"Superfine," replied Justice.
"Where from?" I inquired.
"Like Shelley's immortal soul," replied Justice solemnly, "she cometh
from afar. She cometh to study Rural School Conditions--sent out by some
Commission or other. She's likely to visit your school. Thought I'd tell
you ahead of time so you'd manage to be on the premises when the
delegation arrived. She might object to hunting through the woods for
you." Here we were both overcome with laughter at the remembrance of the
last "visitation" of the school board.
"I can't figure out yet why I wasn't fired," said I, flicking a sociable
spider off my lap with the stem of a leaf. "I would have been willing to
bet my eyebrows on it that night. What made them change their minds, I
wonder?"
"Maybe it was because they hated to lose the bargain," answered Justice,
half to himself.
"Hated to lose what bargain?" I asked innocently. Then suddenly I
understood.
"Justice Sherman!" I exclaimed, starting up. "Did you threaten to leave
if they discharged me?"
Justice turned crimson and became reticent. "Well, I don't know as I
threatened them exactly," he replied in a soothing drawl. "I don't look
very threatening, now, do I?"
"Oh, Justice," was all I could say, for at the thought of what he had
done for me I was stricken dumb.
Verily the power of the Bargain was great in the land!
The pageant grew under our hands until it assumed really respectable
proportions. The girls and boys were wild about it and drilled tirelessly
by the hour.
"I wish we had a better parade ground," sighed Justice regretfully,
squinting at the small level plot of ground in front of the schoolhouse
that was worn bare of grass. "We haven't room to make a really effective
showing with our drill. If only the old schoolhouse wasn't in the way we
could use the space that's behind it and on both sides of it."
It was then that I had one of my old-time, wild inspirations. "Move the
schoolhouse back," I said calmly.
Justice shouted. "Why not roll up the road and set it down on the other
side of field?" he suggested.
"I don't see why we couldn't move the schoolhouse back," I repeated. "Why
not, if it's in the way? It's no ornament, anyway."
Half-amused, half-serious, Justice looked first at me and then at the
little one-story shack that went by the name of schoolhouse.
"By Jove! we can do it!" he exclaimed suddenly. "It'll be no trick at
all. Just get her up on rollers and hitch Sandhelo to the pulley rope and
let him wind her up. Just like that. An' zay say ze French have no sense
of ze delicasse!"
"What will the Board say?" I inquired, half fearfully.
"We won't ask the Board," replied Justice calmly. "Move first, ask for
orders afterwards, that's the way the great generals win battles.
Remember how General Sherman cut the wires between him and Washington
when he started out on his famous march to the sea, so that no
short-sighted one could wire him to change his plans? Well, we're out to
make this pageant a success, and we aren't going to risk it by stopping
to ask too much permission. We'll move the schoolhouse first and ask
permission afterward. By that time it'll be too late; the pageant is
to-morrow."
And we did move it. If you had ever seen us! It wasn't such a job as you
might think. I suppose the word "schoolhouse" conjures up in your mind
the brick and granite pile that is Washington High--imagine moving that
out of the way to make room for a military drill! 'Vantage number one for
our school. We also have our points of superiority, it seems.
The old shack looked vastly better where we finally let it rest. There
was a clump of bushes alongside that hid some of its battered boards
beautifully. The parade ground seemed about three times as big as it had
been before.
"That's more like it," said Justice approvingly. "Now we can turn around
without stubbing our toes against the schoolhouse."
"What will Mr. Butts say?" I asked, beginning to have cold chills.
"Just wait until that gets between the wind and his nobility!" chuckled
Justice. "Never mind, I'll take all the blame."
Nevertheless, when the crisis came, and Elijah Butts came driving up on
the afternoon of the great occasion, I was there to face the music alone,
Justice being nowhere in sight.
Mr. and Mrs. Butts arrived in state, bringing with them a strange lady,
who I figured out must be the one Justice had told me about, the one who,
like Shelley's immortal soul, had come from afar and was sent by a
Commission to study rural school conditions.
I glanced wildly about to see if Justice were not hovering protectingly
near, but there was no sign of him. However, I knew my duties as hostess.
Nonchalantly I strolled over to the road to welcome the newcomers. Elijah
Butts had just finished tying his horse and, bristling with importance,
had turned to help the Commission Lady out of the rig.
"Ah-h, Miss Fairlee," he said in smooth tones, "this is--ah--Miss Adams,
our teacher at the Corners school."
