Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-02-09
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C(IMBER[ANDS
5I CHARLES NEVILLE BUCR
With ILLUSTRATORS FROM re Ae51fsSsf P1iUlQGsssApl' -
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gives yer nv hand on thet. Yere wei
come, an your dawgs is welcome
hain't got nothin' 'gainst dawgs thet
comes on four legs. but 1 shore bars
two-legged kind"
There was a murmur Of astonish-
ment from the road. Disregarding IT,
Spicer South turned his face toward
the house.
You boys kin come out" he shout-
ed. "an' leave your guns inside
The leashes were slipped from the
dogs. They leaped forward, and maze
directly for Samson, who sat as un-
moving as a lifeless image on the top
step Of the stile. There was half
moment Of terrific suspense, then the
beasts clambered by the seated hgure'
passing on each side and circled
aimlessly about the yard-their quest
unended. They shifted indifferentiy
about the trouser legs Of the men VINO
sauntered indolently out of the door.
They trotted into the house and out
again, and mingled with the mongrel
home pack that snarled and growled
hostility for this invasion. Then, they
came once more to the stile. AS they
climbed out, Samson South reached
I'D and stroked a tawny head. and the
bloodhound paused a moment to wag
it's tail in friendship, before 1t jumped
down to the road. and trotted gingerly
onward.
I'm obliged to you, SIR" said the
man from the Bluegrass, with a voice
of immense relief.
The moment of suspense seemed
past, and, in the relief Of the averted
clash, the master Of hounds forgot
that his dogs stood branded as false
trailers. But when he rejoined the
group in the road he found himself
looking into surely visages, and the
features Of Jim Holman in particular
were black in their scowl of smolder-
ing wrath.
why didn't ye ak him." growled
the kinsman Of the man who had been
shot, "whar the other feller's at?'
What other fellow?" echoed the
Lexington man.
Jim Hollman's voice rose trucu-
lently, and his words drifted, as ne
meant them to, across to the ears OF
the clansmen who stood in the yard
of Spicer South.
Them dawgs of your'n come up
Misery a-hellin.' They hain't never
turned aside, an onless they're plumb
ornery, on-'cout ours thet don't know
their business they come for some
reason. They seemed mighty inter-
ested in gettin' hyar. AK them fellers
in thar who's been hyar thet haint
hyar now. Who is ther feller thet
got out afore we come hyar?"
At this yelled charge Of deceit the
faces of the Southers again blackened
and the men near the door of the house
drifted in to drift presently out again.
swinging discarded Winchesters at
their sides. 1t seemed that, after ALL
the incident was not closed. The man
from Lexington, finding himself race
to face with a new difficulty, turned
and argued in a low voice with the
Holman leader. But Jim Holman,
whose eyes were fixed on Samson, re-
fused to talk in a modulated tone, and
he shouted his reply:
81 hain't gont nothin' ter whisper
about" he proclaimed. Go AK EN-
who it war tibet got away from hyar.
Old Spicer South stood leaning on
his fence and his rugged countenance
stffened. He started to speak, but
Samson rose from the stile and said,
in composed voice:
Let me talk to this feller, Unc'
Spicer." The old man nodded and
Samson beckoned to the owner OF the
dogs.
I'VE hain't got nothin' ter say ter
them fellers with ye." he announced
briefly. I'VE haint akin 'em no ques-
tions, an we hain't answerin' none.
Ye done come hyar with dawgs an
we hain't stopped ye. We've done an
swered all the questions them dawgs
hes axed. We done treated you an
your hounds plumb friendly. Els FER
them other men, we hain't got nothin'
ter say to 'em. They done come hyar
because they hoped they could git me
| in trouble. They done failed. Thet
road belongs ter the county. They
got a license ter travel hit, but this
strip right hyar hain't the healthiest
section they kin find. l reckon ye'd
better advise 'em ter move on"
The Lexington man went back. For
minute or two Jim Holland sat
scowling down in indecision from his
saddle. Then he admitted to himself
that he had done all he could do with
out becoming the aggressor. For the
moment he was beaten. He looked up
and from the road one Of the hounds
raised it's voice and gave cry. That
baying offered an excuse for leaving
and Jim Holman seized it.
GO on" he growled. Let's see
what them id ours has ter say
now"
Mounting, they kicked their mules
into jog From the men inside the
fence came no note Of derision, no
hint of triumph. They stood looking
out with eXpressionless, masklike
faces until their enemies had passed
out of sight around the shoulder of
the mountain. The Souths had met and
fronted an accusation made after the
enemy's own choice and method. A
Jury of two hounds had acquitted
them. 1t was not only because the
dogs had refused to recognize in Sam
son a suspicious character that the
enemy rode on grudgingly convinced
but also, because the family, which
had invariably met hostility with hos
tility, had so willingly courted the acid
test of guilt or innocence.
a flor that