ark and groped about for the bottle. His great form loomed large
above the bed as he handed it to the young man. "That's four," he said
soothingly. "Jest about one more'll fix ye."

The young man swallowed it almost grudgingly. He lay back upon the
pillow. "I can pay her the money sometime." His gaunt eyes were staring
into the dark. "But I can never make up to her for the way I treated
her."

"Mebbe she didn't mind," said Uncle William, non-committally. "Sometimes
they don't."

"Mind? She couldn't help minding. I was a fiend to her. I did everything
but strike her."

A smile grew, out of the dark, in Uncle William's face. "I was thinkin'
about that ol' chief," he said slowly--"the one that give me the pills.
I treated him--why, I treated him wuss 'n anything. 'Course, he wa'n't
like white folks; but I was fightin' crazy with the fever, not sick
enough to go to bed, but jest sittin' around and jawin' at things.
I dunno _how_ he come to take such a likin' to me. Might 'a' been on
account o' my size--we was about the same build. I'd set and jaw at him,
callin' him names. Don't s'pose he understood half of 'em, but he
could see plain enough I was spittin' mad. He'd kind o' edge up to me,
grinnin' like and noddin', and fust thing I knew, one day, he'd fetched
a pill and made me take it. I was mad enough to 'a' killed him easy, but
'fore I could get up to do it, I fell asleep somehow. And when I woke up
I felt different. _You_ feel different, don't you?"

The artist smiled through the soft dark. "I would like to get down on my
knees."

Uncle William smoothed the spread in place. "They'd feel kind o' sharp,
I guess. I wouldn't try it--not yet. You wait till Sergia comes."

"_Will_ she come?"

"She'd come to-night if she knew you wanted her. You go to sleep, and
in the mornin' you'll take that other pill." He lifted the pillow and
turned it over, patting it in place. "Why, that ol' chief he was so glad
when he see me feelin' better he acted kind o' crazy-like. I held out
my hand to him when I woke up; but he didn't know anything about shakin'
hands. He jest got down and took my feet and hugged 'em. It made me feel
queer," said Uncle William. "You do feel queer when you hain't acted
jest right."

XII

"Can I see her to-day?" It was the first question in the morning.

"You better?"

"Yes."

"You feelin' well enough to sit up?"

"Yes."

"Well, then, you can stay where you be another day." Uncle William