Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1896-06-25
the Latimer tribe"

the LuClHlcF CT1Dc.
A lavenous silence followed this re-
mark, and when Bud left the table he
said to jeff: want to see We bime-by:
come outside when We get th'oo."
jeff lighted his pipe moment later
and followed his younger brother to the
barn. What was we wantin', Buddy?"
he asked.
"'Dout that thar city feller-don't
We reckon we-all could give him sort
of a scare that d run him back whar he
conc from?"
II dunno. Why?"
"Oh, jest reckoned hit d be better.
If we-all ever do what We was talkin'
bout spell back, hit'll be some easier
if they amt so many of 'em."
"You're plum right about that; but
then thar amt nothin' shore bout what
Jim Doblcs was a-sayin; he only lowed
maybe that's what was a-goin' on"
THAT don't make no difference, no.
how" argued Bud. IF he's got any
fight in him, he'll stand up for his
frien's, an if we can run him out fore
ham we're jest that much ahead.
You're plum shore he amt revenuer?"
"Oh, l reckon not; from what I could
pick up down at the settlement, lowed
he's some Teller that Tom Ludlow d
knowed back in the north; he's a-stop-
pin at Ludlow's now. Talkin' about
revenuers, though, hit moughtn't be
SIGH a bad idee to let on like the boys
done took him for one; hit d sort O.
make the scare come more MATCHED
like"
The brothers smoked in silence for a
few moments, and then began to dis
cuss a plan suggested by the younger.
While they talked the stars came out
one by one and tie shadows deepened
in the cove until they lay black and
brooding over the thickets on the sides
of the mountain. With the drawing
of the curtain of darkness the noises
of the night began-the drone of the
jar fly passing with the fading light
into the chirping of the cricket and the
shrill song of the tree-toads. Thread
ing the irregular voices of nature with
the measured pulse of human effort,
the rhythmic beat of the blowing en-
gines at the Tregarthen furnace vi.
brated upon the still air; and at inter-
walls a dull red glare appearing above
the shoulder of the mountain an
nounced the feeding time of the fiery
monster of the valley.
The brothers talked on in low tones,
pnusing only once, when shadow
passed the door-yard and glided toward
the forest.
who's that?" queried JEFF. peering
intently into the darkness.
Hits only Jed, reckon" was the
reply.
"Whar's he goin' at this time o
night?"
II dunno; goin' to soak his haid in
the creek, maybe. more n half believe,
sometimes, that he's gettin' foolish
bout the Latimer gal; he new did have
much sense, nohow. But, as I was
a-sayln'-" And the talk dropped
back into the channel from which Jed's
appearance had diverted it.
The two men sat on log behind the
barn, facing the cliff at the head of the
cove. Had they been gifted with the
visual powers of the owl which hooted
dismally from the top Of blasted oak
standing in the adjacent corn-feld.
they might have discerned, half an hour
later, black speck zigzagging up the
bace of the apparently inaccessible
cliff. 1t was Jed, and when he reached
the summit just under the shadow of
the tree that years before had borne
such CHASTITY fruit, he turned his face
southwark and walked rapidly toward
1.-THE Laurels."
"Do you know, Mr.. Ringbrand, that
I've always had a persistent and haunt.
ing impression that we've met some
where before?"
Ringbrand was spending the even
ing at the Latimers as usual, and they
were all sitting in the starlight on the
veranda of THE Laurels."
"You mean before l came to Tregar-
then, Miss Hester?"
"Yes, it might have been ages ago."
Ringbrand smiled under cover of
the darkness. perhaps it was. Do
you believe in transmigration?"
II think not" she answered doubt
fully. II believe in the creed"
MAY I ask what ereed?"
I'D think you'd be ashamed to,
when there is only one-or, at most,
two"
II stand corrected. Would it he her.
esy if asked where might find the
one-or two?"
"Of course not; they're in the prayer
book; supposed everyone knew that"
"Going back to your impression
again, do you know that have an ex-
actly similar one? am almost posi-
tive that you are right: Can't you help
me solve the mystery?"
whats that you-all are talking
about?" inquired the colonel, knocking
the ashes from his long-stemmed pipe
and crushing dry tobacco leaf in the
palm of his hand for fresh charge.
Miss Hester was just saying she
thought we'd seen each other some.
where before I came to Tregarthen, and
I'm almost sure she's right. We were
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