have dinnuh-potty make heap o' fun. Say I done my 'nouncin' GOOD, but
say what's use holler'n' names jes' fer some the neighbors or they own
aunts an' uncles to walk in, when ev'ybody awready knows 'em? So Fanny
pummote me to waituh, an' I roun' right in amongs' big doin's mos' ev'y
night. Pass ice-cream, lemonade, lemon-ice, cake, samwitches. 'Lemme
han' you li'l' mo' chicken salad, ma'am'--' 'Low me be so kine as to git
you f'esh cup coffee, suh'--'S way ole Genesis talkin' ev'y even' 'ese
days!"

Jane looked at him thoughtfully. "Do you like it better than cuttin'
grass, Genesis?" she asked.

He paused to consider. "Yes'm--when ban' play all lem TUNES! My
goo'ness, do soun' gran'!"

"You can't do it to-night, though, Genesis," said Jane. "You haf to be
quiet on Sunday nights, don't you?"

"Yes'm. 'Ain' got no mo' kaytun till nex' Friday even'."

"Oh, I bet that's the party for Miss Pratt at Mr. Parcher's!" Jane
cried. "Didn't I guess right?"

"Yes'm. I reckon I'm a-go'n' a see one you' fam'ly 'at night; see him
dancin'--wait on him at ref'eshmuns."

Jane's expression became even more serious than usual. "Willie? I don't
know whether he's goin', Genesis."

"Lan' name!" Genesis exclaimed. "He die ef he don' git INvite to 'at
ball!"

"Oh, he's invited," said Jane. "Only I think maybe he won't go."

"My goo'ness! Why ain' he goin'?"

Jane looked at her friend studiously before replying. "Well, it's a
secret," she said, finally, "but it's a very inter'sting one, an' I'll
tell you if you never tell."

"Yes'm, I ain' tellin' nobody."

Jane glanced round, then stepped a little closer and told the secret
with the solemnity it deserved. "Well, when Miss Pratt first came to
visit Miss May Parcher, Willie used to keep papa's evening clo'es in
his window-seat, an' mamma wondered what HAD become of 'em. Then, after
dinner, he'd slip up there an' put 'em on him, an' go out through the
kitchen an' call on Miss Pratt. Then mamma found 'em, an' she thought he
oughtn't to do that, so she didn't tell him or anything, an' she didn't
even tell papa, but she had the tailor make 'em ever an' ever so much
bigger, 'cause they were gettin' too tight for papa. An' well, so after
that, even if Willie could get 'em out o' mamma's clo'es-closet where
she keeps 'em now, he'd look so funny in 'em he couldn't wear 'em. Well,
an' then he couldn't go to pay calls on Miss Pratt in the evening since
then, because mamma says after he sta