Never had Warren's gallantry been swathed in a blanket of such soaking dampness. He stared at his verbal antagonist with a fresh and uncurtained vision, and seemed unable to formulate a suitable reply. “Never mind me.” Amanda's tone became distinctly conciliatory, and she smiled faintly: “I won't kill you till I git at the facts, anyway. I'm dyin' to know about the boy. Go on an' tell us.” Jeff hesitated for a moment and then slowly complied. “He's back from the West. He got a fine education, an' worked his way up somehow. He's got a job on big pay managin' for Jim Hoag--he's got a hundred or more hands under him, an' the whole' county's braggin' about 'im. He rides around from one place to another with his head high in the air, givin' orders. When he landed here he told some cock-an'-bull tale about thinkin' I was underground, an' wanted the law to act, an' the like, but he's a liar.” “Oh, I'm so glad; I'm so glad!” Amanda hugged her stupefied sister to her breast impulsively and kissed the sallow brow. “I always thought thar was come-out in that boy, an' now I know it. I'm dyin' to see 'im.” “Well, he ain't dyin' to see _you_, or his mammy, either, in the plight you are in!” Jeff hurled at her. “They say he lives at Hoag's, an' goes gallivantin' about the country with that Atlanta gal, Ethel Mayfield. He's mad because we are back here to disgrace him with our dirt an' rags. He's the only livin' man that ever gloated over me, an' he's hand an' glove with my lifelong enemy. If you think I'm goin' to set back, an'--an'--” “I don't care whether you _set_ back, _stand_ back, or _roll_ back,” Amanda's eyes rekindled. “If you fetch a hair o' that boy's head I'll pull every one you got out an' leave 'em for bird's-nests. It's Paul's prosperity that's stickin' in your craw. Hand me that pistol!” Jeff swayed defiantly backward, but she caught his arm and turned him round by sheer strength. “Give it to me, I say, or you'll never darken that cabin-door. When I give in to you an' Addie marryin' after all that slanderous talk you agreed, as a man o' honor, to withdraw all charges ag'in that poor boy. You did that, an' now stick a cannon in the scat o' your pants an' lie in wait for 'im like a cutthroat in the dark. Gi' me that thing!” Reluctantly Warren complied, and stood silent as Amanda scrutinized the weapon in her hand. “We kin swap it for meal an' bacon,” she said. “Now let's all go to bed. I'm plumb fagged out.” CHAPTER XVI