WE FIND THE COURIER
but thar was a monstrous lot o' us scattered 'long Rock Crick. an' when they went gunnin’ fer ther Donalds they gin'rally got 'em. All I know is thet when I come 'long 'bout a hundred years later, ther Donalds was livin' in a log shack back o' Bald Mountain. an' ther fight was still a goin' on. My dad was shot down at Milliken Bend by one o' ther crowd when I was eight year old: then my brother got ol' man Donald somewhar on ther trail, an' filled him full o' buckshot. Ther next thing. they set fire to our house, when nobody but mam was to hum. She shot into ther bunch, and got away with a broken arm, hidin' out in ther bush fer a week. Then ther Danielses rode over ter Bald Mountain, an' we come pretty damn near puttin' ther Donald tribe outer business, until a gang o' 'em ambuscaded us one night in ther bottoms. Not two bullets in thet fracas, an' my brother was killed. 'Bout thet time ther war broke out. Damned if I keered which side licked in ther war, but Jem Donald come out fer ther Confeds. an' so I went in fer ther Union. Wal, we fought it out yere fer maybe six months, but ther odds was all with his outfit: thar wan't many Danielses left able ter tote a gun: an' finally I skipped out, and jined Buell."
"The Secession sentiment was strong through this section, I suppose?"
"Wal, I don't know 'bout thet. Ther mountain men mostly did n’t care much; mighty few o' 'em owned any niggers. But ther gentry was with ther Secessionists. an' Big Donald allers kinder nat'rally belonged to thet bunch. He never did chum with ther mountain men much. but somehow managed ter be mighty thick with ther Den
[ 95 ]
