do next?" I asked the old fellow as
he paused with a whimsical little nod of satisfaction at his wisdom.

"I went home, suh," he said. "I heah on de way dat P'laski had sho
'nough done crownt Bob Sibly's gal, Lizzy Susan, wid de ring, an' dat he
wuz gwine to Wash'n'n, but wuz done come home to git some things b'f
o' he went; so I come straight 'long behinst him jes swif' as my foot
could teck me. I didn' was'e much time," he said, with some pride, "'cuz
he had done mighty nigh come gittin' me shot. I jes stop long 'nough to
cut me a bunch o' right keen hick'ries, an' I jes come 'long shakin' my
foot. When I got to my house I ain' fine nobody dyah but Lucindy--dat
ve'y ooman dyah"--pointing his long stick at her--"an' I lay my
hick'ries on de bed, an' ax her is she see P'laski. Fust she meek out
dat she ain' heah me, she so induschus; I nuver see her so induschus;
but when I meck 'quiration agin she bleeged to answer me, an' she 'spon'
dat she 'ain' see him; 'cuz she see dat my blood wuz up, an' she know
dee wuz trouble 'pendin' for P'laski. Dat worry me might'ly, an' I say,
'Lucindy, ef you is done meck dat boy resent hisself f'om heah, you is
done act like a po' white folks' nigger,' I say, 'an' you's got to beah
de depravity o' his transgression.' When I tolt her dat she nuver got
mad, 'cuz she know she air not quality like me an' Marth' Ann; but she
'pear right smartly disturbed, an' she 'clar' she ain' lay her eyes on
P'laski. She done 'clar' so partic'lar I mos' inclin' to b'lieve her;
but all on a suddent I heah some 'n' sneeze, 'Quechew!' De soun' come f
om onder de bed, an' I jes retch over an' gether in my bunch o'
hick'ries, an' I say, 'Come out!' Lucindy say, 'Dat's a cat'; an' I say,
'Yes,' I say, 'hit's a cat I gwine skin, too.'

"I jes stoop down, an' peep onder de bed, an', sho 'nough, dyah wuz
P'laski squinch up onder dyah, cane an' seegar an' all, jes like a ole
hyah in a trap. I ketch him by de leg, an' juck him out, an'--don' you
know, suh, dat ooman had done put _my_ shut on dat boy, an' wuz
gettin' ready to precipitate him in flight! I tolt her it wuz p'intedly
oudacious for her an' her son, after he had done stolt ole Mis' Taine
weddin'-ring, to come to my own house an' rob me jes like I wuz a
hen-roos'!"

"What reply did she make to that?" I asked, to facilitate his narrative.

"She 'ain' possessed no reply to dat indictment," he said, pompously.
"She glad by dat time to remit me to terminate m