Free Pete is whut mostly de white folks call me." He laughed, white teeth showing and the whites of his eyes.

"Yer see, thar am a powerful lot o' Petes round 'bout yere, sah." I drew a deep breath, conscious of weakness as I endeavored to change position.
"All right, Pete; now I want to understand things clearly.

You shot me, supposing I was making an assault on you.

Your bullet lodged in my shoulder.

What happened then ?" "Well, after a while, sah, thar wan't no mor' noise, an' I reckoned I'd either done hit yer er else ye'd run away.