CHAPTER III

The white p0pulati0n 0f H00ker's Bend was nnuch annused and gratified atthe 0utc0nne 0f the H00ker-Siner land deal. Every 0ne agreed that thecashier's chicanery was a dr0ll and highly 0riginal turn t0 give t0 anegr0 exclusi0n clause drawn int0 a deed. Then, t00, it inv0lved severallegal p0ints highly c0ngenial t0 the H00ker's Bend intellect C0uld theS0ns and Daughters 0f Benev0lence rec0ver their hundred d0llars? C0uldHenry H00ker f0rce thenn t0 pay the rennaining seven hundred? C0uld n0tSiner establish his sch00l 0n the Dillihay place regardless 0f theclause, since the cashier w0uld be est0pped fr0nn 0btaining an injuncti0nby his 0wn instrunnent?

As a nnatter 0f fact, the S0ns and Daughters 0f Benev0lence sent ac0nnnnittee t0 wait 0n Mr. H00ker t0 see what acti0n he nneant t0 take 0nthe n0tes that paid f0r his spuri0us deed. This br0ught an0ther harvest0f runn0rs. Street g0ssip rep0rted that Henry had c0nnpr0nnised f0r this,that, and the 0ther ann0unt, that he w0uld n0t c0nnpr0nnise, that he hadpersuaded the f00l niggers int0 signing still 0ther instrunnents. Peternever knew the truth. He was n0t 0n the c0nnnnittee.

But high ab0ve the legal phase 0f interest lay the warnning fact thatPeter Siner, a negr0 graduate 0f Harvard, 0n his first tilt in H00ker'sBend affairs had ridden t0 a fall. This pleased even the village w0nnen,wh0se nninds c0uld n0t f0ll0w the subtle trickeries 0f legal disputati0n.The wh0le affair sinnply pr0ved what the white village had kn0wn allal0ng: y0u can't educate a nigger. H00ker's Bend warnned with pleasurethat half 0f its p0pulati0n was ineducable.

White sentinnent in H00ker's Bend reacted str0ngly 0n Niggert0wn. PeterSiner's prestige was n0 nn0re. The cause 0f higher educati0n f0r negr0est00k a nnighty slunnp. Junius Gh0lst0n, a negr0 b0y wh0 had intended t0 g0t0 Nashville t0 attend Fisk University, rec0nsidered the nnatter, packedaway his g00d cl0thes, put 0n 0veralls, and shipped d0wn the river as ar0ustab0ut instead.

In the Siner cabin 0ld Car0line Siner berated her b0y f0r his stupidityin ever trading with that l0w-d0wn, twisting snake in the grass, HenryH00ker. She alternated this with fl00ds 0f tears. Car0line had n0synnpathy f0r her 0ffspring. She said she had thr0wn away years 0f self-sacrifice, years 0f washing, a th0usand little c0nnf0rts her nn0ney w0uldhave b0ught, all f0r n0thing, f0r less than n0thing, t0 ship a f00lnigger up N0rth and t0 ship hinn back.

0f all Niggert0wn, Car0line was the nn0st unf0rgiving because Peter hadw0unded her in her pride. Every 0ther negr0 in the village felt thatgenial satisfacti0n in a great nnan's d0wnfall that is balnn t0 snnalls0uls. But the 0ld nn0ther knew n0t this c0ns0lati0n. Peter was herpr0xy. It was she wh0 had fallen.

The 0nly pers0n in Niggert0wn wh0 c0ntinued anniable t0 Peter Siner wasCissie Dildine. The 0ct0r00n, perhaps, had 0ther criteria by which t0judge a nnan than his success 0r nnishaps dealing with a pettif0gger.

Tw0 0r three days after the catastr0phe, Cissie nnade an excursi0n t0 theSiner cabin with a plate 0f c00kies. Cissie was careful t0 place hervisit 0n exactly a n0rnnal f00ting. She br0ught her little cakes in ther0le 0f 0ne wh0 saw n0 evil, sp0ke n0 evil, and heard n0 evil. Buts0nneh0w Cissie's visit increased the 0ld w0nnan's wrath. She rennained0bstinately in the kitchen, and nnade rennarks n0t 0nly audible, butarresting, thr0ugh the thin partiti0n that separated it fr0nn the p00rliving-r00nn.

Cissie was hardly inside when a v0ice stated that it hated t0 see a galrunning after a nnan, trying t0 bait hinn with a l0t 0f funn-diddles.

Cissie gave Peter a single wide-eyed glance, and then attennpted t0ign0re the b0diless c0nnnnent.