TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGEB. TANIS, THE BANG-DIGGER BY AMELIE RIVES. NEW YORK: TOWN TOPICS PUBLISHING CO., 21 WEST 23D STREET. 1893. COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY TOWN TOPICS PUBLISHING CO. All Rights Reserved. TANIS, THE SANG-D1GGER. CHAPTER I. ILMAN was driving along one of the well- kept turnpikes that wind about the Warm Springs Valley. He recognized the austere and solemn beauty that hemmed him in from the far- off outer world; but at the same time he was con trasting it with the sea-coast of his native state, Massachusetts, and a certain creeping homesick ness began to rise about his heart. In addition to this, he had left his delicate wife suffering with an acute neuralgic headache, and also saddened by a yearning for the picturesque old farm-house in which he had been born, and M12025 8 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. where they had lived during the first year of marriage. The trap which Gilman drove was filled with surveying instruments, and, as he turned into the rough mountain road, which led towards the site of the new railway for which he was now pros pecting, the smaller ones began to rattle together and slide from the seat beside him. Finally, as the cart slipped against a stone, the level bounced into a puddle. He was about to jump out when a bold, ringing voice called to him: " Set still A ll pick hit up!" Then a figure slid down the rocky bank at his right, her one garment wrinkling from her bare, sturdy legs during the performance. Gilman had never seen anything like her in his thirty years of varied experience. She was very tall. A curtain of rough, glitter ing curls hung to her knees. Her face, clear with that clearness which only a mountain wind can bring, was white as a sea gull s breast, except where a dark, yet vivid pink melted into the blue veins on temples and throat. Her round, fresh TAXIS, THE SANOD1GGER. lips, smooth as a peony-leaf, were parted in a wide laugh, over teeth large and yellow-white, like the grains on an ear of corn. She wore a loose tunic of blue-gray stuff, which reached to the middle of her legs, covered with grass stains and patches of mould. Her bare feet, somewhat broadened by walking, were well-shaped, the great toe standing apart from the others, the strong, round ankles, although scratched and bruised, perfectly sym metrical. Her arms, bare almost to the shoulder, were like those with which, in imagination, we complete the Milo. Eyes, r6und and colored like the edges of broken glass, looked boldly out from under her long black eyebrows. Her nose was straight and well cut, but set impertinently. As she picked up the muddy level she laughed boisterously and wiped it on her frock. "Thank you," said Gilman, and then, after a second s hesitation, added: "Where are you going? Perhaps I can give you a lift on your way. Will you get in ?" " Well, a done keer ef a do," she said, still staring at him. 10 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. She got in and took the level on her knee, then burst out laughing again "A reckon yuh wonders what a m a haw- hawin at ?" she asked, suddenly. " Well, a ll tell yuh ! Tis caze a feels jess like this hyuh contrapshun o yourn. A hain t hed a bite sence five this mawnin , and a ve got a bubble in th middle o me, a ken tell yuh !" She opened her flexible mouth almost to her ears, showing both rows of speckless teeth, and roaring mirthfully again. "I ve got some sandwiches, here won t you have one ?" said Gilrnan. "Dunno what be they ? she asked, rather sus piciously, eyeing him sidewise. He explained to her, and she accepted one, tear ing from it a huge semi-circle, which she held in her cheek while exclaiming : "Murder! hain t that good, though ? D yiih eat them things ev y day ? Yuh looks hit! You re a real fine-lookin feller mos ez good-lookin ez Bill." " Who is Bill?" asked Gilman, much interested TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 11 in this, his first conversation with a genuine savage. " Bill ? he s muh pard, an muh brother, too. I come down hyuh tuh git him a drink o water, but a hain t foun a spring yit." " Xo, there isn t one in several miles," said Gil- man. " My Lawd above us! she cried. "Ilyuh! Lemme git out. Whar be yuh agoin , anyhow ?" Gilnian told her. "I ve an idea," he added. " If you ll wait for me here, I ll be back in about an hour, and I ll bring you some water/ She turned on him, her brow knotted into a fierce frown. "Ho! I knows yuh !" she cried. "You re one o them stuck-up valley fellers. / knows yuh ! You re ashamed tuh git caught ridin wi me !" " Indeed, I m not," he said, flushing. "Yuh aii-!" she retorted, angrily. "I knows yuh ! You re one o them fools ez reads books, an thinks nothin live s got any sense but yuh- selves. But yuh s jess ez big a fool ez anybordy! 12 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. A hain t thought yuh looked suh pizen smart f um th fust. Yuh got nice shiny liar an eyes, an a sweetish mouth, an these hyuh fool things ez yuh go long th road a-droppin fur other folks tuh pick up. Thar ! hit Jl sarve yuh right ef hit breks," and, with a jerk of her strong wrist, she sent the level flying over the horse s head. Being unaccustomed to having levels hurled about her ears, the mare snorted and reared, half whirling around at the same time. "Sit still!" cried Gil man, sharply, as the girl was about to jump out. " What a vixen you are, eh ?" he added, good-naturedly, as he pulled up the mare in order to get his unfortunate instru ment. " Will you hold the reins, Mademoiselle, while /pick up my contrapshun this time? " Hyuh ! done yuh call me no names," she re plied, threateningly. "A ve licked Bill lots o times, an a lay a ken lick you." "Mademoiselle only means Miss, in French," explained Gilman, meekly. <k Then you call me Miss/ in English," she TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 13 growled, surlily. " That s some more o yo stuck- up foolishness. Sides, that wud didn t soun like it was Miss, in no langidge. Hit sounded like a red-hot cuss wud, an a wone stand no more on m." " Bill must have a calm, sweet life," suggested Oilman, mildly, getting in with his level. " Yuh let Bill alone," she snapped back. " He ll scalp yuh, quickern a Injun, ef yuh fools wi me." For about a mile they drove on in silence; then, at the edge of the wood, Gilman pulled up. " Now," he said, " you may get angry again, but I m going to say to you what I d say to my own sister. First, I don t want to take you any fur ther, because we ll soon be among a lot of rough men, white and black. Second, I want you to tell Bill that I don t think he ought to let you scramble about these lonely woods, by yourself, with only that one piece of clothing on." " Now, you look a-hyuh," she retorted, narrow ing her eyes upon him. " Ef you want me to war more does, you jess start about an get em fuh 14 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. me. Bill hain t got no money tub wase on sech darn foolishness." "Very well," said Oilman, "I will, with pleas ure. If you ll come home with me, I ll give you some, to-day. By the way, will you tell me your name ?" "You tell me yourn." "My name is George Gilman." " Well, mine s Tanis. Funny kynd o name, ain t hit?" " It s very like the name of a Carthaginian goddess." " A Carthagi now, you look a-hyuh ! Done you begin yo book-stuff on me agin a wone stand hit." She brought her fist down so energetically upon her crossed knee that her leg flew out as if moved by machinery. "Yuh hyah me?" she said. "It s very hard not to make you angry, Miss Tanis." "No tain t, nuther, ef yuh talk sense tuh me. But a nuvver could stand Torm fools, not even muh ole dad ; he was one," she TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 15 added, quickly. "A nuvver did see whar Bill an me got our sense, case Ma, she wuz one, too." Gilman got down hastily, to hide a smile, and turned to give her his hand, but she was out, with the bound of a deer, before he could touch her. "You g long," she said; "a m sorry a rode this far wi you. You ll larf bout muh bar foots, an this hyuh rag o mine, wi them po white trash an niggers. Whar you fura, any how ? Yuh hain t a Fuginia feller. A kin tell by yo talk. You called roots ruts jess now, an yuh said we d sun be whar them other fellers be. Whar you fum?" "From Massachusetts," said Gilman. " S that another langidge f uh some name a knows?" "Xo it s the real name of another State." " Well, hit s nuff tub twis a body s tongue, fuh life, so a done blame yuh s much fuh yo funny talk. Mawnin ." And she began to swing herself upon a great lichen-crusted boul der by the roadside. 16 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. "Then you re not going to wait and go back with me for the clothes? 1 asked Gilman. " Mebbe a will, an mebbe a wone. All do ez a darn please ; yuh ken gamble on thet." "Well, good-bye, then, Miss Tanis. I sup pose you won t tell me your last name?" "Muh lars name but one s Gloriany. A ve got three," and she grinned at him. "But the other?" "Nuvver you mine," she called back, from her perch far above his head. " M other name s ugly nuff tuh give Satan th toothache. But that hain t no odds. We gals ken alluz change our names. Now yuh g long an done drap that cussed old bubble agin, or hit l bust, sho ." She gave a wild whoop of laughter at her own wit, and was soon out of sight, in the thick woods. TASIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 17 CHAPTER II. ILMAX was naturally curious as to the type of young barbarian whom he had met on his drive to Back Creek, and, during a pause in his work, he told a young fellow named Watkins of his adventure, and asked him to what class the girl belonged. "I reckon, sir, she was a sang-digger," said Watkins, laughing. " They re a awful wild lot, mostly bad as they make em, with no more idea of right an wrong than a lot o ground-horgs." "But what is a sang-digger ?" asked Oil man, more and more curious. " Well, sir, sang, or ginseng, ez the real name is, is a sorter root that grows thick in the mountains about here. They make some sorter medicine outer it. I ve chawed it myself for heartburn. It s right payin , too sang diggin is, sir; you ken git at least a dollar a pound for it, an sometimes you ken dig ten pounds in a day, 18 TANIS, THE SANG- DIGGER. but that s right seldom. Two or three pounds a day is doin well. They re a awful low set, sir, sang-diggers is. We call em snakes hereabouts, cause they don t have no place to live cep in in winter, and then they go off somewhere or ruther, to their huts. But in the summer and early au tumn they stop where night ketches em, an light a fire an sleep round it. They cert n y are a bad lot, sir. They ll steal a sheep or a horse ez quick ez winkin . Why, t want a year ago that they stole a mighty pretty mare o mine, that I set a heap by, an rid off her tail and mane a-tearin through the brush with her. She got loose some how and come back to me. But they stole two horses for ole Mr. Hawkins, down near Fallin Springs, an he a in t been able to get em back. There s awful murders an villainies done by em. But some o them sang- digger gals is awful pretty, though they go half naked in summer time an are mostly mighty dirty. Yes, sir, I reckon she was a sang-digger, shore enough." Late that afternoon, as Gilman reached the big boulder up which the girl had climbed that TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 19 moining, a loud halloa stopped him, and, looking up, he saw that she was swinging herself down its fern-tufted sides. He pulled up and waited to see what she would say. Coming close to the side of the cart she put a bare foot on the step, and stood looking at him for a while in silence. Her hair rioted as freely as ever, but she had thrown a bit of bright crimson stuff about her shoulders, and a man s soft hat, ornamented with a deer tail, was pulled down about her ears. "Say!" she burst forth, finally. " A was pizen mean tuh yuh this mawnin . A reckons yuh done keer bout totin me back fur them duds?" " Why, yes, I do," said Oilman, pleasantly. "Jump in." She hesitated for a second, and then bounded in beside him, shaking the whole vehicle and starting the mare into a gallop. After another second she addressed him, with her usual explosiveness. " Be yuh a-doin o this hyuh outer cussedness, or be yuh a-playin on the squar ?" 20 TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. " What do you mean by doing it out of cus- sedness ?" asked Gilman. " A means, be yuh a-goin tub yank me off some- whar an keep me, or be yuh agoin tub give me them duds an lemme go? A reckons a m a darn fool tub go wi yuh that s wbut a reckons a be." " Why, of course I m going to let you go," he said, smiling. "Then a reckons yoitre a darn fool, too," was her brief comment. " They been t a feller, wi any gumption under his hat, t wix hyuh an the Blue Ridge, ez ud lemme go onct he got a holt o me. But a hain t nuvver bed a feller yit," she added, quickly. " When they tries thar fool tricks wi me a smacks em upside down." She looked at him steadily for a moment, and then said, with slow, emphasis: " No feller hain t nuvver kissed me sence a wuz bawn, cep n Bill. D yuh b leeve me, or d yuh think a m a blamed liar?" "I believe you," said Oilman, Her eyes softened. TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 21 "A reckons you re tlr right sort, she said, smiling. "A reckons you re a gentleman." "I have thought so," he returned, also smiling. "D yuh know what Zbe? <? she demanded, after another period of silence. " Well, I be a sang- digger. They calls us snakes, them valley fools does. We re a right wile lot, too, stranger. No feller ez done want daylight through him, oughn t tuh monkey wi no sang-digger, man or woman." " No," said Gilman, gravely. " I should think not." She regarded him again with silent intentness, and then observed, deliberately : " There was a sang-digger onct murdered a man fuh twenty cents. I ve biled coffee fuh him many a time. He wuz a right kynd sorter feller, too, Jim wuz; but he hed a drunk on, an he wanted that twenty cents. A knows whar th other feller s skellington is now, but a wouldn t tell yuh ef yuh cut ma th oat fuh it. Jim wuz th kyndest feDer tuh dumb critters yuh ever see in yo life. A tole himef th man had been deef an dumb he wouldn t a stuck him. Hit didn seem to bother Jim, though. 22 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGEB. He said he bed to tell somebordy, so he tole me; then he felt fust rate. He said ez how th man heddn t but one leg, ennyhow, an a feller wi only one leg wuz better off whar he wouldn t need no legs. He said he d thank anybordy tub put a hole through him if he didn t hev but one leg. An he spent that thar twenty cents on whisky, an drunk hit, too ! Jim wuz a caution, but he never fooled wi me" Gilman gazed at her, with a certain blankness of expression. He wondered what the writer of Ec- clesiastes would have said about her. Her next remark showed a sudden change of thought. " This hyuh rag a got round muh neck s a right prutty color, hain t hit ?" she asked. " Bill tore down a lot o winder things outer a woman s house lars winter, an I tuk this hyuh one, an dyed it with pokeberries. Hit sots off ma har right well done it ?" And, pulling one of her heavy tresses over her shoulder, she began to curl it around her fingers, and spread it out on the gaily-colored stuff. TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGEB. 23 It suddenly occurred to Gilraan that he might have some trouble in explaining this young woman to Alice, who was always interested in the poor people whom he brought home, for employment or aid. "Did yuh ever see har no prettier nor mine?" she then demanded. "No; it s very beautiful, and you ve got such a lot of it," said the young man. " We be reel chummy, muh har an me," she went on. " When hit tuns cold in th mountains, a wrops hit round me, an hit kynder comforts me. A nusses hit on muh bres, like a baby, sometimes. An a talks tuh hit. Seems like hits a critter, all tuh hitself, muh har does. Sometimes hit wone skars curl, tuh save muh neck; then, agin, hit twangles up, nios like a nigger s, an hit done stay th same color two days han runnin . Mos ly hit s like hit is now, but sometimes hit s percisely like raw wood in the sunlight, when them little red, shiny flames is beginnin tuh lick roun hit. Hit s got streaks in hit, too, mos zackly like a new silver quarter. See?" And she pulled it back from her 24 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. temples and turned her head aside, that he might look. Somehow, Gilman felt very glad that dusk was beginning to gather, so that his companion was somewhat veiled from the passers-by. He felt that he had caught a Tartar with a vengeance, and the idea of Alice, confronted with this wild mountain girl, disturbed him more and more. When he reached Fern Ledge, as they called their house, he asked Tanis to hold the mare, while he went for some one to put her up. This was, however, only a subterfuge, to get a chance of explaining the situation to Alice. He found her recovered from her headache, and marking a copy of Shelley s poems, the covers of which were beginning to curl from being held so near the fire. She smiled at his fears, and told him to bring the girl to her at once. When Tanis entered, she stood for a moment, blinded by the white glare from the two lamps which lighted the pretty room, although the sun had not quite set. Then, brushing her hand TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 25 across her eyes, she advanced a step or two and then stood still. It was a simple little picture the graceful, high-born woman half rising from her sofa, the tall, embarrassed man, with his pronounced air of civilization, ushering in this wild creature, clothed about in her web of wind-snarled hair the little room, bright with white and blue chintz, with bowls of flowers, with water- color drawings, its cottage piano littered with music, its low tables friendly with books! There was a warm scent of Russian leather and roses in the air. Tanis was the first to speak. She looked paler in the white lamplight. * S that yo woman ? she demanded, briefly, pointing to Alice. * That is my icife," said Oilman. " She looks a heap older n you do/ remarked the girl. "I con older/ remarked Alice, gently, a pink spot painting itself under either eye. " Well," observed Tanis, " /holes ez how th man oughter be the oldest, Now, when he," 26 TANIS, THE SANG DIGGER.. jerking her thumb towards Gilmari, without look ing at him, "when he s a good-lookin , middle- aged feller, you ll be all tuh pieces." "My husband loves me, not my looks," said Alice, her face tingling, as though from a smart blow. "My!" muttered the girl, "hit s mighty hard tuh tell how much hit s looks an how much hit s ooman a man loves. Looks is got a heap to do wi love, a kin tell yuh ! You re right nice-lookin now, but you re mortal skinny, an yo eyes swivel when yuh smile?, a-ready. Yuh awful little, too. A feller could lose yuh twix his shirt-collar an his ves -porket. an nuvver know whar yuh went tuh. Hit cert n y do beat me why you two got hitched. Wuz she rich ?" she ended, turning to Oilman, whose face was flushed and angry. He was in a horrible position, fearing to oppose her, lest she should grow violent, and seeing, by his wife s face, that each brutal word was a home thrust. " I think you said something about clothes, George," said Alice, coming forward. " I will go and get them." TA>iIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 27 He went out with her, supporting her with one arm, and Tanis was left alone in the fragrant room. She wheeled about, and scowled at the closed door. " Well, of all the two-legged Jack-asses !" she said, at last, in her slow growl. " Well, of all th darn Torm-fools !" She brought her hand down, with a bang, on the object nearest her, which happened to be the piano. The shrill discord startled her, and she leaped back ; then, venturing to approach it again, struck some single notes with her fore finger. The sound displeased her, however, and she turned away, lounging about the room with her free, woodland motion. She opened a book or two, wet her finger and touched the lamp- chimneys cautiously to see if they would "smack; pulled out the pictures from the wall, in her desire to know if the colors went through to the other side, and, finally, opened Alice s bottle of crown- lavender salts, which she had been using for her headache. " Murder !" she cried, as Oilman entered, fling- 28 TANIS, THE SANG-DTGGER. ing it from her, so that it smashed on the slate hearth, "the cussed thing s wuss n a gun. A thought muh head wuz off." (t Here are the clothes," he said, drily. " There is a bedroom across the hall where you can put them on." She stared at him. " Wut s the bed got tuh do wi hit ? she then demanded. " Does yuh wooman git in bed tuh dress herself ?" " It isn t necessary to mention my wife," he said, tartly. "A bedroom is the place where people usually put on their clothes." " Well, a hain t a-goin in no bedroom," she re plied, looking obstinate. " A ll put em on hyuh, or a wone put em on nowhar." " Very well," said Oilman. "I ll go out until you are ready." Again she stared at him, and then burst into her tempestuous laugh. "Lawdy, lawdy!" she cried, "but you valley fellers air a caution !" She came to the door in a few minutes, and TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 29 called to Gilraan, who was pacing miserably up and down the hall. " Say! she shouted, " how many o these hyuh duds be thar, anyhow? A hain t got room on me fuh any mo , an ther s bout three lef over." " Make them into a bundle and take them with you," he said, distracted. " Well," she assented, " a mus be a-movin , too. Bill, he s a-goin tuh meet me over tuh Rourke s. A reckon a kin light out up th mountain from hyuh, cyarn t a? 1 " But you ll tear your clothes all to pieces," he objected. " I haven t unhitched the mare. I m going to drive you to the place where you told me your brother was going to meet you. You can t scramble through the brush with these clothes on." "A hain t gwine tuh," she said, briefly; " a m gwine tuh tek em off th fus fence a comes tuh." " Of course you can do as you like," he replied ; "but I d much rather drive you, if you don t mind." She stood still and looked at him curiously. 