
ment and weariness at the end of the
first day's march.
?The weariness which caused the
fainting spell must have lengthened
its duration, for when Juanita's lashes
flickered upward again and her brain
came gropingly back to consciousness
she wa3 no longer by the stile.
She was lying in the smothering
softness of a feather bed- On her pal?
ate and tongue lingered an unfamiliar,
sweetish taste, while through her
veins she felt the coursing of a warm
glow.
Over her stood the woman who had
been across tho stile when she fainted,
her attitude anxiously watchful. In
one band she held a stone jug, and in
the other a gourd dipper. So that
accounted for the taste and the glow,
and as Juanita took in the circum?
stance she heard the high, nasal voice,
p'tche.l none tho less In a tone o!
kindly reinsurance.
'*YcTi be bprv as a squirrel *n a lenle
ipell, heney, Dont fret yoreaelf noc i
Y<j war iofit plumb tuckered out. an'
ye swooned. I've been a rubbin' your
hands an* a-pourin' a little white
licker down yore throat. Don't worrit
yoreself none. We're pore folks an'
we hain't got much, but I reckon we
kin make out ter enjoy ye somehow."
The four walls of the cabin might
have been the rocky confines of a
mountain cavern, so formlessly did
they merge Into the impalpable and
sooty murk that hung between them,
obliterating all remoter outline. Only
things in a narrow circle grew visible,
and at the center of this lighted area
was the slender figure of a girl hold
I lng up a lard taper, Its radius of light
yellow and flickering.
As the mountain girl felt the eyes
of the strange and, to her, wonderful
woman from the great, unknown
world on her, her own dark lashes
fell timidly and the hand that held
the taper trembled, while into her
cheeks crent a carmine self-conscious?
ness. Juanita, fcr her part, sense! in
I her veins a new and subtler gl?w than
that which tho moonshine whisky had
quickened. The men and women of
the hills had made her heartsick with
their stolid and animallike coarseness.
I Now she saw a slender figure in which
I the lines were yet transitory between
tho stralghtness of the child and tho
I budding curves of womanhood.
It was to such children of the hills
as this that Juanlta Holland was to
bring the new teachings. But even as
she smiled the child?lor she seemed
to be only fifteen or sixteen?surren?
dered to her shyness and, thrusting
tho taper into her mother's hand,
shrank out of sight in some shad?
owed corner of the place.
Then Juanita's eyes occupied them?
selves with what fragmentary details
the faint light revealed. The barrel
of a rifle caught the weak flare and
glittered. Tho uncarpeted fbor of
rudo puncheon slabs lay a thing of
gaping cracks, and overhead there was
a vaguo feeling of low rafters, from
which hung strings of ancient and
shriveled peppers and a few crinkled
"hands" of "natural loaf."
"Dawn," commanded the woman,
"take yore fcot in your hand an' light
out ter ther barn an' seo ef ye kin
find Lome aigs."
An Juanita watched tho door sho
caught a glimpse of a slight figuro
that Vanished With tho same quick
noiselossness with which a beavor
slips into tho water.
"I reckon yo kin Jest lay thar a
spoil," added tho woman, "whilst I
, goes out an' sees what victual } 1 kin
Bkoer up."
Left alone, tho girl from Philadel?
phia ran over the events of the (lay -
events which seemed to smother her
I under a weight of squalor and fore?
boding.
At length from tho road came loud
shouts of drunken laughter, broken
by the evident remor trances of a
DOinpanlon who sought to enjoin quiot,
und uy those tokens the "fi in"
woman knew that tho lord of tho
squalid manor was returning, and that,
he was coming under convoy. Sh<
shrank from a meeting with Fletcb
McNash; but if she went out by the
only door she knew she would have
to confront him, so she lay still.
Fletch was deposited in one of the
split-bottom chairs by the doorstep.
"I Jest went over thar ter borry a
hoe," he proclaimed, "an' I met up
with some fellers and thar was alb
manner of freo licker. They had white
licker an* bottled-in-bond licker, an:
none of hit didn't cost nothin'. Them
fellers jest wouldn't hardly suffer me
ter come away."
"An' whilst ye war a-soakin' up thet
thar free licker them pertater sets was
a-dryin' up waitin* ter he sot out," I
came the stern wifely reminder.
Between the strident voices came
every now and then the softly modu?
lated tones of the stranger whose
words Juanita lost. Yet, somehow,
whenever she heard them she felt
soothed, and after each of these ut.
terances the woman outside also
spoke in softer tones.
