Three sharp blasts upon a horn, thrice repeated; then an interval; then three more thrice repeated. Up, up the mountain the signal climbed; now faltering, now falling, but always climbing; sending echoes before it, and leaving echoes behind it, but climbing, climbing; now fainting and dying away, but climbing, climbing, until it reached Pullium"s Summit, the smallest thread of sound. Two men were sitting talking in front of a cabin. The eldest placed one hand upon the shoulder of his companion, and flung the other to his ear. Faint and far, but clear and strenuous, came the signal. The men listened even after it had died away. The leaves of the tall chestnuts whipped each other gently, and the breeze that had borne the signal seemed to stay in the tops of the mountain pines as if awaiting further orders; and it had not long to wait.
The man who had held his hand to his ear slapped his companion on the back, and cried, "Poteet"s!" and that was news enough for the other, who rose, stretched himself lazily, and pa.s.sed into the cabin. He came out with a horn--an exaggerated trumpet made of tin,--and with this to his lips he repeated to the waiting breeze, and to the echoes that were glad to be aroused, the news that had come from Poteet"s. Across the broad plateau of Pullium"s Summit the wild tidings flew, until, reaching the western verge of the mountain, they dived down into Prather"s Mill Road--a vast gorge which takes its name from the freak of a drunken mountaineer, who declared he would follow the stream that rushed through it until he found a mill, and was never heard of again.
The news from Poteet"s was not so easily lost. It dropped over the sheer walls of the chasm, three hundred feet down, and refused to be drowned out by the rush and roar of the waters, as they leaped over the boulders, until it had accomplished its mission. For here in Prather"s Mill Road burned the slow fires that kept the Government officials in Atlanta at a white heat. They were burning now. If one of the officials could have crawled to the edge of the gorge, where everything seemed dwarfed by the towering walls of rook and the black abyss from which they sprang, he would have seen small fitful sparks of flame glowing at intervals upon the bosom of the deeper and blacker night below. These were the fires that all the power and ingenuity of the Government failed to smother, but they were now blown out one after another by the blasts from Sis Poteet"s horn.
The news that was wafted down into the depths of Prather"s Mill Road upon the wings of the wind was not at all alarming. On the contrary, it was received by the grimy watchers at the stills with considerable hilarity. To the most of them it merely furnished an excuse for a week"s holiday, including trips to both Gullettsville and Villa Ray.
Freely interpreted, it ran thus: "Friends and fellow-citizens: this is to inform you that Hog Mountain is to be raided by the revenue men by way of Teague Poteet"s. Let us hear from you at once." There was neither alarm nor hurry, but the fires were put out quickly, because that was the first thing to be done.
Teague Poteet owned and managed two stills. He was looking after some "doublings" when the notes of the horn dropped down into the gorge. He paused, and listened, and smiled. Uncle Jake Norris, who had come to have his jug filled, was in the act of taking a dram, but he waited, balancing the tin cup in the palm of his hand. Tip Watson was telling one of his stories to the two little boys who accompanied Uncle Jake, but he never ended it.
"Sis talks right out in meetin"," said Teague, after waiting to be sure there was no postscript to the message.
"What"s the row, Teague?" asked Uncle Jake, swallowing his dram.
""Nother raid comin" right in front er my door," Teague explained, "an"
I reckon in reason I oughter be home when they go past. They use to be a kinder coolness betweenst me an" them revenue fellers, but we went to work an" patched it up."
Tip Watson appeared to be so overjoyed that he went through all the forms of a cotillon dance, imitating a fiddle, calling the figures, and giving his hand to imaginary partners. The boys fairly screamed with laughter at this exhibition, and Uncle Jake was so overcome that he felt called upon to take another dram--a contingency that was renewed when Tip swung from the measure of a cotillon to that of a breakdown, singing--
"I hain"t bin a-wantin" no mo" wines--mo" wines-- Sence daddy got drunk on low wines--low wines."
