to. But she gin in at de funeral, an' was
mighty nice to the lil chile. When ole Miss Lucy died she comed in her
democrat wagon, as she did for Miss Dory, an' coaxed lil chile inter her
lap, an' said she showed she had good blood, an' or'to be brung up a
lady, an' it wasn't fittin' for her to stay whar she was, an' if I knew
de fader I mus' write to him.

"'I knew dat as well as she did, an' after consultin' wid Mandy Ann an'
prayin' for light, it come dat I must sen' on, an' I did, hopin' he
wouldn' come, for to part wid de lil chile was like tearin' my vitals
out, an' Mandy Ann's, too. He did come,--a big, gran' man, wid a look
which made me glad Miss Dory was in heaven 'stead of livin' wid him.
He'd been hyar oncet before. Mebby I tole you, at de funeral. My mind
gets leaky, an' I can't 'member exactly, an' so repeats.'

"'I think not,' I said, 'and if you did, I have forgotten, and am
willing to hear it again.'

"We were sitting now on a bench close by what Jake said had been the
little girl's play-house, which she called her _Shady_, because it was
under a palm tree.

"'Yes, he comed,' Jake said, 'two or three weeks after Miss Dory comed
home from Georgy, whar she was visitin' her kin. Mandy Ann tole me 'bout
him,--how he walked an' talked to Miss Dory, till when he went away her
face was white as the gown she put on when she hearn he was comin'. You
see, Mandy Ann was on de boat wid him, an' tole her. She was all of a
twitter, like you've seen de little hungry birds in de nest when dar
mudder is comin' wid a worm,--an' she was jess as cold an' slimpsy an'
starved when he went away as dem little birds is when de mudder is shot
on de wing an' never comes wid de worm. You know what I mean. She
s'pected somethin' an' didn't get it.'

"Jake was very eloquent in his illustrations, and I looked admiringly at
him as he went on: 'I was in Virginny vallyin' for Mas'r Kane, a fine
gemman who gin me big wage, an' I was savin' it up to buy some things
for de house, 'case I reckoned how Miss Dory seen somethin' different in
Georgy. Her kin was very 'spectable folks, an' she might want some
fixin's. Thar was nobody hyar but ole Miss Lucy, who'd had some kind of
a spell an' lost most of her sense, an' didn't know more'n a chile.
Mandy Ann got somebody to write me that Miss Dory had a beau,--a gran'
man, an' I was that pleased that I ast the price of a second-han'
pianny, thinkin' mebby she'd want to larn, 'case she sung so