"Well, hit seems he raises hawgs up thar now, stid o' whiskey, an' Rich Craddock driv up ter his place a day er so back ter buy him a shoat. Yo' know Rich got religin and j'ined th' chu'ch a spell back an' he's plumb pious but he shore thought he'd met up with th' ole boy himself when he found this hyar Grimes hed locked the gate behind him and 'lowed ter let him walk pin't-blank inter one o' them sink holes thet section's full of. Rich 'lowed th' feller had gone crazy. Then, whilst they was a-talkin', right spang out o' th' tree over their haids come the skeertest, sickest lookin' leetle feller yo' ever sot eyes on a-tumblin' down alongside them. Rich tol' me he thought fer a minnit thet feller Grimes was a-goin' ter toss thet leetle runt plumb inter th' bog. He seed from the boy's eyes thet he expected sumpin' like thet, too, fer he kind o' aidged erlong to'rd Rich, like es ef he wanted him ter do sumpin'. Rich sed he done some mighty quick thinkin'. An' he wanted ter git out er thet place mighty quick, too. So he jist axed who th' leetle feller war an' when Grimes sed he didn't aim ter keep him an' th' boy commenced ter kind o' shiver, Rich jist peeled out a dollar bill an' sed he'd tote th' young-un home ter pick tater bugs. Now thet jist shows yo' what religion'll do fer a man, becus Rich Craddock hain't got dollar bills ter hire help with, an' him jist losin' a full bar'l o' m'lasses in thet devilish sink hole. "Anyhow, he gits himself an' th' leetle feller out o' th' dum place an' starts fer home, lickety-split, with the shoat he bought in th' back o' th' wagon an' th' boy a-settin' up on th' bar'l whar Grimes hed pitched him. Rich hed 'lowed ter hev th' boy set up on th' seat along o' him, but he didn't feel ter delay none in thet hell-for-sartain place, so es soon es he war shut of hit, he pulled up an' sed: "Come an' set up hyar with me, sonny," but thar wa'n't no answer. An' when he looked back, ef thar wa'n't th' boy a-layin' stone-daid in th' bottom o' th' wagon. Co'se he wasn't stone-daid, he jist looked thet-a-way. "Well, Rich, he driv fer home es ef th' devil war arter him. Him an' his ole woman worked over thet leetle feller the hull night. He war plumb light-haided an' kep' a-talkin' 'bout somebody a-breakin' some baby's arm, an' a-throwin' babies inter a bog an'--" "Oh, my God!" The interruption came from Wayne. He had roused from his troubled thoughts sufficiently to grasp the latter part of the farmer's narrative and the possibilities it suggested filled his soul with horror and apprehension. "Where is that boy now? Still at Craddock's? Have you seen him?" The Chief shot the questions so rapidly, the farmer was unable to answer them as they came. He was distressed, too, at having his thrilling tale interrupted, though the interest it aroused in his auditors was extremely gratifying. "Why, ye-e-s, an' ag'in no," he drawled. "Craddock's old woman--"