"Sorry! Ain't it a good trade?"

"Not when it lands you inside of some dirty jail. Besides, I don't
like the stuff, anyhow."

"No use to offer you a dram then?"

"Not a bit. But I say, if you'll let me go on with you till we get
down where there's some houses, I'll think more of that than if you
gave me a barrel of whisky."

"We're on our way back. We're goin' up the mountain. But you foller
this trail for about a mile, then take the first right hand turn.
Follow that 'twel you come to an old field. T'other side of that
you'll find the mud pike as runs to Hendersonville. After that you'll
find houses thick enough. But where are you bound for after you get
down there?"

"Oh, anywhere most. I'm after work."

Ralph concluded that he had better not be more explicit with strangers.

The moonshiners soon grew quite friendly and seemed a little hurt over
Ralph's persistence in declining a drink.

"I'm going out among strangers," he said, "and I've got to keep my
head. The best way to do that is to let the stuff entirely alone.
Well, so long, men. I'm mighty glad I met up with you."