"What's that?" "There's something!" "Elizabeth!" "Well, we know of every living soul on this mountain, and there's no one near here that goes stalking in the darkness." "Ladies, I found that under a tree outside." "So I think maybe you'd better be sure all your doors and windows are locked." "Storytelling was an art in our family." "It was not only entertaining, but a way of preserving family history, local legends and a few tall tales." "Stories of ghosts and nameless things that moved in the night were told by my grandfather in the warmth of the fireplace." "But they lived only in our imaginations, until one quiet, moonless night, it seemed that something was watching us." "There's something stirring the animals." "There's someone around the barn." " What's all the racket?" " Let's go find out." "Why don't we turn on a light?" "See anything?" "I saw a man." "He was standing right over there under that tree." "Who would it be this time of night?" "I don't know." "Looked like he was tall." "Wonder why Reckless didn't bark." "Some watchdog." "She usually barks her head off when anybody comes around." "Let's take a look." "All right." "I'll go over here." "Nothing missing in the mill or the barn." "Something was out there, that's for sure." "The animals don't carry on like that for nothing." "John-Boy said it was tall and scary." "Your brother's got more imagination than he needs." "Yeah, whatever it was, it must've scared Reckless." "She didn't even bark." "Probably just some tramp trying to find a place to sleep." "No." "Tramps don't get out this way very much, those knights of the road, but during the Depression, you know, when folks hit rock bottom, they're likely to take to the open road." "You find anything in the barn?" "Nothing missing." "Saw any footprints, anything like that?" "Lots of footprints, mostly ours." "Listen, will somebody tell Jason to hurry up?" "You can blame the Depression on that man in the White House." "Now, Esther, the Depression started under Hoover and Roosevelt's just fixing up the unemployment." "I got my own unemployment problem." "Thelma's closed the Dew Drop Inn for a couple of weeks and gone to Florida." "I'd call that a mixed blessing." "Hurry up." "John-Boy said to hurry up." "With all that going-on last night, nobody woke me up?" "Well, it couldn't have been much of a to-do, 'cause I slept like a log." "Ben, tuck your shirt in." "You boys go straight to school." "Jim-Bob?" "He has to go to the junkyard first." "I have to find some parts for my car." "You can do that some other day." "I want you to point yourselves at school and don't you stop till you get there." " Bye-bye." " Bye, Mama." "Bye, Dad." "There you are!" "I've been waiting for you all morning." "All morning?" "Five minutes." "It's not my idea." "Mama says we have to walk to school together." "I don't want you girls walking alone." "You stay together." "And stick to the road." "No short-cutting through the woods." "Well, I don't want to go if there's gonna be some thing out there to grab me." "Nothing like that's gonna happen." "Just watch out for strangers." " Daddy, I've got to go." " Okay." " Bye, Grandpa." " So long, honey." "Hey, Ike!" "Hey, John-Boy, Jason!" "Got any mail for us in there, Ike?" " No." "Not a thing." " No?" "Well, I guess you guys pulled up here 'cause you want some gas, huh?" "Yeah, about three gallons ought to do it." "Hey, you know, you guys could do me a big favor." "You need something delivered?" "Well, no, but if you could spread the word about my hall." "I got it all cleaned up." "Is that what you've been doing over there?" "Looks good." "Yeah." "It's got new plumbing and electricity." "And I spent almost $75 on it." "Lot of money." "Yeah." "I'd appreciate it if you'd spread the word around and tell everybody about it 'cause it's big and clean, and the rent's reasonable, too." "That's three gallons." " $1 bill." " Out of $1." "Come here." "I got an idea." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "Why don't you get together with a couple of your musician friends, rent this place and give a dance?" " Me?" " Yeah." " You crazy?" " Why?" "You could make a nice piece of change off of it." "Sure, if I was a millionaire to start with." "You don't have to be a millionaire." "What am I gonna do for money to rent the hall?" "You don't have to pay him in advance." "You pay him from the money you get from the tickets." "Pay Ike, pay the musicians, and then maybe you get a nice profit for yourself." "It's that "maybe" in there I'm worried about." "Jason, take a chance." "I took a chance on a printing press." "I guarantee you one thing for sure, you have a dance here, everybody'll come." "Mark my words." " Here's change, John-Boy." " Thank you." "Now listen, I want you to tell everybody about my hall, huh?" "Talk it up." "I'd rather you took an ad in The Chronicle, Ike." "Ike, how much did you say that hall rents for?" "$3 a night during the week and $5 on weekends." "You know, that's a bargain, too." "Zack Rosswell charges $6 for his barn." "Why?" "Do you have somebody in mind?" " I just might." " Yeah?" "I'll let you know." "Will you tell them it's got electricity and running water?" "Huh?" "And it's sparkling clean." "Sure." "Hey, and I also put the wax on the floor, free." "Let you know." "And it's got its own heat!" "Jim-Bob, you looked through all that junk yesterday." "I know, but I thought I saw a headlight in here someplace." "Only Jim-Bob would build a car out of junk." "Well, if we wait for him, we'll never get home." "We're going on, Jim-Bob." "A whippoorwill?" "Never heard one in here before." "No, they're usually down by the pond." "I wonder why it makes such a lonely sound." "Spooky!" "You know, Grandpa says a whippoorwill has a drop of human blood in its body." "Let's go home." "What's that?" "There's a man in there." "There's something." "Elizabeth!" "I came by about two minutes afterward and I didn't see anybody." "Elizabeth, honey, where was that exactly?" "Elizabeth, what did you see?" "Well..." "It was sort of past the junk pile." "Where the woods and the road are together." "First we heard a whippoorwill." "And then we heard a noise, sort of like an animal in the bushes." "Well, could have been a deer." "They come down to drink that time of day." "Wasn't a deer." "It was following us." "Right alongside, in the bushes." "Well, we know of every living soul on this mountain, and there's no one near here that goes stalking in the darkness." "Could be an outsider, Ma." "Could have been your imagination, Elizabeth." "It wasn't my imagination." "Could have been a bear." "You know, lot of bears still up on Walton's Mountain." "Not very likely, Pa." "How long's it been since we've had a bear come down here this close?" "Maybe four year back, but that's possibly just what that bear thought." "Says, "Goodness gracious, I haven't been down there" ""to call on them Waltons for a long time." ""I'd better mosey down there and see just what those Waltons been up to."" "Or maybe it was a prehistoric man who's been frozen in a cave for a million years and he just got thawed out." "No." "No, I know just what it was." "From around here." "Old Tall-Paul Tucker." "It was his ghost!" "He hung around here between Drucilla's Pond and the graveyard." "I recollect seeing him around here many, many times in the old days." "You never told us about him." "No?" "Old Tall-Paul Tucker?" "He was a fearsome fellow." "Why, if you swung an ax handle at him, he'd bite it right in two." "And he could pull up a barbwire fence and balance the fence pole right on his nose." "It took a lot of fellows from over Skylar to help catch him." "We finally did, we hung him out there by the barn, there, by that old black locust tree." "Why'd they do that, Grandpa?" "Why, because he was killing all the cattle around here." "The last cow he devoured, ate it up hide and all." "Nothing left but maybe a hoof or a horn or two." "Zeb, there's not a word of truth in that and you know it." "Well, I believe it." "You'll believe anything." "Come on, Pa." "Help me check the animals." "John." "I'd feel a lot easier if Erin was safe home from that telephone office." "She'll be all right, Ma." "She said she was gonna call me as soon as she got off duty so I could go pick her up." "I'm just worried because of that prowler we had around the house last night." "Why, I don't blame you one iota." "If I had a daughter her age, why, I wouldn't want her sneaking around with some nameless individual out there in the dark." "The girls thought they saw him again this afternoon, walking home from school." "Mr. Godsey, I do hope that you will make sure that all the doors are securely fastened before we retire tonight." "I'm gonna call." "She should have called by now." "Miss Fanny, this is John-Boy Walton." "Is Erin there?" "A long time ago?" "She was supposed to call..." "Okay." "Thank you." "It is sort of strange she hasn't called." "Well, I could start driving towards Rockfish right now, but I know she's too smart to walk home in the dark." "What's the matter with you?" "Why didn't you call me like you were supposed to when you got off work?" "I thought I'd save you