ches of the houses at the settlemint,
an' repeated some o' the sermons they hed hearn at camp, an' more'n one
raised a hyme chune. An' the young fry--they hed hed a steady diet o'
sermons an' hyme chunes fur fower days--they tuk ter stragglin' off
down the road, two an' two, like the same sorter id jits the world over,
leavin' word with the old folks that the wagin would overtake 'em an'
pick 'em up on the road when it passed. Waal, they walked several mile,
an' time they got ter the crest o' the hill over yander the moon hed
riz, an' they could look down an' see the mist in the valley. The
moon war bright in the buryin'-groun' when they passed it, an' the
head-boards stood up white an' stiff, an' a light frost hed fell on the
mounds, an' they showed plain, an' shone sorter lonesome an' cold.
The young folks begun ter look behind em' fur the wagin. Some said--I
b'lieve 'twar Em'ry Keen an--they could read the names on the boards
plain, 'twar so light, the moon bein' nigh the full: but Em'ry never
read nuthin' at night by the moon in his life; he ain't enny too capable
o' wrastlin' with the alphabet with a strong daytime on his book ter
light him ter knowledge. An' the shadows war black an' still, an' all
the yearth looked ez ef nuthin' lived nor ever would agin, an' they
hearn a wolf howl. Waal, that disaccommodated the gals mightily, an'
they hed a heap more interes' in that old wagin, all smellin' rank with
wagin-grease an' tar, than they did in thar lovyers; an' they hed ruther
hev hearn that old botch of a wheel that Pete Rodd hed set onto it com
in' a-creakin' an' a-com-plainin' along the road than the sweetest words
them boys war able ter make up or remember. So they stood thar in the
road--a-stare-gazin' them head-boards, like they expected every grave
ter open an' the reveilly ter sound--a-waitin' ter be overtook by the
wagin, a-listenin', but hearin' nuthin' in the silence o' the frost--not
a dead leaf a-twirlin', nor a frozen blade o' grass astir. An' then
two or three o' the gals 'lowed they hed ruther walk back ter meet the
wagin, an' whenst the boys 'lowed ter go on--nuthin' war likely ter
ketch 'em--one of 'em bust out a-cryin'. Waal, thar war the eend o' that
much! So the gay party set out on the back track, a-keepin' step
ter sobs an' sniffles, an' that's how kem _they_ seen no harnt. But
Mill'-cent an' three or four o' the t'others 'lowed they'd go on. They
warn't two mile from home, an' full five from th