esteem in which his
dead father had been held, etc. Then the round, good-natured face and
bent figure of his old stand-by and comfort--who had worked for him and
for his father almost all her life--rose before him, she bending over
her tubs earning the bread to keep her alive, and with this picture in
his mind all his fine-spun theories vanished into thin air. Todd was
summoned and thus the last connecting link between the past and
present was broken and the precious heirloom turned over to Kirk, the
silversmith, who the next day found a purchaser with one of the French
secretaries in Washington, a descendant of the marquis.

With the whole of the purchase money in his hands and his mind firmly
made up he rang for his servant:

"Come along, Todd--show me where Aunt Jemima lives--it's somewhere down
by the market, I hear--I'm going now."

The darky's face got as near white as his skin would allow: this was the
last thing he had expected.

"Dat ain't no fit place for ye, Marse George," he stammered. "I'll
go an' git her an' bring her up; she tol' me when I carried dat las'
washin' down she wuz a-comin' dis week."

"No, her sister is sick and she is needed where she is. Get your basket
and come along--you can do your marketing down there. Bring me my hat
and cane. What's the matter with her sister, do you know?"

Again the darky hedged: "Dunno, sah--some kin' o' mis'ry in her back
I reckon. Las' time Aunt Jemima was yere she say de doctor 'lowed her
kittens was 'fected." (It was another invalid limping past the front
steps who had put that in his head.)

St. George roared: "Well, whatever she's got, I'm going to pay my
respects to her; I've neglected Aunt Jemima too long. No--my best
hat--don't forget that I'm going to call on a very distinguished colored
lady. Come, out with it. How far does she live from the market?"

"Jes' 'bout's far's from yere to de church. Is you gwine now? I got a
heap o' cleanin' ter do--dem steps is all gormed up, dey's dat dirty.
Maybe we better go when--"

"Not another word out of you! I'm going now." He could feel the money in
his pocket and he could not wait. "Get your basket."

Todd led the way and the two crossed the park and struck out for the
lower part of the city, near Jones Falls, into a district surrounded by
one-and two-story houses inhabited by the poorer class of whites and the
more well-to-do free negroes. Here the streets, especially those which
ran to the wharves, w