The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1921-08-05

1T was q nine-rail fence, By" i'm.
patiently cut In John MOreland'
you've done told that so much at
It's dang nigh wore out S'posen ye
go back thar to the orchard ahind o
the house and see what Gale and
Luke's a-doin'; hey, Byf
Heck nodded and went toward the
orchard. He knew they didn't want
him to overhear what they were going
to say, but 1t didn't offend him. 1t
wasn't easy to offend the goOd-natured
Heck.
Moreland turned to Dale. "Welf'
Dale turned to Hayes.
"We're going to begin the building
Of the little railroad at the earliest
possible moment. And because l don't
know anything about the work, I'm
going to ask you to take the lead. Now,
there may be some fighting. l don't
want you to 60 into this thing blind
ly. you see. II you're going to with.
draw at all. do it now"
I'm not q stranger to fighting"
Hayes replied smilingly. "Tve been
through half q dozen coal strikes. l
think you may count on me. Mr.. Dale"
'"Then lay out q plan for immedi-
ate action"
"Pd suggest" acquiesced Hayes,
'that we send to the little town In
the lowland for a supply Of picks and
shOvels, axe and saws, hammers,
drills, and explosives. In the mean
time, you and / can stake out the
way for the track"
It sounded businesslike. Dale
thought.
Within the hour John MOreland and
his son Caleb started for Gainesville
on foot, and In the older mans pocket
was money sufficient to buy the things
that were needed.
Dale and Hayes set out for the north
end of David MOreland's mountain.
and each of them carried a hand-ax
for making stakes.
It was not often that the quiet Hayes
permitted himself to 60 into raptures
over anything; however, he went In
to raptures over the Moreland coal.
1t was, he declared, one of the best
propositions he had EVER seen. 1t
was no wonder that Henderson Golf
was determined to get possession Of
it, he said.
Then they went to work.
BY shutdown two days later they had
chosen the route for the narrOw-gauge
railroad and set stakes accordingly.
Hayes told his general manager that
with a good force Of men the last rail
could be put down within two months.
During those two days they had
several times seen Henderson Golf in
company with Black Adam Ball and
some Of his relatives. Once they had
come upon Goff talking earnestly with
Saul LittlefOrd, the big, bearded, gaunt
Dale of this, and said to
him further:
"GOfr will have the Littlefords on
his side the first thing you know!
Maybe some of the Littlefords, as we'll
as some Of the Balls, knew about this
coal before David MOreland got his
by states grant at a few cents
per acre. II you'll take my advice, MIR.
Dale, you'll make friends Of these two
sets just as quick as you can"
Dale thrust his hand-ax inside his
belt and turned to the mining expert.
"D'you know, l was thinking OF that
same thing when you spoke" he re-
piled. And l believe l can manage 1t, |
low that Miss LittlefOrd's accidental
.ounding has given the old feud such
4 Big blow. I'm fairly sure / can man.
age it so far as Ben LittlefOrd is con-
cerned; it's John that's going to be
hard to bring to taw. He should be
this evening, If he's had good
Together they started across David
mountain, walking rapidly,
With Dale leading.
Darkness came down on them when
hey had covered half the distance.
The great hemlocks and pOplars
OOmed spectral and gaunt in the early
starlight. The almost impenetrable
hickets Of laurel and ivy whispered
lncanny things, and their seas of pink
nd snowy bloom looked somehow
Now and then there was the
altering Of some little animals feet
the dry, hard leaves Of bygone
ears. A solitary brown owl poured
ut its heart in weird and melancholy
ries to the night it loved. There was
he faint, far-or baying Of a hound,
nd the soft swish OF a nighthawk's
7ings.
Men from the core of civilization
lust feel these things of the wilder
Suddenly Dale drew back and stood
Till. In the trail ahead, standing as
as the trees about him, was
he tall figure Of q man. 1t was almost
s though he were there to bar the