Chapter 5

Here I shall quote you again from the diary of Uncle Eb. 'It was so
dark I couldn't see a han' before me. "Don't p'int yer gun at me," the
man whispered. Thought 'twas funny he could see me when I
couldn't see him. Said 'twas his home an' we'd better leave. Tol
him I was sick (rumatiz) an' couldn't stir. Said he was sorry an'
come over near us. Tol' him I was an' ol' man goin' west with a
small boy. Stopped in the rain. Got sick. Out o' purvisions. 'Bout
ready t' die. Did'n know what t' do. Started t' stike a match an' the
man said don't make no light cos I don't want to hev ye see my
face. Never let nobody see my face. Said he never went out 'less
'twas a dark night until folks was abed. Said we looked like good
folks. Scairt me a little cos we couldn't see a thing. Also he said
don't be 'fraid of me. Do what I can fer ye.'

I remember the man crossed the creaking floor and sat down near
us after he had parleyed with Uncle Eb awhile in whispers. Young
as I was I keep a vivid impression of that night and, aided by the
diary of Uncle Eb, I have made a record of what was said that is, in
the main, accurate.

'Do you know where you are?' he enquired presently, whispering as
he had done before.

'I've no idee,' said Uncle Eb.

'Well, down the hill is Paradise Valley in the township o' Faraway,'
he continued. 'It's the end o' Paradise Road an' a purty country.
Been settled a long time an' the farms are big an' prosperous - kind
uv a land o' plenty. That big house at the foot o' the hill is Dave
Brower's. He's the richest man in the valley.'

'How do you happen t' be livin' here? - if ye don't min' tellin' me,'
Uncle Eb asked.

'Crazy,' said he; "fraid uv everybody an' everybody's 'fraid o' me.
Lived a good long time in this way. Winters I go into the big
woods. Got a camp in a big cave an' when I'm there I see a little
daylight. Here 'n the clearin' I'm only up in the night-time. Thet's
how I've come to see so well in the dark. It's give me cat's eyes.'

'Don't ye git lonesome?' Uncle Eb asked.

'Awful - sometimes,' he answered with a sad sigh, 'an' it seems
good t' talk with somebody besides myself. I get enough to eat
generally. There are deer in the woods an' cows in the fields, ye
know, an' potatoes an' corn an' berries an' apples, an' all thet kind o'
thing. Then I've got my traps in the woods where I ketch
partridges, an' squirrels an' coons an' all the meat I need. I've got a
place in the thick timber t' do my cookin' - all I want t' do - in the
middle of the night Sometimes I come here an' spend a day in the
garret if I'm caught in a storm or if I happen to stay a little too late
in the valley. Once in a great while I meet a man somewhere in the