xt72bv79sb6r https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt72bv79sb6r/data/mets.xml Rice, Alice Caldwell Hegan, 1870-1942. 1912  books b92-251-31802671 English Century, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Romance of Billy-goat Hill  / by Alice Hegan Rice ... ; with illustrations by George Wright. text Romance of Billy-goat Hill  / by Alice Hegan Rice ... ; with illustrations by George Wright. 1912 2002 true xt72bv79sb6r section xt72bv79sb6r 


















A ROMANCE OF
BILLY-GOAT HILL

 





















































" Do you believe in love, Doctor"

 



A



ROMANCE



OF



BILLY-GOAT HILL

              By
      ALICE HEGAN RICE
   Author of "iMrs Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,"
        " Lovey Mary," "Sandy," etc.

           With Illustrations
         By George Wright



   NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
       19I2

 

















  Copyright, i9i2, by
  THE CENTURY CO.

PublisAed, October, Izqz

 









       LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
                                                PAG E
"Do you believe in love, Doctor"  . . Frontispiece
The Colonel leaned back upon his knees and glared
   at Morley  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . i9
There was a sharp report, a smothered groan, then
   a heavy fall  .  . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 6i
She held it to the flame, and watched it burn to ashes
   on the hearth .  . . . . . . . . . . ioi
Maria began tc cry, and forgot to jolt the Boarder . 233
Mrs. Sequin paused with her hand on the banister . 267
" It was a great wrong I did you, Don; can you for-
   give me  ". . . . . . . . . . . . 325
" Tell me quick! How do you know about the shoot-
   ing  " .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 395

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   A ROMANCE
OF BILL.Y-GOAT HILL

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          A ROMANCE

 OF BILLY-GOAT HILL

                 CHAPTER I

IT was springtime in Kentucky, gay, irresponsi-
   ble, Southern springtime, that comes bursting
impetuously through highways and byways, heedless
of possible frosts and impossible fruitions. A
glamour of tender new green enveloped the world,
and the air was sweet with the odor of young and
growing things. The brown river, streaked with
green where the fresher currents of the creeks
poured in, circled the base of a long hill that domi-
nated the landscape from every direction.
  In spite of the fact that impertinent railroads were
beginning to crawl about its feet, and the flotsam
and jetsam of the adjacent city were gradually being
deposited at its base, it nevertheless reared its
granite shoulders proudly and defiantly against the
sky.
  From the early days when the hill and rich sur-
rounding farm lands had been granted to the old
                       :3

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



pioneer William Carsey, one generation of Carseys
after another had lived in the stately old mansion
that now stood like the last remaining fortress
against the city's invasion. Sagging cornices and
discolored walls had not dispelled the atmosphere
of contentment that enveloped the place, an effect
heightened by the wide front porch which ran
straight across the face of it, like a broad, com-
placent smile. Some old houses, like old gallants,
bear an unmistakable air of past prosperity, of past
affairs. Romance has trailed her garments near
them and the fragrance lingers.
  Thornwvood, shabby and neglected, could still af-
ford to drowse in the sunshine and smile over the
past. It remembered the time when its hospitality
was the boast of the countryside, when its stables
held the best string of horses in the State; when its
smokehouse, now groaning under a pile of lumber,
sheltered shoulders of pork, and sides of bacon, and
long lines of juicy, sugar-cured hams: when the
cellar quartered battalions of cobwebby bottles that
stood at attention on the low hanging shelves. It
was a house ripe with experience and mellow with
memories, a wise, old. sophisticated house, that had
had its day, and enjoyed it, and now, through with
ambitions, and through with striving, had settled
down to a peaceful old age.
  On this particular Sunday afternoon Colonel
                        4

