The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains | Page 4

debt, an' war goin' ter see him 'bout'n it, an' wanted somebody along ter hear his word an' see jestice done 'twixt 'em. Thar air fower Byers boys, an' I reckon he war feared they would all jump on him at wunst, an' he wanted me ter holp him ef they did. An' I went along like a fool sheep, thinkin' 'bout nuthin'. An' when we got way down yander in Eskaqua Cove, whar Joel Byers's house air, he gin a hello at the fence, an' Joel kem ter the door. An' 'Bednego whipped up his riffle suddint an' shot him through the head, ez nip an' percise! An' thar stood Joel's wife, seein' it all. An' 'Bednego run off, nimble, I tell ye, an' I war so frustrated I run, too. Somebody cotched 'Bednego in the old North State the nex' week, an' the gov'nor hed ter send a requisition arter him. But sence I fund out ez they 'lowed I war aidin' an' abettin' 'Bednego, an' war goin' ter arrest me 'kase I war thar at the killin', they hev hed powerful little chance o' tryin' me in the court. An' whilst the gov'nor hed his hand in, he offered a reward fur sech a lawless man ez I be."
He broke off, visibly struggling for composure; then he recommenced in increasing indignation: "An' these hyar frien's o' mine in the Big Smoky, I 'll be bound they hanker powerful arter them two hunderd dollars blood money. I know ez I'd hev been tuk afore this, ef it war n't fur them consarns thar." He nodded frowningly at the pistols. "Them's the only frien's I hev got."
The girl's voice trembled. "'Pears like ye mought count me in," she said, reproachfully.
"Naw," he retorted, sternly, "ye go round hyar sorrowin' fur a man ez hev got nuthin' ter be afeard of but the devil."
She made no reply, and her meekness mollified him.
"D'rindy," he said, in an altered tone, and with the pathos of a keen despair, "I hed fixed it in my mind a good while ago, when I could hev hed a house, an' lived like folks, stiddier like a wolf in the woods, ter ax ye ter marry me; but I war hendered by gittin' skeered 'bout'n yer bein' all in favor o' Amos Jeemes, ez kem up ter see ye from Eskaqua Cove, an' I did n't want ter git turned off. Mebbe ef I hed axed ye then I would n't hev tuk ter goin' along o' Abednego Tynes an' sech, an' the killin' o' Joel would n't hev happened like it done. Would ye - would ye hev married me then?"
Her eyes flashed. "Ye air fairly sodden with foolishness, Rick!" she exclaimed, angrily. "Air you-uns thinkin' ez I 'll 'low ez I would hev married a man four month ago ez never axed me ter marry, nohow?" Then, with an appreciation of the delicacy of the position and a conservation of mutual pride, she added, "An' I won't say nuther ez I would n't marry a man ez hev never axed me ter marry, nohow."
Somehow, the contrariety of the proprieties, as she translated them, bewildered and baffled him. Even had he been looking at her he might hardly have interpreted, with his blunt perceptions, the dewy wistfulness of the eyes which she bent upon him. The word might promise nothing now. Still she would have valued it. He did not speak it. His eyes were fixed on Chilhowee Mountain, rising up, massive and splendid, against the west. The shadows of the clouds flecked the pure and perfect blue of the sunny slopes with a dusky mottling of purple. The denser shade in the valley had shifted, and one might know by this how the day wore on. The dew had dried from the long, keen blades of the Indian corn; the grasshoppers droned among them. A lizard basked on a flat, white stone hard by. The old ox dozed in the turn-row.
Suddenly Rick Tyler lifted his hand, with an intent gesture and a dilated eye. There came from far below, on the mountain road, the sound of a horse's hoof striking on a stone, again, and yet again. A faint metallic jingle - the air was so still now - suggested spurs. The girl's hand trembled violently as she stepped swiftly to his horse and took off the plough-gear. He had caught up a saddle that was lying in the turn-row, and as hastily buckled the girth about the animal.
"Ef that air ennybody a-hankerin' ter see me, don't you-uns be a-denyin' ez I hev been hyar, D'rindy," he said, as he put his foot in the stirrup. "I reckon they hev fund out by now ez I be in the kentry round about. But keep 'em