e mawnin' an' I done hear Marse Bob say he wa'
a' gonter spen' the day in Ryeville with some er the kin folks, eatin'
at the hotel. I 'low they'll git a right airly start."

"Exactly! Well, so will we, Billy. As soon as they are gone we will go
too."

Miss Ann rather liked to make a mystery of her departure. One of her
idiosyncrasies was that she seldom divulged the name of her next host
to her last one. She would depart as suddenly as she had arrived,
leaving a formal note of farewell if the head of the house happened to
be away or asleep. She liked to travel early in the morning.

"Where are we going, Billy?" Miss Ann's voice was tremulous and her
eyes were misty.

"Now, Miss Ann, s'pose you jes' leave that ter ol' Billy an' the
hosses. We's gonter git somewhar an' they ain't no use'n worryin'
whar. You go down an' set on the po'ch an' I'll pack yo' things an'
I'll do it as good as anybody an' we'll crope out'n here in the
mawnin' befo' Marse Bob an' Miss Milly's dus' air settled on the
pike. I ain't a worryin' 'bout but one thing an' that is that a ol'
dominicker hen air took ter settin' on the flo' er our coach an' I'm
kinder hatin' ter 'sturb her when she feels so nice an' homelike. I
reckon I kin lif her out kinder sof' an' maybe she kin hatch jes the
same. She ain't got mo'n a day er so ter go."

"Billy, I am sorry to leave the neighborhood without seeing that
lovely girl--the one who sent me the gift and to whom the ball was
tendered. She is in reality my kinswoman. I have been tracing the
relationship and find she is the same kin as my cousins here at Buck
Hill--the young people I mean. I am sorry I did not tell her so."

"Yassum! Maybe some day you kin claim kin with her. I reckon she would
be glad an' proud ter be cousins ter you, Miss Ann."

Billy had never told his mistress of his visit to Judith. That young
person had impressed him as being not at all proud of being of the
same blood as the Bucknors, or in the least desirous of claiming the
relationship. "But she wa'n't speakin' er my Miss Ann," he said to
himself.

Silently and swiftly old Billy packed his mistress's belongings. Every
trunk, suitcase and telescope was in readiness for an early flitting.
As he had boasted, they were starting almost before the dust raised by
the departing car of Mr. and Mrs. Bucknor had settled.

"Hi, what you so nimble-come-trimble 'bout this mawnin'?" asked Aunt
Em'ly, as she met Billy laden with baggage, sneak