The kitchen was full of all his compeers, who had hurried and crowded in, from the various cabins, to hear the termination of the day’s exploits.  Now was Sam’s hour of glory.  The story of the day was rehearsed, with all kinds of ornament and varnishing which might be necessary to heighten its effect; for Sam, like some of our fashionable dilettanti, never allowed a story to lose any of its gilding by passing through his hands.  Roars of laughter attended the narration, and were taken up and prolonged by all the smaller fry, who were lying, in any quantity, about on the floor, or perched in every corner.  In the height of the uproar and laughter, Sam, however, preserved an immovable gravity, only from time to time rolling his eyes up, and giving his auditors divers inexpressibly droll glances, without departing from the sententious elevation of his oratory.

“Yer see, fellow-countrymen,” said Sam, elevating a turkey’s leg, with energy, “yer see, now what dis yer chile ‘s up ter, for fendin’ yer all,—­yes, all on yer.  For him as tries to get one o’ our people is as good as tryin’ to get all; yer see the principle ’s de same,—­dat ar’s clar.  And any one o’ these yer drivers that comes smelling round arter any our people, why, he’s got me in his way; I’m the feller he’s got to set in with,—­I’m the feller for yer all to come to, bredren,—­I’ll stand up for yer rights,—­I’ll fend ’em to the last breath!”

“Why, but Sam, yer telled me, only this mornin’, that you’d help this yer Mas’r to cotch Lizy; seems to me yer talk don’t hang together,” said Andy.

“I tell you now, Andy,” said Sam, with awful superiority, “don’t yer be a talkin’ ‘bout what yer don’t know nothin’ on; boys like you, Andy, means well, but they can’t be spected to collusitate the great principles of action.”

Andy looked rebuked, particularly by the hard word collusitate, which most of the youngerly members of the company seemed to consider as a settler in the case, while Sam proceeded.

“Dat ar was conscience, Andy; when I thought of gwine arter Lizy, I railly spected Mas’r was sot dat way.  When I found Missis was sot the contrar, dat ar was conscience more yet,—­cause fellers allers gets more by stickin’ to Missis’ side,—­so yer see I ’s persistent either way, and sticks up to conscience, and holds on to principles.  Yes, principles,” said Sam, giving an enthusiastic toss to a chicken’s neck,—­“what’s principles good for, if we isn’t persistent, I wanter know?  Thar, Andy, you may have dat ar bone,—­tan’t picked quite clean.”

Sam’s audience hanging on his words with open mouth, he could not but proceed.