'Don't take the bar'l—don't take the bar'l!' the old woman besought of him, as she fairly hung upon his arm. 'I dunno how the boys would cavort ef they kem back an' fund the bar'l gone.'
He gave her no heed. 'Whyn't ye tell me that man warn't thar?' he asked of the girl.
'Ye didn't ax me that word,' said Dorinda.
'No, 'Cajah Green, ye didn't,' said one of the men, who, since the abortive result of their leader's suspicion, were ashamed of their mission, and prone to self-exoneration. 'I'll stand up ter it ez she answered full an' true every word ez ye axed her.'
'Lor'-a'mighty! Ef I jes' knowed aforehand how it will tech the boys when they view the door down onto the floor!' exclaimed the old woman. 'They mought jounce round hyar ez ef they war bereft o' reason, an' all thar hope o' salvation hed hung on the hinges. An' then agin they mought 'low ez they hed ruther hev no door than be at the trouble o' shettin' it an' barrin' it up ez they come an' go. They air mighty onsartin in thar temper, an' I hev never hankered ter see 'em crost. But fur the glory's sake, don't tech the bar'l. It's been sot thar ter age some, ef the Lord will spare it.'
In the girl's lucent eyes the officer detected a gleam of triumph. How far away in the tangled labyrinths of the mountain wilderness, among the deer-paths and the cataracts and the cliffs, had these long hours led Rick Tyler?
He spoke on his angry impulse: 'An' I ain't goin' ter furgit in a hurry how I hev fund out ez ye air a-consortin' with criminals, an' aidin' an' abettin' men ez air fleein' from jestice an' wanted fur murder. Ye look out; ye'll find yerself in Shaftesville jail 'fore long, I'm a-thinkin'.'
'He stopped an' talked ez other folks stop an' talk,' Dorinda retorted. 'I couldn't hender, an' I hed no mind ter hender. He took no bite nor sup ez others hez done. 'Pears like ter me ez we hev gin aid an' comfort ter the off'cer o' the law ez well ez we could.'
And this was the story that went down to Shaftesville.
The man, his wrath rebounding upon himself, hung his head, and went down to the trough, and mounted his horse without another word.