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



Bob Carsey, the third of his name, sat on the porch
in a weather-beaten mahogany rocker, making him-
self a mint julep. He wvas a stout, elderly gentle-
man, and, like the rocking chair, was weather-
beaten, and of a slightly mahogany hue. His fea-
tures, having long ago given up the struggle against
encroaching flesh, were now merely slight inden-
tures, and mild protuberances, with the exception of
the eyes which still blazed away defiantly, like
twinkling lights at the end of a passage. Across his
feet with nose on paws lay a dog, and about him was
scattered a profusion of fishing paraphernalia.
  The Colonel, carefully crushing the mint between
his stubby fingers, stirred it with the sugar at the
bottom of his tall glass; then, resting the concoc-
tion on the broad arm of the rocker, and without
turning his head. lifted his voice in stentorian com-
mand:
  " Jimpson!
  No answer. He turned his head slightly to the
left, in the general direction of the negro cabins
whose roofs could be seen through the trees, and
sent another summons hurtling through the bushes:
  " Jimpson! "
  Again he waited, and again there was no response.
The Colonel sighed resignedly, and spreading a
large bordered handkerchief over his obliterated
features, clasped his fat hands with some difficulty

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



about his ample girth, and slept. When he awoke
he began exactly where he had left off, only this
time turning his head slightly to the right, and
sending his command toward the kitchen wing.
  A door slammed somewhere in the distance, and
presently a shuffling of feet was heard in the hall,
and a small, alert old negro presented himself to his
master with an air of cheerful conciliation.
  The Colonel did not turn his head; he gazed with
an air of great injury at the tops of the locust trees,
clasping his tumbler as it rested on the arm of the
rocker.
  " Jimpson," he began, after the culprit had suf-
fered his silence some minutes.
  " Now, Cunnel," began Jimpson nervously. He
had evidently rehearsed this scene in the past.
  " Just answer my questions," insisted the Colonel.
"Is this my house "
  " Yas, sir, but Carline, she -"
  " And are you my nigger " persisted the Colonel
plaintively.
  " Yas, sir; but you see, Carline-"
  " And have n't I, for twenty years," persisted the
Colonel, " been taking a mint julep at half past two
on Sunday afternoons"
  " Yas, sir, I was a comin'-"
  " Then you don't regard it as an unreasonable re-
quest, that a gentleman should ask his own nigger,
                       6

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



in his own house, to bring him a small piece of ice "
The Colonel's sense of injury was becoming so over-
powering that the offender might have been crushed
by contrition had not a laugh made them both look
up.
  Standing in the doorway was a young girl in a
short riding habit, and a small hat of red felt that
was carelessly pinned to her bright, tumbled hair.
Her eyes were dark, and round like those of a child,
and they danced from object to object as if eager
to miss none of the good things that the world had
to offer. Joy of life and radiant youth seemed to
flash from her face and figure.
  "What 's the matter, Squire Daddy" she asked,
pausing on the threshold. " -Mad again.
  The Colonel's head twitched in her direction, but
he held it stiff.
  "Well, please don't kill 'Uncle Jimpson 'til lie
finds my gloves. I don't know where I took them
off."
  " Yas 'm, Miss Lady," Jimpson welcomed the di-
version. " I '11 find 'em jes as soon as I git yer
Paw his ice."
  "Oh, Daddy '11 wait, won't you, Dad I m in a
hurry."
  For a moment Jimpson and the Colonel eyed each
other, then the Colonel's gaze shifted.
  "I '11 git de ice fer you on my wday back," Jimp-
                       7

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



son whispered reassuringly. "I spec' dat chile is
in a hurry."
  The young lady in question gave no appearance of
haste as she perched herself on the arm of her
father's chair, and presented a boot-lace for him to
tie.
  " Going fishing, Dad " she asked.
  "Yes," said the Colonel, struggling to make a
two-loop bow-knot. " Noah Wricker and I are go-
ing down below the mill dam. Want to come
along "
   I can't. I 'm going riding."
   "That 's good. Who with"
   With Don Morley."
   The smile that had returned to the Colonel's face
during this conversation contracted suddenly, leav-
ing his mouth a round little button of disapproba-
tion.
  " What in thunder is he doing up here anyhow:
why don't he go on back to town where he belongs "
  "Don"    Miss Lady pretended to effect a part
in the few straggling hairs that adorned his fore-
head. " Why, he 's staying over to the Wickers'
while he looks around for a farm. Here 's a gray
hair, Daddy! I 'd pull it out only there are two
more on that other side now than there are on this."
  "Buying a farm, is he" The Colonel waxed
a deeper mahogany. " Well, this place is not for
                       8

