or something, s'posing you was up; and found you _warn't_ up, and so they was hoping to slide out of the way of trouble without waking you up, if they hadn't already waked you up.” “Great guns, _this_ is a go!” says the king; and both of them looked pretty sick and tolerable silly.  They stood there a-thinking and scratching their heads a minute, and the duke he bust into a kind of a little raspy chuckle, and says: “It does beat all how neat the niggers played their hand.  They let on to be _sorry_ they was going out of this region!  And I believed they _was_ sorry, and so did you, and so did everybody.  Don't ever tell _me_ any more that a nigger ain't got any histrionic talent.  Why, the way they played that thing it would fool _anybody_.  In my opinion, there's a fortune in 'em.  If I had capital and a theater, I wouldn't want a better lay-out than that--and here we've gone and sold 'em for a song.  Yes, and ain't privileged to sing the song yet.  Say, where _is_ that song--that draft?” “In the bank for to be collected.  Where _would_ it be?” “Well, _that's_ all right then, thank goodness.” Says I, kind of timid-like: “Is something gone wrong?” The king whirls on me and rips out: “None o' your business!  You keep your head shet, and mind y'r own affairs--if you got any.  Long as you're in this town don't you forgit _that_--you hear?”  Then he says to the duke, “We got to jest swaller it and say noth'n':  mum's the word for _us_.” As they was starting down the ladder the duke he chuckles again, and says: “Quick sales _and_ small profits!  It's a good business--yes.” The king snarls around on him and says: “I was trying to do for the best in sellin' 'em out so quick.  If the profits has turned out to be none, lackin' considable, and none to carry, is it my fault any more'n it's yourn?” “Well, _they'd_ be in this house yet and we _wouldn't_ if I could a got my advice listened to.” The king sassed back as much as was safe for him, and then swapped arou