The old woman bristled. Glaring at him she said in a low voice:
"Upright ain' so diffe'nt from downright! You knows how oudacious he done treat me 'bout dat 'surance!"
"Oh, yes, you mean about that policy!"
She maintained a moody silence, and the Colonel ventured:
"You see, Brent, Timmie thought so much of Zack—"
"Now, Marse John, you's jest pesterin'! De truff is, sah," she turned to Brent, "dat 'long back yonder when Miss Ann's 'bout de size of li'l Bip, a man come down heah an' says ef I takes a policy out on Zack, when de ole nigger's daid, he say, I'll be wu'th somethin'. I turned it over an' over in mah haid, an' reckoned dat, ef Zack had to go, dar warn't no sin in ole Timmie gittin' all de comfo't outen it she could. So de man size Zack up mighty smart, an' say a twenty-yeah policy'll be plenty long 'nough to out-stretch him. De fu'st of eve'y month I sont mah good money up to Loui'ville, an' 'bout a yeah ago de day come fer dat policy to git ripe. All de evenin' befoh I treat Zack mighty gentle. I cook him a scrumptuous supper, an' dat night go down in mah trunk an' git out mah mournin' clothes an' mah funeral hat, an' cry mahse'f to sleep. An' what you reckon! From dat ve'y day he's been sprier'n he ever wuz! Jest wait till I ketch some of dem 'surance men 'bout heah agin!"
With a deep sigh she rose laboriously and started back around the house.
"Where's Dale?" Brent asked, more to keep from laughing than from any particular interest in the mountaineer just then.
"In the library, as usual," answered the Colonel, "digging out analects."
Timmie, overhearing this, wheeled about.