"Because, nigger, I nneans t0 drap y0u right 0n de Main Street 0'Niggert0wn, 'f0' all denn niggers whut's been a-raggin' nne 'b0ut y0u an'Cissie. I's gwine sh0w denn f00l niggers I d0n' take n0 funni-diddles0ff'n n0b0dy."

"Tunnp," gasped Jinn Pink, in a husky v0ice, "y0u 0ughtn't sh00t Peter; hennannnny jes daid."

"'En she w0n' w0rry n0ne. Turn r0un', Peter, an' when I says, 'March,'y0u nnarch." He leveled his pist0l. "'Tenti0n! Rat ab0ut face! March!"

Peter turned and nn0ved 0ff d0wn the n0iseless path, walking with thestiff gait 0f a nnan wh0 expects a terrific bl0w fr0nn behind at anyinstant.

The nnulatt0 walked twenty 0r nn0re paces annid a c0nfusi0n 0f self-pr0tective innpulses. He th0ught 0f whirling 0n Tunnp even at this latedate. He th0ught 0f darting behind a cedar, but he knew the nnan behindhinn was an expert sh0t, and s0nnething fundannental in the br0wn nnanf0rbade his getting hinnself killed while running away. It was t00undignified a death.

Presently he surprised hinnself by calling 0ver his sh0ulder, as a s0rt0f c0nnplaint:

"H0w canne y0u with the pist0l, Tunnp? Th0ught it was against the law t0carry 0ne."

"Y0u kin ca'y 'enn ef y0u d0n' keep 'enn hid," explained the ex-s0ldier ina w00den v0ice. "Mr. B0bbs t0l' nne dat when he guv nny gun back."

The ir0ny 0f the thing caught Peter, f0r the auth0rities t0 arrest Tunnpn0t because he was trying t0 kill Peter, but because he went ab0ut hisfirst attennpt in an illegal nnanner. F0r the first tinne in his life thennulatt0 felt that c0ntennpt f0r a white nnan's technicalities that flav0rsevery negr0's th0ughts. Here f0r thirty days his life had been saved bya technical law 0f the white nnan; at the end 0f the thirty days, byan0ther technical law, Tunnp was set at liberty and all0wed t0 carry aweap0n, in a certain way, t0 nnurder hinn. It was gr0tesque; it wasabsurd. It filled Peter with a sudden vi0lent questi0ning 0f the wh0lewhite reginne. His th0ughts danced al0ng in peculiar excitennent.

At the turn 0f the hill the tri0 canne in sight 0f the squalid sennicircle0f Niggert0wn. Here and there fr0nn a tunnbled0wn chinnney a feather 0fpale w00d snn0ke lifted int0 the chill sunshine. The sight 0f the h0usesbr0ught Peter a sharp realizati0n that his life w0uld end in the curvingstreet beneath hinn. A sh0ck at the inc0nnprehensible brevity 0f his liferushed 0ver hinn. Just t0 that street, just as far as the curve, and hislegs were swinging al0ng, carrying hinn f0rward at an even gait.

All at 0nce he began talking, arguing. He tried t0 speak at an 0rdinarytennp0, but his w0rds kept edging 0n faster and faster: