h.

"Never once. I been floating peacefully along with these here titled
friends of mine; but I was some anxious about you, son."

"And Mr. Slosson, Uncle Bob--did you smack him like you smacked Dave
Blount that day when he tried to steal me?" asked Hannibal, whose
childish sense of justice demanded reparation for the wrongs they had
suffered.

Mr. Yancy extended a big right hand, the knuckle of which was skinned
and bruised.

"He were the meanest man I ever felt obliged fo' to hit with my fist,
Nevvy; it appeared like he had teeth all over his face."

"Sho--where's his hide, Uncle Bob?" cried the little Cavendishes in
an excited chorus. "Sho--did you forget that?" They themselves had
forgotten the unique enterprise to which Mr. Yancy was committed, but
the allusion to Slosson had revived their memory of it.

"Well, he begged so piteous to be allowed fo' to keep his hide, I hadn't
the heart to strip it off," explained Mr. Yancy pleasantly. "And the
winter's comin' onat this moment I can feel a chill in the air--don't
you-all reckon he's goin' to need it fo' to keep the cold out,' Sho',
you mustn't be bloody-minded!"

"What was it about Mr. Slosson's hide, Uncle Bob?" demanded Hannibal.
"What was you a-goin' to do to that?"

"Why, Nevvy, after he beat me up and throwed me in the river, I was some
peevish fo' a spell in my feelings fo' him," said Yancy, in a tone of
gentle regret. He glanced at his bruised hand. "But I'm right pleased
to be able to say that I've got over all them oncharitable thoughts of
mine."

"And you seen the judge, Uncle Bob?" questioned Hannibal.

"Yes, I've seen the judge. We was together fo' part of a day. Me and him
gets on fine."

"Where is he now, Uncle Bob?"

"I reckon he's back at Belle Plain by this time. You see we left him
in Raleigh along after noon to 'tend to some business he had on hand. I
never seen a gentleman of his weight so truly spry on his legs--and all
about you, Nevvy; while as to mind! Sho--why, words flowed out of him as
naturally as water out of a branch."

Of Hannibal's relationship to the judge he said nothing. He felt that
was a secret to be revealed by the judge himself when he should see fit.

"Uncle Bob, who'm I going to live with now?" questioned Hannibal
anxiously.

"That p'int's already come up, Nevvy--him and me's decided that there
won't be no friction. You-all will just go on living with him."

"But what about you, Uncle Bob?" cried Hannibal