30 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. "Heel you ruther?" she asked, in a gentler voice. "Yes, much rather. It s really horrible to think of a woman s wandering about these hills alone at this time of the evening." Her whole face had softened. The bold eyes regarded him almost shyly. " Stranger," she said, " hit s reel kynd o yuh tub think bout that." With a sudden movement, she came nearer him. " A m sorry a spoke so tuh yuh oom yuh wife. A lay a hut her, right smart. A m sorry. Tell her a m sorry. A ll mek Bill bring her a lot o 1 fustrate sang. She looks like she needed some sorter doctor stuff. A m sorry." Gilman could not have believed that he would ever forgive her, but something in the wild, wist ful eyes touched him. "Yes, I ll tell her, 1 he said, and put out his hand. She touched it, half timidly, then stroked it with her finger-tips. " Hit s ez smooth ez sang root," she said, finally. TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 31 Then, lifting her eyes to his, "A likes yuh." Then, lifting her face, " Yuh ken kiss me, ef yuh keers." Oilman s embarrassment returned tenfold. He smiled, and said with an effort : "Do you know, Miss Tanis, I like to think that no man has ever kissed you not even myself. But Til kiss your hand, if I may." And he lifted the rough, shapely fingers to his lips. "Somehow," she murmured, her lips working nervously " somehow a feels like a reckon other oomans feels when they re a-goin tuh cry. A done nuvver member cryin . Hit huts muh th oat." She turned from him and walked abruptly out into the solemn, evening atmos phere. The blackish violet of the hills made a sombre outline against a pale sky where, through streamers of dim red, the stars were beginning to shine. Xo words were exchanged between them until they reached Rourke s, where a tall, slouch ing figure came toward them from the shadow of the roadside. Tanis leaped out, and, taking her brother by the hand, drew him forward. 32 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. "Bill," she said, "a wants yuh tub thank that that gentleman he air a gentleman," she added, quickly, as Bill gave a dubious grunt. " He s ben good tuh me, an guv me all these hyuh duds. A wants yuh tuh look at him good, caze a wants yuh alluz tuh stick tuh him ef uvver you ze by an he gits in a tight hole. Ken yuh see him ? " " Be yuh gone silly, sis ? " growled her brother. "A feller couldn t see th Ole Boy hisself this time o night, thout he come a-blazinV The girl darted forward eagerly. "Yuh got a match?" she asked, "caze ef yuh hev, scratch hit, so s Bill ken see yuh. Tain t a-goin tuh hut nobordy tuh hev a sang-digger fur &frien\ though hit mought tuh hev one fur a enemy." Oilman reached mechanically for his cigarette- case, and lighted the fuse. The three faces were painted against the back ground of gloomy mountain by the faint, bluish flame. The two men looked each other in the eyes. " A ll know yuh any whar now," said the sang- TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 33 digger, finally, "an 1 thank yuh fuh yo kyndness tub muh leetle gal. She s ez wile ez a hawk, but moughty good-hearted. She s a good gal. Thank yuh." Oilman snapped down the lid of his cigarette- case, but the sang-digger s powerful head, with its mat of dark-red hair and beard, and gleaming, black eyes, seemed still to look at him from the curtain of the twilight. <f Good-night," he said, taking up the reins. Good-night," returned Bill. " Say suh tuh him," whispered the girl. " Good-night, suh ! " called the big fellow, obediently. And the girl s voice repeated like an echo : u Good- night, suh!" 34 TANIS, THE BANG-DIGGER, CHAPTER III. rriHE Warm Springs Valley is a long, fertile -- trough, extending between two spurs of the Alleghany mountains, rich in various ores and in numberless medicinal springs, whose tepid waters curl in clear, shallow brooks, through field and for est, reflecting the changeful sky with jewel-like effects, and bordered by rankly-clustering growths of water-cress. The hills are steep, severe in out line, perforated with caves, and covered by forests, chiefly of oak and chestnut, which have been much injured by frequent fires. The shrill tang of sheep and cow bells accentu ates the silence overhanging this lonely dale, varied sometimes by the crackling detonation of a rifle far up among the rocky heights. Its peace is almost too solemn to be soothing, its beauty too severe to bring with it that sense of closeness which possesses us in the presence of rare, natural scenery. It has in it something of that chill which emanates from a woman whose loveliness is TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 35 too haughty to be magnetic. One has a sensation of mountains, piled up on all sides in countless ranges, like gigantic walls which seem to shut out the world beyond and even love itself. From the top of the Warm Springs mountain one can count five or six ranges to the northward, sweeping on and on, like the petrified waves of a once liquid and stormy sea of sapphire. It seems hallowed for the cradle of a severe and narrow region. The dryads of its trees one fancies to be nuns, and the genii of its caves, brown-cowled monks, imprisoned there for crimes long since for gotten by the far-away world. The Titans, held down by these masses of iron ore and sandstone, must have been the rebel Gods of a Methodistic heaven. The hot water, welling everywhere from the fat loam, brings with it suggestions of that fiery region, where the souls of the unrighteous and unorthodox are supposed to descend after death. The very cattle seem awed by the vast impress- iveness about them. One rarely hears the bleating of sheep or the lowing of cows. The locomotive, 36 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGEB. that arrives once a day at the Hot Springs sta tion, does not give vent to the unmannerly snort- ings and shriekings which distinguish other locomo tives. It comes and goes, with a sombre rumble, as if its metallic soul were subdued within it by the general hush of hill and valley and overhanging sky. In spite of her absolute devotion to her husband, Alice Gilman could not help being saddened by this stern and imprisoning landscape. The sound of the sea, which from childhood had lulled her in moods of mental and physical pain, was ever in her ears. She felt a heart-thirst for its open radi ance, its darting gulls, its ships which seemed like messages from the lands that she had never seen, but of which she had dreamed during many an hour of calm imagining. The crowding mountains suffocated her. There was, for her, a gloom in the very sunlight as it rested drowsily on the fields, not shaken as by the restlessness of the ocean, which she so loved. She was leaning on her elbow at an open window one day, about two weeks after her interview with TAXIS, THE SAMG-DIGGER. 37 Tanis, her heart full of that listless pain which is born of resignation, when a voice close by startled her. She looked up and saw that Tanis herself was standing a few feet off, leaning on a rough staff of hickory, and regarding her with the intent gaze which she remembered so well. " Mawnin ," said the girl; then tapping a bunch of contorted roots, which hung at her side : "A ve come tuh bring yuh them, sang-roots a promised yuh." "Thank you," said Alice, nervously, half ris ing. Her face was already flushed, and she looked about her uneasily. "Thank you," she repeated. Tanis advanced a step nearer. "Done git skeered," she said, gravely, "a hain t a-goin tuh hut yuh." u Oh ! no no, certainly," murmured Alice. "I m very much obliged to you. It s very kind of you." Tanis now came up to the window and laid the roots on the ledge. 38 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. "Yuh looks better by daylight," she said. "That s funny, but yuh duz. Yo har cert n y is prutty." "Do you think so? It s very nice of you to tell me. You must have walked a long way. Won t you have something to eat and drink? 1 " A ll tell yuh pres n y," answered the girl, bluntly. "We ll see how you and me gees, fust. Yo rings air moughty prutty, S that yo weddin -ring, all by hitse f ?" "Yes." "It s right narrer " "Yes, but it will last, I think," said Alice, smiling. Something in this smile struck the girl. " Yuh be reel weakly, be n t you ?" she asked, in her softest voice. "Hit lays on yo mind, done hit?" "I m not strong. It must be w r onderful to be strong and healthy, as you are." " Me ? I hain t nuvver had a day s sickness in muh life. Ain 1 that a arm ?" And, rolling up her loose sleeve, she thrust out for Alice s TAXIS, THE SAXG DIGGER. 39 inspection an arm as hard as gutta-percha and as white as the lining of a horse-chestnut burr. "Feel hit," she urged. -Hit s most ez big ez Bill s." Alice pressed it timidly with her thin fingers. -My glory!" cried the girl. "A d be fraid muh han s ud brek off, ef a hed them wrisses! But they certVy air prutty, though. What shiny nails! Duz you grease em?" " No. I rub them sometimes with a piece of chamois leather, but not often. I don t like them to look greasy, and Alice observed her delicate hands closely, with an air of dis content. "Say," cried Tanis, suddenly. "A ll tell yuh what a come for. IVanv jess the sang. Twas tuh ax yuh suppn ." " To ask me something ?" said Alice, again nervous. "Yes. Be yuh wantin anybordy tuh wuk round th house, or yard? A m strong an healthy, like yuh said. A ll wuk hard an mine whut yuh tells me." 40 TANKS, THE SANG-DIGGER. "I I have all the people that I need, I think," stammered poor Alice, "but I ll ask Mr. Gilman." Tanis waited a moment, studying the pale, lovely face of this woman who wore "city duds," and hairpins in her smooth hair. "Whut yuh reckon he ll seh ?" she asked, fi nally. "I don t know," replied Alice. "Won t you come in and rest ?" "A ll come in, sho nuff. But a done know what tired means. A got on them duds yuh guv me all cep n th wais . Hit wuz too nar- rer. A could n breathe." The next moment she entered, looking down rather apprehensively at her bare feet. "A m a-bringin in a lot o dus ," she said. u Oh, never mind," Alice answered, cheerfully, determined to overcome her instinctive aversion to the girl. " It s a very easy carpet to sweep. Shall I get you a glass of milk and some biscuits ?" "A hain t hongry, thank yuh. S that yc? TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 41 baby ?" pointing to a photograph on a table, near by. Alice flushed. " No it s my sister s. It s a pretty little thing isn t it ? " Eight prutty. A ve seen pruttier. V you got any ?" " No," said Alice, flushing still more deeply. " Ben ma h ed long ?" Alice s eyes began to move restlessly from door to door. "I ve been married two years," she said. " An yuh ain got a baby ? Done yuh husbun take on bout hit ?" " My husband is all that I could wish," replied Alice, haughty, in spite of herself. " Well, done git mad," said the girl, calmly. " A didn mean nothin . Mos mens gives they oomans fits, ef a baby done come long inside a yeah. Hit beats me, too, caze mos ly they s pizen mean tuh em, arter they gits em. A knowed a man Dick Senster. He had a drunk on, an he got mad at his little gal an roasted her foots at 42 TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. th fire an then kilt her. They lynched him they did, an sarve him right. That s true. D yuh b leeve hit?" " Oh, how horrible," murmured Alice, faintly. " Do such things really happen about here ?" "These hyuh hills hain no Sunday-schools," was the sententious reply, " but they bee n t many o th boys ez bad ez Dick wuz. They ll be moughty mad at me, though, f uh comin hyuh tuh git work. But Bill, he wuz glad. We bee n t like th others, Bill an me bee n t. Our Ma wuz mortal silly, but she war good. She wa n t a sang- digger, an Pap, he didn tun sang-digger twell arter he got so bu nt up wi whisky he couldn shoe hawses. A hain newer cyar d on wi th boys. Fust place, Bill ud a kilt me seckint place, a hates mens, all cep n Bill. A hates low talk, an a hates low doin s. Wan me tuh tell yuh supp n ? Well, a come down hyuh to see how hit feels tuh be wi decent folkses. A reckon hit ll war me out, arter a while, but a m a-goin tuh try hit, ef yuh li lemme." Alice had an almost morbid sense of duty TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 43 toward every creature that crossed her path. She held out her slender hand, and said, quickly: "Let me be your friend. You can help the cook, and I ll teach you to sew." Tanis looked at her, with a touch of the old suspiciousness. " Yuh tuns bout right quick, doncher now ? she said, dryly. " Thought yuh hed to wait tuh ax yuh man yuh husbun , a mean ?" " I ll have to do that, too, of course," replied Alice, controlling her indignation and still holding out her hand, "but we generally agree." Tanis took the slim fingers gingerly into her own. "A reckon yuh re right spiled," she said, slowly. " A reckons he does whut yuh wants, prutty puncshul. Yuh re the kynd men spiles, though. A feels like sorter nussin yuh up muhse f. Yuh puts me in mine uv a squrl a hed onct, wi a broken foot. A could lif yuh bout like a baby. Say, yuh done like me fur nuthiri does yuh now ?" she ended, explosively. " Oh, no no, indeed ! cried Alice, more crim- 44 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGEK. son than ever. " I mean I have only the kindest feelings for you. Why should you say such a thing?" " Kin see hit in yo 1 eyes," said the girl, briefly. " But nemmine, a reckons a ll suit yuh. A m nach lly clean. Doncher come down on me too hard at fust, though. A ve got a temper." TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 45 CHAPTER IV. E people of the neighborhood were loud in their ejaculations of horror and condemna tion when they heard that Mrs. Gilman had taken a "snake" to help her in general housework. Tanis, however, proved that she was thorough and willing in her work, and, during an illness of the cook, took her place to Alice s entire satisfaction. She now wore a plain, but well-fitting gown of dark gray stuff, her hair was braided and coiled at the back of her handsome head, her shoes of stout cowhide were neat and fitted her, and her round ankles were covered with stockings of dark gray yarn. She would not have anything to do with the people about the Hot Springs, and was, as a rule, rather silent. One day Gilman approached her as she was crossing the backyard, on her way from the cow- pen, her strong figure swayed to one side by the heavy pail of milk which swung from her reddened hand. She stopped and looked at him questioningly. 46 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. I d like to talk to you a few moments, he ex plained. " I ve been wanting to say something to you for several days." "Well? 11 she answered. " We re afraid Mrs. Oilman and I that you re lonely here," he went on. " Haven t you made any friends in the neighborhood that you d like to see sometimes ? " " Nuck," she replied at once, with her usual brevity. * They s mostly pizen fools ez lives bout these parts. You d take a sang-digger fuh Presi dent longsider em." " But you must be very lonely in the evenings." " Naw, a been t, nuther. A m larnin that thar punch-wuk Mis 1 Gilman showed me howter do." " Then we both think you work too hard." She began to look obstinate. " Reckon a knows how much a ken wuk and how much a cyarn t, t hout other folks hevin tuh tell me. Reckon yuh d better lemme tend tuh my wuk an you tend to yo n" "But, my child, you re thinner than you were. Really, we can t let you overwork yourself." TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 47 "A hain t yo chile, n* a hain t thunner, V a hain t overwuken muhse f. "We re afraid that you re unhappy, and won t say so for fear of annoying us." "Naw, a hain t, nuther. A d gnaw yuh swif enough ef a hed any call tuh. Don chu all bother bout me. A m all right. Two hours later, however, as she was chopping some lightwood for Alice s bedroom fire, the supply having suddenly given out, and there being no one else to do it, her name, uttered softly in a man s voice, caused her to pause, axe in air, her face going from white to red, from red to white. "Tanis! Tanis, muh prutty!" called the rich, pleasant voice again. She faced about, her arms tense, the axe still held above her head. "Sam Rose!" she said, in a stifled, throaty voice. By th Lawd above, a ve a good min tuh fling this hyuh axe stret at yo head!" "Fling hit, muh honey," he whispered back, smiling. " Put me outer torment, an a ll thank yuh fuh hit." 48 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. She lowered the axe slowly, trembling as she did so. Her face grew whiter, her eyes fixed themselves upon his. Then she began to walk, hesitatingly, step by step, toward him. When she reached the fence, upon which he was leaning, he jumped over, and caught her in his arms. She stood there for a moment, without expression or movement, but, as he began to bend her head backward and reach his lips to hers, she flung him from her, so that, giant as he was, lie staggered, and caught at the fence for support. " Oh, yuh blackguard, yuh ! Yuh low-down blackguard, tuh try tuh hut me wi t these hyuh folks ez is so good tuh me ! Some day a ll tell Bill on yuh, an he ll cut yo heart out !" She stood panting and staring, but he did not attempt to touch her again. No, he smiled, show ing white teeth, regular and animal as a dog s, and began to pull at his short, blond beard, which gave him the air of a young Zeus. It was, indeed, astounding how complete a Greek the fellow looked, in his ragged flannel shirt and rough cowhide boots. He must have stood at TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 49 least six feet live in his stockings. His nose and forehead were as Phidian as anything in the Vati can ; his eyes a laughing, dazzling, shallow, for get-me-not blue, his hair and beard a bright, crisp gold. He ended by laughing, and said, in reply to her last statement regarding his heart : " Ef he doez, he ll hev tuh make a hole in yo breast, fuh that s whar tiz, beauty, sho !" She stood quite still, her body bent back, her hand extended in front of her, and tensely clenched. " Hain t yuh larned yo lesson yit ?* she said, in a low voice. " Hain t yuh got no pride ? Hain t yuh got nothin of th man bout yuh, but yuh strongness ? A didn know even a bawn sang- digger cud git so low ez tuh be alluz a pesterin of a gal ez hev tole him over a million times how she hates him !" Again he smiled. %< Yuh done hate me, honey. Aw no, aw no, he murmured, still smiling, and carding out his beard with his great fingers. " Yuh loves me, a tells yuh. Hit s like break-bone fever, love is, n t 50 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. goes harder wi some n wi others. Hit s upsotted yo brain, rauh prutty, that s all. Come hyuh an lemme show yuh how yuh loves me." He made a step toward her, stretching out his arms, but she darted back, with a fierce gesture, and picked up the fallen axe. " Ef yuh touch me agin, a swar a ll kill yuh," she panted; but he only gave another of his musi cal bass laughs. " By Gawd, yuh looks prutty when yuh re mad, honey! A hain t nuvver hed sech a thust on me furrer gal sence a cud tell sang from pizen-oak;" then, with a sudden change of tone, " drop that axe drop hit, a tell yuh !" She grasped it all the tighter, and gazed at him defiantly, but, little by little, her fingers loosened from about the haft, her eyes began to waver, her face grew pale and set ; she let the axe fall at her side. "A clar tuh grahus, yuh d make a meek, ^bejent little oman, yuh would," he said, resuming his lazy, half-sneering tone of good humor. " AVe a mind tuh mek yuh kiss me, fo th Lawd, a hev. TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 51 Doncher wanter beah a song a made up bout yuh, larst night ?" Leaning carelessly against the fence and keep ing his eyes upon hers, he began to drone out, in a soft, glutinous bass, the following ditty: " Her ha r tis like th sumac, Her eyes is bluer n ice, Her mouth s like partridge berries, Oh, would n hit tase nice ! My Lawd I But would n hit tase nice I " Her ankles is keen an swif ez a deer s, She moves like a pine in th win , But ef yuh tried tuh hug her, boys, She d cuss yuh quicker n sin She would She d jaw yuh wuss n sin." He was beginning on another verse of this primi tive doggerel, when Tanis, as it were, wrenched her eyes from his, and scudded into the house, be fore he could remonstrate with or stop her. He only laughed, as usual, however, and taking a short pipe from his pocket, began to press down 52 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. the shreds of tobacco into its bowl with one broad, yet handsome thumb. " A ll hev her yit !" he said, addressing his pipe, gravely, before putting it between his teeth. "A ll hev her yit, or bust ! " TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 53 CHAPTER V. "TpARLY that evening, as Alice was half dozing :-*~^ on her sofa, near the fire, she heard a door open softly, and Tanis came in, on tiptoe. " I m awake, said Alice. " Do you want any thing ?" "Ef yuh been t too tired," admitted the girl, hesitatingly. She came over and stood before the fire, for a moment, and then asked abruptly: " Ken a sot down on th nV ? A ve a heap o things on muh mine. A lay yuh re a moughty good ooman. A reckon yuh ken he p me." " I ll do all in my power, I promise you," said Alice, cordially. She was beginning to like Tanis. " An 1 yuh wone think a mean tuh sass yuh, ef a ax yuh some right pinted questions ? inquired the girl, wistfully. " No certainly not," said Alice, a little appre hensive, but determined to be kind. There was silence, for quite a long time. Then Tanis remarked that the fire was " treading snow." 54 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " What does that mean ?" asked Alice. "Hit means we re goin to hev bad weather snow, mos likely." Alice shivered, and drew her fur coverlet higher. " Oh ! I m sorry," she said. " I thought that summer was almost here." "This hyuh s a ondependable climick. Yuh cyarn nuvver tell whut day arter tuhmorrer s goin to be. Say " she broke off, still staring deeply into the flapping blaze, " say one thing a wants tuh ax yuh is bout love. Yuh se seen a heap o life, n yuh se a lady whut is love, any how ? " " What is love ?" repeated Alice. "Why, that is about the hardest question in the world to answer ! People are always asking it, and the answers never seem to satisfy them. Different people love so differently." " But when a ooman loves a man, an a man loves a ooman, that s mos ly th same, hain t hit?" "Ah! no," said Alice, dreamily. "That love varies more than any other. What I call love, some one else might not think love at all." TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 55 "Well, what does you call love?" asked the girl, eagerly. " I hardly know how to put it into words. It is something deep, still, strong. Something that draws you higher that leaves you with sweet, happy thoughts, which you almost grudge sharing with your own heart. It is rest, contentment, fulfilment, satisfaction a reality that comes after many dreams dreams that have perhaps been brighter, more vivid, but not half so beautiful." " Ud that sorter love mek yuh ache tuh let a man kiss yuh, an yit feel like yuh d kill him ef he did ?" " Oh, no ! that s dreadful," said the other, quickly. " Ud hit mek yuh think bout a man, an honger arter him, day n night, an yit long to git away f urn him th minnit yuh seed him ?" " No no ! how can you ask ?" " T wouldn mek yuh think sometimes like p raps sin wi him ud be better nor goodness thout im ud hit ?" 