room. Oh! oh! nuttin warn too good for niggers dem
times; an' de little niggers wuz runnin' roun' right 'stracted,
squealin' an' peepin' an' gittin in de way onder you foots; an' de mens
dee wuz totin' in de wood--gret hickory logs, look like stock whar you
gwine saw--an' de fire so big hit look like you gwine kill hawgs,
'cause hit sutney wuz cold dat night. Dis nigger ain' nuver gwine
forgit it! Jack Forester he had come 'cross de river to lead de
fiddlers, an' he say he had to put he fiddle onder he coat an' poke he
bow in he breeches leg to keep de strings from poppin', an' dat de
river would freeze over sho ef twarn so high; but twuz jes snortin',
an' he had hard wuck to git over in he skiff, an' Unc' Jeems say he
ain' gwine come out he boat-house no mo' dat night--he done tempt
Providence often 'nough for one day.

"Den ev'ything wuz ready, an' de fiddlers got dee dram an' chuned up,
an' twuz lively, I tell you! Twuz jes as thick in dyah as blackberries
on de blackberry bush, 'cause ev'y gal on de plantation wuz dyah
shakin' her foot for some young buck, an' back-steppin' for to go
'long. Dem ole sleepers wuz jes a-rockin', an' Jack Forester he wuz
callin' de figgers for to wake 'em up. I warn' dancin', 'cause I done
got 'ligion an 'longst to de chutch sence de trouble done tech us up so
rank; but I tell you my foots wuz pintedly eechchin for a leetle sop on
it, an' I had to come out to keep from crossin' 'em onst, anyways.
Den, too, I had a tetch o' misery in my back, an' I lay off to git a
tas'e o' dat egg-nog out dat big bowl, wid snowdrift on it, from Miss
Lucy--she al'ays mighty fond o' Marse George; so I slip into de
carpenter shop, an' ax her kyarn I do nuttin for her, an' she laugh an'
say, yes, I kin drink her health, an' gi' me a gret gobletful, an' jes
den de white folks come in to 'spec' de tables, Marse George in de
lead, an' dee all fill up dee glasses an' pledge dee health, an' all de
servants', an' a merry Christmas; an' den dee went in de wash-house to
see de dancin', an' maybe to teck a han deeself, 'cause white folks'
'ligion ain' like niggers', you know; dee got so much larnin dee kin
dance, an' fool de devil too. An' I stay roun' a little while, an' den
went in de kitchen to see how supper gittin' on, 'cause I wuz so hongry
when I got dyah I ain' able to eat 'nough at one time to 'commodate it,
an' de smell o' de tuckeys an' de gret saddlers o' mutton in de
tin-kitchens wuz mos' 'nough