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



sale. I should think he could find something better
to do with his time than hanging around here. For
two weeks I have n't been able to sit on this porch
for five minutes without having him under my feet!
What 's the sense of his coming so often "
  Miss Lady caught him by the ears, and turned his
irate face up to her own.
  " He comes to see me! " she announced, empha-
sizing each word with a nod. "He likes horses
and dogs and me, and I like horses and dogs and
him. But I like you, too, Daddy."
  The Colonel refused to be beguiled by such
blandishments.
  " I '11 speak to him when he comes. He need n't
think just because he is a city fellow, he can take
a daughter of mine racing all over the country on
Sunday afternoon! "
  " Why, Dad, that 's absurd! Don't you take me
yourself almost every Sunday And don't I go
with Noah, and the Brooks boys whenever I like"
  " Vell, you can't go to-day."
  " But this is Donald's last day. He goes back to
town to-night, and he may go abroad next week to
stav ever and ever so long."
  The Colonel brought his fist down on his knees:
"I don't care a hang where he goes. It's you we
are talking about. You 've got to promise me not
to go with him this afternoon."
                       9

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



  " But why "
  " Because," the Colonel argued feebly, " because
it 's Sunday."
  Miss Lady sat for a moment looking straight be-
fore her and there was a contraction of her lips that
might have passed for a comic imitation of her
father's had it not softened into a smile.
  " Suppose I won't promise " she said.
  The Colonel's free hand gripped the arm of the
chair, and he looked as if he had every intention in
the world of being firm.
  " You see, if it is wrong for me to go riding on
Sunday," went on Miss Lady, " it 's wrong for you
to go fishing. Suppose we both reform and stay at
home  "
  The Colonel's eyes involuntarily flew to his cher-
ished tackle, lying ready for action on the top step,
then they came back with a snap to the top of a
locust tree.
  Miss Lady squeezed his arm and laughed: " Of
course you don't want to stay at home this glorious
afternoon, neither do I! Now, that 's settled.
Here comes Noah; I'll go and fix your lunch."
  It was not by any means the first time the daugh-
ter of the house of Carsey had scored in a contest
with her father. His subjection had begun on that
morning now nearly twenty years ago, when she
had been placed in his arms, a motherless bundle of
                       IO

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



helplessness without even a personal name to begin
life with.
  That question of a name had baffled him. He
had consulted all'the neighbors, considered all the
possibilities in the back of the dictionary, and even
had recourse to the tombstones in the old cemetery,
but the haunting fear that in days to come she
might not like his choice, held him back from a
final decision. In the meanwhile she was "The
Little Lady," then " Lady," and finally through the
negroes it got to be " Miss Lady." So the Colonel
weakly compromised in the matter by deciding to
wait until she was old enough to name herself.
When that time arrived she stubbornly refused to
exchange her nickname for a real one. A half-
hearted effort was made to harness her up to
" Elizabeth," but she flatly declined to answer to the
appellation.
  She and Noah Wicker, the son of a neighboring
farmer, had run wild on the big place, and it was
Miss Lady who invariably got to the top of the
peach tree first, or dared to wade the farthest into
the stream. All through the summer days her little
bare legs raced beside Noah's sturdier brown ones.
She could handle a fishing rod as well as her father.
could ride and drive and shoot, and was on terms of
easy friendship with every neighbor who passed
over the brow of Billy-goat Hill.
                        I I

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



  The matter of education had been the first serious
break in this idyllic existence. After romping
through the country school, she had had several
young and pretty governesses, all of whom had suc-
cumbed to the charms of neighboring country
swains, and abandoned their young charge, to start
establishments of their own. Then came w ise
counsel from without and after many tears she was
sent to a boarding school in the city.
  The older teachers at Miss Gibbs' Select School
for Young Ladies still recall their trials during the
one year Miss Lady was enrolled. She was pretty.
yes, and clever, and lovable, oh, yes! And at this
point usually followed a number of stories of her
generosity and impulsive kindness; " but," the con-
clusion always ran, " such a strange, wvild little
creature, so intolerant of convention, in dress, in
education, in religion. Quite impossible in a young
ladies' seminary."
  After one term of imprisonment Miss Lady es-
caped to the outdoor world again, and implored her
devoted "Dad" to let her grow up in ignorance.
protesting passionately that she (lid not want puffs
on her head, and heels on her shoes, and whalebones
about her waist. That she did n't care whether x
plus Y equaled z, or not, and that going to church
and saying the same thing a dozen times, drove all
ideas of religion out of her head. She would study
                       I2