56 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " Never ! That isn t love. Love is goodness. Love is " " Well, nemmine bout whut love is now ; jess tell me, ef yuh ken, whut that other thing is, caze thet s whut s a-wearin me out, body ; n soul." Alice hesitated a moment, and then said, slowly: "That is is fascination, infatuation." " A done know them wuds," put in Tanis, with disappointed bluntness. " Cyar n yuh mek hit plainer ?" " I will try. To fascinate anybody is to have a sort of power over them ; against their judgment their reason. You ve heard of a snake charming a bird, haven t you ?" The girl started to her knees. " A ve seed hit !" she cried. " A ve seed hit muhse f. Hit air like that, sho nuff !" She sank back again, fixing her large, glowing eyes upon Alice. " Then that thar whut a tole yuh been t love ?" she asked, under her breath. " No, never !" u But why do hit mek yo heart pain yuh so ? TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 57 Why does yuh be alluz \vukin on that man, in yo mine ? alluz, alluz, aHuz, day-time an night-time ? Why ken yuh seem tuh feel him sometimes a holdin uv yuh, an a kissin yuh, an hyuh his voice in yo yeuh, like he wuz right by yuh, an he mebbe thirty mile away ? Why ken yuh see his eyes a lookin at yuh, so bright, outer th dark ? Gals ez hev been in love hev tole me they hed them feelin s. Why be it love wi them, an not love wi wi somebordy else ?" " I can t explain, exactly," answered Alice, but perhaps a good woman might be fascinated, in spite of herself, by a bad man. Then she might have some such feelings. " Oh, he air a bad man !" cried Tanis, passion ately. U A know d three gals he ruined. They warn t bad gals, nuther. They warn t sang- diggers. They war jess plain mountain-people, but they war hones gals till he met em. One uv em drownded herse f, an they ole Grandad druv th other two away tuh th city. Po things ! A reckon they be low nuff by this time. A reckon God ll mek hit right hot fuh thet ole scalliwag uv 58 TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. a Grandad o them ! Dontclm ? They war all three frien s. A seen Mag, arter she was drownded. A cyarn t nuvver git her face outer muh mine." She stopped, shuddering heavily, and, pressing her eyes with her hands, a sob broke from her. " Tanis," whispered Alice, her hand caressing the bent head. " Tanis, dear child," she repeated softly, " I wish I could comfort you I wish I could help you. I know what heart- pain is ; I have had it, too." Tanis s first instinct was one of savage resent ment, but, looking up, she met those soft, gray eyes, full of tears. Her strong brows quivered, and the next minute she was sobbing, with her head against Alice s knees. She did not say any thing more, however, and Alice asked no ques tions, but from that hour the girl showed a rough, curious sort of affection for her, which displayed itself, sometimes humorously enough, in an out burst of jealousy against Gilman. " A cud cy ar yuh upstars ez good ez he cud," she would protest; "an he wone nuvver lemme tech yuh. Folks ud think a wuz pizen! " TAN IS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 59 But, in spite of her irritability on this point she had also a sincere devotion for Gilman himself. " Pears tuh me," she observed one day to Alice, " yo husbun certVy do tek arter th Lawd. A done blame yuh fuh harf wusshuppin him. A d blame yuh a darn sight mo ef yuh did nV 60 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. CHAPTER VI. TT was about four o clock one Sunday after- -*- noon that Tanis went for a scramble on the Warm Springs Mountain. The soft air was perfumed with May, the dusky hills powdered with the varying green of young leaves. Between them the valley coiled, like some emerald-skinned python, absorbing the slant sun light. She reached a fence which ran along one of the steepest flanks of the mountain, almost directly opposite to the Hot Springs, and, noting a group of oaks and chestnuts, thought that it would be a pleasant place to rest for awhile, and practice upon what she now termed " thet thar cussed punch- wuk." Climbing over, she went toward the trees, and then stopped short, with a look of astonish ment and distaste. For, between the gnarled roots gaped a jagged hole, some eight feet in diameter, and descending, apparently, into the bowels of the earth. She clutched one of the oaks firmly, and swung her head and shoulders over the opening. TAN IS, THE SANG-DIGGEK. I Its black wedge split the ground below her, as far as the eye could see. Juts of sandstone roughened its sides, and it was shaped like a huge funnel. The girl continued to hang over it, fascinated. Extending one hand cautiously, she lifted a loose stone and flung it in. It bounded from wall to wall, with a sharp noise which grew ever less, as it descended deeper into the cavern, until at last she could no longer hear anything. " My! But thet u d be a nice place ttih stumble inter to ds dark," she said to herself, smiling, but with rather pale lips. "A allus did hate them thar caves, anyhow, an a cave a-standin on hit s head s a right cuss d-lookin thing. A wonders whar hit goes tuh ? " As she uttered the last words she felt strong hands grip her about the waist, and then, tearing her from the tree, as though she had been a squir rel, they held her out above the ugly chasm. She turned white, but did not utter a sound. " Wanter go find out ? " asked the sweet, mock ing voice that she so dreaded. Still she said noth ing. He gave her a little shake, as he held her, 62 TANIS, THE SANG-D1GGER. and her ball of white crochet-cotton was shaken from her apron pocket and fell, reeling out, yard upon yard, until at last the thread was stopped by a snarl, and her work itself was drawn slowly forth and fell after the ball. " Promise tuh kiss me, an a ll let yuh go ! " he demanded. She was silent. " Wone yuh promise ? " " Naw," she said, deliberately. " S posin a drops yuh inter thet thar hole, ef yuh don t ? " " Yuh kin drop me inter hell, but a wone kiss yuh. Drop away, an be darned tuh yuh, yuh coward ! " He gave a laugh and a whistle together and set her upon firm ground, still keeping one hand on her shoulder, however. She was trembling, but more from rage than fright. " Now, hain t yuh a wild-cat ?" he asked, taunt ingly. " D yuh know yuh re th fust gal ez ain flewed tuh me when a axed her f urrer kiss ?" TA:NIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 63 Tanis looked at him, contemptuously. " Yes, n much luck hit brought em, th po fools!" He shook her slightly again. " Darn my hide," he exclaimed, " but you re a natchul cu yosity, same ez the Natchul Bridge. Why ! Tarnation, honey ! What s outer fix wi muh mouth ? Ain t a got nice teeth ? What yuh got agin kissin me ? Ef a had tushes, like Tommy Mings, orrer hause-tail furrer mustash, like lame Joe, yuh mought fuss, but blame me ef a ken mek out whutcher balks so at. Say," he went on, changing his tone, as he saw that this style of appeal was not having a happy effect upon her, " say, honey-gal, a loves yuh, fo Gawd a loves yuh ! Doncher know a cud hole yuh an tek a kiss anytime a d a mine tuh ?" "Well, why doncher?" she asked, eyeing him dangerously. He looked down at her with an air of calm meditation. "Caze," he replied, slowly, u a reckon yuh ll think a m a all-fired liar, but th truth be this: a 64 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. wants yuh tub kiss me uv yuh own free will, an a ll mek yuh do hit, too, some day !" " A ll cut muh th oat fust !" she cried, with pas sion. "An yet, honey," he went on, placidly, "yuh loves me. A nuvver made a slip-up in all muh life bout a gal s lovin me. A knows yuh loves me, but why yuh be suh darned stan -off wi me, well, t ud tek th ole Scratch hisse f tuh settle thet thar. An yuh hain t feard o me, nuther," he added. " Yuh ain no mo feared o me an ef a wuz a lame hopper-grass. But a been t, a tell yuh !" with sudden fierceness, " a m a man, an a strong man, an a loves yuh !" He caught her to him, his face in a blaze, and then gave a sharp bark of pain, as her teeth met in the back of his hand. "Damn yuh, furrer cole -livered devil!" he cried, shaking his bloody hand, and then, under a sudden inspiration, flung himself upon the ground and buried his face on his outstretched arm. Tanis stood staring down at him. He had taken good care that his wounded hand should be in full TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGEK. 65 view, and the girl s eyes fixed themselves, in horror, on the scarlet oval left by her strong teeth. " A m sorry," she muttered, after awhile, as he continued prone and motionless. " A m sorry, Sam," she said again. The blood, that continued to well over the back of his hand, made her faint. She stooped down, and, tearing off one of her apron-strings, began to bandage the wound. But he jerked away his hand, giving a smothered moan as he did so. " Ain yuh hyuh me seh a wuz sorry ? ? she asked, her voice trembling. " A did n mean tuh ack like a brute beas\ A clare, fo Gawd, a did n , but seems like yuh sots me crazy. A done know, harf th time, whut a m a-doin when yuh gins tuh pester me." Sam moaned again. Lemme wrop up yo han ," she urged; "do, now, Sam. A am got no grudge gin yuh, cep in a knows yuh se bad, an a hain t a-goin tuh keep comp ny wi no man ez is reel bad. A swar a hain t a done keer ef hit kills me!" 66 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. Again he moaned, but this time consented to let her take his hand and wrap it up. The western sun was dashing the floor of the forest with pools of amber and crimson. As she tied the last knot, she said, in an almost inaud ible voice : "A wisht yuh wuz a good feller, Sam." " Why, honey?" he whispered. "A dunno. A wishes hit, though." " Ud yuh keer f uh me ef a wuz gooder?" U A dunno, but oh! a wishes yuh wuz." " Look at me, honey. Lawd, Lawd, what eyes! Seems like a kin feel muhse f a-sinkin in em, like they wuz water. Is muh eyes a-look- in love at yuh, muh prutty ? " "A dunno a cyarn t he p lookin at em, some how." Her pupils began to dilate, and she breathed quickly. "Yo eyes be the color o cresses onder run- nin water," he said. " What be the color o mine ?" "Yo n?" she asked, stammering. "A a dun- no, a cyarn t see em good, a cyarn t. Oh!" TANIS, THE SAXG-.niGGER. 67 She drew a long, shivering sigh. Their mouths seemed growing into one. She had never been kissed before, and, in spite of her protestations and honest avowals to the contrary, she loved him ; in spite of all the evil that she knew about him ; in spite of his wicked deeds, his cool cruelty, his calm, maddening vanity in re gard to her feeling for him, she loved him. But when, at last, he threw back his head, and took the chill evening air deep into his nos trils, like a stag that has just drunk from a mountain stream, she started back, a look of shame and regret contorting all her face; then, without a word, turned and ran from him as swiftly as her nimble feet could carry her. He did not attempt to follow, but leaned watching her, with the drowsy air of one half intoxicated. After awhile he lifted his bitten hand, and, pushing aside the bandage, fastened his lips on the marks of those vicious little teeth. 68 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. CHAPTER VII. A BOUT nine o clock that evening Tanis *--*- went to the window and looked out. From a sky of cold, black-blue, an icy moon was staring, blurred now and then by scudding wisps of cloud, and a low, rattling sound rose and fell in the bare apple orchard, for the wind was beginning to shake his frozen wings. A knot of snow-drops, near the door, looked as cold and bright as though cut out of silver. Tanis unhooked a brown cloak which hung behind the kitchen door, and, throwing it about her, drew on a pair of leather mittens. The cloak had a loose hood, which she pulled over her head. Then, covering the bed of live coals on the hearth with ashes, she took her hick ory staff in her hand, and, unlatching the door, stepped out into the waking gale. About her were steep fields, showing a dull grayish green in the icy glare, rough with small stones and masses of lichen-covered rock. TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 69 The very sheep looked stonelike, as they lay, huddled in little knots, on the close-cropped turf. High above, on all sides, the sharp- toothed combs of the mountain striped the pale air as with steel. Their shadows slept beside the jagged boulders, like pools of frozen ink. The stunted oak trees, crowding about them, seemed to bristle as with iron ribs, and, as the girl looked upward, she fancied that the heavens resembled the roof of some vast cave, studded with starry icicles. Her way led her next, for half a mile, along the highroad, and as she climbed the long slope known as " Cave Hill," she remembered the actual cave, on lier right, in which a skeleton was said to have been found, and even gazed about her feverishly, for the tree on which a man was said to have hanged himself, after gambling away all that he pos sessed. It thrust itself suddenly before her, like a con torted, gouty hand. She shuddered, in spite of predetermination, and swerved to the other side of 70 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. the road; then, climbing the snake-fence opposite, struck out across the fields once more. Now the wind, fully awake at last, rushed bell owing towards her, like a winged bull. With clenched teeth and body bent sturdily forward, she strove on faster than before, in spite of the strong beating of her cloak, which seemed trying to tug her backward. Again the blast struck her, this time from the side. She could hear the angry surging of the forest upon the mountain which she was nearing. " T on t be s bad i th woods/ she said aloud. Her hood was stripped suddenly from her head, and her cloak, wrapping about her staff, almost jerked it from her grasp. But the sky was still as bright as ice, and the mad moon seemed racing past the flags of cloud. Having reached the forest, she leaned against a tree for some moments, to regain her breath. All the ground was fluttering and rustling with last year s leaves. A horned owl gave forth its deep trombone note above her head. Another an swered, far away. TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 71 Something stirred in the brush at her side, then darted suddenly past, and on down the steep de clivity a deer, with wide, moon-silvered antlers and swift, sure feet. Tanis gave a cry of delight and leaped forward, all the huntress hot in her veins. "Lawd, Lawd !" she groaned, "but that do make me mortal homesick. A cyarn t stan hit much longer a cyarn t. A wuz bawn i th mountains. We b longs tuh each other. Seems like that thar house 11 kill me, sometimes. A wan t meant tuh live in a house, no more n that deer wuz meant to wear a shell like a snail. Seems like a d let hit all rip, jess tuh hev Bill an a gun hyuh furrer minnit." She gave a great sigh and began to walk on again. Having skirted the side of the mountain, she came out into a narrow opening of level ground, through which a broad, stone-choked torrent crawled, glaring between its cress-grown banks. A cow lay under the tossing branches of a stunted apple tree, and, a few yards further on, she could 72 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. see a log cabin braced against an immense boulder. Another sigh broke from her this time one of relief. "Yease thar hit be," she said, and began to run toward it. For some moments she stood knocking at the rickety door, before anyone an swered. Then a voice called out, threateningly: "Who be that a-poundin thar, at this time o night ?" " A be Tanis, the sang-digger." u An what be yuh a-wantin , at this time o night, when only dead folks be a stirrin ?" u A be a-wantin yo help, Aunt Libby. A wants hit bad." " Shore nuff ! A d swar tub that. ~No human wants good, at this time o 1 night. But ef yuh be Tanis, the sang-digger, like yuh sez, let down yo har, an I ll peek thoo th winder an see whe rr yuh be a-lyin or no." The girl tore her heavy plait apart, with eager fingers, and, standing before the window, shook it about her, until she seemed wrapped in a fiery veil. TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. V3 " Yuh be she, shore s death ! : piped "the queru lous voice, and the next moment the door was opened. The figure that appeared in its fire-lit square was small, twisted, unhuman-looking. Its coarse white hair, whipped about by the fierce wind, sprang from a forehead as brown and shriveled as a dried tobacco-leaf. The eyes were two glittering points. The huge nose overarched a toothless cavity, and underneath it hung a goitre in which the chin had been absorbed. But al though so small and misshapen, the old woman had the square, sturdy figure of a man, and gorilla-like arms, reaching below her knees. Yuh be she, shore s hell !" she repeated. " But huccum yuh h} r uh, this time o night ? Th sang been t ready fur diggin . An whar be yo gang?" "A m cole, Aun Libby," said the girl. "A ve walked a long way, an a m frez tuh th bone. Leinme in tuh warm, an a ll tell yuh all yuh ax. " But the woman stretched out one of her long arms, barring the way. 74 TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. " How be a tub know ef yuh be alone ?" she asked, suspiciously. "How be a tub know yo gang hain a-waitin i th bresh, tub murder me bime-by ?" Tanis made a curious sign with both hands, and then said : "A swar by th tokin a m alone." " Then come in an warm," said the hag. The girl followed her into a low, smoke-black ened room, in one end of which a wide fire place was glowing, fed by great logs or rather trees, for the trunks of two chestnut saplings lay along the pine floor, their withered leaves still clinging to the smaller branches, which had not been cut away, their crowns snapping and crack ling among the chunks of " fat-wood " on the hearth. There was no bedstead. A heap of rags filled one corner of the room, covered by a filthy log- cabin quilt. Upon this lay two pillows, made of old trouser-legs, filled with shucks and twisted up at each end by a bit of string. Upon one of these rested a shaggy mat of black hair and beard. TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 75 Its owner was snoring heavily. "A wanted tub speak tub yuh by yo se f, Aim Libby," whispered Tanis, her face falling. " Well, a be by muhse f," said the other, grin ning, if a toothless gaping of leathern lips can be called a grin. " Dave s drunk, an a drunk man hain t man nor ooman, nor ghose, nor nuthin . So talk away, muli prutty." Tan is sat down on a three-legged pine stool, black with use and grease, while the old woman drew up the one cane-bottomed chair, quite as greasy, if not as black, and taking down her clay pipe from one of the projecting stones of the chimney, began to fill it, her keen eyes search ing the girl s troubled face as she did so. Here and there, on other stones, stood bottles of differ ent sizes and colors, earthenware jugs, battered tin cans, gourds and bags of coarse, dirty stuff, tied up by bits of rag. From a rope which hung between two nails, just within reach, dangled bunches of herbs, roots, and curiously shaped seed-pods. A