A general laugh here arose, and voices repeated,—
"Ah, ah, that we did! Didn't we, though?"
"I reckon you did!" said Tom Gordon. "I reckon he didn't need candles to see his sins by, that night! Didn't we make a candle of his old dog-kennel? Didn't he have light to see his way out of the state by? and didn't we give him a suit to keep him warm on the road? Ah, boys, that was a warm suit—no mistake! It was a suit that will stick to him, too! He won't trade that off for rum, in a hurry, I'm thinking! Will he, boys?"
Bursts of crazy, half-drunken applause here interrupted the orator.
"Pity we hadn't put a match to it!" shouted one.
"Ah, well, boys, you did enough for that time! Wait till you catch these sneaking varmins in the swamp; you shall do what you like with them. Nobody shall hinder you, that's law and order. These foxes have troubled us long enough, stealing at our hen-roosts while we were asleep. We shall make it hot for them, if we catch them; and we are going to catch them. There are no two ways about it. This old swamp is like Davy's coon—it's got to come down! And it will come down, boys, when it sees us coming. No mistake about that! Now, boys, mind, catch him alive, if you can; but shoot him, if you can't. Remember, I'll give a hundred and fifty dollars for his head!"
A loud shout chorused this last announcement, and Tom descended in glory to take his place in his saddle.
Once, we suppose, this history would not have been believed, had it been told; but of late our own sons and brothers have been hounded and hunted by just such men, with such means.
The fire which began in the dry tree has spread to the green!
Long live the great Christianizing Institution!!!