Besides, Lethe was suspicious-minded; he went on enumerating. She was ready to believe anything anybody told her. She had a tongue that wagged at both ends and blabbed everything she knew. It’s bad for a nigger to be like that. But could she tell what happened without exposing herself too? Maybe she didn’t care about her reputation. But what would the white folks think of him when they heard it? How would he ever reinstate himself in the church if they brought him up before the moderator to make explanation? The elder and the deacon were supposed to be more sanctified than common members. But maybe Lethe wouldn’t say anything after all.... But what made her listen to that lying Lizzie, and ’cuse him of having other women? Did he ever miss one Sunday night with her since they fixed up the understanding between them?... But that’s the way with a jealous-hearted woman; you never know what she is going to do. And you just got to wrassle with them when they won’t listen to reason; and leave them to take their comings, no matter how cheap it makes you feel when everything is over. “De mo’ I tried to talk easy an’ persuade ’uh she was wrong,” Felo continued, “de mo’ louder she answer back; searchin’ in ’uh min’ for nasty names to make me shame;—an’ me lay’n up in de bed strug’lin to git some sleep. All at once, I raise my voice an’ say to ’uh: ‘Lethe, for Gawd sake don’ be so shameless. Try an’ shut yo’ evil-thinkin’ fly-trap an’ lay down an’ ax Gawd to help you pray.’ She ain’ said a word; but I seen ’uh reach over to de pot-shelf an’ grab a skillet, an’ turn ’roun an’ commence to come ’cross de room. Dah whah I jumped out de bed, an’ was huntin’ on de flo’ for my pants, w’en she say: ‘Whah you think you goin’?’ “I say: Lethe, I ain’ come hyuh tonight to make no brawl wid no foolish ’ooman. I’m goin’ yonder to Sis’ Fanny house whah I b’long, an’ lay down wid a peaceful min’, an’ not be upset wid a shameless thing like you is. “She say: ‘You goin’ home, is you?... Well, w’en you does go, I wan’ tell you ’tain’ nobody but me an’ Gawd be witness you goin’ ’way from hyuh cripple....’ “An’ dah whah she made at me wid de skillet, jes’ w’en I was pullin’ on one my pants laigs. I drapped de thing on de flo’, an’ grabbed hol’ the skillet an’ wrenched it out ’uh han’; w’en she come up at me full-fo’ce, like she wan’ scratch my face, either butt me,—dang’us-lookin’ as innybody you ever seen. “I ain’ stop to consider ’bout w’at to do; but I up wid de skillet an’ plastud it ’cross ’uh face haphazzud. An’ de nex’ thing I knowed, I seen three teeth lay’n on de flo’, knocked clean out de front ’uh mouth.... “Did I felt ’shame’?” Felo answered, slightly disconcerted by Mr. Amos’s unexpected reproof. “Da’s another subjec’.