table in one corner held two broken plates, a blue and white china cup, and a little, 76 TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. round looking-glass, in a frame made from pine cones. In the opposite corner stood two guns. When she had lighted her pipe to her satis faction, the old witch spoke again: " Be yo arrand too bad fuh wuds ?" she asked slowly. Tanis started. Her face was white and grim. She returned the other s gaze boldly. "Naw. A hain t nuvver ben on a arrand yet as a wuz shamed tuh tell bout," she answered, " an a hain t a-goin tuh begin now." " Well, talk then," said the woman. "A reckon folks come tuh yuh fuh prutty much ev y thing cfnder th sun done they, Aun Libby?" Prutty much." " Fuh love-drinks an sech truck mos ev y day, a reckon. Hein ?" " Ev y day, an ev y night, mos ." She took out her pipe, and hunching her shoulders, leered com fortably at the beautiful face opposite. " Be hit love ez hev caught yun at larst, honey?" " That hain nuther hyuh nor thar," said Tanis, TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 77 sternly. " But a hain t come tuh yuh f uh no love- truck, Ann Libby." A faint gleam of surprise smouldered, for a moment, in the peering eyes. " Yuh hain t come f urrer love-drink ? Well, an f uh whut then, Tanis Gribble ? " The girl answered the question by another, sud denly put. She leaned forward so that she could see the horrible old face more clearly. "Aun Libby," she said, "yuh wuz a gal onct like me. A ve heerd folks say ez how yuh wuz mortal prutty, too." The hag stared for a moment, and then actually bridled. " Them want no liars, nuther, ez tole yuh that, she observed, blandly. " Yuh see these hyuh eyes ? They hain t no bigger n partridge berries, now, an they be mos ez red, but when a war a gal, they want no blue bird ez war bluer. They want no glarss button ez war brighter. An this hyuh skin er mine " she picked up a fold from her wrinkled arm and held it, while gazing upon it with deep contempt, " this hyuh skin er mine, whut s ez loose 78 TAXI?, THE SAXG-DIGGER. an brown ez a dawg s hide now, they want no whitewash ez war whiter. When a hed cheeks, too, they wuz pinker n a cirkis gal s legs, en muh har was ez long ez yo n, an a darn sight pruttier color. T war yaller ez broom straw, V hed a skin on hit like a new bottle, an muh toofs mought a ben chipped outerrer chiny plate." She stuck her pipe back between the gums once ornamented by those very teeth, and drew several quick puffd. " Yease, a war prutty onct," she said, decisively. " An war yuh ever in love, Aun Libby ? " There was silence for a few moments; then the woman answered slowly : " Hit like turrer bu nt me up, same s fire bu ns up a house." Tanis drew her stool a little nearer. " Tell me bout hit tell me ! " she urged eagerly. " Wuz he prutty, too ? Wuz he big n strong ? Did he hev blue eyes, like yo n ? an teeth like chiny ? An war he good or bad ? War he good tuh wimmins, or did he fool wi em ? Did he act squar by yuh, or did he fool yuh ? " TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. ^9 The hag took out her pipe and again gaped mirthfully upon the girl. " Do a look like a d ben fooled much, honey ?" " Naw, yuh pintly don t," said Tanis, bluntly. "An a pintly wa n t ! But, namergawd, hit wrinched me ! " Tanis was all eagerness, in a flash. " Did hit go suh hard wi yuh, Aun Libby ? Did hit now ? Did yuh hev tormint ? War he bad ? DidV he love yuh ? " " Love me nuthin , yuh little fool ! Men done love, they wants, an 1 when they yits, they done want no mo ! " " But did yuh marh y him ? * The woman cackled harshly. " A war a sang-digger, same s yuh, mtih prutty ! she said. " An thar s one thing whar sang-diggers is like heaven. Thar hain no mar hyn nor givin in marhidge wi um ! Hee ! hee ! But a tuk Joe f uh muh man, ef that s what yuh wants tuh git at." x The girl s face had grown scarlet, but she said steadily: 80 TAXIS, THE SANG-D1GGEE. " An war he good tub yuh ?" "A bed nine chil n by him, an he beat em mo n he beat me. That war supp n. But he got on a drunk an kilt ma pap, an that war sup n, too. Then a lef im." " Oh, he wuz bad, then! he wuz bad, too!" cried the girl, with a sob. She let her head drop for ward in her hands, but the same instant the old woman clutched her by the shoulder, shaking her fiercely. <k Gawdamoughty ! Hyuh ! Shet yo inouf ! Done yuh jaw my Joe or hit ll be wuss fuh yuh !" She looked like a fiend, her little eyes blazing, her shapeless face working with rage. Both hands were grasping the girl s shoulders now. Her pipe lay broken on the stone hearth. " Shet yo cussed mouf ! Shet it, a say !" she cried, shrilly. " Hit alluz did sot me mad tub hyuh a bad wud agin Joe ! Namergawd, done yuh seh no mo ! A dunno what a ll do tub yuh ! Tain safe ! Tain safe !" But Tanis did not know what fear meant. She said quietly: TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 81 " Thar now, sober down, Ann Libby. A cer- t n y hain t meant tuh hut yo feelin s. Of cose I dunno nothin bout hit." She stooped and picked up the broken pipe. " Ken a git yurrer nother?" she asked. But Aunt Libby had sunk back into her chair, shaking and speechless. Her eyes glared before her, as though looking at some one invisible to Tanis. " Muh po ole Joe ! Muh po ole man !" the girl heard her muttering. " No one hain nuvver done yuh jestice savin me." After a while she got up, still trembling, and filled herself another pipe. When she had smoked for ten minutes in silence, she turned to the girl as though nothing had happened. " Well, an what be yuh a-wantin ?" " What be a a-wantin ? repeated Tanis, slowly. " Well, a ll tell yuh. A wants supp n ez ll kill love in man an ooman both. Supp n ez 11 kill hit dead ez Adam fore he wuz made." The expression of Aunt Libby was indescrib able. 82 TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " Supp n -ez 11 kill love?" she repeated. " Supp n ez 11 kill love ?" She sat, open- mouthed, blinking up at Tanis, who was now standing to her full height above her, pale again, and determined. " Yease, supp n ez 11 kill love. Supp n ez 11 kill hit so hit on t hev even a ghose. Thet s what a wants, Aun Libby." " Supp n ez ll kill love! Supp n ez ll kill love! 11 droned the witch, still gaping at her. Then, with a sudden flash, as from a fire smouldered to its last coal: "Yuh fool! Yuh hain t got th sence yuh wuz bawned wi ! Done yuh know ez how po folks hain t got but two pleasures i th whole worl , yuh fool ! Look at Dave thar ! They hain no king nor rich man alive ez is got mo n Dave s got, now he s full o whisky ! Talk o Heaven ! When a body s full o whisky heaven s in em ! They done need tuh sot out tuh fine hit. Ud hit take mo whisky tuh mek th man ez owns the Hot Springs drunker n Dave be now? An ud he be happier: When yuh re drunk yuh re drunk an when yuh re drunk TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 83 yuh re happy n happiness is but happiness. An when yuh love hit s th same. Cud a queen love more n you cud ? N cud th man ez she loved, an ez loved her, mek a queen happier n yo man cud mek you ? Fool ! Love an whisky s all us po folks is got tuh pay us f uh th cussed- ness uv life. N then them ez is rich pints at us an calls us low ! Books n theayters, n fine close, V hawses, V ridin on th cyars, n sailin tuh strange contris they kin git fat n good n happ} r on sech things, an go tuh heaven arterwards, too! But sang-diggers an th like ! ~\Vut is ice got ? Wut is th like uv yuh n me n Dave yonder got tuh switch up our blood n make us better n sticks n stones n graveyard worms ? Love n whisky ! Love n whisky, yuh fool ! When yuh re young like you be love; n when yuh re ole, like I be whisky." She fell back, panting, and the girl stood as though transfixed, gazing at her from wide, horri fied eyes. At last she said, almost in a whisper : " Fuh Gawd s sake, Aun Libby, gimme what a axed yuh f uh an lemme go ! A done mean a 84 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. wants yuh tub kill all th love in me, but a wants to stop lovin one man. An a wants him tub stop lovin me. He s bad. He s bad, thoo and thoo , an a wants hit tub end now. A ve stood nuff. Hit s like hell-fire in muh heart." She had clasped her hands together as she spoke, and now held them out to the other, beseechingly. " Oh, Aun Libby ! A ll do mos anythirt f uh yuh ef yuh ll gimme supp n tub kill jess this hyuh one love, caze hit s a bad love. Ilit ll mek me bad, V hit ll brek Bill s heart, V hit ll do harm tub others ! Aun Libby, a hain nuvver prayed in muh life, but oh ! ef yuh ll gimme a drink ez ll do that, a ll pray ev ry night on muh bended knees fuh Gawd tub give yuh back yo Joe one day somewhar, an let him be like he war when yuh loved him, n let you be yorng n pretty like yuh war when he loved you !" She was too blinded by her own tears to see the meagre drops that had oozed from the other s parched lids and crept over the withered cheeks as she was speaking ; but, as she finished, the poor old wretch rose trembling from her chair, and TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 85 again put both crooked hands upon the young shoulders, now shaken with sobs. " Honey," she whispered, fainth^, then pausing and trying to steady her voice. " Done cry, honey ! A ll do th 1 bes a ken full yuh. A ve got a drink. T one hut yuh. But but mebbe " She paused again and looked about her, vaguely. " Mebby," she ended, " yuh d better seh yo prars bout that thar, too." When Tanis turned to leave the cabin the moon was just slipping over the crest of Back-creek mountain and the wind had lulled. As she put the vial which Aunt Libby had given her in the breast of her gown, she turned, under a sudden impulse, and, stooping, pressed her fresh lips to that seamed forehead. The old wretch clung to her for a moment, and the girl fancied that she heard her sob. 86 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. CHAPTER VIII. rriHE weather had changed suddenly. The pale spring sky had drooped low over the valley like a soft, perfumed, breeze-stirred veil. The lilacs were beginning to distil their honeyed scent, and the clustering water-cresses were sprinkled with little bright yellow blossoms, whose reflec tions streaked the water running past them as with wavy perpendicular sunbeams. There was a stir of young life throughout the deep forests and in the grass of the fields. Tanis sat with her elbows on the side of the kitchen window, her chin in her palms, her eyes trying to make out the curves and angles of some constellations which Alice had shown her the night before. But her face had an absent-minded ex pression. Evidently the stars touched only the surface of her mood. She withdrew her eyes from their bright mazes after some moments, and fixing them on the dusky TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGEK. 87 mountain side, only a few yards away, said aloud, but in a low, concentrated voice : " Come tuh me ! Come tub me ! A needs yuh ! A runs see yuh." The silky rustle of the night wind, blowing fit fully, brought with it the sound of a warm brooklet that trilled through the field below, its course marked by delicate whorls of steam, while a nest- ful of unfledged birds, in the quince tree near by, set up sleepy twitterings as their cradle bough swayed gently. "Come tuh me!" said the girl again, her brows knit in her intensity, her hands grasped together. "Ef yuh ken feel me a-callin tuh yuh. Come! Comer Shortly a new sound caught her ear, the sound of a man s step long, impatient. She rose at once, unlatching the door, and, opening it wide, stood waiting upon the threshold. A tall figure soon came in sight and moved rapidly up the garden path. "S that you, Sam?" she asked, in quiet tones. " That s me, honey," came the quick response. 88 TAN1S, THE SANG DIGGER. He approached and was about to take her in his arms, when she drew" back, putting out one hand to keep him from her. "Ef yuh loves me like yuh says, yuh ll come in an ack like a tells yuh," she then remarked. "A wants tuh hev a good talk wi yuh, Sam Rose. A wants yuh tuh have yuhse f same ez ef Bill wuz hyuh, an a wants yuh tuh hyuh me thoo wi what a got tuh seh." He tried to make out the expression of her face in the starlight, but failed. " Well," he answered, almost meekly. " G long. A ll foller." When they were both in the kitchen, Tanis lifted the glaring kerosene lamp from the shelf beside the window and set it on the long deal table be tween them, then signed him to place two chairs. He put them close together, but she removed them at once a full yard apart. Sam grinned and looked puzzled. He had stuck a spray of dark blue wild flowers in his hat, and their color brought out the downright gold of his beard and accentuated the azure of his eyes. He leaned back, quite conscious TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 89 of his own charms, and slowly caressed his beard, the strong fibres drawing down his under lip at each movement and disclosing its clear scarlet. " Well, muh prutty," he said, still smiling at her, "an what be th tex uv yo sarmon ?" Tan is looked at him very gravely. " Tain t no sarmon," she said. " An , fust uv all, a wants yuh tuh tell me huccum yuh hyuh tub night?" "A come caze a felt yuh a-drawin uv me, beauty bright." She grew very pale. "S that hones ? v she asked, in a low voice. " That s hones ," he replied, nodding easily. " A wonders, a wonders " she began, and then broke off and stared at him with troubled specula tion in her eyes. "Yuh wonders what, sugar?" he urged, and slipped his chair a little nearer to hers by an al most imperceptible movement. "What is hit yuh wonders ? Tell Sam. He b longs tuh yuh, same ez yo own han or fut or heart do. C yarn t yuh tell him ?" 90 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGEK. " Mebbe," she said, shortly. And then, rising, "but fust a m a-goin tuh let Mis Gilman know you se hyuh. A hain t nuvver done nothin on th sly, an a hain t a-goin tuh begin now." He stared at her, actually speechless, and before he had recovered from his surprise she had left the room. As usual, Alice was lying on her sofa with a book. She put it down when Tanis entered, and smiled at her. But the girl was too troubled to smile back. She came close to the pretty sofa, with its coverlet of silk and lace, and said bluntly: " A come tuh tell yuh ez how a feller, called Sam Rose, be i th kitchen. He be a sang-digger an a bad un, but he says ez how he loves me, an mebbe a ken talk him into some goodness." She caught her breath and then went on: "A a loves him, too but tain t a good love, hit done do me no good. A wanter try tuh mek hit wuk on him good, though, an an then, mebbe, we mought come together some day an be happy." She paused again; then with shyness and great stum bling over her words: "A hain t nuvver hed much TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 91 call tub pray. Hit done come natchul tub me, but you be so good ud yub mine ud hit worrit yuh, tub tub say a good wud tub Gawd fub Sam V me ? A come tub tell yub he war byuh, caze a mougbt be a argyfyin wi him twel right late, he s that mulish, an a wanted yub tub know Ywarn fub no harm a wuz a-keepin uv him.* Alice drew her down and kissed her, in silence, but the girl understood this simple act better than she would have done the most eloquent phrases. When she entered the kitchen again Sam had found some corn bread and honey in a cupboard and was regaling himself freely, Avhistling between bis immense bites and cutting pigeon-wings over the blackened floor. He stuffed the last morsel into his mouth as she appeared, and made a lunge at her with both arms, but she slipped past him and seated herself at the table. He laughed good- naturedly, and took the chair which he had placed for himself at her request. " Now," he said, wiping on his trouser leg the big clasp-knife with which he had been hacking 92 TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. his corn-pone and honey. " Fire away. All stan stiddy, fuh a targit." There was silence for some moments, broken by the rusty ticking of the old mahogany clock on the chimney-piece, and the intermittent frou frou of the breeze in a stack of fodder near the open window. Then, lifting her grave eyes to his, the girl said slowly: " How duz yuh love me, Sam ?" He looked staggered for a moment, and then that ever- ready smile shortened his face and nar rowed his keen eyes. " How duz a love yuh ?" he repeated. " My lawdy, sugar, but thet s th dawggones thing uvver a hyearn ! A love yuh, same ez other fellers loves a gal, when they wants her wuss n whisky." Tanis winced. Those words " want " and " whisky" brought Aunt Libby before her like an actual presence. " Yease, thetfs hit," she returned, dryly. " Meb- be you calls wantirf jess so, levin?, but I don t." Sam shook his shoulders, impatiently. TANIS, THE SANG-D1GGER. 93 " When a man loves a gal, done he alluz want her ?" he demanded. "Yease, but thar s moughty diff unt ways o wantin . Some wants a bird tuh eat hit, an some wants hit tuh take keer uv hit an larn hit how tuh sing. What I wants tuh know is this hyuh how long d yuh love me, arter yuh got me ?" "Now, honey," said Sam, looking serious for the first time, " ef any man lays out tuh tell a gal per- cizely how long he s a-goin tuh love her, that man s a darned liar, or, if he ain t, then he s a darned fool. A ken tell yuh one thing, tho . A loves you wuss n a uvver loved a gal sence a wuz bawn. Hit fyar gneaws me like honger an thust. Seems like sometimes, ef a cuddn t ketch a holt o yuh, a d lie down an die. Ef a wus starvin en a lied muh chice twixt a bite o bread an yo mouf, a d kiss yuh an quit." She was flushed and trembling, but very quiet. "That been t all, though, be it?" she asked. < Dontchu nuvver feels like yuh d want tuh be a better man, fur my sake? Dontchu nuvver feels like you wanted tuh be good, f uh me ?" 94 TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGKR. "A feel like a d like tuh be good tuh you, muh prutty. A done know ez how a hones arter bein suh good ftih yuh. What i th namersense hez goodness gotter do wi lovin ? A reckons the Ole Scratch hisse f loves his ooman, an he cyarn t mix up much goodness wi hit." Her face was white and anxious. " But, Sam, arter we got mah d, s pos n then yuh stopped a-lovin me like yuh duz now, ud yuh go on wi wi yo badness to ds other gals ? Ud yuh alluz swar, an drink, an shoot, like yuh ben do all yuh life? Oh, Sam, tain t suh much good rightaway ez a spects yuh tuh be, but tuh want tuh, want tuh, be gud." Sam gazed at her soberly. "Gawd, He knows yuh beats me!" he said at last, "but a sut n y hain t a-goin tuh lie full nobordy." One of his sudden inspirations seized him. "Hyuh!" he said, patting his knee, "come hyuh, an set on muh lap, an a ll try tuh mek my way o thinkin 1 cl ar to you." At first she hesitated, but something in his TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 95 eyes compelled her, and she went reluctantly toward him. He lifted her on his knee, then, folding both arms about her, pressed her closer and closer to him, until her breath came painfully. "Thar! tha^s how a loves ytili," he exclaimed at last. " Xow kiss me, an a li show yuh plainer yit." But she tore herself away. "Yuh re bad, an yuh wants tuh stay bad," she cried, passionately ; " how kin the Lawd be gud, like folks say, and yit mek mens like you ? "Ef yuh loved me, yuh wouldn t bother me wr all this hyuh truck o talk , he said, dog gedly, as pale as she was, " but you mought ez well be made outer tin fuh all you kin feel. Yuh dunno what love is. Mebbe yuh v ll know, some day, an mebbe yuh wone wanter wase s much time a-talkin , but by Gawdamoughty, a ll kill th feller ez yuh loves, ef he be a angel dude fresh from heaven." The giiTs eyes flashed. 