git youun's shar', Tildy." Then his breath failed him, and the doctor put some whiskey to his lips, while the spectators watched breathlessly, and none so breathless as Mrs. Dave. Si came in and leaned over his father, but the old man shook his head. "Tildy, come close," he muttered, and again Mrs. Warren bent over him. "I keeps on aseein' Dad, Tildy,” he whispered. "He ain't never leff me since Sunday. He keeps on aholdin' up hisn's han's like I wuz agoin' to knock him." A pallor crept over Mrs. Warren's face, that seemed to spread to Si's as they looked at each other, and she whispered, "Did you do it, Dave?"

"Yes, oh, Lord! yes!" he wailed, "won't my sins git no forgiveness?"

"Yes yes! Brother Durket,” struck in Preacher Billingsly, who had caught only this last wail, "jest hev faith, Brother Durket."

The hollow eyes seemed on fire. But my ole Dad ain't never rested," he cried aloud, and the company shivered. "Day ner night-day ner night-he ain't never left me. He comes an' goes. I've seen him amany a time apeepin' in thet do'-an' arockin' in the cheer by the fire - an' acropin' up an' down the sta'rs-an' thar he is! Go 'way, Dad! go 'way! I've done jestice jestice!" and while he stared and pointed he fell back dead. The women screamed, but the men, looking in each other's eyes, were still. Mrs. Warren stood there for one moment, then turned and went out like one in a dream. Her brother had intimidated her fatherhad stolen her share of the property, and had been haunted! All these years her father had never rested; had roamed and wandered, following up the thief; had come even when his son lay dying. She paused in the hall, trembling and uncertain. Si came up to her hurriedly with a glass of whiskey; he had been drinking and made her finish his potations. "Drink hit an' furgit all thet damned foolishness. Come git a bite," and taking her arm he led her into the long, low kitchen, where the family also ate. Jane Harner was serving, assisted by a friend, and their solemn greetings restored to Mrs. Warren some of her lost composure.

Si seated his aunt at the narrow table and helped her vigorously. Presently he

66

went away, and when he returned, smelling more strongly of whiskey, he was supporting Minerva, and followed by Dave. Eat, Aunt Tildy, eat!" he cried. "Eat, Minervy; hit were sickness made Dad crazy. Jane Harner, go call the folks. I'll sen' fur Hannah 'fore day, Aunt Tildy," helping himself. "She must git here 'fore the buryin'. Hit'll be ter-morrer evenin'. All's ready 'ceppen the grave, an’ thet's easy dug now the ground is soft. Hit'll be over in the new graveyard whar Mar is buried; an' youun's Par, Aunt Tildy."

Silas, my dear," snuffled Minerva, graves is too much for my nerves. Will Cousin Hannah have a black dress, Aunt Warren?"

"Hannah Warren's got as much as you, Minervy Budd, an' she ain't made skimpy, nuther; " Mrs. Warren answered, her spirit was returning. "She don't look like no pickled cucumber. She's got good hones' eyes thet don't wink an' blink liker soreeye dog alayin' in the sun; an' when she talks she says hit out like the best kinder folks is usin' to hear hit said, an' don't keep on awhistlin' hit liker pattridge in the springtime."

"True as Scriptur! Si cried.

"An' if I send her word or no, she mout not put on all she's got; kase Hannah's got the Durket sperret if she is a Warren."

"She's got hit sho! Si cried; and David blinked his foolish, big eyes and repeated, "Sho."

"I wants too see my Cousin Hannah," Minerva said. "I were away too cawlidge for so long a period, thet I hev not made her acquaintance, but, through Silas's speakin', I love her like a sister."

"Well, jest keep on," Mrs. Warren answered, "but don't look to see no fool from cawlidge. Hannah Warren's got good horse sense, an' don't need no cawlidge. God never made womens fur no cawlidge; an' jest so a woman kin wash, an' cook, an' sew, an' raise her chilluns, that's all the needcissity God is got fur her."

Minerva's little black eyes flashed, then were quickly cast down again. "I hope my Cousin Hannah'll like me, any how," she said, with a toss of her head.

"She mout, an' she mout not," Mrs.