Then he suddenly jumped half out of his boots and stared over my shoulder
as if he had seen a ghost. "Where's that schoolhouse?" he demanded, in a
voice which seemed to indicate he thought I had it in my pocket.
"It's right over there," I said calmly, pointing toward the bushes.
Elijah Butts' eyes followed my fingers in a fascinated way; he could
hardly believe his senses. "How did it get there?" he demanded.
"We moved it back," I replied casually. "It was in the way of the
maneuvers."
Elijah Butts sputtered, choked, and was speechless.
But Miss Fairlee, the Commission lady, laughed until she had to grip the
side of the buggy for support. "It's the funniest thing I ever heard,"
she gasped. "I've heard of the Mountain coming to Mahomet, but I never
heard of the Mountain getting out of the road for Mahomet. Oh, Mr. Butts,
I think the West is delightful. You people are _so_ original and
forceful!"
That took the wind out of Mr. Butts' sails. What could he do after that
neat little speech but take the compliment to himself and pass the matter
off lightly?
The pageant was a wonderful success in spite of my misgivings. I didn't
forget to hand the torch to Columbia at the right moment and I didn't
forget to bring the brown stockings for little Lizzie Cooper, who was the
Spirit of Nature, and I made fire with the bow and drill without any
mishap. But one thing was a dreadful disappointment to me. Absalom Butts
was not there, and I had no chance to work out my experiment on him.
Where he was I couldn't imagine. I had taken Clarissa home with me the
night before to help me finish some things and she hadn't seen him since
he went home from school; Mr. Butts also said he didn't know. He added,
in a voice loud enough for Miss Fairlee to hear, that he would lick the
tar out of him for not being in the patriotic pageant.
No one knew that I had picked Absalom in my mind to raise the flag. There
had been much speculation about who was to have this honor and in order
to keep everybody happy I said I would not announce this until the moment
came. Then I planned to make a speech and award the honor to Absalom,
thus singling him out for something besides punishment for once in his
life. I had had him helping me for several days, and given him certain
definite things to do on the great occasion and was much disappointed
that he didn't come to do them. Justice's warning came back and I had an
uneasy feeling that he was in hiding somewhere, plotting mischief.
I had a real inspiration, though, in regard to the flag raising. In a
flowery speech I called upon Mr. Elijah Butts, the "President of the
School Board and the most influential man in Spencer Township," to
perform that rite. He swelled up until he almost burst, like the frog in
the fable, as he stood there, conscious of Miss Fairlee's eye on him,
with his great hairy hand on the pulley rope. Round the corner of the
schoolhouse and hidden from view by the bush, I caught Justice Sherman's
eye and he applauded silently with his two forefingers, meaning to say
that it was a master stroke on my part. Then he dropped his eye
decorously and started the singing of the National Anthem.
The pageant ended up in a picnic supper eaten on the erstwhile parade
ground, and then the people began to go home through the softly falling
dusk. Miss Fairlee came to me and complimented me on the success of the
pageant and asked to take some notes for future use; and Elijah Butts was
quite cordial as he departed. I've discovered something to-day; if you
want to win a person's undying affection, single him out as the most
important member of the bunch. He'll fall for it every time. You note
that I am talking about male persons, now.
"Well, the show's over," said Justice, when the last of the audience had
departed. "Now the actors can take it easy. Come on, let's get Sandhelo
and go for a ride."
We climbed into the little cart, still covered with its pageant finery,
and drove slowly down the dusty road, discussing the events of the day.
"O Justice," said I, "did you ever see anything so touching as the pride
some of those poor women took in their boys and girls? They fairly
glowed, some of them. And did you see that one poor woman who tried to
fix herself up for the occasion? She had nothing to wear but her faded
old blue calico dress, but she had pinned a bunch of roses on the front
of it to make herself look festive."
"We've started something, I think," said Justice thoughtfully. "We've
taught the people how to get together and have a good time, and they like
it. They'll be doing it again."
"I hope so," I replied. Then I added, "I wonder where Absalom was?"
"You see, your scheme didn't work after all," said Justice, in an
I-told-you-so tone of voice. "Absalom wasn't impressed with the honor of
being your right-hand man. He took the occasion to play hookey. It's a
wonder he didn't try to play some trick on the rest of us; but I suppose
he didn't dare, with his father there. He's afraid to draw a crooked
breath when the old man's around."
"I'm disappointed," I said pensively, leaning my head back and letting
the cool wind blow the hair away from my face. It had been a strenuous
day and I was tired out. The strain of being afraid every minute that I
would do something ridiculous or had left something undone that was of
vital importance had nearly turned my hair grey. Now that it was all over
without mishap, the people had enjoyed it and my Camp Fire girls had
covered themselves with glory, I relaxed into a delicious tranquillity
and gave myself over to enjoyment of the quiet drive in the sweet evening
air.
"Why so deucedly pensive?" inquired Justice, after we had jogged along
for some minutes in silence.
"Just thanking whatever gods there be that I didn't make a holy show of
myself somehow," I replied lazily. "Isn't this evening peaceful, though?
Who would ever think that down around the other side of this sweet
smelling earth men are killing each other like flies, and the night is
hideous with the din of warfare?"
Above us the big white stars twinkled serenely, approvingly; all nature
seemed in tune with my placid mood. Justice fell under the spell of it,
too, and leaned back in silent enjoyment.
What was that sudden glare that shone out against the sky, over to the
south? That red, lurid glare that dimmed the glory of the stars and threw
buildings and barns into black relief?
"The cotton storehouse!" exclaimed Justice in a horrified voice. "Hurry!"
For once Sandhelo responded to my urging without argument, and we soon
arrived on the scene of the blaze. Elijah Butts' plantation is about
three miles from Spencer, and no water but the well and the cistern.
"This is going to be a nice mess," said Justice, jumping out of the car
and charging into the throng of gaping negroes who stood around watching
the spectacle. The family of Butts had not returned from the pageant yet,
having taken Miss Fairlee for a drive in the opposite direction. A few
neighbors had gathered, but they stood there, gaping like the negroes and
not lifting a hand to save the cotton.
"Here you, get busy!" shouted Justice, taking command like a general.
Under his direction a bucket brigade was formed to check the flames as
much as possible and keep the surrounding sheds from taking fire. "Go
through the barn and bring out the horses and cows, if there are any
there," he called to me.
I obeyed, and brought out one poor trembling bossy, the only livestock I
found. Then Justice turned the command of the bucket brigade over to me
and started in with one or two helpers to remove the cotton from the end
of the storehouse that was not yet ablaze. He worked like a Trojan, his
face blackened with smoke until it was hard to tell him from the negroes,
the remains of his pageant costume hanging about him in tatters.
"Somebody started this fire on purpose," he panted as he paused beside me
a moment to clear his lungs of smoke. "There's been oil poured on the
cotton!"
Just at that moment the Butts family returned, driving into the yard at a
gallop. Mr. Butts' wrath and excitement knew no bounds and he was hardly
able to help effectively; he ran around for all the world like a chicken
with its head off. Assistance came swiftly as people began to arrive from
far and near, attracted by the blaze, but if it hadn't been for Justice's
timely taking hold of the situation not a bit of the cotton would have
been saved, and the house, barn and sheds would have gone up, too.
Conjectures began to fly thick and fast on all sides as to how the fire
had started, and a whisper began going the rounds that soon became an
open accusation. One of the negroes that works for Mr. Butts swore he saw
Absalom going into the storehouse that afternoon. My heart skipped a
beat. He had not been at the celebration. Was this where he had been and
what he had done the while? Elijah Butts was stamping up and down in such
a fury as I had never seen.
"He couldn't get out!" he shouted hoarsely to the group that stood around
him. "He's locked in the woodshed, I locked him in there myself, and
there isn't even a window he could get out of!"
I started at his words. So that was where Absalom had been that
afternoon. He hadn't deliberately disappointed me, then. But--Elijah
Butts hadn't said that afternoon that he had locked Absalom up at home.
He had pretended to be much mystified over the non-appearance of his son.
Why had he done so? The answer came in a flash of intuition. Elijah Butts
had probably had a set-to with Absalom over some private affair and had
locked him up as punishment, but he didn't want Miss Fairlee to know that
he had kept him out of the patriotic pageant and so he had denied any
knowledge of Absalom's whereabouts. "The old hypocrite!" I said to myself
scornfully.
"Your woodshed's wide open," said someone from the crowd. "We were in
there looking for a bucket. The door was open and there wasn't nobody in
it."
"He got out!" shouted Elijah Butts in still greater fury. "He got out and
set fire to the cotton to spite me! Wait until I catch him! Wait till I
get my hands on him!" He stamped up and down, shouting threats against
his son, awful to listen to.
