head an' laugh, an' her eyes would
shine bright as blue glass marbles. She tole Mis' 'Riah dat she 'specs
dat when her man come he gwine see her face befo' he seed her
rightousness, so she gwine wear roses an' curls den he would know her
when he seed her. Den befo' Mis' 'Riah could speak her mind, Mis'
Laughter done gone skippin' down de hall, her little feets in de gol'
slippers twinklin' from de ruffles of her pantalets. Everybody on de
place love dat chile an' de house wasn' never de same after she done
gone away.

"My gran'mammy, Rowena, say dat Mis' 'Riah was bawn for trouble. She
was bawn de las' day of March 'tween midnight an' day. De moon was on
de wane, an' jus 'as Mistis was bawn de wind come down de chimbley an'
blew de ashes out on de hearth. Gran'mammy say dat mean trouble an'
death; dat new bawn baby ain't never gwine keep long de things she love
de mos', an' she better never love nobody too well, if she do dey gwine
be took away from her, an' trouble sho did follow Mis' 'Riah after she
growed up.

"When de war come Marse Ned went off to fight. He was Marse General
Cotton den. Dat didn't leave nobody at home 'cept Mis' 'Riah, her
mammy, Mis' Roberta Davis, but we called her ole Mistis, den dare was
Mis' Laughter an' young Marse Jerome. Young Marse wasn' but fifteen
when de war started, but dey got him in de las' call an' he didn' never
come back no more.

"De plantation was big, but Mis' 'Riah 'tended to things an' handled de
niggers same as a man. De fus' year of de war she rode a hoss 'bout de
fields like an overseer, seein' after de cotton an' cawn an' taters.
But de Yankees come an' set fire to de cotton; dey took de cawn to dey
camp for dey hosses, an' dey toted off de taters to eat. De nex year
Mis' 'Riah didn' plant no cotton a tall kaze de seeds an' gin done been
burned up, but she had de niggers plant cawn, taters an' a good garden.
Dat fall de wind blew de hickory leaves to de no'th an' by spring
trouble done come sho nuff. Dey was a drouth an' de cawn didn' come up;
de garden burned to pa'chment, but de taters done all right. Wid all
dat Mis' 'Riah held up her head an' kep' goin'. Den one day a buzzard
flew over de house top an' his wings spread a shadow out on de roof.
Dat night death come an' got Ole Mistis. She passed on to glory in her
sleep. ''Twas de lawd's will,' Mis' 'Riah tole gran'mammy, an' she
still held up her head. But Gran'mammy said dat if somebody had shot
dat buzzard an' w