ckle 'im."

"Shucks," said Wiles, "they air all cowards, and their magistrates will
run at the first attack; and I say it is to our interest to break up
that meetin', and do it right away. What do you say, byes?"

They all consented to the attack, and took another swig around from the
big jug to seal the agreement.

"Now," said their leader, "it's time you'ns went to yer homes. Zibe
Turner will stay, and we'uns will tend de fire. Long Tom, tomorrow you
go to Bert Danks, the captain of the Honey Crick crowd, and ask him and
his pals to meet us here in de evenin'."

CHAPTER V.

Rowdies in Camp.

Sam Wiles and Zibe Turner attended to the still while the day began to
wane, and shadows cast by the tall hills were lengthening over the
plain.

When darkness finally came Wiles continued to replenish the fire and
supply the necessary water from a running stream. His boon companion
threw himself down on some cedar boughs within the cave's mouth and was
soon asleep. His watch would come later on.

While this precious pair of "wildcatters" are thus employed, a good
opportunity is given us to describe their retreat.

Their rendezvous was called Wind Cave, and was discovered a few years
before by a young brother of Sam Wiles. The boy, Ephraim Wiles, one day
was hunting stray cattle on some hills skirting the Cumberlands River,
when he came to the top of a hill which was nearly bare of timber and
whose southern side was a sheer perpendicular of rock for several feet
down. The boy stood looking over this precipice, lost his footing, and
fell down the cliff. He was unhurt, for about fifteen feet below was a
level place a few feet across covered with leaves and moss and upon
this he landed. When he had recovered from his surprise, he looked
about him and saw that the hillside below him was very steep, with
trees and bushes growing thickly in the soil. Then he turned his eyes
toward the rock, and beheld an aperture of considerable size partly
covered by bushes and decayed vegetation. With a boy's curiosity and
daring he crawled into the opening, and found himself in a cave of
moderate dimensions. Finding in it nothing but broken rocks and white
walls and a small stream of water flowing along, he soon crept out, and
knowing no way of escape save down the hill side, slipped over the
edge, and by holding on to bushes and shrubs and checking himself
against trunks of trees he finally reached the bottom, and, returning
home