Natalie and Mrs. James jumped out and, after heroically lifting and pulling, managed to bring Rachel right-side-up once more. The moment she learned what had happened, and saw the driver waiting for Cherub to return, she shook a doughty fist at him and scolded well.
So impressive were her speech and actions that Amity considered “discretion to be the better part of valor” this time, and jumped out to catch Cherub and bring him back to his job. While the hackman was away, Rachel turned to Mrs. James and spoke.
“Ef yoh-all pays dat good-fer-nuttin’ one cent affer my mishap, den I goes straight back t’ Noo York an’ gits d’ law on him to mek him pay me fer playin’ such tricks on defenseless women.”
“He didn’t do it on purpose, Rachel. It was an accident,” explained Mrs. James, hoping to placate Rachel before Amity came back with the horse.
“Ah don’ care—akserdent er no akserdent, I ain’t goin’ foh to have no fool-man like him dumpin’ me down between dem shaffs what is fit onny fer a mule! Now yoh heah me? Don’ yoh go foh to pay him nuttin’ fer dis trip!” retorted Rachel with ire.
Natalie laughed unrestrainedly at the funny scene, but the driver was again crossing the bridge, leading the balky Cherub, so she managed to cover her face to hide her amusement. While Amity tried to tie up the damaged portions of the harness so that the trip might be completed, Rachel came over and glared down at him.
“Say, yoh pore mis’able chunk of cotton-haid! Don’ yoh know I kin kerleck damages f’om yoh foh whad happened t’ me on dis premises of yourn?”
Amity looked up and returned her glare. “Say, you old black mammy, don’t you know I kin make you pay handsome fer smashin’ my buckboard? Even the harness would have held if you hadn’t been so heavy as to make Cherub break away from the load.”
That was too much for Rachel. She straightened up with family pride and planted her hands on her ample hips as she declared: “See heah, ig’nant clod-hoppeh! Don’ yoh go an’ fool yohse’f wid t’inkin’ I’se as easy-goin’ as dat harness ob yourn—’cus I ain’t! I’m an out-an’-out Noo Yorker, I am, an’ yoh kin ast Mis’ James! I made one on dem fresh condoctors in Noo York pay me fohty dollahs onct, when he started his trolley an’ dumped me down flat in th’ road an’ druv away a-laffin at me. An’ I wasn’t damaged half as much dat time, as you done.”
Amity had finished tying up the harness and was backing Cherub into the shafts as he listened to this warning. He now half-closed his squinty eyes and switched the quid of chewing tobacco from one cheek to the other before he replied to Rachel. Then he drawled out tantalizingly: “You big blackberry, you! Puttin’ on such airs about what you did to car-conductors! But I ain’t no easy mark like ’em,—see?”