"Oh, he knows all about the mountain, and I want to ask his advice and get his opinions," said Chichester.
Something about Mr. Chichester seemed to attract Abe Hightower. Perhaps it was the young fellow"s fresh, handsome appearance; perhaps it was his free-and-easy att.i.tude, suggestive of the commercial tourist, that met the approbation of the mountaineer. At any rate, Abe smiled upon the young man in a fatherly way and said: ""Twixt you an" me an" yon pine, you hain"t got no furder to go fer to strike up wi" Hightower. I"m the man you er atter."
Chichester regarded him with some degree of amazement.
"My dear sir," he exclaimed, "why should you desire to play the sphinx?"
"Spinks?" said Abe, with something like a grimace; "the Spinks famerly lived furder up the mounting, but they er done bin weeded out by the revenue men too long ago to talk about. The ole man"s in jail in Atlanty er some"rs else, the boys is done run"d off, an" the gal"s a trollop. No Spinks in mine, cap", _ef_ you please!"
Chichester laughed at the other"s earnestness. He mistook it for drollery.
"I let you know, cap"," Abe went on, "you can"t be boss er your own doin"s an" give ever" pa.s.sin" man your name."
"Well, I"m very glad to meet you," said Chichester heartily; "I"ll have a good deal of business in this neighborhood first and last, and I"m told there isn"t anything worth knowing about the mountain that you don"t know."
"That kind er talk," Abe replied, "kin be run in the groun", yit I hain"t a-denyin" but what I"ve got a kind er speakin" acquaintance wi"
the neighborhood whar I"m a-livin" at. Ef you er huntin" my house, thes drive right on. I"ll be thar ag"in you git thar."
Chichester found a very cordial welcome awaiting him when he arrived at Hightower"s house. Even the dogs were friendly, and the big cat came out from its hiding-place to rub against his legs as he sat on the little porch.
"By the time you rest your face an" han"s," said Abe, "I reckon breakfast"ll be ready."
Chichester, who was anxious to give no trouble, explained that he had had a cup of coffee at Peevy"s before starting up the mountain. He said, moreover, that the mountain was so bracing that he felt as if he could fast a week and still fatten.
"Well, sir," Abe remarked, "hit"s mighty little we er got to offer, an"
that little"s mighty common, but, sech as "tis, you er more"n welcome.
Hit"s diffunt wi" me when the mornin" air blows at me. Hit makes me wanter nibble at somepin". I dunner whar you come from, an" I ain"t makin" no inquirements, but down in these parts you can"t spat a man harder betwixt the eyes than to set back an" not break bread wi" "im."
Mr. Chichester had been warned not to wound the hospitality of the simple people among whom he was going, and he was quick to perceive that his refusal to "break bread" with the Hightowers would be taken too seriously. Whereupon, he made a most substantial apology--an apology that took the shape of a ravenous appet.i.te, and did more than justice to Mrs. Hightower"s fried chicken, crisp biscuits, and genuine coffee. Mr.
Chichester also made himself as agreeable as he knew how, and he was so pleased with the impression he made that he, on his side, admitted to himself that the Hightowers were charmingly quaint, especially the shy girl of whom he caught a brief glimpse now and then as she handed her mother fresh supplies of chicken and biscuits.
There was nothing mysterious connected with the visit of Mr. Chichester to Lost Mountain. He was the agent of a company of Boston capitalists who were anxious to invest money in Georgia marble quarries, and Chichester was on Lost Mountain for the purpose of discovering the marble beds that had been said by some to exist there. He had the versatility of a modern young man, being something of a civil engineer and something of a geologist; in fine, he was one of the many "general utility" men that improved methods enable the high schools and colleges to turn out. He was in the habit of making himself agreeable wherever he went, but behind his levity and general good-humor there was a good deal of seriousness and firmness of purpose.
He talked with great freedom to the Hightowers, giving a sort of commercial coloring, so to speak, to the plans of his company with respect to land investments on Lost Mountain; but he said nothing about his quest for marble.
"The Lord send they won"t be atter fetchin" the railroad kyars among us," said Grandsir Hightower fervently.
"Well, sir," said Chichester, "there isn"t much danger."
"Now, I dunno "bout that," said the old man querulously, "I dunno "bout that. They"re gittin" so these days they"ll whirl in an" do e"enamost anything what you don"t want "em to do. I kin stan" out thar in the hoss-lot any cle"r day an" see the smoke er their ingines, an" sometimes. .h.i.t looks like I kin hear "em snort an" cough. They er plenty nigh enough. The Lord send they won"t fetch "em no nigher. Fum Giner"l Jackson"s time plump tell now, they ere bin a-fetchin" destruction to the country. You"ll see it. I mayn"t see it myself, but you"ll see it.
Fust hit was Giner"l Jackson an" the bank, an" now hit"s the railroad kyars. You"ll see it!"