96 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " How dar yuh seh what a feels an what a done feel ?" she cried. " How dar yuh tell me whe rr a loves yuh or no ? Ain t I got a heart, an a brain, an a bordy same as you is? Ain t I got blood i muh veins, an tears back o muh eyes, same ez any other gal ? Case a done want tuh tek up wi a drunkard an a gambler, an a feller what goes bout doin wus n murder, yuh dar stan thar an tell me a done feel !" Her mood broke suddenly, and left her ra diant with tears. " Oh, Sam, Sam !" she pleaded, "done tormint me no mo . A is been love yuh sence a fust seed yuh, tell hit seemed like muh vurry har bu nt me a-blowin roun muh face. A is ben honger arter yuh, tell hit seemed like thar warn no place on earth ez empty ez these hyuh arms o mine. A is ben thurst tuh look inter yuh eyes, twel hit seemed like mine wuz dryin up wi fever. When yuh kissed me, that day, on th Warm Springs mountain, hit seemed like a wuz meltin away in yo TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 97 arras like a wuz you, yo se f like a breathed wi yo breath an looked wi yo eyes. When a thinks how tall yuh is muh heart jumps i muh bres like a hot stone. When a mem bers yuh voice, an th sweet wuds yuh done seh tuh me, hit seems like a wuz faintin back inter a dream. Sometimes, i th dark, a ve thunk ez how yuh kissed me, an it seemed like sparks o fire was pourin over me, an thoo me, same ez they does up th chimbly when yuh beats on smoulderin wood. The? 8 how a loves yuh, Sani, but oh, a loves yuh more n thet. A loves yuh so, a d gi muh life tuh see yuh jess a-icantirf tuh be good. When a sez good, a done mean like them whinin preachers i th valley, but kynd an hones wi gals, not suh often drunk, not suh quick tuh cut an shoot an drag others inter sin." She paused, gasping, her hands clasped against her breast, her eager eyes thrust deep into his. His face was flushed with conflicting passions. He opened and shut his great hands nervously in 98 TANIS, THE SANG- DIGGER. his effort to control himself. He was angry, touched, resentful, while over all his love for her swelled with a mad rage, " How be yuh a-goin tub prove all this hyuh moughty love o yourn ? " he said, at last, in a thick voice. " How be yuh a-goin tuh mek me b lieye yuh hongers arter me, when yuh on t even gi me a kiss ? Ef yuh sub moughty hongry arter sup- pin , udn t yuh tek a bite o hit ? Naw, by Gawd, ef yuh loved me like yuh seh yuh do, thar udn t be no room in yuh fuh reason. Yo arms ud be wropped roun muh neck same ez ef yuh wuz drowndin , an yuh mouf ud be fars tuh mine, like yuh wuz drawin yuh vurry life outer me. Love ! you love ! yuh dunno no mo bout love n ef yuh hed n ben weaned but yestiddy ! Why, ez yuh stans thar a-gapin at me, them red lips o yourn wars th shape o yo mammy s bres yit ! " He actually groaned, " Lawd! Lawd! yuh po little baby-gal ! Ooman folks done stan in armVreach o th fellers they loves, an jaw bout th right an wrong uv it, ez ef they war in Sunday-school, an ez cool an green ez cowcumbers. A reckons one o TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 99 them critters ez lives at the north pole an chaws on taller candles tuh keep em warm, a reckons one o them coots ud suit yuh f ustrate. They d love yuh th way yuh d like to be loved, a reckon. Somebordy tole me ez how they rubbed noses sted o ? kissin ! " He laughed savagely. " Yease, thernd be bout th kine yo^V/like tuh manage. By thun der ! yuh hev got cole grit tuh drag in goodness, by th yers a-squealiiv like a pig, an thin go a-tell n me ez hit an love s got tuh be mixed fore yuh ll tase hit ! " He took a stride forward, but did not attempt to touch her. " You re a gal, an mebbe all this sort o truck done wuk yuh up, like hit do a man. Mebbe you kin stan* thar an preach at me an ettjie yuhse f, but I hain t no gal ! I hain t no mealy-moufed Mithydis, an th blood s a-bub- blin in me same s melted iron ! D yuh think a m a-going on furuvver, a-lettin yuh make a cawn- geygashun out o me, an a twis n up them prutty lips o yourn wi Bible wuds an sich, when muh vurry heart s a-whirlin in me, a wants tuh kiss yuh so ? D yuh think that ? Caze ef yer does, by th whole crowd o Heaven, yuh thinks a lie. Thar ll 100 TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. come a time when a wone stan hit no mo 1 , an then yuh ll wisht yuh heddn t druv me crazy ! " Tanis stood gazing fearlessly upon him, magnifi cent and white. " Yease" she said, as he paused, out of breath. " Yease, thet thar s th way men talks tuh wimmen ez tries tuh keep decent, an do whut s right, so far ez they knows how. Pore blind mole ! Cyarn t yuh see no further n yo own craziness ? Cyarn t yuh tell th diff ence t wix a ooman ez is bawn cole an puny, an a ooman ez is wile an strong by nature, an is tryin tuh love i th bes way? Oh, shame on yuh, shame! shame! tuh seh sich wuds tuh me, when a ve split open muh vurry heart fur yuh tuh look at, when a ve tole you how a ve ached tuh kiss yuh, an a didn do hit, jess caze t ud a ben wrong! Yuh sehs I done know what love is! Well, a say th same tuh yuh ! Yuh done love me, Sam Rose ! you loves th kisses muh mouf cud give yuh, you loves the feel muh arms ud hev on yuh th oat, yuh loves th warmness ez ud go thoo yuh ef a let yuh hole me close, like yuh did jess now ! But ain that th way yuh loves whisky ? Ain t hit f uh TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 101 th feel hit gives yuh that yuh loves hit ? Tain t th stuff hitse f no mor n hit s me, rauhse f, yuh loves. Y ud hut me, fuh yo pleasure, quick ez thinkin , yuh d make Bill hate me, an yud leave me tuh muh mis ry arterwards, like you lef them po Darley gals an Maggie" His face had grown so ghastly that she paused, half-awed by her own daring. He sank into one of the chairs by the deal table. He was trembling. In one leap she had reached his side. Kneeling, she took his hand in both her own and pressed it against her heart. " Sam, Sam," she stammered, " ef thar be a Gawd, He knows a m a sayin hit fuh yo own sake. lie knows a loves yuh, ev n ef you don t. Fuhgive me ef a ve hit yuh too hard, an try, try tuh feel th love ez is back uv hit all." He tried to speak, but his lips were dry. Fetch ing a gourd of water, she held it to his mouth with shaking hands. He drank eagerly, like a man in a fever, then said, huskily : " Thar hain t nawbordy knows how how that gal hev harnted me night n day." 102 TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " Oil, Sam ! Oh, my dear Sam ! Hev she ? Be yuh sorry yuh done hit ? Be yuh weak when yuh thinks uv hit ? Do hit come tuh yuh by night an mek yuh fret an tun bout in yo bed ?" " Hit do ! Hit do ! Jess like yuh re a-sayin , Tan is. Them other gals wuz bold n for ard ; a man ud a ben a fool tuh spar em. But th other she war a pitiful little critter. She sot a heap by me. A done her a devil s turn, Tanis." He got to his feet. " Thar, a reckons yuh d better lemme go while muh blood s tunned tuh water, like it be now. Yuh re right, muh gal, a m a low-down, bad feller, an not fit tuh call yo name but but He stared down at her, a little of the old fierceness lighting his eyes. " Done you tarnt me no mo wi not lovin yuh ! Hit s like a said, devils ken love, a reckon. An a feller tole me onct twar i th Bible ez how a devil loved a ooman. Thet s how a loves yuh, a reckon, an hit s moughty strong stronger n / be, by a darn sight ! But ef a ken keep a right rank kyerb twix hit s jaws, a ll try to fool hit inter thinkin a m th master, same ez folkses fools a hawse. Ef TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 103 a ken hole out a won t pester yuh no mo . Mine tho , a seh ef a ken hole out /" He took up his hat from the table and was start ing towards the door, when she stopped him. She came and slipped her hand shyly but firmly under his arm. A lovely smile lighted her face. " Sam," she whispered, " come along o 1 me. A ve got suppin tub show yuh." The great fellow, dumb with surprise, allowed himself to be led around the side of the house, up to one of the front windows. The chintz curtains inside did not quite meet, and they could see the charming room beyond, with its glow of lamp and firelight, its bowls of daffodils and gleaming books and pictures. On a crimson divan near the fire lay Alice, her blonde hair unfastened and falling about her face. Gilman was seated in a low chair beside her, a book in one hand, the other resting between his wife s fragile palms. He was reading to her, but every now and then they looked at each other and smiled. Sometimes she would put up one of her hands to his lips, with a winning gesture, and he 104 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. would kiss it softly between each word. Some times it was his hand that she touched to her cheek. Once he got up to put some wood on the fire, which was kept burning, although it was so warm without, and as he came back he bent over and gathered her slight figure to his breast, where she clung happily, her fingers in his dark curls. Once he kissed her, a slow, tender kiss, upon the lips, and insisted upon drawing the coverlet higher about her shoulders, although she protested that she was not cold. Then, again, he began to read to her. They could not hear the words, but from the rhythmic beat of his voice they guessed that it was " varses " of some kind. " Come on come away," whispered Tanis, sud denly, as though waking. " Tain t right tuh listen tuh em. Come away, Sam." So intense had been their absorption into those other lives that she was as unconscious of Sam s arm about her, as he had been of putting it there; but now as she turned to speak to him, she felt that she was in his embrace. This time, however, she made no effort to escape. TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 105 " Dear Sam," she said, still under her breath, " that s what / calls love. Oh, a would love tuli be loved like that!" He was still very gentle and awed, but he could not repress a smile at these words. "Lawd! honey," he whispered back, "you mought ez well look furrer a whisky bottle tuh run milk! A hain t that kynd, an " he paused and looked at her a little mischievously in the dawning moonlight " a done reckon you favors thet thai* ooman nuther, ez much ez yuh mought. Yuh hain t th j kynd men loves like that, muh prutty." " But, Sam, udn t a leetle o that mixed in wi tk other make hit all th better ?* Sam shook his head rather dubiously. " Dunno," he said, honestly. " A alluz did like muh whisky straight." "But we oonian folks, Sam, w r e likes a dash o milk or w r ater in ourn. An look at a mint julep, Sam! Thet s got sugar an mint an water, too, in hit, an yuh fellers certVy does love a good julep. Oh!" she broke off suddenly, resting her clasped 106 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. hands against his breast " ef yuh only ud want tuh be gooder, Sam! ah d let muhse f go then! A d love yuh mo n a gal uvver loved a man befo . since th worl began." TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGEE. 107 CHAPTER IX. A WEEK had passed. Again Tanis leaned at the open kitchen window. Behind her, in the shadow, was a gleam of copper and brass and newly -polished tin. The white muslin cur tains made a film about her glowing face. She was like a pink peony wreathed in morning mist. In the black mould underneath the window, pur ple crocuses were springing, with here and there a golden one, to intensify their royalty. The apple trees w r ere fairy tents of blossom. The peach tree branches swayed and hummed with clinging bees. Beyond, the mountains rose like pyramids of delicate marble, mottled with divers greens, and the faint crimson of the red-bud. Sky and earth seemed blowing gently in the soft, volumin ous wind. It sent waves of perfume from myriad wild flowers rippling down the valley, over the warm brooklet?, across the stern rampart of the hills. The clouds seemed to curl into airy folds beneath it, the forests swayed tenderly, and the 108 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. song of birds trembled, now low, now loud, as the eddying gusts bore them forward or backward. It was like an Easter-tide of nature. " Spring is risen is risen, and summer is binding on her golden sandals. Spring is risen," murmured the mountain streams; 4t winter is in the grave, and no more will his beard of icicles choke our sources and frighten our flags from blossoming." The sun, parting the gay curtain of his bed, looked lovingly upon the love-sick earth. The oaks were hale and young again with rising sap. Again the dog-wood felt an ecstasy of bloom and whitened the water with virginal reflections. On the stag s broad front the antlers were downy, as with moss, and pliant like young willow twigs. The eyes of the doe were bright and liquid, and her flanks softer than velvet. Children s voices sounded gaily through the valley. The ewes were bleating in answer to the new-born lambs. Through the warm, sweet-scented air the pollen floated like specks of musty gold. Tanis dreamed open-eyed at the window, and all her dreams were of love. " Ef he war only TAXIS, THE SAXG DIGGER. 109 good," she thought. " Ef he only wanted tuh be good, how I cud love him ! How I cud make him love me back ! Ef hit war only right, and he hones an meanin well by me, how I cud rest in his arms, an give him back his kisses ! How sweet it ud be, to kiss him an know hit twant a sin ! His eyes be bluer n them little flowers thar ! Td kiss em twel they shut, same as th flowers do, when a bee tickles em. I cud make him trimble, same ez them peach boughs trimble i th wind, though he do be suh strong an tall ! He thinks a don keer that a m cole an proud that his kisses worrits me ! Oh, how s prised he d be ef a lem muhse f go an loved him, like a yearns tub. Oh, Sam, Sam! muh own man, ef you only wanted tuh be good !" It was at this moment that Sam opened the garden gate and walked towards her. His flannel shirt was clean, and disclosed fully the splendid modelling of chest and arms. His blue eyes seemed to partake of the universal joyousness about them. He walked fast and vigorously, so that a few strides brought him close to Tanis. 110 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGEE. "Honey," he asked in a triumphant whisper, " wliatclm think ? A ain t teched a drap o whisky serice a lars saw yuh !" " Ain t yuh, Sara ?" She looked more like a peony than ever. The little white kerchief knotted about her throat reminded him of a snow-wreath on a flower. He could see her thin, pink cotton gown beat with her quick breathing. " A m a tryin 1 tuh do whut yuh wants, Tanip," he went on. Then he ventured to smooth back a stray lock and tuck it behind one of her warm, downy ears. " A m a-tryin tuh wanter want tuh be good." "Air yuh?" she breathed, not daring to meet his eyes. "Air yuh, Sam? Hit cert n y is kynd o yuh." "But" oh, darlin ," he hurried to add, "A cyarn t he p thinkin t ould come so much quicker ef yud he p me long wi a bit o love, now an agin." She took his great hand from her throat, and pressed it between both her own. TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. Ill "A does love yuh, Sam, an yuh knows hit." "But tain t th kynd o love a wants," he urged, breathlessly. "A wants yuh tuh come tub me, same ez a flame turrer a match when hit s struck, same ez a bee turrer apple tree. A wants yuh tuh git love-mad, same ez steers git water- mad, and bolt fuh me thro ev y thin ez lies a-tween us. Oh! ma own gal, gi me one kiss !" He drew her, panting and troubled, to his breast. Their eyes darkened on each other, their breath was mingled, and then, with a sudden effort, she wrenched herself away, and stood paling and reddening, before him, her eyes on her intertwisted hands. He lounged on the window- sill, pulling at his beard, puzzled, disappointed, but not angry. "Lawd! but yuh be tryin ," he said, finally. " Whut med yuh ack like that, honey?" "A a dunno. Yo eyes scared me. A a scared muhse f. A don seem tuh be me when a m wi yuh, Sam, a seem tuh be you" il Well, will yuh come walk wi me ?" he sug gested. "A ll promise tuh do like yuh wants. 112 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. A know the pruttiest holler i th woods fur ten miles roun . Will yuh come ?" " A d love tub come, Sam." " Well, come then." "But a mus ax Mis Gilman." " Darn Mis Gilman ! You am no slave, a tek hit, an she ain yo keeper air she ?" " A d ruther she d know," said the girl, slowly. "Well, cuss hit all, go tell her then," he fumed. Tanis came back quite radiant. "She says a ken go. She says ez how a ken fix us up a snack in this hyuh barsket." While she arranged the luncheon hamper, he walked up and down, impatiently, whistling in numerable variations on " The Mocking Bird," but, as she came towards him in her pink and white sun- bonnet, with the basket over her arm, the im patience all merged into one vast smile. "Honey," he said, regarding her delightedly, " yuh be that prutty a culdn t trust ole Moses his- se f wi yuh ! Yuh be brighter n a snake wi a new skin ! Yuh be prutty nuff tuh tu n th Devil interrer a Mithydist, an a Mithydist in- TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGEK. 113 terrer a devil. A feel jess like eatin yuh up," and he clacked his strong teeth at her. They walked along the high road to the Healing Springs, and then turned into Lion Gorge. The warm fumes of the May mounted to their heads. Their eyes shone, their strong hearts pulsed ve hemently. They made excuses to take the basket from each other every few yards, that their long ing hands might come in contact. Above them, the vine-draped rocks rustled against a sky of egg-shell blue. The torrent, at their side, swirled glistening among its moss-greened stones, and made the clustering cresses quiver gaily. " Oh, th spring be here !* he began to sing in his pleasant bass, and she joined to it her clear treble. " Oh ! th spring be here, Wi th green o th year An th wile turkey s gobble, An th deep crick s bobble, An th city folks a-comin , An th band a tum-tummin , An th fiddles all a-squealin , At th Hot an th Healin ." 114 TANIS, THE BANG-DIGGER. It made a good march, and they went on faster than ever, now swinging the basket between them. " Oh! th Bang s in bloom, An tli Sang-gal s at the loom, A-weavin her a shawl Fur tuh war i th fall, When th Sang be ripe fuh diggin , An th cider hard fuh swiggin , An we Snakes go a-dealin At th Hot an the Healin !" " Yuh cert n y do mek up good varses, Sam," she said, admiringly. " Why don t yuh mek a book o varses an print em ?" " Sho !" he said, rather grandly, " them hain t nuthin . A ken talk varses like them thar easy ez breathin . A mought do sup n right good, ef a sot down an scratched muh head, though." They had now reached the hollow, of which he had spoken, but between them and its loveliest nook stretched a brawling stream, over which a pine tree had been thrown for a bridge. " Ken yuh walk hit, sugar, or urns a cy ar yuh ?" he asked, TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 115 Tanis gave her rich, roaring laugh. " G long, Sam Rose ! Ez many cricks ez yuh is ben see me crost ! Why, a cud hop over that thar tree on one foot." " Less see yuh, then," replied her lover. " Well a will," she answered. " Only a mus yank off these hyuh duds fust." And, seating herself on the grass, she unlaced and drew off her stout boots, handing them to him. "My Lawd, but ain t that good, tho ?" she cried, joyously. " Warm shoes is like warm cosits on yuh foots. Yuh dunno how good tis tuh move ev y toe, thout hevin em ginst sup n !" With a cry and a leap she was on the slender pine pole, her arms outstretched, her muscular feet gripping the rough bark. He watched her, admir ingly, but with some anxiety. "Look out!" he called, warningly. "Don th water mek yo head swim ?" "Xaw, hit don t," she called back. "A feels like a wuz live fuh th fust time in weeks. Shoes cert n y duz mek a diffunce in a bordy s feelin s! 116 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. Seems like a cud fly! Seems like, ef a hel muh breath an guv a good kick, a cud histe muhse f right over that thar mountin !" She gave another yell of sheer delight and, fling ing herself in the moss on the opposite bank, rolled about like a colt. Sam crossed somewhat more cautiously, as he had not taken off his boots. Then he stood looking down on her, with the proud in dulgence of a man who watches the playful writhings of a young panther which he has half tamed. "Tanis," he said suddenly, "yuh be a mountain gal, yuh be wile an na chul ez them vines an things you re a rollin on. Yuh on t nuvver git used tub livin onder a roof, Tanis. Yuh on t nuvver larn tuh walk easy in city duds V shoes like these hyuh." He shook contemptuously the boots which he still held. " Yuh be free an wilful ez that water yonder, yuh on t nuvver wuk onder saddle no mo n a wilecat ud. Why cyarn t yuh love me an give yuhse f tuh me, and come back tuh the hills an be happy n yo own way?" Tanis, half ashamed of her outburst, was sitting TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 117 up smoothing her roughened hair. He held out the shoes to her and she drew them on in silence, but without lacing them up. "A said a wouldn t pester yuh," he went on, walking at her side, " an a won t, but a do wisht yu d mek things clarer tuh me." They had now reached the cascades. Walls of high, firm-tufted rock cast a drowsy shadow over the stream brawling between them. Far above shone a strip of milky sky, against which were outlined the dark green needles of pines, the deli cate feathers of spruce trees, the young mealy foliage of sugar maples. The boulders, lying in the broad bed of the torrent, were vivid as with soaked green velvet, and sunken among rich cush ions of cress. Tanis leaped out upon a flat stone in the very middle of the tumbling foam, and in an instant Sam was close beside her. Their hands touched, clasped, and thus they stood, gazing up the narrow passageway of rock at the eager water. " That s like muh love f uh yuh, honey," he ven tured to whisper. " Hit s dark, mebbe, an hit runs 118 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGEK. rough, but hit s a-goin tub git whar hit s boun fuh, yuh kin bet on that." "But hit s a-goin tub git smooth, too, arter a while, Sam, down i th valley. Hit s goin tub git out i th sunlight, an run along peaceable an gentle." "Tanis!" "Yease, Sam?" " Ud yuh like, a feller tub be suh darned gentle an mealy-mouthed wi yuh all th time ?" . "A didn t seh nothin bout mealy-mouthed, Sam!" " Ud yuh like yo man tub olluz ax mought a? an moughn t a? Ud n yuh like him tub pick yuh up sometimes so" he caught her up on bis shoulder " an run off wi yuh so f " He reached the bank in a few agile bounds and sat down, keep ing her on his knee, although she stiffened her body rigidly and frowned. "Be yub mad at me, Tanis ?" "Yease, a be." "Be yub reel mad at me ?" " Ob, Sam, ef a on y knowed bow long yub d love TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 119 me, an how much yuh meant whut yuh sez bout wantin tuh want to be gooder ! " "A wants anythin ez ll mek yuh love me an marh y me." " But, Sam, marh idge is like a cliff. Men s love an wimmin s love is both gotter go over hit. But seems tuh me, ez wimmin s love goes over, like that water at th Fallin Springs hit s all th prut- tier n whiter fuh hit. But men s love mos men s love goes over like a gret big rock, a knockin things tuh pieces, an a smashin of hitse f at th bottom. Hones Injun, a be fraid o marh idge, Sam." " Well, a ll tell yuh one thing, muh prutty, yuh be th fust gal uvver I see ez & wanted tuh marh y." " Be a, Sam ?" " Yuh be th fust ooman uvver went tuh muh head wuss n a drink. A b leeve th ve y thought o yuh d keep me from