His eyes dilated with a sudden accession of terror that seemed always a-smoulder. "Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!" he moaned wretchedly.
Meddlesome was true to her name and tradition. "Ye oughter hev remembered the Lawd "fore ye done it," she said, with a repellent impulse; then she would have given much to recall the reproach. The man was desperate; his safety lay in her silence. A pistol-shot would secure it, and anger would limber the trigger.
But he did not seem indignant. His eyes, intelligent and feverishly bright, gazed down at her only in obvious dismay and surprise. "Done what?" he asked, and as, prudence prevailing for once, she did not reply, he spoke for her. "The murder, ye mean? Why, gal, I warn"t even thar. I knowed nuthin" "bout it till later. Ez G.o.d is my helper and my hope, I warn"t even thar."
She stood astounded. "Then why n"t ye leave it ter men?"
"I can"t prove it ag"in" the murderers" oaths. I had been consarned in the moon-shinin" that ended in murder, but I hed not been nigh the still fer a month,-I war out a-huntin"-when the revenuers made the raid. There war a scrimmage "twixt the raiders an" the distillers, an" an outsider that hed nuthin" ter do with the Federal law-he war the constable o" the deestrick, an" jes rid with the gang ter see the fun or ter show them the way-he war killed. An" account o" him, the State law kem into the game. Them other moonshiners war captured, an" they swore ag"in" me "bout the shootin" ter save tha.r.s.elves, but I hearn thar false oaths hev done them no good, they being held as accessory. An" I be so ez I can"t prove an alibi-I can"t prove it, though it"s G.o.d"s truth. But before high heaven"-he lifted his gaunt right hand-"I am innercent, I am innercent."
She could not have said why,-perhaps she realized afterward,-but she believed him absolutely, implicitly. A fervor of sympathy for his plight, of commiseration, surged up in her heart. "I wisht it war so I could gin ye some pervisions," she sighed, "though ye do "pear toler"ble triflin" ter lack game."
Then the dread secret was told. "Gal,"-he used the word as a polite form of address, the equivalent of the more sophisticated "lady,"-"ef ye will believe me, all my ammunition is spent. Not a ca"tridge lef", not a dust of powder."
Meddy caught both her hands to her lips to intercept and smother a cry of dismay.
"I snared a rabbit two days ago in a dead-fall. My knife-blade is bruk, but I reckon thar is enough lef" ter split my jugular whenst the eend is kem at last."
The girl suddenly caught her faculties together. "What sorter fool talk is that?" she demanded sternly. "Ye do my bid, ef ye knows what"s good fer ye. Git out"n this trap of a tree an" hide "mongst the crevices of the rocks till seben o"clock ter-night. Then kem up ter Gran"dad Kettison"s whenst it is cleverly dark an" tap on the gla.s.s winder-not on the batten shutter. An" I"ll hev ca"tridges an" powder an" ball for ye, an" some victuals ready, too."
But the fugitive, despite his straits, demurred. "I don"t want ter git old man Kettison into trouble for lendin" ter me."
""T ain"t his"n. "T is my dad"s old buck-shot ca"tridges an" powder an" ball. They belong ter me. The other childern is my half-brothers, bein" my mother war married twice. Ye kin steal this gear from me, ef that will make ye feel easier."
"But what will yer gran"dad say ter me?"
"He won"t know who ye be; he will jes "low ye air one o" the boys who air always foolin" away thar time visitin" me an" makin" tallow-dips skeerce." The sudden gleam of mirth on her face was like an illuminating burst of sunshine, and somehow it cast an irradiation into the heart of the fugitive, for, after she was gone out of sight, he pondered upon it.
But the early dusk fell from a lowering sky, and the night came on beclouded and dark. Some turbulent spirit was loosed in the air, and the wind was wild. Great, surging ma.s.ses of purple vapor came in a mad rout from the dank west and gathered above the ma.s.sive and looming mountains. The woods bent and tossed and clashed their boughs in the riot of gusts, the sere leaves were flying in clouds, and presently rain began to fall. The steady downpour increased in volume to torrents; then the broad, pervasive flashes of lightning showed, in lieu of myriad lines, an unbroken veil of steely gray swinging from the zenith, the white foam rebounding as the ma.s.ses of water struck the earth. The camp equipage, tents and wagons succ.u.mbed beneath the fury of the tempest, and, indeed, the hunters had much ado to saddle their horses and grope their way along the bridle-path that led to old Kettison"s house.
The rude comfort of the interior had a heightened emphasis by reason of the elemental turmoils without. True, the rain beat in a deafening fusillade upon the roof, and the ostentation of the one gla.s.s window, a source of special pride to its owner, was at a temporary disadvantage in admitting the fierce and ghastly electric glare, so recurrent as to seem unintermittent. But the more genial illumination of hickory flames, red and yellow, was streaming from the great chimney-place, and before the broad hearth the guests were ensconced, their out-stretched boots steaming in the heat. Strings of scarlet peppers, bunches of dried herbs, gourds of varied quaint shapes, hung swaying from the rafters. The old man"s gay, senile chirp of welcome was echoed by his wife, a type of comely rustic age, who made much of the fact that, though house-bound from "rheumatics," she had reared her dead daughter"s "two orphin famblies," the said daughter having married twice, neither man "bein" of a lastin" quality," as she seriously phrased it. Meddy, "the eldest fambly," had been guide, philosopher, and friend to the swarm of youngsters, and even now, in the interests of peace and s.p.a.ce and hearing, was seeking to herd them into an adjoining room, when a sudden stentorian hail from without rang through the splashing of the rain from the eaves, the crash of thunder among the "balds" of the mountains, with its lofty echoes, and the sonorous surging of the wind.
