' Then he asked me if I had ever read a book called
the 'Black-eyed Creole.' 'That is the style for me,' he said; 'there where
the fellow takes the nigger-girl by the arm, and the other fellow cuts it
off! That's what I like.'
"But what he said after that I don't remember, only it made me feel as if I
were having a bad dream, and I wanted to be far away.
"When he had finished eating he did not stay long; he had to go and see
some girls home from a prayer-meeting; and he asked how it was he never saw
me walking out with any on Sunday afternoons. He said he had lots of
sweethearts, and he was going to see one the next Wednesday on a farm, and
he asked me to lend my mare. I told him she was very old. But he said it
didn't matter; he would come the next day to fetch her.
"After he was gone my little room got back to its old look. I loved it so;
I was so glad to get into it at night, and it seemed to be reproaching me
for bringing him there. The next day he took the grey mare. On Thursday
he did not bring her back, and on Friday I found the saddle and bridle
standing at my door.
"In the afternoon he looked into the shop, and called out: 'Hope you got
your saddle, Farber? Your bag-of-bones kicked out six miles from here.
I'll send you a couple of shillings tomorrow, though the old hide wasn't
worth it.
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