“Are ye right shore that it’s more’n half an hour?” replied the hunter. “Do ye kerry a watch, stranger?”
“The exact time is a matter of no consequence. You see what he has done. Don’t you mean to stop him?”
“I’m mighty sorry to see ye in that fix, stranger, and would like to help ye; but it’s a difficult thing to do.”
“It is very easy, if you wish to do it.”
“Thar ain’t no tellin’ how much I want to help you. War ye a-doin of any harm to the niggur?”
“None at all.”
“I’ve heern tell that that niggur has got a grudge ag’in ye, ’cause ye gin him a powerful whalin’ and chokin’ a while ago. That niggur is mad, and it mought be dangerous fur me to interfere with him.”
Jose stopped the colloquy by applying a few more stripes, and then the trader again besought the aid of Old Blaze.
“I tell ye that I’m mons’ous sorry to see ye in this fix,” replied the hunter. “What more kin ye ax? I shouldn’t wonder ef that niggur is five or six pound heavier than I am, and ye wouldn’t want me to resk my life by buttin’ ag’in him.”