ughty sof'
befo' Miss Ann lef' home that time when the ol' place burnt up. It
looks like I never could leave Miss Ann long enuf to go back an'
finish my confab with Mandy. An' arter a while Mandy must er got tired
of waitin' fer me an' she took up with a big buck nigger from Jeff'son
County an' they do say she had goin' onter twenty chilluns an' about
fo' husbands."

"Uncle Billy, you have certainly been faithful to Cousin Ann. I don't
see what she would have done without you."

"Gawd grant she won't never have ter, Marse Jeff! It'll be a sad day
fer this ol' nigger when Miss Ann goes but I'm a hopin' an' prayin'
she'll go befo' I'm called. If I should die they would'n be nobody ter
fotch an' carry fer Miss Ann. She gits erlong moughty fine here at
Buck Hill, but some places I have ter kinder fend fer us-alls right
smart. Miss Ann air that proudified she don't never demand but ol'
Billy he knows an' he does the demandin' fer her. An' I presses her
frocks an' sometimes I makes out to laundry fer her in some places
whar we visits an' the missus don't see fit ter put Miss Ann's siled
clothes along with the fambly wash. An' I fin's wil' strawberries fer
her, an' sometimes fiel' mushrooms, an' sometimes I goes out in the
fall an' knocks over a patridge an' I picks an' briles it an' sarves
it up fer a little extry treat fer my lady."

"She certainly would be lost without you, Uncle Billy, but I'm going
to make you a promise. If you should be called before my cousin I do
solemnly swear that I'll see to it that she has every comfort. The
family owes you that much and I for one will do what I can for Cousin
Ann. On the other hand, if Cousin Ann should go first, I'll do what I
can to help you."

"Oh, Marse Bob--I mean Marse Jeff--you air lif' a load from a ol'
man's heart. Yo' gran'pap air sho' come ter life agin in his prodigy.
Nothin' ain't gonter make much diffunce ter me arfter this. I been a
thinkin' some er my burdins wa' mo' than I kin bear, but 'tain't so.
My back air done fitted ter them, kase you done eased me er my load."
The old man wept, great tears running down his furrowed brown cheeks
and glistening on his long, grotesque beard.

CHAPTER XIII

The Debut Party

Everything was propitious for the debut party, even the weather. A
brisk shower in the morning, followed by refreshing breezes, gave
assurance of a night not too hot for dancing but not too cool for
couples so inclined to sit out on the bal