“I say, ‘I wanter see ef you know ’er.’ Wid dat I went back an’ fotch Mary Ellen in. Well, dey didn’t know ’er, ma’am, na’er one un um; an’ I dunner how it all happened, but de fust thing I know Mary Ellen fell on ’er knees, by a lounge what sot under de place whar Miss Sally’s pictur’ wuz hangin’ at. She fell on her knees, Mary Ellen did, and ’low, ‘She’d know who I is,’ an’ wid dat she bust aloose an’ went ter cryin’ des like ’er heart wuz done broke in two. “Marse Bolivar stood dar an’ wait twel Mary Ellen cool off, an’ quiet down. Mis’ Em’ly, ma’am, is one er dem ar primity, dried-up wimmen, which, ef dey ain’t fightin’ you wid bofe han’s, er huggin’ you wid bofe arms, ain’t sayin’ nothin’ ’tall. An’ ef Mis’ Em’ly ain’t sayin’ nothin’ you can’t put de key in de Bible an’ fin’ no tex’ dat’ll tell you what she got in ’er min’. But she wuz darnin’, an’ I see ’er wipe one eye on de leg er de sock, an’ den present’y she wipe t’er eye. “Wellum, Marse Bolivar stood dar an’ look at Mary Ellen, an’ when she riz fum her knees an’ stood dar, her head hangin’ down, still a-cryin’, but mo’ quieter, he went close up an’ ’low, ‘I know you, Mary Ellen, an’ I’m mighty glad ter see you. Dat ar letter what you writ me, I got it yit, an’ I’m gwine ter keep it whiles I live.’ “He talk right husky, ma’am, an’ I ’gun ter feel husky myse’f; an’ den I know’d dat ef I didn’t change de tune, I’d be boo-hooin’ right dar ’fo’ all un um wid needer ’casion nor ’skuce. I went up ter Mary Ellen an’ cotch ’er by de shoulder and say, ‘Shucks, gal! Dat train’ll be here terreckly, an’ den what you gwine ter do?’ “’Twuz a hint ez broad ez a horse-blanket, ma’am, but Mary Ellen never tuck it. She des stood dar an’ look at me. An’ ’bout dat time Marse Bolivar he ketch’d holt er my shoulder an’ whirlt me ’roun’, an’ ’low, ‘What de matter, Minervy Ann? Talk it right out!’ “Wellum, I let you know I tol’ ’im; I des laid it off! I tol’ des how ’twuz; how Mary Ellen been sont up dar by ol’ Fed Tatum, an’ how, on de ’count er no fault er her’n de Northron folks tuck ’er ter be a white gal; an’ how one er de gals what went ter school wid ’er wuz gwine ter come ter see ’er an’ stay ’twixt trains. Den I ’low, ‘Whar is Mary Ellen gwine ter see ’er? In dat ar mud-shack whar her ma live at? In de big road? In de woods? In de hoss-lot?” The whole scene from beginning to end had been enacted by Aunt Minervy Ann. In the empty spaces of the room she had placed the colonel, his wife, and Mary Ellen, and they seemed to be before us, and not only before us, but the passionate earnestness with which she laid the case of Mary Ellen before the colonel made them live and move under our very eyes. “_In de big road? In de woods? In de hoss-lot?_”