The black keeper laughed as he left.
“Not ’less you’se er bigger man dan Gubner Silas Lynch, you won’t!”
When Dr. Cameron had restored Sam, and dressed the wound on his head where he had struck a stone in falling, Stoneman insisted that the boy be put to bed.
Turning to Dr. Cameron, he asked:
“Why should they put a brute like this in charge of the poor?”
“That’s a large question, sir, at this time,” said the doctor politely, “and now that you have asked it, I have some things I’ve been longing for an opportunity to say to you.”
“Be seated, sir,” the old Commoner answered, “I shall be glad to hear them.”
Elsie’s heart leaped with joy over the possible outcome of this appeal, and she left the room with a smile for the doctor.
“First, allow me,” said the Southerner pleasantly, “to express my sorrow at your long illness, and my pleasure at seeing you so well. Your children have won the love of all our people and have had our deepest sympathy in your illness.”
Stoneman muttered an inaudible reply, and the doctor went on: