" Jes you wait "n" see," answered the girl, shortly, and Raines, after a questioning look, rejoined the group.
"I won"t take the gun ef I win it," he said to them; "but she air gittin" too set up an" proud, "n" I"m goin" to do my best to take her down a bit."
There was nothing boastful or malicious in his manner or speech, and n.o.body doubted that he would win, for there were few marksmen in the mountains his equals, and he would have the advantage of using his own gun.
"Look hyeh," said a long, thin mountaineer, coming up to the group, "thar ain"t but one turkey left, "n" I"d like to know what we air goin" to shoot at ef Sherd "n" Easter gits a crack at him."
In the interest of the match no one had thought of that, and a moment of debate followed, which Clayton ended by stepping forward.
"I"ll furnish a turkey for the rest of you," he said.
The girl turned when he spoke and gave him a quick glance, but averted her eyes instantly.
Clayton"s offer was accepted, and the preliminary trial to decide who should shoot first at the turkey was begun. Every detail was watched with increasing interest. A piece of white paper marked with two concentric circles was placed sixty yards away, and Raines won with a bullet in the inner circle. The girl had missed both, and the mountaineer offered her two more shots to accustom herself to the gun. She accepted, and smiled a little triumphantly as she touched the outer circle with one bullet and placed the other almost in the centre. It was plain that the two were evenly matched, and several shouts of approval came from the crowd.
The turkey was hobbled to a stake at the same distance, and both were to fire at its head, with the privilege of shooting at fifty yards if no rest were taken.
Raines shot first without rest, and, as he missed, the girl followed his example. The turkey dozed on in the sunlight, undisturbed by either. The mountaineer was vexed. With his powerful face set determinedly, he lay down flat on the ground, and, resting his rifle over a small log, took an inordinately long and careful aim. The rifle cracked, the turkey bobbed its head unhurt, and the marksman sprang to his feet with an exclamation of surprise and chagrin. As he loaded the gun and gravely handed it to the girl, the excitement grew intense. The crowd pressed close. The stolid faces of the mountaineer women, thrust from their bonnets, became almost eager with interest. Raines, quiet and composed as he was, looked anxious. All eyes followed every movement of the girl as she coolly stretched her long, active figure on the ground, drew her dress close about it, and, throwing her yellow hair over her face to shade her eyes from the slanting sunlight, placed her cheek against the stock of the gun. A long suspense followed. A hush almost of solemnity fell upon the crowd.
"Why don"t the gal shoot?" asked a voice, impatiently.
Clayton saw what the matter was, and, stepping toward her, said quietly, "You forgot to set the trigger."
The girl"s face colored. Again her eye glanced along the barrel, a puff of smoke flew from the gun, and a shout came from every pair of lips as the turkey leaped into the air and fell, beating the ground with its wings. In an instant a young mountaineer had rushed forward and seized it, and, after a glance, dropped it with a yell of triumph.
"Shot plum" through the eyes!" he shouted. "Shot plum" through the eyes!
The girl arose, and handed the gun back to Raines.
Keep hit," he said, steadily. " Hit"s yourn."
"I don"t want the gun," she said, "but I did want that turkey-" n" "-a little tauntingly-"I did want to beat you, Sherd Raines."
The mountaineer"s face flushed and darkened, but he said nothing.
He took no part in the shooting that followed, and when, after the match was over, the girl, with her rifle on one shoulder and the turkey over the other, turned up the mountain path, Clayton saw him follow her.
IV
A FORTNIGHT later Clayton, rifle in hand, took the same path. It was late in May. The "leaf.a.ge was luxuriant, and the mountains, wooded to the tops, seemed overspread with great, s.h.a.ggy rugs of green. The woods were resonant with song-birds, and the dew dripped and sparkled wherever a shaft of sunlight pierced the thick leaves.
Late violets hid shyly under canopies of May-apple; bunches of blue and of white anemone nodded from under fallen trees, and water ran like hidden music everywhere. Slowly the valley and the sound of its life-the lowing of cattle, the clatter at the mines, the songs of the negroes at work-sank beneath him. The chorus of birds dwindled until only the cool, flute-like notes of a wood- thrush rose faintly from below. Up he went, winding around great oaks, fallen trunks, loose bowlders, and threatening cliffs until light glimmered whitely between the boles of the trees. From a gap where he paused to rest, a fire-scald " was visible close to the"
crest of the adjoining mountain. It was filled with the charred, ghost-like trunks of trees that had been burned standing. Easter"s home must be near that, Clayton thought, and he turned toward it by a path that ran along the top of the mountain. After a few hundred yards the path swerved sharply through a dense thicket, and Clayton stopped in wonder.
