The Little Washington's RelativesRoy, Lillian Elizabeth
General
The Little Washington's Relatives
Roy, Lillian Elizabeth
Children -- Juvenile fiction; Families -- Juvenile fiction; Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Juvenile literature
“Ha, ha! Martha, do you remember the day we went to the zoo and fed
peanuts to the monkeys? Wasn’t that funny when the chimpanzee caught
Anne’s little straw hat and carried it to the top of the cage and put it
on his own head? I’ll never forget how we all screamed to him to bring
it back—as if the monkey understood us.”
“Even the animal trainer couldn’t make him give it back, and Aunt Ally
begged him to leave it, as she would not take it again, anyway,”
chuckled Martha, picturing the scene again.
“That was a fine visit, Martha—eh?” said George, looking at his sister
for smiling approval.
“Yes, and I’ve been thinking, George, we ought to give our cousins just
as good a time while they visit us here,” said the little girl.
“Oh, I’ve got it all planned out—you wait and see!” declared George.
“You have? Oh, you never said a word to me about it! Do tell me what it
is.”
“Well, in the first place, we have to take them all over and introduce
them to John Graham and his place,” said George, counting off the plan
on his fingers.
“Uh-huh—and don’t forget Jim. We must introduce Jim, you know,” reminded
Martha.
“Da’s right! Yo’ all jus’ cough when yo’ want’s me an’ Ah’ll pop right
out. I’se hidin’ heah now whar mammy cain’t see me,” came a hoarse
whisper from the Virginia creeper vine at the side of the porch.
“Oo-oh, you there, Jim—come out and let’s plan things,” called George,
running over to drag out a seven-year-old pickaninny who was their
constant shadow and general factotum,—especially so when there was
mischief brewing, for Jim always was the scapegoat.
Jim resisted for a few moments, as he feared his mammy’s large, flat
hand; but George assured him that as he was invited to be present at the
reception of the city cousins it was all right with mammy.
“As I was telling Martha—we must plan some great fun for our cousins’
visit here, ’cause they gave us such a good time when we were little
children,” explained George, now an _old man_ past the age of ten.
“First we’re going to show them all over the place—take them over to
John’s and everywhere,” added Martha, explaining.
“An’ show dem whar we-all had th’ homestead fire at th’ back uv th’
lot,” reminded Jim, feeling tenderly of his now fuzzy new crop of hair
grown since his other locks had been sizzled off.
“And don’t forget to tell them all about the battle we had with John and
his cousins at Fort Duquesne that day. Of course they will see the
broken-down hedge and wonder at it—then we can tell them all about the
fun without bragging,” giggled Martha.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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