Polk County news. [volume] (Benton, Tenn.) 191?-1983, 1921-08-25


pumped him so full o. lead at the
couldn't enough o. men got around
him 10 tote OF his corpst. ef he hadn't
ha' drapped the towards gum" By
Heck declared as fiercely as he could
s"Cause nav she seed in the cup at
Bill Dale was a-goin' to be a right
pa'tickler friend o. mine, igod, and
has a habit o takin' keer o. my
friends. Now thar was my Uncle Bill.
him what could jump a sixteen-rail
fence"
at was a 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, By?"
Heck nodded and went toward the
orchard. He knew they didn't want
him to overhear what they were going
TO say, but it didn't offend him. 1t
wasn't easy to offend the good-naturei
Heck.
Moreland turned to Dale. "Well?"
Dale turned to Hayes.
"We're going to begin the building
of the little railroad at the earliest
possible moment. And because | 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 go into this thing blind
ly, you see. If you're going to with
draw at all, do it now"
"Pm not a stranger to fighting,
Hayes replied smilingly. 1--WE been
through half a dozen coal strikes. |
think you may count on me, Mr.. Dale"
"Then lay out a plan for immedi-
ate action"
"rd suggest" acquiesced Hayes,
the lowland for a supply of picks and
Shovels, axes and saws, hammers,
drills, and explosives. In the mean.
time, you and can stake out the
way for the track"
II sounded businesslike, Dale
thought.
Within the hour John Moreland and
his son Caleb started for Cartersville
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-a1
for making stakes.
1t was not often that the quiet Hayes
permitted himself to go 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 q good force Of men the last rail
could be put down within two months.
During those two days they had
several times seen Henderson Goff in
company with Black Adam Ball and
some of his relatives. Once they had
come upon Golf talking earnestly with
Saul Littleford, the big, bearded, gaunt
brother of the Littleford chief. Hayes
reminded Dale of this, and said to
him further:
Golf will have the Littlefords on
his side the first thing you know!
Maybe some of the LittlefordS, as well
as some of the Balls, knew about this
coal before David Moreland got his
mountain by states grant at few cents
Dale, you'll make friends of these two
sets just as quick as you cam"
Dale thrust his hand-ax inside his
belt and turned to the mining expert.
"Dyou know, | was thinking OF that
same thing when you spoke" he re-
Piled "And l believe l can manage it,
now that Miss Littleford's accidental
wounding has given the old feud such
big blow. I'm fairly sure can man.
age it so far as Ben Littieford Is con-
cerned; it's John that's going to be
hard to bring to taw. He should be
home this evening, IL he's had good
luck, and I'll tackle him as soon as he
comes"
Together they started across David
Moreland's mountain. walking rapidly,
with Dale leading.
Darkness came down on them when
they had covered half the distance.
The great hemlOcks and poplars
Ioomed spectral and gaunt in the early
starlight. Tie almost impenetrable
thickets of laurel and ivy whispered
uncanny things, and their seas OF pink
and snowy bloom looked somehow
ghostly. Now and then there was the