“Ef dey ever wuz hard-headed folks, suh, dat wuz de tribe. He went up-town, but he ain’t stay long, an’ when he come back he foun’ Sally in de house cryin’ an’ gwine on. She won’t tell what de matter, an’ she won’t let nobody do nothin’ fer ’er. Now, ef she’d ’a’ been mine, suh, I’d ’a’ frailed ’er out den an’ dar, an’ I’d ’a’ kep’ on frailin’ ’er out twel she’d ’a’ vowed dat she never know’d no gal name Mary Ellen. Dat’s me! But Marse Bolivar ain’t look at it dat away, an’ de man what never knuckle ter no human bein’, rich er po’, high er low, had ter knuckle ter dat chile, an’ she wa’n’t much bigger dan yo’ two fists. “So bimeby he say, ‘Honey, I’m gwine atter Mary Ellen, ef dat’s her name, an’ she can stay here all day an’ all night, too, fer what I keer.’ “Sally ’low, ‘She sha’n’t come here! she sha’n’t! I don’t want nobody ter come here dat’s got ter git der feelin’s hurted eve’y time dey come.’ “Right dar, suh, is whar my han’ would ’a’ come down hard; but Marse Bolivar, he knuckle. He say, ‘Well, honey, you’ll hafter fergive me dis time. I’ll go fetch ’er ef she’ll come, an’ ef she won’t ’tain’t my fault.’ “So out he went. I dunner how he coaxed Mary Ellen, but she say he tol’ ’er dat Sally wuz feelin’ mighty bad, an’ wuz ’bleeze ter see ’er; an’ Mary Ellen, havin’ mo’ heart dan min’, come right along. An’ Marse Bolivar wuz happy fer ter see Sally happy. “Dis wuz long ’fo’ de battlin’, suh, but even dat fur back dey wuz talkin’ ’bout war. Ol’ Fed Tatum wuz a mighty long-headed man, an’ he know’d mighty well dat ef Mary Ellen stayed dar whar she wuz at, she won’t have no mo’ show dan a chicken wid its head wrung off. So he fixed ’er up an’ packed ’er off up dar whar de Northrons is at. He’d ’a’ sont her mammy wid ’er, but she say no; she’d be in de way; folks would ’spicion what de matter wuz; an’ so she shet her mouf an’ stayed. Ef Mary Ellen had ’a’ been my chile, suh, I’d ’a’ gone wid ’er ef I had ter claw my way wid my naked han’s thoo forty miles er brick wall. But her mammy was diffunt; she stayed an’ pined. “Now, ef anybody want pinin’ done dey’ll hafter go ter somebody else ’sides ol’ Minervy Ann Perdue. When you see me pinin’, suh, you may know my tongue done cut out an’ my han’s pairlized. Ef Mary Ellen had ’a’ been my chile dey’d ’a’ been murder done, suh. I’d ’a’ cotch ol’ Fed Tatum by what little hair he had an’ I’d ’a’ ruint ’im; an’ ez ’twuz, I come mighty nigh havin’ a fight wid ’im. An’ ef I had—_ef I had_——”