Warren answered, "but Hannah don't like many folks; an' if Si wuz not astuffin' hisself, an' hisn's po' daddy abein' laid out, he'd sesso."

none but Si and herself had heard the confession; and though the whole company had heard the last pitiful cry, they would think, and truly, that the justice that had

There was a little flutter in the audience, then a deadly pause while Mrs. Warren eyed Mrs. Dave, who answered her enemy's gaze with malice in her eyes that did not waver until Mrs. Warren answered, with apparent frankness, "Yes, she did go apeddlin' leastways, she tuck Lizer Wilson 'long to do the peddlin' an' lead the nag. An' Lizer never hed no better sense 'an to tuck Hannah to the back do'; but Hannah knowed thet no Warren ner no Durket wornt made fur stannin' 'round back do's an' tradin' alonger niggers. So the nex' house whar Hannah knowed the woman, she sont Lizer to the kitchen, an' she went to the settin' room alonger Miss Agnes Wellin' an' Mr. Dudley; an' soon's he hearn her title he knowed her, an' were mightily pleased to git acquainted," nodding and smiling, while Minerva stared in astonishment. "An' Mr. Dudley an' Miss Wellin' is acomin' down to see Hannah. Yes, she peddled, but thet's the way she done hit. An' you'd peddle day an' night, Minervy Budd, to git to know them folks to Sewanee. But, Lord! them folks come from fur places, an' knows what's what, an' seen thet Hannah Warren air the right sort. An' talk 'bout book - larnin' mussy! Them folks never stirs 'thout books in they uns' han's; but fur all thet some is rale nice. I tole Hannah, says I, 'Jane Harner 'll surely tell hit thet you peddles,' says I. Says she, proud-like, A Warren or a Durket kin do anything,' says she. I tell you, Hannah Warren is got the Durket sperret."

Here the door opened and Brother Billingsly came in. "My dearly beloved friends," said he, "will you please to walk in where our departed brother is layin' at ease, his sins forgiven and his soul at peace." The company rose, then waited for Mrs. Warren and Minerva to lead the way. Minerva took her aunt's arm, and drooped her head lovingly on her shoulder. Mrs. Warren did not seem to observe her, for now the awful scene of the death rushed back on her, and she trembled and turned pale. Family pride made her glad that

Arrayed in his best clothes, with a large white handkerchief over his face, the dead man lay, stiff and stark, in the coffin that rested on two chairs. On either side of the empty fireplace sat Si and Dave. Dr. Slocum was close by the coffin. The bed was fresh dressed';' lighted lamps and candles stood about, for the day was closing, and a row of men were seated against the wall. As Mrs. Warren and Minerva approached the coffin, Dr. Slocum turned the handkerchief back with a gesture of resigned despair and looked away. Minerva fell on her knees and wailed aloud. Others began to groan and shake their heads with short, staccato grunts; but after one look Mrs. Warren walked away. The doctor had told her that excitement was bad for her, and she was afraid. She left the room where the people were now crowding about the coffin, shaking their heads and groaning as if in the profoundest woe. Nobody really cared, but it showed a gratifying family influence that so many pretended. It was going to be a "good buryin'," but she had done enough for one day, and needed rest and a smoke. She went to the kitchen, where Jane Harner and her friend were taking the first cups of the fresh coffee, made ostensibly for the 'watchers.' Jane had made it early in order to secure the grounds of former pots of coffee. If she waited, Mrs. Dave would herself secure the grounds. As cook, Jane had for two days provided with a lavish hand; and Mrs. Dave had not dared to watch or to object, for any shadow of carefulness on such an occasion would be the blackest disgrace. Jane's basket under the back steps had in it much cold pork, fried chicken, sausage, pies, cake, pickles and sugar; and Jane now hoped to arrange for more sugar.

At the moment of Mrs. Warren's entrance Jane was saying that Mrs. Dave was so " skimpin'," that even scraps were scarce, for Minerva was not "a rale Durket who wuz free-handed.” She said this very loudly as she saw Mrs. Warren.

Mrs. Warren nodded. That's true, Jane," she said, "an' I wish you'd kindle a fire upstairs; and I don't much keer if you burns up them dratted papers in the fireplace."

This was a golden opportunity, and Jane whipped off a sugar dish, saying, as she went, "everybody knows the Budds."

Mrs. Warren drew her pipe and tobacco from her pocket and, pulling a chair close to the fire, sat down. She filled her pipe, lighting it with a coal, then tucking in her frock between her knees and ankles to keep it from scorching, she leaned forward, with her arms crossed on her knees, and smoked vigorously. She drove her thoughts from the present to the rearrangements that would come about when Si took possession, with Hannah as his wife and herself as general director. She saw Minerva, vanishing. She saw Jane Harner installed as cook and general servant. She saw Hannah, very fine, rocking with idle hands, playing lady. She saw roaring fires-eternal cooking and company-she saw herself ruling all, the great woman of the county! Suddenly she remembered the lonely old man across the mountain. She shook her shoulders. A young man was needed to work that place; Jim and his wife could come, and if the old man was such a fool as to prefer that "Warren hole" to this "Durket paradise," he could stay. She was tired of the "lonesomeness an' po'ness."

"Thar's a good Durket fire aburnin', Mrs. Warren." Jane startled the old woman as she flourished in with the emptied and refilled sugar dish. "Hit's good and big, like youuns is usen to."

