“He oughter hev been arrested,—yes, sir!” said Jethro Peake, who, having concluded his duties as judge of the election, now entered upon the larger field of censor of the community in general. His round face was red with the influence of a certain beverage innocently believed to be neither sold nor given away on election day; his fat cheeks shook with the energy of his discourse. “An’ ef I hedn’t hev been inside the forge I’d hev done it ez he rid by! Laws-a-massy! ter ride by a blacksmith shop, whar the three jedges appinted by the county court air jes’ finished a-countin’ out the ballots ’cordin’ ter law,—ride by in the open light o’ day, an’ nobody arrest him! Ef I hed been hyar!” He shook his head threateningly, thrust his hands into his pockets, and walked a few short steps hither and thither; manifesting now a prideful elation in his authority that had not been apparent throughout the day, and was probably “set free,” chemically speaking, by the action of the whiskey. “Then we’d hev hed another cracked head ’round hyar,” observed Bassett, “’Twar tryin’ ter arrest Teck fur racin’ ez got Eli hurt. I don’t reckon nobody air goin’ ter meddle with Teck ez ain’t ’bleeged ter.” “I reckon Marcelly would hev liked ter hev hed Teck arrested,” said Dake. “Teck ’peared skeered ter go inside o’ the cabin ’count o’ Marcelly. Laws-a-massy! that gal looked like she hed two live coals fur eyes, whenst somebody spoke up his name, tellin’ Eli’s mother how it happened. Marcelly looked plumb like a painter I seen up ter the mounting wunst. I hed got the critter’s kittens out’n a hollow tree, an’ ’lowed I’d take ’em home an’ see ef they’d tame an’ pet. An’ I looked round whilst kemin’ down the mounting, an’ thar war that painter crouchin’ on a high rock over my head, sleek, an’ strong, an’ light, an’ supple, sir, ready ter spring. I hed no gun, an’ I jes’ tuk one look at her eyes, an’ I knowed that thar beastis hed grit enough ter foller me ter hell. I jes’ sot them two leetle painters on a flat rock, an’ I fund out what the Lord gin me feet fur. I put ’em ter right smart use fur ’bout a mile.” He paused for a moment, in silent reminiscence of this speedy descent from the great steeps above. Then he resumed, “I ain’t thunk ’bout that thar painter in I dunno when, till Marcelly’s eyes reminded me o’ hern.”