I puts him there so's hit'd 'pear like Mister Ward
was just a-huntin'."
"Did you kill him?"
"Well, yes, suh, and no, suh! I shoots the fox squirrel, but
I ain't for sho' that hit was me what kill Mister Ward."
"What do you mean, you 'ain't for sure'?"
"See, Mister Jodie, hit was like this: Sunday, just awhile
'fore sundown, me and Little Stray was walkin' 'cross the
cornfield, lookin' for rabbits. Sylvie, she was with us. You
knows Sylvie, Mister Jodie. She was sniffin'-"
"Yeah, I know all about the dog. But what about Ward?"
"He come 'long with his shotgun and starts shootin' at me!"
"What'd you do?"
"I runs, Mister Jodie! Fast! But I falls down-hangs my feets
under a corn stalk -and I draps my shotgun. I hears three, four
shots! But I ain't hit. Sylvie, she's down lickin' my face.
Quick, I gets up and looks back sideways to see how close Mister
Ward's a-gettin'. No Mister Ward! I looks again, and there he is
layin' down on the ground, the gun in his hand, and hit still
smokin'.
"And there stands Little Stray, holdin' my gun in his hand,
and hit still smokin'! I say, 'O Lawd!' I gets up.
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