f ye knows what's good
fer ye. Git out'n this trap of a tree an' hide 'mongst the crevices of
the rocks till seben o'clock ter-night. Then kem up ter Gran'dad
Kettison's whenst it is cleverly dark an' tap on the glass winder--not
on the batten shutter. An' I'll hev ca'tridges an' powder an' ball for
ye, an' some victuals ready, too."

But the fugitive, despite his straits, demurred. "I don't want ter git
old man Kettison into trouble for lendin' ter me."

"'T ain't his'n. 'T is my dad's old buck-shot ca'tridges an' powder an'
ball. They belong ter _me_. The other childern is my half-brothers,
bein' my mother war married twice. Ye kin _steal_ this gear from me, ef
that will make ye feel easier."

"But what will yer gran'dad say ter me?"

"He won't know who ye be; he will jes 'low ye air one o' the boys who
air always foolin' away thar time visitin' me an' makin' tallow-dips
skeerce." The sudden gleam of mirth on her face was like an illuminating
burst of sunshine, and somehow it cast an irradiation into the heart of
the fugitive, for, after she was gone out of sight, he pondered upon it.

But the early dusk fell from a lowering sky, and the night came on
beclouded and dark. Some turbulent spirit was loosed in the air, and the
wind was wild. Great, surging masses of purple vapor came in a mad rout
from the dank west and gathered above the massive and looming mountains.
The woods bent and tossed and clashed their boughs in the riot of gusts,
the sere leaves were flying in clouds, and presently rain began to fall.
The steady downpour increased in volume to torrents; then the broad,
pervasive flashes of lightning showed, in lieu of myriad lines, an
unbroken veil of steely gray swinging from the zenith, the white foam
rebounding as the masses of water struck the earth. The camp equipage,
tents and wagons succumbed beneath the fury of the tempest, and, indeed,
the hunters had much ado to saddle their horses and grope their way
along the bridle-path that led to old Kettison's house.

The rude comfort of the interior had a heightened emphasis by reason of
the elemental turmoils without. True, the rain beat in a deafening
fusillade upon the roof, and the ostentation of the one glass window, a
source of special pride to its owner, was at a temporary disadvantage in
admitting the fierce and ghastly electric glare, so recurrent as to seem
unintermittent. But the more genial illumination of hickory flames, red
and yellow, was s