war path more than
once. Let's see what they are doing now."

Scott had taken the banjo and was turning it over, looking at it. We saw
him take out a knife and then with a twang he cut the strings. "Good
Lawd!" exclaimed the negro, and his wife turned from the fire with a
look of sorrow and reproach, for the distressful sound had told her
accustomed ear that a calamity had befallen the instrument. "Now jest
look whut you done!" the negro cried, and his wife, wiping her hands on
her apron, looked at Scott Aimes and said: "Ef dat's de way you gwine
ack, I'll burn dis yere braid an' fling dis yere meat in de fire. Er
body workin' fur you ez hard ez I is, an' yere you come er doin' dat
way. It's er shame, sah, dat's whut it is. It's er plum shame, I doan
kere ef you is white an me black."

Scott roughly tossed the banjo into a corner and laughed. "Sounds a
blamed sight better in death than in life," said he.

"But who gwine pay fur dat death music?" the negro asked.

"Pay for it!" Scott turned fiercely upon the negro and Alf caught up his
gun. "Wait!" I whispered.

"Pay for it!" Scott raved. "Why you infernal old scoundrel, do we have
to pay every time we turn round? But we'll make it all right with you,"
he added, turning away; and Alf lowered his gun.

"I hopes ter de Lawd you will," said the woman, "fur we needs it bad
enough."

"You do?" Scott replied. "Well, you'd better be thankful that we don't
blow on you for sellin' whisky without license."

"Dar ain' no proof o' de fack dat I has sol' none ter-night," said the
old negro, shaking his head.

"What's that?" Scott demanded, wheeling round.

"Skuze me, sah, nothin' er tall. Jest er passin' de time o' de day,
sah."

"Didn't I tell you that we would pay you for everything we got?"

"Yas, sah, an' you's er generman, sah; yas, I thanks you fur gwinter pay
me."

"Yo' supper is done an' ef you'll jest gib me room I'll fix de table,"
the woman remarked, taking the bread off the griddle.

"I hear them coming!" Alf whispered. I looked round and saw them at the
fence. They had tied their horses in the woods. We stepped out from the
shadow and held up our hands to enjoin care.

"I'll go first, and you boys follow me," said the General, cocking his
pistol and letting the hammer down to see if it worked well.

"Oh, I reckon not," Lim Jucklin replied. "I'm older than you are and you
know it. Come on, boys."

"Older!" the General exclaimed, with such force that