He broke out laughing afresh, and Ike, abashed and indignant, was about
to pass on, when the man gayly balanced himself on one foot, as if he
were about to dance a grotesque jig, and held out at arm's length a big
silver coin.

It was a dollar. That meant a great deal to Ike, for he earned no money
he could call his own.

"Free an' enlightened citizen o' these Nunited States," the man
addressed him with mock solemnity, "I brung this dollar hyar fur
you-uns."

"What air ye layin' off fur me ter do?" asked Ike.

The man grew abruptly grave. "Jes' stable this hyar critter fur a night
an' day."

For the first time Ike became aware of a horse's flank, dimly seen on
the other side of the boulder.

"Ter-morrer night ride him up ter my house on the mounting. Ye hev hearn
tell o' me, hain't ye, Jedge? My name's Grig Beemy. Don't kem till
night, 'kase I won't be thar till then. I hev got ter stop
yander--yander"--he looked about uncertainly, "yander ter the sawmill
till then, 'kase I promised ter holp work thar some. I'll gin ye the
dollar now," he added liberally, as an extra inducement.

"I'll be powerful glad ter do that thar job fur a dollar," said Ike,
thinking, with a glow of self-gratulation, of the corn which he had
raised in his scanty leisure on his own little patch of ground, and
which he might use to feed the animal.

"But hold yer jaw 'bout'n it, boy. Yer stepdad wouldn't let the beastis
stay thar a minute ef he knowed it, 'kase--waal--'kase me an' him hev
hed words. Slip the beastis in on the sly. Pearce Tallam don't feed an'
tend ter his critters nohow. I hev hearn ez his boys do that job, so he
ain't like ter find it out. On the sly--that's the trade."

Ike hesitated.

Once more the man teetered on one foot, and held out the coin
temptingly. But Ike's better instincts came to his aid.

"That barn b'longs ter Pearce Tallam. I puts nuthin' thar 'thout his
knowin' it. I ain't a fox, nur a mink, nur su'thin wild, ter go skulkin'
'bout on the sly."

Then he pressed hastily on out of temptation's way.

"Haw! haw! haw!" laughed the man in the mist.

There was no mirth in the tones now; his laugh was a bitter gibe. As it
followed Ike, it reminded him that the man had not yet moved from beside
the boulder, or he would have heard the thud of the horse's hoofs.

He turned and glanced back. The opaque white mist was dense about him,
and he could see nothing. As he stood still, he heard a muttered oath,