he esteem of his upbraider.

"Yes, sir," his interlocutor continued, "it's a mighty bad government
ter run agin." Then he turned to the moonshiner, evidently taking up the
business that had brought him here. "Lemme see what sorter brand ye hev
registered fur yer cattle, Isham."

Yerby's heart sank when the suspicion percolated through his brain that
this man had been induced to come here for the purpose of recognizing
him. More fixed in this opinion was he when no description of the brand
of the cattle could be found, and the visitor finally went away, his
errand bootless.

From time to time during the afternoon other-men went out and returned
with recruits on various pretexts, all of which Nehemiah believed masked
the marshalling of witnesses to incriminate him as one of themselves,
in order to better secure his constancy to the common interests, and in
case he was playing false to put others into possession of the facts as
to the identity of the informer. His liability to the law for aiding and
abetting in moonshining was very complete before the day darkened, and
his jeopardy as to the information he had given made him shake in his
shoes.

For at any moment, he reflected, in despair, the laggard raiders might
swoop down upon them, and the choice of roles offered to him was to seem
to them a moonshiner, or to the moonshiners an informer. The first
was far the safer, for the clutches of the law were indeed feeble as
contrasted with the popular fury that would pursue him unwearied for
years until its vengeance was accomplished. From the one, escape was to
the last degree improbable; from the other, impossible.

Any pretext to seek to quit the place before the definite arrangements
of his negotiation were consummated seemed even to him, despite his
eagerness to be off, too tenuous, too transparent, to be essayed,
although he devised several as he sat meditative and silent amongst the
group about the still. The prospect grew less and less inviting as
the lingering day waned, and the evening shadows, dank and chill,
perceptibly approached. The brown and green recesses of the grotto were
at once murkier, and yet more distinctly visible, for the glow of the
fire, flickering through the crevices of the metal door of the furnace,
had begun to assert its luminous quality, which was hardly perceptible
in the full light of day, and brought out the depth of the shadows. The
figures and faces of the moonshiners showed against