. Dat
can'date pawed de groun' lak a hoss an' tried to git outen de winder.
But I got to be mighty keerful how I talk: I do' know whethah you
'long to any secut s'cieties er not. I wouldn't been so late even fu'
dat, but Mistah Hi'am Smif, he gallanted me home an' you know a lady
boun' to stan' at de gate an' talk to huh comp'ny a little while. You
know how it is, Mis' Ma'tin.

"I been en'tainin' my comp'ny in de pa'lor? Co'se I has; you wasn't
usin' it. What you s'pose my frien's 'u'd think ef I'd ax 'em in de
kitchen w'en dey wasn't no one in de front room? Co'se I ax 'em in de
pa'lor. I do' want my frien's to think I's wo'kin' fu' no low-down
people. W'y, Miss 'Liza Harris set down an' played mos' splendid on
yo' pianna, an' she compermented you mos' high. S'pose I'd a tuck huh
in de kitchen, whaih de comperments come in?

"Yass'm, yass'm, I does tek home little things now an' den, dat I
does, an' I ain't gwine to 'ny it. I jes' says to myse'f, I ain't
wo'kin' fu' no strainers lak de people nex' do', what goes into
tantrums ef de lady what cooks fu' 'em teks home a bit o' sugar. I
'lows to myse'f I ain't wo'kin' fu' no sich folks; so sometimes I teks
home jes' a weenchy bit o' somep'n' dat nobody couldn't want nohow,
an' I knows you ain't gwine 'ject to dat. You do 'ject, you do 'ject!
Huh!

"I's got to come an' ax you, has I? Look a-hyeah, Mis' Ma'tin, I know
I has to wo'k in yo' kitchen. I know I has to cook fu' you, but I want
you to know dat even ef I does I's a lady. I's a lady, but I see you
do' know how to 'preciate a lady w'en you meets one. You kin jes'
light in an' git yo' own dinner. I wouldn't wo'k fu' you ef you uz
made o' gol'. I nevah did lak to wo'k fu' strainers, nohow.

"No, ma'am, I cain't even stay an' git de dinner. I know w'en I been
insulted. Seems lak ef I stay in hyeah another minute I'll bile all
over dis kitchen.

"Who excited? Me excited? No, I ain't excited. I's mad. I do' lak
nobody pesterin' 'roun' my kitchen, nohow, huh, uh, honey. Too many
places in dis town waitin' fu' Ca'line Mason.

"No, indeed, you needn't 'pologize to me! needn't 'pologize to me. I
b'lieve in people sayin' jes' what dey mean, I does.

"Would I stay, ef you 'crease my wages? Well--I reckon I could, but
I--but I do' want no foolishness."

(Sola.) "Huh! Did she think she was gwine to come down hyeah an' skeer
me, huh, uh? Whaih's dat fryin' pan?"

The man of the house hears the rustle of his wife's skirt