ense he was took. In
course I tole him as how I jest kim ter fin' out who he mout be, 'case
thar was somebody as 'peared mighty wantin' ter know thet same."

"And did he tell you; could he speak still, and explain?" asked Bob.

"He shore cud, Bob," she replied, a little more earnestly now, as though
she realized that the critical point of her narrative had been reached.
"I never'd a knowed him, wid all ther hair on his face; but when he says
his name it was shore enuff--" and she paused dramatically.

"My father?" gasped Bob.

"Yep, an' no other then Mistah Quail, as used ter be ther marshal o'
this deestrict sum years ago,--yer own dad, Bob!"

Thad tightened his grip upon his chum, for he felt him quivering
violently. It was a tremendous shock, since, for more than two years
now, Bob and his mother had been forced to believe the one they loved
so dearly must be dead; but they say that joy never kills, and presently
Bob was able to command his voice again.

"Oh! you'll never know what that means to me, Polly!" he exclaimed, as
he groped around until he had found the girl's hand, which doubtless he
pressed warmly in his great gratitude. "To think that my poor father has
been alive all this time, and a slave up here in the wild mountains,
while mother and I have been enjoying all the comforts and luxuries of
our home. It just seems to cut me to the heart. But Polly, you talked
with him, didn't you?"

"Shore I did. He done tole me he mout a got free a long time ago, if
he'd 'greed ter promise my dad never ter tell whar ther ole Still war
hid; an' never ter kim inter ther mountings agin ahuntin' moonshine
stuff. But he sez as how, sense he still must be in ther employ o' ther
Gov'nment, he's bound ter do his duty; an' not in er thousand years wud
he change his mind."

"Oh! that is jest like father," murmured the boy, partly in admiration,
yet with a touch of genuine grief in his voice, because of the
unnecessary suffering they had all endured on account of this stubborn
trait on the part of the one-time marshal.

"I tells him thet all ther same, he wa'n't agwine ter stay thar much
longer, it didn't matter whether he guv ther promise er not, 'case thar
hed be'n a change. An' then I ups an' tells him 'bout yer bein' hyar in
ther mountings, bound ter larn ef he was erlive."

"Yes, and was he pleased when he heard that, Polly?" asked Bob, who was
gradually coming around in fine shape, now that the stupendous
disclos