Mrs. Warren knocked out her pipe. "You're mighty right, Jane Harner," she said. "The Durkets is usen to plentifulness; but some folks will eat a hog down to hits yeers an' tail-Lord!" and she walked to the door followed by applauding giggles. At the door she paused. "Did Si tell thet nigger to go fur Hannah Warren?" she asked.

Of different clay? Not so, but with a soul Pure-fibred through and through.

WHEN Hannah arrived, everybody who could be expected was at the Durkets. Eating and drinking were going on briskly in the kitchen; and Jane Harner and her friend Mincy had become so confidential as to assist each other in filling the baskets under the back steps. Mrs. Warren greeted Hannah affably, Minerva gushingly, and Si, though flushed and excited by the morning's potations, was a little timid in his welcome. Minerva saw instantly that, as far as material went, Hannah's black frock surpassed her own, and, though strangely straight, it was not unbecoming to the tall, fair girl. She saw too that the brown hair rippled without any frizzing—that her skin was as smooth as ivory, and Minerva felt herself at a great disadvantage in the presence of this girl from "over the mountain." Nor could she account for the way in which people treated Hannah. Even Jane Harner, who had told scornful tales of the peddling, waited on her obsequiously; and when they entered the room where Brother Billingsly waited to "preach the funeral" Minerva saw that Hannah drew all eyes as she sat close beside her grandmother. Mrs. Warren saw it, too.

Preacher Billingsly did not make the sermon long, but he drew it very strong. He wound up with, "He was a dootiful son to his aged parents, a lovin' brother to his only sister, a devoted husband to

his departed wife, a true father to his children. An' when his call came, his sins and justice was his cry. 'Justice-justice!' he cried. An', now havin' done justice, he is at rest aplayin' on his golden harp, wavin' his silver wings an' asingin' hallelujah! Not for him do we weep, but for his sis ter an' his niece asettin' here, for his sons an' daughter-in-law astandin' here, for his brother-in-law over in the Cove. For these we weep. Yea, we shed tears, yea, we mourn an' beat our breasts; yea, we cry and plead for help for these bereaved ones. Help me to cry-help me-help me!" Immediately moans and groans began, and Minerva fell down in hysterics. Then, one by one, the family approached and took farewell of the corpse, all kissing it except Hannah. With folded hands she stood a moment, then moved away, and Si swore a silent, mighty oath that some day he would "break that sperret." The people filed slowly round the coffin and out the door into the yard. The top was laid on the coffin, and the coffin put into a farm wagon. Dave drove, with Preacher Billingsly beside him. and Dr. Slocum took their seats on the coffin. Then the procession moved, Mrs. Warren and Mrs. Slocum in Dr. Slocum's lopsided old buggy; Minerva and Hannah following in the Durkets's equally old vehicle, whose back curtain, the top being down, hung almost to the ground, Mrs. Billingsly and Mrs. Budd in Preacher Billingsly's buggy, which had many points in common with the others. After that people came as best they could on foot, on horseback, and in wagons, winding down the muddy lane to where, on the edge of the woods, on the first swell of the mountains, was the new graveyard of the Durkets.

Si

The coffin was put on two boards laid across the open grave, the top removed, and amid groans and cries the strange ceremony of the "last far'well" began. Minerva, Mrs. Budd, and Jane Harner yelled; Mrs. Slocum and Mrs. Billingsly groaned and rocked. Mrs. Warren, being afraid of excitement, wiped her eyes and blew her nose, and scolded Hannah under her breath. "You kin holler jest as good as Minervy Budd," she said, "an' ain't adoin' hit-hit's scannalous-jest scannalous!" But Hannah stood unmoved. The drawn, dead face looking so cold under the gray

sky; the wind making strange noises in the bare trees as it swept down the mountain; the screams and cries-all brought back her father's funeral, that had been terrible to her. She only shivered a little when her grandmother spoke.

The coffin lid was screwed on, and during this operation Hannah saw Si retire to the wagon and seek comfort in his bottle. After this she watched him with some anxiety. She knew what would come next, and longed to draw her shawl up over her face, but she was afraid of what might happen if she did not watch, so she only pulled her long bonnet on a little farther, and watched Si.

The lowering of the coffin into the grave, and the beginning of a hymn by Preacher Billingsly, was the signal for a general row. Si jumped down on the coffin, yelling like a maniac. Minerva fell on Dr. Slocum in hysterics, while Dave and Mrs. Billingsly and Mrs. Budd mingled their tears and groans. On rolled the hymn, and in was shovelled the earth until Si stood ankle deep; then the Budd brothers pulled him out and laid him in the wagon dead drunk. At last it was over. The crowd dispersed, save the Slocums and Billingslys and Budds, who went back for another night at the Durkets.

