Maid Marian, and Other StoriesSeawell, Molly Elliot
General
Maid Marian, and Other Stories
Seawell, Molly Elliot
Manners and customs -- Fiction; Short stories, American
"Georgie hed been 'way at school. But one day a letter come. Marse
George hed done run away ter jine de army. When dat letter come I
seed missis put on a look I ain't furgot ter dis day. Georgie was her
favorite. An' 'fo' de winter was out--'twas in de fall when Georgie run
away--he died in de horspital. He hed been writin' 'twarn't nuttin'
matter wid him, an' he'd be outen de horspital 'fo' missis could git
ter him; but she was gwine ter start de naix day. Ole marse fotch him
home. He warn't eighteen, an' he hed a little muffstach comin', and
he didn't look any older den little missy when dey laid him by little
marse. He was de handsomest o' all de chillen.
"Dat kilt missis. Ole marse he done fur her jes' like she hed done for
him, an' little missy stay by her night an' day; but one night, when de
doctor say she was gittin' better, she call me, an' she say: 'Keziah,
I'm dyin', an' I know it. Don't leave yo' marster an' Amy. Stay by
'em faithful like you has been ter me an' de boys.' An' de very naix
week she died. Missis was a Chrischun, if ever I seed one. She would
'a lived if she could; but what kilt Georgie kilt her too. Seemed ter
me arter dat like poor Keziah have ter see ole marse an' little missy
go too; but I kep' up as well as I knowed how. Little missy was mighty
pretty den. She was mos' twenty, an' she kep' gittin' mo' an' mo' like
Georgie. De war was over den, an' some de han's went off, an' dere
warn't nobody but me in de house, an' de cook an' Jake did de res'
o' de work. Ole marse he walk 'bout like he didn't keer fur nuttin'.
One day two men drive up in a shiny new buggy, an' I hear 'em talkin'
mighty sassy to ole marse on de porch, an' pres'ny ole marse stan'
up, an' he say out loud: 'Gent'men, take all. Take my plantation, my
house an' furniture, my horses an' cattle an' stock an' ev'ything. I'm
a bankrup', but I'm a honest man.' An' dey try ter smoove him down, an'
arter a while dey went off.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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