"And then?"
"Oh, then Sam came to, and as soon as he could stand, he drew his corn knife and it was all we could do to keep him from killing that overseer. As it was, he got so badly cut that he would never come back again to the Hall."
I saw Miss Carter pale slightly.
"Are many of your people so brutal and blood-thirsty?" she asked.
"Sam is neither one nor the other, but as good a boy as ever followed a gentleman"—
"For revenge, do you mean? If that is so, I think the sooner I tell Berk—Mr. Harrison, the better."
"Oh, Lord, no," I cried, "I mean as a servant. Even Major Bullbeggor allows him the privilege of serving him, and you know how particular he is. But why so anxious about Berk Harrison's welfare?"
"I am his cousin," answered Miss Carter, stiffly.
The tone of her voice was enough. But Heavens! A man must take his strokes, mental or physical, without too much wincing. As for me, I like the man who can meet them with a smile on his lips and talk in a steady, natural voice while his heart stops beating and the iron grip of sorrow holds his throat like a vice. The tone of Rose Carter's voice, that day, told me something in regard to cousinly feeling. But no matter. Our greatest sorrows are not nearly so heavy some years afterwards and—