there ain't much choosin',
jedgmatically speakin'. I know White's off an' plannin' ter round up
Burke Lawson from behind, as it war. T'warnt so in my day, lil'
Nella-Rose. When we-uns had a reckonin comin', we naterally went out an'
shot our man; but these torn-down scoundrels like Jed Martin an' his
kind they trap 'em an' send 'em to worse'n hell. Las' night"--and here
Merrivale bent close to Nella-Rose--"my hen coop was 'tarnally gone
through, an' a bag o' taters lifted. I ain't makin' no cry-out. I ain't
forgot the year o' the fever an'--an'--well, yo' know who--took care o'
me day an' night till I saw faces an' knew 'em! What's a matter o' a hen
o' two an' a sack o' taters when lined up agin that fever spell? I tell
yo', Nella-Rose, if _yo'_ say thar war three dozen aigs, thar _war_
three dozen aigs, an' we'll bargain accordin'!"

And now the dimples came slowly to the relieved face.

"I'll--I'll bring you an extra dozen right soon, Mister Merrivale."

"I ain't a-goin' ter flex my soul 'bout that, Nella-Rose. Aigs is aigs,
but human nater is human nater; an' keepin' a store widens yo' stretch
o' vision. Now, watch out, lil' girl, an' don't take too much fo'
granted. When a gun goes off yo' hear it; but when skunks trail, yo'
don't get no sign, 'less it's a smell!"

Nella-Rose took her packages, smiled her thanks, and ran on. She ate her
lunch by the bushes where the eggs lay hidden, then depositing in the
safe shelter the home bundles Merrivale had so generously weighed, she
put the eggs in the basket, packed with autumn leaves, and turned into
the trail leading away from the big road.

Through the bare trees the clear sky shone like a shield of blue-gray
metal. It was a sky open for storm to come and pass unchecked. The very
stillness and calm were warnings of approaching disturbance. Nature was
listening and waiting for the breaking up of autumn and the clutch of
frost.

It was only two miles from the Centre to White's clearing and the
afternoon was young when Nella-Rose paused at the foot of the last climb
and took breath and courage. There was a tangled mass of rhododendrons
by the edge of the wood and suddenly the girl's eyes became fixed upon
it and her heart beat wildly. Something alive was crouching there,
though none but a trained sense could have detected it! They waited--the
hidden creature and the quivering girl! Then a pair of eager, suspicious
eyes shone between the dead leaves of the bushes; ne