"Where do ye-all reckon yer goin'?" he demanded gruffly.
"Is this Spring Brook?" interjected Hippy.
"Ah reckon it air."
"Then that is where we are going."
"Yer kain't go this a-way," replied the mountaineer.
"Why can't we?" demanded Grace.
"'Cause Ah says ye kain't."
"Perhaps you do not know who we are. We are a party out for a ride through the Kentucky mountains. We ride every summer. We have no other object, and, if you will pause to consider, you will see that we can do no harm to you or any one else by going where we please in this part of the country," urged Grace.
"Ah knows who ye be. Turn aroun' an' git out o' here right smart!"
"You are making a mistake, sir," warned Grace. "If there is good reason why we should not go up this gorge we will go around it on the ridge."