As Skeeter walked down the street a new idea came to him.
“Dat woman is gwine dress up dat kid like a Mardi Gras, an’ Shin won’t swipe him—Shin’ll know dat ain’t his’n. I wonder is Whiffle lef’ town yit?”
Skeeter hastened to Pap Curtain’s cabin and found that Whiffle had not.
“Whiffle,” he said, “I come mighty nigh fergittin’ a mos’ important bizzness. I want some of little Shinny’s ole ragged clothes. Ef Shin comes to steal dat yuther brat to-night, we got to fix him up so Shin won’t find out de cub ain’t his’n.”
“I got plenty ragged clothes,” Whiffle replied. “I’ll git you a full suit.”
“When is you leavin’ out fer de hog-camp, Whiffle?” Skeeter asked as soon as the suit was wrapped in a bundle.
“I’s gittin’ ready to walk right now,” Whiffle told him.
“Dat’s a good idear to walk it,” Skeeter remarked. “You kin take shawt cut-offs through de woods, an’ ef anybody is passin’ you kin hide in de grass so dey cain’t see you is got little Shinny wid you.”
“It’s a powerful long walk,” Whiffle complained. “But I guess I’m got to take it.”
“You kin come back in de mawnin’,” Skeeter assured her, as he rose to go. “When Shin finds out he’s made a miscue an’ stole de wrong chile, de Tickfall niggers will buzz him till he leaves town fer good.”