cordin' ter the deal handed me
thar wus two dead men mixed up in the affair--Beaucaire, an' a young
army offercer. Seems ter me his name wus Knox."

"I didn't hear that."

"Well, enyhow, that's the way Bill told it. Beaucaire he naturally
fell dead--heart, er som'thin'--an' the other feller, this yere army
man, he went out on deck fer ter see Kirby, an' he never cum' back.
McAdoo sorter reckoned as how likely he wus slugged, an' throwed
overboard. An' then, on top' all that, we're sent up yere in the night
like a passel o' thieves ter take these niggers down ter Saint Louee.
What do yer make ov it, Jake?"

"Wal," said the other slowly, his mouth evidently loaded with tobacco,
"I ain't never asked no questions since I wus made sheriff. I'm doin'
whut the court says. Hell! thar's trouble 'nough in this job without
my buttin' in on other people's business. But this is how it stacks up
ter me. Kirby's got the law on his side--no doubt 'bout that--but I
reckon as how he knows it wus a damn mean trick, and so he's sorter
skeered as ter how them fellers livin' down ter the Landin' might act.
Thar's a lawyer thar named Haines, as sharp as a steel trap, who tended
ter all the ol' Jedge's business, an' Joe he don't wanter run foul o'
him. Thet's why we tied up ter the shore below town, in the mouth o'
thet crick, an' then hed ter hoof it up yere in the dark. Of course we
got the law with us, but we wanter pull this job off an' not stir up no
fight--see?"

"Sure," disgustedly. "I reckon I know all that; I heerd the Jedge tell
yer how we wus ter do the job. But why's Kirby in such a sweat ter git
all these niggers down ter Saint Louee?"

"Ter sell 'em, an' git the cash. Onct they're outer the way there
won't be no row. He'll let the land yere lie idle fer a year or two,
an' by that time nobody'll care a whoop how he got it. But he's got
ter git rid o' them niggers right away."

"Well, who the hell's goin' ter prevent? They're his'n, ain't they?
Thar ain't no Black Abolitionists 'round yere, I reckon. I never
know'd yer had ter run off your own niggers in the night, so's ter sell
'em down South. My Gawd, is this yere Mussury!"

"Seems sorter queer ter me," admitted the sheriff, "but I did get a
little outer that feller Carver comin' up. He's a close-mouthed cuss,
an' didn't say much, but puttin' it with what yer just told me, I
reckon I kin sorter figger it out. Carver is som' sorter partner with
Kirby--a