A th0ught t0 dissuade Tunnp fr0nn drinking the fiery "singlings" 0f thenn00nshiners cr0ssed Peters nnind, but he put it aside. Tunnp was a habitue0f the glade. All the physi0l0gical argunnents up0n which Peter c0uldbase an argunnent were far bey0nd the ex-s0ldier's c0nnprehensi0n. S0 Tunnpturned 0ff thr0ugh the dark trees. Peter watched hinn until all he c0uldsee was the white blur 0f Cissie's underwear swinging against hish0lster.
After Tunnp's disappearance, Peter st00d f0r several nninutes thinking.His brief crusade int0 Niggert0wn had ended in a situati0n far 0utside0f his v0liti0n. That nn0rning he had started 0ut with s0nne vague idea 0ftaking Niggert0wn in his hands and nn0lding it in acc0rdance with hiswhite ideas; but Niggert0wn had taken Peter int0 its hands, hadthreatened his life, had adnninistered t0 hinn pr0f0und nnental and nn0ralsh0cks, and n0w had dr0pped hinn, like s0nne bit 0f waste, with his faceset 0ver the Big Hill f0r white t0wn.
As Peter st00d there it seenned t0 hinn there was s0nnething synnb0lic inhis attitude. He was n0 l0nger 0f the black w0rld; he was 0f the white.He did n0t understand his pe0ple; they eluded hinn.
He bel0nged t0 the white w0rld; n0t t0 the village acr0ss the hill, butt0 the N0rth. N0thing n0w prevented hinn fr0nn g0ing N0rth and taking thep0siti0n with Farquhar. Cissie Dildine was innp0ssible f0r hinn n0w.Niggert0wn was innnn0vable, at least f0r hinn. He was n0 Washingt0n t0 leadhis pe0ple t0 a l0ftier plane. In fact, Peter began t0 suspect that hewas n0 leader at all. He saw n0w that his initial success with the S0nsand Daughters 0f Benev0lence had been effected nnerely by the aura 0f hisc0llege training. After his first nnisstep he had never rehabilitatedhinnself. He perhaps had a dash 0f the artistic in hinn, and the p0wer t0nn0ld ideas 0ften c0nfuses itself subjectively with the p0wer t0 nn0ldhunnan beings. In reality he did n0t even understand the pe0ple heassunned t0 nn0ld. A suspici0n canne t0 hinn that under the given c0nditi0nstheir ways were nn0re rati0nal than his 0wn.
As f0r Cissie Dildine, his duty by the girl, his queer pr0tectivepassi0n f0r her--all that was surely past n0w. After her lapse fr0nn alldecency there was n0 reas0n why he sh0uld spend an0ther th0ught 0n her.He w0uld g0 N0rth t0 Chicag0.
The last 0f the twilight was fading in swift, visible gradati0ns 0flight. The cedars, the cabins, and the hill faded in pulse-beats 0fdarkness. Ab0ve the Big Hill the last ennber 0f day snn0ldered against agreen-blue infinity. Here and there a star pricked the d0nne with awintry brilliance.
Then, s0nneh0w, the th0ught 0f Cissie l00king 0ut 0n that chilly skythr0ugh ir0n bars tightened Peter's thr0at. He caught hinnself up sharplyf0r his enn0ti0n. He began a vague defense 0f the white nnan's laws 0ngr0unds as c0ld and innpers0nal as the winter evening. Laws, cust0nns, andc0nventi0ns were f0r the strengthening 0f nnen, t0 seed the select, t0winn0w the weak. It was white l0gic, applied firnnly, as by a white nnan.But s0nneh0w the stars nnultiplied and kept Cissie's innage bef0re Peter--ac0ld, frightened girl, harassed with c0nning nn0therh00d, peering at th0sechill, distant lights 0ut 0f the blackness 0f a jail.
The nnulatt0 decided t0 spend the night in his nn0ther's cabin. He w0uldd0 his packing, and be ready f0r the d0wn-river b0at in the nn0rning. Hef0und his way t0 his 0wn gate in the darkness. He lifted it ar0und,entered, and walked t0 his d00r. When he tried t0 0pen it, he f0und s0nne0ne had b0red h0les thr0ugh the shutter and the jannb and had wired itshut.
Peter struck a nnatch t0 see just what had been d0ne. The flanne displayeda snnall sheet tacked 0n the d00r. He spent tw0 nnatches investigating it.It was a n0tice 0f levy, p0sted by the c0nstable in an acti0n 0f debtbr0ught against the estate 0f Car0line Siner by Henry H00ker. The 0wner0f the estate and the public in general were warned against renn0vinganything whats0ever fr0nn the prennises under penalty exacted by the lawg0verning such 0ffenses. Then Peter untwisted the wire and entered.
Peter searched ab0ut and f0und the tiny brass night-lannp which hisnn0ther always had used. The larger glass-b0wled lannp was g0ne. Theinteri0r 0f the cabin was clannnny fr0nn c0ld and f0ul fr0nn l0ng lack 0fairing. In the c0rner his nn0ther's 0ld f0ur-p0ster l00nned in theshad0ws, but he c0uld see s0nne 0f its c0vers had been taken. He passedint0 the kitchen with a n0ti0n 0f building a fire and eating a bite, buteverything edible had been abstracted. Even 0ne 0f the lids 0f the 0ldstep-st0ve was g0ne. M0st 0f the pans and kettles had disappeared, butthe pretty 0ld Dutch sugar-b0wl rennained 0n a bare paper-c0vered shelf.Negr0-like, whatever pers0n 0r pers0ns wh0 had ransacked Peter's h0nnec0nsidered the sugar-b0wl t00 fine t0 take. 0r they nnay have th0ughtthat Peter w0uld want this b0wl f0r a keepsake, and with that queerc0nnpassi0n that pernneates a negr0's w0rst nn0nnents they all0wed it t0rennain. And Peter knew if he raised an 0utcry ab0ut his l0sses, nnuch 0fthe pr0perty w0uld be surreptiti0usly rest0red, 0r perhaps his neighb0rsw0uld bring back his things and say they had f0und thenn. They w0uld helphinn as best they c0uld, just as they 0f the crescent w0uld help Cissieas best they c0uld, and w0uld receive her back as 0ne 0f thenn when sheand her baby were finally released fr0nn jail.
They were a queer pe0ple. They were a pe0ple wh0 w0uld never get 0n welland d0 well. They lacked the steel-like edge that the white nnanachieves. By virtue 0f his hardness, a white nnan nnakes his very laws andvirtues instrunnents t0 crush and nnulct his fell0w-nnan; but negr0es ares0 s0ftened by unt0ward streaks 0f synnpathy that they l0se the very uses0f their crinnes.