David Harum | Page 5

says, puttin' out his hand fer the money an'
handin' the halter over to me."
"An' didn't ye suspicion nuthin' when he took ye up like that?" asked
Mrs. Bixbee.
"I did smell woolen some," said David, "but I had the hoss an' they had
the money, an', as fur 's I c'd see, the critter was all right. Howsomever,
I says to 'em: 'This here's all right, fur 's it's gone, but you've talked
putty strong 'bout this hoss. I don't know who you fellers be, but I c'n
find out,' I says. Then the fust feller that done the talkin' 'bout the hoss
put in an' says, 'The' hain't ben one word said to you about this hoss that
wa'n't gospel truth, not one word.' An' when I come to think on't
afterward," said David with a half laugh, "it mebbe wa'n't gospel truth,
but it was good enough jury truth. I guess this ain't over 'n' above
interestin' to ye, is it?" he asked after a pause, looking doubtfully at his
sister.
"Yes, 'tis," she asserted. "I'm lookin' forrered to where the deakin
comes in, but you jest tell it your own way."
"I'll git there all in good time," said David, "but some of the point of the
story'll be lost if I don't tell ye what come fust."
"I allow to stan' it 's long 's you can," she said encouragingly, "seein'
what work I had gettin' ye started. Did ye find out anythin' 'bout them
fellers?"

"I ast the barn man if he knowed who they was, an' he said he never
seen 'em till the yestiddy before, an' didn't know 'em f'm Adam. They
come along with a couple of hosses, one drivin' an' t'other leadin'--the
one I bought. I ast him if they knowed who I was, an' he said one on
'em ast him, an' he told him. The feller said to him, seein' me drive up:
'That's a putty likely-lookin' hoss. Who's drivin' him?' An' he says to the
feller: 'That's Dave Harum, f'm over to Homeville. He's a great feller
fer hosses,' he says."
"Dave," said Mrs. Bixbee, "them chaps jest laid fer ye, didn't they?"
"I reckon they did," he admitted; "an' they was as slick a pair as was
ever drawed to," which expression was lost upon his sister. David
rubbed the fringe of yellowish-gray hair which encircled his bald pate
for a moment.
"Wa'al," he resumed, "after the talk with the barn man, I smelt woolen
stronger'n ever, but I didn't say nothin', an' had the mare hitched an'
started back. Old Jinny drives with one hand, an' I c'd watch the new
one all right, an' as we come along I begun to think I wa'n't stuck after
all. I never see a hoss travel evener an' nicer, an' when we come to a
good level place I sent the old mare along the best she knew, an' the
new one never broke his gait, an' kep' right up 'ithout 'par'ntly half tryin';
an' Jinny don't take most folks' dust neither. I swan! 'fore I got home I
reckoned I'd jest as good as made seventy-five anyway."
CHAPTER II.
"Then the' wa'n't nothin' the matter with him, after all," commented Mrs.
Bixbee in rather a disappointed tone.
"The meanest thing top of the earth was the matter with him," declared
David, "but I didn't find it out till the next afternoon, an' then I found it
out good. I hitched him to the open buggy an' went 'round by the East
road, 'cause that ain't so much travelled. He went along all right till we
got a mile or so out of the village, an' then I slowed him down to a walk.
Wa'al, sir, scat my ----! He hadn't walked more'n a rod 'fore he come to
a dead stan'still. I clucked an' git-app'd, an' finely took the gad to him a

little; but he only jest kind o' humped up a little, an' stood like he'd took
root."
"Wa'al, now!" exclaimed Mrs. Bixbee.
"Yes'm," said David; "I was stuck in ev'ry sense of the word."
"What d'ye do?"
"Wa'al, I tried all the tricks I knowed--an' I could lead him--but when I
was in the buggy he wouldn't stir till he got good an' ready; 'n' then he'd
start of his own accord an' go on a spell, an'--"
"Did he keep it up?" Mrs. Bixbee interrupted.
"Wa'al, I s'd say he did. I finely got home with the critter, but I thought
one time I'd either hev to lead him or spend the night on the East road.
He balked five sep'rate times, varyin' in length, an' it was dark when we
struck the barn."
"I should hev thought you'd a wanted to kill