did over--tryin' to coax him to consent after each one, an' makin'
pertend like we enjoyed it.

Then, nothin' would do but the nigger, Dicey, had to be did, an'
then he 'lowed thet he wanted the cat did, an' I tried to strike a
bargain with him thet if Kitty got vaccinated he would. But he
wouldn't comp'omise. He thess let on thet Kit had to be did whe'r
or no. So I ast the doctor ef it would likely kill the cat, an' he
said he reckoned not, though it might sicken her a little. So I
told him to go ahead. Well, sir, befo' Sonny got thoo, he had had
that cat an' both dogs vaccinated--but let it tech hisself he
would not.

I was mighty sorry not to have it did, 'cause they was a nigger
thet had the smallpock down to Cedar Branch, fifteen mile away,
an' he didn't die, neither. He got well. An' they say when they
git well they're more fatal to a neighborhood 'n when they die.

That was fo' months ago now, but to this day ever' time the wind
blows from you'west I feel oneasy, an' try to entice Sonny to play
on the far side o' the house.

Well, sir, in about ten days after that we was the down-in-the-
mouthest crowd on that farm, man an' beast, thet you ever see.
Ever' last one o' them vaccinations took, sir, an' took severe,
from the cat up.

But I reckon we're all safe-t guarded now. They ain't nothin' on
the place thet can fetch it to Sonny, an' I trust, with care, he
may never be exposed.