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



at home, she declared, anything. everything he sug-
gested, if only she could (1o it, in her own way, out
of doors.
  So the sorely puzzled Colonel had procured her
the necessary text-books, and she had plunged into
her original method of self-education. She usually
fought out her mathematical battles down by the
river, using a stick on the sand for her calculations;
history she studied in the fork of an old elm, de-
claiming the most dramatic episodes aloud, to the
edification of the sparrows.
  In the long winter months her favorite haunt was
a little unused room over the front hall, tradition-
ally known as the library. Its only possible excuse
for the name was its one piece of furniture, a bat-
tered secretary containing a small collection of
musty volumes that did credit to the taste of some
long-departed Carsey.
  Miss Lady had discovered the library in her pa-
per-doll days, and had ruthlessly clipped small bon-
neted ladies with flounced skirts from magazines
that dated back to the first year of publication.
Later she had discovered that some of the ladies
had jokes on their backs, or rather pieces of jokes,
the rest of which she hunted up in the old maga-
zines. It was an easy step from the magazines to
the books, and in time she knew them all, from the
little dog-eared copy of Horace in the upper left-
                        13

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



hand corner, to the fat Don Quixote in the lower
right.
  In this neglected little room, with its festoons of
cobwebs, its musty smell and its sense of old, for-
gotten things and people, she would tuck herself
away with a pocket full of apples, to study and read
by the hour.
  The Colonel had done his part, and she was de-
termined to do hers; for three years she kept sturdily
at it, devouring the things she could understand,
and blithely skipping those she could not, extracting
meanwhile a vast amount of pleasure out of each
passing day. For the thing that differentiated Miss
Lady from the rest of her fellow kind was that she
was usually glad. She liked to get up in the morn-
ing and to go to bed at night, a peculiarity in itself
sufficiently great to individualize her. She greeted
each new experience with enthusiasm and managed
to extract the largest possible quota of happiness
out of the smallest and most insignificant occasion.
  As she went singing through the hall, the Colonel
tried to frown over his glasses, but he wx as only
partially successful. She was too satisfying a sight
with her shining hair and eyes, and lithe, supple
figure, every motion of which bespoke that quick,
unconscious freedom of body peculiar to children
and those favored of the gods, who never grow old.
  The tall, awkward young man who had by this
                       14

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



time arrived at the porch, followed the Colonel's
gaze, and then, without speaking, sat down on the
steps and clasped his hands about his knees. Noah
Wicker's awkwardness, however manifest to others,
was evidently a matter of small moment to him. He
had apparently accepted the companionship of un-
manageable arms and legs without question, and
without embarrassment. His stubby blond hair
rose straight from a high, broad forehead, and
grew down in square patches in front of his ears.
His eves, small and steady, surveyed the world with
profound indifference.
  When Miss Lady disappeared the Colonel turned
upon him suddenly:
  " What about this rich young fellow over at your
house Who is he anyhow"
  "Morley "  Noah crossed his knees deliber-
ately. " Why, he 's a brother-in-law of Mr. Se-
quin."
  " Not Basil Sequin, the president of the People's
Bank! You don't say! "  The Colonel paused for
a moment to digest this fact, then he went on:
" Hell-bent on farming I hear; wants your father to
look around for a place."
  This not being in the form of a question, Noah
conserved his energies.
  " Don't amount to a hill of beans, I '11 warrant,"'
continued the Colonel, with a watchful eye on Noah
                      '5

