"Yassah, dat's so, sah—in dese parts sho, sah!" he ended his speech by a good-natured laugh at the expense of the country that allowed itself to be thus intimidated.
Norton lifted the gleaming piece of steel and looked at it thoughtfully:
"Back of every ballot a gun and the red blood of the man who holds it! No freeman ever yet voted away his right to a revolution——"
"Yassah—dat's what I tells dem niggers—you gwine ter giv 'em er dose er de revolution——"
"Well, it's done now and I've no more use for this thing—thank God!"
He crossed to the writing desk, laid the revolver on its top and walked to the lounge his face set with a look of brooding intensity:
"Bah! The big battles are all fought inside, Andy! There's where the brave die and cowards run—inside——"
"Yassah!—I got de stuff right here fer de inside, sah!" he held up the decanter with a grin.
"From to-night my work outside is done," Norton went on moodily. "And I'm going to be free—free! I'm no longer afraid of one of my servants——"
He dropped into a seat and closed his fists with a gesture of intense emotion.