“Dat’s Billy’s carlesomeness; dar’s de gourd, honey, in de watah bucket. Miss Marg’retta, you looks ez sweet ez dem flowers dat’s reposin’ on yo’ bres’. I bin heahin’ erbout you. Dey tell me de bows jes’ cum in drobes futto see you. De fac’ is, you is mo’ beau’ful an’ beau’ful ev’y day. Dey tells me dat de young marsters cum fum Balt’mo’ ter see you; how-some-eber, I heah dat Mars John Charles Dickinson, fum Queens Anne’s County, is yo’ favorite. He! He! He! Dat’s what Miss Osman say. Got uh new ring on yo’ fingah, too; but Ole Mars ain’ gwine ter let you merry anybody ceppin uh Pres’dent er sompin’ like dat. Chile, lemmy tell yo’ fortune?” [Illustration: Courtesy Knaffl Bros., Knoxville, Tenn. You gwine ter merry uh king an’ hab thutteen chillun! ] “All right, Mammy Nancy.” “Do you wan’ uh long fortune er uh short fortune?” “Well, a short one to-day and to-morrow I will come and get the long one.” “Mistis, I will teck yo’ lef’ han’ ter-day. How does you keep yo’ han’s so white an’ dimpled? Dar’s many uh one ub dem young men dat fox hunts wid Ole Mars dat wud gib deah hyarts ter hole dis han’; deed dey wud. One, two, three, fo’ five, six, sebin, eight, nine, ten, ’lebin, twelbe, thutteen. Yo’ gwine ter merry uh king an’ hab thutteen chillun. Billy, go out an’ see how dem hens is hatchin’.” When Billy was sent out Margaretta thought it was going to be a long fortune, so she switched the conversation off and said, “Has Billy got religion? We haven’t heard of his being at Major Rudd’s store of late, fiddling and banjo playing.” Nancy said, “Billy goes ter Mr. Dawson’s sto’ now, uh mile fudder up de rode, futto sell his eggs, mus’rat hides an’ coon hides. You see Mage Rudd fell out wid Billy, an’ ’twuz all uh accident. It wuz dis way: Fus’ place Mage Rudd sol’ Billy some eggs dat cos’ 2 cents uh piece. He say dat de breed ub chickens dat dey cum fum once laid uh gole egg. Well, Billy’s eggs all hatched ducks. Billy wuz furisome, an’ wen’ right ’way ter Mage Rudd’s sto’, but he got sich uh way ub twissin’ his tongue dat he twiss out ub it by sayin’ dat somebody swap eggs wid Billy. Cose den I molested him boutin dem duck eggs, an’ he say, ‘Nancy, I hab got uh ve’y fine new lantern fuh sale, an’ I wan’ ter sell you one.’ Sez I, ‘Why; I’s got uh good lantern.’ ‘Well,’ sez he, ‘Billy’s so black you wan’ uh fus’-class lantern ter stick outin de winder in de mawnin’ ter see ef’n day is broke!’ Now, qual’ty people wud nebba talk dat way, an’ dat’s what made Billy skeer dem frogs ub Mage Rudd’s.” “Well, what did Billy do?” “Well, Mage Rudd had uh empty mullasses barrel in front ub de sto’, an’ de flies wuz swa’min’ erroun’ hit same ez uh swa’m ub bees, an’ Mage Rudd’s toad-frogs wuz almos’ ez thick ez de flies, an’ dey wuz ketchin’ de flies same ez de debbil ketches sinnahs.