Page:Teeftallow-1926.djvu/94

he was a hillman putting on a demonstration of wildness before the possibility of a girl. His pistol roared at the girls inside, "What a wild man I am! Think of such a man as I for a lover!"

Inside the church the young hill women were shrieking, not in terror, for they knew they would not be hurt, but to let the young men outside know they were impressed by their firing and courage, that they were moved by this wild romance. It was a sort of tumultuous courtship; a roaring antiphony of sex.

The men in the church did not take kindly to the demonstration. They came running out, furious as disturbed hornets. Abner did not know the fine points of disturbing public worship. He did not know enough to run at this swarming of the men, but stood firing Tug’s pistol in a kind of ecstasy. He did not realize that the flashes of his automatic were conspicuous in the darkness.

Flashlights blinked here and there. Came cries of "Halt! Stop! Throw up your hands!" The next moment a light was shining directly at him and seemed to be rushing at him at a rapid rate; a voice shouted, "Throw up yore hands, there, you country jake, or I'll shoot ye!"

A shock went through Abner. He whirled automatically and dashed up the lane. The roar of the revolver behind him seemed to shake the world. Bullets whispered by his ear, "Psst! Psst! Psst!"

Abner felt as light as a feather. He seemed to fly along the alley, just touching the ground here and there. Right ahead of him in the faint unsteady light that played over and past him he saw a tall picket fence. Horror swept through him as he dashed toward it. He was in a cul de sac. As he hurtled at the barrier a superhuman tightening went through his legs and chest. He dashed at the ghostly outline of the fence with his whole body screwed up for a terrible effort. Next instant he launched upward. A mighty power in his legs shot him high in air. His flight over the sharp pickets took his breath. He landed inside among the soft ridges of