them cattle air ez safe
from sight ez ef I hed swallowed 'em!" And he whirled again, and led
the column.

The jury of view rode disconsolately on.

They experienced a temporary relief when they had passed the confines
of his tract,--for it was across but a protruding tongue of the main
body of his land that the road was expected to run,--and entered upon
the domain of the "valley man with the lung complaint;" for this
diverted Persimmon Sneed to the more amiable task of narrating how the
stranger had sought to buy land of him, and the high prices he had
scornfully refused, the adaptability of his land to his own especial
needs being so phenomenally apt.

A sudden query from Silas Boyd rendered their respite short: "What's
that man Selwyn want so much land fur, ennyhows? He hev been tryin'
ter buy all that 'crost the gorge, too." He waved his hand toward the
gloomy woods darkening on the opposite slope.

"Ter graze cattle, o' course," promptly surmised Persimmon Sneed.
"Jes' look at my fine chance o' yearlin's, a-layin' on fat an' bone
an' muscle every day, with no expense nor attendance, an' safe an'
sound an' sure. An' now," he cried suddenly, and the shuddering jury
saw the collocation of ideas as it bore down upon them, and Persimmon
Sneed swiftly turned, facing them, while the mare nimbly essayed a
_passado_ backward, "ye air talkin' 'bout changin' all this,
ruinationin' the vally o' my land ter me. Ye 'low ye want ter permote
the interus' o' the public! Waal," raising an impressive forefinger,
"ain't _I_ the public?"

No one ventured a reply.

The jury of view rode desperately on.

They had presently more cause for depression of spirit. It began to be
evident that with the dusk some doubt had arisen in the minds of the
mountaineers of the party as to the exact trend of the herder's trail.
The doubt intensified, until further progress proved definitively that
the indistinct trail was completely lost. Darkness came on apace; the
tangled ways of the forest seemed momently more tortuous; wolves were
not rare in the vicinity; rumors of a gang of horse-thieves were rife.

After much discussion, the jury of view agreed that they would go no
further at present, but wait for the rising of the moon, on the theory
that it would then be practicable to make their way to the Hood cabin,
on the other side of the mountain, which was their immediate goal, and
which they had expected to reach by sunset; unaware that in the