BOB GETS HIS REWARD.

NEARER came the rustling. They could not yet see Polly, on account of the darkness, but the sound of her voice had rea.s.sured them.

Presently a moving figure crept close up to the waiting boys; which they knew must be the queer mountain girl. Polly was far from dainty looking; she had coa.r.s.e black hair that possibly seldom knew a comb; and her voice was rather harsh; but nevertheless Thad believed she had a heart under this forbidding exterior, and that the spirit of grat.i.tude was transforming her, greatly to their advantage.

"I'm right glad yuh kim, even if 'twar late," she said, as she reached their side.

"We started as soon as we could, Polly," said Bob, wondering if the girl really felt hurt because she had been kept waiting. "You see, I had to cross the valley, and talk with my cousin, Bertha. It was very important that I should see her, for she had news to give me, news that we hope will end in taking her away from that cruel old miser, and giving her over to the keeping of my own dear mother."

Polly grunted, as though she felt that she had to exhibit some sign of displeasure; but she said no more on that subject.

"I done found the Still," she remarked, simply.

"That's good, Polly," Bob said, warmly.

"Caus I'd be'n thar afore, but 'twas a long time ago," she went on, as if in apology for any difficulty she may have run across in finding the secret workshop of her father.

"Yes," Bob went on, encouragingly, as she stopped.

"Yuh see, they don't want gals er wimen ahangin' 'round thar. An' ever since they begun ter keep a prisoner ter work ther mash, I reckons as how never one hes be'n up ter thet place."

"But you hadn't forgotten just how to get there, had you, Polly; you knew the old trail, even with its changes; and did they have a prisoner; or was it just a story that's been going around all this time?"

Bob's impatience could not hold back any longer. He felt that he must know the truth with regard to this fact, right away. If there was no prisoner after all, then hope must sink out of sight. On the other hand, should Polly say that she had discovered a guard, and a patient working figure kept in restraint for long, weary months, he might still hug that fond illusion to his heart, that it might yet turn out to be his own father.

"Yep, I gut thar, even if they had hid the trail right smart," the girl continued, "an' sure 'nuff, thar war a prisoner!"

"Oh!" said Bob, and Thad could feel him quiver again with eagerness.

The girl was slow, not because she wished to tantalize Bob, but simply on account of her sluggish nature. The hook-worm has a firm grip upon most of the "poor whites" of North Carolina, as well as in Tennessee and Georgia close at hand. It would take something out of the common to arouse Polly; a sudden peril perhaps; or the antic.i.p.ation of a new dress, which latter could not be an event occurring in less than yearly stages, Thad had thought.

"An' he war a man," Polly went on, dreamily; "jest like yuh thought, Bob; but his hair hed growed so long, and thar was so much beard on his face, I jest reckons his own mother wudn't never a knowed 'im."

"But did you get close enough to him to say a single word, Polly--just to ask him who he was?" the boy demanded, faintly.

Thad unconsciously let his arm glide around the figure of his chum. He seemed to fear the result, no matter what the answer of the mountain girl might be.

"Sure I did. Thet's what I went up thar fur, ain't it?" Polly went on to say. "They hed him chained ter ther rock. I reckons thar mout a be'n a guard alongside, sum o' ther time; but right then he must a be'n away.

So arter peekin' around, an' not seein' any critter astandin' sentry, I jest mosied up clost ter ther man, an' touched him on ther arm."

She paused again, as if to collect her thoughts, and then yawned; but it was only through habit, and not because Polly felt sleepy; far from it, she was seldom more wide-awake than just then, though it was hard for Thad to believe it.

"He looked kinder s'prised tuh see me, 'cause like I done tole yuh, gals, they ain't never be'n 'lowed 'round thar, sense 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 sh.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e 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 grat.i.tude. "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?"

"Sh.o.r.e 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 disclosure had been accomplished, and his anxiety a thing of the past.

"I shud say he war," replied the girl, a little aroused now. "Say, he done _cry_, thet's what. Reckons as how he mout a be'n sorry fur not promisin' like they wanted long ergo. He arsks as how yer looked, an' ef yer mam war still well. Caus I cudn't tell him a heap, 'cause I didn't know; but I sez ter him thet yer hed kim hyar ter fotch 'im home, an'

it'd be a shame ef yer hed ter go back erlone, jest 'cause he wanted ter be ugly. So he says as how he'd be'n athinkin', an' mout change his mind 'bout thet thar promise."

"Oh! to think of it, Thad," Bob breathed, gripping the arm of his staunch chum eagerly; "my father is alive after all these terrible months; and perhaps he'll even go home with me. It's worth all I've suffered ten times, yes a thousand times over."

"You deserve all the happiness there can be going, Bob, sure you do,"

declared the scoutmaster, positively. "I guess nothing could be too good for you. But we don't just understand yet how this is going to be brought about. Will Phin Dady let him go free if he makes that promise, Polly?"

"Sh.o.r.e, he's jest _got_ ter, now," the girl answered, with a little chuckle. "Yer see, like I sez afore, things, have changed a heap now, an' my dad, he hain't a feelin' thet sore agin ther marshal like he used ter. An' Bob Quail, even ef he warn't gwine ter do hit, arter wat I larned this same night, I tells yer I'd set yer dad free on my own 'count."

"What did you learn?" asked Thad, curiously, seeing that apparently the girl could not of her own free will tell a story, but it had to be drawn from her piece meal, through the means of questions.

"I war acomin' down ther mounting," she began, "an' 'bout harf way hyah I seen thet ther lights war a movin' down in ther valley. So I jest natchally stopped ter read what ther news was, 'spectin' thet it meant trouble fur you-uns. But the more I reads ther more I gits wise ter ther fack thet yer be'n an' done hit sum moah."

"Yes," said Thad, encouragingly, though already he understood what was coming.

"'Pears like 'tain't enuff fur yer ter skeer off thet cat, an' keep me from agittin' my face clawed handsome, but yer must go an' save ther life o' my uncle Cliff. I reads thet he was hurt bad by Nate's gun goin'

off, an' bleedin' a heap, so's they feels sure he never kin be took 'crost ter the doc's alive. Then they jest happen on yer camp down thar; an' sh.o.r.e he gut his arm fixed up so's ter stop ther blood comin'; an' they fotched him acrost ther valley in good shape."

"It was only a little thing, Polly, and gave me a great deal of pleasure," said Thad, thrilled despite himself by the girl's simple recital of the event.

"P'raps 'twar," she replied, st.u.r.dily; "but my maw, she sots some store by Uncle Cliff; an' dad, he cain't nowise go agin wot she wants. So I sees right plain like it was writ, thet Bob, he's bound arter this, ter git his dad free."

"Oh! it's like a dream to me, Thad; I feel as if I must be asleep. Give me a pinch or something, won't you, and let me understand that I'm alive," Bob exclaimed.

"You're awake, all right, old fellow," replied Thad, with a nervous little laugh. "And unless I miss my guess, Polly here is going to give you another pleasant little surprise; ain't you, Polly?"

"W'en I larns thet 'bout my uncle," continued the mountain girl, "I jest thinks as how Bob hyah, he's be'n a wantin' ter larn somethin' 'bout his ole man ther longest time ever. An' so I makes up my min' ter fotch 'im right away up ter ther Still in ther cave, so's ter see how the man as is chained'd feel ter git his boy in his arms onct agin!"

"Oh! Polly, however can I thank you?" exclaimed the excited Bob; "please let's start then right away. I thought I was tired, but now I'm feelin' as fresh as ever I could be. You couldn't go too quick to suit me!"