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272
The Call of the Cumberlands
That very evening, bedecked with a full-dress suit, Samson was introduced to Lescott's
circle of friends.
In the thickening gloom, Samson faced the gathering. His eyes flashed with deep passion, and his voice throbbed with the tensity of bitterness as he said slowly :
"I know'd all 'bout Jesse Purvy's bein' shot. Jesse Purvy hired somebody to kill my pap, an' I promised my pap Pel find out who thet man was, an' thet Pd git 'em both — some day ! So help me God Almighty, I'm a-goin' ter git 'em both — some day ! But I didn't do the shootin' this mornin'. I hain't no truce buster ! Ef them dawgs come hyar, an' ef they hain't liars, they'll go right on by hyar ! I don't allow ter run away. Thet's all Pve got ter say ter ye !"
Spicer South nodded, with a gesture of relieved anxiety.
"Thet's all we wants to know, Samson," he said.
The next day the hounds came, and with them came the Hollman clan. As they rounded a turn in the road, the impatient dogs in leash, they halted in amazement, for, while the hounds yelped, Samson South sat calmly on the top step of the stile, and beside him stood his uncle. But in the cabin, eight men rested on their arms, ready for action.
"Ye're plumb welcome to let them
dawgs loose an' let 'em ramble,'' said Spicer South affably to the Lexington man who held them in leash. "But I sees some fellers out ther thet mustn't cross my fence."
There was a murmur of astonishment from the road, for the Hollmans were firm in their belief in the guilt of Samson. The leashes were slipped, and the dogs leaped forward. They made directly for Samson, who still sat unmoved on the stile.
And up the hillside, out of sight of those below, Sally Miller watched the scene, with bated breath and hands clenched until the nails cut into the flesh.
The dogs clambered over the stile, one on either side of the unmoved Samson. They circled around the yard, and then climbed back over the fence.
Jim Hollman turned a black face to the owner of the dogs as he rejoined the group in the road.
"Them dawgs o' yourn come up Misery a-howlin' !" Hollman shouted. "Onless they're plumb onery no-'count curs, they come fur some reason. Ax them fellers who lit out afore we got hyar!"
Until that moment, none of the" Souths had noticed that Tamarack Spicer had slipped away. Spicer South" started to reply to Hollman, but Samson