that ye air dead. Wait till them raiders hev cleared out of the
kentry."

The effort at detention, to interfere with his liberty, added redoubled
impetus to Wyatt 's desire to be gone. He suddenly devised a cogent
necessity. "I be feared my dad mought hear that fool tale. I ain't much
loss, but dad would feel it."

"Oh, I sent Jack thar ter tell him better whenst he drove ter mill
ter-day ter git the meal fer the mash. Jack made yer dad understand
'bout yer sudden demise."

"Oh, yeh," interposed the glib Jack; "an' he said ez _he_ couldn't abide
sech jokes."

"Shucks!" cried the filial Wyatt. "Dad war full fresky himself in his
young days; I hev hearn his old frien's say so."

"I tried ter slick things over," said the diplomatic Jack. "I 'lowed
young folks war giddy by nature. I 'lowed 't war jes a flash o' fun.
An' he say: 'Flash o' fun be con-sarned! My son is more like a flash o'
lightning; ez suddint an' mischeevious an' totally ondesirable.'"

The reproach obviously struck home, for Wyatt maintained a disconsolate
silence for a time. At length, apparently goaded by his thoughts to
attempt a defense, he remonstrated:

"Nobody ever war dead less of his own free will. I never elected ter
be a harnt. 'Gene Barker hed no right ter nominate _me_ fer the dear
departed, nohow."

One of the uncouth younger fellows, his shoulders laden with a sack of
meal, paused on his way from the porch to the trap-door to look up from
beneath his burden with a sly grin as he said, "'Gene war wishin' it war
true, that's why."

"'Count o' Minta Elladine Riggs," gaily chimed in another.

"But 'Gene needn't gredge Watt foothold on this yearth fer sech; _she_
ain't keerin' whether Watt lives or dies," another contributed to the
rough, rallying fun.

But Wyatt was of sensitive fibre. He had flushed angrily; his eyes were
alight; a bitter retort was trembling on his lips when one of the elder
Barkers, discriminating the elements of an uncontrollable fracas, seized
on the alternative.

"Could you-uns _sure_ be back hyar by daybreak, Watt!" he asked, fixing
the young fellow with a stern eye.

"No 'spectable ghost roams around arter sun-up," cried Wyatt, fairly
jovial at the prospect of liberation.

"Ye mus' be heedful not ter be viewed," the senior admonished him.

"I be goin' ter slip about keerful like a reg'lar, stiddy-goin' harnt,
an' eavesdrop a bit. It's worth livin' a hard life ter view how a
feller's friends will take h