CHAPTER XXV.
BOB GETS HIS REWARD.
NEARER came the rustling. They could not yet see Polly, on account ofthe darkness, but the sound of her voice had reassured them.
Presently a moving figure crept close up to the waiting boys; which theyknew must be the queer mountain girl. Polly was far from dainty looking;she had coarse black hair that possibly seldom knew a comb; and hervoice was rather harsh; but nevertheless Thad believed she had a heartunder this forbidding exterior, and that the spirit of gratitude wastransforming her, greatly to their advantage.
"I'm right glad yuh kim, even if 'twar late," she said, as she reachedtheir side.
"We started as soon as we could, Polly," said Bob, wondering if the girlreally felt hurt because she had been kept waiting. "You see, I had tocross the valley, and talk with my cousin, Bertha. It was very importantthat I should see her, for she had news to give me, news that we hopewill end in taking her away from that cruel old miser, and giving herover to the keeping of my own dear mother."
Polly grunted, as though she felt that she had to exhibit some sign ofdispleasure; but she said no more on that subject.
"I done found the Still," she remarked, simply.
"That's good, Polly," Bob said, warmly.
"Caus I'd be'n thar afore, but 'twas a long time ago," she went on, asif in apology for any difficulty she may have run across in finding thesecret workshop of her father.
"Yes," Bob went on, encouragingly, as she stopped.
"Yuh see, they don't want gals er wimen ahangin' 'round thar. An' eversince they begun ter keep a prisoner ter work ther mash, I reckons ashow never one hes be'n up ter thet place."
"But you hadn't forgotten just how to get there, had you, Polly; youknew the old trail, even with its changes; and did they have a prisoner;or was it just a story that's been going around all this time?"
Bob's impatience could not hold back any longer. He felt that he mustknow the truth with regard to this fact, right away. If there was noprisoner after all, then hope must sink out of sight. On the other hand,should Polly say that she had discovered a guard, and a patient workingfigure kept in restraint for long, weary months, he might still hug thatfond illusion to his heart, that it might yet turn out to be his ownfather.
"Yep, I gut thar, even if they had hid the trail right smart," the girlcontinued, "an' sure 'nuff, thar war a prisoner!"
"Oh!" said Bob, and Thad could feel him quiver again with eagerness.
The girl was slow, not because she wished to tantalize Bob, but simplyon account of her sluggish nature. The hook-worm has a firm grip uponmost of the "poor whites" of North Carolina, as well as in Tennessee andGeorgia close at hand. It would take something out of the common toarouse Polly; a sudden peril perhaps; or the anticipation of a newdress, which latter could not be an event occurring in less than yearlystages, Thad had thought.
"An' he war a man," Polly went on, dreamily; "jest like yuh thought,Bob; but his hair hed growed so long, and thar was so much beard on hisface, I jest reckons his own mother wudn't never a knowed 'im."
"But did you get close enough to him to say a single word, Polly--justto ask him who he was?" the boy demanded, faintly.
Thad unconsciously let his arm glide around the figure of his chum. Heseemed to fear the result, no matter what the answer of the mountaingirl might be.
"Sure I did. Thet's what I went up thar fur, ain't it?" Polly went on tosay. "They hed him chained ter ther rock. I reckons thar mout a be'n aguard alongside, sum o' ther time; but right then he must a be'n away.So arter peekin' around, an' not seein' any critter astandin' sentry, Ijest mosied up clost ter ther man, an' touched him on ther arm."
She paused again, as if to collect her thoughts, and then yawned; but itwas only through habit, and not because Polly felt sleepy; far from it,she was seldom more wide-awake than just then, though it was hard forThad to believe it.
"He looked kinder s'prised tuh see me, 'cause like I done tole yuh,gals, they ain't never be'n 'lowed 'round thar, sense he was took. Incourse I tole him as how I jest kim ter fin' out who he mout be, 'casethar was somebody as 'peared mighty wantin' ter know thet same."
"And did he tell you; could he speak still, and explain?" asked Bob.
"He shore cud, Bob," she replied, a little more earnestly now, as thoughshe realized that the critical point of her narrative had been reached."I never'd a knowed him, wid all ther hair on his face; but when he sayshis name it was shore enuff--" and she paused dramatically.
"My father?" gasped Bob.
"Yep, an' no other then Mistah Quail, as used ter be ther marshal o'this deestrict sum years ago,--yer own dad, Bob!"
Thad tightened his grip upon his chum, for he felt him quiveringviolently. It was a tremendous shock, since, for more than two yearsnow, Bob and his mother had been forced to believe the one they lovedso dearly must be dead; but they say that joy never kills, and presentlyBob was able to command his voice again.
"Oh! you'll never know what that means to me, Polly!" he exclaimed, ashe groped around until he had found the girl's hand, which doubtless hepressed warmly in his great gratitude. "To think that my poor father hasbeen alive all this time, and a slave up here in the wild mountains,while mother and I have been enjoying all the comforts and luxuries ofour home. It just seems to cut me to the heart. But Polly, you talkedwith him, didn't you?"
