Page:Scarlet Sister Mary (1928).pdf/317

 "Do, fo Gawd's sake, Unex. Emma'll know when e belly gits full. Gawd made chillen wid more sense'n people. If Emma misses and drinks too much, e belly will know, and throw em straight back up, and be shet of em."

Unex gave up. Mary was too positive for any argument.

"Do looka how Emma duh level down on de milk. E's pure a-starvin, po lil creeter," Seraphine sympathized.

And while Emma leveled down, Mary untied the strings of Unex's wet shoes. When he got off his wet clothing, he had no dry ones to put on so he wrapped himself in a quilt and sat by the fire warming, stretching his bare feet out to the fire, while he ate a little cornbread and goat meat. He was not hungry. For two or three days a burning in his belly had killed all his appetite.

When Emma was fed and dozing, Seraphine took her and sat listening, while Unex and Mary talked.

When he left home he went straight up north.

"Wid Yankees?" Mary asked quickly.

"Yes, wid Yankees." But they seemed much like other white people except for their talk. At first he could hardly understand a word they said.

He drifted from one city to another, looking