"Light a tallow-dip, Meddy," cried old Kettison, excitedly. "An" fetch the candle on the porch so ez we-uns kin view who rides so late in sech a night "fore we bid "em ter light an" hitch."
But these were travelers not to be gain-said-the sheriff of the county and four stout fellows from the town of Colbury, summoned to his aid as a posse, all trooping in as if they owned the little premises. However, the officer permitted himself to unbend a trifle under the influence of a hospitable tender of home-made cherry-bounce, "strong enough to walk from here to Colbury," according to the sheriff"s appreciative phrase. He was a portly man, with a rolling, explanatory cant of his burly head and figure toward his interlocutor as he talked. His hair stood up in two tufts above his forehead, one on each side, and he had large, round, grayish eyes and a solemn, pondering expression. To Meddy, staring horror-stricken, he seemed as owlishly wise as he looked while he explained the object of his expedition.
"This district have got a poor reputation with the law, Mr. Kettison. Here is this fellow, Royston McGurny, been about here two years, and a reward for five hundred dollars out for his arrest."
"That"s Roy"s fault, Sher"ff, not our"n," leered the glib old man. He, too, had had a sip of the stalwart cherry-bounce. "Roy"s in no wise sociable."
"It"s plumb flying in the face of the law," declared the officer. "If I had a guide, I"d not wait a minute, or if I could recognize the man whenst I viewed him. The constable promised to send a fellow to meet me here,-what"s his name?-yes, Smith, Barton Smith,-who will guide us to where he was last glimpsed. I hope to take him alive," he added with an inflection of doubt.
Certainly this was a dreary camp-hunt, with all its distasteful sequelae. Purcell, who had no more imagination than a promissory note, silently sulked under the officer"s intimation that, being able-bodied men, he would expect the hunters also to ride with him. They were not of his county, and doubted their obligation, but they would not refuse to aid the law. Bygrave, however, realized a "story" in the air, and Seymour was interested in the impending developments; for being a close observer, he had perceived that the girl was in the clutch of some tumultuous though covert agitation. Her blood blazed at fever-heat in her cheeks; her eyes were on fire; every muscle was tense; and her brain whirled. To her the crisis was tremendous. This was the result of her unwarranted interference. Who was she, indeed, that she should seek to command the march of events and deploy sequences? Her foolish manuvering had lured this innocent man to ruin, capture, anguish, and death. No warning could he have; the window was opaque with the corrugations of the rain-fall on the streaming panes, and set too high to afford him a glimpse from without. And, oh, how he would despise the traitor that she must needs seem to be! She had not a moment for reflection, for counsel, for action. Already the signal,-he was prompt at the tryst,-the sharp, crystalline vibration of the tap on the gla.s.s!
The sheriff rose instantly with that c.u.mbrous agility sometimes characterizing portly men. "There he is now!" he exclaimed.
But Meddy, with a little hysterical cry, had sprung first to the opening door. "Barton Smith!" she exclaimed, with shrill significance. "Hyar is yer guide, Sher"ff, wet ez a drownded rat."
The pale face in the dark aperture of the doorway, as the fire-light flashed on it, grew ghastly white with terror and lean with amazement. For a moment the man seemed petrified. Seymour, vaguely fumbling with his suspicions, began to disintegrate the plot of the play, and to discriminate the powers of the dramatis personae.
"Now, my man, step lively," said the officer in his big, husky voice. "Do you know this Royston McGurny?"
To be sure, Seymour had no cause for suspicion but his own intuition and the intangible evidence of tone and look all as obvious to the others as to him. But he was at once doubtful and relieved when the haggard wretch at the door, mustering his courage, replied: "Know Royston McGurny? None better. Knowed him all my life."
"Got pretty good horse?"
"Got none at all; expect ter borry Mr. Kettison"s."
"I"ll go show ye whar the saddle be," exclaimed Meddy, with her wonted officiousness, and glibly picking up the bits of her shattered scheme. Seymour fully expected they would not return from the gloom without, whither they had disappeared, but embrace the immediate chance of escape before the inopportune arrival of the real Barton Smith should balk the possibility. But, no,-and he doubted anew all his suspicions,-in a trice here they both were again, a new courage, a new hope in that pallid, furtive face, and another horse stood saddled among the equine group at the door. Meddlesome was pinning up the brown skirt of her gown, showing a red petticoat that had harmonies with a coa.r.s.e, red plaid shawl adjusted over her head and shoulders.
"Gran"dad," she observed, never looking up, and speaking with her mouth full of pins, "Barton Smith say he kin set me down at Aunt Drusina"s house. Ye know she be ailin", an" sent for me this evenin"; but I hed no way ter go."
