e mist'ess 'cept de
doctor, 'cause he was rich, dat's all dere was to 't, 'cause he was
rich. I tell ye ole Sam had to tell many a lie to the other gemmen,
sayin' Miss Rachel was sick or somethin' else when she was a-waitin'
for de doctor to come, and was feared he might meet some of 'em an' git
skeered away.

"Miss Nannie, she'd watch him, too, from behind de kitchen door, or
scrunched down lookin' over de pantry winder sill, an' den she'd tell
Dinah an' me what he did, an' how he got off his horse an' han' de
reins to de boy, an' slap his boots wid his ridin' whip, like he was
a-dustin' off a fly. An' she'd act it all out for me an' Dinah, an'
slap her own frock, an' den she'd laugh fit to kill herse'f an' dance
all 'round de kitchen. Would yo' believe it? No! dere ain't nobody 'd
believe it. Dey never asked her to come in once while he was in de
parlor, an' dey never once tole him dat Miss Nannie was a-livin' on de
top side o' de yearth!

"Co'se people 'gin to talk, an' ev'ybody said dat Dr. Boling was
gittin' nighest de coon, an' dat fust thing dey'd know dere would be a
weddin' in de Gordon fambly. An' den agin dere was plenty mo' people
said he was only passin' de time wid Miss Rachel, an' dat he come to
see Marse Henry to talk pol'tics.

"Well, one day, suh, I was a-standin' in de door an' I see him come in
a-foot, widout his horse an' servant, an' step up on de po'ch quick an'
rap at de do', like he say to himse'f, 'Lemme in; I'm in a hurry; I got
somethin' on my mind.' Ole Sam was jes' a-gwine to open de do' for him
when Miss Nannie come a-runnin' in de kitchen from de yard, her cheeks
like de roses, her hair a-flyin', an' her big hat hangin' to a string
down her back. I gin Sam one look an' he stopped, an' I says to Miss
Nannie, 'Run, honey,' I says, 'an' open de do' for ole Sam; I spec',' I
says, 'it's one o' dem peddlers.'

"If you could 'a' seen dat chile's face when she come back!"

Aunt Chloe's hands were now waving above her head, her mouth wide open
in her merriment, every tooth shining.

"She was white one minute an' red as a beet the nex'. 'Oh, Aunt Chloe,
what did you let me go for?' she says. 'Oh! I wouldn't 'a' let him
see me like dis for anythin' in de wo'ld. Oh, I'm dat put out.'

"'What did he say to ye, honey?' I says.

"'He didn't say nuffin; he jes' look at me an' say he beg my pardon,
an' was Miss Rachel in, an' den I said I'd run an' tell her, an' when I
come downstair