The next morning an early beginning was made. Mrs. Dave seemed to be in a state of suppressed excitement that made her silly, for at breakfast she asked Mrs. Warren how soon she would leave. It was a most unusual question. Mrs. Warren listened in contemptuous astonishment, then made answer to the company at large. "Minervy Budd had better larn her place." Minerva giggled with what seemed pronounced insanity, and answered, "Too the best of my knowledge Durket farm is my place." Si looked up angrily. “Mind youun's eye, Minervy," he said. Minerva giggled again, but, Preacher Billingsly shaking his head, she said no more.

After breakfast Mrs. Warren desired to know how things were left. Si said that Preacher Billingsly should read the will, he having drawn it up. They gathered about the fire with the will. It was soon read, and left everything to his son, Silas Durket. Mrs. Warren nodded, saying, "Hit's bad Dave ain't got a rich gal." Minerva smiled. Si looked expectant, but

no one congratulated him, and Jane Harner in the background thought that things looked strange. Presently Brother Billingsly cleared his throat and began an exhortation on the vanity of riches. Mrs. Budd and her sons, Mrs. Slocum and Mrs. Billingsly, moved their chairs, making a sort of circle about Minerva and Dave. Mrs. Warren smoked. Si watched for a pause in which to go for another drink. Hannah longed to be gone. After a preamble, Brother Billingsly made the direct statement that Grandfather Durket had been unjust to his daughter, Sister Warren.

Mrs. Warren took her pipe from her lips and turned her face to the speaker, but Brother Billingsly was looking at Si. He went on to say that he had never held the old man responsible for the injustice; that he and many others had suspected that his son, Mr. David Durket, had compelled him to do this. On Sunday these suspicions had been verified, for Mr. Durket had confessed that he had used violence to compel his father to leave him the property, and that ever since he had been followed by his father's spirit, which could be proved by all who had witnessed his death.

Brother Billingsly paused to wipe his lips. Jane Harner drew nearer-Hannah leaned forward-Mrs. Warren's face grew stern-Si, rising, leaned against the mantelpiece with a terrible expression in his eyes, and Minerva's silly smile gave place to a look of apprehension. Brother Billingsly smoothed down his back hair, then proceeded with what seemed a narrative.

He had come over on Sunday, he said, to see Brother Durket concerning his spiritual condition. He had found Dr. Slocum, Mr. Reub and Sam Budd, and their mother. In the mercy of Providence it seemed to be arranged that these witnesses should be there. Before them all Brother Durket had confessed his sins, telling the means he had used to intimidate his old father and get all the property; that long ago he had repented, and now wanted justice done; that as his father had been treated so he had been treated, and driven by his son into making an unjust will; and that before it was too late, and while he was supported by these dear friends, who were not to reveal it, nor to leave him until he was buried he would make a just will.

Reub Budd changed his position so as

to be between Brother Billingsly and Si, and put his hand back under his coat.

Billingsly now produced a paper which he explained was a certified copy of the last will, which had been deposited with the Clerk of the County Court for safety. This will read that the tract of land known as Durket Farm was to be divided into two parts; the line to be drawn from the "big gum "that marked the limit on one side to the "mile-stone corner" which abutted on the public road; that this line leaving the buildings and the spring on one half, making it the most valuable half, his sons must draw lots for it. All stock and tools must be divided by arbitration. That he had not left anything to his sister, as she seemed satisfied and as her granddaughter, Hannah, marrying Si, would get her share.

There was a deadly pause, and Hannah, moving her chair, seemed to touch a spring. Everyone sprang up, and Mrs. Warren, dashing her pipe into the fire, said, hoarsely: Hit's a damned lie, Joe Billingsly -a lie, an' you know hit!

"A lie-a lie!" Si screamed, and raised a chair; but Reub Budd covered him with a pistol, and the chair fell with a crash. Reub's action seemed to quiet things, and let Brother Billingsly's voice be heard insisting that they were Christians and this a Christian will, and the sooner the lots were drawn the better. This suggestion relieved the tension. Si realized that half the farm was gone; still, he might draw the most valuable part, and if he could stay in the old house and kick the Budds out, he would not feel that he had fallen so far. He longed to begin the kicking, and agreed to draw lots immediately. Two broom straws stuck in cracks of the wall would be the method and Jane Harner be the tool, she being uninterested. She was not allowed to approach the company, and received her orders from Dr. Slocum, who said, in a loud voice :

"Break two straws from the broomone long and one short; stick them in two cracks, one each side the fireplace in Brother Durket's room; then go out and slam the front door after you, and wait in the yard." the yard." Jane, looking half out of her wits, went her way, breaking up more than one straw on the journey. The awfulness of going alone into the room where the