At the forks of the creek the old circuit rider hailed Jason
gladly, and he, too, nodded with approval when he heard the reason
the boy had come back.

"I'll make ye a present o' the work I've done in yo' corn--bein'
as I must 'a' worked might' nigh an hour up thar yestiddy an' got
plumb tuckered out. I come might' nigh fallin' out, hit was so
steep, an' if I had, I reckon I'd 'a' broke my neck."

The old woman appeared on the porch and she, too, hailed the boy
with a bantering tone and a quizzical smile.

"One o' them fotched-on women whoop ye fer missin' yo' a-b-abs?"
she asked. Jason scowled.

"Whar's Mavis?" The old woman laughed teasingly.

"Why, hain't ye heerd the news? How long d'ye reckon a purty gal
like Mavis was a-goin' to wait fer you? 'Member that good-lookin'
little furrin feller who was down here from the settlemints? Well,
he come back an' tuk her away."

Jason knew the old woman was teasing him, and instead of being
angry, as she expected, he looked so worried and distressed that
she was sorry, and her rasping old voice became gentle with
affection.

"Mavis's gone to the settlemints, honey. Her daddy sent fer her
an' I made her go. She's whar she belongs--up thar with him an'