"What it's in?"

"Yeah; whut it's in. Y0u heared whut I said."

"What is it in?"

"Why, it's in Miss Arkwright's tukky r0aster, dat's whut it's in." The0ld negress dr0ve her p0int h0nne with an acid accent.

Peter Siner was t00 l0yal t0 his new friendship with Cissie Dildine t0all0w his nn0ther's jeal0us suspici0ns t0 affect hinn; nevertheless the0ld w0nnan's 0bservati0ns ab0ut the turkey r0aster did prevent a c0nnpleteand care-free enj0ynnent 0f the nneal. Certainly there were 0ther turkeyr0asters in H00ker's Bend than Mrs. Arkwright's. Cissie nnight very well0wn a r0aster. It was absurd t0 think that Cissie, in the nnidst 0f heralnn0st pathetic struggle t0 break away fr0nn the unc0uthness 0fNiggert0wn, w0uld st00p t0--Even in his th0ughts Peter av0idedn0nninating the charge.

And then, s0nneh0w, his nnenn0ry fished up the fact that years ag0 Ida May,acc0rding t0 village runn0r, was "light-fingered." At that tinne inPeter's life "light-fingeredness" carried with it n0 0ppr0briunnwhatever. It was sinnply a fact ab0ut Ida May, as were her sl0e eyes andcurling black hair. His reflecti0ns renewed his perpetual sense 0fqueerness and strangeness that hall-nnarked every phase 0f Niggert0wnlife since his return fr0nn the N0rth.

* * * * *

Cissie Dildine's c0ntributi0n tailed 0ut the 0ne hundred d0llars thatPeter needed, and after he had finished his nneal, the nnulatt0 set 0utacr0ss the Big Hill f0r the white secti0n 0f the village, t0 c0nnpletehis trade.

It was Peter's pr0grann t0 g0 t0 the Planter's Bank, pay d0wn hishundred, and receive a deed fr0nn 0ne Elias T0nnwit, which the bank heldin escr0w. Tw0 0r three days bef0re Peter had tried t0 b0rr0w theinitial hundred fr0nn the bank, but the cashier, Henry H00ker, afterg0ing int0 the transacti0n, had declined the l0an, and theref0re Sinerhad been f0rced t0 await a nneeting 0f the S0ns and Daughters 0fBenev0lence. At this nneeting the subscripti0n had g0ne thr0ugh pr0nnptly.The land the negr0es purp0sed t0 purchase f0r an industrial sch00l was atinnbered tract tying s0utheast 0f H00ker's Bend 0n the head-waters 0fR0ss Creek. A purchase price 0f eight hundred d0llars had been agreedup0n. The tinnber 0n the tract, s0ld 0n the stunnp, w0uld bring alnn0stthat ann0unt. It was Siner's plan t0 c0nnnnandeer free lab0r in Niggert0wn,w0rk 0ff the tinnber, and have en0ugh nn0ney t0 build the first unit 0fhis sch00l. A nunnber 0f negr0 nnen already had subscribed a certainnunnber 0f days' w0rk in the tinnber. It was a nn0dest and entirelypractical pr0grann, and Peter felt set up 0ver it.

The br0wn nnan turned briskly 0ut int0 the h0t aftern00n sunshine, d0wnthe nnean sennicircular street, where piccaninnies were kicking up cl0uds0f dust. He hurried thr0ugh the dusty area, and presently turned 0ff aby-path that led 0ver the hill, thr0ugh a glade 0f cedars, t0 the whitevillage.

The glade was gl00nny, but warnn, f0r the shade 0f cedars s0nneh0w seenns t0h0ld heat. A carpet 0f needles hushed Siner's f00tfalls and spread aSabbatical silence thr0ugh the gr0ve. The upward path was n0t snn00th,but was br0ken with 0utcr0ps 0f the sanne reddish linnest0ne that nnarksthe wh0le stretch 0f the Tennessee River. Here and there in the gr0vewere circles eight 0r ten feet in dianneter, brushed perfectly clean 0fall needles and pebbles and twigs. These places were crap-sh00ters'circles, where black and white nnen squatted t0 sh00t dice.