the trip." "Just as I got off the switchboard, the Baldwin ladies came by." "So they brought me out." "We're certainly relieved that you're safely home." "Well, I'm sure the family's worried, too." "We better get on home." "Thank you very much." " Good night, John-Boy." " Good night." "Good night, Erin." "Now, Mr. Godsey, please make sure that the doors are locked." "Sometimes that bolt doesn't go all the way through." "Honey, you can rest assured, it will be as tight as a drum." "I know I won't get a wink of sleep tonight with that marauder roaming around the area." "Honey, folks are always seeing and hearing things, but it's mostly in their mind!" "I know, but..." "Nevertheless." "What is it?" "It was peering in the window." "What?" "A face!" "A face?" "Pray, where are you going?" "I'm going to call the sheriff." "And leave me at the mercy of this marauding maniac?" "Corabeth, come with me!" "You in the middle of something?" "I'm just getting some typos off the front page." "Well, if we talked to you for a minute, would it throw you out of gear?" "Well, it probably means the paper won't get out, and then Fanny Tatum won't see her sister's marriage on the front page and she'll come after me with a stick." "I was telling Ben your idea about having the dance" " at Ike's hall." " Yeah?" "We could make a lot of money out of it." "See, I figured I could get this little band together." "Boys from school." "And we wouldn't play barn-dance music all the time, like Bobby Bigelow, we'd play regular dance music, like the bands on the radio." "You know, like Star Dust and Music Goes Round and Round" " and things like that." " Yeah." "Well, that would sure beat another square dance, wouldn't it?" "How much you figuring to charge?" "Twenty-five cents a person." "That's reasonable." "Well, that's 50 cents a couple, and the first 10 couples will pay for Ike's hall." "You could get 50 couples in there easy, no trouble at all." "That's $25 right there." "Don't forget Ike's hall." "Yeah, that's $5." "And we need to pay three musicians $2 apiece, that's $6." "Wait a minute, I'll figure it out." "Let me figure it out here." "You got, what, you got the hall," " then you got the musicians." " You gotta pay the musicians." " $5 and $6..." " $5 and $6 is $11." "$5 and $6..." "Okay, the hall and musicians cost you $11." "And you're gonna need tickets." " That's right!" " Tickets." "You gotta have tickets." "You need tickets and an ad for the paper to get people there." " That's right." " Yeah." "And don't worry about it." "I'll give you the wholesale price." "Good." "Let's see." "Tickets and an ad would be... $4." "How's $4?" " That's good." " That's good, yeah." "Okay, so that's $11 and $4." "You got $15." " $15." " We gonna have anything left?" "You'll have something left." "How much did you say?" "Well, I said $25 for 50 couples." "Well, that's 15, that's $10 left over." " That's not bad for one night." " That's good." "That's good." "We can easily round up 50 couples." " When's it gonna be, next Saturday night?" " Yeah." "Okay, why don't you come in tomorrow, Ben, and set up an ad for it, all right?" "And then I'll..." "Wait a minute." "You don't have a name for this band." "What are you gonna call this band?" "I can't think of anything." " Jason and the Squirrels." " No." "Jason Walton and the Rhythm Kings." " That's not bad." " I like that." "That's good." "You know, this could really be the beginning of something big." "Well, don't forget to tell Ike tomorrow." " Yeah, I'll do that." "I'll do that first thing." " Okay." "Good." "Thanks for the idea, John-Boy." "My pleasure." "It sure is dark out there." "You go first." "My brave brother." "Well, what if there's something out there?" "Something out there, huh?" " Get out there!" " Hey!" "Good night." "Night." "Man." "Back to work, back to work." "Jason Walton and the Rhythm Kings." "Sister, I fear we're becoming set in our ways." "I was not aware of it." "Well, I do believe we are." "In fact, I'm sure of it." "What leads you to believe this, Sister?" "Well, for example, the way we turn out the lights when we go to bed." "Is there some other way?" "Well, I mean, first we turn out this light, then that one, and that one is always last." "Now, suppose we turned out that one first, then that one, and then this one?" "What an interesting possibility." "Sister, you've always been a free thinker." "Let's do it." "That explains why we've always done it the other way." "Now we'll never find our way to the hall." "Sister?" "What is it?" "I think there's someone in our backyard." "Who could it possibly