human
You kin drive de coach, blurted the one-ideaed Robelia.
gpt
You knows you kin.
human
No, mi'ss, takin' all roads as dey come I ain't no ways fitt'n'; no'm.
gpt
Well, daddy's fitt'n'!
human
Yass, da's so, but I ain't daddy, no mo'n you is.
gpt
Well, us kin go fetch him--in th'ee shakes.
human
Yass'm, us kin go ax daddy.
gpt
Let Robelia go and you stay here.
human
Go fetch him, murmured Euonymus,
gpt
Wait! You're a good boy, Euonymus, ain't you?
human
I cayn't say dat, mi'ss; but I'm glad ef you thinks so.
gpt
Y' is good! said Robelia.
human
You knows you is!
gpt
Never mind, I said;
human
Yass'm, I does!
gpt
Euonymus, how many more of you-all are there besides _daddy and mammy_?
human
Be'--be'--beside'--beside' d-daddy an' m-mammy? D'ain't no mo', m-mist'ess; no'm!
gpt
Yass'm, put in Robelia,
human
Just you four. Euonymus, a bit ago I noticed on your sister's ankles some white mud.
gpt
Yass'm.
human
The nearest white mud--marl--in the State, Robelia, is forty miles south of here.
gpt
Is d'--dat so, mist'ess?
human
Yes, and so you also are travellers, Euonymus.
gpt
Trav'--y'--yass'm, I--I reckon you mought call us trav'luz, in a manneh, yass'm.
human
Well, my next town is thirty miles north of----
gpt
Nawth!
human
Now, if instead of hiring just your sister and her daddy I should----
gpt
Yass'm!
human
Suppose I should take all four of you along, as though you were my slaves----
gpt
De time bein',
human
Certainly, that's all. How would that do?
gpt
Oh, mist'ess! kin you work dat miracle?
human
I can do it if it suits you.
gpt
Lawd, it suit' _us_! Dey couldn't be noth'n' mo' rep'ehensible!
human
What is it, boy?
gpt
May I ax you a question, mi'ss?
human
You may ask if you won't tell.
gpt
Oh, I won't tell! Is you a sho' enough 'oman?--Lawd, I knowd you wa'n't! No mo'n you is a man! I seen it f'om de beginnin'!
human
Why, boy, what do you imagine I am?
gpt
Oh, I don't 'magine, I knows! 'T'uz me prayed Gawd to sen' you. Y' ain't man, y' ain't 'oman! an' yit yo' bofe! Yo' de same what visit Ab'am, an' Lot, an' Dan'l, and de motheh de Lawd!
human
Stop! Stop! Never mind who I am; I've got to put you fifty miles from here before bedtime.
gpt
Yes, my Lawd. Oh, yes, my Lawd!
human
Euonymus! you mustn't call me that!
gpt
Ain't dat what Ab'am called you?
human
I forget! but--call me mistress!--only!
gpt
Yass, suh--yass, mi'ss!
human
Good. Now, lad, I can take you alone, horseback, which'll be far swifter, safer, surer----
gpt
Oh, no, my--mist'ess; no, no! you knows you on'y a-temptin' o' dy servant!
human
You wouldn't leave daddy and mammy?
gpt
Oh, daddy kin stick to mammy, an' her to he! but Robelia got neither faith nor gumption, an' let me never see de salvation o' de Lawd ef I cayn't stick by dat--by--by my po' Robelia!
human
But suppose, my boy, we should be mistaken for runaways and tracked and run down.
gpt
Yass'm, o' co'se. Yass'm.
human
Can you fight--for your sister?
gpt
Yass, my La'--yass'm, I kin an' I will. I's qualified my soul to' dat, suh; yass'm.
human
Dogs?
gpt
Yass'm, dawgs. Notinstandin' de dawgs come pass me roun' about, in de name o' de Lawd will I lif up my han' an' will perwail.
human
Have you only your hands?
gpt
Da's all David had, ag'in lion an' bah.
human
True. Euonymus, I need a man's clothes.
gpt
Yass'm, on a pinch dey mowt come handy.
human
Luke and
gpt
Rebecca.