“He says we owes him.”
“But didn’t you settle at Christmas?”
“Yas’m; but when he found we was goin’ away, he looked up some more debts.”
“How much?”
‚ÄúI don‚Äôt know ‚Äôzactly‚ÅÝ‚Äîmore‚Äôn a hundred dollars. Den de boys done got in dat trouble, and he paid their fines.‚Äù
“What was the trouble?”
“Well, one was a-gambling, and the other struck the overseer what was a-whippin’ him.”
‚ÄúWhipping him!‚Äù‚ÅÝ‚Äîin horrified exclamation, quite as much at Aunt Rachel‚Äôs matter-of-fact way of regarding the matter as at the deed itself.
“Yas’m. He didn’t do his work right and he whipped him. I speck he needed it.”
“But he’s a grown man,” Miss Smith urged earnestly.