be?" "Perhaps someone who has come for some of the Recipe." "Perhaps it's Papa's ghost." "I wouldn't think so, dear." "I've always been convinced that Papa would come back from the other side, should the opportunity arise." "There's someone at the door." "Miss Mamie." "Come in." "Thank you." "Miss Emily, good evening." "I hope I haven't disturbed you ladies." "Not at all." "We're delighted to see you." "We thought it might be someone else." "You must be cold." "Would you accept a sip of the Recipe?" "No, thank you very much." "Actually, this isn't really a social call." "I was just working late, and I got to thinking about you two ladies over here by yourselves, and I just wanted to make sure you were all right." "We are." "Aren't we?" "Yes, quite." "Well, the reason I came over to ask is that..." "I don't want you to be afraid, now, or anything, but there's been some talk lately about a stranger, sort of, wandering around the neighborhood." "It's nothing to be afraid of." "What a coincidence." "Just before you rang our bell, we thought we saw someone in our backyard." "I think I'll check outside, all right?" "John-Boy, through the Recipe room." "It's faster." "Okay." "Perhaps we should get Papa's pistol out of his desk drawer." "I am more terrified of that pistol than I am of any stranger." "I don't mean we should fire it." "We could simply point it at the prowler" " and assume some threatening pose." " No." "Those things often explode automatically, and one or both of us might easily be mortally wounded." "Then I'll just get a hatpin." "I didn't see anyone." "Is this yours?" "No." "At least, I don't think so." "It's a sack full of apples." "We always use the basket." "It's a little wicker basket that Papa brought back from the Philippines." "Ladies, I found that under a tree outside." "So I think maybe you better be sure all your doors and windows are locked." "We will." "We surely will." "It was very nice of you to stop by, John-Boy." "You sure you gonna be all right?" "Yes." "Yes." "'Course, we'll be all right." "Okay." "Well, I guess I better be going, then." " Thank you, John-Boy." " Thank you." "Thank you so much." "Good night, ladies." " Good night, John-Boy." " Good night." "Sister, don't leave me here alone." "Lorin!" "Lorin!" "Lorin?" "Ma'am?" "Ma'am, could I give you a lift?" "My name's John Walton." "Did you see anybody on the road?" "No, no one except for you." "Can I give you a lift somewhere?" "Ma'am?" "Lorin!" "Lorin!" "There's enough firewood back there to hold you for a while, Miss Emily." "Thank you, John." "Sister, John Walton brought the firewood for the fireplace." "How nice, John." "How much do we owe you?" " $1 should take care of it, Miss Mamie." " Fine." "Would you like to share our tea with us?" " All right." " Good." "Good." "What did we want to ask John Walton, Mamie?" "We had a question." "It was about the chairs, Sister." "The wicker chairs." "They broke, you know." "And you would do us a very great favor if you'd look at them, John." " All right." " Papa was very fond of them." "Fixing wicker furniture is a little bit out of my line." "Whatever it costs is perfectly all right." "Papa would want only the best." "Well, I'll have to think about it." "Well, look who's here." " Ladies." " Hello." "John, I figured it was time we looked into who's doing all this night prowling up here." "I saw this apparition right outside our window last night, and there were two sacks of cornmeal missing from the shed this morning." "Why, I was terrified." "So was Mr. Godsey." "Neither one of us got a wink of sleep." "I brought Corabeth up here." "I thought we could all compare notes and get some idea of what this fellow looks like." "That's gonna be kind of hard to do, Ep." "No one's actually seen him." "Well, now, if it's the same phantom that was in our backyard last night, he is tall." "Very much like Papa." "Erin and Elizabeth had a kind of a look at him, but he was in the shadows down by the river road." "What'd the girls say?" "He was wearing overalls, seemed to have dark, curly hair, barefoot." "Sheriff, unless you discover the identity of this person, not a living soul on Walton's Mountain will dare venture out after dark." "The piano goes with the rent, you know, Jason." "It's a marvelous instrument." "There's one key that sticks, though." "It's..." "Yeah." "E-flat above middle C." "Yeah." "But it loosens up after you play it a little while." "It'll be fine." "I really like what you did, Ike." "It's nice." "You did a good job of fixing it up." "Thank you." "Thank you." "What were you planning on using