"It hasn't got to be told _me_, Luke, if I----"

"Oh, no, madam, o' co'se. I 'uz on'y gwine say--a-concernin'
Euonymus----"

I hurried off while the wife chided her good man: "Why don't you dess
hide all dem thing' in yo' heart like _dey_ used to do when d' angel
'pear' unto _dem_?"

Alone with Euonymus, as I whipped off my feminine garb and whirled into
the other, I began to say that however suddenly I might leave the
fugitives they must rest assured that I was not deserting them. To
which----

"Oh, my Lawd," Euonymus replied, "us know dat!"

We reached the pike again. "Rebecca, dismount. Hand me your bridle.
Luke, for you-all's better safety I'm going back and return these
horses. We may not see one another again----"

"Oh, Lawdy, Lawdy!" moaned Rebecca.

"In dis vain worl' you mean," Luke said.

"That's all. Come, don't waste time. You'd better walk on for a short
way in the pike before taking to the woods. Now go all night for all
you're worth. Good-by." I turned abruptly. But my led horse was
averse to abruptness, and all the family except the torpid Robelia
poured up their blessings and rained kisses on my very feet.