The Aftermath

The silence was finally ended by Smiles crying out bitterly, "Oh, Doctor
Mac, I can't understand why grandfather pulled that trigger, and shot
dear little Mike. He saw him spring at Judd."

"It wasn't in any wise his fault, dear heart. He could not possibly have
helped it. You see our brains are telegraph stations from which the
nerves run like wires, carrying messages to all the different parts of
our bodies. Big Jerry had sent a command to his finger, ordering it to
pull the trigger, and the muscles had started to obey. The second
message countermanding the first--quick as it was--came too late to halt
the purely muscular action; that is all."

"Another good evening, my friends," came a cheery voice, and the
mountain minister approached out of the shadows, and joined them. "I am
just back from a journey into the wilderness, like John the Baptist's,
and ... Why, what's wrong? Do I see the ghost of a sorrow sitting amid
this group, which should be so happy?"

"Oh, Mr. Talmadge," cried Rose, jumping up and stepping to his side as
he paused. "Many ghosts are here to-night. I think that you took God
away with you on your journey, for His spirit has not been in Webb's Gap
this afternoon."

"Tell me, what has happened, my dear?" he answered quietly, as he seated
himself within the circle.