; she saw a sweet, childish, red mouth, a mass of short, yellow
curls, and a thin but graceful little figure.

"I knows the names of aller ole Aunt Blue-Gum Tempy's Peruny Pearline's
chillens," he was saying proudly: "Admiral Farragut Moses the Prophet
Esquire, he's the bigges'; an' Alice Ann Maria Dan Step-an'-Go-Fetch-It,
she had to nuss all the res.'; she say fas' as she git th'oo nussin' one
an' 'low she goin' to have a breathin' spell here come another one an'
she got to nuss it. An' the nex' is Mount Sinai Tabernicle, he name
fer the church where of Aunt BlueGum Tempy's Peruny Pearline takes her
sackerment; an' the nex' is First Thessalonians; Second Thessalonians,
he's dead an' gone to the Bad Place 'cause he skunt a cat,--I don't mean
skin the cat on a actin' role like me an' Wilkes Booth Lincoln does,--he
skunt a sho' 'nough cat what was a black cat, what was a ole witch,
an' she come back an' ha'nt him an' he growed thinner an' thinner an'
weasler an' weasler, tell finely he wan't nothin' 't all but a skel'ton,
an' the Bad Man won't 'low nobody 't all to give his parch' tongue no
water, an' he got to, ever after amen, be toast on a pitchfork. An'
Oleander Magnolia Althea is the nex'," he continued, enumerating Peruny
Pearline's offspring on his thin, well molded fingers, "she got the
seven year itch; an' Gettysburg, an' Biddle-&-Brothers-Mercantile-Co.;
he name fer the sto' where ole Aunt Blue-Gum Tempy's Peruny Pearline
gits credit so she can pay when she fetches in her cotton in the fall;
an' Wilkes Booth Lincoln, him an' me's twins, we was borned the same day
only I's borned to my mama an' he's borned to his 'n an' Doctor
Jenkins fetched me an' Doctor Shacklefoot fetched him. An' Decimus
Ultimus,"--the little boy triumphantly put his right forefinger on his
left little one, thus making the tenth, "she's the baby an' she's got
the colic an' cries loud 'nough to wake up Israel; Wilkes Booth Lincoln
say he wish the little devil would die. Peruny Pearline firs' name her
'Doctor Shacklefoot' 'cause he fetches all her chillens, but the doctor
he say that ain't no name fer a girl, so he name her Decimus Ultimus."

Miss Minerva, sober, proper, dignified, religious old maid unused
to children, listened in frozen amazement and paralyzed silence. She
decided to put the child to bed at once that she might collect her
thoughts, and lay some plans for the rearing of this sadly neglected,
little orphaned nephew.

"Willi