n Aun' Patsy. Dat was when I went ober dar wid Miss Rob's
mudder when de two fam'lys was fren's. I was her maid, an' went wid her
jes as Mahs' Robert wants you ter go 'long wid Miss Rob. He ain't gwine
to furgit how they did in de ole times when de ladies went visitin' in
dere kerridges fur to stay free, four days. Aun' Patsy were pow'ful ole
den, but she didn't die soon 'nuf, an' ole Miss Keswick she kunjer her,
an' now she can't die at all."

"Neber die!" ejaculated Peggy.

"Neber die, nohow!" answered Aunt Judy. "Mighty offen she thought she
gwine to die but 'twarnt no use. She can't do it. An' de las' time I
hear ob her, she alibe yit, jes' de same as eber. An' dar was Mahs' John
Keswick. She cunjer him coz he rode de gray colt to de Coht House when
she done tole him to let dat gray colt alone, coz 'twarnt hisen but
hern, an' he go shoot hese'f dead by de gate pos'. You's got to go fru
by dat pos' when you go inter de gate."

"Dat same pos'!" cried Peggy.

"Yaas," said Aunt Judy, "dat same one. An' dey tells me dat on third
Chewsdays, which is Coht day, de same as when he took de gray colt, as
soon as it git dark he ghos' climb up to de top ob dat pos', an' set dar
all night."

With a conjuring old woman in the house, and a monthly ghost on the
gate-post outside, the Keswick residence did not appear as attractive to
Peggy as it had done before, but she mentally determined that while she
was there she would be very careful to look put sharp for herself, a
performance for which she was very well adapted.

It was on a pleasant autumn morning that Mr Brandon very carefully
ensconced his niece in the family carriage, with Peggy and a trusty
negro man, Sam, on the outside front seat. "I would gladly go with you,
my dear," he said, "even without the formality of an invitation, but it
is far better for you to go by yourself. My very presence would provoke
an antagonism in the old lady, while with you, personally, it is
impossible that any such feeling should exist. I hope your visit may do
away with all ill feeling between our families."

"I want you to understand, uncle," said Miss Roberta, "that I am making
this visit almost entirely to please you, and I shall do everything in
my power to make Mrs Keswick feel that you and I are perfectly well
disposed toward her; but you can't expect me to exhibit any great warmth
of friendship toward a person who once used such remarkable and violent
expressions in regard to me.