"Nasah!" was the surprised answer, "he bin wid you, sah!"
The voice softened to persuasive tones:
"He hasn't slipped back here even for an hour since I've been gone?"
"I nebber seed him!"
"I didn't ask you," Norton said threateningly, "whether you'd 'seed' him"—he paused and dropped each word with deliberate emphasis—"I asked you if you knew whether he'd been here?"
Andy mopped his brow and glanced at his inquisitor with terror:
"Nasah, I don't know nuttin', sah!"
"Haven't you lied to me?"
"Yassah! yassah," the negro replied in friendly conciliation. "I has pér-var-i-cated sometimes—but I sho is tellin' you de truf dis time, sah!"
The master glared at him a moment and suddenly sprang at his throat, both hands clasping his neck with a strangling grip. Andy dropped spluttering to his knees.