d the next thing we heard was that he
refused to pay the pig. My father was usually called on to settle all
the disputes in the neighborhood; so one morning Anniky and Ned appeared
before him, both looking very indignant.

"I'd jes' like ter tell yer, Mars' Charles," began Uncle Ned, "ob de
trick dis miser'ble ole nigger played on me."

"Go on, Ned," said my father, with a resigned air.

"Well, it wuz de fift night o' de fever," said Uncle Ned, "an' I wuz
a-tossin' an' a-moanin', an' old Anniky jes' lay back in her cheer an'
snored as ef a dozen frogs wuz in her throat. I wuz a-perishin' an'
a-burnin' wid thirst, an' I hollered to Anniky; but Lor'! I might as
well 'a hollered to a tombstone! It wuz ice I wanted; an' I knowed dar
wuz a glass somewhar on my table wid cracked ice in it. Lor'! Lor'! how
dry I wuz! I neber longed fer whiskey in my born days ez I panted fur
dat ice. It wuz powerful dark, fur de grease wuz low in de lamp, an' de
wick spluttered wid a dyin' flame. But I felt aroun', feeble like an'
slow, till my fingers touched a glass. I pulled it to me, an' I run my
han' in an' grabbed de ice, as I s'posed, an' flung it in my mouf, an'
crunched, an' crunched--"

Here there was an awful pause. Uncle Ned pointed his thumb at Anniky,
looked wildly at my father, and said, in a hollow voice: "_It wuz
Anniky's teef!_"

My father threw back his head and laughed as I had never heard him
laugh. Mother from her sofa joined in. I was doubled up like a
jack-knife in the corner. But as for the principals in the affair,
neither of their faces moved a muscle. They saw no joke. Aunt Anniky, in
a dreadful, muffled, squashy sort of voice, took up the tale:

"Nexsh ting I knowed, Marsh Sharles, somebody's sheizin' me by de head,
a-jammin' it up 'gin de wall, a-jawin' at me like de Angel Gabriel at de
rish ole sinners in de bad plashe--an' dar wash ole Ned a-spittin' like
a black cat, an' a-howlin' so dreadful dat I tought he wash de debil;
an' when I got de light, dar wash my beautiful chany teef a-flung
aroun', like scattered seed-corn, on de flo', an' Ned a-swarin' he'd
have de law o' me."

"An' arter all dat," broke in Uncle Ned, "she pretends to lay a claim
fur my pig. But I says no, sir; I don't pay nobody nothin' who's played
me a trick like dat."

"Trick!" said Aunt Anniky, scornfully, "whar's de trick? Tink I wanted
yer ter eat my teef? An' furder-mo', Marsh Sharles, dar's jes' dis about
it: when dat night set