fer a boy o' mine over at the Gap.''
Like little Buck, he, too, stopped short.
``He's a good man an' I'm a-goin' to help
him.''

Yes, he repeated, quite irrelevantly, it
was hunting hogs all day with nothing to
eat and only mean whiskey to drink.
Mart had not come in yet--he was
``workin' out'' now.

``He's the best worker in these
mountains,'' said the old woman; ``Mart works
too hard.''

The hired man appeared and joined us
at the fire. Bedtime came, and I whispered
jokingly to the Blight:

``I believe I'll ask that good-looking
one to `set up' with me.'' ``Settin' up''
is what courting is called in the hills. The
couple sit up in front of the fire after
everybody else has gone to bed. The man
puts his arm around the girl's neck and
whispers; then she puts her arm around his
neck and whispers--so that the rest may
not hear. This I had related to the Blight,
and now she withered me.