“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 nice.  Den I never hearn anoder word, ’cept from Miss Dory, till Mas’r Hardy writ Mas’r Kane to sen’ me home, ’case I was needed.  I s’posed ole Miss Lucy had had another fit, an’ started thinkin’ all de way up de river how I’d see Miss Dory standin’ in de do’ wid de smile on her face, an’ de light in her eyes, an’ her pleasant voice sayin’ to me, “How d’ye, Jake, I’se mighty glad to see you.”  ‘Stid o’ that she wasn’t thar, an’ Mandy Ann come clatterin’ down de stars, an’ I hearn a baby cry.  In my s’prise I said, “What’s dat ar?  Has ole Miss got a baby?”

“‘Mandy Ann laughed till she cried, den cried without laughin’, an’ tole me wid her face to de wall, an’ I was so shamed I could of hid in de san’, an’ Mandy Ann, they tole me, did run inter de woods at fust to hide herself.  Den she smarted up an’ fit for Miss Dory, who said nothin’ ’cept, “Wait, it will all be right.  I tole him I would wait.  I’m a good girl,” an’ fo’ Heaven, I b’lieved her, though some o’ de white trash didn’t at fust, but they all did at the last.  Maybe I’m tirin’ you?’

“‘No,’ I said, ‘go on,’ and he continued:  ’I’se tole you most all dat happened after dat till she died an’ you comed to de funeral.

“‘When ole miss died, I writ to de Colonel, as I tole you, an’ he comed, gran’, an’ proud, an’ stiff, an’ I tole him all ’bout Miss Dory same as I have you,—­p’raps not quite so much,—­p’raps mo’.  I don’t remember, ‘case as I said my memory is ole an’ leaky, and mebby I ain’t tellin’ it right in course as I tole him.  Some was in de house, an’ some out hyar, whar I said, “Dis is her grave.  She’s lyin’ under de san’, but I’ll fix her up in time an’ she shall sleep under de roses.”

“‘I tole him everything was done in order, an’ how you preached about de Resurrection an’ de Life, an’ how sweet she look in her coffin, an’ Mandy Ann’s puttin’ her ring on de weddin’ finger, an’ his mouf trembled like, up and down, an’ I b’lieve ef thar had been a tear in his dried-up heart he’d of shed it.

“’Oncet, when he seemed kinder softened, I ast him squar,” Ain’t you her husband?”

“‘Thar was such a quar look in his eyes,—­a starin’ at me a minit,—­an’ then he said, “I am nobody’s husband, an’ never shall be.”

“‘I b’lieve he lied, an’ wanted to knock him down, but wouldn’t right thar by her grave.  He tole me I was to have all the money Miss Dory had been layin’ up, an’ he would send me mo’ for the stun.  I ast what I should put on it, an’ he said, “What was on her coffin plate?”