se when I was gittin' meal to make de gruel
for Massa Tom. O, no, massa; Martha was down heah. I told Martha when I
come back.'

"'Well, Ham, what did Martha say?'

"'She say dat we must 'bey de Lord; dat he was mo' our massa den Massa
George; don't we b'longs to de Laud mo' dan to Massa George. Den I say
dat's well, Martha; you know, and if you b'lieve in dat we go. An' we is
gwine wid Massa, sho.'

"'If you should go, Ham, they would accuse us of stealing you, and have
us arrested for it.'

"'Well, I doesn't know 'bout dat. I knows we can steal our ownself away,
an' go to de place whar Massa Tom lib; I knows dat. We's gwine; dat's
done fix; we's gwine.'

"The Colonel had been listening, and smiled to find that these two good
old people loved him so, and he nodded his head to Ham, which caused him
to laugh immoderately.

"'It's done fix,' said Ham, and he left the cabin.

"I said: 'Aunty, have you any children?'

"'Laud bless yo' good soul, we has six chilien some whar; don't know
whar. Massa George he sole our chilien 'way from us soon as dey was six
year old. I never see any ob dem since den; neber heard anything 'bout
dem. He sole 'em 'way down on de Gulf some whar; neber would tell us.
Dey done forgot us, or whar we lib, long go; dey so young when dey taken
'way, O, dey do dat way, so de ole folks not fine 'em. I tell you, Massa
Lyon, 'tis purty hard on ole folks, to lose de chilien dat way. If
dey die an' de Laud take dem 'way, dat's all rite; de Laud know he own
business; but when dey sole 'way, dat hard. You see, dese people dey got
chilien, but dey tink we no keer for our'n. Dat is whar dey don't know.
We does keer jes as much as de white folks, but we can't help ourself,
dats all. I tell you dat's bad. O, I cry myself nearly to deff 'bout my
chilien; but all do no good; dey done gone; I neber see dem any mo'. If
I was to, dey would not know me, an' me not know dem; so no good now to
cry any mo'; dey be all dead, maybe--hope dey am--den dey work for de
Laud and Master all de time, and not be worked all de time fo' de people
for nuffin' an' doin' no good. Yes, I hope dey is all done dead. Wish I
knowed dey was, den I'd be feelin' good. You see, me an' Ham talked dis
all ober. We neber see our chilien no mo' no matter whar we is; so we am
gwine where we will be counted wid de people an' not wid de cattle. Yes,
sah; dat's what we's got in our heads; dar's no use tryin' to put it
out; it in dar, an' dar i