Befo' I was married there
was a preacher named Collier used to come to see me. I 'lowed he was a
single man, an' when I found he wan't I handed him his hat an' I says, I
does, 'Here, put this on an' see if it'll fit you.' He declared that it
was a past'ral call, an' I says, 'Well, then, go out in the pasture.'
Now let's put things in order for I'm goin' to stay all night."
She was imperious, but not without generosity, for she granted to
Margaret the right to look sad. But she would brook no demonstration,
and when Mrs. Barker sought to lead Margaret back for a hiccoughey
stroll along the dew-dripping path, she turned upon her with a snap.
"Miz Barker, putty soon you'll force me to wring you an' hang you out
to dry."
And what were the antecedents of this crankish old woman? Her
grandfather was hanged, one of John A. Murrell's robbers; and when she
was a girl, her father fortified his log house and fought the law that
strove to oust him for lack of title. She had moulded bullets; and when
both her father and mother had been wounded, she thrust a blunderbuss
through the window and with buck-shot swept a bloody road.
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