As soon as the little girls had had their supper, they set out for the quarters. Dilsey and Chris and Riar, of course, accompanied them, though Chris had had some difficulty in joining the party. She had come to grief about her quilt patching, having sewed the squares together in such a way that the corners wouldn’t hit, and Mammy had made her rip it all out and sew it over again, and had boxed her soundly, and now said she shouldn’t go with the others to the quarters; but here Dumps interfered, and said Mammy shouldn’t be “all time ’posin’ on Chris,” and she went down to see her father about it, who interceded with Mammy so effectually that, when the little folks started off, Chris was with them. When they got to the open space back of Aunt Nancy’s cabin, and which was called “de play-groun’,” they found that a bright fire of light-wood knots had been kindled to give a light, and a large pile of pine-knots and dried branches of trees was lying near for the purpose of keeping it up. Aunt Nancy had a bench moved out of her cabin for “Marster’s chil’en” to sit on, while all of the little negroes squatted around on the ground to look on. These games were confined to the young men and women, and the negro children were not allowed to participate. Mammy, seeing that the children were safe and in good hands, repaired to “Sis Haly’s house,” where “de chu’ch membahs” had assembled for a prayer-meeting. Soon after the children had taken their seats, the young folks came out on the playground for a game of Monkey Motions. They all joined hands, and made a ring around one who stood in the middle, and then began to dance around in a circle, singing, “I ac’ monkey moshuns, too-re-loo; I ac’ monkey moshuns, so I do; I ac’ ’em well, an’ dat’s er fac’—I ac’ jes like dem monkeys ac’. “I ac’ gemmun moshuns, too-re-loo; I ac’ gemmun moshuns, so I do; I ac’ ’em well, an’ dat’s er fac’—I ac’ jes like dem gemmums ac’. “I ac’ lady moshuns, too-re-loo; I ac’ lady moshuns, so I do; I ac’ ’em well, an’ dat’s er fac’—I ac’ jes like dem ladies ac’. “I ac’ chil’en moshuns, too-re-loo; I ac’ chil’en moshuns, so I do; I ac’ ’em well, an’ dat’s er fac’ I ac’ jes like dem chil’ens ac’. “I ac’ preacher moshuns, too-re-loo; I ac’ preacher moshuns, so I do; I ac’ ’em well, an’ dat’s er fac’—I ac’ jes like dem preachers ac’. “I ac’ nigger moshuns, too-re-loo; I ac’ nigger moshuns, so I do; I ac’ ’em well, an’ dat’s er fac’—I ac’ jes like dem niggers ac’.” The song had a lively air, and Jim picked the accompaniment on the banjo. Many of the negroes had good voices, and the singing was indeed excellent. While the dancers were singing the first verse, “I ac’ monkey moshuns,” the one in the middle would screw up his face and hump his shoulders in the most grotesque manner, to represent a monkey.