y needed attention. It ain't any o' my business, Cipo.
I'd give all o' you coons a rest if I had my way. Life is too short to
bother about puttin' on style an' tyin' a bow of ribbon to every act."

With the broadest of grins the negro, whose splaying feet were in
remnants of shoes that were tied with white cotton strings, detached the
horse from the shafts and led him away.

"Now, come on," Wrinkle said. "I see Ma in the back veranda waitin' for
us."

As they reached the house the old woman, with timid, halting steps, and
better dressed than Henley had ever seen her before, came forward and
extended a limp hand. "Howdy do? How did you leave Chester?" she
inquired.

"All right," he answered. "Where is Hettie?"

The question was addressed to her, but she stared mutely, and with some
agitation looked at her husband.

"I forgot to tell you." Wrinkle glanced up at the sun. "This is her
nap-time. That used to be the order in Ben's day, an' she's holdin' to
it. Just after dinner all hands are expected to unstrip an' lie down
till the cool of the evenin'; then you are free to walk about, but you
ought to be ready for supper so you won't have to wash at the last
minute, an' come in in a scramble. We don't see Het at breakfast. Ben
had a habit of stayin' in his room an' havin' a nigger fetch his up on a
waiter, an' Het feels like it is her duty to do likewise. She sets up
thar, they tell me, in easy, roustabout clothes, an' attends to the
business of the day--sech as readin' the mail, answerin' letters, an'
listenin' to complaints from overseers an' land-renters. Ben advanced
cash, in dribs or wads, accordin' to needs, an' kept a set o' books.
Het's got all that an' more on her conscience, an' she's gittin' as thin
as a splinter over it. Folks say she's a regular hair-splitter when it
comes to settlements. She would divide a copper cent into several parts
if the Government would let 'em pass that way. Come in the parlor, Alf.
I want you to take a peep at it. You've travelled about some an' seen
sights, but for a place jest to live in, I'll bet you'll admit this caps
the stack. If a royal emperor was to kick at a home like this it would
start a revolution amongst his subjects."

Henley and the demure little woman followed at the talker's heels. He
led them into the main entrance-hall, a spacious, oblong room with
colored-glass windows on both sides and above the heavy Colonial
doorway. A massive stairway with a carved newe