Pap waited, a picture of fear. His long neck rising from his collarless shirt seemed to stretch longer; his mouth, naturally so wide that one could sling a side of bacon into it, hung open loosely, and moisture appeared upon his cracked lip which retained a habitual sneer; his large, shifty eyes rolled back in his head like the eyes of a choking horse; then Skeeter pronounced his doom:
“Here ’tis,” Skeeter said, in a voice which sounded unnaturally loud, and which made every listener jump. “‘Cart—Its ap-pear-ance indicates ser-i-ous in-ju-ry. If you go upon it or move from it, de in-ju-ry may prove fat-al.’”
“Oh, Lawd, ain’t I a fool nigger?” Pap mourned. “I wish I hadn’t ast nothin’ ’bout dat. I wus feelin’ powerful good up to now, but——”
He wiped the sweat from his face on his ragged shirt-sleeve, reached back and jerked a twist of perique chewing-tobacco from his hip-pocket, bit off a chew, and promptly spat it out on the ground with an exclamation of fear.
“I fergot, fellers!” he sighed. “Dat book specify serious injury. Dis terbaccer mought hab a dynamite cap wrapped up in it, an’ when I chaws dat cap de top of my head will be over yanside de Massassap’ River!”
He held the twist off at arm’s length, slowly released his fingers, and let it fall to the ground.
“Hey!” Hitch Diamond bellowed, flinching away. “Don’t git so brash all of a suddent—be keerful how you drap things aroun’ me! I done heerd a donkey bray, an’ dat shore signify death!”
Prince Total got up, walked with jerky steps like a string-halt horse into the saloon, and exercising the right of assistant bar-tender, helped himself to a liberal drink of red liquor; thus fortified, he came out and sat down again. He opened his mouth to speak several times, then closed it without a word. He was aching to know the interpretation of his last dream but dared not ask.
“Wus you aimin’ to ax somepin, Prince?” Skeeter finally inquired in a lugubrious tone.
Prince shook his head, and Skeeter took out a buckeye and began to shine it up by rubbing it upon the leg of his trousers. At last, when Prince could stand the suspense no longer, he asked in a feeble voice: