urn might not hear him, and sat on the bed again. He remained
there motionless for twenty minutes. Suddenly a rat ran across the
floor with a scrap of paper in its mouth. He stared at the place where
the rat had disappeared as if bewildered, then rose, placed the table
back against the wall, secured the packet, and put it into his pocket.

Chapter XII

Westerfelt knew he could not sleep, and, seeing the moonlight shining
through his window, he decided to take a walk. He went below.
Washburn sat in a little circle of candle-light mending a piece of
harness.

"Has the hack come in yet?" asked Westerfelt, remembering that he had
paid little attention to business that day.

"Yes," answered Washburn; "it's down at the store unloadin' the mail."

"I thought I heard it turn the corner. Any passengers?"

"No; Buck said a family, one woman and five children, wus ready to
start by the Cohutta road to Royleston, but the report about the
Whitecaps t'other night skeerd 'em out of it, so they went by train to
Wilks, an' through that way. This outlawin' will ruin the country ef
it hain't stopped; nobody'll want to settle heer."

"I'll be back soon," said Westerfelt, and he went out.

The November air was dry and keen as he walked briskly towards the
mountains. The road ran through groves of stunted persimmon and
sassafras bushes, across swift-bounding mountain streams, and under
natural arbors of wild grapes and muscadine vines. In a few minutes
Westerfelt reached the meeting-house on a little rise near the roadside.

It had never been painted, but age and the weather had given it the
usual grayish color. Behind it, enclosed by a rail fence, was the
graveyard. The mounds had sunk, the stones leaned earthward, and the
decaying trellises had been pulled down by the vines which clambered
over them.

It was a strange thing for Westerfelt to do, but, seeing the door open,
he went into the church. Two windows on each side let in the
moonlight. The benches were unpainted, and many of them had no backs.

Westerfelt stood before the little pulpit for a moment and then turned
away. Outside, the road gleamed in the moonlight as it stretched on to
the village. A glimpse of the graveyard through the window made him
shudder. It reminded him of a grave he had never seen save in his
mind. It was past midnight. He would go back to his bed, though he
felt no inclination to sleep.

As he approached the stable, walkin