The sheriff looked sour enough at this intrusion; but he doubtless imagined that this relative was no distant neighbor, and as he had need of hearty aid and popular support, he offered no protest.
There was a clearing sky without, and the wind was laid. The frenzy of the storm was over, although rain was still falling. The little cavalcade got to horse deliberately enough amid the transparent dun shadows and dim yellow flare of light from open door and window. One of the mounts had burst a girth, and a strap must be procured from the plow-gear in the shed. Another, a steed of some spirit, reared and plunged at the lights, and could not be induced to cross the illuminated bar thrown athwart the yard from the open door. The official impatience of the delay was expressed in irritable comments and muttered oaths; but throughout the interval the guide, with his pallid, strained face, sat motionless in his saddle, his rifle across its pommel, an apt presentment of indifference, while, perched behind him, Meddy was continually busy in readjusting her skirts or shawl or a small bundle that presumably contained her rustic finery, but which, to a close approach, would have disclosed the sulphurous odor of gunpowder.
When the cl.u.s.ter of hors.e.m.e.n was fairly on the march, however, she sat quite still, and more than once Seymour noted that, with her face close to the shoulder of the guide, she was whispering in his ear. What was their game? he marvelled, having once projected the idea that this late comer was, himself, the "wolf"s head" whom they were to chase down for a rich reward, incongruously hunting amidst his own hue and cry. Or, Seymour again doubted, had he merely constructed a figment of a scheme from his own imaginings and these attenuations of suggestion? For there seemed, after all, scant communication between the two, and this was even less when the moon was unveiled, the shifting shimmer of the clouds falling away from the great sphere of pearl, gemming the night with an incomparable splendor. It had grown almost as light as day, and the sheriff ordered the pace quickened. Along a definite cattle-trail they went at first, but presently they were following through bosky recesses a deer-path, winding sinuously at will on the way to water. The thinning foliage let in the fair, ethereal light, and all the sylvan aisles stood in sheeny silver illumination. The drops of moisture glittered jewel-wise on the dark boughs of fir and pine, and one could even discriminate the red glow of sour-wood and the golden flare of hickory, so well were the chromatic harmonies a.s.serted in this refined and refulgent glamour.
"Barton Smith!" called the sheriff, suddenly from the rear of the party. There was no answer, and Seymour felt his prophetic blood run cold. His conscience began to stir. Had he, indeed, no foundation for his suspicion?
"Smith! Smith" cried the irascible officer. "Hey, there! Is the man deaf?"
"Not deef, edzac"ly," Meddlesome"s voice sounded reproachfully; "jes a leetle hard o" hearin"." She had administered a warning nudge.
"Hey? What ye want?" said the "Wolf"s Head," suddenly checking his horse.
"Have you any idea of where you are going, or how far?" demanded the officer, sternly.
"Just acrost the gorge," the guide answered easily.
"I heard he had been glimpsed in a hollow tree. That word was telephoned from the cross-roads to town. It was the tree the skeleton was in."
"That tree? It"s away back yander," observed one of the posse, reluctant and disaffected.
"Oh, he has quit that tree; he is bound for up the gorge now," said the guide.
"Well, I suppose you know, from what I was told," said the sheriff, discontentedly; "but this is a long ja"nt. Ride up! Ride up!"
Onward they fared through the perfumed woods. The wild asters were blooming, and sweet and subtile distillations of the autumnal growths were diffused on the air. The deer are but ill at road-making,-such tangled coverts, such clifty ledges, such wild leaps; for now the path threaded the jagged verge of precipices. The valley, a black abyss above which ma.s.sive, purplish mountains loomed against a sky of pearly tints, was visibly narrowing. They all knew that presently it would become a mere gorge, a vast indentation in the mountain-side. The weird vistas across the gorge were visible now, craggy steeps, and deep woods filled with moonlight, with that peculiar untranslated intendment which differentiates its luminosity in the wilderness from the lunar glamour of cultivated scenes-something weird, melancholy, eloquent of a meaning addressed to the soul, but which the senses cannot entertain or words express.
With a sudden halt, the guide dismounted. The girl still sat on the saddle-blanket, and the horse bowed his head and pawed. The posse were gazing dubiously, reluctantly, at a foot-bridge across a deep abyss. It was only a log, the upper side hewn, with a shaking hand-rail held by slight standards.
"Have we got to cross this?" asked the officer, still in the saddle and gazing downward.
"Ef ye foller me," said the guide, indifferently.
But he was ahead of his orders. He visibly braced his nerves for the effort, and holding his rifle as a balancing-pole, he sped along the light span with a tread as deft as a fox or a wolf. In a moment he had gained the farther side.
They scarcely knew how it happened. So unexpected was the event that, though it occurred before their eyes, they did not seem to see it. They remembered, rather than perceived, that he stooped suddenly; with one single great effort of muscular force he dislodged the end of the log, heaved it up in the air, strongly flung it aside, whence it went crashing down into the black depths below, its own weight, as it fell, sufficing to wrench out the other end, carrying with it a ma.s.s of earth and rock from the verge of the precipice.