ever'body an' ever'ting dat come 'long--dat's what I say-an' he be cap'n
of you wid all yo' unyform and sich, I say, if you jest come out to de
fahm--yes, mon, dat he will sho."

The boy laughed and Bob reiterated:

"Oh, I'se gwine--I'se gwine wid you--" Then he stopped short. The
turbaned figure of Aunt Keziah loomed from behind the woodpile.

"What dat I heah 'bout you gwine to de wah, nigger, what dat I heah?"

Bob laughed--but it was a laugh of propitiation.

"Law, mammy. I was jes projeckin' wid Young Cap'n."

"Fool nigger, doan know what wah is--doan lemme heah you talk no more
'bout gwine to de wah ur I gwine to w'ar you out wid a hickory--dat's
whut I'll do--now you min'." She turned on Basil then; but Basil had
retreated, and his laugh rang from the darkening yard. She cried after
him:

"An' doan lemme heah you puttin' dis fool nigger up to gittin' hisself
killed by dem Cubians neither; no suh!" She was deadly serious now. "I
done spanked you heap o' times, an' 'tain't so long ago, an' you ain'
too big yit; no, suh." The old woman's wrath was rising higher, and Bob
darted into the barn before she could turn back again to him, and a
moment later darted his head, like a woodpecker, out again to see if she
were gone, and grinned silently after her as she rolled angrily toward
the house, scolding both Bob and Basil to herself loudly.