 
A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



for denial or confirmation, but Noah was noncom-
mittal. " When a fellow gets to be twenty-three
years old and can't find anything better to do than
to run around the country spending his money, and
playing with the girls, there s a screw loose some-
where. What does he know about stock-farming"
  " Says he 's been reading up."
  " Fiddlesticks! " roared the Colonel. " You can't
learn farming out of a book! What does he know
about horses "
  " Oh! He 's on to horses all right," Noah
grinned ambiguously. " You and I could n't teach
him anything about horses."
  " Can he shoot "
  " Can't hit a barn door."
  The Colonel heaved a deep sigh, drained the last
drops from his tumbler, then leaned forward, con-
fidentially:
  " Noah Wicker, do you like that young chap"
  " Like him " Noah looked up in surprise.
"Why, everybody likes Don Morley."
  " I don't," said the Colonel fiercely. "Here he
comes now. I wish you 'd look at that!"
  A headlong young man in model riding costume,
astride a bob-tailed sorrel, rashly took a fence where
gate there was none, and came cantering across the
Colonel's favorite stretch of blue grass.
  "Awfully sorry to have cut across, Colonel! " he
                       i6

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



called out in tones that spoke little contrition.
" Slipped my trolley as usual and got lost in the
bullrushes. Hope I have n't kept Miss Lady wait-
ing "
  The Colonel rose and extended a hand of wel-
come. A true Kentuckian may commit murder and
still be a gentlcman, but to fail in hospitality is to
forfeit even his own self-respect.
  " My daughter, Mr. Morley, will be out pres-
ently," he announced with great formality.
  " And how are you, Mike " went on young Mor-
ley, stooping to pat the dog; " did n't mean to cut
you, old fellow, 'pon my word I did n't."
  The dog, a shaggy beast, with small, plaintive eyes
looking out from a fringe of wiry hair, expressed
his appreciation of this attention with all the emo-
tion a stump of tail would permit.
  " It 's a bully day! " continued the visitor with
enthusiasm, wiping his wrists and forehead, and
tossing his hair back. " If I were n't going to town
to-night I 'd ask you to take me fishing, Colonel.
Hello! What kind of a reel is that "
  Now the article which had attracted attention
happened to be an invention of the Colonel's, some-
thing he had been working on for a long time, so
he could not resist explaining its unique qualities.
  "Well, I '11 be banged! " said Morley, turning it
over and over admiringly. " If that is n't the clev-
     2                 17

 
A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



erest thing I ever saw. This little screw regulates
the slack, does n't it Does your legal mind get on
to that, Wick "
  " It was a great job to get that to fit," said the
Colonel, flattered in spite of himself. " Took me
the best part of a week to puzzle out that one
point."
  " A week! " exclaimed Morley. " It would have
taken me months! Oh! here she is! " and from the
very ardent look that leapt into his face, and the
alacrity with which he sprang up, it might have been
doubted whether his mind had been wholly upon the
matter under discussion.
  Miss Lady greeted him with almost boyish frank-
ness, but there was an unmistakable flush under the
smooth tan of her cheek that did not escape the
vigilant eye of the Colonel.
  " Here you are, Dad! here you are, Noah! " she
said, tossing a small package to each; " sandwiches
and hard boiled eggs for two."
  " Put the salt in for the eggs  " asked the Colo-
nel, having had experience with her lunches.
  "I believe I did. Open yours and see, Noah.
Say, Daddy darling! " she swooped down upon him
from the rear, slipping an arm about his neck as he
knelt on the porch to collect his hooks and lines,
" you are going to let me ride Prince, just this once,
are n't you"
                       i8

 



















































The Colonel leaned back upon his knees and glared at Morley.

