E-text prepared by David Garcia, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Kentuckiana Digital Library (http://kdl.kyvl.org/) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 36047-h.htm or 36047-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/36047/pg36047-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36047/36047-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Kentuckiana Digital Library. See http://kdl.kyvl.org/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=kyetexts;cc=kyetexts;view=toc;idno=b92-232-31280811 THE RED DEBT Echoes from Kentucky by EVERETT MACDONALD Illustrations from Original Drawings of William Oberhardt G. W. Dillingham Co. New York _The Red Debt_ Copyright, 1916, By G. W. Dillingham Company All Rights Reserved Published April, 1916 Printed in the United States of America Linotype Composition, Electrotypes, Presswork and Binding By the J. J. Little & Ives Company 425-435 East 24th Street New York City N. Y. WITH UNUTTERABLE LOVE I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME TO My Mother _THE AUTHOR_ [Illustration: "... use me as best you can for a grandfather?"] CONTENTS I A Mighty Man II Belle-Ann Benson III The Traitor IV An Ultimatum V Orlick's money Spurned VI Upon the Altar VII Dedicated with his Blood VIII "Lessen he kills the Revenuer" IX Orlick works Evil X In Prison XI A Friend in Need XII The Stigma XIII Rubric Drops XIV "The onlyest Lutts" XV Buddy forces an Issue XVI The Murder Partners XVII Circuit Court XVIII The Graveyard Massacre XIX Hatfield overtakes the Traitor XX In the Hands of the Enemy XXI "Draw--now--Coward!" XXII The Mission School XXIII Belle-Ann visits Lexington XXIV The Guest of a Grandee XXV Know Ye the Truth XXVI Belle-Ann has a Vision XXVII A Grandfather XXVIII A Confession XXIX The Red Debt XXX The Shooting of Peter Burton XXXI In which Slab prophesies XXXII The Near Assassin XXXIII Belle-Ann comes back XXXIV The Reunion XXXV The Downfall of Sap McGill XXXVI Belle-Ann's Recanted Creed XXXVII The Ghost-Man XXXVIII The Haunted Church XXXIX The Flight XL His Rock of Ages XLI In which Providence takes a Hand LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "... use me as best you can for a grandfather?" "Yo' know where _they_ be" "He kilt my maw--he ded--an' he kilt my pap" "Who air th' head o' th' people--who air Cap'in heah in Moon?" "Hit air God's buryin' now" THE RED DEBT CHAPTER I A MIGHTY MAN