. When he found out whut hed happened the of gent got so
excited he flung a fit, an' died."

"Leavin' Kirby ownin' all the property?"

"Every picayune, niggers an' all. It wus sum sweep, an' he hed signed
bills o' sale. Wa'n't nobody cud git it away frum him. Wal', Joe he
didn't want fer ter make no fuss, ner scare the gurl none, so he went
down ter' Saint Louee an' made proof o' ownership afore a jedge he
know'd. Then, with the papers all straight, he, an' the sheriff, with
Tim yere, the deputy, run up the river at night ter serve 'em quietly
on the daughter--the white one, Eloise. Kirby he didn't aim ter be
seen at all, but just went 'long so thar wudn't be no mistake. Yer
see, them papers hed ter be served afore they cud take away the
niggers. Kirby wus goin' ter sell them down river, an' not bother
'bout the land fer awhile, till after he'd hed a chance ter shine up
ter this yere gurl Eloise. He'd never seen her--but, enyhow, he got
thet notion in his hed."

"She wus the daughter; the white one?"

"Sure; he hed the other by law. Wal', when they all got thar, nobody
wus home, 'cept one o' the gurls, who claimed fer ter be Rene--the one
whut wus a nigger, thet Kirby owned. Nobody know'd which wus which,
an' so they hed ter take her word for it. They cudn't do nuthin' legal
till they found the other one, an' they wus sittin' round waitin' fer
her ter turn up, when the nigger gurl they wus watchin' got away."

"How'd she do thet?"

"Don't noboddy seem ter know. Damn funny story. Way they tell it,
sumbody must'r knocked Kirby down an' run oft with her. Whoever did
it, stole the boat in which Kirby an' the sheriff cum up the river, an'
just naturally skipped out--the sheriff's nigger an' all. It wus a
slick job."

"Of course, they chased them?'

"Best they cud, not knowin' which way they'd gone. They reckoned the
whol' bunch must'r got away tergether, so the sheriff he started fer
Saint Louee, an' the others got onto a troop boat what happened ter cum
'long, and started north. Long 'bout the mouth ov the Illinoy they
caught up with a nigger-stealer named Shrunk. They hed a fight in an'
about his cabin, an' sum killin'. Two ov the womin got away, but Kirby
an' Tim got hold o' this gurl what hed claimed ter be Rene, an' a
mulatto cook who wus a workin' fer Shrunk. I reckon maybe yer know the
rest."

"I know they wus run down by the _Adventurer_, an' hauled aboard. But
how did Kirby learn hi