know it. I'm
des cryin' bekaze you too good ter me.'

"Well, suh, I had ter git out er dar fer ter keep fum chokin'. Marse
Tumlin foller me out, an' right here on de porch, he low, 'Minervy Ann,
nex' time don't be so dam good to 'er.' I wuz doin' some snifflin'
myse'f 'bout dat time, an' I ain't keerin' what I say, so I stop an'
flung back at 'im, '_I'll be des es dam good ter 'er ez I please--I'm
free_!' Well, suh, stidder hittin' me, Marse Tumlin bust out laughin',
an' long atter dat he'd laugh eve'y time he look at me, des like sump'n
wuz ticklin' 'im mighty nigh ter death.

"I 'speck he must er tol' 'bout dat cussin' part, bekaze folks 'roun'
here done got de idee dat I'm a sassy an' bad-tempered 'oman. Ef I had
ter work fer my livin', suh, I boun' you I'd be a long time findin' a
place. Atter dat, Hamp, he got in de Legislatur', an' it sho' wuz a
money-makin' place. Den we had eve'ything we wanted, an' mo' too, but
bimeby de Legislatur' gun out, an' den dar we wuz, flat ez flounders,
an' de white folks don't want ter hire Hamp des kaze he been ter de
Legislatur'; but he got back in de liberty stable atter so long a time.
Yit 'twa'n't what you may call livin'.

"All dat time, I hear Marse Tumlin talkin' ter Miss Vallie 'bout what
he call his wil' lan'. He say he got two thousan' acres down dar in de
wiregrass, an' ef he kin sell it, he be mighty glad ter do so. Well,
suh, one day, long to'rds night, a two-hoss waggin driv' in at de side
gate an' come in de back-yard. Ol' Ben Sadler wuz drivin', an' he low,
'Heyo, Minervy Ann, whar you want deze goods drapped at?' I say,
'Hello yo'se'f, ef you wanter hello. What you got dar, an' who do it
'blong ter?' He low, 'Hit's goods fer Major Tumlin Perdue, an' whar
does you want um drapped at?' Well, suh, I ain't know what ter say,
but I run'd an' ax'd Miss Vallie, an' she say put um out anywheres
'roun' dar, kaze she dunner nothin' 'bout um. So ol' Ben Sadler, he
put um out, an' when I come ter look at um, dey wuz a bairl er sump'n,
an' a kaig er sump'n, an' a box er sump'n. De bairl shuck like it
mought be lasses, an' de kaig shuck like it mought be dram, an' de box
hefted like it mought be terbarker. An', sho' 'nuff, dat what dey
wuz--a bairl er sorghum syr'p, an' a kaig er peach brandy, an' a box er
plug terbarker.

"I say right den, an' Miss Vallie 'll tell you de same, dat Marse
Tumlin done gone an' swap off all his wil' lan', but Miss Vallie, she