as' fall an' he
doan want ol' Mis' foh to know. I'se de only one o' de niggers whut's
left, an' dere's only one ol' turkey gobbler left o' de stock. He's my
ol' pet, Miss, mos' like a chile, an'--an'--" Uncle Noah choked.

The girl's eyes were misty velvet. "And he told you to kill your pet
for the Christmas dinner?" she finished gently.

Uncle Noah nodded. "Massa done say we mus' hab a turkey for de
Christmas dinner, or ol' Mis'll suspect de--de financial crisis whut
we're in. Out in de barn I prays foh an inspiration an' I 'spect it
come."

"And so you decided to sell yourself--" began the girl.

"Yas'm." Uncle Noah's voice had grown apologetic. "Yoh see, Miss,
I'se de only thing whut I really owns 'cept dis yere ol' stickpin.
Cose I'se free now, but I reckons if I has a mind to sell maself de
Norf can't stop me. I'se sellin' ma own property." There was a gentle
defiance in the old negro's argument.

"And you--you wouldn't accept a--a loan?" The girl flushed.

The negro's hurt eyes were answer enough. Uncle Noah had not lived in
an atmosphere permeated with Fairfax pride without feeling its
influence.

"I'se not askin' foh charity, Miss," he averred stubbornly. "I'se
a-sellin' sumthin'. I reckons if yoh buy me, Miss, an' yoh lemme go
back an' stay Christmas wif ol' Massa, I'll sell maself cheap. Yoh see
I'se a-plannin' first to buy a turkey whut'll take Job's place on de
platter, an' den to give de Massa a gran' Christmas wif de rest o' de
money what I gits foh maself, savin' out jus' enough to buy ma ol'
turkey an' come to yoh first day after Christmas. It'll be hard to
leave ol' Massa and Mis', but I reckons it's jus' gotta be done."

Uncle Noah gulped and blinked, and there was a glimmer of wet lashes
about the warm gray eyes that had won his heart.

The girl was silent so long that Uncle Noah shifted uneasily; but at
last she spoke a little tremulously. "For what price will you sell
yourself?" she asked, and Uncle Noah never doubted but that she
regarded the purchase in the same light in which he himself had viewed
it.

He turned about for his purchaser's thorough inspection, his bald head
above the fringe of white wool about it glistening in the lamplight.
"Do yoh think I'se wuth, say, twenty-five dollahs?" he queried,
regarding her fixedly over his spectacles.

The girl touched her throat with an unconscious gesture. "Yes, you
are," she cried impulsively; "you are indeed!" And be