, 1889-02-03

SAALt 1Ou OK SOu AS Ky
-yo' cum heah dis minit;r then low
ering her voice and the angry looking
tignon at the same time, "Lawd knows
chillen's pesky-an my iyuns as hot as
kin be, now got to stop an wrench out
dem camberick hankshers-de hole
Dressed six on dem too-good Lawdl
den dey got ter be clare stached too
all over agin, my Lawdl Honey" this
in n sweet sugared tone to her young
lady, little mistiss, please ma'am,
honey, git off on dat table, done ak
you afoh-you's a meddlin and n mus
sin all mong dem dar white close,
and dis hcah skirt boawd amt a fttin
to iyun desc odder tings on-so l does
need my table dis mint, chile"
What pleading cadences the old
slave voices were capable off Little
mistiss' kicked up her heels n trihe
higher, made n naughty moo at the
old oma and said with severe de
liberation: Aunt Sukey, look here
now, I'm not going 10 bulge from
here-no, l won't-until you tell me
where you get all that ~rigmarole about
my not going back TO the Sacre Coeur,
and my being old enough to put on
long dresses and wear my hair ZEN
coitfe.' You have been teasing me, |
am sure, and yet-yes, | do wish il
were true, but | know papa too well.
Papa has always said | should attend
school until | was 10, and-pshawl /
don't believe one word you say"
"NWell, chile, what / done tole you
is tole, and is true too-God knows it's
his gospel trufe-heah, Aggy, hurry
up your stumps, little gal, fetch dat
pail heah-datn do-now run skeowr
yo knives TO de dinnah table-skeowr
dem putickla bright, gal, =" with a mis-
chievous smile breaking out like sum-
mer sunshine over the swnrt blackness
of her fat face, cos 20 an me and
little mistiss heah, we knows who is a
To dinnah dis Choosedayp-and
"Mammy's chile, 12 o'clock bells done
rung n long time, an yo amt got no
time fur TO wais; yo pa'sorful putickla
bout 20 chillun a bein up an above
stairs an a havin yo eads all smooved
befo 2 o'clock dinnah time-run ahed.
chile-oh sake's alivel good Lawdi
Git up, chile, git rite up from dahl'
These last words spoken harshly and
with anxious bewilderment, an anx-
ious tremble in every hasty ejacula-
ton.
Little mistiss" was too idle and too
insouciante to be very observant Of
these marked tones.
"Pshaw-tiens done, old Sukey
Blue Skin, you needn't think I'm 20
ing TO bother much about smoothing
my hair, and I'm not going to change
my dress at all; who's coming, any
howR Only that old Mr.. Roberts from
Last Retreat and he comes 10 see
papa every day, either morning, noon
or evenings he is always here, some
times twice a day, and how they do
tramp up and down, up and down, it
is a wonder that gallery loordont fall
in, or tho planks wear out, or some
thingi But, dear me" with a bright
lurking in the corners of the
blush gray eyes, ''if only some of the
young men would be invited TO din
ner; but papa is droll, very. He
thinks l am too young for beaux
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES; and | never
shall forget how badly papa treated
that poor timid Oscar when he called
to SEQ me the week after / came home.
Poor Oscarl He did not linger long
before he said, Bon soirl And all for
whatl Just because papa found-oh,
long ago-during my last vacances
some poor little verses Oscar wrote me;
innocent verses, no harm in them.
This is what | remember of them: If
you love me as | love you, no knife
cut our love in two There was
n billet doux above these lines, but |
paid no attention to those fine French
compliments, so I've forgotten all
about the billet doux, but l
remember those English lines,
all owing TO papa's conduct too,
because papa saw the note some
where lying about, and, ma foil
but he was voxedl He scolded me a
Phorreurl and stormed out, Par ex-
ample, he would show tho IL
gamin no had something that would
cut that lovo in two, by tho eternall
my bowie knifer Grand Dieul but
papa was furious, let me tell you.
Poor cher Oscarl / never see him
now, and papa is ever talking against
the young men observation-disclosures are
%vauriens, Others are ces petits gems la,
and again counter hoppersl AS for
me, although it seems papa means il
all for me, every word forme, I would
not glance twice at n counter hopper
mo yard sticks and tape measures
for mer'
And thus the monologue continued
in the fresh, vibrant young voice, and
Sukey, forgetting all about the woeful
"camberick handshers'' put to soak in
the round little blue tub, was standing
arms aimbo looking at her little mis-
tiss' with a queer smile beaming over
her old, fat jolly face, and her sides
quite shaky with suppressed laughter;
and Aggy's agile form had stopped on
its way kitchenward, and was now
partially hidden behind tho latticed
dairy, whence she could see and hear
everything, her perfect oval features
relaxed from their wonted sadness of
expression (all mulnttoes have sad
faces, l think), and were radiant with
fun and bright expectancy; little mis-
tiss was not astonished at this change
of base in her audience. Sho was &C
customed to these transitions in her
loved house servants. When she talked
She might sway and move them to
laughter or to tears, and when she
spoke of papa's moods-why, thenl
they were vastly amused, because she
could g~esticulate just like papa, and
she could put on his heavy frown and
ring out his "Sacre millestonnerres,"
nfn