"Name er de Lawd, boy, whut is you
tryin' ter do*?"

107



BYPATHS IN DIXIE

"I want you ter be er billy goat."

"You wants sumthin' I nuv'r is ter be.
I'm willin' ter be er hoss an' on er pinch I'll
be er mule, but dey ain't no time I'm willin'
ter be no ole billy goat fur nobody."

"Please, Mammy," laying a hand on her
cheek in an effort to pull her face to him,
"m' billy goat's got his legs broke, an' I
won't have any goat if you don't be one."

"How come you don't tu'n one dem dogs
in er goat?" suggested Phyllis, her face ob-
stinately averted.
"They haven't got any horns !"

"I ain't got no horns neether," asserted
Mammy.
"But you can make some," persisted
Willis.
"You think I'm gwineter pull dis ban-
danner off an' roll my ole gray wool inter

108



NED DOG AND BILLY GOAT

horns, does you?" chuckled the old nurse.
Willis nodded.
"Well, you foolin' yo'se'f, dat's all I got
ter say." But when Willis began to fret.
Mammy relented: "I tell yer dat dog
won't know 'esse'f fum er goat, ef you calls
him goat; 'caze I knows erbout er dog an' er
goat dat can't tell t'other fum which."

"No you don't," objected the tormentor
tugging at her arm.
