Page:Randall Parrish--My Lady of the South.djvu/123

SCOUTING SERVICE way; they kept ther milishy yere until they hung Jim Daniels an' one o' ther Farleys. I got out o' ther Minersville jail, an' a posse chased me nigh a hundred mile. Thar wan't no use a comin' back, fer ther Donalds hed everythin' their own way 'round yere then. So I jist nat'rally waited round till ther war broke out. I sure knew ther Yanks would come marchin' inter this yere kintry some time, an' I wanted ter come 'long with 'em. Thet wud give me a better show than tryin' ter play a lone hand. Wal, I'm yere now, an' I reckon ther whole kit an' caboodle will know 'bout it afore I leave. I've got some ol' scores ter settle up yere in this kintry, an' now, by Gawd, ther ol' United States is a backin' of me."

"You mean to involve this blood feud into your duty as a soldier?"

"Wal, it seems to involve all right. Did n't cher Gin'ral send us out yere to run down Big Donald?"

"Yes, to take him prisoner as a Confederate in arms. That does not authorize any attack on Judge Dunn, or any killing except in battle."

"I reckon I kin attend to ther Dunn matter myself whin ther time comes; an' as ter Big Jim Donald, thar's nobody ever goin' ter take him prisoner. If we sight him, it will be whoever gets ther drop first. He's not ther kind yer make prisoners out 'er." He looked behind him at the rampart of rocks. "He an' his gang must be hidin' out over Bald Mounting way; thar's sure no signs of 'em along Sand Crick."

"What do you advise that we do?"

"Wal, thar's no use trampin' by daylight; we'd be [ 113 ]