e cross cuts fell an' the
roof caved in an' them two men war kilt, an' thar famblies sued the
company an' got mo' damages 'n the men war bodaciously wuth. Then the
nex' thing the pay agent, ez war sent from Glaston, war held up in
Tanglefoot an' robbed--some say by the miners. He got hyar whenst they
war out on a strike, an' they robbed him 'cause they warn't paid
cordin' ter thar lights, an' they _did_ shoot him up cornsider'ble. That
happened jes' about a year ago. Then sence, thar hev been a awful cavin'
in that deep shaft they hed sunk in the tunnel, an' the mine war flooded
an' the machinery ruint--I reckon the company in Glaston ain 't a-layin'
off ter fly in the face o' Providence and begin agin, arter all them
leadin's ter quit."

"Some believe he warh't robbed at all," Kinnicutt said slowly. He had
turned listlessly away, evidently meditating departure, his hand on his
horse's mane, one foot in the stirrup.

"Ye know that gal named Loralindy Byars?" Crann said craftily.

Kinnicutt paused abruptly. Then as the schemer remained silent he
demanded, frowning darkly, "What's Loralindy Byars got ter do with it?"

"Mighty nigh all!" Crann exclaimed, triumphantly.

It was a moment of tense suspense. But it was not Crann's policy to
tantalize him further, however much the process might address itself
to his peculiar interpretation of pleasure. "That thar pay agent o' the
mining company," he explained, "he hed some sort'n comical name--oh, I
remember now, Renfrow--Paul Renfrow--waal--ye know he war shot in the
knee when the miners way-laid him."

"I disremember now ef it war in the knee or the thigh," Swofford
interposed, heavily pondering.

Kinnicutt's brow contracted angrily, and Crann broke into open wrath:
"an' I ain't carin', ye fool--what d' ye interrupt fur like that?"

"Wall," protested Swofford, indignantly, "ye said 'ye know' an' I didn't
_know_."

"An' I ain't carin'--the main p'int war that he could neither ride nor
walk. So the critter crawled! Nobody knows how he gin the strikers the
slip, but he got through ter old man Byars's house. An' thar he staid
till Loralindy an' the old 'oman Byars nussed him up so ez he could bear
the pain o' bein' moved. An' he got old man Byars ter wagin him down
ter Colb'ry, a-layin' on two feather beds 'count o' the rocky roads, an'
thar he got on the steam kyars an' he rid on them back ter whar he kem
from."

Kinnicutt seemed unable to longer restrain his impatien