Hahsie doctored in less'n two shakes
of a lamb's tail.'

"So dey puts Little Hahsie to bed, an' Ou' Jackalse turn everybody out
o' de room while he can 'xamine him. He look him over, an' he turn him
over, an' he feel him over, an' den--well den, Ou' Jackalse he wink at
Ole Hahsie, slow an' solemn, an' Ole Hahsie he wink at Ou' Jackalse half
a-grinnin'.

"`I tink you' back's pretty bad,' ses Ou' Jackalse. `I 'specs you'll
ha' to stop in bed dese nex' days or two, an' nice bits o' scoff to
tempt your appetite.'

"`Yes,' ses Hahsie. `A bit o' sugar cane or a water-millon now 'ud do
me pretty fine.'

"So Little Hahsie has to stop in bed for a week, an' all de time his
wife's a-grumblin' at him 'cause she has to wait on him, an tellin' him
she'll tell King Lion. An' Hahsie tells her she'd yust better do it,
dat's all. But all dis time he's s'posed to a-ketched sich a fair ole
cold dat he cahnt har'ly whisper, an' his back's dat bad he cahnt har'ly
bend it.

"Well, come de end o' de week an' King Lion 'gun to smell a rat.
`To-day you can go an' work in de to'acco lands,' ses he.

"Little Hahsie don't like dat, but he has to go an' git hold. He lifts
dat hoe, an' he look at dat row, an' he squint out on de grass alongside
an' see a nice round Aard-Vark hole. But he don't look de oder way,
else he'd a-seen King Lion hidin' hisse'f to watch him. `To'acco
hoein's worse'n watchin' cows,' ses Hahsie, as he bent his back an' put
his hoe to work.

"Now de day was yust de sort o' day for makin' you feel good, an' Hahsie
hadn't hoed ten yards 'fore he forgot all about everytin' but wishin' he
was out on de veldt. An' all de time King Lion in his hidin' place was
watchin' an' watchin' till at last he stick his head up an' shout
out--`Hahsie! Klein Hahsie!'

"`Here I is!' ses Hahsie, clear out an' yumpin' up, forgettin' dat cold
an' dat sore back he's s'posed to be sick wid.

"King Lion he ses yust one word--`Ho!' ses he, an' he make a forty mile
spring to ketch Ole Hahsie.

"An' Hahsie he ses on'y one word too--`Oh!' ses he, an' he make a fifty
mile dive for darie Aard-Vark hole, an' he drops down it out o' sight
yust as Ole King Lion claws de tail off him, all but de stump.

"`By jimminy! dat skellum!' ses King Lion outside.

"`Allah Crachty! dat close shave!' ses Hahsie inside.

"Well, King Lion he waited an' he waited, but it wahnt no use at all,
for Klein Hahsie he didn't wait two shakes, but he sets to w