"Hold on," cried John Valiant. "I thought you were bound in the other direction."
"No, _suh_. Ah'm gwine back whah I come f'om. Ah jus' druv out hyuh 'case Miss Shirley done met me, en she say, 'Unc' Jeffe'son, yo' go 'treckly out de Red Road, 'case er gemman done got stalled-ed.'"
"Oh--Miss Shirley. She told you, did she? What did you say her first name was?"
"_Dat's_ huh fus' name, Miss Shirley. Yas, _suh_! Miss Shirley done said f' me ter come en git de gemman whut--whut kinder dawg is yo' got dar?"
"It's a bulldog. Can you give me a lift? I've got that small trunk and--"
"Dat's a right fine dawg. Miss Shirley she moughty fond ob dawgs, too."
"Fond of dogs, is she?" said Valiant. "I might have known it. It was nice of her to send you here, Uncle Jefferson. You can take me and my traps, I suppose?"
"'Pens on whah yo' gwineter," answered Uncle Jefferson sapiently.
A kind of shocked surprise that was almost stupefaction spread over the other's face, like oil over a pool. "Dam'ry Co'ot! Dat's de old Valiant place. Ain' nobody lives _dar_. Ah reck'n ain' nobody live dar fer mos' er hun'erd yeahs!"
"The old house has a great surprise coming to it," said Valiant gravely. "Henceforth some one is going to occupy it. How far is it away?"
"Measurin' by de coonskin en th'owin' in de tail, et's erbout two mile. Ain' gwineter live dar yo'se'f, suh, is yo'?"
"I am for the present," was the crisp answer.
Uncle Jefferson stared at him a moment with his mouth open. Then ejaculating under his breath, "Fo' de _Lawd_! Whut folks gwineter say ter dat!" he shambled to the rear of the motor and began to unship the steamer-trunk.
"By the way,"--John Valiant paused, with the portmanteau in his hands,--"what do you ask for the job?"
The owner of the hack scratched his grizzled head. "Ah gen'ly chahges er quahtah er trunk f'om de deepo' less'n et's one ob dem ar rich folks f'om up Norf."
"I don't happen to be rich, so we'll make it a dollar. What makes you think I'm from the North?"
Again the aguish mirth agitated the other, as he put aboard a hamper and one of the motor's lamps, which Valiant added as an afterthought. "Ah _knows_ et," he said ingenuously, "but Ah don' know _why_. Ah'll jes' twis' er rope eroun' yo' trunk. Whut yo' gwineter do wid dat-ar?" he asked, pointing to the car. "Ah kin come wid ole Sukey--dat's mah mule--en fotch it in in de mawnin'. Ain' gwineter rain ter-night nohow."--