"Maw, will dey git us heah?" the children repeated in panicky insistence.
Stella smelled again the acrid liniment which had come through the crude bandage. "Ain' yo' pappy heah? Ain' he said de Lawd gwineter pertec' us? An' ain' de white man sont us heah? You shet up 'n' go ter sleep."
There were more than twenty in the big cellar finally; but the bacon and greens held out, and the ominous rioting only once howled through the street just outside.
Long after the uproar had quieted, Tom rose reverently from his cramped knees, stained by the lime on the floor. "Dar now! Ain't de Lawd done shelter' his own?"
"Amen, brudder! Amen!"
The third morning, Gracie came down with a lamp, followed by Mr. Rylan. "It's safe now," he announced. "The police are at last keeping order.... You can go home."
"De Lawd bless you, suh, an' yo' chillun an' all yo' folkses. De Lawd pertec' you——"
He brushed aside their tearful gratitude. "I was only too glad I had the chance," he said simply.
They stumbled into the sunlight, squinting with weakened eyes.
"I thought I'd die in dat place," one young woman chattered.