freezin , ef a wuz lost i th snow. Now doncher think yuh owes me supp n fuh not drinkin furrer a week ?" " Hit cert n y did mek me happy, Sam." He put his arms about her and drew her to him. 120 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " Now, yuh mek me happy," he whispered. She trembled all over. Love and the spring were in her wild young veins, but her heart was as clear as a star. She put him, gently, yet strongly from her. " A don want no love-mekin yit," she said. " A wants yuh to prove yuh words. A don want tuh do nothin ez Bill ouldri t like V he ouldV like this hyuh." " A said yuh wuz cole," he muttered, sullenly. She flashed out at him, pale and indignant. " A in not cole! Yuh sham? say hit. Jess case a shows sense, an on t do ez yuh seh, yuh calls me cole !" " An mean-tempered," he put in, grimly. She pressed her lips hard together and walked away from him. He watched her cross the pine- tree bridge and plunge into the woods beyond. As she hurried on, dizzy with anger and disappoint ment, his mocking voice was in her ears. "Thar s wile cats i these hyuh woods, but a don reckon yuh ll mine that, bein kin, ez it TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 121 She said nothing. " Yuh looks tarnation prutty when yuh re mad," he then remarked. Still she did not answer. " A s pose yuh thinks yuh kin lead me on, an fling me off, as yuh pleases, an a ll stan hit n go on bein a damn whinin , slobberin puppy ? " Still silence. " Hyuh ! yuh answer me, will yuh? "he thun dered, laying his hand on her arm. She shook it off. "By Gawd! a ll mek yuh love me!" he said, hoarsely, with clenched teeth, and she felt herself caught and held, her head bent back, furious, scorching kisses on eyes, lips, throat, shoulders. She was a woman, although a half savage one, and she began to sob bitterly, but he continued to kiss her, until his mouth was salt with her tears mer ciless, rough caresses, that bruised heart and soul, as well as body. He released her at last, a very devil in his light eyes. " Thar s not th gal in Heaven or out ez ken play 122 TANIS, THE SAXG-D1GGEK. farstV loose wi me," he said, threateningly, but something in her stricken face awed him. He turned from her and stood silent, stripping the bark from a cedar tree nearby. Presently he felt a soft touch on his arm. " Sam," she said, " a knows yuh wuz mad, an jess a-tryin tuh skeer me, an an a fuhgives yuh, Sam. Will yuh tek me back now ? An an please don sell much tuh me." He looked at, her, and said, curtly : " Th devil s in me, Tan is-, an that s all about hit. A m a bad lot. A reckon yuh knows that, ez well ez anybordy. When th devil gits up in me a cyar nt down him. A hain t a safe man. A m everlarstin onreliable, but a loves yuh." " A a reckon yuh be right bad, Sam," she said, slowly, " but a ll gi yuh another charnce. On y tek me home now. Mis Gilman ll be a-wonderin ." TAXIS, THE SAXG-D1GGER. 123 CHAPTER X. WHEN they reached the Gilmans gate Tanis was about to enter silently, but Sam grasped her arm. "A m bad, Tanis, an a reckon muh love s bad, too, but a rn agoin tuh hev yuh, one way or- ruther." She looked calmly up at him. " Well, a reckon yuh done know me sVell ez yuh mought," she said. "Yuh on i hev me thouten a lets yuh." "A icill, though! A swars by th tokin." "A d kill muhse f fust." " Naw. You mought kill yuhse f arterwards, but not fust." "Yuh cyarn t do hit. Yuh be strong, but supp n i me tells me I be stronger." "But yuh loves me." " Yease, a loves yuh. Mo shame tuh me." He took her face between both hands and gazed hungrily into her eyes. 124 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " Why does yuh love me, beauty ?" " Supp n i yuh draws me. Hit draws me like th sun sucks up water like th drarff draws th flame up th chimbly." "An yuh holes back, jess caze a m bad?" "Thet s hit." He smiled. "Want me tuh tell yuh supp n , honey?" "Mh hm." "Hit s th very cussedness in me ez draws yuh." "Aw, no! noT " A swar tiz. Wimmins is like that. A bet Eve loved Cain a darn sight mo nor uvver she loved Abel." "He wuz her fust-bawn." " That hain t nuthin . She loved him mo , any how. Didn n yuh love that thar pesky leetle lame squr l o yo n better nor all th pretty beases thet Bill an me uvver brung yuh ?" She moved restlessly. "That wuz caze he couldnV he p hisse f." "An yuh thinks yuh ken he p me? A ve a TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 125 mine tuh tell th stark-nekkit truth fuh onct i muh life." "Aw yease ! tell hit, Sara." " Then spread them prutty years o yourn wide, fuh hyuh be a truth ez ll fill em chuck-full. A loves yuh, chile, but yuh hain t th fust a ve loved, an a hain t got no cause tuh think yuh ll be th larst. A thinks now ez no har be wuth lookin at thout hit shines like a bay hawse in th sun, but mebbe, come a yeah, a ll be ez mad fuh har ez is blacker n a fresh-split lump o coal. A loves yuh so a hain t teched whisky furrer week, but muh tickler s a-bu nin muh porkit now, an mebbe a wone hole out another week. A loves yuh, but a ve got a tarnal thust fuh liquor. Seems like a d let yuh stick me like a pig fuh one long kiss on that mouf o yo n, but mebbe, come a week, a on t feel so no mo. A tells yuh a ll marh y yuh, but a reckon ef a cud git yuh l thout marh y n yuh, a d be moughty glad. Ef we had chilluns a d beat em, sho nuff, a reckon, an mebbe a d beat you. Muh love s right smart like bar love, a reckon. A d like tuh hug yuh twel 126 TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. a kilt yuh. Ez fuh goodness, thar hain t nuff in me tub mek a * Amen outer. Thar, a lay a ve tole th truth this time." She was silent, and then said slowly : " A ll gi yuh another charnce. Truttis good, an a lay yuh tole nuff o thet thar, jess now, tuh amen a book o pra rs. Now g long, an good night." He went off, whistling rather thoughtfully, and she returned to the house, with the lunch-basket still full upon her arm. Ten days afterward Alice sent her with some beef-tea and cream to the cabin of an old man, half way up the Warm Springs mountain. A pig hustled by her as she entered, and some hens were making themselves cosy in the warm ashes on the hearth. The sick man lay on his back among a mass of rags and corn-shucks. She thought that he was dead at first, he was so still and waxy-white, his wide eyes staring up at a hole in the roof, but, as she came toward him, he said feebly: 44 S that you, Doc ?" TAXI?. THE SAXG-DIGGER. 127 " Naw, suh," she answered. " Hit s me Tanis Gribble. A ve brung you some beef-juice V cream from Mis Oilman, r* th valley. Be yuh in much mis ry, suh t" " Naw, a been t. A thought t war th doctor wi mo truck. Did yuh see muh Susy ez yuh come long? A be mortal thusty! Susy, she be a goodish gal, but she air too yorng tub. feel fuh th ole." " Udn t yuh like a fire, an thet thar hole i th roof stopped up, suh ?" ; Xaw ! Let be, let be. A d like a drink o* suppV, though, fus rate." Tanis poured out some of the beef-tea into a cup, and he sucked it up with noisy eagerness. As he was drinking, the doctor entered. " Why, Joe," he said, cheerily, after nodding to Tanis, and feeling the old man s pulse and fore head, "you re better, man. The fever s broken. You re good for twenty years yet." "Yease, yease, a knowed a war better, soon ez them two greenish stars parst onder th moon. A ve been a-watchin em fuh three weeks now! 128 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. Thet thar truck yuh guv me didn do me a bit o good; a d a tho d hit i th pig-trough ef yuh hedden stood by an watched me swaller hit." The doctor laughed good-naturedly. "So that s why you wouldn t let me mend that hole in your roof, hey ? You ve been lying here watching those stars." " Yease, Doc, thet be hit. You re a moughty good man, Doc, an we mountain folks sots a heap by yuh. But thet thar truck o yo n ain wuth a rotten punk n shell." The doctor laughed again. "Well," he said> "I m mightily obliged to those stars for passing under the moon just in the nick of time. But where s Susy ? Is this one of her friends, come to wait on you ?" "Naw; thet be a gal fum th valley. A dunno whar be Susy. Ole folks an sickness tuhgerrer be moughty hard on a yorng gal. A reckon she hev gone out tuh git a mou ful o fresh air." " But, Joe, you oughtn t to be left alone, you know. I don t like to go away until Susy comes back." TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 129 Tanis came forward, shyly. "I ll stay wi him, suh," she said. * A d like tuh." "You re a nice, good-hearted girl," remarked the doctor, heartily, "and I wish you would." He drew her aside. " You mustn t tell him I said so, but that granddaughter of his isn t worth her salt. She s forever gadding, and if my son and I hadn t nursed the old fellow through the worst, he d be dead as a door-nail by this time." " I ll watch him, suh. Tell me whut tuh do, an a ll do hit faithful. On y a cyarn t stay but twel sun-down." The doctor patted her shoulder, approvingly. " You re a good girl," he repeated, "that you are. I d like to know your name." She told him, and then he explained to her what she was to do. "Before I go," he ended, "just run to the spring and fetch some fresh water. There isn t a drop in the bucket, and he ll be sure to want some." Tanis took the bucket and started down a steep, 130 TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. weed-grown hill, to the spring. As she stood still for a moment, to look about her, she heard a low murmur of voices, and, stepping forward, saw, in a pretty, vine-cushioned dimple just below her, the figure of a man and woman. All the blood in her body seemed to surge into her throat. For an instant, she could not see or hear. Then the man s words reached her distinctly : " Uv cose a loves yuh ! Whut yuh takin on bout ? Ud a ack like a does ef a did n love yuh ?" " Aw, Sam ! Then kiss me again ! Lawd ! Lawd ! but Grandpap ud brek e v y bone in muh bordy ef he knowed hit !" "Yuh jess lemme ketch him huttin one o these hyuh sweet, leetle bones, an a d choke out whut breath he s got lef twixt muh finger n thumb." " Aw, Sam ! Yuh be suh strong ! A ain nuvver seed a feller ez big ez yuh be ! An yo eyes be bluer n chiny ! Aw, Sam, a loves yuh ! a loves yuh ! an a ve hed muh chice o fellers, too. But they ain none on em got they way TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 131 wi me, savin you. A\v, dont! Yuh huts me when you kisses me like that ! Be a truly th prutties gal yuh uvver seed, like yuh said, jess now? A use tuh hate muh har tell you called hit prutty. Twas so black an curly hit minded me uv a nigger s." " Well, sot still an lemme kiss th curls out." Tanis was quivering from head to foot, but she managed to walk quietly past them, rinse her bucket, fill it and return calmly. Her skirts actually brushed them, as she passed. Before she had gone a mile on her homeward way, that afternoon, however, Sam overtook her. His eyes were lighter and harder than ever, his face pale. " Well," he said, falling into her step, " a reckon yuh thinks yuh ve done wi me now" As was her habit, on such occasions, she made no reply. He tried another tack. " When a feller s starvin and steals a bit o bread ev n th preachers ain suh moughty hard on him. Ef yuh will starve me yuh ll hev to bide th consekences." 132 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. Still no answer. He stopped suddenly and jerked her about, so that she faced him. "Look at hyuh," he demanded, savagely. " Doncher know a m a bad ky nd tuh fool wi ?" Her expression did not change. "I hain t afeart o yuh," she said. " D n yuh ! A know yuh hain t ! Thet s jess hit. Folkes, ole an yorng, beeg an leetle, hev ben afeart o me, nigh all muh life. An you now, a sprout uv a gal ez a cud brek i two wi muh nekkit hans, you dars me, an jaws me, an tormints me ez yuh pleases. But a wone stan hit. Yuh hyuh ? A wone stan hit !" " jTain afeart o yuh," she repeated, coldly. " D yuh think a loves that orgly hussy a Joe Simmons ?" "A heard yuh seh so." " But, does yuh think hit ?" She looked him steadily in the eyes. "A think yuh done know whut love means." " Yuh thinks that, does yuh ?" " Yease, a thinks hit." " Why ?" TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 133 " Why ?" she repeated, her voice suddenly loud with passion. " Why? Gaze even a brute-beers be true tuh th mate hit s chuz. Even a " she broke off, laying her finger to her lips. The wind was blowing toward them, and, on the hill-side, among the juicy, waving ferns, a stag was crouched, the doe beside him. The late sunlight gilded his splendid antlers and made the doe s white scut and breast gleam like spun silver. About them glittered a gauzy swarm of gnats. The doe s delicate head rested upon her mate s shoulder, and he was gently caressing her throat with his flexile tongue. A poplar tree spread cur tain-like above them, and among its whispering foliage an oriole was singing to its mate. The doe stretched her soft sides happily and gazed with eyes of languid satisfaction eyes brimmed with that innocence of dumb creatures so exquisitely touching to those that love them. There was a sound of falling water, of wings, of the feet of small, scampering creatures. The stag reared his head suddenly and listened. In an instant the doe was on her knees, her dark eyes big with alarm. 134 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " Thar," whispered Tanis. " Thet deer knows mo bout love nor uvver you will." The wind had changed. It now blew from them toward the lovely creatures on their couch of ferns. In a flash they were up and away, bruising the wild-flowers to richer perfume, breaking the under growth with swift, sharp hoofs. The oriole flew after them, shaking the pale sunlight from its wings. " That war love," she said, smiling at him, with white lips. " That war reel love." A sob broke from her. " Oh, Gawd !" she said, lifting upward her clasped hands. " Why be mens suh bad ? Why be a brute-beas better n some mens ?" Sam stood watching her, sullenly, half awed, half resentful. She turned to him again : " Walk home wi me," she said, gently. " A ve supp n tuh guv tuh yuh. Walk home wi me, Sam, an be ez kynd ez na chur ll let yuh. Thar s supp n ez a mus* seh tuh yuh." They walked side by side, in silence. Once, glancing at her askance, he saw that big, slow TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGEB. 135 tears were falling clown her cheeks, but he hard ened his heart against her. When they reached the kitchen the last radiance of the sun was tracing distorted reflections of the landscape without in the rounds of the great brass and copper pans hanging along the wall. The branches of dog- wood in a brown-stone jug on the table were beginning to droop like the wings of dead, white moths. Sleepy peepings and cuddling noises came from under the wings of brooding hens. The cows were lowing to be milked, and the calves, penned from them, druned plaintively. The girl sat down on one side of the kitchen table and motioned Sam to seat himself opposite her. He obeyed, like one hypnotized. For a mo ment she let her face rest upon her clasped hands. She was very quiet, her cheeks and lips colorless. One of the great copper pans on the wall behind her made a background for her head, like the con ventional halo in old pictures. Her breath came slow and deep, and she paused often between her words. "Sam," she began. Her voice faltered, and 136 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. again she let her face sink upon her hands. " Sam," she then said, in a braver tone, " A hev loved you, Sam, a hev loved you true. A fought agin hit, but hit seemed like hit warn t no use tuh fight. A knowed ez how Bill udn t want me tuh love yuh, but hit warn t no use. A knowed yuh wuz bad, but thet didn t stop muh lovin yuh. Hit seemed like a belonged tuh yuh, same ez yuh gun an yuh dawg did like a war part o yuh, same ez yuh han war. A knowed yuh war bad, but a thought a felt goodness in yuh. A thought ez how a could larn yuh tuh down th bad, an HP th good. A war like a mother wi a lame chile. A thought ez how yuh cud be he p d tuh walk straight. A come down hyuh, tuh these hyuh folks, fust, tuh git away fum yuh, an then, leetle by leetle, a got tuh wishin tuh larn tuh be mo like em, mo gentle i muh talk, mo kynd tuh other folks, tuh know mo bout Gawd. Jess tuh he p yuh, Sam ; jess tuh know mo how tuh he p yuh, an mek th good i yuh grow, an th badness swivel. An a lamed whut reel love is a-watchin them. A lamed whut a d felt tuh be th truth TAXIS, THE SAXG DIGGER. 137 thet love ain jess want it i 1 ; thet jess tub long tub kiss a man ain no sign o reel love ; tbet tub feel yo beart a-scorcbin in yuh, caze o bim, warn t no true sign ; tbet tbar war supp n better nor tbet. Supp n ez ud keep yub lovin bim jess tb same ef be got crippled or sickly, or bed bis eyes tore out. Supp n ez ud mek yub love him even mo 1 ef be wuz tub git sickly an leave tb hardest wuk fub yub tub do. Supp n ez ud mek yub love tb ve y pain ez guv yub a cbile o bis n. Supp n ez ud mek yub know yub d stay a widder fub bis sake, an be glad fub tb loneliness ez ud give yub peace tub pornder on wbut be war tub yub fore be died. A larned all tbet, Sam, an an a larned tub love yub mo an mo , twell hit war like a gret tree, a-growiu an a-spreadin i mub beart. Mub breas seemed like bit war fulled up wi tb branches, an birds seemed a-singin in em, an flowers a-blowin on em, same ez ef tb 7 Spring war in me, too, like bit Avar i tb valley. An a tried tub larn yuh tbet, Sam. Oh, a tried suh bard ! But a cyarn mek yub feel thet, no mo n a ken mek you know tb tormint ez is grin<l- 138 TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. in me down now, this minute, ez a talks tub yuh. Mebbe supp n ll larn yuh, some day. Meb- be yub ll git crippled or bline, or or mebbe some other ooman ll know better how tub larn yuh, caze tain i me tub larn yuh. A thought a cud; a used tub seh to muh own heart ez how a knowed a cud. But thet s done wi , now. Meb be ef a hedn seemed suh prutty tub yuh, meb be ef muh lips hedn been suh red, rnebbe mebbe but whut s th use o mebbe ? Hit s a pizen wud tub use, in a sartin thing. Whut a knows is, thet yuh done love me wi reel love. Why, ef yub bed loved me fuh one week, fuh one day, fuh one minute, even, yuh d a died fore yuh d a kissed thet gal up th mountin yuh d a cut yo th oat fore yuh d a tole her them wuds. Oh, Sam ! them vurry wuds ez yuh re fooled me wi sub often. But now hit s over, an a knows hit s over, an a wants yuh tub know a knows. An a wants us tub part peaceable. A wants yuh tub feel th ain no spite nor meanness i muh heart to ds yuh, nor to ds thet po gal. An a wants yuh tub promise me supp n , jess caze a hev TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 139 loved yuh suh true, but mo fuh yo own sake. A prays yuh, i th name o Gawd, tuh promise me, Sam. Will yuh ?" She stretched out her hand to him across the table, and fixed him with her dark, hopeless eyes. " Yuh ll promise me, on t yuh, Sam ? "Yease, go on," he said, huskily. The hand with which he clasped hers was cold and moist as her own, but neither noticed it. Their eyes were deep in each other s souls. "Then promise me, promise me " Her voice choked, and it was between thick sobs that she said : " Promise me not tuh harm that gal ez yuh war talkin tuh, this evenin . Oh, promise me that ! Somehow, a couldn t bear hit. Some how," she could not speak, and, drawing her hand from his, put it again to her face and cried bit terly for some moments. The man sat like a stone. His teeth were clenched. His eyes stared unseeingly before him. " A promise yuh," he said at last. Then she got up and came over beside him. " A a ain got no fitten wuds tuh thank yuh 140 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. wi ," she whispered. He felt her draw back his heavy hair and kiss him twice upon the forehead. Then she went to the cupboard and took down a bottle of cooking-wine and two glasses. She poured some of the wine into each glass, and then dropped into them ten drops of a clear, yellow liquid, from a little phial which she drew from the breast of her gown. For a moment she stood still, shaken by a passion of silent grief. Then, mastering herself, went back to the table and placed one glass before him, keeping the other in her hand. "A a wants yuh tuh drink tuh our good-will to ds each other," she said, " an an tuh her ez ll mebbe mek yuh good, some day. A wants yuh tuh drink tuh a kynd partin twix us, an tuh all we loves an ez loves us. An tuh Bill." The utterance of her brother s name broke down the last barrier of her wretchedness. She flung her self on her knees beside Sam, tearing the glass from his listless fingers and pushing the one that she held far from her. " Oh, hoi me tuh yuh heart, jess once !" she TAXIS. THE SANG-DIGGER. 