r coffin plate?"

"Eudora, aged 20," I tole him. "Put the same on the stun," he said. He
tole me I was to stay on de place, an' have all I made. Then thar was
Mandy Ann, who 'longed to de lil chile. She was to stay hyar, he said,
an' he'd pay her wage which she could keep herself. He'd settle wid de
lil chile when de time come, an' set Mandy Ann free. I think he meant
it, but he was spar'd de trouble, for de wah corned like a big broom an'
swep' slavery away, an' mos' everyting souf wid it, an' Mandy Ann was
free any way widout de Colonel.

"'After de chile went away I got to broodin' over Miss Dory's wrongs,
till I'se so worked up agin de Colonel, dat when de wah broke out I was
minded to 'list, hopin' I'd meet him somewhar in battle an' shoot him.
Den I cooled down an' staid home an' raised things an' worked for de
poor folks hyar,--de women, whose husban's an' brudders had gone to de
wah. Ted,--dat's de boy on de "Hatty" long ago,--went to de wah wid a
great flourish, promisin' Mandy Ann he'd shoot the Colonel shu' ef he
got a chance. An' what do you think? At de fust crack of de cannon in de
fust battle he seen, he cut an' run, an' kep' on runnin' till he got
hyar, beggin' me an' Mandy Ann to hide him, 'case he was a deserter. I
held my tongue, an' let Mandy Ann do as she pleased, an' she hid him
till de Federals come, when he jined them, an' did get hit, but 'twas on
de back or shoulder, showin' which way he was runnin'.

"'Den Mandy Ann married him, an' has ten chillenses, an' washes an'
scrubs for de Brock House an' everybody, while Ted struts roun' wid a
cigar in his mouf, an' says he has neber seen a well day sense de
wah,--dat his shoulder pains him powerful at times,--an' he is tryin' to
get a pension, an' Mandy Ann is helpin' him. Beats all what women won't
do for a man if they love him, no matter how big a skunk he is. Miss
Dory died for one, an' Mandy Ann is slavin' herself to deff for one.
I'se mighty glad I'se not a woman.'

"Here Jake stopped a moment, presumably to reflect on the waywardness of
Miss Dory and Mandy Ann caring for two skunks,--one the Colonel and one
Ted, whose last name I did not know till I asked Jake, who replied,
'Hamilton--a right smart name, I'm told, an' 'long'd to de quality. Ole
man Hamilton come from de norf somewhar, an' bought Ted's mother, a
likely mulatto. Who his fader was I doan know. He's more white dan
black, an' is mighty proud of his name,--Hamilton,--'case somebod