"And yet," said Chichester, turning toward the old man, as Hope might beam benignantly on the Past, "everybody and everything seems to be getting along very well. I think the only thing necessary now is to invent something or other to keep the cinders out of a man"s eyes when he rides on the railroads."
"Don"t let "em fool you," said the old man earnestly. "Ever"thing"s in a tangle, an" ther hain"t no Whig party for to ontangle it. Giner"l Jackson an" the cussid bank is what done it."
Just then Miss Babe came out on the little porch, and seated herself on the bench that ran across one end. "Cap"," said Abe, with some show of embarra.s.sment, as if not knowing how to get through a necessary ceremony, "this is my gal, Babe. She"s the oldest and the youngest. I"m name" Abe an" she"s name" Babe, sort er rimin" like."
The unaffected shyness of the young girl was pleasant to behold, and if it did not heighten her beauty, it certainly did not detract from it. It was a shyness in which there was not an awkward element, for Babe had the grace of youth and beauty, and conscious independence animated all her movements.
""Ceppin" me an" the ole "oman," said Abe, "Babe is the best-lookin" one er the famerly."
The girl reddened a little, and laughed lightly with the air of one who is accustomed to give and take jokes, but said nothing.
"I heard of Miss Babe last night," said Chichester, "and I"ve got a message for her."
"Wait!" exclaimed Abe triumphantly; "I"ll bet a hoss I kin call the name "thout movin" out"n my cheer. Hold on!" he continued. "I"ll bet another hoss I kin relate the message word for word."
Babe blushed violently, but laughed good-humoredly. Chichester adjusted himself at once to this unexpected informality, and allowed himself to become involved in it.
"Come, now!" he cried, "I"ll take the bet."
"I declare!" said Mrs. Hightower, laughing, "you all oughtn" to pester Babe that away."
"Wait!" said Abe. "The name er the man what sont the word is Tuck Peevy, an" when he know"d you was a-comin" here, he sort er sidled up an" ast you for to please be so good as to tell Miss Babe he"d drap in nex"
Sunday, an" see what her mammy is a-gwine ter have for dinner."
"Well, I have won the bet," said Chichester. "Mr. Peevy simply asked me to tell Miss Babe that there would be a singing at Philadelphia camp-ground Sunday. I hardly know what to do with two horses."
"Maybe you"ll feel better," said Abe, "when somebody tells you that my hoss is a mule. Well, well, well!" he went on. "Tuck didn"t say he was comin", but I be boun" he comes, an" more"n that, I be boun" a whole pa.s.sel er gals an" boys"ll foller Babe home."
"In giner"lly," said Grandsir Hightower, "I hate for to make remarks "bout folks when they hain"t settin" whar they kin hear me, but that ar Tuck Peevy is got a mighty bad eye. I hearn "im a-quollin" wi" one er them Simmons boys las" Sunday gone wuz a week, an" I tell you he"s got the Ole Boy in "im. An" his appet.i.te"s wuss"n his eye."
"Well," said Mrs. Hightower, "n.o.body "roun" here don"t begrudge him his vittles, I reckon."
"Oh, by no means--by no manner er means," said the old man, suddenly remembering the presence of Chichester. "Yit they oughter be reason in all things; that"s what I say--reason in all things, espeshually when hit comes to gormandizin"."
The evident seriousness of the old man was very comical. He seemed to be possessed by the unreasonable economy that not infrequently seizes on old age.
"They hain"t no begrudgin" "roun" here," he went on. "Lord! ef I"d "a"
bin a-begrudgin" I"d "a" thes natchally bin e"t up wi" begrudges. What wer" the word the poor creetur sent to Babe?"
Chichester repeated the brief and apparently uninteresting message, and Grandsir Hightower groaned dismally.
"I dunner what sot him so ag"in" Tuck Peevy," said Abe, laughing.
"Tuck"s e"en about the peartest chap in the settlement, an" a mighty handy man, put him whar you will."
"Why, Aberham!" exclaimed the old man, "you go on like a man what"s done gone an" took leave of his sev"m senses. You dunner what sot me ag"in"
the poor creetur? Why, time an" time ag"in I"ve tol" you it"s his onG.o.dly hankerin" atter the flesh-pots. The Bible"s ag"in" it, an" I"m ag"in" it. Wharbouts is it put down that a man is ever foun" grace in the cubberd?"
"Well, I lay a man that works is boun" ter eat," said Abe.
"Oh, _I_ hain"t no "count--_I_ can"t work," said the old man, his wrath, which had been wrought to a high pitch, suddenly taking the shape of plaintive humility. "Yit "tain"t for long. _I"ll_ soon be out"n the way, Aberham."
"Shoo!" said Abe, placing his hand affectionately on the old man"s shoulder. "You er mighty nigh as spry as a kitten. Babe, honey, fill your grandsir"s pipe. He"s a-missin" his mornin" smoke."
Soothed by his pipe, the old man seemed to forget the existence of Tuck Peevy, and his name came up for discussion no more.