“I know’d you couldn’t ’spute dat, suh,” Aunt Minervy Ann went on, “’kaze you wuz down dar when dey choosen’d ’im, an’ you wuz dar when dem ar white folks come mighty nigh ku-kluckin’ ’im; you wuz right dar wid Marse Tumlin an’ Marse Bolivar. I never is ter fergit dat, suh, ner Hamp nudder; an’ ef you don’t b’lieve it, you des sen’ us word you want us. Ef we git de word at midnight we’ll git up, an’ ef de railroad track is tore up we’ll git a waggin, an’ ef we can’t git a waggin, we’ll walk, but what we’ll come.” “Well,” said I, “tell us about your joining the Legislature.” “I may be long in tellin’ it, suh, but ’tain’t no long tale,” replied Aunt Minervy Ann. “Atter Hamp come up here an’ tuck his seat—dat what dey call it den, ef dey don’t call it dat now—well, atter he come up an’ been here some little time, I tuck notice dat he ’gun ter hol’ his head mighty high; a little too high fer ter suit me. He want me ter go up dar wid ’im an’ stay dar, ’kaze he sorter skittish ’bout comin’ home when dem country boys mought be hangin’ ’roun’ de depot. But I up an’ tol’ ’im flat an’ plain dat I wa’n’t gwine ter leave Miss Vallie an’ let er’ git usen ter strange niggers. I tol’ ’im he mought go an’ stay ef he want ter, but de fus’ week he miss comin’ home, I wuz gwine atter ’im, an’ ef I fotch ’im home he won’t go back in a hurry; I tol’ ’im dat, flat an’ plain. “Well, suh, he done mighty well; I’ll say dat fer ’im. He want too many clean shirts an’ collars fer ter suit me, but he say he bleeze ter have um dar whar he at, an’ I ain’t make no complaint ’bout dat; but I took notice dat he wuz sorter offish wid Marse Tumlin. Mo’ dan dat, I tuck notice dat needer Marse Tumlin ner Marse Bolivar so much ez look at ’im when dey pass ’im by. I know’d by dat dat sump’n wuz up. “Now, Hamp ain’t had no reg’lar time fer comin’ home. Sometimes he’d come We’n’sday, an’ den ag’in he’d come Friday. I ax ’im why he ain’t stay de week out an’ ’ten’ ter his work like he oughter. He say he gettin’ des much pay when he at home loafin’ ’roun’ ez he do when he up yer. Well, suh, dat ’stonish me. You know yo’se’f, suh, dat when folks is gittin’ pay fer dat what dey ain’t doin’, dey’s boun’ ter be swindlin’ gwine on some’rs, ef not wuss, an’ dat what I tol’ ’im. He laugh an’ say dat’s on account er politics an’ de erpublican party, an’ I make answer dat ef dat de case, dey er bofe rank an’ rotten; desso.