the sound. He scowled downward blackly.

"Niggers are like children: they 've got imaginations that make 'em talk to themselves and laugh and have a devil of a good time. 'Rastus is always figuring out some good joke and chuckling about it." 'Rastus straightened up, and looked across the road at Buck. The ears of both convicts worked slightly at the sides of their heads. It might have been some exchange of signals. Then 'Rastus stooped over and began lazily shaping down a scoop-load of dirt just dumped by a scraper. His thick lips were moving silently.

Stoning watched 'Rastus intently, and calmly puffed at his cigarette.

Rand was extremely uncomfortable. He could scarcely sit still.

"I dream true," said Stoning. "Buck will have his other ankle-strap cut loose in about ten minutes. He will swing himself up on the little sweet-gum-trunk and dodge into the woods."

"Good Lord!" Rand blurted. "If you are so positive, why don't you-"

"Don't talk so loud." Stoning was intently gazing at two men whose heads were held close together for a moment. "I dream true, and I can tell what the black rascals are saying without hearing 'em say it. See those two whispering to each other in the middle of the road? That little black fellow has just asked Sam who you are. Wait; I'll show you. "Sam," he called out, "tell Joe this is Mr. Rand from Memphis. He is visiting his home-folks. They live in that farmhouse at the Forks."

The two convicts fell apart as if they had been shot at. Their mouths fell open, and their eye-balls bulged. They fell to work feverishly, dumb with amazement, ashen with fear.

The captain smiled and smoked complacently. Rand's astonishment was almost as great as that of the superstitious negroes. 'Rastus chuckled distinctly.

"Last week these boys made it up in their cage one night to jump on me when I opened the door next morning," Stoning

continued. "We were about ten miles from here. There was n't a house or another white man anywhere close by us. Guess it looked pretty easy to 'em. I always fool around the cage and look 'em over before I unlock the door. I can always tell when they are sulky or playing possum. They are just like children in a lot o' ways. That morning when I went to the cage they were talking and singing, making the usual amount of noise. Their play-acting was pretty good; it might have fooled me. 'Rastus was close to the bars, looking out at me, his mouth working, and his eyes mighty cunning. I just watched 'Rastus a minute, looked at the bunch, and remarked: 'Good morning, boys! Last night I dreamed you rascals had made it up to stomp my guts out when I unlocked this shebang to-day. Is that so?" "

The captain paused, critically examined the accumulated ash of his cigarette, flicked it off, then drawlingly finished his narration of the little episode.

"You ought to a-seen them falling over each other; every blessed son of a gun tried to deny it first. I let 'em out one by one, and kept them lined up in front of me. And they won't make up any such fool scheme again."

A heavy, oppressive hand was invisibly weighing upon the spirits of the sweating, odorous convicts. Their minds seemingly paralyzed under the apprehensive dread, some of them did idiotic things. One dumped a spadeful of dirt, then hastily scooped up the dirt and put it back in its original place. One dropped his shovel and picked up an ax. He nearly cut his bare foot trying to press the ax into the earth as he had been pressing the shovel. Another stooped down and tried to scoop up a load of dirt in a scoop that was turned bottom upward. Their eyes were shifting from fearful glances at the captain to wondering looks at Buck Sledge.

The drivers of horses and mules drawing road-scrapers or scoops were in eager, nervous haste to pass across the line from Captain Stoning to the convict in the ditch. At each trip and turn they whipped the horses' sides with the lines.

Buck now rested his shovel-handle in the crook of his left arm; both his hands were out of sight below the line of roadedge. His snaky eyes were gleaming. Still he did not jump. Captain Stoning rose and stretched.

"He seems bashful. Guess I'll have to turn my back on him to get the thing over with. I can watch him just as well with my back turned.” He added, "I'd like for him to learn about the eyes I wear in the back of my head."

'Rastus backed away from his original position and stood in the middle of the road, facing toward the road-gang. He looked straight at Buck.

After turning his back toward the gang, Stoning could see only 'Rastus, whose thick lips were moving again.

A thrill of fear shot through Rand. He leaped to his feet, breathing almost suspended, eyes widening with horror. Words of remonstrance seethed in his brain, but his stammering lips could not utter them. Stoning's quiet voice said:

"Now Buck has decided to seek the tall timber. He is unbuckling his belt. Ah! hear the chain fall into the ditch behind him?"

To Rand the abrupt, muffled clank was sickening. Every man except Buck was. still. The lips of 'Rastus alone of his motionless body seemed alive. Stoning did not turn. His heavy pistol lay on the ground at his feet. He said:

"What is he waiting for? Now he is watching me. His ears are working at 'Rastus, and 'Rastus is answering the sign. Now Buck is looking up at the sweet-gum. He is getting ready for a leap. Ah! he did n't jump quite high enough!"

He

Rand's lips and tongue were stricken with paralysis. He was stupefied. was watching Buck's every move. The tall, lithe captain must indeed have eyes behind him.

"There he goes up again," Stoning murmured softly. "He caught it that time. Now he is trying to swing his legs up."

With swift, panther-like precision of movement and absolute accuracy of aim. Stoning turned about, picked up his gun, and fired.

The bark of the sweet-gum burst at Buck's hands; blood trickled from his fingers. He fell limply back into the ditch, where he lay until found, inert, helpless, trembling with horror and fright. Stoning sat down. He lighted another cigarette as he said:

"Sam, you and Joe go pick him up. Tell him he made my dream come true. He ain't hurt. I just skinned a couple of his fingers."

The captain dipped his hand into his right trousers-pocket; it came out closed, and he fingered for a moment with the band around his hat. He held the hat awkwardly. It slipped from his fingers. and rolled down into the dirty roadway below.

"'Rastus, pick up my hat!" he ordered. "Knock the dirt off before you hand it back." He added sententiously, "Another dream came true."

"Yas, sah, yas, sah."

The intelligent face of 'Rastus wore a pleased smile as he sprang nimbly to pick up the hat. He chuckled again. Rand saw the negro deftly extract a silver dollar from the hat-band.