"Ye both done the deed the
same ez ef ye hed pulled the trigger; ye holped ter plan it, an' kem
along ter see it done an' lend a hand ef needed. Ye both done the deed
the same ez me--that's the law, an' ye know it. That is sure the law in
Tennessee."
"Waal, now, Phineas Copenny, 't warn't right nor fair ter we-uns ter
clumsy it up so," protested the young mountaineer. "Ef it hed been the
revenuer, I'd hev nare word ter say. I'd smack my lips, fur the deed
would taste good ter me, an' I'd stand ter it. But this hyar Mr.
Briscoe--why, we-uns hev not even got a gredge agin him."
"No, nor nobody else that ever I hearn of. Mr. Briscoe war a plum
favor_ite_, far an' nigh," said old Jubal Clenk, the eldest of the party.
"But shucks!" he continued, with a change of tone and the evident
intention of preserving harmony among the conspirators. "'Twar jes' an
accident, an' that's what it will pass fur among folks ginerally. Mr.
Briscoe's mare skeered an' shied an' backed off'n the bluff--that air
whut the country-side will think.
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