and
change her clothes, and of her fine appearance at the last in a white
gown, her best, which he had bought and Mandy Ann made not long before,
and which the Colonel would not take with him. So they kept it, and
Mandy Ann washed and ironed it, and put it away with some sweet herbs,
and aired it every year till she was married, when Jake cared for it
till Mandy Ann's twins were born,--Alex and Aaron. Then Mandy Ann
borrowed it for them to be christened in, one of them one Sunday and one
the next, so that both had the honor of wearing it, while Jake was
sponsor, 'For,' said he, 'Mandy Ann has gin up them hollerin' meetin's
whar white folks done come to see de ole darkies have a kind of powow,
as dey use to have befo' de wah. Clar for't if de folks from de Norf
don't gin de blacks money to sing de ole-time songs an' rock an' weave
back an' forth till dey have de pow'. I don't think much of dat ar, jess
'musin' theyselves wid our religion;' and Jake looked his disgust, and
continued:

"'Mandy Ann like mighty well to jine 'em, but I hole her back, an' now
she's 'Piscopal, ef she's anything,--an' when de girl twins come,--Dory
an' Judy,--she borrowed lil chile's gown agin. Dat make fo' times, an'
then I shet de gates, an' said, "No mo' gown, an' no mo' twins," an'
thar hain't been no mo'.

"'But I'se got a good ways from lil chile, who wan't an atom shy of de
Colonel, though he was of her, an' when he took her han' I could almost
see him squirm like. I think he tried to be kind, an' he gin her a lil
ivory book he had on his watch-chain, but you see he didn't feel it. He
didn't care for children, and it seemed as if he wanted to get away from
this one. But he couldn't. She was his'n; I'd bet my soul on dat. He had
to come after her an' took her, though 'twas 'bout the wust job he ever
did, I reckon. She fit like a tiger cat about gwine wid him, an' 's
true's you bawn, I don't b'lieve she'd gone ef he hadn't took me wid him
to Savannah. I can't tell you, Mas'r Mason, 'bout de partin' thar. 'Twas
drefful, an' I kin see her now rollin' on de flo', wid her heels an'
han's in de air, an' she a-sayin' she mus' stay wid Shaky. I bought her
such a pretty red cloak, all lined wid white silk, an' wrapped her in
it, an' took her on to de boat, an' left her thar, she thinkin' I was
comin' back, an' the last I seen of her, as the boat moved off, she was
jumpin' up an' down, an' stretchin' her arms to me, an' the Cunnel
holdin' her tigh