And the singer lady tucked her
hand into Mother Mayberry's with a shy blush.

"Liking folks kinder shines 'em up, same as furniture polish,
honey-bird," laughed Mother Mayberry with delight at the compliment.
"You're a-rubbing some on me and Tom Mayberry. But he were the best
favored baby I 'most ever saw, if I do say it, as shouldn't."

"Oh!" said Miss Wingate delightedly, "I know he must have been lovely!
What was he like?"

"Well," answered Mother reminiscently, "he were about like he are now.
He come so ugly I cried when I seen him first, and Doctor Mayberry
teased me about it to the day of his death. He called Tom 'Ugly' for
short. But he mighty soon begun to sprout little pleasing ways,
a-looking up under them black lashes and a-laughing acrost my breast.
His cheeks was rosy, his back broad and his legs straight, same as now.
He teethed easy, walked soon, have never learned to talk much yet, and
had his measles and whooping-cough when his time come. I just thought
he were something 'cause he were mine. All babies is astonishing
miracles to they mothers."

"But I'm sure Doctor Mayberry was really wonderful," said Miss Wingate,
instantly sympathetic. "Had he always such black hair?"

"Borned with it. Now, my little girl had beautiful yellow curls and I
can show you one, by the Lord's mercy I've got it." Mother paused and
an ineffable gentleness came into her lovely old face. "I want to tell
you about it, honey-heart, 'cause it have got a strange sweetness to
it. She wasn't but five years old when she died, tooken sudden with
pneumony cruel bad. Nobody thought to cut me one of her curls before
they laid her away, and when I come to myself I grieved over it more
than I had oughter. But one day when the fall come on and the days was
short and dark; and it looked like nothing couldn't light up the old
house with that sunshine head gone, me almost a-feeling bitter and
questioning why, Tom went out and picked up a robin's nest that had
blowed down from a tree in the yard. And there, wound around inside it,
was the little curl I had cut off in the spring, out on the porch, what
had tagged into her eyes and worried her! The mother bird had used it
to make the nest soft for her babies and now didn't need it no more.
When I looked at it I took it as a message and a sign that my Lord
hadn't forgot me, and I ain't never mistrusted Him again. Come, let me
show it to you."

CHAPTER V

THE LITTLE RAVEN AND HER COVER