“Well, suh, in dem days dey wa’n’t so many niggers willin’ ter do an’ be done by, an’ on account er dat, ef Miss Vallie wa’n’t hollin’ fer ’Nervy Ann, Miss Fanny er Miss Sadie wuz, an’ when I wa’n’t at one place, you might know I’d be at de yuther one. It went on dis away, an’ went on twel one day got so much like an’er dat you can’t tell Monday fum Friday. An’ it went on an’ went on twel bimeby I wuz bleeze ter say sump’n ter Hamp. You take notice, suh, an’ when you see de sun shinin’ nice an’ warm an’ de win’ blowin’ so saft an’ cool dat you wanter go in a-washin’ in it—when you see dis an’ feel dat away, _Watch out! Watch out_, I tell you! Dat des de time when de harrycane gwine ter come up out’n de middle er de swamp an’ t’ar things ter tatters. Same way when folks gitting on so nice dat dey don’t know dey er gittin’ on. “De fus’ news I know’d Miss Sadie wuz bringin’ little bundles ter my house ’twix’ sundown an’ dark. She’d ’low, ‘Aunt Minervy Ann, I’ll des put dis in de cornder here; I may want it some time.’ Nex’ day it’d be de same doin’s over ag’in. ‘Aunt Minervy Ann, please take keer er dis; I may want it some time.’ Well, it went on dis away fum day ter day, but I ain’t pay no ’tention. Ef any ’spicion cross my min’ it wuz dat maybe Miss Sadie puttin’ dem things dar fer ter ’sprise me Chris’mus by tellin’ me dey wuz fer me. But one day she come ter my house, an’ sot down an’ put her han’s over her face like she got de headache er sump’n. “Wellum”—Aunt Minervy Ann, with real tact, now began to address herself to the lady of the house—“Wellum, she sot dar so long dat bimeby I ax ’er what de matter is. She ain’t say nothin’; she ain’t make no motion. I ’low ter myse’f dat she don’t wanter be pestered, so I let ’er ’lone an’ went on ’bout my business. But, bless you! de nex’ time I look at ’er she wuz settin’ des dat away wid ’er han’s over her face. She sot so still dat it sorter make me feel quare, an’ I went, I did, an’ cotch holt er her han’s sorter playful-like. Wellum, de way dey felt made me flinch. All I could say wuz, ‘Lord ’a’ mercy!’ She tuck her han’s down, she did, an’ look at me an’ smile kinder faint-like. She ’low, ‘Wuz my han’s col’, Aunt Minervy Ann?’ I look at ’er an’ grunt, ‘Huh! dey won’t be no colder when youer dead.’ She ain’t say nothin’, an’ terreckly I ’low, ‘What de name er goodness is de matter wid you, Miss Sadie?’ She say, ‘Nothin’ much. I’m gwine ter stay here ter-night, an’ ter-morrer mornin’ I’m gwine ’way.’ I ax ’er, ‘How come dat? What is dey done to you?’ She say, ‘Nothin’ ’tall.’ I ’low, ‘Does Marse Gabe an’ Miss Fanny know you gwine?’ She say, ‘No; I can’t tell um.’