"It was a pig that I heard. At the same instant it dawned on me that it was the pig that they had been discussing dispatching and not me at all. You can imagine the revulsion of my feelings. But I felt sore at the scare they had given me, so I decided to do some work for the government and even up scores at the same time.
"Entering the shack, I scattered the coals of the fire right and left. Then I came away. No, I did not go back to the cabin. It would, as your friend Jeb said, not have been healthy for me.
"Instead I set off running at top speed through the woods. Before long I saw a glow on the sky behind me, and knew that flames were devouring the vile stuff that moonshiners make.
"I left my pack behind me, however, and I hope that compensated them for the loss of their still. I'm sure the woman, at any rate, would value its contents more highly."
They all burst into a laugh at the conclusion of Mr. Parker's odd story. They were still laughing when Mandy rushed out on the porch.
"Miss Wren done be gone!" she shouted.
"Gone!" they all echoed, in dismayed tones.
"Yes. I done go to her room to see de poo' lamb is com'foble, and she not there. I done find dis writin', too."
"Let me look at it," demanded Mr. Parker.
"It mighty hard to read. It sure is a scan-lous bit of writin'."