'll name her Microby Dandeline Watts an' Watts, he didn't care
one way er t'other." Ma Watts shifted the baby to the other hip.
"Babitizin' is nice, but hit works both ways, too. Take the baby,
yere. When we'd got down to the bottom of the batch it come her turn,
an', lawzie, I wus that flustered, comin' so sudden, thet way, I
couldn't think of no name fer her 'cept Chattenoogy Tennessee, where I
come from near, an' the very nex' day I wus readin' in the almanac an'
I found one I liked better. Watts, he hain't no help to a body, he
hain't no aggucation to speak of, an' don't never read none, an'
would as soon I'd name his children John, like his ma done him. As I
was sayin' there hit wus in the almanac the name 'twould of fitten the
baby to a T. Vernal Esquimaux, hit said, March 21, 5:26 A.M. The baby
was borned March the 21st, 'tween five an' six in the mornin'. Nex'
time I wus to town I hunted up preacher Christie, but he said he
couldn't onbabitize her, an' he reckoned Chatenoogy Tennessee wus as
good as Vernal Esquimaux, anyhow, an' we could save Vernal Esquimaux
fer the next one--jest's ef yo' could hev 'em like a time table!"

The afternoon was assiduously devoted to overhauling the contents of a
huge tin trunk in an effort to find a frock suitable for the momentous
occasion of Microby Dandeline's journey. The one that had served for
the previous visit, a tight little affair of pink gingham, proved
entirely inadequate in its important dimensions, and automatically
became the property of the younger and smaller Lillian Russell.
Patty's suggestion of a simple white lawn that reposed upon the very
bottom of the trunk was overruled in favor of a betucked and
beflounced creation of red calico in which Ma Watts had beamed upon
the gay panoply of the long remembered "circust." An hour's work with
scissors and needle reduced the dress to approximately the required
size. When the task was completed Watts appeared with the information
that he reckoned the wagon would run, and that the "young-uns" were
out in the hills hunting the "hosses."

At early dawn the following morning Patty was awakened by a timid hand
upon her shoulder.

"Hit's daylight, an' Pa's hitchin' up the hosses." Arrayed in the red
dress, her eyes round with excitement and anticipation, Microby
Dandeline was bending over her whispering excitedly, "An' breakfus's
ready, an' me an' Ma's got the lunch putten up, an' hit's a pow'ful
long ways to town, an' we