o flinch, but dat hand on de
bridle, an' dem rowels in he side, an' he 'bleeged to teck it.

"Lord! suh, sich a screech as dee set up! But he wuz swimmin' for
life, an' he wuz up de bank an' in de middle o' de dogs time dee
tetched ole Gray Jacket; an' when Mr. Clarke got dyah Marse George wuz
stan'in' wid ice on him, holdin' up de tail for Miss Charlotte to see,
turr side de creek, an' de hounds wuz wallerin' all over de body, an' I
don' think Mr. Clarke done got up wid 'em yit.

"He cotch de fox, an' he cotch some'n else besides, is my 'pinion,
'cause when de ladies went upstairs dat night Miss Charlotte had to
wait on de steps for a glass o' water, an' couldn' nobody git it but
Marse George; an' den when she tell him good-night over de banisters,
he couldn' say it good enough; he got to kiss her hand; an' she ain' do
nuttin but jes peep upstairs ef anybody dyah lookin'; an' when I come
thoo de do' she juck her hand 'way an' run upstairs jes as farst as she
could. Marse George look at me sort o' laughin', an' say: 'Confound
you! Nancy couldn' been very good to you.' An' I say, 'She le' me
squench my thirst a leetle kissin' her hand;' an' he sort o' laugh an'
tell me to keep my mouf shet.

"But dat ain' de on'y time I come on 'em. Dee al'ays gittin'
corndered; an' de evenin' befo' we come 'way I wuz gwine in thoo de
conservity, an' dyah dee wuz sort o' hide 'way. Miss Charlotte she wuz
settin' down, an' Marse George he wuz leanin' over her, got her hand to
he face, talkin' right low an' lookin' right sweet, an' she ain' say
nuttin; an' presney he drapt on one knee by her, an' slip he arm roun'
her, an' try to look in her eyes, an' she so 'shamed to look at him she
got to hide her face on he shoulder, an' I slipt out.

"We come 'way next mornin'. When marster heah 'bout it he didn' teck
to de notion at all, 'cause her pa--dat is, he warn' her own pa, 'cause
he had married her ma when she wuz a widder after Miss Charlotte pa
died--an' he politics warn' same as ourn. 'Why, you kin never stand
him, suh,' he said to Marse George. 'We won't mix any mo'n fire and
water; you ought to have found that out at college; dat fellow Darker
is his son.'"

[Illustration: "_We come 'way next mornin'._"]

"Marse George he say he know dat; but he on'y de step-brurr of de young
lady, an' ain' got a drap o' her blood in he veins, an' he didn' know
it when he meet her, an' anyhow hit wouldn' meck any diffence; an, when
de mis