lood-thirsty
barbarians. Ter th'ar high-falutin' fashion o' thinkin' we're meaner
than ther very dirt under th'ar feet. Even ther niggers scorns us an'
calls us 'pore white trash.' When this man once gits in power he aims
ter make us feel ther weight of his disgust an' ter rule us henceforth
with bayonets an' milishy muskets. Afore this matter ends up thar's
liable ter be some shovellin' of graveyard dirt."

"Looks right smart like hit mout be needful," acquiesced Gregory; and
Saul knew that he had won a convert to action.

The insidious force of the visitor's appeal to mountain passion had
stolen into the veins of his hearers until it was not strange that their
eyes narrowed and their lips compressed into lines of ominous
straightness.

"Now this air what I come hyar ter name ter ye, Asa." Saul reseated
himself and waved his cigar stub impressively. "Troublesome days air
a'comin' on an' us mountain men hev need ter lay by our own private
grievances an' stand tergether fer a spell."

Asa's face darkened, with the air of a man who has discovered the catch
in an outwardly fair proposition.

"What air ye a'drivin' at?" he demanded shortly, and his visitor
hastened to explain.

"I wants thet all ther good Republicans in this deestrict shell send a
telegram ter our candi_date_ thet we've done made a truce to our
enmities hyar at home, an' thet we all stands shoulder ter shoulder,
Gregories an' Carrs, Fultons an' Blairs alike, ter defend our rights es
freemen."

Asa Gregory rose slowly and stood on his hearth with his feet wide apart
and his head thrown back. From straight shoulders to straight legs he
was as unmoving, for a space, as bronze, but when he spoke his voice
came out of his deep chest with the resonance of low and far-reaching
thunder.

"Saul," he began, with a guarded deliberation, "I stands indicted before
ther High Co'te fer ther killin' of old man Carr. Ther full four seasons
of ther year hain't rolled round yit sence I buried my daddy out thar
with a Carr bullet drilled through his heart. Ther last time any man
preached a truce ter us Gregorys we agreed ter hit--an' my daddy was
lay-wayed an' shot ter death whilest we war still a'keepin' hit plum
faithful. Ther man thet seeks ter beguile me _now_ with thet same
fashion of talk comes askin' me ter trust my life an' ther welfare of my
woman an' child ter ther faithless word of liars!"

His voice leaped suddenly out of its difficult timbre of restrai