141 sobbed. " Oh, my Gawd ! A d ax yuh tub kiss good-bye, but a d seem tub feel tbat otber ooman s lips a-tween us." He held her convulsively, and she clung about his neck with all the might of her strong arms. " A hev loved yuh ! oh, a hev loved yuh !" she sobbed, the pent-up bitterness and disappointment of her heart surging into one cry of utter woe. " Oh, my Gawd ! a does love yuh !" And forget ful of all else, save that they were to part for ever, forgetful of his treachery, of that other woman, whose lips had been pressed to his only an hour ago, she kissed him desperately, heart- brokenly, as women kiss their dead, or the grass that grows above the earth which covers them. Then blind, staggering, she groped for the two glasses and put one again into his hand. " Drink ! drink I 1 she said, feverishly. " Hit s th lars thing a ll ever ax yuh tub do. Drink tuh all them things a tole yuh. Quick, like I does !" Each lifted a glass, at the same time, and then set them together, empty, upon the table. They 142 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. gazed upon each other, but in their pale faces was only the grim look that is left by sore grief or some mortal illness. "Now," she said, trying to part her stiff lips, in a smile, " that be all, savin tub say good-bye." She held out her hand, and he grasped it, just in time to save her from falling heavily upon the floor. When she came to herself, the stars were winking in the dark frame of the window, and a chill wind stirring the white curtains, as with a ghostly life. TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 143 CHAPTER XL had there been a more exquisite day in the Warm Springs valley. The wheat- fields spread like wind-blown carpets of precious stuff, in which the warp was malachite and the woof silver. Spiders hung their jeweled webs from flower to flower. Young birds, learning to flv, whirred twittering to the ground among show ers of loosened petals from the fruit-trees where their home nests had been built. Against a sky of pearl and turquoise the peach blossoms wavered, like morning clouds in love with noon. Here gleamed a meadow, azure from fence to fence with blue thistles ; there dazzled another, white with ox-eyed daisies as with a sheet of snow. The mountains resembled the walls of Eden, all matted with the glistening leaves of the rhododendrons and its glomes of airy pink. Beyond them one saw, in fancy, the wide streams, shallow enough to let a fairy wade without wetting her gauzy kirtle, many-colored as a humming-bird, clear and 144 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. bright as though with floating stars. One imag ined the spiky palms, the young pomegranate trees in scarlet flower, the oranges dozing among their blossoms, the eastern vines, the lush grass, taller than a fair woman, and swaying with fragrant tas sels as golden as her hair. White hinds with sil ver hoofs, like the hind of Diana, drank from those waters. More than one pair of happy lovers wan dered under those palms and pomegranates and ate unchidden from the tree of life. At least these were some of the fancies that drifted through the mind of Alice Gilman as she rode along a Jane overarched by blowing apple trees and bordered by half-ruined stone walls, which made her think longingly of Massachusetts and its green, rock-roughened hills. The mountain air had begun to tinge her clear skin with pink. Her eyes shone and her curly blonde hair gave a youthful look to the contour of her face. She was even girlish in her blue shirt waist and brown riding skirt. Tanis walked at the head of the lazy white horse. Her chestnut braids were tied with black ribbon and there was TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 145 a belt of it about her waist. Her gown of white cotton gleamed with reflected lights, cast from the grass and buttercups over which they were passing, and which also glowed upon the mare s white belly. Tanis had grown thinner of late ; her fine jaw was squarer ; brownish stains dark ened her under and upper lids, giving her eyes a liquid, wistful look, and bringing out the white ness of her forehead. " Where is it you re going to take me ?" asked Alice, presently. " Didn yuh want tuh see th view from th Warm Springs mountin ?" replied the girl. Her voice sounded listless. " Thar s a good road fuin here." " And is the view really so beautiful ?" " Well, yuh see," answered Tanis, " I d think so, anyhow. Seems like a d sucked muh vurry life from these hyuh mountins like they d bawned me intuh th worl . A reckon I\l think hit all beautiful, ef twar pintly hij us. But strangers teks on over hit." They were approaching a flotilla of butterflies 146 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. that dipped and reeled on the breeze like fairy air- yachts, their wing-sails of burning orange, of barred crimson, of silvery yellow, of rose and gray, bearing them back and forth over knots of cow slips and wild honeysuckle. " Oh, Tanis, how lovely ! Do these beautiful things come here with every spring ?" " A ve alluz seed em." " Do you know that their wings are covered with little feathers, as perfect as a bird s plu mage ?" " No, ma am. D yuh b leeve that ?" " I ll show you, some day, with Mr. Gilman s microscope." " Thank yuh, ma am." " Are you tired, Tanis ? You don t look as strong and rosy as you used to." "No, a been t tired. A m all right." "You look sad, dear." "A m all right." " Dear Tanis, if you were sad or in trouble, you d let me help you, wouldn t you ?" " Oh, yease, ef yuh cud. Thank yuh J " TANIS. THE SANG-DIGGER. 147 " My life wasn t always happy. I used to cry every day, for mar^ years. You look as though you had been crying, dear." " Does a ? A reckon hit s th spring fever. Hit alluz tuk me down a leetle." " Dear Tanis, stop the mare a minute. I want to tell you something." Tanis checked the mare s drowsy amble and let her crop the grass, regardless of the green foam which tarnished the bit. " Come here, Tanis." Leaning over, the tender hearted woman took the girl s face in her hands and kissed the melancholy eyes. She smiled, but not merrily. " They seh that s th way tuh mek a haicse love yuh, ma am." " Well, I want you to love me. I do so want to comfort you. You won t tell me about it, and I love your bravery, but I know there s something on your heart. I can always tell, when I m fond of people. I won t worry you any more, but I know that something is making you very sad." 148 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. "Yuh se mighty kynd. A ve lamed tub love yuh, tuh." " Perhaps the spring makes you sad. I know it makes some people very, very sad. It used almost to break my heart, but now I seem to be blossom ing and thrilling with every plant and tree. They used to seem to me like the flowers on a great grave." " That s whut I feels. A tries tuh put muh mind on th flowers an grarss, but hit goes deeper down. A thinks uv all th graves. Some full o dus , an some o bones, an some wi leetle chillun an gals o my age, a-lyin cramped in them narrer boxes, wi thar eyes shet, an thai* han s restin suh quiet on thar hearts, an thar hearts quiet, too. Tain death a m sskeert uv, though. Hit s livin ." " And yet I can t imagine you dead, Tanis. You seem to me to be as alive as the spring itself, like a very dryad. Long, long ago, in a far-off coun try, where people built beautiful temples and palaces of white marble, and where the purple sea shone between the delicate columns, in that coun- TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 149 try people believed that a lovely young girl lived in every tree and guarded it. They called them dryads. You seem such a bit of nature that I think you must have lived in a tree, once, Tanis." "Did they uvver cut down them trees, Mis Alice ? " "Sometimes; then they said that the tree ran blood." " Did they uvver bark em ? Jess cut off a strip o rind all roun , an leave em tuh die, leetle byleetle?" "I don t know. Perhaps so." " A reckon they did. A reckon some o them tree-gals died thet-a-way. Hyuh, ma am, hyuh be a bit o sang. Yuh wanted tuh see some a-growin . Hit s got a right prutty flower hain t hit ? Supp n like a Injun turnip. Wait, thar s a foot-pick in yo saddle porcket. A ll dig hit up f uh yuh. Less guess wherrer th root ll be straight or crookit. I guess crookit." " Well, I ll guess straight, then." The girl dug for some moments, and then tore 150 TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. up the bit of ginseng, which parted from the soil with a crackling sound. She held it up. " Yuh wuz right. Hit s straight ez a carrot. Marh idge is right smart like bettin bout sang- roots, a reckon. Yuh nuvver knows wherrer yuh ll git a straight man orrer crookit un. But one thing s sho\" she shook the loam from the web of tangled fibres, which spread like a net above the main root " thar s alluz leetle worrits a-hangin on tuh hit, be hit straight or crookit. Yuh got a straight, soun man in yo marh idge, Miss Alice" she had fallen into this pretty south ern trick of addressing her mistress as though she were a young girl "but yuh se boun tuh hev yuh worrits. What s suh nice, tho , is thet yo 1 husbun takes em, an 1 meks em intuh sorter strings like fuh tyin yo heart tuh his n. When a ooman hev got a husbun like your n, Miss Alice, a hole s ez how she ought tuh let ev ybordy know bout hit. T ud be right prutty, udn t hit, ef all them ez hed good husbun s ould print a paper bout hit fuh them ez hedn t to read ? T ud mek them others moughty sad, a reckon, TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 151 but Vud keep era fum losin they faith in all men folks. Hit s hard on a ooman when she loses her faith in all men folks. " " Yes, and it isn t right. The world is full of splendid, good men." "Aw, no ! You reckon ? A reckon not." "Yes, but it is. Men have more to tempt them and make them bad, as a rule." " Aw, no ! A reckon not, Miss Alice. Hit tuk a snake tuh timpt Eve, an a snake s moughty cunnin . Hit tuk mo tuh timpt her un hit did tuh timpt ole Adam, but she war timpted* though. Some wimmins is got feelin s ez strong ez men s, an timptations stronger. But a ooman s na chully gooder n a man. She keers mo tuh keep herse f clean. Mens is mo like pigs. Ev n white pigs likes a bit o mud. But decent wimmins min s me mo o white pigeons. They like tuh keep theyselves clean. A dunno how tis. A ain t nuvver lied no use fuh mens, savin yo husbun an my brother Bill. Bill s rough, an he ain t ligious. An a reckon he s gone wi wimmins, same ez mos yorng fellers 152 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. is, ez ain beases. But Bill ud chop off his riglit han wi his lef fore he d wrong a reel good gal, or mek up turrer reel low-down one." "You must miss him so much, Tanis, dear." The girl s lips quivered, then turned inward, firmly. "Yease, a misses him." "But he ll be coming back before very long, now ?" suggested Alice. With that strong in stinct of the tender-hearted, she felt that Tanis was suffering intensely from some hidden mental pain. The melancholy eyes moistened. "Yease, t on t be lorng, now." They never could tell how it happened, but just at this moment old Bess stumbled, tried to recover herself, and fell heavily, pitching Alice over her head into a clump of ferns. When Ta nis reached her she was sitting up, holding her shoulder with one hand, and staring dazedly about her. "I m not hurt I m not hurt," she said, over and over. TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 153 Tan is was as white as her frock. She lifted her mistress, bodily, upon her knees, and sat smoothing and rocking her. "I m not hurt I m not hurt," Alice kept re peating. "A thought yuh wuz kilt," whispered Tanis, and began to sob. " Oh, a thought yuh was kilt, an a does love yuh." She stopped sobbing as suddenly as she had begun, and felt the slight body that she held with soft, inquiring touches. "Done nowhar hu t yuh? she asked, anxiously. 44 No, dear. No, truly. I m dizzy. That s all." " Oh !" cried Tanis, still clasping her jealously. " Ef yuh hed a ben kilt, I\l a kilt thet thar ole lummux a d a knocked her i th heade wi a rock, a wad ! Oh, Miss Alice, tuh think yuh mought a gone, an nuvver know d whut a se ben layin off tuh tell yuh, time an time agin, these three weeks ! An all jess caze o muh own stu- pidness ! A didn t know how a wuz shamed. But, fo Gawd, yuh is ben he p Him save muh soul, Miss Alice ! A hed a hard fight, but a won. A come down hyuh tuh larn, an a larned. A 154 TAN1S, THE SANG-DIGGER. lamed muh own feeliris were right, an a did right. Mebbe," she broke off, with a half dreading modesty, "mebbe a thinks mo n a ought bout th provement a lays hev come tuh me. But tell me, tell me true, Miss Alice, ooman tuh ooman, done a swar less n a used tuh ? Done a speak mo per- lite ? Done a ack mo like a gal oughter ack ?" "You do, indeed you do," murmured Alice. She was beginning to feel cold and sick. " You are gentler and more considerate." "Bless yuh, bless yuh !" cried the girl "Oh, ef a cud only go back an teach muh people whut a good feelin hit gives yuh tuh be good ! Why be hit, yuh reckon, thet th higher up folks lives, th lower down they seems tuh git ? Why be hit thet th valley folks air suh much better then us mountin folks ? Seems like thar souls be mount- ins, an our souls be valleys. But huccum a talk suh much, an yuh suh weak n dizzy wi yo fall ? Hit s jess muh na chul selfishness a-wukin out, a reckon. Be yuh easier now ?" Alice stammered. Her head fell back on Tanis breast, TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 155 " I I everything seems whirling." Tanis gazed about in desperation. "Mebbe yuh re a-goin tuh faint," she said, "an not a drop o water, r nuff tuh drown a flea ! Be yuh faint ?" " I should like," again her eyes closed; water," she whispered. There was a curl of smoke spiralling against the sky not far off. They were at the edge of a clearing on the mountain side. Tanis started. She had not realized before that they were near the cabin of old Joe Simmons. A clump of sugar maples hid it from them at this point. In an instant she had conquered her self-revolt. She withdrew her arms, and laid Alice gently back among the ferns. Fortunately, she could find nothing with which to prop her head, and the blood began to flow back into her brain. " I feel much better," she murmured. " Not so deadly sick." Tanis chafed her hands, and glowed with de light as a faint rose color appeared on the pale lips. 156 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. U A reckon yuh ll be all right now, an ef yuh ain narvous a ll jes run over thar tub ole Simmons , an git yuh some water. A on t be gone two minutes. Be yuh afeared tuh stay by yo se f thet long ?" " Oh, no," Alice assured her, smiling. "Th cabin s right over thar, a-hint them sugars. A ll run th whole way, thar V back." She caught up her white frock and set off with the speed of an Indian. But neither old Sim mons nor Susy was at home, and she had to climb in through the window, to get the bucket. She was afraid to bring only a gourd of water, for fear of spilling its contents by some mischance, and then Alice would have to be left alone a second time, while she went back for more. The spring, too, had been muddied by a cow, which had walked through it, after drinking, so that there was another delay while she stood waiting impatiently for the water to "settle." Indeed, luck seemed to be against her, for in rushing up the steep hill, her skirt slipped from her hand, and she fell over it, upsetting the bucket and soaking TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 157 her feet. At least twenty minutes had passed when she returned to the place where she had left Alice and old Bess; but, to her amazement, she found that she had made a mistake, for neither Alice nor the horse were to be seen. Then she set down her bucket and ran several yards, back and forth, in every direction. The last time that she returned something occurred to her which, in her astonishment, she had not thought of be fore. She went forward and looked at the clumps of ferns, where Alice had been lying. Yes, there was the print of that slight body, but what was still more strange, the ferns were broken and trampled into the black mould, further on, as though two people had been struggling together. 158 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. CHAPTER XII. A S Tanis stood, staring, something glittered -^ up at her from the broken ground. She stooped and lifted it. Then her face blanched, and she sank to her knees, as though under a physical blow. What she held in her hand was Alice s long, gold hat-pin, with its little knot of enameled daisies cracked and crushed together, as though under a heavy weight. She walked for ward mechanically. A bit of blue next caught her eyes. At first she thought that it was a flower, but, stooping, saw that it was tho silk necktie which Alice had worn with her sailor- waist. Still further on, she found a little wash- leather glove and a bit of gray gauze, its frayed edges blowing like thistledown among the twigs of the thornbush to which it clung. Her face grew more haggard, her movements slower with each onward step, until, at last, she stood staring blankly at the wooded mountain-side before her, terror moistening her forehead and the palms of TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 159 her hands, her heart beating loudly, suffocatingly, her body feeling as though made of lead. She tried to think, to guess at a solution, but, always, just at the same point, her thoughts veered and lost themselves in a dull maze of animal wondering, like the thoughts of an opium-eater. Then, all at once, she turned and ran down toward the valley, as though a wehrwolf were at her heels. At the garden gate she met Gil- man. He fell back speechless at the sight of her face, which looked stiff and chalky, like a death-mask. But she sprang forward and clung to him, her fingers hurting him through the cloth of his coat. Her lips opened and closed opened and closed but no sound came through them. Then she darted from him and lifted her wide spread hands toward the mountains. The blood had congested about her eyes and lips, giving her that horrible look, as though of clay. Gil- man took one of the rigid hands and smoothed it between his. 160 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " What s the matter?" he asked, kindly. ts What s happened to you, child ?" She tore her hand from him and put it to her throat, as though in agony. " Has anyone hurt you ? Have you seen any horrible sight ? Come, let me get you a glass of wine. Alice always has some Vin Mariani on the little table near her sofa." Then she gave a hoarse cry: "Alice! Alice! Alice!" She trembled from head to foot. "Alice!" she said again. Gilman turned as pale as she was. He took her hand again and they ran together to the sitting- room, where, at this houi*, Alice always lay on her sofa near the window, watching for her husband to come home to lunch. "Where is she? Where is Alice?" he said, in a thick voice. Tanis looked wildly about, then catching sight of the bottle of medicinal wine pinched out the cork and drank greedily. It seemed to Gilman that she would never stop. "What has happened?" he asked. "Are TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 161 you mad? Where is she? What have you done?" She went on gulping down the sweet, aromatic stuff. When she put the bottle down there was scarcely a drop in it, but she could speak, and the convulsive trembling was less violent. She told him what had happened several times before he seemed to comprehend it. Now beginning at the middle, now at the end, now recalling useless de tails which made him frantic, and upon which she dwelt with what seemed to him a preternatural obstinacy. "For God s sake, make it plain!" hesaid. "Don t stop to tell me such things. What has happened? What do you think has happened ?" " Then," she began again, in a dull monotone, " then a foun this hyuh pin. T\vas daisies, jess ez na chul ez them sto flowers they puts on hats. Yease, then a foun that. Then a foun this hyuh leetle glove. Then a foun " He caught her hands and spoke to her implor ingly : "Tanis! Tanis, my girl, don t you see you are 162 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. maddening me ? You said she wasn t hurt by the fall from the horse. Then, what has happened ? Has she has she" his face was distorted "has she been killed, in any way ?" "Oh! wuss, wuss, a reckon!" All at once she became calm, rational, self -con trolled. " We mus be quick, suh ! You mus rouse th neighborhood! You mus ack in a jiffy! A reckon, suh, twas sang-diggers ez done hit!" She looked at him steadily. For a moment he did not seem to comprehend. Then the light of madness broke into his eyes. He lifted his hand: "It s you you who have done this! By God! I see the whole thing! And you dare to come to me with your cursed acting! You you !" He staggered and fell back against the wall. " It was you! .... It is you! .... It is you!" .... he kept r peating. Then he roused himself sud denly, and she saw him dash off in the direction of the Hot Springs on his own mare, a fleet, active bay, with the marks of harness yet on her. She stood, repeating stupidly: TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 163 " It s me ! . . . . It s me / . . . . Twar me ez done hit! Yease, twar mef" She went and sat in the kitchen window, as though stunned. She sat there until the mountains were dark against a pale, starlit sky, pulling the leaves from a shrub that grew near by, and shred ding them in time to her own words: " Twar me Twar me Twar me ez done hit!" For a week the whole neighborhood, boys and men, scoured the mountains within a circuit of twenty miles. Even the visitors at the Hot, Warm and Healing Springs had joined the infuriated band, who, well armed and well mounted, were indefatigable in their search. Tanis disappeared on the night of the day upon which Mrs, Oilman had been so mysteriously kid napped. Old Bess had been brought home, a few days later, by a lad who found her wandering about in the woods, near Black Creek. As for Gil- man, he neither slept nor ate, until the doctor, who acted as general of the little army, had convinced him that he would end by giving himself brain 164 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. fever, and so incapacitating himself for assisting in the search for his wife. They had spent a morning or two in hunting for the girl, but decided finally that this was a waste of time, as she had probably joined her gang and would be discovered when they discovered her mistress. On a cold wintry night, more like March than May, a crowd of people had collected in the front hall or office of The Homestead, as the old hotel at the Hot Springs is called. They had returned only that morning to rest, while a relay had started off on what now seemed to be a hopeless search. Several ladies had come down stairs to join their sons and husbands to hear the matter discussed. Through the cracks of the windows, built loosely for summer weather, the wind whirred and sang. The stove doors glowed redly, and the women had cloaks and shawls about their shoulders. They were even more impassioned than the men, in their talk of lynching. Now and then an appalled silence followed some dreadful anecdote of the horrible acts of tramps and sang-diggers. TAN IS, THE SAXG DIGGER. 165 It was during one of these silences that the hall door opened slowly, and a girl stepped into the warm, brightly-lighted room. She was worn and pale, as though from a severe illness, her chestnut hair hung in ropy snarls about her shoulders, and she coughed as she drew her coarse brown cloak closer about her. Everyone stared at her, wordless, and she stared back at them, also without speaking. Finally, one of the clerks came forward. " What do you want ?" he said. " Who are you ?" She said distinctly, but coughing between the words : " A wants tuh seh Mr. Gilman, an a be Tanis, th sang-digger." Then began an indescribable hubbub. She was seized and held. " Tain no use a-doin thet," she said, gently. " A reckon a come hyuh uv muh own free will. A reckon a knowed a cud n git away." The buzz grew louder and louder. The women stared angrily at her, and whispered 166 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. their opinions to each other, and to their hus bands. "Yes, she cert n y does look about as bad as they make em," said one of the clerks, who was still grasping her shoulders, in spite of her very logical remarks. The girl shivered, but did not speak. "Mr. Gilman isn t here," said a gray-haired gentleman, approaching her. " He s out searching for his wife." She looked at him wistfully. " Who d a bes talk wi , next to him ? " she then asked. " Why, tell all of us," " Say what you ve got to say here." " What s the use of telling Mr. Gil man in particular ?" The voices rose and surged angrily about her. Involuntarily she tried to lift her hands to her ears. It seemed to her that these bright-eyed, eager faces were crueler than the faces of wolves. "You see," cried the other man, who grasped her triumphantly, "it s just as well we held her, after all," TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 167 A hum of approval followed his words. Then a young fellow stepped forward from behind the desk. He had clear, widely-opened eyes, and a frank face, with a kindly, boyish expression about the mouth. " Say," he remarked, ft I m going to wake the doctor. He knows a lot more about these people than anybody here does. I d like to see if he agrees with me. I think that girl is honest, and I think she has got something worth telling, too," A wave of crimson spread over Tanis throat and forehead. Her lips parted. A light came into her eyes. " Aw thank yuh thank yuh !" She spoke in a whisper, but the young fellow heard her. He gave her an encouraging nod, in spite of the angry hubbub that had arisen at his suggestion, and walked rapidly down the long hall. In a few minutes he came back with the doctor, a tall man, with shrewd, kindly eyes, and an ab rupt way of speaking. He looked at the girl, stepped up to her, and, putting his hand under her chin, lifted it so that 108 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. he could see her face more distinctly. Then he started. " Why, you re the girl I saw at old Joe Sim mons that day, ain t you ? And " he felt the wrist and forearm of the hand he had taken. " Murder, child, but you re thin! You ve been ill, or starving, or something." She looked up at him. Her heart began to beat heavily. " A hain t had much tuh eat lately," she ad mitted. "Pore little thing," he said, and patted her cheek. Something swelled in her throat, but she would not cry. She pressed her lips together and lifted her head proudly. The doctor turned to the noisy crowd about the stove. "Yes, I m with Charley," he said. "I believe in this girl. I believe she ought to have a hear ing, and I m going to prescribe for her. First thing a chair, then a milk-punch, then a few min utes to rest in, then to talk as much as she likes." There was a murmur at this, but " the doctor " TANIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 169 was not often gainsayed. He made Tanis the milk-punch himself, and then stood by, smoothing her shoulder while she drank it. "Now," he said, a say all you want to, and no body shall touch you." Tanis sat very straight in the wooden arm-chair that they had placed for her. Her hands rested listlessly on its worn side-pieces. The doctor had drawn back her rough, curling locks and tucked them behind her ears. Her moist forehead shone like a slab of moonstone above the dark shadow which veiled her eyes. Her lips were steady, her breast now moved with quiet breaths, under the blue stuff of her gown. She had the air of a primitive princess addressing an assembly of rebels. " Fust thing a wants," she said, in a clear, firm voice, "fust thing a wants is tuh tell that a knows whar Mis Gilman be at." A murmur began, and she held up one chapped, but shapely hand. There might have been a scep tre in it, from its pose. Somehow it hushed that indignant hum. 170 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " Then a wants tub seh, ez how nawbordy hain teched a har uv her head that she be safe an well keered-f uh. She hev hed plenty tuh eat an drink, an she hev ben kep warm. She hev hed a place tuh husse f, an my brother Bill hev kep watch over her, same ez a dawg." The murmur broke out again, this time much louder, and several men started to their feet. Again Tanis lifted her hand. Her nostrils dilated and her eyes were fierce. "Wait," she said, "yuh d better lemme talk." When there was silence, she continued, quietly : " A sed ez how a knowed whar she wuz, an a does know. But thar s some promises a wants fore a sez anuther wud bout hit. Uv cose a knows ez how yuh ken send me tuh jail an keep me thar f uh life, too, ef yuh wans tuh, but thar hain no tormint ez ll git a wud outer me, thout them promises, an a wants em on paper, too." Loud talking and even swearing now broke forth, but this time it was the doctor who lifted his hand. " Namersense !" he called out, "cyarn t you TAMS, THE SANG-D1GGEK. 171 listen to the gyrl for twenty minutes ? Hear what she s got to say, first, and then get as mad as you like. Go on, child." Tanis held her head more regally than ever, but her hands now grasped the chair-arms with a force which whitened her strong knuckles. " I kin git her back. I kin git her hyuh in two hours time, an ez safe ez when she went. But a wone do hit, thout a gits a promise, an in writin , that nawbordy ll foller an try tuh hut them ez liev kep her. An yuh cyarn nuvver git her, nuther, thout me. An ef yuh sends me tuh jail, yuh cyarn git her, caze a ve gin a promise, ez a cyarn keep thout goin back an stayin in her place. Ef yuh puts me in jail tuh night, yuh cyarn git her, an she ll wisht she war dead, too, fore mawnin , caze Bill hain God- amoughty, though he do be gooder n mos , an tho she d nuvver be no wuss off n she be now, ef hit rested wi him. But thar s others." A quick shudder overran her whole body. " Yease, thar s others, an ef yuh put me in jail tuhmorer, when she wuz back hyuh again, yuh d be mekkin 172 TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. me brek muh wud, an a hain nuvver brek muh wud, an a hain nuvver goin tub, nuther. So, ef yuh wants Mis Gil man back hyuh, in two hours time, yub mus gimme them promises, an in writin 1 , too. Fus , that yuh wone go arter them ez tuk her. Nixt, that yuh wone put me in jail, whe rr hit be tuhnight or tuhmorer. Thar! That s all, a reckon." Then began a general pow-wow. The men and women gathered in knots, some talking very loudly, some in whispers; the doctor and the young clerk, who had befriended Tanis, consulted together for some moments, but soon the doctor began to be called for, from all sides. After about half an hour, he came up to Tanis and said : "All right, my girl. You shall have those promises in writing. We ve sent for people to do it, and they ll be here in a little while. I ll see that they act square by you. But now you must eat something." " Naw, thank yuh thank yuh, suh. You s ben moughty kynd." Her under lip quivered for TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 1/3 an instant. " Yuh certVy is ben kynd, but a cuddn t eat. A am hongry. A done want nothin ." " But if you re going off on another long tramp, you must eat, I tell you." Tanis looked obstinate. The curves of her lips merged themselves into a firm line, and she shook her head. "All right, all right," said the doctor, "I won t force you. But look here, child, you can trust me, can t you ?" She smiled. " Yease, suh ; a reckon a m right sartin bout that thar." " Well, then, tell me, how on earth did you manage to find Mrs. Gilman, when the whole country, mountaineers and all, have been hunting for her so long, and couldn t get a trace of her ?" "A knowed a place ez th sang-diggers knows. A reckoned she war thar. En she war. A reckoned, too, a knowed why they tuk her, arter a d thunk hit over a bit. An a war right. But Bill, suh, he didn hev nothin tuh do wi hit. 174 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. Twar one man ez done hit, an he ain harmed her, like a said jess now. Twar jess one man ez done hit, but th others they stuck by him. She s safe, suh. She ain ben hu t by nonner em. Th man ez tuk her, he didn mean no harm by her. Twar tuh git me tuh to promise supp n an a ve promised; an , now, ef they ll lemme go, a ll hev her back hyuh by daybrek." TAXIS, THE SANG -DIGGER. 175 CHAPTER XIII. A N hour later, the papers which she had de- -^~ manded under her arm, Tanis went forth into the dark, blustering night, having said nothing beyond the facts that she came to tell, except to the doctor and to the young clerk, who had treated her so kindly. To them she held out her hand and said : " Good-bye, an thank yuh," several times. Then she went out, and the door banged behind her in the high wind. A faint, white blur was beginning to spread be hind the mountains when the eager watchers at The Homestead saw her tall figure coming slowly down the path that led to the Warm Springs mountain. The grass was stiff with hoar-frost and the hillside slippery. She almost carried in her right arm the slender figure that she guided. The wind had died down and a frozen, silence held field and woodland as in a spell. Snow, too, was beginning to fall 176 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. snow, dry and powdery, promising deep drifts. The two figures advanced slowly. Gilman had been out all night, but they looked for his return at any moment. Before Alice had reached the piazza steps, how ever, the doctor had cleared the office of people. The excited hum and buzz of voices could be heard from the large drawing-room, which opened into the main hall. He had explained to them how necessary it was that Mrs. Gilman should not be excited, at first. He wanted, if possible, to have her in bed and quite calm before her husband ar rived. When she and Tanis entered the office, there fore, they found only the doctor and the wife of the proprietor waiting to greet them. Everything passed off without any commotion, and the doctor called Tanis aside before taking Alice to her room. " Mrs. Gilman wants you to wait until she can speak to you again. She wants to see you as soon as I will let her. Sit there, near the stove. No body shall trouble you." TAXIS, THE SAXG-DIGGER. 177 " Thank yuh, sub," said Tanis, in an even voice. She sat down, however, by one of the windows and watched the day quicken above the dark crests of the mountains. The sky was clearing and the snow had ceased to fall. The "weather-glim" pulsed with changeful gold, now pale, like the petals of a crocus, now deep, like those of marigolds. A scarf of rosy lilac spangled with white morning- stars festooned itself above the band of yellow. As the sun rose higher and higher, it seemed to be re vealing fairyland. The valley had been changed, by some cold miracle, during the night. Every tree and shrub and blade of grass was sheathed, as in crystal. The roses and hyacinths bent gently under the fine snow, which shone like mica. They were like lovely fairies, powdered for a court ball. As the morning breeze began to stir, the ice- sheathed twigs gave forth a soft tinkling. The sky was soon an iridescent globe above the spark ling white earth. Oilman arrived and was taken to his wife s room. The guests and neighbors gathered again in the 178 TANJS, THE SANG-DIGGEK. warm office. Still Tanis sat beside the window, her eyes on the radiant sky. Presently the doctor came for her. She followed him quietly, heedless of the whispers and comments that broke out afresh as she rose to do so. Alice was lying in bed against a heap of pillows. Her husband knelt beside her, with both her hands in his, but the girl could not see his face. When he turned to speak to her there seemed to be a light upon it. Then Alice drew her hands from his and held them out to Tanis. "I know! I know all! I know what you wouldn t tell me, dear. I have told him. He is so sorry that he ever doubted you, and said such cruel things to you. Come to us, Tanis ; we want to thank you." Tanis came forward. Her face looked numb and pale, and she bent mechanically under Alice s loving grasp. When Gilman wrung her hand she said nothing. "I beg your pardon from my heart. There s nothing too much that I could do for you, or say to you !" he exclaimed, vehemently. TAXIS, THE SANG-D1GGER. 179 " No, no, it s useless. Words are so empty," put in Alice. " Oh, Tanis, dear, I have so many happy plans for you. You shall learn everything that I can teach you. You shall stay with me al ways, if you want to, until someone comes whom you love better." She smiled, and pressed one of the rough hands to her cheek. Tanis shud dered. " Why, you ve got a chill, dear !" said Alice, alarmed. "Do call the doctor quickly, George. He is the kindest man in the world. He will give her something to check this cold at once.* Gilman sprang to his feet, but Tanis stopped him. "Thar ain nuthin th matter wi me," she said. " That wa n t nuthin . Twar jess somebordy a-treadin on muh grave. Am all right." "And will you forgive me?" he asked, with an eagerness that was boyish. " Aw yease, suh. Uv co se." And you will come back with us, dear?" said 180 TANIS, THE SANG-D1GGER. Alice. " We can begin to-day, or at least we can talk it all over/ Tanis shivered again; then she said slowly: " A a in sorry, Miss Alice. A a cyarn go back wi yuh." " Why, what will you do, then ? You can t stay here." " A m a-goin back tuh th mountains. A done reckon a war meant fuh th valley. A m a-goin back tuh muh people an tuh Bill. A loves th valley, but th mountains owns me." "Tanis, I am afraid that is because I spoke to you as I did," said Oilman. " Isn t it ?" "Some," she answered honestly, "but that ain t all. A ve med a promise. A mus* go. Tain case a am grateful." She pressed her hands together and stretched them out to Alice. Her voice broke for the first time. "Oh ! tain that, Mis Alice. Yuh b leeves me, don tchuh ? Hit ain that, deed it ain t." "But, dear, I can t let you go back. Be reason able. Mr. Oilman has really suffered over what TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 181 he said to you, and you aren t hard-hearted, Ta- nis. You don t bear malice." The girl turned away, but they could see her shoulders quivering. " Won t you stay, won t you stay with us, dear, dear Tanis ?" "A cyarn ," she whispered. "Oh, a cyarn , Mis Alice. Don t timp me. A ain nuvver brek muh wud, an a cyarn brek hit now. A gin muh wud, an a mils go, an soon." Tears began to escape from Alice s blue eyes. " I I thought you would come," she fal tered. "I didn t think that you would leave me so." The girl looked wildly about, as though for help. She breathed quickly. Her lips were dry and crimson. " A ve gin muh wud. A ve gin muh wud," she kept repeating. A fit of coughing stopped her. The golden white flashing of an apple tree near the window fell across her eyes for a moment, and made her start. 182 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. " Thar!" she cried. " Th sun s up. A mus be a-goin . Done say no mo tuh me. Lemme go ez easy ez a kin. A done hit fuh fuh yuh! Jhed tuh promise tuh go back, fore they d let you loose. A hed tuh do hit. A Tied tuh promise. An now yuh se safe, an a mus go. Good-bye ! Good bye !" She flung herself on her knees beside the bed, and gathered Alice to her breast. Her tears fell hot and fast on the pale forehead. Alice heard her strong teeth grind together in her effort for self-control. Someone sobbed. She scarcely knew whether it was she or Tanis. Darkness shut out that icy sparkle. When she came to herself, the doctor and Gilman were watching beside her. There was a strong smell of drugs in the room, and Tanis had gone. As the tall figure of the mountain girl began to climb the foot-path, down which she had come with Mrs. Gilman at daybreak that morning, the people in the hotel office crowded to the windows to watch her. They saw her pass out of sight, into the woods TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 183 above, but soon after a young artist called out to a friend : " Come here, Davis ! Look at that ! I swear that s stunning. It would be a good pose for a statue of Eve gazing back at the garden of Eden !" Everyone rushed to the windows. Tanis had climbed upon the prospect plat form at the top of the hill, and stood there leaning on her rough staff and shading her eyes with one arm as she gazed back at the valley, which she was leaving forever. The wind, which had again risen, blew back and upward her dark cloak. Her hair was whipped into a fantastic swirl above her head, and under her heavy gown the outlines of her vigorous young figure cut sharply against the back ground of gold-blue air. For at least ten minutes she stood there, without moving, and then, turning with a gesture as of farewell, leaped down and was hidden from sight by the tangled undergrowth. When she reached a maple, which had been 184 TANIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. blown down during the past night, a man came forward and joined her. His blue eyes had the glitter of ice under their bright lashes. His beard shone in the cold sun light like gold wire, and his breath had frosted it near his mouth, as with a sifting of silver dust. He laughed as he put his arm about her, not noticing the shudder which ran through her at his touch. " A got ahead o yuh thet time, didn t a, honey ? A tole yuh ez how a d hev yuh, one way or nuther, an a done hit, ain t a ?" " Yease. Yuh done hit." u A reckon a ll have a time of hit, a-tamin yuh, hey ?" " A done reckon a kin be tamed by nawbordy." "Well, yuh loves me. Yuh done tole me thet thar. An a man ken do mos anythink he s a mine tuh wi a ooman ez loves him." She withdrew herself from his arm and looked at him with an expression which, to him at least, was inscrutable. "A did love yuh," she said, in a low voice. TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 185 " Even thet thar drink a guv yuh an drunk wi yuh, thet did n kill muh love fuh yuh. But," her voice dropped and again she shuddered, " a reckon yuh ve kilt hit yuhse f this time. A done reckon even hit s yhose 11 walk no mo !" He laughed, and seizing her in his arms covered her grave face with reckless kisses. "A reckon yuh cyarn he p lovin me, sugar, whe rr yuh wants tuh or no." She was silent, and coughed .two or three times as her head rested against his breast. "Hey? Why don chuh talk, honey? he said, shaking her gently. "A am got nuthin tuh say." " Don chuh love me? " A li mek yuh a good ooman. " But don chuh love me ?" "A one nuvver fool yuh. A ll ack squar by yuh, Sam. A gin yuh muh wud an a on t brek hit." "But what I says is, don chuh love me?" "Sam, doez yuh know what love is?" " Yease hit s what a feels fuh yuh." 186 TANIS ; THE SANG-DIGGER. " Well, thet done seem tub me like love. Mebbe no two folks loves i th same way, but yub hev changed supp n in mub beart. A done feel to ds yub ez a usetub. A done feel to ds nuthiri* th same. But a ll mek yub a good ooman. Now gimme yo arm. Somehow muh breath s shorter n it use tub wuz." They went on climbing steadily for about twenty minutes. Then she murmured under her breath: "Aw, Gawd! start by me! A done whut a thought wuz right." "What s thet, honey?" asked Sam. "A didn byub you good." "A wuz jess sorter thinkin out loud." " Well, let s stop hyuh. A reckon yub be tired arter all thet thar trapeezin larst night. Sides, a wants tub kiss yuh some." He sat down on a mossgrown stone by the path and took her upon his knees. She rested inert and listless against him. The sun was now high. The ice-clad forest flashed and shook forth thousands of little circular rainbows. The branches of the spruce trees seemed to TAXIS, THE SANG-DIGGER. 187 smoke as the wind blew off the light dust of snow with which they were sprinkled. From a hole in the tree under which Sam and Tanis were seated a flying squirrel and her young ones peeped, shivering. Icicles hung before the opening to their nest and snow had drifted in upon them. A bird uttered its love-call, clinging with numb feet to a branch of rhododendron bright with ice. THE EXD. U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES M12025 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY