The Hills of Refuge: A NovelHarben, Will N. (Will Nathaniel)
General
The Hills of Refuge: A Novel
Harben, Will N. (Will Nathaniel)
Fiction
She went to the kitchen for some hot waffles, and when she put them
before him she said: "I'm gwine tell you some'n', Mr. Brown. I'm gwine
ter tell you, 'kase you is er stranger in dis place en' orter know. I
know nice white folks when I sees 'um, en' I know dey ain't nothin'
wrong 'bout you. I'm gwine tell you ter look out fer dis yer Frazier
man. He won't do. He ain't de right stripe, en' ef we-all wasn't po' now
he wouldn't be let in at de front do' er dis yer house. Bofe him en' his
brother come fum low stock. Deir daddy was a overseer dat couldn't write
his name. You kin tell what dis one is by de way he set at de table en'
handle his knife en' fork en' spout wid his loud mouf when Marse Andy is
talkin'. Yes, I'm gwine tell you what I heard 'im say ter Marse Andy
when dey was in de settin'-room des now. Marse Andy tol' 'im what you
went to de mountains fer, en' he fairly ripped en' snorted. He was mad
'kase dey-all let you know de boys' hidin'-place. He said you couldn't
be trusted; dat you had some secret reason fer helpin' out wid de boys.
He said de sheriff was on de lookout fer some house-breakers dat was wid
de circus, en' done lef' it ter 'scape fum de law. De low rapscallion
said he was bounden shore dat you was one of 'em. He said he was des
lyin' low, right now, but dat befo' long when dey got de papers ter
serve on you, dey was gwine arrest you."
Charles laughed softly. "Well, I am not a house-breaker, Aunt Zilla," he
said. "I am not boasting of what I am. I make no claims of any sort, but
I am not one of the men the Fraziers are looking for."
"Marse Andy tol' 'im dat," the woman went on, "but it des made 'im all
de madder, en' he went on tryin' ter 'suade Marse Andy ter send you off.
Marster has ter take er lot off'n 'im 'kase he owes 'im some money, I
hear 'um say. Dey was talkin' about you when young miss come in en' hear
'um."
"Oh, she heard!" Charles exclaimed. "I'm sorry she did."
"Huh! young miss don't believe it!" Zilla cried. "She tol' 'im so ter
his face, en' was purty sharp erbout it, too. She woulder say mo' on de
same line ef she wasn't afeard he'd turn erginst de boys. I seed she was
good mad en' tryin' powerful hard ter hold in. She come in de kitchen
while 'er pa en' Mr. Frazier was talkin' en' tol' me, she did, dat I
mus' not listen ter anything he say erginst you. She say you is had
trouble en' is all erlone in de world widout kin en' er home, but dat
you was er honorable gen'man. Shucks! I already knowed dat. I knows
white folks of de right stripe es soon as I see how dey handle black
folks."
Charles thanked her warmly and left the table. The soil was too wet for
working in the field, and he was about to sit down on the veranda when
Mary suddenly came from the parlor and faced him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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