hame er me. Nobody can't say
nothin' good 'bout dat boy but what I kin put a lots mo' on what dey er
tellin'. Silas Tomlin done tol' me out'n his own mouf dat Paul went fum
de house vowin' he'd never come back."

Eugenia was so sure that Rhody (after her kind and colour) was
exaggerating, that she refused to be disturbed by the statement. "Why
did you come here hunting for Paul?" the young lady asked.

"Oh, go away, Miss Genia!" exclaimed Rhody, laughing. "'Tain't no needs
er my answerin' dat, kaze you know lots better'n I does."

"Are you very fond of him?" Eugenia inquired.

"Who--_me_? Why, honey, I raised 'im. Sick er well, I nussed 'im fer
long years. I helt 'im in deze arms nights an' nights, when all he had
ter do fer ter leave dis vale wuz ter fetch one gasp an' go. Ef his
daddy had done all dat, he wouldn't 'a' druv de boy fum home."

Alas! how could Rhody, in her ignorance and blindness, probe the
recesses of a soul as reticent as that of Silas Tomlin?

"Oh, don't say he was driven from home!" cried Eugenia, rising and
placing a hand on Rhody's arm. "If you talk that way, other people will
take it up, and it won't be pleasant for Paul."

"Dat sho is a mighty purty han'," exclaimed Rhody enthusiastically,
ignoring the grave advice of the young woman. "I'm gwine ter show
somebody de place whar you laid it, an' I bet you he'll wanter cut de
cloff out an' put it in his alvum."

Eugenia made a pretence of pushing Rhody out of the room, but she was
blushing and smiling. "Well'm, he ain't here, sho, an' here's whar he
oughter be; but I'll fin' 'im dis night an' ef he ain't gwine back home,
I ain't gwine back--you kin put dat down." With that, she bade the young
lady good-night, and went out.

As Rhody passed through the back gate, she chanced to glance toward
Pulaski Tomlin's house, and saw a light shining from the library window.
"Ah-yi!" she exclaimed, "he's dar, an' dey ain't no better place fer
'im. Dey's mo' home fer 'im right dar den dey yever wus er yever will be
whar he live at."

So saying, she turned her steps in the direction of Neighbour Tomlin's.
In the kitchen, she asked if Paul was in the house. The cook didn't
know, but when the house-girl came out, she said that Mr. Paul was
there, and had been for some time. "Deyer holdin' a reg'lar expeunce
meetin' in dar," she said. "Miss Fanny sho is a plum sight!"

The house-girl went in again to say that Rhody would like to speak with
him, and Rhod