"This heah's yo' chamber," he said, and preceding his companion
into the room, placed the candle on a chair.

"Well--I low I clean forgot something!" cried Hannibal.

"If it's yo' bundle and yo' gun, I done fotched 'em up heah and
laid 'em on yo' bed," said Eph, preparing' to withdraw.

"I certainly am obliged to you," said Hannibal, and with a good
night, Eph retired, closing the door after him, and the boy heard
the patter of his bare feet as he scuttled down the hall.

The moon was rising and Hannibal went to the open window and
glanced out. His room overlooked the back yard of the inn and a
neglected truck patch. Starting from a point beyond the truck
patch and leading straight away to the woodland beyond was a
fenced lane, with the corn-field and the pasture-lot on either
hand. Immediately below his window was the steeply slanting roof
of a shed. For a moment he considered the night, not unaffected
by its beauty, then, turning from the window, he moved his bundle
and rifle to the foot of the bed, where they would be out of his
way, kicked off his trousers, blew out the candle and lay down.
The gossip of the men in the bar ran like a whisper through the
house, and with it came frequent bursts of noisy laughter.
Listening for these sounds the boy dozed off.

Yancy had become more and more convinced as the evening passed
that Murrell was bent on getting him drunk, and suspicion mounted
darkly to his brain. He felt certain that he was Bladen's agent.
Now, Mr. Yancy took an innocent pride in his ability to "cool off