IV

CLOSE QUARTERS

Two hours up the river we struck
Buck. Buck was sitting on the
fence by the roadside, barefooted and hatless.

``How-dye-do?'' I said.

``Purty well,'' said Buck.

``Any fish in this river?''

``Several,'' said Buck. Now in mountain
speech, ``several'' means simply ``a
good many.''

``Any minnows in these branches?''

``I seed several in the branch back o'
our house.''

``How far away do you live?''

``Oh, 'bout one whoop an' a holler.'' If
he had spoken Greek the Blight could not