r laid on me."

"Raised you pretty well, didn't he, Chad?"

"Yas, sah--dat he did."

"Anybody beat you since you grew up?"

"No, sah."

"Pretty good, Chad, ain't you?"

"I try to be, sah."

"Well, now, be a little patient with that boy. It isn't his fault that
he's sp'ilt; it's part of the damnable system this Gov'ment has put
upon us since the war. Am I right, Major?"

I nodded assent.

Chad pulled out a handful of feathers from the duck, dropped them into
a barrel near where we stood in the yard, and said, as if his mind was
finally made up:

"Co'se, Colonel, I ain't nuffin' to say jes' 'cept dis. When I was dat
boy's age I was runnin' 'round barefoot an' putty nigh naked, my shirt
out o' my pants haalf de time; but Marse John tuk care o' me, an' when
I got hongry I knowed whar dey was sumpin to eat an' I got it. Dat boy
ain't had nobody take care o' him till de Mist'iss tuk him, and haalf
de time he went hongry; no manners, no bringin' up--runnin' wid po'
white trash, gittin' his head full o' fool notions 'stid o' waitin' on
his betters. Now look at him. Come in yere yisterday mornin', an' want
borry my bresh to black his shoes. Den he must bresh his clothes wid
yo' bresh--_yo'_ bresh, mind you! I cotched him at it. Den he gits on
his toes an' squints at hisself in de Mist'iss glass--I cotched him at
dat, too--an' he ugly as one o' dem black tree-toads. You know what
done dat? Dem Richmond clothes he's got on. I tell ye, Colonel, sumpin
gotter be done, or dem buttons'll spile dat chile."

The Colonel laughed heartily.

"What does Miss Nancy say about yo' barr'l stave?"

"She don't say nuffin', 'cause she don't know."

"Well, don't you thresh Jim till you see her."

"No, sah."

"And Chad?"

"Yes, sah."

"When you do, pick out a little stave. Come, Major, go back with me
for just ten minutes mo' and see the dea'est woman in the world."

V

The day before Christmas was a never-to-be-forgotten day in Bedford
Place. Great preparations were being made for the event of the
evening, and everybody helped.

Little Jim under the tutelage of Chad, and in hourly fear of the
promised thrashing--it had never gone beyond the promise since the
Colonel's talk--had so far forgotten his clothes and his dignity as to
load himself with Christmas greens--one long string wound around his
body like a boa constrictor--much to the amusement of the Colonel, who
was looking out of the dining-room window when