to look in upon Mop at the butcher shop.

"Say, Mop," said Ben pleasantly, "what do you think of Larry now? Would
you say he was a coward?"

"What do you mean?" asked Mop, suspecting trouble.

"Just what I say," said Ben, while Larry moved up within range, his face
white, his eyes gleaming.

"I ain't saying nothing about nobody," replied Mop sullenly, with the
tail of his eye upon Larry's white face and gleaming eyes.

"You say him one tam--in de cedar swamp," said Joe.

"Would you say Larry was a coward?" repeated Ben.

"No, I wouldn't say nothing of the sort," replied Mop promptly.

"Do you think he is a coward?" persisted Ben.

"No," said Mop, "I know he ain't no coward. He don't fight like no
coward."

This appeared to satisfy Ben, but Larry, moving slightly nearer, took up
the word for himself.

"And would you say my mother was a coward?" he asked in a tense voice,
his body gathered as if for a spring.