"Dat's de tall man hisself, sah, an' his dander's up. I knowed dese
Yankees in de war, an' I don't like 'em when dey's ris'. When I tole
him de colonel ain't home he look at me pizen-like, same as I was
a-lyin'; an' den he stop an' listen an' say he come back to-night.
Trouble comin'; old coon smells de dog. Wish we was home an' out ob
dis!"
I tried to divert his attention into other channels and to calm his
fears, assuring him that the colonel would come out all right; that
these enterprises were slow, etc.; but the old man only shook his head.
"You know, Major, same as me, dat de colonel ain't nuffin' but a chile,
an' about his bills he's _wuss_. But I'm yer, an' I'm 'sponsible.
'Chad,' he says, 'go out an' git six mo' bottles of dat old Madary;'
an' 'Chad, don't forgit de sweet ile;' an' 'Chad, is we got claret
enough to last ober Sunday?'--an' not a cent in de house. I ain't slep'
none for two nights, worritin' ober dis business, an' I'm mos' crazy."
I laid down my knife and fork and looked up.
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