p'inted out, the
question of veracity presents itself strongly to the mind of this here
colt. Mr. Yancy has sworn to one thing, Mr. Blount to another. Now
the Yancys air an old family in these parts; Mr. Blount's folks air
strangers, but we don't know nothing agin them--"

"And we don't know nothing in their favor," Uncle Sammy interjected.

"Dave's grandfather came here from Virginia about fifty years back and
settled near Scratch Hill--"

"We never knowed why he left Virginia or why he came here," said Uncle
Sammy, and knowing what local feeling was, was sure he had shot a
telling bolt.

"Then, about twenty-five years ago Dave's father pulled up and went to
Fayetteville. Nobody ever knowed why--and I don't remember that he ever
offered any explanation--" continued the squire.

"He didn't--he just left," said Uncle Sammy.

"Consequently," pursued the squire, somewhat vindictively, "we ain't had
any time in which to form an opinion of the Blounts; but for myself, I'm
suspicious of folks that keep movin' about and who don't seem able to
get located permanent nowheres, who air here to-day and away tomorrow.
But you can't say that of the Yancys. They air an old family in the
country, and naturally this co't feels obliged to accept a Yancy's
word before the word of a stranger. And in view of the fact that the
defendant did not seek litigation, but was perfectly satisfied to let
matters rest where they was, it is right and just that all costs should
fall on the plaintiff."

CHAPTER V. THE ENCOUNTER

Betty Malroy had ridden into the squire's yard during the progress of
the trial and when Yancy and Hannibal came from the house she beckoned
the Scratch Hiller to her. She was aware that Mr. Yancy, moving along
the line of least industrial resistance, might be counted of little
worth in any broad scheme of life. Nat Ferris had strongly insisted
on this point, as had Judith, who shared her husband's convictions;
consequently, the rumors of his present difficulty had merely excited
them to adverse criticism. They had been sure the best thing that could
happen the boy would be his removal from Yancy's guardianship, but this
was not at all her conclusion. She considered Mr. Bladen heartless and
his course without justification, and she regarded Yancy's affection for
the boy as in itself constituting a benefit that quite outweighed his
unprogressive example.

"You are not going to lose your nephew, are you, Mr. Yan