The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains | Page 4

cried out, in shrill self-justification. "I could no more
hender 'Bednego Tynes from shootin' Joel Byers down in his own
door'n nuthin' in this worl'. I never even knowed they hed a grudge.
"Bednego Tynes, he tole me ez he owed Joel a 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