Unc' Edinburg: A Plantation EchoPage, Thomas Nelson
General
Unc' Edinburg: A Plantation Echo
Page, Thomas Nelson
African Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction; Plantation life -- Fiction
"He did show him up, too, but Mr. Darker ain' wait to see it; he lef'
dat night. An' Marse George he wuz de popularitiest gent'man at dat
university. He could handle dem students dyah same as a man handle a
hoe.
"Well, twuz de next Christmas we meet Miss Charlotte an' Nancy. Mr.
Braxton invite we all to go down to spen' Christmas wid him at he home.
An' sich a time as we had!
"We got dyah Christmas Eve night--dis very night--jes befo' supper, an'
jes natchelly froze to death," he pursued, dealing in his wonted
hyperbole, "an' we jes had time to git a apple toddy or two when supper
was ready, an' wud come dat dee wuz waitin' in de hall. I had done fix
Marse George up gorgeousome, I tell you; an when he walk down dem
stairs in dat swaller-tail coat, an' dem paten'-leather pumps on, dee
warn nay one dyah could tetch him; he looked like he own 'em all. I
jes rest my mind. I seen him when he shake hands wid 'em all roun',
an' I say, 'Um-m-m! he got 'em.'
"But he ain' teck noticement o' none much tell Miss Charlotte come.
She didn' live dyah, had jes come over de river dat evenin' from her
home, 'bout ten miles off, to spen' Christmas like we all, an' she come
down de stairs jes as Marse George finish shakin' hands. I seen he eye
light on her as she come down de steps smilin', wid her dim blue dress
trainin' behind her, an' her little blue foots peepin' out so pretty,
an' holdin' a little hankcher, lookin' like a spider-web, in one hand,
an' a gret blue fan in turr, spread out like a peacock tail, an' jes
her roun' arms an' th'oat white, an' her gret dark eyes lightin' up her
face. I say, 'Dyah 'tis!' and when de ole Cun'l stan' aside an'
interduce 'em, and Marse George step for'ard an' meck he grand bow, an'
she sort o' swing back an' gin her curtchy, wid her dress sort o'
dammed up 'ginst her, an' her arms so white, an' her face sort o'
sunsetty, I say, 'Yes, Lord! Edinburg, dyah you mistis.' Marse George
look like he think she done come down right from de top o' de blue sky
an' bring piece on it wid her. He ain' nuver took he eyes from her dat
night. Dee glued to her, mun! an' she--well, do' she mighty rosy, an'
look mighty unconsarned, she sutney ain' hender him. Hit look like
kyarn nobody else tote dat fan an' pick up dat hankcher skusin o' him;
an' after supper, when dee all playin' blind-man's-buff in de hall--I
don' know how twuz--but do' she jes as nimble as a filly, an' her ankle
jes as clean, an' she kin git up her dress an' dodge out o' de way o'
ev'ybody else, somehow or nurr she kyarn help him ketchin' her to save
her life; he al'ays got her corndered; an' when dee'd git fur apart,
dat ain' nuttin, dee jes as sure to come togerr agin as water is whar
you done run you hand thoo. An' do' he kiss ev'ybody else under de
mistletow, 'cause dee be sort o' cousins, he ain' nuver kiss her, nor
nobody else ain't nurr, 'cep' de ole Cun'l. I wuz standin' down at de
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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