ted on a charge of
aiding and abetting in illicit distilling.

"Ye never b'lieve nothin' till ye see it--ye sateful dunce!" he
exclaimed excitedly.

Thus began a fraternal quarrel which neither forgot for years.

Ben turned scarlet. "Waal, then, jes' leave my filly in the barn whar
she be now; ye kin travel on Shank's mare!"

Thad started off up the steep slope. "Ef ye ain't a-hankerin' fur me ter
ride that thar filly, ez air ez bridle-wise ez ye be, jes' let's see ye
kem on, an'--hender!"

"I hopes she'll fling ye, an' ye'll git yer neck bruk," Ben called out
after him.

"I wish ennything 'ud happen, jes' so be I mought never lay eyes on ye
agin," Thad declared.

As he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that his brother was not
following, and when he reached the flimsy little barn, there was nothing
to prevent him from carrying out his resolution.

Nevertheless, he hesitated as he stood with the door in his hand. A
clay-bank filly came instantly to it, but with a sudden impulse he
closed it abruptly, and set out on foot along a narrow, brambly path
that wound down the mountain side.

He had descended almost to its base before the threatening appearance of
the sky caught his attention. A dense black cloud had climbed up from
over the opposite hills, and stretched from their jagged summits to the
zenith. There it hung in mid-air, its sombre shadow falling across the
valley, and reaching high up the craggy slope, where the boy's home was
perched. The whole landscape wore that strange, still, expectant aspect
which precedes the bursting of a storm.

Suddenly a vivid white flash quivered through the sky. The hills,
suffused with its ghastly light, started up in bold relief against the
black clouds; even the faint outlines of distant ranges that had
disappeared with the strong sunlight reasserted themselves in a pale,
illusive fashion, flickering like the unreal mountains of a dream about
the vague horizon. A ball of fire had coursed through the air, striking
with dazzling coruscations the top of a towering oak, and he heard,
amidst the thunder and its clamorous echo, the sharp crash of riving
timber.

All at once he had a sense of falling, a sudden pain shot through him,
darkness descended, and he knew no more.

When he gradually regained consciousness, it seemed that a long time had
elapsed since he was trudging down the mountain side. He could not
imagine where he was now. He put out his hand in the intense