down an' set beside the cot. I
has to talk to ye."

Andy needed no second invitation. His legs were stiff but his heart full
of good cheer, as he scrambled down the ladder with the Bible in his
hand. Crawling across the floor, he propped his bent little body against
the cot, and looked inquiringly at Daddy Skinner, and Daddy Skinner
stared moodily back at him.

"Andy," Tess began, squatting beside him. "Ye remember how slick Daddy
Skinner hopped out o' jail an' right back to me?"

Andy bobbed his head.

"Yep, I remember, brat," he responded. "I were glad fer him, but I sure
were sorry fer myself when he left Auburn."

"An' I were that happy I nearly died," replied Tess, musingly. "Well, I
air goin' to show ye a verse in the Bible what hauled 'im smack out o'
prison." Tess took up the holy book and opened it. "There! now read
it.... Right where my finger air! See?"

For several seconds Andy studied the words under Tessibel's pointing
finger, and Daddy Skinner evinced his interest by bending nearer in a
questioning attitude.

"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed," Andy spelled haltingly,
and then glanced up, mystified. "Why, it air talkin' about movin'
mountains.... Ain't it, Tess?"

"Sure!" agreed Tess, displaying her white teeth in smiling affirmation.
"See?"

Andy shook his head.

"No, I don't see, brat," he replied. "I ain't wantin' to move no
mountains, I ain't."

Tess flung back her curls impatiently.

"Oh, Andy, yer head air all bone. Now look at me."

Misty, eager eyes were raised to the girl's.

"Can't ye see, Andy dear," she proceeded solemnly, "it air harder to get
a mountain out of yer way than 'tis to stay out of prison."

"Mebbe 'tis," conceded Andy, brightening. "I never thought of it like
that."

"But ye must begin thinkin' quick," ordered Tess. "Now every minute of
the day ye air to say over an' over verses I show ye. And the man who
helps folks move mountains'll keep ye right in this shack.... I air
thinkin' that'd suit ye some, huh?"

Andy looked at her meltingly.

"I'd ruther be here than any place in the hull world," he murmured in
reverent humility.

"Then," avowed Tess, "I air a goin'--Oh, Andy, I got to tell ye
somethin', honey, an' I--"

"What?" gasped Andy, faintly.

Tess paused an instant.

"Burnett's pell-mellin' down from Auburn after ye," she blurted. "I just
heard it at Young's."

Andy's face blanched to the hue of death. He had been so satisfied--so