II "THESE NEGROES IN EFFINGHAM ARE NIGGA'S PROPER" 164 III "I HAVE BEEN MARRIED", SAID SHE 173 IV "EIDDER STUCK UP AH SHE'S A WITCH!" 181 V "A BIGGA LIAH THEY AIN'T IN TOWN!" 189 VI "YES--_MISS_ LATHAM!" 196 VII "IT ALL FALLS RIGHT BACK ON SOCIETY!" 202 VIII "WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" 206 IX "BUT SMITH IS NOT HIS REAL NAME" 211 X "WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN GRASS WIDOWED, IT'S DIFFERENT" 224 XI "I'M WORRIED ABOUT MILDRED" 232 XII AND THEN SHE BEGAN TO GROW OTHERWISE 241 XIII ENTER--MR. TOM TODDY! 243 XIV THE DISAPPEARING CHIN 256 XV "WILSON! WILSON! MILDRED HAS GONE!" 268 XVI THE BEAST AND THE JUNGLE 273 XVII "THIS IS MR. WINSLOW, MADAM!" 278 XVIII "THOU SHALT NOT STEAL" 285 XIX THEY TURNED HER OUT OF CHURCH 290 XX "I _LOVE_ YOU" 299 XXI "PLEASE GET D' OLE MAN OUTTA JAIL" 302 XXII "THIS MAN IS LOSING HIS MIND!" 309 XXIII "I'LL BRAND YOU AS A FAKER!" 317 XXIV THE ARRAIGNMENT 324 [Illustration: "A crooked mother can't raise a straight daughter. It's up to the daughter--and I've failed!"] BOOK THREE A MATTER OF TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS CONTENTS I "THAT GAL'S CROOKED" 336 II "_IT WAS IN THAT CHURCH LAST SUNDAY!_" 344 III "UH! 'ES GOT 'IM A NIGGA!" 349 IV "PLEASE GO!" SHE CRIED HOARSELY 355 V THE TIME LIMIT 362 VI REMINISCENCES--CHARGE OF THE BLACK CAVALRY 369 VII "PLEASE STOP--AND SAVE ME!" 375 VIII WHAT HER EYES SAW 381 IX "WHA'S Y' MAN?" 386 X "KICK HIGHER DARE GAL!" 392 XI "MY WIFE--SICK--_HELL!_" 397 XII MID-NIGHT DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST 407 XIII INTO THE INFINITE LONG AGO 412 XIV "GO, BROTHER! IN GOD'S NAME, GO!" 418 BOOK FOUR THE QUEST ETERNAL CONTENTS I "'SCRIMINATIN' 'GINST NIGGA'S" 422 II AT LAST SHE DIDN'T CARE 432 III "THEY KNEW HE HAD WRITTEN THE TRUTH!" 439 IV THE WOMAN WITH THE THREE MOLES 446 V "HELLO BROWN SKIN" 450 VI "_WHO'RE YOU!_" SHE REPEATED 456 VII "AT LAST, OH LORD, AT LAST!" 462 VIII "WELL I'M GOING." AND SHE WENT 468 IX "I HOPE YOU--WON'T--BE--ANGRY" 473 X VELLUN PARISH--JEFFERSON BERNARD 478 XI "MILDRED, I'VE COME BACK" 495 XII THE SLAVE MARKET 504 XIII "RESTITUTION" 515 [Illustration: She had never felt that he would rebuke her, but now she turned her head away to shut out the scorn in the look he had given her.] [Illustration: "Wha's yo' man?" "I--I have no _man_," Mildred replied, turning her face away. "I am alone--alone in everything."] [Illustration: "That last woman I married" said Slim, "was such a devil she almost made me lose my religion."] THE FORGED NOTE CHARACTERS