Arthur was by this time intensely interested, and after Ezra had bitten off a fresh chew of tobacco, said, “Well, what then?”
“Well, den Mars Bedford rode back wid Miss Emma, got orf his hoss, tuck her down—I nebba saw him so ’cited an’ hainsome. Den he mounted, tuck orf his hat, kissed his han’, jes’ so, an’ soon he wuz dashin’ up de hill ter jine his troops. Mars Torm, po’ feller, did look so ’stressed ter be lef’ behin’.
“When Mars Bedford wan’ talkin’ his eyes jes’ ez sorf ez uh ’possum’s, but when he wuz serioussum an’ opened his mouf, da wan’ no apples in his eyes, nuffin but fire, an’ when he tole his favorite scout, Mars Torm, ter stay back, he jes’ tuck root on dat spot.
“He wuz uh ve’y curisome man; fuh instinc’, he had uh swo’d made jes’ futto suit hissef. It wan’ quite ez long ez uh fence-rail, but mos’ nighly; you wudn’ think he wud cut blue coats haids orf but he wud. It’s so curisome—he wuz so gentle an’ he talk so sorf, but den ergin his eyes, when he on uh scout er charge, jes’ like uh fish-hawk’s. How-some-ebba, I once heah ole Mars Nickey say uh race hoss dat prances an’ bucks an’ goes ev’y which way at de pos’—jes’ like uh dug-out in rough watah—ain’ no race hoss; dey th’ow up deah tails befo’ dey go two miles. But de nice quiet ones like de fo-mile hosses Mars Matthew use ter own, when dey at de pos’ you’d s’pose dey habin’ deah pictur taken. Well, Mars Bedford wuz sho’ly uh fo’-miler in his ways, an’ he al’ays had his way, too.
“Mrs. Sanson inwited Mars Torm ter meck huh house his home tell he git well; mo’n dat, she spressify huhsef dat she al’ays lubbed ter nuss Cornfederates. Den she look at Pigeon an’ me an’ say, ‘I kin teck good care ub you, too, an’ yo’ mule. Peter, Simon an’ Nancy is ve’y ole, so you kin holp ’em ter milk de cows, chu’n de butter an’ pick de strawberries. Young Marster, I stayed da fuh two weeks, until de watah fell in Black Creek. I got fat, so did Pigeon, an’ den I crossed de creek an’ jined Mars Bedford.
“’Twuz jes’ erboutin harves’ time;
Let meh people go;
When Joshua led his hos’ divine;
Let meh people go.”
“Oh, go on, Uncle Ezzy.”