"I thought he'd drive that boy to turn against him yet," said Justice,
drawing me away to a quiet spot, and mopping his black forehead with a
damp handkerchief. "I can't say but that it served him right. After all,
Absalom is a chip off the old block. That's his idea of getting even. He
didn't stop to think that it was the government's loss as well as his
father's. Well, it's all over but the shouting; we might as well go
home."
We drove home in silence. Justice was tuckered out, I could see that, and
I began to worry for fear his strenuous efforts would lay him up. I was
still too much excited to feel tired. That would come later. All my
energy was concentrated into disappointment over Absalom Butts. I
couldn't believe that he was really as bad as this. I didn't want to
believe he had done it, and yet it seemed all too true. Why had he run
away if he hadn't? I shook my head. It was beyond me.
Silently we drove into the yard and unhitched Sandhelo.
"Good night," said Justice, starting off in the direction of his cabin.
"Good night," I replied absently. I did not go right into the house. I
was wide awake and knew I could not go to sleep for some time. Instead I
sat in the doorway and blinked at the moon, like a touseled-haired owl.
It was after midnight and everything was still, even the wind. Out of the
corner of my eye I watched Justice wearily plodding along to his sleeping
quarters, saw him open the screen door and vanish from sight within.
Then, borne clearly on the night air, I heard an exclamation come from
his lips, then a frightened cry. I sped down the path like the wind to
the little cabin. A lamp flared out in the darkness just as I reached it
and by its light I saw Justice bending over something in a corner.
"What's the matter?" I called through the screen door.
Justice turned around with a start. "Oh, it's you, is it?" he said. "Come
in here."
I went in. There, crouched in a corner on the floor, was Absalom Butts,
his eyes blinking in the sudden light, his face like a scared rabbit's.
It was he who had cried out, not Justice.
"What's the trouble, Absalom," said I, trying to speak in a natural tone
of voice, "can't you find your way home?"
"Dassent go home," replied Absalom.
"Why not?"
"Pa'll kill me."
"What for?"
"Because I ran away."
"So you've run away, have you?" said I. "Why?"
"Because pa licked me and locked me in the woodshed and wouldn't let me
come to the doin's this afternoon, and I just wouldn't stand it, so I got
out and cut."
"When did you get out?" I asked, leaning forward a trifle.
"This afternoon," replied Absalom. "I thought first I'd come to the
doin's anyhow and help you with those things I'd promised, but I was
scared to come with pa there, so I went the other way. I walked and
walked and walked, till I was tired out and most starved, because I
hadn't brought anything along to eat, and I didn't know where I was
headed for, anyway, and then I came along here and saw this shack and
came in and sat down to rest. I must a fell asleep."
"You didn't do it, then?" said I, eagerly.
"Do what?" Absalom's tone was plainly bewildered.
"Set fire to your father's cotton storehouse."
"Whee-e-e-e-e!" Absalom's whistle of astonishment was clearly genuine. "I
should say not!"
"Do you know who did?" asked Justice, watching him keenly.
"_Did_ somebody?" asked Absalom innocently.
"I should say they did," said Justice, puzzled in his turn. "Are you sure
you don't know anything about it?"
Absalom shook his head vigorously. "I don't know anything about it," he
said straightforwardly.
"I was sure you didn't do it," I said triumphantly. "I had a feeling in
my bones."
"How does it happen that you weren't at the fire?" asked Justice
wonderingly. "You must have seen the glare in the sky. People came for
miles around. Didn't you see it?"
Absalom shook his head. "I must a slept through it," he said simply, and
followed it with such a large sigh of regret for what he had missed that
Justice and I both had to smile.
"Well, there's one thing about it," said Justice, "and that is, if you
_didn't_ set fire to it, you'd better streak it for home about as fast as
you can and clear yourself up. Everybody thinks you did it and your
running away made it look suspicious. Besides, one of your father's men
says he saw you coming out of the storehouse this afternoon. By the way,
what _were_ you doing in there?"
Absalom met his gaze unwaveringly. "Me? Why, I went in there to get my
knife, that I'd left in there yesterday. I couldn't go away without my
knife, could I?" He pulled it from his pocket and gazed on it fondly,--an
ugly old "toad stabber."
"See here, you weren't smoking any cigarettes in there, and dropped a
lighted stub, perhaps?" asked Justice.
"No," replied Absalom, "I wasn't smokin' to-day. I do sometimes, though,"
he admitted.
