At last he walked into the clearing and took off his belt made from his own hair. He wiped the belt across the shoulders of the girl and pushed her gently on her side and trailed the belt across her belly as tears shook with starlight on her face.

He took her then in the sand by (the fire, white moonlight trellicing his rippling back.

A shot cracked open the starlight, moonlight, white night. The boo book stopped instantly. The white men stepped into the clearing and looked down. The black man twitched as he lay above the girl. She looked up at them and then turned away and closed her eyes. One black leg still twitched as blood brimmed from both their chests.