"Jes 'blige ter 'ply de same kine o' coaxin', Miss! Whup 'im all de way yere! Ain't I, Trusty?"
Poor Trusty appeared almost too spent even to reply; and Miss Doane looked at him and suggested that he go to his seat and rest.
"M-m-m—ain' gwine no seat 'n' res'!" he growled.
His father intervened: "Yer see, Miss? Yer see? He's de hard-haidedes' chile I'se got, an' dat's de trufe. Come 'long, now, boy; jes come 'long, now!" And, without ceremony, Trusty was lifted with a firm hand and transported through the Assembly Room to his seat, where he was deposited with a thump.
Miss North looked up in mild surprise.
"Why, Trusty! Good morning!"
Trusty's response was a thing of conjecture.
"And so you are back at school again; and aren't you glad, after all, to come back to this nice school?"
"M-m-m—school nuthin'!" was the unexpectedly prompt response.
"Yer'll fine 'im mighty wearisome, I 'spec', Miss," put in the parent. "But whup 'im! Dat's all I kin say. Whup 'im all de time; an' me 'n' 'Mandy'll wuk on 'im nights 'n' mawnin's."