it for, Jason?" "Gonna have a piano recital?" "No, a dance." "A dance." "What night were you planning on reserving it?" " Saturday, maybe." " Maybe?" "Well, I'd have to know for sure." "Because this afternoon, I might be booked up for the whole weekend, and then I'd be forced to raise prices." "Come on, Ike, that's a lot of baloney." "No, no, no, there are a lot of folks that are interested in it." " How many?" " Well..." "I tell you what, you take it Saturday night, and I'll furnish the balloons." "Balloons, huh?" "Well, I'm gonna need some refreshments." "How about you furnishing the lemonade?" "Okay." "Corabeth's lemonade." "All right, and I'll bring the doughnuts." " Is it a deal?" " It's a deal." "Okay." "Saturday night it is." "Saturday night." "Elizabeth, if you had to make something for school, why didn't you pick something easy, like a table mat?" "'Cause I wanted a birdcage." "You couldn't have picked anything harder." "When I was in your grade and Mrs. Fordwick gave us weaving," "I made a table mat." "Who wants a dumb old table mat?" "Well, at least I finished it." "I'll finish this." "When you're 100 years old!" "Any time now, you two can stop picking at each other." "Where are you gonna find a bird?" "I'll catch one." "When I went to school, we learned how to read and to write and to add sums." "I don't know what's in Rosemary's mind, weaving birdcages." "Grandma, Elizabeth can weave a mousetrap if she has a mind to." "Hey, everybody, Jason has some great news!" "Tell them about the big business deal, Jason." "I'm renting Ike's hall for Saturday night." "I'm giving a dance." "I'm handling the tickets and advertising." "Ben, this sounds like one of your schemes." "Did you put Jason up to this?" "It was John-Boy's idea." "I thought it was a real good idea, and it'll help me pay for my tuition at school." "Sounds exciting." "I think I'll get myself dressed up fit to kill, and then I'll meet some handsome boys." "Jason Walton and the Rhythm Kings." "Sounds pretty nifty, huh?" "Mama, I was wondering if maybe you and Daddy could act as chaperones on Saturday." "I'll talk to your father." "I expect we'll be there." "Thanks, Mama." "How about you, Grandma?" "Well, I don't think you could keep your grandpa away, so," "I'll just go along to keep him out of trouble." "All right." "Great." "You children are born dancers." "Well, Daddy says we got it from him." "Well, I'll give him some of the credit, but not all of it." "Daddy and Grandpa are missing all the fun." " Where are they, anyway?" " They're hunting up on the mountain." "To get some food to feed this crazy bunch." "Come on, Elizabeth." "Looks like that deer heard us coming, Pa." "Well, we still could go way over to that burnt out area there by the oak tree and maybe get us a turkey." "What, you spot something?" "Looks like some smoke over the old Montgomery place." "Looks like somebody set up housekeeping, Pa." "Sure does." "Got a fire going in the chimney, she's got her laundry out." " Hello?" " Anybody home?" "Afternoon." "Afternoon, ma'am." "What do you want?" "Well, we was just hunting up here on the oak ridge and didn't know anybody was here in this place." "Well, I wasn't expecting any company, either." "I'm John Walton, ma'am." "This is my father, Zeb." "We live down below." "I'm Zeb Walton." "And what might your name be, ma'am?" "Eva Hadley." "You buy this place?" "Sarah Montgomery was my mama's sister." "That's fine stock, yes." "It must be kind of lonesome for you, living up here all by yourself." "I get along." "Well, if you should happen to need anything, you just slide on down the mountain to the Waltons' place." " We'd be glad to help you out." " I'm not planning on it." "Fine baskets you got there, ma'am." "They was here when I come." "No telling who made 'em." "Well..." "Well, I guess we'd better be getting along." " We'll go on down by the ridge road." " Afternoon, ma'am." "Afternoon, ma'am." "Did you get the feeling that there was somebody out in the back, there?" "I sure did, Pa." "Well, that should bear some looking into." "Come on, let's get us a turkey first." "Into the peaceful, unchanging pattern of the days, the presence of the stranger moved like a cloud, casting a shadow of fear across the village." "The people drew away from each other, and not knowing when or from where the menace might appear, they..." "Sorry, John-Boy." "You writing your novel?" "No, actually, I'm working on an idea I had for a story." "Had this idea about a small town with some kind of sneaky prowler sort of wandering around and getting everybody all upset." "How