nto a ball, it took
the shape of footsteps and a confused murmur of voices. On it swept.
They were passing the house, would pass it, away into the darkness and
silence again. Whither?

She rose to her feet and hurried to the door. She groped for the knob
and stumbled blindly out upon the porch. The sudden glare of the
moonlight dazzled her and she could only make out dimly a little knot
of black shadows moving along the pavement past the gate. There was a
confused murmur of voices as of several persons trying to make
themselves heard at once, and yet be quiet about it. As she watched,
tried to get her eyes to focus, the little group passed on and was
gone.

She walked slowly to the gate and stood there looking into the
darkness after it. Gradually she was recovering her sight; sounds
sprang up, little normal sounds, and she began to feel cold. She
turned and was about to go back to the house when the echo of
footsteps again caught her ear, and she waited.

It was a single person, apparently in a great hurry. She could hear
him shuffling and stumbling along. She peered down the street into the
darkness and directly could distinguish the shadow of a man hurrying
toward her. On he came. He passed the fence corner--now he had reached
the tree with the big fork--he was passing the gate. She saw it was
Zeke.

"What's going on?" she called to him.

He started, stopped, and then came over to the gate.

"Mist' Burrus's bahn done cave in," he said, the whites of his eyes
gleaming at her in the darkness.

The sound of his voice cheered her greatly. She felt suddenly so
relieved that it was with difficulty that she kept herself from
laughing out loud. "How do you mean? It didn't fall down of itself?"

"Yas'm, hit did. Hit's de waehouse. Folks say he done load hit up too
full and hit plum' give out." His voice sounded excited.

"Anybody hurt?" She was beginning to enjoy it all, feeling exhilarated
over the drama of it.

"Mist' Joe--Mist' Joe Hoopah. He done fell offen de bridge into de
ditch. Speck he done broke his laig."

She caught her breath.

"Dey done sen' me to git my cah. Said dey would lemme ketch up wid
'em. But Lawsy, de cah won' run."

"Was that him they were carrying past the house?" she managed to ask.

"Yas'm, I reckon. Dey aim to take him to Mis' Mosby's. Reckon I better
hurry on."

She reached over and seized him by the coat. "Was he much hurt? Did he
seem much hurt?"

"Well, yas'm. No'm. Leas