"Come, Tip," said Teague, "yess shet up shop. Ef Sis ain"t a caution,"
he said, after a while, as he moved around putting things to rights.
"Ef Sis ain"t a caution, you kin shoot me. They hain"t no mo" tellin"
wher" Sis picked up "bout thish "ere raid than nothin" in the worl".
Dang me ef I don"t b"lieve the gal"s glad when a raid"s a-comin". Wi"
Sis, hit"s move_ment_, move_ment_, day in an" day out. They hain"t n.o.body knows that gal less"n it"s me. She knows how to keep things a-gwine. Sometimes she runs an" meets me, an" says, se" she: "Pap, mammy"s in the dumps; yess you an" me make out we er quollin". Hit"ll sorter stir "er up;" an" then Sis, she"ll light in, an" by the time we git in the house, she"s a-scoldin" an" a-sa.s.sin" an" I"m a-cussin", en"
airter a while hit gits so hot an" natchul-like that I thes has ter drag Sis out behin" the chimbly and buss "er for to make certain an"
sh.o.r.e that she ain"t accidentally flew off the han"le. Bliss your soul an" body! she"s a caution!"
"An" what"s "er maw a-doin" all that time?" inquired Uncle Jake, as he took another dram with an indifferent air.
Teague laughed aloud as he packed the fresh earth over his fire.
"Oh, Puss! Puss, she thes sets thar a-chawin" away at "er snuff, an"
a-knittin" away at "er socks tell she thinks I"m a-pushin" Sis too clost, an" then she blazes out an" blows me up. Airter that," Teague continued, "things gits more homelike. Ef "twan"t fer me an" Sis, I reckon Puss "nd teetotally fret "erself away."
"St. Paul," said Uncle Jake, looking confidentially at another dram which he had poured into the tin cup,--"St. Paul says ther" er divers an" many wimmin, an" I reckon he know"d. Ther" er some you kin fret an some you can"t. Ther"s my ole "oman: the livin" human bein" that stirs _her_ up"ll have ter frail "er out, er she"ll frail _him_."
"Well," said Teague, by way of condolence, "the man what"s stabbed by a pitchfork hain"t much better off "n the man that walks bar"footed in a treadsaft patch."
The suggestion in regard to Mistress Norris seemed to remind Uncle Jake of something important. He called to his boys, took another modest dram, and disappeared in the undergrowth. Teague Poteet and his friends were soon ready to follow this worthy example, so that in another hour Prather"s Mill Road was a very dull and uninteresting place from a revenue point of view.
Woodward was aroused during the night by the loud barking of dogs, the tramp of horses, and the confused murmur of suppressed conversation.
Looking from the window, he judged by the position of the stars that it was three or four o"clock in the morning. He sat upon the side of the bed, and sought, by listening intently, to penetrate the mystery of this untimely commotion. He thought he recognised the voice of Tip Watson, and he was sure he heard Sid Parmalee"s peculiar cough and chuckle. The conversation soon lifted itself out of the apparent confusion, and became comparatively distinct. The voices were those of Teague and Sis.
"Come now, pap, you must promise."
"Why, Sis, how _kin_ I?"
"You shall, you shall, you _shall!_"
"Why, Sis, hon, he mought be a spy. Sid Pannalee he "lows that the whole dad-blamed business is a put-up job. He wants to bet right now that we"ll all be in jail in Atlanty "fore the moon changes. I lay they don"t none of "em fool Sid."
"You don"t love me any more," said Sis, taking a new tack.
"Good Lord, Sis! Why, honey, what put that idee in your head?"
"I know you don"t--I know it! Its always Dave Hightower this, and Sid Par-malee that, and old drunken Jake Norris the other. I just _know_ you don"t love me."
Teague also took a new tack, but there was a quiver in his voice born of deadly earnestness.