does it end?" "We don't know yet, do we?" "Don't you ever just sit around and do nothing?" "Yeah, all the time." "I just try not to let anybody catch me at it, that's all." "This the new one?" "Yeah." "Are the tickets really going fast?" "Well, I don't know if they're selling fast, but they sure are going out of here fast." "Well, I hope they sell." "People are so afraid to go out after dark anymore." "Yeah." "I'd say it's pretty nice of you to be so concerned for your brothers." " I'm not concerned for my brothers." " What do you mean?" "Well, if they don't have the dance, how am I gonna meet anybody?" "Hey, Ike, you think people can see that?" "See it?" "They can see it clear from the top of Walton's Mountain." "Good." "That ought to bring them in." "How many tickets you sold so far?" "Well, it takes a little time for people to hear about it." "How many did you sell?" "Two or three." "But once the paper's out, business will pick up." "People will hear about it." " Come on, Elizabeth." " Coming." "You know, looks like a pretty good post." "Yeah." "A post is a post." "You know, maybe we should hang some on barns." "Nobody'd see it but cows and goats." "Yeah." "But, you know, there are lots of signs on barns." "Yeah, but that's just for chewing tobacco." "Here, use another one." "How many more posters we got left?" "Two, but there are probably more at the house." "Okay." "There we go." " Yeah, looks okay." " Hurry up." "Okay, let's go." "Grandma, do you think this dress is too faded to wear to the dance?" "Looks nice." "As long as it's clean and it covers you, that's all that matters." "But I want to wear something nicer than one of Mary Ellen's old hand-me-downs." "Maybe I'll wear a bright red sash with it." "Dressing in red is for fancy women." "Well, maybe I'll be a fancy woman." "And maybe I'll just put you over my knee and spank you." "Well, you're not too tall yet." "What's baking?" "Doughnuts, Esther." "Esther, your beauty is exceeded only by your doughnuts." " Where's John?" " He's out plucking the turkey." "You know, we could smell your doughnuts clear alongside Walton's Mountain." " Grandpa?" " Yes?" "Do you like ladies in red?" "Yes." "Yes." "I do." "Zeb, stop that." "Will you stop it?" "I thought when you got older you'd get more decent, but you just get worse." "Why, thank you, Esther." "Esther." "I was about ready to send the boys out to look for you." "We got us some fine bird here, Ma." "Tough time flushing it out." "It's a beauty." "Yeah, we also found us a new neighbor up on the mountain." "Yeah?" "Whereabouts?" "Up at the old Montgomery place." "Yeah." "She called herself Hadley." "Gave us to believe she lived alone." "I don't know." "Seemed to me somebody else was around." "Yeah, she was downright unfriendly to us." "Yeah." "Things going on around here I don't understand." "Strange things." "Like the devil himself has come to the mountain." "What's the matter with you?" "I'm just worried." "I can't sell any tickets for that dance." "Nobody wants to go out at night." "All they wanna do is buy locks for their doors." "I don't blame them." "People are scared of what they don't know, Pa." "Imagination." "Well, would you let the girls walk down to the store alone tonight?" "Well, would you?" "Hey, let's put it right here." "This looks like a good place." "Hurry up." "I can't hold it all day." "Okay." "That's the last one." "Let's go home, I'm hungry." "It's him!" "Come on." "Mama, we're going down to Ike's to decorate the hall." "I don't want you children walking through the woods after what happened to Elizabeth and Jim-Bob." "Well, I don't like it either, but I thought it would be safe with the three of us." "Well, I'll see y'all later." "I'm going into Rockfish." "Take some passengers along and drop them off at Ike's." " All right, come on." " Thanks, John-Boy." "You children wait for a ride to bring you home." "We will." "Come on, let's go." "I don't have all day." "The woman sure picked a lonely place." "I figured she doesn't live here alone, Ep." "Well, let's find out." " Is this her work?" " Don't know." "Get off my property!" "What do you want?" "Ma'am, this is Sheriff Bridges." "We'd like to talk to you a little." "What did you bring the sheriff here for?" "I haven't done anything." "Ma'am, you living here alone?" "My boy is here with me." "Is he close by?" "He's out hunting." " Could we talk to him?" " You leave him alone." "Miss Hadley, we didn't come here to bring you any trouble." "We'd just like to know a little bit more about you and about your son." "There's nothing to know." "We come here from