"Well, you don't seem to be the villain, after all," said Justice, "and
I'm mighty glad to hear it. So will a lot of people be. Things looked
pretty bad for you this afternoon, Absalom."
"Honest?" asked Absalom. "Do folks really think I set fire to it? What
did pa say?"
Justice laughed. "What he isn't going to do to you when he catches you
won't be worth doing," he said.
Absalom began to look apprehensive. "I'm afraid to go back," he said.
"What are you afraid of, if you didn't do it?" asked Justice.
"Pa wouldn't believe me," said Absalom nervously.
"Oh, I guess he'll believe you all right," I said soothingly.
"You go with me," begged Absalom, eyeing us both beseechingly. "He'll
believe you. He never believes me."
"Maybe we had better," said I. "He can stay here with you the rest of the
night and we'll drive over the first thing in the morning."
The next morning bright and early found us again on the scene of the
fire. Early as we were, we found Elijah Butts poking in the ashes of his
cotton crop with a wrathful countenance. When he saw us coming he strode
to meet us and without a word laid hold of Absalom's collar. His
expression was like that of a fox who has caught his goose after many
hours of waiting.
"I've got you, you rascal," he sputtered, shaking Absalom until his teeth
chattered. "Where did you find him?" he demanded of Justice.
"In my bunk," replied Justice, laying a hand on Mr. Butts' arm and trying
to separate him from his son. "He had been there all evening, and knew
nothing about the fire. He didn't do it."
"Didn't do it!" shouted Mr. Butts. "Don't tell me he didn't do it. Of
course he did it! Who else did?"
We weren't prepared to answer.
"I'm sure Absalom didn't do it, Mr. Butts," said Justice earnestly. "I'd
stake a whole lot on it."
"Well, I wouldn't, you can better believe!" answered Mr. Butts. "He did
it, and I'm going to take it out of him." He began to march Absalom off
toward the house, urging him along with a box on the ear that nearly
felled him to the ground.
Justice did it so quickly that I never will be able to tell just what it
was, but in a minute there stood Elijah Butts rubbing his wrist and
wearing the most surprised look I ever saw on the face of a man, and
there sat Absalom on the ground half a dozen yards away.
"Beat it back to our shack, Absalom," called Justice. "I guess the
climate's a little too hot around here for you just yet."
Absalom needed no second bidding. He sped down the road away from his
paternal mansion as if the whole German army was after him.
"When you can treat your son like a human being he'll come back," said
Justice to Mr. Butts.
"He don't need to come back," said Mr. Butts sourly, but with fury
carefully toned down. Justice's use of an uncanny Japanese wrestling
trick to wrench Absalom out of his vise-like grasp had created a vast
respect in him. He wasn't quite sure what Justice was going to do next,
and eyed him warily for a possible attack in the rear. "He don't need to
come back," he mumbled stubbornly, "until he either says he did it and
takes what's coming to him, or finds out who did do it." Growling to
himself he went toward the house and we drove off to overtake Absalom.
"Daggers and dirks!" exclaimed Justice. "Old Butts sure is some knotty
piece of timber to drive screws into!"
It was a rather dejected trio that Sandhelo, frisking in the morning air,
carried back to the house. Justice, I could see, was trying to figure out
by calculus the probable result of having jiu-jitsu-ed the president of
the school board; I was sorry for Absalom and Absalom was sorry for
himself. Once I caught him looking at me pleadingly.
"_You_ don't think I done it?" he asked anxiously.
"Not for a minute!" I answered heartily, smiling into his eyes.
He looked down, in a shame-faced way, and then he suddenly put his arm
around my neck. "I'm sorry I treated you so horrid," he murmured. Think
of it! Absalom, the bully, the one-time bane of my existence, the fly in
the ointment, riding down the road with his arm around my neck, and me
standing up for him against the world! Don't things turn out queerly,
though? Who would ever have thought it possible, six months ago?
Absalom and I had quite a few long talks in the days that followed. He
confided to me his hatred of lessons and his ambition to raise horses.
Father let him help him as much as he liked, and promised him a job on
the place any time he wanted it. Absalom seemed utterly transformed. He
fooled around the horses day and night and showed a knack of handling
them that proved beyond a doubt that he had chosen his profession wisely.
I did not insist upon his going to school and was glad I hadn't; for in a
day or two came the "visitation" of the Board, bringing Miss Fairlee to
see my school.
