“Walrus Jones, you stole dat gemmen’s brandy. You lies ef you says you didn’t.” Cornwallis looked at his accuser defiantly. “What yo’ want wid me, niggah? Is yo’ lookin’ fur trouble? Go ’long ’bout yo’ bizness now, an’ doan’ be comin’ in de cabin whar yo’ betters is. I’s willin’ to obey de Cap’n ob dis craf’, but I tells yo’ now dat I won’t take no sass from lowdown bo’s’uns. Go an’ scar’ de life out ob dose pore debils in de crew, fur all I keer, but doan’ git gay wid me. Huh! Yo’ mus’ tink I’s jes’ turned out!” “You awoids de subjek’. Dat am a shuah sign ob guilt.” “Lemme tell yo’ somfin’, yo’ onery niggah! I doan’ sociate wid sech trash as yo’ be, what can’t tell who his own fadder and mudder was. I come from a hono’ble fam’ly what was tole ob in hist’ry. Ef yo’ keeps on probokin’ me to wraf I’ll put pizen in yo’ wittals, dat’s what I’ll do, an yo’ now has fair wahnin’!” Prince showed signs of wrath himself at this speech, but Pratt interfered before he could answer. “No more talk about poisoning people, Cornwallis. Answer me this: Where did that brandy go to?” “Ef it didn’t go in dat sass an’ aroun’ dat puddin’, Cap’n, den I ’lows some ob de crew done stole it. Dem critters ain’t to be trusted, no how. Cockroaches is bery bad in dat galley, too, an’ dey likes sech drinks, I hearn tell. Whose to know if dey wahn’t at de bottle?” “Why, you black rascal, you said not ten minutes ago that the brandy was put in the sauce and around the pudding!” “So I did, Cap’n. Ef dat ain’t de truf an’ nothin’ but de truf, I hopes de good Lawd will hab me pah’lized, an’ make me fall dead heah in my tracks.” “Impious creature! Unworthy descendant of Ham!” cried Warriner. “Me a ham? Me, a linear decen’ant ob de great Lawd Cornwahlis, what lan’ed at Yohktown an’ chased de Yanks all ober de plains ob Ole Virgintay? Dat’s de stock I come from, Mistah Warmer, an’ so I want yo’ to understan’.” The cook’s reference to his ancestors astounded Warriner, though none of the rest of us saw anything queer about it. “Good heavens! What curse is there like ignorance?” said he, looking up at the ceiling. It was lucky for me that Warriner spoke up, for I was just going to show off about Lord Cornwallis, and would likely have made a fool of myself. My history is a bit uncertain; so I stood by and kept mum. Prince had been considering while the rest of us talked, and now said: “Cap’n Pratt, I would ax you, sah, for de Bible, an’ I promises to bring dis sinful critter to time, eben of he does b’long to de quality ob Virginny, which he don’t, unless de debil hab turned saint.” All of us were surprised at this, but Pratt went to fetch the book. Prince could read large print tolerably well, and write a little, which facts he was very proud of. His confident air, and the new tack he had taken, made the cook a bit uneasy for the first time. He had no idee what was coming next.