"
The colonel was seriously annoyed. He did not like to believe there
was a conspiracy to frustrate his good intention; but that result had
been accomplished, whether by accident or design. He had failed in the
first thing he had undertaken for the woman he loved and was to marry.
He would see Fetters's man, however, and come to some arrangement with
him. With Fetters the hiring of the Negro was purely a commercial
transaction, conditioned upon a probable profit, for the immediate
payment of which, and a liberal bonus, he would doubtless relinquish
his claim upon Johnson's services.
Learning that Turner, who had acted as Fetters's agent in the matter,
had gone over to Clay Johnson's saloon, he went to seek him there. He
found him, and asked for a proposition. Turner heard him out.
"Well, Colonel French," he replied with slightly veiled insolence, "I
bought this nigger's time for Mr. Fetters, an' unless I'm might'ly
mistaken in Mr. Fetters, no amount of money can get the nigger until
he's served his time out. He's defied our rules and defied the law,
and defied me, and assaulted one of the guards; and he ought to be
made an example of. We want to keep 'im; he's a bad nigger, an' we've
got to handle a lot of 'em, an' we need 'im for an example--he keeps
us in trainin'."
"Have you any power in the matter?" demanded the colonel, restraining
his contempt.
"Me? No, not _me_! I couldn't let the nigger go for his weight in
gol'--an' wouldn' if I could.
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