Whoever tho stranger was, he car?
ried in his voice a reassuring quality,
00 that without having seen him tho
girl felt that in his presence there was
an element of strength and safeguard?
ing.
At last from one of the beds sho
heard a scuffling sound, and a moment
later a childish form opened a dcor at
tho back of the cabin and slipped out
into the darkness.
That revealed an avenue of escape.
Juanita had not known that these win
dowless cabins are usually supplied
with two doors, and that the ono into
which the wind does not drive the
weather stands open for light on win?
try days. Now she, too, rose noise?
lessly and went out of the close and
musty room. It was quite dark out
there and she could feel, rather than
see, tho densely foliagcd side of the
mountain that loomed upward at the
back.
In her brooding she lost account of
time. At last she heard a voice sing
out from the stile:
j "I'm Jim White, an' I'm a-comin'
In."
A thick welcome from Fletch Mc?
Nash followed, and then again silence
settled.
After a while, as she sat there on
the rock, with her chin disconsolately
in her hand snd her elbows on her
knees, Juanita became conscious of
footsteps and knew that someone was
coming toward her. Then she caught
the calm voice which had already im?
pressed her?the voice of the stranger
who had brought home the half-help?
less householder.
"T reckon we're out of earshot now,
1 ackon wa kin be*r speech here; but
heed your voice nn' talk low,"
In the face of such >i prefaee the girl
b ifa ik back In fresh panic, She had
uo ?;?u tu overhear private conversa?
tions.
1 She huddled back against the rock
and cast an anxious glance about her
for a way to escape. Pehind lay the
mountain wall with its lungleliko
growth, where her feet would sound
an alarm of rustling branches and dis
; turbed deadwood. But the men were
strolling near her, and to try to reach
tho house would require crossing their
path.
j Then the second shadow spoke, and
its voice carried beside the nasal
shrillness so common to the hills tho
tenseness of suppressed excitement.
"Thar's liable ter be hell ternight."
The girl thought that the quiet
stranger laughed, though of that sho
could not be certain.
"I reckon ye mean concermn' Cal
Douglas?"
I "Thet's hit; when I rid outen Peril
, thi3 afternoon ther jury had done took
; ther case, an' everybody 'lowed they'd
! find a verdict afore sundown."
j "I reckon"?the taller of the two
' men answered slowly, and into his
softly modulated voice crept sorae
I thing of flinty finality?"I reckon I can
I tell yo what that verdict's goin' to
, be. Cal will como clear."
I "Thet hain't ther pint," urged tho
messenger excitedly. "Thet hain't why
I've rid over hyar like a bat outen
i hell ter cotch up with ye. I was
aimin' tor fotch word over ter ther
dance, but es I come by hyar I seen
. yore boss hitched out thar in ther
road, so I lit an' como in. I reckon
yo knows thet cote an' thet jury,
j Thet's yore business, but thet hain't
! all."
I "Well, what's the balance of it?
Talk out. What are ye aimin' to tell
mc?"
j "I met up with a feller in Job
; Heath's blind tiger Jest outside Peril,
i He'd drunk a lot of licker an* ho got
ter talking mighty loose-tongued an'
free."
The gill sickened a little as sho felt
' that her fours were being realized,
and one hand went involuntarily up
to her breast and stayed there. The
young man with the shrill voice talked
on impetuously.
"Ever senco the trial of Cal Doupr
las started good old Milt McBriar
hain't been actin' like hlssolf. Him
an' Brock Havey's been stoppln* at
ther same hotel in Peril, an' yet Milt
hain't 'peared ter bo a bearhV lie
j grudge whatsoever. When ther jury
was med ire Milt didn't seek ter chal?
lenge fellers thet everybody know el
van friends of Cal'S. Milt didn't even
neck ter raise no hell when ther jedge
ruled favorable ter Cal ri?bt along.
This fell t what 1 talked ter "lowed
i thet Milt didn't keor ef cal cam
ciar."
rTM.? "??ening man once more nn
h a quiet laugh. "Do yc
at old rattlesnake, Mill Mc
3 to stand by an not try
r penitentiary kin ol mtm
kin of his?" he Inquired
Uy.
"That's just hit." The answer came
quickly end excitedly. "This feller
lowed thet Old Milt aimed ter show
ther world thet he couldnt git no jes
ticc in a cote thet b'longed to Anse
Havey, an' then he aimed ter 'tend
ter his own jestice fer hisself. He
lows ter hev hit homemade.''
