"Yes, I'm off, and you better be off with yourself—if you don't I'll shoot you."
"Oh, master, don't shoot me—don't leave me!"
"There they come!"
"Where, master, where? where?"
"I can't stop—good by—you better be off!"
But Tony laughs in his sleeve, and says, with upturned eyes, "I'm not afraid of the Yankees! Bless God, old master's gone—hope he'll never come back any more!"
The Zouaves, on "double quick," approach nearer, and up rides one of the secessionists, in hot haste.
"What's the matter, master? What's the matter?" inquires an intelligent negro.
"Oh, matter enough, you villain. You brought all this trouble on us. I am disappointed in you; I thought you would stick by us; but you desert your best friends in extremity. You won't find those Yankees what you expect."
"Oh, master, won't you stay and protect us?"