"An' yo' wife--she also, of co'se--" "My wife?" The man chuckled. "Pff! Ah, no! She is at de opera. She knows I am watching de river. She believe it cannot run over so long I watch it. I married her yo'ng. Dat's de bes' way. "_Mais_, tell de trut', Adolphe, I am going to church, me, after dis. Dere's not'ing, after all, like God to stand in wid you! You hear me, I tell you to-night de rizzen our women keep good an' happy--_it is faith_. You know da's true." "Yas, I believe you, Felix. An' me, I t'ink I will go, too. _Any_'ow, I'll show up at Easter communion. An' dat's a soon promise, too. T'ree week las' Sunday it will be here. "All my yard is w'ite wid dem Easter lilies already. Dis soon spring compel dem. Wen you smell doze Bermudas above de roses in your garden in de middle of Lent, look out for Old Lady Mississippi. She is getting ready to spread her flounces over yo' fields--" "Yas, an' to dance on yo' family graves. You may say w'at you like, Adolphe--de ruling lady of dis low valley country, it is not de Carnival Queen; it is not de first lady at de Governor's Mansion. It is--let us raise our hats--it is Old Lady Mississippi! _She is_ de ruling lady of de Gulf country--old _mais_ forever yo'ng. "In my _ril_igion I have no superstition. I swallow it whole--even w'en I mus' shut my nose--I mean hol' my eyes. W'at is de matter wid me? I cannot talk straight to-night. _Mais_ to speak of de river, I mus' confess to you dat even w'en it is midsummer an' she masquerade like common dirty waters, I _pro_pitiate her. "Once, I can tell you, I was rowing one skiff across by de red church, an' suddenly--for w'y I di' n' see immediately--_mais_ out of de still water, mixed into bubbles only by my oars, over my hand came one _big wave_. I looked quick, but I could see only de sun to blind my eyes. _Mais_ you know w'at I did? "Dat bright sun, it _re_flect a small stone in my ring, one diamond, an' quick I slip it off an' drop it. It was de river's _pet_ition, an' w'at is a sixty-five-dollar diamond to a man w'en--" "Dey ain' got no _in_sanity in yo' family, I don't t'ink, Felix? Otherwise--excuse me--I would be oneasy for you." Adolphe was smiling, and he mischievously lifted one brow and drew up his lips as if to whistle. Felix smiled, too, as he replied: "You needn't fear for me, Adolphe. _Mais_ strong-headed ancestors, dey are not'ing. Me, I could _start_ a crazy line just as well as my great-gran'fodder. Everyt'ing mus' _begin somewhere_." But he added more seriously: "_Non_, I would do it again--_if_ I was on _such a trip_. I tell you w'at time it was; it was--" He dropped his voice and looked over his shoulder. "You want to know w'at, precisely, I was doing at de moment de river demand my ring? _I was praying to her! Sure!_" (This last in a whisper.) "Oh-h-h!" Adolphe's face lit. "Yas, I understand. I ricollec'. You mean about five year pas'--dat time yo' sister los' 'er firs' 'usband, w'en--?"