Produced by David Garcia, Verity White and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Kentuckiana Digital Library) +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's note: | | | | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document | | have been preserved unless listed at the end of the text. | | | | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected; please see | | the end of the text for details. | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ SHAWN OF SKARROW SHAWN OF SKARROW BY JAMES TANDY ELLIS Author of "Sprigs O' Mint," "Kentucky Stories," "Awhile in the Mountains," etc. [Illustration] THE C. M. CLARK PUBLISHING CO. BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS COPYRIGHT, 1911, THE C. M. CLARK PUBLISHING CO., BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. ILLUSTRATIONS Frontispiece Shawn and Coaly Page "You'll be a great fisherman, some day, Shawn" 24 Burney begin to take out the shells 36 "De Prodegale Son" 52 "I'll give you ten dollars to set us over" 62 "You and the doctor got your birds" 82 They were nearing the last hundred yard flag 90 "W'y, Jedge, you know my name" 106 The Cabin of the American fell with a crash 126 Lallite ran up to Shawn, giving him both her hands 139 [Illustration: Shawn and Coaly.] SHAWN OF SKARROW CHAPTER I "Oh Shawn!" It was a shrill voice calling from the bank above the river. "You can holler till dark, but I ain't goin' to answer you while a blue-channel cat is nibblin' at this line." Through the short and chubby fingers a stout sea-grass line was running out to the accumulated driftwood in the eddy below the wharf-boat. Suddenly there came a spasmodic jerk of the line. "He bluffed that time." The front finger tapped the line, as an expert telegraph operator taps his key. "He's coming back for that crawfish tail now." The line went taut. The freckled arms executed a series of lightning-like movements and the catfish lay on the shore, a five-pounder, beating the sands with his flashing tail. "Oh Shawn!" "I'm a-comin' now; come on, Coaly." The little brown dog wagged his tail and got up from his resting place in the sand. They went up the hill toward the little frame building on the bank.