All these duties and details he discussed that first day with Ray, while they worked, for a purpose.
But the first evening here, with its open fire, yet empty seats, was the hardest to pass. In vain Old Cy enlarged upon the joys of trap-setting once more, and how and where they were to secure gum. In vain he described how deadfalls were built and where they must be placed, how many signs of lynx and wildcat he had seen that summer, and how sure they were to secure some of these valuable furs.
Ray’s heart was not here. Far away in some night camp, Chip was thinking of him. He knew each day would bear her farther away. No word of her safe arrival could reach them now. Long months must elapse ere he and she could meet again, and in prospect they seemed an eternity.
“Come, git yer banjo, my boy,” Old Cy ejaculated at last, seeing Ray’s face grow gloomy. “Tune ’er up, an’ play us suthin’ lively. None o’ them goody-goody weepin’ sort o’ tunes; but give us ‘Money Musk’ ’n’ a few jigs. I’m feelin’ our prospects are so cheerful, I’d like to cut a few pigeon-wings out o’ compliment.”
But Old Cy’s hilarity was nearly all put on. He, too, felt the effect of the empty seats and missed every one that had gone, and Ray’s jig tunes lacked their spirit. He essayed a few, and then quite unconsciously his fingers strayed to “My Old Kentucky Home,” and Old Cy’s feelings responded.
CHAPTER XIV
“I jist nachly hate a person that talks as tho’ he’d bin measured fer a harp.”–Old Cy Walker.
Chip’s arrival in Greenvale produced astonishment and gossip galore. It began when the stage that “Uncle Joe” Barnes had driven for twenty years started for that village. There were other passengers besides Martin, his wife, and Chip. The seats inside were soon filled, and Chip, seeing a coveted chance, climbed nimbly to a position beside the driver.
“Gee Whittaker,” observed one bystander to another, as Chip’s black-stockinged legs flashed into view, “but that gal’s nimbler’n a squirrel ’n’ don’t mind showin’ underpinnin’. I wished I was drivin’ that stage. I’ll bet she’s a circus.”