It was Araminta Gregory who construed the mystery for him. She had heard all the gossip of the "grannies," which naturally did not come to his own ears. "I'm atellin' ye this, Boone, because _somebody_ ought ter forewarn ye," she explained. "Thar's a story goin' round about, an' I reckon hit's hurtin' ye. Somebody hes done spread ther norration thet ye hain't loyal ter yore own blood no more.--They're tellin' hit abroad thet ye've done turned yore back on a mountain gal--atter lettin' her 'low ye aimed ter wed with her." She paused there, but added a moment later: "I reckon ye wouldn't thank me ter name no names--an', anyhow, ye knows who I means." "I know," he said, in a very quiet and deliberate voice. "Please go on--and, as you say, it ain't needful to call no names." "These witch-tongued busybodies," concluded the woman, her eyes flaring into indignation, "is spreadin' hit broadcast thet ye plumb abandoned thet gal fer a furrin' woman--thet wouldn't skeercely wipe her feet on ye--ef ye laid down in ther road in front of her!" Boone's posture grew taut as he listened, and it remained so during the long-ensuing silence. He could feel a furious hammering in his temples, and for a little time blood-red spots swam before his eyes. But when at length he spoke, it was to say only, "I'm beholden to you, Araminty. A man has need to know what his enemies are sayin'." It was one of those sub-surface attacks, which Boone could not discuss--or even seem to recognize without bringing into his political forensics the names of two women--so he must face the ambushed accusation of disloyalty without striking back. In Marlin Town, one court day, Jim Blair was addressing a crowd from the steps of the court house, and at his side stood Tom Carr, his kinsman. Boone was there, too, and when that speech ended he meant to take his place where his rival now stood, and to give back blow for blow. At first Jim Blair addressed himself to the merits of his own candidacy, but gradually he swung into criticism of his opponent, while the opponent himself listened with an amused smile.