wuz pale, an' he wuds tremble like a fiddle-string, but
he eyes wuz blazin', an' in a minute he wuz jes reshin'. He voice
soun' like a bell; an' he jes wallered dat turr man, an' wared him out;
an' when he set down dee all yelled an' hollered so you couldn' heah
you' ears. Gent'-mans, twuz royal!

"Den dee tuck de vote, an' Marse George got it munanimous, an' dee all
hollered agin, all 'cep' a few o' Mr. Darker's friends. An' Mr. Darker
he wuz de second. An' den dee broke up. An' jes den Marse George
walked thoo de crowd straight up to him, an' lookin' him right in de
eyes, says to him, 'You stole dat speech you made to-night.' Well,
suh, you ought to 'a hearn 'em; hit soun' like a mill-dam. You couldn'
heah nuttin 'cep' roarin', an' you couldn' see nuttin 'cep' shovin'.
But, big as he wuz, Marse George beat him; an' when dee pull him off,
do' he face wuz mighty pale, he stan' out befo' 'em all, dem whar wuz
'ginst him, an' all, jes as straight as an arrow, an' say: 'Dat speech
wuz written an' printed years ago by somebody or nurr in Congress, an'
this man stole it; had he beat me only, I should not have said one
word; but as he has beaten others, I shall show him up!' Gord, suh, he
voice wuz clear as a game rooster. I sutney wuz proud on him.

"He did show him up, too, but Mr. Darker ain' wait to see it; he lef'
dat night. An' Marse George he wuz de popularitiest gent'man at dat
university. He could handle dem students dyah same as a man handle a
hoe.

"Well, twuz de next Christmas we meet Miss Charlotte an' Nancy. Mr.
Braxton invite we all to go down to spen' Christmas wid him at he home.
An' sich a time as we had!

"We got dyah Christmas Eve night--dis very night--jes befo' supper, an'
jes natchelly froze to death," he pursued, dealing in his wonted
hyperbole, "an' we jes had time to git a apple toddy or two when supper
was ready, an' wud come dat dee wuz waitin' in de hall. I had done fix
Marse George up gorgeousome, I tell you; an when he walk down dem
stairs in dat swaller-tail coat, an' dem paten'-leather pumps on, dee
warn nay one dyah could tetch him; he looked like he own 'em all. I
jes rest my mind. I seen him when he shake hands wid 'em all roun',
an' I say, 'Um-m-m! he got 'em.'

"But he ain' teck noticement o' none much tell Miss Charlotte come.
She didn' live dyah, had jes come over de river dat evenin' from her
home, 'bout ten miles off, to spen' Christmas like we all, an' she come