For a moment the realization of the culmination of her faith seemed to suffuse her soul, and as she proceeded, her voice fell in soft, rhythmic undulations. "Ya-as, Mars' Harol', Mammy's baby boy, yo' ol' nuss she been waitin', an' o-ole man Isrul _he_ been waitin', an' de Blossom _she_ been waitin'. I 'spec' she had de firmes' faith, arter all, de baby did. Day by day we all waited--an' night by night. An' sometimes when courage would burn low an' de lamp o' faith grow dim, seem like we'd a' broke loose an' started a-wanderin' in a sort o' blind search, _'cep'n' for de river_. "Look like ef we'd ever went beyan' de river's call, we'd been same as de chillen o' Isrul lost in de tanglement o' de wilderness. All we river chillen, we boun' to stay by her, same as toddlin' babies hangs by a mammy's skirts. She'll whup us one day, an' chastise us severe; den she'll bring us into de light, same as she done to-night--same as reel mammies does. "An', Mars' Harol'--" She lowered her voice. "Mars' Harol', don't tell me she don't know! I tell yer, me an' dis River we done spent many a dark night together under de stars, an' we done talked an' answered one another so many lonely hours--an' she done showed us so many mericles on land _an'_ water-- "I tell yer, I done found out some'h'n' about de River, Mars' Harol'. She's--why, she's-- "Oh, ef I could only write it all down to go in a book! We been th'ough some _merac'lous_ times together, sho' 's you born--sho' 's you born. "She's a mericle mystery, sho'! "You lean over an' dip yo' han' in her an' you take it up an' you say it's _wet_. You dig yo' oars into her, an' she'll spin yo' boat over her breast. You dive down into her, an' you come up--_or don't come up_. Some eats her. Some drinks her. Some gethers wealth outen her. Some draps it into her. Some drownds in her. "An' she gives an' takes, an' seem like all her chillen gits satisfaction outen her, one way an' another; but yit an' still, she ain't nuver flustered. On an' on she goes--rain or shine--high water--low water--all de same--on an' on. "When she craves diamonds for her neck, she reaches up wid long onvisible hands an' gethers de stars out'n de firmamint. "De moon is her common breastpin, an' de sun-- "Even he don't faze her. She takes what she wants, an' sends back his fire every day. "De mists is a veil for her face, an' de showers fringes it. "Sunrise or dusklight, black night or midday, every change she answers _whilst she's passin'_. "But who ever _in_ticed her to stop or to look or listen? Nobody, Baby. An' why? "Oh, Lord! ef eve'ybody only knowed! "You see, all sech as dat, I used to study over it an' ponder befo' we started to talk back an' fo'th--de River an' me.