"Gawd 'lows I air honest, Belle-Ann. I hain't pesky, Gawd 'll tell; I hain't sneakin', Gawd 'll tell. Lem wus rise up 'long side o' yo', deah little gal; an' he loves yo' now, same as alers. Why, I'd stan', ef yo'd say th' word, with a laff on my face an' let yo'-all fire on me, an' die a grinnin'--cose I knowed yo' done hit, Belle-Ann. "I air jest pore regular Lem, little gal, whut has loved yo' all yore life--frum a little bitty gal up t' now. An' my heart's jest heah whar hit alers was--jest heah fo' yo', Belle-Ann, with nothin' hidin' out!" With back-flung head he paused, his pleading eyes still upon her. Throughout this, Belle-Ann did not meet his eyes directly. She dared not. She prayed he would stop. She could no longer withstand his pleadings. She rose up from the log and, in her turn, though more slowly, her little feet trod where Lem had walked. Unconsciously, her hat dropped to the ground as her fingers relaxed and she placed her two hands upon her bosom. She looked full into his eyes. "Lem," she breathed, the carmine leaving her cheeks, "yo' axed me t' marry yo' when I cum back. I cyant promise. Yo' axed t' kiss me, Lem; oh, please, please don't kiss me. I--I----" She shut her teeth tightly, and pressed hard upon her turbulent bosom. Alarmed, he sprang up to catch her. With a quick gesture she held him off. "Lem, I took a vow--I did," she panted. "I took a vow on th' witch-block. I took hit t' myself--nobuddy but Gawd knows. Now, I got t' tell yo' all, Lem. _I took a vow that no livin' bein' 's gain' t' kiss my face lessen he kills th' revenuer!_ I took a vow thet I'll never--never--_never_--marry nobuddy, till th' revenuer's daid; I vowed on hit, Lem!" CHAPTER IX ORLICK WORKS EVIL Lem listened in awe to her panting, hurried words, looking down into her pain-swept features, struck dumb with the earnest vehemence of her avowal. The girl went on: "I couldn't bust my vow, Lem. Hit air jest heah in my breast by day an' by night. Hit follers me alers, Lem--follers me like a hant. I don't lay no store by nuthin' till hit air gone away--an' hit'll never go away till th' ghost-man's daid." Lem lunged forth out of a stupor. "Gawd'llmoughty, Belle-Ann, yo'-all hain't a-lowin' thet I don't want t' kill em, air yo'?" he cried, in a tempest of chagrin and amazement. "No, no, no!" she interposed hastily. "I know thet yore a-watchin' an' a-waitin' an' a-lookin' fo' em." She took the hat Lem picked up from the ground, saying: "Yo'll do somethin' perticlar like, Lem, when yo' do kill em. Keep a-watchin', an' a-tryin', Lem, but don't 'low em t' git first bead on yo', Lem. He air a hant." "Ef I air lucky, an' kill em--will yo'-all promise then, Belle-Ann?" implored the boy in low, yearning tones. Side by side they were walking now. "Yo' jest ax me when th' revenuer's daid, Lem," she returned, looking up, the dimples playing and her small Grecian face aflush with the thought.