Ye air back a little sooner than ye expected, ain't ye? " he asked,
presently, with an awkward effort at good-humor. "I reckon ye air
gittin' anxious. Well, we hev been gittin' ready fer ye, 'n' you 'n'
Easter kin hitch ez soon ez ye please. Sherd Raines air gum' to do
the marryin'. He air the best friend I got. Sherd was a-courtin' the
gal, too, but he hevn't got no gredge ag'in ye, 'n' he hev promised to
tie ye. Sherd air a preacher now. He hev just got his license. He
didn't want to do it, but I told him he had to. We'll hev the biggest
weddin' ever seed in these mountains, I tell ye. Any o' yo' folks be on hand?"
No," answered Clayton, soberly, "I think not."
"Well, I reckon we kin fill up the house."
Clayton's heart sank at the ordeal of a wedding with such a master
of ceremonies. He was about to ask where Easter and her mother
were, when, to his relief, he saw them both in the path below,
approaching the house. The girl was carrying a bucket of water on
her head. Once he would have thought her picturesque, but now it
pained him to see her doing such rough work. When she saw him,
she gave a cry of surprise and delight that made Clayton tingle
with remorse. Then running to him with glowing face, she stopped
suddenly, and, with a look down at her bare feet and soiled gown,
fled into the cabin.
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