Buckingham County." "Well, ma'am, would you mind if we wait around and talk with your boy?" "He'll be gone all day." "Now you go on and get out of here." "Go on and leave me alone!" "Well..." "Guess we'll just have to look for him ourselves." "Well, I must say I have presided at livelier meals." "A little quiet is good for the soul." "You and Ep find anything up at that cabin?" " Mrs. Hadley has a son." " Did you see him?" " She's hiding him." " What's Ep gonna do about it?" "How Ep Bridges ever got to be sheriff, I'll never know." "He's so slow that you have to look twice to see him move." "He has no cause to arrest anyone, Ma." "Did he chase you, Jim-Bob?" "We didn't give him the chance." " We got out as fast as we could." " Yeah." "I'm the one that ought to have him locked up." "It's on account of him I'm not selling any tickets to the dance." "Well, if you don't have it after all the work we did decorating that hall," "I'll hate you, Jason." "I've got to have it." "I promised Ike." "I promised three musicians from school who are coming here tonight to practice." "And I've only sold four tickets." "Well, I tried, Jason." "I've been all over." "I'm gonna be in debt for the rest of my life." "I have 37 cents you can borrow." "Great, you can come and see me when I'm in jail for bankruptcy." "Why don't you stop?" "Nobody's going to throw you in jail." " Somebody's gonna throw me someplace." " Yeah." "Great." "That's the fellows in the band." "I wish you'd never come up with this dumb idea, anyway." "There was nothing wrong with the idea." "And don't holler at me, all right?" "Jason, where are you going?" "Out to the barn to practice." "We can't play in here." "Last week he was sitting on top of the world." "Hey, Jason, how're we gonna practice out here without a piano?" "I'll just fake it on guitar." "We'll have a piano when we get down there, though, so it'll be all right." " Okay." " Yeah." "Shuffle Off To Buffalo?" "Okay." "Let's take it from the top." "A one, a two, a one, two, three." " I'm sorry about that." " That was a little off." "Yeah." "Let's try it again from the top." "Everybody ready?" "Got your high hat adjusted?" " Yeah." " Okay." "A one, a two, a one, two, three." "Hey, that's him!" "Hey, I want to talk to you." "Hey!" "What's going on?" "Who is that?" "Jason?" "Why don't you say something?" "What's going on here?" "Who are you?" "What's the matter, can't you talk?" "He hasn't said anything." "You're scared to death." "This boy wouldn't hurt anybody." "Grandma, he can hear you." "Cookies and milk." "Come on, sit down." "So that's your vicious night-stalking monster." " Where is he?" " He's in there." "Lorin, did you get yourself hurt?" "We're truly sorry, Mrs. Hadley." "Lorin startled the boys and they chased him." "Had to happen sooner or later." "He's all I got." "His daddy run off somewhere." "Eighteen years old now." "Mute from the day he was born." "They treated him bad in Little Creek." "That's why we come to the country, to get away from the torment." "To find some peace." "Living's been hard." "If he stole food, I'll try the best I can to repay you." "That's the onliest thing he knows how to do, is weave." "And make the sound of birds." "I know a couple of wicker chairs he could do wonders for." "Remarkable." "Truly remarkable." "Sister, if Lorin would be willing to repair them all, we could furnish this whole room with wicker." "I do love wicker." "It's so comfortable." "And it has such style." "Don't you think so, Lorin?" "Caruso liked that." "And you thought this dance was going to be a big failure." "Well, the word sure got around." "Everybody's out." "Aren't you lucky to have a smart brother?" "Well, I always told you that Jason was smart." " I was talking about me." " I know you were." "Where are all those handsome men you were talking about?" "Well, I'm dancing with one." "Well." "Thank you very much." "You sure we're welcome?" "Of course." "Welcome." "No charge." "It's on the management." "I'm glad you could come." "Lorin Hadley became a valued member of our community, and his skills supported his mother and himself from that day on." "Jason didn't get rich from that dance at Godsey's Hall, but it did provide an unforgettable milestone in our memories of those lean but wonderful years." "Why do girls like dancing better than boys?" "Because girls are more romantic." "Well, is a boy supposed to talk to a girl when they're dancing?" "You're supposed to whisper in her ear." " Nobody does that." " Daddy does." " He does not." " Yes, he does." "What does he say, Mama?" "Good night." "English"