CHAPTER XXIV.
MR. PARKER'S STORY.
"It was a gang of moonshiners that you stumbled across," said Mr. Parker, when they told him of their adventure; "you were fortunate to escape as you did."
"I guess we have that aëroplane ride we gave to Jeb to thank for that," laughed Roy.
"It wasn't so laughable, though, when he pressed that rifle to your neck," declared Peggy.
"No, indeed. That was a mighty uncomfortable feeling, I can tell you."
"It reminds me of an experience I had with moonshiners once," said Mr. Parker. "Would you care to hear about it?"
Of course they would. They were sitting on the porch in the twilight after dinner. It was a happy group and they had been exploding with laughter over Roy's account of Jeb's ride.
"It was a good many years ago, when I was in the employ of the government," said Mr. Parker, "that what I am going to tell you about happened. I was a young fellow then, and a good bit of a dare-devil, so I was sent at the head of a body of men to rout out moonshiners.
"As you may know from your experience this morning, it is mighty dangerous to be suspected of being in the employ of the government, and so we posed as drummers and peddlers, scattering through the mountains.