Some natural agent had hollowed the mountain, leaving a level plateau of several acres. The earth had fallen away from a great sombre cliff of solid rock, and clinging like a swallow"s nest in a cleft of this was the usual rude cabin of a mountaineer. The face of the rock was dark with vines, and the cabin was protected as by a fortress. But one way of approach was possible, and that straight to the porch. From the cliff the vines had crept to roof and chimney, and were waving their tendrils about a thin blue spiral of smoke.
The cabin was gray and tottering with age. Above the porch on the branches of an apple-tree hung leaves that matched in richness of tint the thick moss on the rough shingles. Under it an old woman sat spinning, and a hound lay asleep at her feet. Easter was nowhere to be seen, but her voice came from below him in a loud tone of command; and presently she appeared from behind a knoll, above which the thatched roof of a stable was visible, and slowly ascended the path to the house. She had evidently just finished work, for a plough stood in the last furrow of the field, and the fragrance of freshly turned earth was in the air. On the porch she sank wearily into a low chair, and, folding her hands, looked away to the mountains.
Clayton climbed the crumbling fence. A dead twig snapped, and, startled by the sound, the girl began to rise; but, giving him one quick, sharp look, dropped her eyes to her hands, and remained motionless.
"Good morning," said Clayton, lifting his hat. The girl did not raise her face. The wheel stopped, and the spinner turned her head.
How air ye? " she said, with ready hospitality. " Come in an" hev a cheer."
"No, thank you," he answered, a little embarra.s.sed by Easter"s odd behavior. " May I get some water?
"Sartinly," said the old woman, looking him over curiously. "
Easter, go git some fresh."
The girl started to rise, but Clayton, picking up the bucket, said, quickly:
"Oh no; I won"t trouble you. I see the spring," he added, noticing a tiny stream that trickled from a fissure at the base of the cliff.
Who air that feller, Easter? " the mother asked, in a low voice, when Clayton was out of hearing.
"One o" them furriners who hev come into Injun Creek," was the indifferent reply.
That"s splendid water," said Clayton, returning. "May I give you some?" The old woman shook her head. Easter"s eyes were still on the mountains, and apparently she had not heard him.
"Hit air good water," said the mother.
"That spring never does go dry. You better come in and rest a spell. I suppose ye air from the mines?" she added, as she turned to resume spinning.
Yes," answered Clayton. "There is good hunting around here, isn"t there? " he went on, feeling that some explanation was due for his sudden arrival away up in that lone spot.
There was no answer. Easter did not look toward him, and the spinning stopped.
"Whut d"you say?" asked the old woman.
Clayton repeated his question.
"Thar used to be prime huntin" in these parts when my dad cleared off this spot more"n fifty year ago, but the varmints hev mostly been killed out. But Easter kin tell you better"n I kin, for she does all our huntin", "n" she kin outshoot "mos" any man in the mountains."
Yes; I saw her shoot at the match the other day down at the mines."
Did ye? "-a smile of pleasure broke over the old woman"s face-"
whar she beat Sherd Raines? Sherd wanted to mortify her, but she mortified him, I reckon."
The girl did not join in her mother"s laugh, though the corners of her mouth twitched faintly.
I like shooting, myself," said Clayton. "I would go into a match, but I"m afraid I wouldn"t have much chance."
"I reckon not, with that short thing? " said the old woman, pointing at his repeating-rifle. "Would ye shoot with that?"
Oh, yes," answered Clayton, smiling; "it shoots very well."
"How fer?"
"Oh, a long way."
A huge shadow swept over the house, thrown by a buzzard sailing with magnificent ease high above them. Thinking that he might disturb its flight, Clayton rose and c.o.c.ked his rifle.
"Ye"re not going to shoot at that?" said the old woman, grinning.
The girl had looked toward him at last, with a smile of faint dension.