I do.
And I.
And I.
And so signify the six.
Wal, then, ye may go hum; yell hear no more beout this bizness from me, ceptin any o ye shed be sech a dod-rotted fool as ter fall behind wi yur payments. Ef ye do, by the Eturnal
You neednt, Jerry Rook, interposes Brandon, to avoid hearing the threat; you may depend upon us. I shall myself be responsible for all.
Enuf sed. Abeout this bar skin hanging on the tree. I spose ye dont want to take that wi ye? I may take it, may I, by way o earnest to the bargain?
No one opposes the request. The old hunter is made welcome to the spoils of the chase, both those on the spot and in the forest further off.
They who obtained them are but too glad to surrender every souvenir that may remind them of that ill-spent day.
Slow, and with bitter thoughts, they ride off, each to return to his own home, leaving Jerry Rook alone to chuckle over the accursed compact.
And this does he to his satisfaction.
Now! cries he, sweeping the bears skin from the branch, and striding off along the trace; now to make things squar wi Dick Tarleton. Ef I ken do thet, Ill sot this day down in the kullinder as bein the luckiest o my life.
The sound of human voices has ceased in the glade. There is heard only the whish of wings as the buzzards return to their interrupted repast.
Story 1-Chapter X. Vows of Vengeance
By such fickle light it is impossible to read their features, but by their voices may they be recognised, engaged as they are in an earnest conversation.
They are Jerry Rook and Dick Tarleton.
The scene is on the bank of the sluggish stream or bayou , that runs past the dwelling of the hunter, and not twenty yards from the shanty itself. Out of this they have just stepped apparently for the purpose of carrying on their conversation beyond earshot of any one.
The faint light burning within the cabin, that part of it that serves as sitting-room and kitchen, is from the fire. But there is no one there; no living thing save the hound slumbering upon the hearth.
A still duller light from a dip candle shows through the slits of a shut door, communicating with an inner apartment. One gazing in might see the silhouette of a young girl seated by the side of a low bedstead, on which lies stretched the form of a youth apparently asleep. At all events, he stirs not, and the girl regards him in silence. There is just enough light to show that her looks are full of anxiety or sadness, but not sufficient to reveal which of the two, or whether both.
The two men outside have stopped by the stem of a large cottonwood, and are but continuing a dialogue commenced by the kitchen fire, that had been kindled but for the cooking of the evening meal, now eaten. It is still warm autumn weather, and the bears have not begun to hybernate.
I tell ye, Dick, says the old hunter, whose turn it is to speak, for you to talk o revenge an that sort o thing air the darndest kind o nonsense. Take it afore the coort ideed! What good ud thet do ye? Theyd be the coort, an the jedges; that is, thar fathers wud, an yed stan as much chance o gettin jestice out o em as ye wud o lightin yur pipe at one o them thar fire-bugs. Theyve got the money an the inflooence, an thars no law in these parts, ithout one or the tother.
I know it I know it, says Tarleton, with bitter emphasis.
I reckin yeve reezun to know it, Dick, now you havent the money to spare for sech purposes, an, therefore, on thet score ud stan no chance. Besides thars the old charge agin ye, and ye dasent appear to parsecute. Its the same men ye see, or the sons o the same
Curse them! The very same. Buck, Brandon, Randall every one of them. Oh, God! There is destiny in it! Twas their fathers who ruined me, blighted my whole life, and now the sons to have done this. Strange fearfully strange!
Wal, it air kewrious, I admit, an do look as ef the devvil hed a hand int. But hes playin agen ye, Dick, yet, an hed beat ye sure, ef ye try to fout agin him. Take the device Ive gin ye, an git out o his and thar way as furs ye kin. Kalifornys a good way off. Go thar as ye intended. Git rich if ye kin, an ye think ye hev a chance. Do that, and then kum back hyar ef ye like. When yur pockets are well filled wi them thar shinin pebbles, ye kin command the law as ye like, and hev as much o it as yeve a mind to.
I shall have it for my own wrongs, or for his.
Wal, I reckn you hev reezun both ways. They used you durnd ill. Thars no doubt o that. Still, Dick, ye must acknowledge that appearances war dreadfully agin ye.
Against me perdition! From the way you say that, Jerry Rook, I might fancy that you too believed it. If I thought you did
But I didnt, an dont, neer a bit o it, Dick. I know you war innercent o thet .
Jerry Rook, I have sworn to you, and swear it again, that I am as innocent of that girls murder as if I had never seen her. I acknowledge
that she used to meet me in the woods, and on the spot where she was found with a bullet through her heart, and my own pistol lying empty beside her. The pistol was stolen from my house by him who did the deed. It was one of the two men; which, I could never tell. It was either Buck or Brandon, the fathers of those fellows who have been figuring to-day. Like father, like son! Both were mad after the girl, and jealous of me. They knew I had outshined them, and that was no doubt their reason for destroying her. One or other did it, and if Id known which, Id have sent him after her long ago. I didnt wish to kill the wrong man, and to say the truth, the girl was nothing to me. But after whats happened to-day, Ill have satisfaction on them and their sons too ay, every one who has had a hand in this days work!