Caesar's friend."

It was a sore subject with the old woman.

"Well, I did n't know--I thought he was one o' dese perliss. So I sent
him 'long 'bout he own business. But if you know him it 's all right."

The passengers who streamed through the great station the evening of
her arrival, were surprised to see a pudgy old black woman escorted by a
gentleman who, loaded down with her bundles and baskets, was guiding her
through the throng as respectfully as if she had been the first lady in
the land. At the gate a lady and several children were awaiting her,
and at sight of her a cry of joy went up. Dropping her bundles, the old
woman threw herself into the lady's arms and kissed her again and again,
after which she received a multitude of kisses from the children.

"Well, I never saw anything like that," said a stranger to another.

"She is their mammy," said the other one simply, with a pleasant light
in his eyes.

The old woman's presence seemed to transform the house. She was no
sooner installed than she took possession. That very morning she
established her position, after a sharp but decisive battle with the
airy "colored lady," who for some days had been dawdling about the
house. The mammy had gauged her as soon as her sharp eyes fell on her.

"What does yo' call yo'self?" she asked her.

"What is my name? I am called 'Miss Johnson--Miss Selina Johnson.'"

The old woman gave a sniff.

"Yo' is! Well, what does yo' call you'self doin' heah?"

"You mean what is my employment! I am the help--one of the help."

"Yo' is!" Mam' Lyddy tightened her apron-strings about her stout
waist. "Well, 'Miss Johnson,' you git holt of that mat-trass and help me
meek up dis heah bed so it 'll be fit for you' mistis to sleep on it."
With a jerk she turned up the mattress. The maid was so taken aback for
a moment that she did not speak. Then she drew herself up.

"I know I ain' gwine to tetch it. I done made it up onct to-day. An' I
ain't got no mistis."

The mammy turned on her.

"Umh'm! I thought so! I knows jest yo' kind. Well, de sooner you git out
o' dis room de better for you. 'Cause if I lay my han' 'pon you I won't
let you go till I'se done what yo' mammy ought to 'a' done to you ev'y
day o' yo' life."

She moved toward her with so dangerous a gleam in her sharp little eyes
that "Miss Johnson" deemed it safest to beat a hasty retreat, and before
bedtime had disappeared from the premises entirely.

In the kitchen