Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-02

Floyd. CANT see at oil moonshinin' Mark
Valentine a-gettin' hit a-gettng power mean.
Hit shore air funny business eff we-uns git a
high sheriff ats moonshiner. Countyn be
a shore hot abidin' place I'm a-sayin'. Mark
he air tina gunningdest man / ever seed. Kilt
a heap o men. Be no peace fer decent folks
eff Mark beat-wins. Reckon he CANT, though.
Nope, Mark he hain't a-goin' tub git hit"
Cant tell Can't tell" says the sheriff.
Strange things happen sometimes" Floyd
Jet rises, looks out the window. He takes Tab
Daniels by the elbow. They go out together.
Pass down the hallway. Pause on steps lead
ing to the courthouse yard. Both men look up
and down Main street.
Mark Valentine air a-doin' some right
smart struttin'" says Tab Daniels Mus
reckon he air high sheriff Already. Seed him
while ago with Steve Dodie tina marshal. They
shore war confabbin' Mark a-paradin' roun.
talkin big talk. HUH"
Sheriff Jet moves down the steps alone,
crosses the courthouse yard. When he reaches
the edge of the boardwalk he pauses to look
up and down Main street. The talk OF two
women leaning against an elm reaches his ears.
Two of the Shakespeare women from Milk Sick
Cove. Old Ruth Shakespeare herself, who in her
youth used to ride wild horses without a bride
or saddle, who used to snatch off the bride to
whip her horse with. "Hell-jumping' Ruth,
who used to leap an eight-rail fence with a
bucket of water in each hand, is talking.
Seven year at O'ciowd boy war at hit.
larnin' tub shoot. Jined Jess James tub
larn rfe-gun. An seven year tub clock-minute
O'Gowd boy come back and killed his uncle
who whip-beated him all time"
The county officer pulls away from the talk.
Pulls away from the droning of old Ruth
Shakespeare, who's telling the other woman
about cock fight in Meddlesome when her
grandson and one of the Meadowes boys set
tied dispute with rocks.
He leans against an elm by the road alb
sently watches two hilboys slide off gray
mule and talk heatedly while one of them ties
the mule to hitching rack.
Hit war a sight, I'm a-tellin yuh. Blood
spattered mail-order book in my hand. Blood
war a-f1yin' ever'-whar. Two Sidson men jes'
slashed Tate Torkey tub bits. Right in Penny
rifle store. Blood all over letter war a-fotchin'
to my pap
'Hain't ketched Sidson men yit," said the
other boy. 1.-TWO years gone an hain't ketched
Sidsons. Reckon we-uns won see Sidsons any
more"
Maybe gone tub Arizony."
"NebraSky maybe"
The sheriff turns around sharp, faces the
hillboys. Their talk is chopped off. They move
away quickly, looking back over their shoulders
at the county officer, puzzlement on their faces.
Killings Nothing but killingsl" says Jett
to himself. Cant talk about anything else.
Men, women and children stepped in blood and
gore" His eyes sweep the town and come to
%
mountain boy playing at feue Sees him hold
a hickory stick like a gun. The boys pointing
at some man Nnder the portico of the general
store. killing in his mind Killing some old
enemy of his people.
A HILLMAN steps out from under the gen.
eral store portico and crosses the street.
The boys hickory stick is trained on him until
he disappears into the drug store. The boy
is of the Valentine family, and the hillman is
a Daniels Old feud still smoldering. Ten
year-old boy trying to fan blood hate to fame
Jet sees suddenly that five men of the
Valentine family squat on the ground near the
boy with the hickory stick The Valentines,
the trouble clan the most vindictive and pow
erful family in the county, are holding an as
sembly. War powwow 1t looks like to Jet.
Trouble anyway. Election and trouble"
thinks the sheriff isn't worth it. Being
sheriff isn't worth the trouble. Didn't want to
run for office Why am / doing it?" Echoes
of voices come to him, echoes of words said by
the better people of the hills and towns. jeff
agreed to run when folks pointed out that,
left to some moonshiner some easily inf1u-
enced man, the county would be the bloody
ground always
His, the most isolated of mountain counties
has to be preserved Leeston, the most isolated
of county seats with railroads, no telegraph
office no roads but creek beds leading to it, has
to be saved
The sheriff shifts his legs. Relights his
stogie. His movement draws eyes. Eyes glance