llie's
child, and so, after the Crowner had 'liceted all the facts as he said,
and the verdict was made up, Bedney and me didn't feel no crampings in
our conscience, about holding our tongues. Another reason why we wanted
to lay low in this hiere bizness, was that we didn't hanker after
sitting on the anxious seats of witnesses in the court-house; and being
called ongodly thieves, and perjured liars, and turned wrong side out
by the lie-yers, and told our livers was white, and our hearts blacker
than our skins. Marse Alfred, Bedney and me are scared of that court;
what you call the law, cuts curous contarabims sometimes, and when the
broad axe of jestice hits, there is no telling whar the chips will fly;
it's wuss than hull-gull, or pitching heads and tails. You are a
lie-yer, Marse Alfred, and you know how it is yourself; and I beg your
pardon, sir, for slighting the perfession; but when I was a little gal,
I got my scare of lie-yers, and it has stuck to me like a kuckleburrow.
One Christmas eve jest before ole Marster got married, he had a egg-nog
party; and a lot of gentlemen was standing 'round the table in the
dining-room. One of 'em was ole Mr. Dunbar, Marse Lennox' father, and
he axed ole Marster if he had saved that game rooster for him, as he
promised, Marster told him he was very sorry, but some rogue had done
gone and burnt some sulphur the week before in his henhouse, and bagged
that 'dentical rooster. Presently Mr. Dunbar axed if Marster would let
him have one of the blue hen's roosters, if he would catch the rogue
for him before midnight. Of course Marster said he would. Mr. Dunbar
(Marse Lennox' pa), he was practicing law then, had a pot full of smut
on the bottom, turned upside down on the dining-room flo', and he and
Marster went out to the hen-'ouse and got a dominicker rooster and
shoved him under the pot. Then they rung the bell, and called every
darkey on the place into the dining-room, and made us stand in a line.
I was a little gal then, only so high, but I followed my daddy in the
house, and I never shall disremember that night, 'cause it broke up our
home preachment. Mr. Dunbar made a speech, and the upshot of it was,
that every darkey was to walk past the pot and rub his finger in the
smut; and he swore a solemn oath, that when the pusson that stole that
fine game rooster, touched the pot, the dominicker rooster would crow.
As Marster called our names, we every one marched out and rubbed the
pot