of the neighborhood sought my house with a
view to satisfy their curiosity, with Case Haffner and his son 'Ab,' I
could hold no intercourse.

"So matters stood at the end of a month, when, late one evening, on
returning from an all day's ride to a remote corner of the settlement I
was overtaken by a terrific thunder storm while still some distance from
home. I was accompanied by Caesar, my negro servant, and we were on
horseback. Bewildered by the storm we lost our way, and after a half
hour of hopeless wandering, floundering and general discomfort I was
more than thankful to discover a feeble light twinkling in the window of
a log cabin.

"Receiving no response to my repeated knockings at the door, I pushed it
open and entered. I had not recognized the cabin and did not know until
I saw Case Haffner sitting on a stool before the great mud-chinked
fire-place, that it was his. The man's face was buried in his hands, and
he did not look up at my entrance, nor in any way betray a consciousness
of my presence. As I glanced about the rudely-furnished room in search
of Abner, my eye fell upon a bed on which lay the motionless form of the
boy. The light was dim, and fancying him to be asleep, I called him by
name.

"At this the man by the fire sprang to his feet, and glaring at me like
a wild beast, cried out with a terrible oath that his son was dead, and
for me to be gone before he killed me for intruding on his misery.
Instead of obeying him I stepped to the bedside. The boy was to all
appearance lifeless, but disregarding the father's protest, and making a
careful examination of the body, I became convinced that the vital spark
had not yet fled. He had been stricken with one of the quick fevers of
that country and had apparently succumbed to it. With a slight medical
knowledge gained in the army, I saw that there was still a chance of
saving him. Caesar was at once dispatched to fetch my traveling medicine
case, while I heated a kettle of water. Case Haffner meantime regarding
my movements with an apathetic indifference. To make a long story short,
I succeeded before morning in restoring the boy to life and a healthful
sleep. At the end of a week, during which I visited him daily, his
recovery was assured.

"In all this time, though the father watched my every movement with a
catlike intentness, he never spoke to me if he could help it nor did he
express the slightest gratitude for the service I had rendered him.
Thus