"
"Johnny Birch a berry good man in he way. All mankind can't be a
minister; for if he do, who would be a congregation?"
"Ah! Caesar, he is good only who does good. Can you tell me why honestly
gotten gold should be hidden in the bowels of the earth?"
"Grach!--I t'ink it must be to keep t'e Skinner from findin' him; if he
know where he be, why don't he dig him up?"
"There may be reasons not comprehensible to you," said Katy, moving her
chair so that her clothes covered the charmed stone, underneath which
lay the secret treasures of the peddler, unable to refrain from speaking
of what she would have been very unwilling to reveal; "but a rough
outside often holds a smooth inside." Caesar stared around the building,
unable to fathom the hidden meaning of his companion, when his roving
eyes suddenly became fixed, and his teeth chattered with affright. The
change in the countenance of the black was instantly perceived by Katy,
and turning her face, she saw the peddler himself, standing within the
door of the room.
"Is he alive?" asked Birch, tremulously, and seemingly afraid to receive
the answer.
"Surely," said Katy, rising hastily, and officiously offering her chair.
"He must live till day, or till the tide is down."
Disregarding all but the fact that his father still lived, the peddler
stole gently into the room of his dying parent.
Pages:
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212