Byers's display of impatience was not lost upon Rufe, and it added to the general acrimony of their relations. "Waal," the small boy began alertly, "we-uns hed the deedie behind the smoke-house thar, an' I seen HIM"--Rufe pointed at Byers with disfavor--"a-comin' powerful slow inter the tanyard, an' I whispered ter Pig-wigs Griggs ter be quiet, an' not let HIM know ez we-uns war thar, 'kase he war always a-jawin' at me, 'thout the tanner war by ter keep him off'n me. So we-uns bided thar till HE went inter the smoke-house. An' then ez we-uns kem by the shed, Pig-wigs seen his uncle Nate's coat hangin' on a peg thar, 'kase that thar triflin' Tim hed furgot, an' lef' it thar when he went ter see the deedies. An' Pig-wigs Griggs, he 'lowed he knowed the coat war his uncle Nate's by the favior of it, an' he reckoned the paper stickin' out'n the pocket war the grant he hed hearn Nate talkin' 'bout. An' I whispered ter him ez he hed better ondertake ter tote it home ter Nate. An' Pig-wigs said he couldn't tote the coat, bein' so lumbered up with the deedie. But he would tote the grant in one hand an' the deedie in t'other. He couldn't put the deedie in one o' his pockets, 'kase his mother sews 'em all up, bein' ez he WOULD kerry sech a passel o' heavy truck in 'em,--rocks an' sech, reg'lar bowlders," added Rufe, with a casual remembrance of the museum in his own pockets. "So Pig-wigs's mother sewed 'em all up, 'kase she said they war tore out all the time, an' she seen no sense in a boy hevin' a lot o' slits in his clothes ter let in the air slanchwise on him. An' Pig-wigs 'lowed he'd tote the grant ef I would git it fur him. An' I did." "How did you-uns reach up ter that thar peg?" demanded Byers, pointing to the peg on which the coat had hung, far beyond Rufe's reach. "Clumb up on the wooden horse," said Rufe promptly. "I peeked through the chinkin' an' seen ye thar a-smokin' yer pipe over the fire." Rufe winked audaciously, suddenly convincing Byers as to the possessor of the big black eyes, which he had recognized as characteristic of the Dicey family, when they had peered through the chinking. "Waal, how did the grant git inter the pit, Rufe, an' what hev become of it?" asked Byers, overlooking these personalities, for he felt a certain anxiety in the matter, being the last person known to have seen the grant, which, by reason of his delay and indecision, had again been spirited away.