“Well, Mr. Follet,” said Steve, going to the foot of the bed and leaning hard upon it, “we must understand each other at once. I do not agree with you as to our rights. I do not think we have the right to destroy ourselves or others with any weapon whatsoever, the pistol, the knife, poison or whiskey. I am with the law in every particular,” he said firmly.
“With the law,” exclaimed Mr. Follet excitedly, “when it says a man can’t do with his own corn on his own place what he wants to do with it? A man’s got as good a right, in my mind, to put up a still and make whiskey out of his corn as his wife has to gather apples and make pies!” he concluded, fairly quivering with excitement.
Steve held himself quietly, and said gently:
“Mr. Follet, you are too ill for me to discuss these things with you now. I see we look at them from totally different points of view.”
“There ain’t but one point of view,” shrilly returned Mr. Follet, “and that’s the point of view of man’s rights. Why, it won’t be long till a man can’t milk his own cow without the government standing round to watch her switch her tail and tell him how to do it,––all ready to grab the money if he sells a little to a neighbour!”
“Well, Mr. Follet,” said Steve, looking steadily but kindly in the enraged eyes of his opponent, “there is one thing that we do agree upon, and that is, every man has a right to his own opinion,” and the kindness in Steve’s eyes merged into his sudden smile, which stemmed a little the rising tide of Mr. Follet’s wrath.
After a somewhat subdued pause he turned to Steve appealingly:
“But you will go and get this load for me,––you will have no responsibility about it. I have never had anything to do with moonshiners before,” he went on, “but Raymond got in with ’em and thinks it would be a huge joke to send a lot of their whiskey to his friends in these ‘dry towns,’ and that prohibition business has riled me so that I promised I would help pass the stuff along. Raymond’s going to hang around the saloon and the station to see that the coast is clear o’ government men, while the thing is goin’ on.”