xclaimed,

"Oh, Diddie, I'm er goin' ter be the cook, an' make the pies an'
things."

"I doin' ter be de took an' make de itty mud takes," said Miss Unker
Bill, and the table at once became a scene of confusion.

"No, Dumps," said Diddie, "somebody's got to be stoppin' at the hotel,
an' I think the niggers ought to be the cooks."

"But I want ter make the mud cakes," persisted Dumps, an' Tot can be the
folks at the hotel--she and the doll-babies."

"No, I doin' ter make de mud takes, too," said Tot, and the hotel seemed
in imminent danger of being closed for want of custom, when a happy
thought struck Dilsey.

"Lor-dy, chil'en! I tell yer: le's play Ole Billy is er gemman what writ
ter Miss Diddie in er letter dat he was er comin' ter de hotel, an' ter
git ready fur 'im gins he come."

"Yes," said Diddie, "and lets play Dumps an' Tot was two mo' niggers I
had ter bring up from the quarters to help cook; an' we'll make out Ole
Billy is some great general or somethin', an' we'll have ter make lots
of cakes an' puddin's for 'im. Oh, I know; we'll play he's Lord
Burgoyne."

All of the little folks were pleased at that idea, and Diddie
immediately began to issue her orders.

"You, Dumps, an' Tot an' Dilsey, an' all of yer--I've got er letter from
Lord Burgoyne, an' he'll be here to-morrow, an' I want you all to go
right into the kitchen an' make pies an' cakes." And so the whole party
adjourned to a little ditch where mud and water were plentiful (and
which on that account had been selected as the kitchen), and began at
once to prepare an elegant dinner.

Dear me! how busy the little housekeepers were! and such beautiful pies
they made, and lovely cakes all iced with white sand, and bits of grass
laid around the edges for trimming! and all the time laughing and
chatting as gayly as could be.

"Ain't we havin' fun?" said Dumps, who, regardless of her nice clothes,
was down on her knees in the ditch, with her sleeves rolled up, and her
fat little arms muddy to the elbows; "an' ain't you glad we slipped off,
Diddie? I tol' yer there wan't nothin' goin' to hurt us."

"And ain't you glad we let Billy come?" said Diddie; "we wouldn't er had
nobody to be Lord Burgoyne."

"Yes," replied Dumps; "an' he ain't behaved bad at all; he ain't butted
nobody, an' he ain't runned after nobody to-day."

"'Ook at de take," interrupted Tot, holding up a mudball that she had
moulded with her own little hands, and which she regar