She was absolutely enchanted with the way we conducted things; gasped
with astonishment at the graphophone and the lantern slides; exclaimed in
wonder at the library; listened approvingly to the reading lesson, which
was from one of the current magazines; partook generously of our dinner,
cooked and served in the most approved style, and laughed heartily at the
stunts we did afterward by way of entertainment. I took a naughty
satisfaction in showing off my changed curriculum for her approval and
watching the effect it had on the august Board members. None of them knew
exactly what I had been doing all this time, and their amazement was
immense. Mr. Butts did not come with the board this time, so I was spared
the embarrassment of meeting him. Without him the rest of the Board were
like sheep that had gotten separated from the bell-wether; they didn't
know which direction to head into until Miss Fairlee expressed her
unqualified approval of my methods; then they all endorsed it
emphatically.
"I wish I were a pupil again, so I could have you for a teacher!" said
Miss Fairlee when school was out, and I considered that the highest
compliment I had ever received. I immediately invited her to attend our
Ceremonial Meeting that night and she accepted the invitation eagerly. We
held it on the old parade ground in front of the school. In honor of our
guest we acted out the pretty Indian legend of Kir-a-wa and the
Blackbirds and when we came to the place where we rush out looking for
the two crows we found two real ones sitting on the fence, only, instead
of attacking us as the ones did in the legend, these two applauded
vigorously. They were Justice and Absalom, come with Sandhelo and the
cart to take me home, or rather what was left of me after the blackbirds
had picked me to pieces.
"Another day gone without mishap!" I said, as Justice slid back the
stable door and I walked in with my arm around Sandhelo's neck. "Sandhelo
will have to have a lump of sugar and an extra soft bed to celebrate.
Come on, Sandy, let me tuck you in."
But Sandhelo would not enter his stall. He stuck his head in, sniffed the
air, and then, with a squeal that always heralds an outbreak of
temperament, he rose on his hind legs and began to dance.
"Whatever has gotten into him?" I began, tugging at his tail, which was
the nearest thing I could get my hand onto, when suddenly a wild shriek
rose up from under our very feet and in the dimness of the stall we saw
something roll over and crouch in a corner.
"Quick, the lantern!" said Justice.
But we couldn't find it.
Then from the depths of the stall there came a voice, crying in terrified
tones, "Don' take me, mister Debble; don' take me, mister Debble, I done
it, I done it; I set fiah to 'at ole cotton to get even with old Mister
Butts fer settin' de dawgs on me; I done it, I done it; go 'way, Mister
Debble, don' take me, I'll tell dem; only don' take me, Mister Debble!"
Justice and Absalom and I stood frozen to the spot, listening to this
remarkable outcry. Then Justice raised the lantern, which he just spied
on the floor, and lighting it held it in the stall. By its flickering
rays we saw a negro crouching in the corner, whose rolling eyes and
trembling limbs showed him to be beside himself with fright.
"Glory!" exclaimed Justice. "It's the same old bird we saw in the road
that day, the one I said looked like mischief!"
Here Sandhelo, nosing me aside, looked inquisitively over my shoulder and
the darky immediately went into another spasm of fright, covering his
face with his hands and imploring "Mister Debble" not to take him this
time.
"Whee-e-e-e-!" said Justice, whistling in his astonishment. "He's the one
that fired the cotton and now he thinks Sandhelo is the devil coming
after him!"
"Mercy, what an awful creature!" said I, shuddering and looking the other
way. "If Sandhelo gets a good look at him I'm afraid he'll return the
compliment about taking him for His Satanic Nibs."
"There's only one way you can keep him from getting you," said Justice to
the darky gravely. "That's by going to Mr. Butts and telling him yourself
that you did it. Otherwise, it's good-bye, Solomon."
Here Sandhelo, as if he understood what was going on, suddenly snapped at
the black legs stretched out across his stall.
"I'll tell him, I'll tell him!" shuddered Solomon, and with a prolonged
howl of terror he fled from the stable and down the road in the direction
of the Butts plantation.
"He'll tell him all right," chuckled Justice. "He'll face a dozen Elijah
Buttses, before he lets the devil get him. Poor Sandhelo! Rather rough on
him, though, to have his name used as a terror to evil doers!"
Talk about nothing ever happening around here! O you darling Winnebagos,
with your ladylike advantages, and your mildly eventful lives, you don't
know what real excitement is!
Worn out, but happily yours,
Katherine.