"
Alone?
"Yes; fer her dad ain't thar. No; 'n' he ain't dead. I'll tell ye"-the
old man lowered his tone-" thar used to be a big lot o' moonshinin'
done in these parts, 'n' a raider come hyeh to see 'bout it. Well, one
mornin' he was found layin' in the road with a bullet through him.
Bill was s'picioned. Now, I ain't a-sayin' as Bill done it, but when a
whole lot more rode up thar on hosses one night, they didn't find
Bill. They hain't found him yit, fer he's out in the mountains
somewhar a-hidin'."
"How do they get along without him?" asked Clayton.
"Why, the gal does the work. She ploughs with that bull, and does
the plantin' herself. She kin chop wood like a man. An' as fer
shootin', well, when huntin's good 'n' thar's shootin'-matches
round-about, she don't have to buy much meat."
"It's a wonder some young fellow hasn't married her. I suppose,
though, she's too young."
The old man laughed. "Thar's been many a lively young fellow
that's tried it, but she's hard to ketch as a wildcat. She won't have
nothin' to do with other folks, 'n' she nuver comes down hyeh into
the valley, 'cept to git her corn groun' er to shoot a turkey. Sherd
Raines goes up to see her, and folks say he air tryin' to git her into
the church. But the gal won't go nigh a meetin'-house.
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