"I tell you, Sis, they er houndin" airter us; they er runnin" us down; they er closin" in on us; they er hemmin" us up. Airter they git your pore ole pappy an" slam "im in jail, an" chain "im down, who"s a-gwineter promise to take keer er _him?_ Hain"t ole man Joshway Blasingame bin sent away off to Al_benny?_ Hain"t ole man Cajy Shannon a-sarvin" out his time, humpback an" cripple ez he is? Who took keer _them_? Who ast anybody to let up on "em? But don"t you fret, honey; ef they hain"t no trap sot, n.o.body ain"t a-gwineter pester _him_."
"I wouldn"t trust that Sid Parmalee out of my sight!" exclaimed Sis, beginning to cry. "I know him, and I know all of you."
"But ef they is a trap sot," continued Teague, ignoring Sis"s tears, "_ef_ they is, I tell you, honey, a thousau" folks like me can"t hol"
the boys down. The time "a done come when they er teetotally wore out with thish "ere sneakin" aroun" an" hidin"-out bizness."
This appeared to end the conversation, but it left Woodward considerably puzzled. Shortly afterward he heard a rap at his door, and before he could respond to the summons by inquiry or invitation, Teague Poteet entered with a lighted candle in his hand.
"I "lowed the stirrin" "roun" mought "a" sorter rousted you," said Teague, by way of apology, as he placed the light on a small table and seated himself on a wooden chest.
"Yes. What"s up?" Woodward inquired.
"Oh, the boys--thes the boys," Teague replied, chuckling and rubbing his chin with an embarra.s.sed air; "hit"s thes the boys cuttin" up some er ther capers. They er mighty quare, the boys is," he continued, his embarra.s.sment evidently increasing, "mighty quare. They uv up"d an" tuk a notion for to go on a little frolic, an" they uv come by airter me, an" nothin" won"t do "em but I mus" fetch you. S" I, "Genter_men_, they hain"t no manners in astin" a man on a marchin" frolic this time er night," s" I; but Sid Parmalee, he chipped in an" "lowed that you wuz ez high up for fun ez the next man."
Woodward thought he understood the drift of things, but he was desperately uncertain. He reflected a moment, and then faced the situation squarely.
"If you were in my place, Mr. Poteet, what would you do?" he asked.
This seemed to relieve Teague, His embarra.s.sment disappeared. His eyes, which had been wandering uneasily around the room, sought Woodward"s face and rested there. He took off his wide-brimmed wool hat, placed it carefully upon the floor, and ran his fingers through his iron-grey hair.
"I don"t mind sayin"," he remarked grimly, "that I uv seed the time when I"d uv ast you to drap out"n that winder an" make for the bushes, knowin" that you"d tote a han"ful er bullets in thar wi" you. But on account er me an" Sis, I"m willin" to extracise my bes" judg_ment_. It mayn"t be satisfactual, but me an" Sis is mighty long-headed when we pulls tergether. Ef I was you, I"d thes slip on my duds, an" I"d go out thar whar the boys is, an" I"d be high up for the"r frolic, an" I"d jine in wi" "em, an" I"d raise any chune they give out."
With this Poteet gravely bowed himself out, and in a very few minutes Woodward was dressed and ready for adventure. He was young and bold, but he felt strangely ill at ease. He realised that, with all his address, he had never been able to gain the confidence of these mountaineers, and he felt sure they connected him with the revenue raid that was about to be made, and of which they had received information.
He appreciated to the fullest extent the fact that the situation called for the display of all the courage and coolness and nerve he could command; but, in the midst of it all, he longed for an opportunity to show Sis Poteet the difference between a real man and a feebleminded, jocular rascal like Tip Watson.
His spirits rose as he stepped from the low piazza into the darkness and made his way to where he heard the rattle of stirrups and spurs.
Some one hailed him--
"h.e.l.lo, Cap!"
"Ah-yi!" he responded. "It"s here we go, gals, to the wedding."
"I knowed we could count on "im," said the voice of Tip Watson.
"Yes," said Sid Parmalee, "I knowed it so well that I fotch a extry hoss."