, in the opinion of the swamper, Val never learned, for
at that moment Ricky burst from between two bushes.

"Well, at last," she panted, "I've gotten rid of my army. Val, do you
think that Lucy is going to be like this all the time--order us about, I
mean?"

"Who's that?" Jeems was on his feet looking at Ricky.

"Ricky," her brother said, "this is Jeems. My sister Richanda."

"Yo' one of the folks up at the big house?" he asked her directly.

"Why, yes," she answered simply.

"Yo' don' act like yo' was." He stabbed his finger at both of them. "Yo'
don't walk with youah noses in the air looking down at us--"

"Of course we don't!" interrupted Ricky. "Why should we, when you know
more about this place than we do?"

"What do yo' mean by that?" he flashed out at her, his sullen face
suddenly dark.

"Why--why--" Ricky faltered, "Charity Biglow said that you knew all
about the swamp--"

His tense position relaxed a fraction. "Oh, yo' know Miss Charity?"

"Yes. She showed us the picture she is painting, the one you are posing
for," Ricky went on.

"Miss Charity is a fine lady," he returned with conviction. He shifted
from one bare foot to the other. "Ah'll be goin' now." With no other
farewell he slipped over the side of the levee into his canoe and headed
out into midstream. Nor did he look back.

Lucy departed after dinner that evening to bed down her family before
returning with Letty-Lou to occupy one of the servant's rooms over the
side wing. Rupert had gone with her to interview Sam. Val gathered that
Sam had some notion of trying to reintroduce the growing of indigo, a
crop which had been forsaken for sugar-cane at the beginning of the
nineteenth century when a pest had destroyed the entire indigo crop of
that year all over Louisiana.

"Let's go out in the garden," suggested Ricky.

"What for?" asked her brother. "To provide a free banquet for
mosquitoes? No, thank you, let's stay here."

"You're lazy," she countered.

"You may call it laziness; I call it prudence," he answered.

"Well, I'm going anyway," she made a decision which brought Val
reluctantly to his feet. For mosquitoes or no mosquitoes, he was not
going to allow Ricky to be outside alone.

They followed the path which led around the side of the house until it
neared the kitchen door. When they reached that point Ricky halted.

"Listen!"

A plaintive miaow sounded from the kitchen.

"Oh, bother! Satan's been left inside. Go and l