"How is he goin' to fix it?" The
question was a bit oontemp uous.
"They figger thet when Cal comes
clar hell rides lickcty-split, with a
bunch of Havey boys, over hyar ter
this dance what's a-goin' forward at
ther pint. Some of Milt's fellers aims
ter slip over thar, too, an' while Cal's
celebratin' they aini3 ter git him ter
night."
"Do they?" The taller man's voice
was velvety. "Well, go on. What
else?"
"They aims ter tell the world thet
they let ther law take hit's co'se fust,
but thet Bad Anse Havey makes a
mockery of ther law."
For a moment there was silence,
and tho quiet voice commenced, iron?
ically: "My God, them fellers lay
a heap of deviltry up against Bad i
Anse, don't they?"
After a moment of silence, through
which Juanita Holland was painfully
conscious of the quick beat of her own
heart, she heard again the unexcited
voice of the tall stranger. Now it was
tho capable tones of a general officer
giving commands.
"Did ye give warnin' in Peril?"
"No?I couldn't get to speak with
Cal. He was in cote?and seein' as
how they didn't figger on raisin' no
hell twell they git over hyar?I didn't
j turn backwards. I come straight
through. I 'lowed this was ther place
ter fix things up."
"You ride over to the dancin' party,
j Get the older fellers together. Keep
tho boys quiet and sober?cold sober.
Watch thet old fool, Bob McGreegor.
Don't spread these tidings till I get
there. If Cal comes over there, tell
j him to keep outen sight. Nothin'
I won't break loose before midnight.
That's my orders. By God Almighty,
I aim to have peace hereabouts just
now!"
j The speaker's voice broke off and
j the two men passed out of sight
, around the corner of the house.
CHAPTER II.
The girl roso and made her way
: unsteadily to the back door and let
herself in. She threw herself on the
'. bed and lay there, rapidly thinking. It
, was obvious that her absence had not
been commented upon. A few min?
utes later she heard the voice of Mrs.
McNash singing out: "You folks kin
all come in an' eat," and found her
'f r'^vTdiv *?qipi ntakfTtg way
I around to the shed addition which
served jointly as kitchen and diniug-1
room.
When ?he entered (lie place notch
McNash was already seuieu, and
sagged over his plate with tho stupid
inertia of dulled senses.
Juanita found herself unaccount?
ably eager to seo the tall stranger
whose voice had reassured her; who
had appeared first as the Samaritan
He Was Standing, as She Entered, a
Little Back From the Hearth.
; bringing home the helpless; then as
, tho man whose words gained prompt
i obedience?and finally as the self
? declared advocate of peace.
Ho was standing, as she entered, a
little back from the hearth, with tho
; detached air of one who drops into the
background or comes to the fore with
'. equal readiness. She found that In
appearance as in voice he bore a rough
i sort of ImpressivenesB about him. In
the brighter light stood tho messen?
ger, a gaunt youth, In whose wild,
j sharp features lurked cunning, cruelty
i and endurance. Hut the other man,
i who stood a head taller, fell into a
pose of indolent ease which might
wake instantly into power.
It was a face strongly and ruggedly
chiseled, but so dominated by unfal?
tering pray eyes that one was apt to
forget all else and carry away only a
memory of dark hair?and those eyes.
, Then, as they sat at table and the
rirl struggled with her discomfiture
ovt r each unclean detail of tho food,
she raised ln r eyes from time to time
always to encounter upon her the
steady, appraising gaze of tho dark
stranger.
When they rose from the table the
I stranger drew Fletch, now somewhat
sobered by his meal, aside, and tin
j other t:.-u retired to the chairs in tlri
j doorynrd. Tin a the r;:rl from the Rasl
ifUppad a way aud took up her soiitai)
place on top of the stile, where sho
sat thinking.
At last she was conscious of a pres?
ence besides her own, as of someono
standing silently at her back.
RatLor nervously she turned her
head, and there, with one foot on the
lower Btep of the stile, stood the
young stranger himself. Once more
their eyes met, and with a little start
she dropped her own.
"I kinder hate to bother ye, ma'am,"
said the even voice, "but I can't hardly
get acrost that stile whilst ye're settin'
on it."
There was no note of badinage or
levity In his tone, and his clear, drawn
features under the moonlight were en?
tirely serious.
Juanita rose. "I beg your pardon,"
she said hastily, as she went down the
stile on the far side.
"That's all right, ma'am," replied
tho man easily, still with a serious
dignity as he, too, crossed the road.
While he was untying the knot in
his bridle-rein the girl stood watch?
ing him. In the easy indolence of his
movements was the rippling some?
thing that suggested the leopard's
frictionless strength.
The very quality that gave this
young stranger his picturesqueness
and stamped him as vital and dynamic
I in his manhood sprang from that wild
roughness which he shared with his
eagles and Dawn shared with her
weedlike fowers. And yet it was
I somehow as though this man, whoso
j voice was so calm, whose movements
J were so quiet, whose gaze was eo un
arrogant, was crying out in a clarion
challenge with every breath: "I am
a man!"
Suddenly she wondered if in him
she might not find an ally. She felt
very lonely. To have counsel with
someone in these hills less stupidly
phlegmatic than Good Anse Talbott
would bring comfort and reassurance
to her heart. She must cope with the
I powerful resourcefulness of Bad Anse
i Havey, he of the untamed ferocity
and implacable cruelty and shrewd in?
telligence. If some native son could
share even a little of her viewpoint
she would find in him a towor of
strength.
Perhaps he had yielded to the un?
spoken appeal of the deep, rangeful
eyes that were always gray, yet never
twice the same gray, and the sweetly
sensitive lips so tantalizlngly charm?
ing, because they were fashioned for
smiles and were now drooping instead.
"I reckon," he said, "you find it right
different, don't you?"
She nodded.
"But it's very beautlfv!" she added
as she swept her hand u'^out in a gee-'
I ture of admiration.
t* u Tvho nodded at that, vcrv
gravely, and almost reverently, though
I at the next moment hij lauga -va.3 .
short ard almost ironical.
I "1 r :CKon Cod never fashioned any?
thing better?nor worse,' he told her. .
"When you've breathed it an' seen it
an' lived it, no other place is fit to
dwell in, an' yet sometimes I low that
God didn't mean it to be the habita?
tion of men an' women. It's cut out
for eagles an* hawks an' wild things.
It belongs to the winds an' storms an'
bear an' deer. It puts fire into veins
meant for blood, an' the only crop it
raises much is hell."
"You?you've been out in the other
world?down below?" she questioned.
"Yes; but I couldn't stay down there.
I couldn't breathe, hardly. I sick?
ened?an' J came back."
She turned to him impulsively.
"I don't know who you are," she
began hurriedly, "but I know that you
I brought this man home when he was
I not in a condition to come alone. I
know that you sent a man ahead of
\ you to keep peace at the dance. I
know you have a heart, and it means
something?means a great deal?to
feel that someone in these hills feels
! about it as I feel."
She stopped suddenly, realizing that
she was allowing too much appeal to
1 creep into her voice; that she had
I come to fight, not to sue for favor.
"I?I thought maybe you would
! help me," she finished, a little falter
; ingly. "Would you mind telling me
i your name?"
I He had unhitched his horse and
j stood with the rein3 hanging from one
hand.
"It's Havey," he said slowly, "but
hereabouts I've got another name
that's better known. * He paused, then
added with a hardened timbre of
voice, as though bent on making defi?
ant what would otherwise sound liko
confession: "It's Bad Anse."
The girl recoiled, as though under
a physical shock. It seemed to her
that every way she turned she was to
meet staggering disappointments. Sho
had spoken almost pleadingly to the
man with whom sho could make no
terms?the man whose arrogant power
and lawless influence sho must break
and paralyze before her own regime
; could lind standing-rocm in these hillo.
Yet, as she looked at him standing
! there, and stiffened resolutely, sho
: could say nothing except "Oh!"
Into the monosyllable crept many
! things: repulsion, defiance and cha?
grin for her mistake, and in recogni?
tion of them all the bronzed features
of the man hardened a little and into
tho cool eyes snapped a sparkle of the
sleeping fires she had divi led.
"1 made my suggestion to the wrong
man," she said steadily. "I misunder?
stood you. i thought you said you
wanted peace."
He swung himself to the saddle
again; then, as ho gathered up his
reins, he turned, and in his utterance
was immovable steadiness, and gla?
cial coldness, together with a ring
of contempt and restrained anger.
"I did say that, and by God Al?
mighty, I meant just what I said. I
do v.ant pcaco in these mountains ?