The word appears 2 times.
This novel was made into 2 motion pictures - one in which John Wayne won and Oscar for his portrayal of the character Roster Cogburn. I loved both version of the movie and decided to read the book. Its and easy read, and I highly recommend it, but it is describing a time in American life when the N-word was used, and was used, not as a common designation, but with all the racial denigration is holds today.
(Mattie Ross, a 14 year old white girl, and her friend, Yarnell, a black man, are traveling to Fort Smith to collect the body of her father. The following takes place,)
We rode in a colored coach and Yarnell got us a trunk to sit on.
When the conductor came through he said, "Get that trunk out of the aisle,nigger!"
I replied to him in this way: "We will move the trunk but there is no reason for you to be so hateful about it."
He did not say anything to that but went on taking tickets. He saw that I had brought to all the darkie's attention how little he was.
LaBoeuf replied, "I will be frank to say the Bibbses are not loose with their money. It holds to them like cholera to a nigger. But I guess they will have to pay."