nd the path and the spring
and the strip of moss, for if you haven't earned that and more----"

"Hold on, Mr. Jucklin. I want the property made over to me in regular
form when I have paid you for it. I will accept of no concession; want
to pay as much as Mr. Parker would have paid, and I have borrowed money
enough to close the deal. You are going away and you will need every
cent you can possibly raise; and I demand that you take the two hundred
dollars that I have collected for you. It will be of no use to say that
you will not, for I am determined, and, although you have been very
kind, you will find me a hard man to fight. And remember that there is a
debt to be paid."

He held out his hand and looked over toward the General's house as I
gripped his rough palm.

"I have buried 'em over by the edge of the woods," he said; "buried 'em
with their gaffs on. I couldn't help it--they had to fight to a finish.
Yes, it shall be as you say. I will pay what I owe and still have money
enough to get away off somewhere. We'll draw up the papers in town and
have it over with at once."

"Mr. Hawes, I've got a hundred dollars that's yours," said old man
Perdue. "I have brought the money, and here it is."

"I can't take it, Mr. Perdue. I haven't earned it, and shall not earn
it. I am not going to teach your school."

"The deuce you say! Why, my grandson thinks there ain't nobody in the
world like you--says you can whip any livin' man. You must teach that
school."

"No, I am going to study law with Judge Conkwright."

"What, with him? Don't you do it. Why, there ain't a harder hearted man
on the face of the earth than he is. Smart as a whip, but he don't go to
church once in five years. Oh, you needn't smile, for it's a fact. Not
once in five years, and what can you expect from a man like that? Oh,
he'll grind you into the very ground. Ain't got a particle of feelin'."

"I expect him to teach me the law and I can get along with my present
stock of religion. But even if he were to offer me his religion, I would
accept it. I know him better than you can ever know him. But we have no
cause to discuss him. No, I can't take your money."

"But you have earned some of it. Twenty-five dollars, at least."

"Well, I will take that much."

"Take it all," said Parker.

"No, twenty-five," I replied.

"You are your own boss," Perdue observed; "you know best. Here's your
twenty-five, and I'll make it fifty if you'll send out word th