Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-27

hate her. and pretend to tease you. to
make her swear and threaten us with no
end of ills. Queer old bunch she was"
You're right; queer enough. But she
was devoted to our family, and to me in
particular. You know-or perhaps you
don't-that she was one Of my fathers
slaves before the war. When the rest took
their liberty and left, she came right into
the big house and declared that Linkum
or no Linkum. she b'longed to Mars Henry
an Mis- Emily, and she was gwine to stay
wild DEM And stay she did. My father
was killed in battle a month before l was
born; and in those trying days 1 suppose
that my mother would have died. too If it
had not been for Marin Lie. She was ev-
erything; servant, cook. laundress, nurse,
doctor and companion. Her courage never
failed and her spirits never tagged. From
my birth I was her idol No sacrifice was
too great to give me pleasure, and no toll
too irksome if by 1t she could serve me.
verify believe that she loved me better than
my own mother did. But somehow l never
liked her. 1 was always afraid of her, and
instinctively, even In childhood, 1 recoiied
from her AS grew older that feeling in
creased, until her very presence was in
tensely hateful to me. l fought against it
under the consciousness of my obligation
to her, but there it was. 1 couldn't get rid
of it,
Know just how you felt" broke in; 81
felt the same way myself. There was some
thing weird and uncanny about her; un-
wholesome-thats the word l want
> Il
for it. An unwhoesome influence seemed
to go out from her in some way. l found
as 1 grew older that her own people were
afraid of her. on account of her power to
confer them
ITO WHAT?
Confer or conjure; bewitch They con-
sidered her witch. hoodoo doctor. Now
/ suppose that you don't believe in any,
thing of that sort?'
well, hardly" 1 laughed; neither do
you, or any other sensible man."
Don't be too sure of that. There was a
time when l didn't; when 1 laughed at the
whole thing. just as you are now doing
But now"
But. man alive" began.
Never mind; let the argument go for
now, and let me get on with my story. AS
, L was saying, this feeling of repugnance of
aversion, for Marin Lie increased as grew
Older, while, on the other hand, her affec-
ton for and pride in me apparently in
creased also. My mothers death seemed to
other. / was her onlies chile, and she was
my onlies NANNY she was fond of saving.
After l finished college and began the prac-
tice OF law l broke up my home and took
bachelors quarters, fully as much to get
| rid of Marin Lie as for anything else. 1
bought a little house for her in the negro
quarter, settled an amount upon her suf-
ficient to satisfy her every want and con-
graduated myself that / was at last free
from her uncanny companionshfp. But I
didn't know her. Never a day passed but
she appeared at the door of my Office with
her smile and her inquiry, "How's ma
honey dis fine mornin'?" 1t matteree not
who was there. or what I was doing In
came Marin Lize-even into my private Of
flee. IL l were not in the outer room Again
and again 1 told her that was busy and
that she must not disturb me; but 1t made
no difference; next day there she was One
day the Climax came, and in sudden anger
told her to get out and stay out; that l
didn't want her around; that wished to
heaven / might never see her ugly black
face again as long as lived! There's graft
tude for you, considering all that she had
done for me and mine!"
"A trifie ungrateful. 1t must be admitted"
said l medita.ively: but eminently natural
Think 1 should have said the same thing
myself, under the circumstances. What
did the old hag say?"
Nothing for full minute. She simply
stood and looked at me as II she were try
Ing to take 1t in. And can tell you in that
minute / saw myself several kinds and
varieties OF things that creep and crawl
and are mean and low down generally. But
1t was too late; the word had gone forth.
Then she began to speak. at first in a low.
passionless voice, which gradually rose In
gathering fury until 1t shrieked about me.
like winters gale. so yo' q tied oh
SEEM oil manmys ugly brack face, Is yo,
honey? Nanny. dat TUX yo' FUN de doc
tabs hans when yo'' was BON: nanny, dat
rocked yo' to sleep on her bosom a-many
an a-many time; nanny, dat has Glib
her life to yo', and wud hab sold her soul
to de debbn fur 20 sake! Dom wan Of.
nanny 'roun' no mol Wush to hebbin yo'
might nebbsr zee her Ag1n ~ long q 70