Uncle Eb scolded him and tried to send him back, but I pleaded for the poor creature and that settled it, he was one of our party.
'Dunno how we'll feed him,' said Uncle Eb.

'Our own mouths are big enough t' take all we can carry, but I hain' no heart t' leave 'im all 'lone there.' I was old for my age, they tell me, and had a serious look and a wise way of talking, for a boy so young; but I had no notion of what lay before or behind us.
'Now, boy, take a good look at the old house,' I remember he whispered to me at the gate that night ''Tain't likely ye'll ever see it ag'in.
Keep quiet now,' he added, letting down the bars at the foot of the lane.

'We're goin' west an' we mustn't let the grass grow under us.

Got t'be purty spry I can tell ye.' It was quite dark and he felt his way carefully down the cow-paths into the broad pasture.

With every step I kept a sharp lookout for swifts, and the moon shone after a while, making my work easier.
I had to hold my head down, presently, when the tall brush began to whip the basket and I heard the big boots of Uncle Eb ripping the briars.
Then we came into the blackness of the thick timber and I could hear him feeling his way over the dead leaves with his cane.