d grimace:

"I 'clare for it, chillun, I got right mixey wid Horry, eben ef he is a
Tory, kase de lad was sumfin to talk wid, an' I was carried away wid
fear till it seemed as ef I was boun' to keep my tongue runnin', else
I'd gone crazy."

"You didn't get so mixey with him, Uncle 'Rasmus, but that you finally
dumped him under the floor," Pierre added with a laugh, and the old man
chuckled as he replied:

"I done tell you how dat was, honey. De mixier I got wid him de more
afraid I growed 'bout his gibin' me de slip, or in case any ob de king's
sogers come in an' was curious to know what I had covered up wid de
blanket. It seemed like I couldn' bear de sight ob de boy, an' yet I
wanted to keep talkin' wid him all de time. I done splained dat dere
wasn' anyting to eat or drink in de house, an' dat we'd hab to go hungry
an' thirsty till de gen'man from Jersey come to look arter us. Den dere
come inter my min' dat yere hole in de floor, what ole Mary dug so's to
keep de milk an' de butter fresh, an' how your Uncle 'Rasmus did toddle
'roun', gettin' de chile inter it! I ain' half so shaky as I'se been
tryin' to make out since we come here to York; but it seemed like my
back-bone wasn' stiff enuf for de job I'd tackled when I got hol' ob
Horry Sims an' he tried to hang back. Howsomeever he got in dar, an' I
covered de plank ober, an' den I went back to de winder, an' I mourned,
an' I mourned, an' I mourned for my chillun what I 'lowed was in de
han's ob de Britishers."

Then the old man, as if overcome by the remembrance of his suffering,
gave way to tearless grief, when he trembled like one in an ague fit,
covering his face with his wrinkled hands, and rocking his body to and
fro until I perforce knelt by the chair to soothe him.

Again did little Frenchie come to the relief of us all by changing the
subject of the conversation once more, and this time he called upon Saul
to explain how it was he had been taken prisoner and confined in the
guard-house.

Strange though it may seem, I had had no curiosity concerning this
matter from the time we set him free, perhaps because there was so much
of excitement and confusion everywhere around, but now I turned from
Uncle 'Rasmus to gaze at my cousin eagerly, so impatient to hear his
story that I could hardly control myself until he was ready to begin.

"Of course I knew you would insist on being told of all that happened,"
he said gravely, hesitating now and then in his spe