cake, an' I thought maybe if I done tole ye you'd
forgib me.'

"'Den you is de ringleader,' he says, 'an' you tempted de other
chillen?' 'Yes,' I says, 'I 'spec' so.' 'Well,' he says, lookin' down
on de carpet, 'now dat you has perfessed an' beg pardon, you is good
an' ready to pay 'tention to what I'm gwine to say.' De other chillen
had sneaked up an' was listenin'; dey 'spected to see me git it, though
dere ain't nary one of 'em ever knowed him to strike 'em a lick. Den
he says: 'Dis here is a lil thing,--dis stealin' a cake; an' it's a big
thing at de same time. Miss Ann has been right smart put out 'bout it,
an' I'm gwine to see dat it don't happen agin. If you see a pin on de
fl'or you wouldn't steal it,--you'd pick it up if you wanted it, an' it
wouldn't be nuffin, 'cause somebody th'owed it away an' it was free to
eve'body; but if you see a piece o' money on de fl'or, you knowed
nobody didn't th'ow dat away, an' if you pick it up an' don't tell,
dat's somethin' else--dat's stealin', 'cause you tuk somethin' dat
somebody else has paid somethin' for an' dat belongs to him. Now dis
cake ain't o' much 'count, but it warn't yourn, an' you oughtn't to ha'
tuk it. If you'd asked yo'r mist'ess for it she'd gin you a piece.
There ain't nuffin here you chillen doan' git when ye ask for it.' I
didn't say nuffin more. I jes' waited for him to do anythin' he wanted
to me. Den he looks at de carpet for a long time an' he says:--

"'I reckon you won't take no mo' cake 'thout askin' for it, Clorindy,
an' you chillen kin go out an' play agin.'"

The tears were now standing in her eyes.

"Dat's what my ole master was, suh; I ain't never forgot it. If he had
beat me to death he couldn't 'a' done no mo' for me. He jes' splained
to me an' I ain't never forgot since."

"Did your own mother find it out?" I asked.

The tears were gone now; her face was radiant again at my question.

"Dat she did, suh. One o' de chillen done tole on me. Mammy jes' made
one grab as I run pas' de kitchen door, an' reached for a barrel stave,
an' she fairly sot--me--afire!"

Aunt Chloe was now holding her sides with laughter, fresh tears
streaming down her cheeks.

"But Marse Henry never knowed it. Lawd, suh, dere ain't nobody round
here like him, nor never was. I kin 'member him now same as it was
yesterday, wid his white hair, an' he a-settin' in his big chair. It
was de las' time I ever see him. De big house was gone, an' de