rs ter come. I kin see men walkin' with thar heads high an' thar
gaze cl'ar--'stid of reelin' in thar saddles an' scowlin' hate outen
drunken eyes. I kin see sich schools es Jerry Henderson named ter me in
other valleys an' coves.

"Ye says hit hain't a-goin' ter be easy, but I tells ye more then
thet--hit's goin' ter be jest one mite short of impossible--an'
none-the-less I'm a-goin' ter do hit. I'm a-goin' ter lay ther
foundations fer a peace thet kin endure. I reckon folks'll laugh at 'em
fust, an' then mark me down fer death, but I means ter prevail afore I
quits--an' I'm beholden ter ye fer p'intin' me ther way."

The preacher clasped his hands in a nervous uncertainty. The transition
from night to the twilight of the day's beginning had passed through
its most ghostly vagueness to a fog-wrapped morning. A dour veil of
gray and sodden mists trailed along the slopes with that chill that
strikes at the heart and quenches the spirit in depression.

Joel Fulkerson stood, gray, too, and colorless.

"I don't hardly know how ter counsel ye, son," he said, and his voice
was that of a man whose burden of weariness was crushing him.

"Ye aims ter do a thing thet hain't nuver been successfully undertook
afore. Ef ye seeks ter fo'ce men 'stid of persuadin' 'em--ye're mighty
liable ter fail--and cause ther valleys ter run red."

Bear Cat's lips twisted themselves into a smile ironically mirthless.

"Brother Fulkerson," he said, "in thar--ye kin almost hear her moanin'
now--is ther gal thet I've always loved. Ter me ther ground she walks
on is holy--ther air she breathes is ther only air I kin breathe
without tormint ... ter-night I fotched hyar ther man thet my heart was
clamorin' ter kill: fotched him hyar ter wed with her." As he paused
Turner's face twitched painfully.

"Ye says I mustn't undertake this job in no spirit of vengeance. Thar
hain't no other fashion I _kin_ undertake hit. I must needs throw
myself inter this warfare with all ther hate--an' all ther love thet's
in my blood. I hain't a-goin' ter try ter gentle iniquity--I'm goin'
ter strive ter tromp hit underfoot."

When Bear Cat was joined by Joe Sanders a few minutes later, the ridges
were still grim and unrelieved heaps of ragged gray. The sky was
lowering and vague, and the face of the sun pale and sullen.

Joe, too, in that depressing dimness looked like a churlish ghost, and
as the pair stood silently in the road they saw a trio of horsemen
appro