“Yes,” said Hale, “I've come back again.”
“You goin' over to Lonesome Cove?”
“Yes.”
The boy hesitated, and a sudden change of mind was plain to Hale in his face. “I wish you'd tell Uncle Judd about the trouble in town to-day,” he said, still looking fixedly at Hale.
“Certainly.”
“Did you tell the Red Fox that day you seed him when you was goin' over to the Gap last fall that you seed me at Uncle Judd's?”
“No,” said Hale. “But how did you know that I saw the Red Fox that day?” The boy laughed unpleasantly.
“So long,” he said. “See you agin some day.” The way was steep and the sun was down and darkness gathering before Hale reached the top of the mountain—so he hallooed at the yard fence of the Red Fox, who peered cautiously out of the door and asked his name before he came to the gate. And there, with a grin on his curious mismatched face, he repeated young Dave's words:
“You've come back agin.” And Hale repeated his:
“Yes, I've come back again.”