"'I'm de man,' sez Jeff. 'I ain't skeered er no ha'nt dat evuh walked,
an' I sleeps in graveya'ds by pref'ence; fac', I jes nach'ly lacks ter
talk ter ha'nts. You pay me de five dollahs, an' I'll 'gree ter stay
in de ole house f'm nine er clock 'tel daybreak.'
"Dey talk' ter Jeff a w'ile, an' dey made a bahgin wid 'im; dey give
'im one dollah down, an' promus' 'im fo' mo' in de mawnin' ef he
stayed 'tel den.
"So w'en he got de dollah he went uptown an' spent it, an' 'long 'bout
nine er clock he tuk a lamp, an' went down ter de ole house, an' went
inside an' shet de do'.
"Dey wuz a rickety ole table settin' in de middle er de flo'. He sot
de lamp on de table. Den he look 'roun' de room, in all de cawners an'
up de chimbly, ter see dat dey wan't nobody ner nuthin' hid in de
room. Den he tried all de winders an' fastened de do', so dey couldn'
nobody ner nuthin' git in. Den he fotch a' ole rickety chair f'm one
cawner, and set it by de table, and sot down. He wuz settin' dere,
noddin' his head, studyin' 'bout dem other fo' dollahs, an' w'at he
wuz gwine buy wid 'em, w'en bimeby he kinder dozed off, an' befo' he
knowed it he wuz settin' dere fast asleep."
"W'en he woke up, 'long 'bout 'leven erclock, de lamp had bu'n' down
kinder low. He heared a little noise behind him an' look 'roun', an'
dere settin' in de middle er de flo' wuz a big black tomcat, wid his
tail quirled up over his back, lookin' up at Jeff wid bofe his two big
yaller eyes.
Pages:
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170