"Shore I did. He done tole me he mout a got free a long time ago, ifhe'd 'greed ter promise my dad never ter tell whar ther ole Still warhid; an' never ter kim inter ther mountings agin ahuntin' moonshinestuff. But he sez as how, sense he still must be in ther employ o' therGov'nment, he's bound ter do his duty; an' not in er thousand years wudhe change his mind."
"Oh! that is jest like father," murmured the boy, partly in admiration,yet with a touch of genuine grief in his voice, because of theunnecessary suffering they had all endured on account of this stubborntrait on the part of the one-time marshal.
"I tells him thet all ther same, he wa'n't agwine ter stay thar muchlonger, it didn't matter whether he guv ther promise er not, 'case tharhed be'n a change. An' then I ups an' tells him 'bout yer bein' hyar inther mountings, bound ter larn ef he was erlive."
"Yes, and was he pleased when he heard that, Polly?" asked Bob, who wasgradually coming around in fine shape, now that the stupendousdisclosure had been accomplished, and his anxiety a thing of the past.
"I shud say he war," replied the girl, a little aroused now. "Say, hedone _cry_, thet's what. Reckons as how he mout a be'n sorry fur notpromisin' like they wanted long ergo. He arsks as how yer looked, an' efyer mam war still well. Caus I cudn't tell him a heap, 'cause I didn'tknow; but I sez ter him thet yer hed kim hyar ter fotch 'im home, an'it'd be a shame ef yer hed ter go back erlone, jest 'cause he wanted terbe ugly. So he says as how he'd be'n athinkin', an' mout change his mind'bout thet thar promise."
"Oh! to think of it, Thad," Bob breathed, gripping the arm of hisstaunch chum eagerly; "my father is alive after all these terriblemonths; and perhaps he'll even go home with me. It's worth all I'vesuffered ten times, yes a thousand times over."
"You deserve all the happiness there can be going, Bob, sure you do,"declared the scoutmaster, positively. "I guess nothing could be too goodfor you. But we don't just understand yet how this is going to bebrought about. Will Phin Dady let him go free if he makes that promise,Polly?"
"Shore, he's jest _got_ ter, now," the girl answered, with a littlechuckle. "Yer see, like I sez afore, things, have changed a heap now,an' my dad, he hain't a feelin' thet sore agin ther marshal like he usedter. An' Bob Quail, even ef he warn't gwine ter do hit, arter wat Ilarned this same night, I tells yer I'd set yer dad free on my own'count."
"What did you learn?" asked Thad, curiously, seeing that apparently thegirl could not of her own free will tell a story, but it had to be drawnfrom her piece meal, through the means of questions.
"I war acomin' down ther mounting," she began, "an' 'bout harf way hyahI seen thet ther lights war a
movin' down in ther valley. So I jestnatchally stopped ter read what ther news was, 'spectin' thet it meanttrouble fur you-uns. But the more I reads ther more I gits wise ter therfack thet yer be'n an' done hit sum moah."
"Yes," said Thad, encouragingly, though already he understood what wascoming.
"'Pears like 'tain't enuff fur yer ter skeer off thet cat, an' keep mefrom agittin' my face clawed handsome, but yer must go an' save therlife o' my uncle Cliff. I reads thet he was hurt bad by Nate's gun goin'off, an' bleedin' a heap, so's they feels sure he never kin be took'crost ter the doc's alive. Then they jest happen on yer camp downthar; an' shore he gut his arm fixed up so's ter stop ther blood comin';an' they fotched him acrost ther valley in good shape."
"It was only a little thing, Polly, and gave me a great deal ofpleasure," said Thad, thrilled despite himself by the girl's simplerecital of the event.
"P'raps 'twar," she replied, sturdily; "but my maw, she sots some storeby Uncle Cliff; an' dad, he cain't nowise go agin wot she wants. So Isees right plain like it was writ, thet Bob, he's bound arter this, tergit his dad free."
"Oh! it's like a dream to me, Thad; I feel as if I must be asleep. Giveme a pinch or something, won't you, and let me understand that I'malive," Bob exclaimed.
"You're awake, all right, old fellow," replied Thad, with a nervouslittle laugh. "And unless I miss my guess, Polly here is going to giveyou another pleasant little surprise; ain't you, Polly?"
"W'en I larns thet 'bout my uncle," continued the mountain girl, "I jestthinks as how Bob hyah, he's be'n a wantin' ter larn somethin' 'bout hisole man ther longest time ever. An' so I makes up my min' ter fotch 'imright away up ter ther Still in ther cave, so's ter see how the man asis chained'd feel ter git his boy in his arms onct agin!"
"Oh! Polly, however can I thank you?" exclaimed the excited Bob;"please let's start then right away. I thought I was tired, but now I'mfeelin' as fresh as ever I could be. You couldn't go too quick to suitme!"