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A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



  The Colonel gasped, partly from strangulation,
and partly from amazement.
  "Prince!" he cried. "\Vell, I reckon not!
That colt 's hardly broken to the saddle. He threw
Jimpson last week."
  " Well, I 'm not Jimpson. Please, Daddy, just
this once."
  "If that 's the little beast Wick was telling me
about," said Morley, " we are certainly not going to
trust you on him."
  The Colonel leaned back upon his knees where he
knelt on the porch, and glared at Morley.
  " Who do you mean by we "
  " The conservative party of which I, for once, am
a member. From all I can hear of that colt, no girl
could handle him."
  " You are absolutely mistaken, sir! I taught my
daughter to straddle a horse before I taught her to
walk. Handle him Of course she can handle
him! Jimpson! " he roared in conclusion, " put the
side-saddle on Prince! "



2I

 









CHAPTER II



T    HE Cane Run Road lay straight ahead, now
      white under the full light of the sun, now
dappled with tiny dancing shadows from the inter-
laced twigs overhead, new clothed in their garb of
green. White and purple violets peeped from the
fence corners, and overhead the birds made busy in
the branches.
  Two young people, flushed and smiling, drew rein
and looked at each other. In the eyes of each was
a challenge.
  "I '11 race you to the mill! " cried Miss Lady,
tugging at her bridle. " Don't start 'til I give the
word. Now, go! "
  Off through the smiling, sunlit fields they dashed,
too impetuous and yon111g. and gloriously free, to
waste a thought on that inexorable wheel of life,
upon which sooner or later the most irresponsible
must break their wings. On and on they went, neck
to neck, the gallop breaking into a run. Down past
the blacksmith's, past the old mill which was to
have been the goal, through the long covered bridge,
                        22

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



over the hill and out again on the level road where
they still kept abreast.
  And close upon them, with head tup and mane fly-
ing, cable another steed, free, irresponsiblet un-
bridled, invisible. It was Romance, pounding in
their wake; Romance, whose hoof beats made their
pulses dance in unison, whose breath upon their
cheeks made them laugh for joy in the face of the
wxvind(.
  They were almost to the city now, having reached
that slovenly suburb that had given its plebeian name
to the once aristocratic neighborhood. Clouds of
dust whirled in their wake, and stones flew right
and left under the horses' hoofs; men in carts pulled
their teams to the side of the road to let the mad pair
pass; dogs dashed from dark doorways, barking
furiously.
  Suddenly, just as they neared the railroad junc-
tion, the sharp whistle of an engine sent Prince
plunging into the air. Donald rose in his stirrups
and made a frantic clutch at the horse's head, but
even as he missed it, he heard the clanging signal
for an approaching train and saw the gates imtne-
diately in front of them descending. Instantly he
flung himself out of the saddle, and sprang for
Prince's head. The horse. almost under the nose
of the engine, reared frantically, swerved, then came
to a trembling stand, as Miss Lady deftly loosened
                        23

 
A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



her skirt from the pommel. and swung herself to the
ground.
  In a second Don was beside her.
  " Are you hurt " he cried, catching her arm with
his free hand and looking anxiously into her face.
  " Not a bit. WVho xvon " she asked with a little
catch in her voice.
  "Lord! You were plucky! If anything had
happened to you! " his hand tightened on her wrist,
and he drew in his breath sharply.
  The afternoon freight came lumbering by, and
they stood close together with the hot breath of the
engine in their faces. Her hair blew across his face
and he could feel her body trembling against his
shoulder. Neither of them seemed to be aware of
the fact that he still held her hand, and that the
horses were tugging at their respective bridles.
  As the train thundered past and the gates lifted,
Miss Lady turned quickly and began to pin up her
loosened hair.
  " Pretty narrow shave, Miss," commented a red-
headed man with a flag, hurrying across the track,
and joining an old apple-woman and two small boys
w-ho constituted an interested audience.
  "I seen you a-coming an' would 'a' let you
through, only I 'm a-substitutin' on this job, and
was n't in fer takin' no extry risks."
  "Here, boy!" cried Donald, "hold my horse.
                       24

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



The girth 's broken; I '11 have to make another hole
in the strap."
  The word "boy" being a generic term     was
promptly appropriated by each of the youngsters as
applying to himself, and a fierce scramble ensued in
which the larger was victorious.
  " Skeeter 's it," announced the flagman, a self-
constituted umpire. " Git out 'er the way there,
Chick, and give the gent a chanct to see what he 's
a-doin'."
  Chick, a large-headed, small-bodied goblin of a
boy, made an unintelligible, guttural sound in his
throat and remained where he was, evidently consid-
ering it of paramount importance that he should see
what the gentleman was doing.
  It was with some difficulty that the new hole in
the strap was made, and to secure the buckle more
firmly Don gave it several sharp raps with the han-
dle of his riding wvhip. At the last one the silver
knob flew from the handle and rolled to the road-
side.
  In an instant the small boys were after it, the
older having deserted his post without compunction,
when a question of booty was involved. They
grappled together in the dust of the road, long be-
fore they reached the prize, and with arms and legs
entwined rolled toward it.
  Chick was underneath when they arrived, but he
                       25

