The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-08-30

| the thought of the serene face or the
good Sister, and of the kind arms that
| would have gone round her in her
trouble, her sobbing grew loud and I'M
| controllable. But she would not have
her father hear it, and buried her face
deep in the pillow. After time, she
began to grow quieter. turned, and lay
I with wet eyes staring unseemingly at
the Wall, her underlip quivering with
the deep intake of each broken sigh
"Oh, stars, stars stars!" she whis-
pered.
"Missy?" There came a soft knock
upon the door and the clink of silver
upon china. Missy"
What is it?''
So quick was Miss Betty that
! although she answered almost at once,
the tears were washed away, and she
was passing a cool, wet towel over her
eyes at the moment she spoke.
"Jass me. 1 brung you breakfas',
| honey"
Old Nelson's voice was always low
and gentle, with a quaver and
hestancy in the utterance; now it was
tender and comforting with the COM
| prehension of one in suffering, the
extraordinary tact, which the old of
his race nearly all come to possess,
LII chickenwing on piece brown
toast, honey"
When she opened the door he came
in, heading attentively over his tray,
and, without a glance toward his
| young mistress, made some show of
fuss and hustle, as he placed it upon
a table near the window and drew up
a chair for her so that she could sit
with her back to the light.
Dab, now!" he exclaimed softly,
removing the white napkin and dis
| playing other dainties besides the
chicken wing. "Dass de way! Dat
ole Mamie in de kitchen, she got her
failin's an her grievin' sins; but de
way she do han'le chicken an biscuit
sutney amt none on EN-! She plead
| TO me to ak you how you like dem
| biscuit"
He kept his head bent low over the
| table, setting a fork closer to Betty'S
hand; arranging the plates, then re-
arranging them, but never turning his
eyes in her direction.
| Dat ole Mamie mighty vain, yes,
subj" He suffered a very quiet
chuckle to escape him. "She did most
| sutney 'sist dat l AK you amt you like
dem biscuit. She de vey vaines'
woman in this state. dat ole Mamie,
| yessuh!" And now he cast one quick
| glance out of the corner of his eye at
| Miss Betty, before venturing a louder
| chuckle. She reckon dem biscuit
goin' git her by Sain Petuh when she
| 'proach he devumly gatesl Uhuh! L
| tell her she got git redemption TO de
| aigs she done ruin desc many yeahs;
| case she as useless wild an ommelick
| as a two-day calf on de slick ice!'
| Here he laughed loud and long. You
! jass go and talk wild dat Mamie, some
day, Missy; you'll see how vain dat
| woman is"
Has father gone out. Nelson?"
asked Betty in low voice.
| "Yes'm; he up town" The old
mans tone sank at once to the level
] Of hoY, ioI
| one speaks to another in a room where
somebody is ill. He mekkin' per-
| petration to go down de rivuh dis
aft'noon. He say he broke de news to
you dat he goin' way. Dey goin bull
dem wa'house right up, an yo' pa he
necistate go way count de contrack.
| He be gone two week, honey" Nelson
finished, without too much the air of
importing CHEEKY tidings, but with just
| enough.
Il am to stay here alone?"
Law, no, Missy! Dat big Miz Tan
berry, dass de bes frien' we all got,
she home ag'in, an yo' pa goin' invite
her visit at de house, whites he gone,
an to stay month aftuh he git back,
too, sooze she kin go to all de doin's
an junketins wild you, and talk wild
de young mems dat you don like
whites you talks wild dem you does
like"
|
Home? He be gone two week,
honey!"
No; I mean to-day"
Law! He ain comm back. Bid me
pack de trunk an cay UNI down to
de boatt at noon. Den he bid me say
far -ye-well an a kline good-by TO
him, honey. Say he think you amt
| feelin' too we'll, soze he won't 'sturb
We, hisself, an dat heunestly do hope
you goin' have splen'id time whites he
trabblin'." Nelson's Imagination COW
cred many deficits in his masters cour-
| tesy) Say he reckon you an ole Miz
Tanberry goin' git long mighty nice
wild one'nurr. An dass what he an
Mamie reckon, 'spechually boun' to
| take place, case dat a mighty gay lady,
dat big Miz Tanberry an ole frien' 'er
owah family. She 'uz a frien' er yo'
momma's, honey"
Miss Betty had begun by making a
| pretense to eat, only to please the old
man, but the vain woman's cookery
had been not unduly eXtolled, and Nell
son laughed with pleasure to see the
fluffy biscuits and the chicken wing
not nibbled at, but actually eaten. This
was healthy young lady, he thought,
one who would do the household credit
and justify the eXtravagant pride
which kitchen and stable already had
in her. He was an old house servant,
| therefore, he had seen many young
ladies go through unhappy hours, and
he admired Miss Betty the more be-
cause she was the first who had in
dulged in strong weeping and did not
shuttle at intervals afterward. He I'M
derstood perfectly everything that had
| passed between father and daughter
that morning.
When her breakfast was finished,
she turned slowly to the window, and
while her eyes did not refill a slight
twitching of the upper lids made him
believe that she was going over the
whole scene again in her mind; where
upon he began to move briskly about
the room with a busy air, picking UP
her napkin, busting a chair with his
hand, exchanging the position of the
andirons in the fireplace; and, appar-
| emily discovering that the portrait of
Georges Meilhac was out of line, he set
it awry, then straight again. the while
he hummed an old spiritual of which
only the words Chain de Loin Down.
were allowed to be quite audible
They were repeated often, and at each
repetition of them he seemed pro-
foundly. though decourously, amused,
in a way which might have led to a
conjecture that the refrain bore some
distant reference to his masters &c
centricity of temper. At first he
chuckled softly, but at the final itera-
ton of Chain de Lion Down burst
into outright laughter.
| Honey, my Law" he exclaimed