"How come, I like ter know?" said Uncle Fountain.
"Patterollers on de hill yander," replied Turin.
"How you know?" Uncle Fountain asked.
"I done seed um."
"What dey doin' out dar?"
"Ketchin' grasshoppers, I speck!"
From every cabin came a roar of laughter, and the whole plantation seemed to enjoy the joke. The calves in the ginhouse lot bleated, the dogs barked, the geese cackled, and the guinea hens shrieked "Potrack! run here! go back!" as loud as they could, and a peafowl, roosting on the pinnacle of the roof of the great house, joined in with a wailing cry that could be heard for miles.
BEHIND A TREE STOOD GEORGE GOSSETT