 
A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



loosened his clutch of Skeeter's throat, and darted
forth a small, grimy hand that closed upon the
treasure. In an instant Skeeter seized upon the
clenched fist, and was wrenching it open, when a
third party entered the fray.
  " The little one got it! " cried Miss Lady indig-
nantly; "he got it first! Give it to him this min-
ute! "
  " I be damned if I do! " shouted Skeeter, roused
to fury by the combat.
  " I '11 be damned if you don't,"' said Miss Lady,
equally determined.
  The skirmish was fierce but short, and by the time
Don got to them, Miss Lady had restored the spoils
to the lawful victor, and was assisting the van-
quished foe to wipe the dust from his eyes.
  " Well, partner," said Donald to Chick, "what
have you got to say to the young lady for taking
your part"
  "He ain't got nothin' to say," said Skeeter
glibly. " He 's dumb. Nobody but me can't under-
stand him. He says thank you, ma'am."
  Chick having uttered no sound, it was evident
that Skeeter depended upon telepathy.
  " He 's a ash-barrel baby," went on Skeeter. eager
to impart information; " he ain't got no real folks.
and he 's been to the Juvenile Court twict; onct for
                       26

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



hopping freights and onct fer me and him smashin'
winders."
  All eyes were turned upon the hero, who im-
mediately became absorbed in his whip-handle. He
was small, and exceedingly thin, and exceedingly
dirty. The most conspicuous things about him were
his large, wistful eyes, and his broad smile that
showed where his teeth were going to be. Across
his narrow chest a ragged elbowless coat was hitched
together by one button, while a pair of bare, spind-
ling legs dwindled away respectively into a high
black shoe, and a low-cut tan one, both of which
were well ventilated at the heels.
  "I don't believe he 's very bad," smiled Miss
Lady, catching his chin in her hand and turning his
face up to hers. " Are you, Chick "
  He made a queer guttural sound in his throat but,
his official interpreter being by this time absorbed in
the horses, wvas unable to make himself understood.
  " It must be awful for a boy not to be able to ask
questions! " she went on, looking down at him, then
seeing something in his face that other people
missed, she suddenly drew him to her and gave him
a little motherly squeeze.
  The ride home was somewhat leisurely, for the
accident, slight as it was, had sobered the riders, and
there was, moreover, a subject under discussion that
                       27

 
A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



called for considerable earnest expostulation on one
side, and much tantalizing evasion on the other.
  " It all depends upon you," Donald was saying, as
they climbed the last hill. " Cropsie Decker starts
for the coast to-morrow but the steamer does n't sail
for ten days. Shall I go or stay  "
  " But you were so mad about it two weeks ago,
you could scarcely wait to start."
  "Lots of things can happen in two weeks. Shall
I stay"
  " What do your family think about it"
  " My family Oh, you mean my sister. She
does n't make a habit of losing sleep over my affairs.
She 'd probably say go. I am rather unpopular with
her just now, because I don't approve of this affair
between my niece Margery and Fred Dillingham. I
fancy she 'd be rather relieved to get me out of the
way. In fact, everybody says go, except Doctor
Queerington. He is a cousin of ours, used to be
my English professor, up at the university. He has
always harbored the illusion that I can write.
Wants me to settle down some place in the country
and go at it in earnest."
  " You don't mean John Jay Queerington, the au-
thor " Miss Lady said eagerly. " Is he really
your cousin Daddy went to school to his father,
and has told me so much about him, that without
seeing him, I could write a book on the subject."
                      28

 

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL



   Great old chap in his way, an authority on
heaven knows howv many subjects, yet he scarcely
makes enough money to take care of his children."
   But think of the books he is giving to the world!