A Cumberland Vendetta | Page 9

into the basin, and he sprang to his feet.
"Rome!" The cry cut sharply through the drowsy air. " Thar he is! Hit's
Jas"
The old miller rose to his feet. The boy threw himself behind the sacks
of grain. Rome wheeled for his rifle, and stood rigid before the door.
There was a light step without, the click of a gun-lock within; a shadow
fell across the doorway, and a girl stood at the threshold with an empty
bag in her hand.

V
WITH a little cry she shrank back a step. Her face paled and her lips
trembled, and for a moment she could not speak. But her eyes swept
the group, and were fixed in two points of fire on Rome.
"Why don't ye shoot! "she asked, scornfully.
"I hev heerd that the Stetsons have got to makin war on women-folks,
but I never believed it afore." Then she turned to the miller.
Kin I git some more meal hyeh? " she asked. " Or have ye stopped
sellin' to folks on t'other side? " she added, in a tone that sought no
favor.
"You kin have all ye want," said old Gabe, quietly.
"The mill on Dead Crick is broke ag'in," she continued, " 'n' co'n is
skeerce on our side. We'll have to begin buyin' purty soon, so I thought
I'd save totin' the co'n down hyeh." She handed old Gabe the empty
bag.
Well,'' said he, '' as it air gittin' late, 'n' ye have to climb the mountain
ag'in, I'll let ye have that comm' out o' the hopper now. Take a cheer."
The girl sat down in the low chair, and, loos ening the strings of her
bonnet, pushed it back from her head. An old-fashioned horn comb
dropped to the floor, and when she stooped to pick it up she let her hair
fall in a head about her shoulders. Thrusting one hand under it, she
calmly tossed the whole mass of chestnut and gold over the back of the
chair, where it fell rippling like water through a bar of sunlight. With
head thrown back and throat bared, she shook it from side to side, and,
slowly coiling it, pierced it with the coarse comb. Then passing her
hands across her forehead and temples, as women do, she folded them
in her lap, and sat motionless. The boy, crouched near, held upon her
the mesmeric look of a serpent. Old Gabe was peering covertly from
under the brim of his hat, with a chuckle at his lips. Rome had fallen
back to a corner of the mill, sobered, speechless, his rifle in a nerveless

hand. The passion that fired him at the boy's warning had as swiftly
gone down at sight of the girl, and her cutting rebuke made him hot
again with shame. He was angry, too-more than angry-because he felt
so helpless, a sensation that was new and stifling. The scorn of her face,
as he remembered it that morning, hurt him again while he looked at
her. A spirit of contempt was still in her eyes, and quivering about her
thin lips and nostrils. She had put him beneath further notice, and yet
every toss of her head, every movement of her hands, seemed meant for
him, to irritate him. And once, while she combed her hair, his brain
whirled with an impulse to catch the shining stuff in one hand and to
pinion both her wrists with the other, Just to show her that he was
master, and still would harm her not at all. But he shut his teeth, and
watched her. Among mountain women the girl was more than pretty;
elsewhere only her hair, perhaps, would have caught the casual eye.
She wore red homespun and coarse shoes; her hands were brown and
hardened. Her arms and shoulders looked muscular, her waist was
rather large-being as nature meant it-and her face in repose had a heavy
look. But the poise of her head suggested native pride and dignity; her
eyes were deep, and full of changing lights; the scarlet dress, loose as it
was, showed rich curves in her figure, and her movements had a certain
childlike grace. Her brow was low, and her mouth had character; the
chin was firm, the upper lip short, and the teeth were even and white.
"I reckon thar's enough to fill the sack, Isom," said the old miller,
breaking the strained silence of the group. The girl rose and handed him
a few pieces of silver.
I reckon I'd better pay fer it all," she said. I s'pose I won't be over hyeh
ag'in."
Old Gabe gave some of the coins back.
"Y'u know whut my price al'ays is," he said.
I'm obleeged," answered the girl, flushing.
"Co'n hev