“Night-riders!” replied the old darkey.
“You’ll have to get a new dream book, Uncle Zeke!” Alex laughed. “Ten or fifteen years ago there were night-riders, and all that sort of thing in Kentucky, but nothing of that kind goes now.”
“Ah nebber did cotton to no night-riders!” exclaimed the negro.
“What makes you think night-riders have been here?” asked Clay.
“’Cause,” answered the negro, “dey’re gettin’ mighty promiscuous lately. Ah’m feared ob dem night-riders.”
“What did you see over there?” demanded Clay,
“Hoss tracks!” answered the negro.
The two boys looked at each other with understanding in their eyes.
“Do you remember the trampling we heard at the bar where the barges were stranded?” asked Alex.
“Yes,” replied Clay, “and I remember, too, the horses tied in the thicket near the house where I had breakfast.”