The Reivers

holding the lamp high so its light fell mostly on his and Ned's faces, speaking again in that heatless monotone, he and Ned both:

'This horse is stolen,' Boon murmured.

'What would you call that automobile?' Ned murmured.

Yes, wonderful; Miss Reba's tone was no more than Boon's and Ned's: only brisker: 'You got to get it out of town.'

'That's just exactly the idea I brought him here with,' Ned said. 'Soon as I eats my supper, me and him gonter start for Possum.'

'Have you got any idea how far it is to Possum, let alone in what direction?' Boon said.

'Does it matter?' Ned said. 'When Boss left town without taking that automobile with him right in his hand, did your mind worry you about how far Memphis was?'

Miss Reba moved. 'Come in the house,' she said. 'Can anybody see him here?' she said to Ned.

'Nome,' Ned said. 'I got that much sense. I done already seen to that.' He tied the horse to the tree again and we followed Miss Reba up the back steps.

'The kitchen,' she said. 'It's getting time for company to start coming in.' In the kitchen she said to Minnie: 'Sit in my room where you can answer the door. Did you give me the keys back or have you— All right. Dont give no credit to anybody unless you know them; make the change before you even pull the cork if you can. See who's in the house now too. If anybody asks for Miss Corrie, just say her friend from Chicago's in town.'

'In case any of them dont believe you, tell them to come around the alley and knock on the back door,' Boon said.

'For Christ's sake,' Miss Reba said. 'Haven't you got troubles enough already to keep you busy? If you dont want Corrie having company, why the hell dont you buy her outright instead of just renting her once every six months?'

'All right, all right,' Boon said.

'And see where everybody in the house is, too,' Miss Reba told Minnie.

'I'll see about him, myself,' Miss Corrie said. 'Make him stay there,' Miss Reba said. 'He's already played all the hell with horses I'm going to put up with in one day.' Miss Corrie went out. Miss Reba went herself and closed the door and stood looking at Ned. 'You mean, you were going to walk to Parsham and lead that horse?'

'That's right,' Ned said. 'Do you know how far it is to Parsham?'

'Do it matter?' Ned said again. 'I dont need to know how far it is to Possum. All I needs is Possum. That's why I changed my mind about leading him: it might be far. At first I thought, being as you're in the connection business —'

'What the hell do you mean?' Miss Reba said. 'I run a house. Anybody that's too polite to call it that, I dont want in my front door or back door neither.'

'I mean, one of your ladies' connections,' Ned said. 'That might have a saddle horse or even a plow horse or even a mule I could ride whilst Lucius rides the colt, and go to Possum that way. But we aint only got to run a solid mile the day after tomorrow, we got to do it three times and at least two of them gonter have to be before the next horse can. So I'm gonter walk him to Possum.'

'All right,' Miss Reba said. 'You and the horse are in Parsham. AH you need now is a iorse race,'

'Any man with a horse can find a horse race anywhere,' Ned said. 'All he needs is for both of them to be able to stand up long enough to start.'

'Can you make this one stand up that long?' 'That's right,' Ned said.

'Can you make him run while he's standing up?'

'That's right,' Ned said. 'How do you know you can?'

'I made that mule run,' Ned said.

'What mule?' Miss Reba said. Miss Corrie came in, shutting the door behind her. 'Shut it good,' Miss Reba said. She said to Ned: 'All right. Tell me about that race.' Now Ned looked at her, for a full quarter of a minute; the spoiled immune privileged-retainer impudence of his relations with Boon and the avuncular bossiness of those with me, were completely gone.

'You sounds like you want to talk sense for a while,' he said.

'Try me,' Miss Reba said.

'All right,' Ned said. 'A man, another rich white man, I dont call his name but I can find him; aint but one horse like that in twenty miles of Possum, let alone ten—owns a blood horse too that has already run twice against this horse last whiter and beat him twice. That Possum horse beat this horse just enough bad the first time, for the other rich white man that owned that horse to bet twice as much the second time. And got beat just enough more bad that second time, that when this horse turns up in Possum day after tomorrow, wanting to run him another race, that Possum rich white man wont be just willing to run his horse again, he'll likely be proud and ashamed both to take the money.'

'All right,' Miss Reba said. 'Go on.'

'That's all,' Ned said. 'I can make this horse run. Only dont nobody but me know it yet. So just in case you ladies would like to make up a little jackpot, me and Lucius and Mr Hogganbeck can take that along with us too.'

'That includes the one that's got that automobile now too?' Miss Reba said. 'I mean, among the ones that dont know you can make it run?'

'That's right,' Ned said.