The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-11-27

squalid manor was returning, and that
ne was coming under convoy. She
shrank from a meeting with Fletch
McNash; but If she went out by the
only door she knew she would have
to confront him, SO she lay still.
Fletch was deposited in one of the
split-bottom chairs by the doorstep.
Il jest went over thar ter borry O
hoe" he proclaimed, "an' / met up
with some fellers and thar was all
manner Of free Ticker. They had white
Ticker an bottled-in-bond ticker, an
none of hit didn't cost nothin'. Them
fellers jest wouldn't hardly suffer me
ter come away"
AN whilst ye war a.soakin' up thet
thar free Ticker them pertater sets was
a-dryin' up waitin' ter be sot out"
came the stern wifely reminder.
Between the strident voices came
every now and then the softly modu.
lated tones Of the stranger whose
words Juanita lost. Yet, somehow,
whenever she heard them she felt
soothed, and after each Of these ut
terances the woman outside also
spoke in softer tones.
Whoever the stranger was, he car
ried in his voice reassuring quality,
80 that without having seen him the
girl felt that in his presence there was
an element Of strength and safeguard
ing.
At last from one Of the beds she
heard scuff1ing sound, and a moment
later childish form opened a door at
the back Of the cabin and slipped out
into tie darkness.
That revealed an avenue Of escape.
Juanita had not known that these win
dowless cabins are usually supplied
with two doors, and that the one into
which the wind does not drive the
weather stands open for light on win
try days. Now she, too. rose noise
lessly and went out of the close and
musty room. 1t was quite dark out
there and she could feel, rather than
see, the densely foliaged side of the
mountain that loomed upward at the
back.
In her brooding she lost account Of
time. At last she heard a voice sing
out from the stile:
I'm Jim White, an I'm a-comin'
in"
A thick welcome from Fletch Nc
Nash followed, and then again silence
settled.
After while, as she sat there on
the rock, with her chin disconsolately
in her hand end her elbows on her
knees, Juanita became conscious of
footsteps and knew that someone was
coming toward her. Then she caught
the calm voice which had already inn.
pressed her-the voice Of the stranger
who had brought home the half-help-
less householder.
II reckon we're out of earshot now,
! reckon we kin hev speech here: but
h2ed your voice an talk low"
In the face CT such preface the girl
earaDk back III fresh panic. She had
no "isA to Uve-hcar private converse.
tiOns.
She huddled back against the rock
and cast an anxious glance about her
for a way to escape. Pehind lay the
mountain wall with it's junglelike
growth, where her feet would sound
an alarm Of rustling branches and dis
turbed deadwood. But the men were
strolling near her, and to try to reach
the house would require crossing their
path.
Then the second shadow spoke, and
it's voice carried beside the nasal
shrillness so common to the hills the
tenseness of suppressed excitement.
"Thar's liable ter be hell ternight." )"
The girl thought that the quiet
stranger laughed, though of that she
could not be certain.
Il reckon We mean concernin' Cal
Douglas?"
"Thet's hit; when I rid outen Peril
this afternoon ther jury he'd done took
ther case. an everybody lowed they'd
find verdict afore sundown."
81 reckon"--the taller Of the two
men answered slowly, and into his
softly modulated voice crept some
thing Of fiinty finality-"I reckon can
tell We what that verdict's goin' to
be. Cal will come clear"
"Thet hain't ther pint" urged the
messenger excitedly. "Thet hain't why
I've rid over hyar like q bat outen
hell ter cotch up with ye. l was
aimin' ter fotch word over ter ther
dance, but es I come by hyar l seen
yore boss hitched out thar in ther
road, SO I lit an come in. 1 reckon
ye knows thct cote an thet jury.
Thets yore business, but thet haint
ALL"
We'll, what's the balance of It?
Talk out. What are ye amin to tell
me?"
II met up with q feller in Job