“Den Mars Torm spressify, ‘Fuh free monfs, dear hyart, I et yo’ bread an’ butter’—an’ I think he say mullasses—‘an’ ter-morrow I go ter seek meh fortune, an’ ef’n Gord prospers me, I shall arsk you to meck meh life ’chanted.’ Den she say, ez sorf ez de note ub uh _martingale_, ‘Thormas.’ Den he say, ‘Angel, did you say Thormas?’ An’ she say, ‘Yes; meh brabe an’ gentle’—an’ rite ’way ’pears ter me dey bof had on dat big sunbonnet ub her’n; an’ wussa yit, de two fishin’ rods wid deah reels wuz floatin’ down dat ribba, ober an’ ober de riffles. Dey wuz fogot when dem two chillun said yes ter one nerr. “Well, ’pears ter me all ub uh sudden I got so sleepy dat I put meh ahms ’roun’ Pigeon’s neck (she wuz use ter dat) an’ went ter sleep. Bimeby I woke up wid uh curisome an’ mos’ quaresome feelin’. Bless de Lawd, I tho’t uh jack-uh-ma-lantern had got me, sho’. Dem chilluns wuz feelin’ so peart an’ sassy dat dey tied erroun’ meh neck uh live eel dey had kotch, an’ I wudn’ fogit er fogib ’em ter dis day ’ceppin dey wuz in lub an’ I wuz uh lissinin.’ Honey, I wuz skeard stiff. Bung shells wuz nuffin ter dat. “Dey wuz all so kin’ at Mrs. Sanson’s (de Lawd bless dem people) I stayed dar two weeks res’in’, an’ den dey sent me ter Rome, Georgy, futto teck de train fuh ‘Fairlands.’ When I got in de kerridge ’long side Simon, Miss Emma say, ‘Dear me, Ezra, what is you gwine ter do wid Pigeon?’ So I say, larffin’ an’ sassy like, ‘I gib huh ter you, Miss Emma, an’ Mars Torm, fuh uh weddin’ present.’ Mars Thormas smile an’ say, ‘You scan’lus ole scamp.’” In his narrative dear old Ezra showed wonderful memory, but forgot to mention that in that hour of anguish, whilst crossing Black Creek, as the waters got deeper and deeper, finally up to the flanks of the horses, Mrs. Sanson sank upon her knees and with wrinkled, aged and uplifted hands, said: “From lightning and tempest, from plague, pestilence and famine, from battle and murder, and from sudden death. “_Good Lord deliver us._”