THE MURDEROUS CAT 217 



*'No," the boy answered; '^I didn't like to. I 

 was afraid I'd get into trouble." 



''Yo' would have," declared the other, emphat- 

 ically. 



"Bull," the boy asked, after a few minutes' si- 

 lence, "who is the Feather Man?" 



The old moonshiner, however, was not to be 

 drawn into conversation. It was one of his silent 

 nights. Shan, realizing this, let the matter drop. 

 He knew his uncle well enough to be sure that the 

 question would not remain unanswered. 



Three evenings later, after supper, not a word 

 having been spoken since he entered, Bull Adam 

 suddenly began, as if the boy's question had just 

 been put to him, 



"I couldn't jest rightly tell yo' who the Feather 

 Man is. I don't know. I reckon no one 'round 

 here knows. He's a Westerner, sure, by his 

 shootin'." 



This sounded interesting. 



"Do you mind telling?" the boy asked. 



"There ain't such a lot to tell," the old pot- 

 hunter replied, "leastways, nothin' but one 

 thing. About ten year ago, when old Jed Horn- 

 blow got hit on the head by a fallin' tree, this 

 stranger came down an' bought his land from the 



