sheep, who amused the children very much by running after them whenever
he could catch them out-of-doors. Sometimes, though, he would butt them
over and hurt them, and Major Waldron had several times had him turned
into the pasture; but Diddie would always cry and beg for him to be
brought back, and so Old Billy was nearly always in the yard.

Then there was Corbin, the little white pony that belonged to all of the
children together, and was saddled and bridled every fair day, and tied
to the horse-rack, that the little girls might ride him whenever they
chose; and 'twas no unusual sight to see two of them on him at once,
cantering down the big road or through the grove.

And, besides all these amusements, Mammy or Aunt Milly or Aunt Edy, or
some of the negroes, would tell them tales; and once in a while they
would slip off and go to the quarters, to Aunt Nancy the tender's cabin,
and play with the little quarter children. They particularly liked to go
there about dark to hear the little negroes say their prayers.

Aunt Nancy would make them all kneel down in a row, and clasp their
hands and shut their eyes: then she would say, "Our Father, who art in
heaven," and all the little darkies together would repeat each petition
after her; and if they didn't all keep up, and come out together, she
would give the delinquent a sharp cut with a long switch that she always
kept near her. So the prayer was very much interrupted by the little
"nigs" telling on each other, calling out "Granny" (as they all called
Aunt Nancy), "Jim didn't say his 'kingdom come.'"

"Yes I did, Granny; don't yer b'lieve dat gal; I said jes' much 'kingdom
come' ez she did."

And presently Jim would retaliate by saying,

"Granny, Polly nuber sed nuf'n 'bout her 'cruspusses.'"

"Lord-ee! jes' lis'n at dat nigger," Polly would say. "Granny, don't
yer min' 'im; I sed furgib us cruspusses, jes' ez plain ez anybody, and
Ginny hyeard me; didn't yer, Ginny?"

At these interruptions Aunt Nancy would stop to investigate the matter,
and whoever was found in fault was punished with strict and impartial
justice.

Another very interesting time to visit the quarters was in the morning
before breakfast, to see Aunt Nancy give the little darkies their
"vermifuge." She had great faith in the curative properties of a very
nauseous vermifuge that she had made herself by stewing some kind of
herbs in molasses, and every morning she would administer a teaspoonful