We got up early, but early as it was the devil had been up earlier in that neighbourhood. About four o'clock that morning a white woman about a half a mile from the village had been attacked by a nigger. They was doubt as to whether she would live, but if she lived they wasn't no doubts she would always be more or less crazy. Fur besides everything else, he had beat her insensible. And he had choked her nearly to death. The country-side was up, with guns and pistols looking fur that nigger. It wasn't no trouble guessing what would happen to him when they ketched him, neither. “And,” says Doctor Kirby, when we hearn of it, “I hope to high heaven they _do_ catch him!” They wasn't much doubt they would, either. They was already beating up the woods and bushes and gangs was riding up and down the roads, and every nigger's house fur miles around was being searched and watched. We soon seen we would have trouble getting hosses and a rig in the village to take us to the railroad. Many of the hosses was being ridden in the man-hunt. And most of the men who might have done the driving was busy at that too. The hotel-keeper himself had left his place standing wide open and went out. We didn't get any breakfast neither. “Danny,” says the doctor, “we'll just put enough money to pay the bill in an envelope on the register here, and strike out on shank's ponies. It's only nine or ten miles to the railroad--we'll walk.” “But how about our stuff?” I asts him. We had two big cases full of sample bottles of that dope, besides our suit cases. “Hang the dope!” says the doctor, “I don't ever want to see it or hear of it again! We'll leave it here. Put the things out of your suit case into mine, and leave that here too. Sam can carry mine. I want to be on the move.” So we left, with Sam carrying the one suit case. It wasn't nine in the morning yet, and we was starting out purty empty fur a long walk. “Sam,” says the doctor, as we was passing that there Big Bethel church--and it showed up there silent and shabby in the morning, like a old coloured man that knows a heap more'n he's going to tell--“Sam, were you at the meeting here last night?” “Yass, suh!” “I suppose it was a pretty tame affair after they found out their Elisha wasn't coming after all?” Sam, he walled his eyes, and then he kind of chuckled. “Well, suh,” he says, “I 'spicions de mos' on 'em don' know dat _yit!_” The doctor asts him what he means.