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 "Ef dey warn't no Crown?" Porgy whispered. Then before she could answer, he hurried on: "Ef dey wuz only jes' de baby an' Porgy, wut den?"

The odd incandescence flared in her face, touching it with something eternal and b autiful beyond the power of human flesh to convey. She took the child from Porgy with a hungry, enfolding gesture. Then her composure broke.

"Oh, fuh Gawd sake, Porgy, don't let dat man come an' handle me! Ef yuh is willin' tuh keep me, den lemme stay. Ef he jus' don't put dem hot han' on me, I kin be good, I kin 'member, I kin be happy."

She broke off abruptly, and hid her face against that of the child.

Porgy patted her arm. "Yuh ain't needs tuh be 'fraid," he assured her. "Ain't yuh gots yo' man? Ain't yuh gots Porgy? Wut kin of a nigger yuh t'inks yuh gots anyway, fuh let annuduh nigger carry he 'oman? No, suh! yuh gots yo' man now; yuh gots Porgy."

From behind a sea island the full October moon lifted its chill disc and strewed the bay with cold, white fire. The lights were