"'Son,' says this fresh kid—"
"Is this the way you talk to Smith?" broke in Mark.
"No, I can polish up my lingo with the best of 'em. But this brown-faced youngster was a card. Son,' he says to me, 'I'll do my own explaining. Just lead me to his dugout.'
"I couldn't help laughing. 'You'll get a hot reception,' says I.
"'I come from a hot country,' says he, 'and I got no doubt that Jerry will try to make me at home,' and he grinned with a devil in each eye.
"'Come in, then,' says I, and in he steps. 'And mind your fists,' says I, 'if you wake him up sudden. He fights sometimes because he has to, but mostly because it's a pleasure to him.'
"'Sure,' says he. 'That's the way I like to have 'em come.'"
"And he went in?" demanded John Mark.
"What's wrong with that?" asked Northup anxiously.
"Nothing. Go ahead."