"Hello!"
"Come down here and show me where to drive."
The man plunged from the beach into the surf, and Trescott could then
only trace his course by the fervid and polite ejaculations of a host
who was somewhere approaching. Presently Williams took the mare by the
head, and uttering cries of welcome and scolding the swarming dogs,
led the equipage towards the lights. When they halted at the door and
Trescott was climbing out, Williams cried, "Will she stand, docteh?"
"She'll stand all right, but you better hold her for a minute. Now,
Henry." The doctor turned and held both arms to the dark figure. It
crawled to him painfully like a man going down a ladder. Williams took
the mare away to be tied to a little tree, and when he returned he
found them awaiting him in the gloom beyond the rays from the door.
He burst out then like a siphon pressed by a nervous thumb. "Hennery!
Hennery, ma ol' frien'. Well, if I ain' glade. If I ain' glade!"
Trescott had taken the silent shape by the arm and led it forward into
the full revelation of the light. "Well, now, Alek, you can take Henry
and put him to bed, and in the morning I will--"
Near the end of this sentence old Williams had come front to front
with Johnson. He gasped for a second, and then yelled the yell of a
man stabbed in the heart.
For a fraction of a moment Trescott seemed to be looking for epithets.
Then he roared: "You old black chump! You old black--Shut up! Shut up!
Do you hear?"
Williams obeyed instantly in the matter of his screams, but he
continued in a lowered voice: "Ma Lode amassy! Who'd ever think? Ma
Lode amassy!"
Trescott spoke again in the manner of a commander of a battalion.
"Alek!"
The old negro again surrendered, but to himself he repeated in a
whisper, "Ma Lode!" He was aghast and trembling.
As these three points of widening shadows approached the golden
doorway a hale old negress appeared there, bowing. "Good-evenin',
docteh! Good-evenin'! Come in! come in!" She had evidently just
retired from a tempestuous struggle to place the room in order, but
she was now bowing rapidly. She made the effort of a person swimming.
"Don't trouble yourself, Mary," said Trescott, entering. "I've brought
Henry for you to take care of, and all you've got to do is to carry
out what I tell you." Learning that he was not followed, he faced the
door, and said, "Come in, Henry."
Johnson entered. "Whee!" shrieked Mrs. Williams. She almost achieved a
back somersault. Six young members of the tribe of Williams made a
simultaneous plunge for a position behind the stove, and formed a
wailing heap.