want him to have all the corn he'll eat," said I. "Yes, sir; feed him well; do you hear there?"
The house was meagrely furnished within, not nearly as well as the most common New England farm-house. I saw no books and no decorations. The interior wood-work was unpainted.
At supper there were three negro girls in attendance—two children of twelve or fourteen years of age, and an older one, but in a few moments they all disappeared. The mistress called aloud several times, and at length the oldest came, bringing in hot biscuit.
"Where's Suke and Bet?"
"In the kitchen, missus."
"Tell them both to come to me, right off."
A few minutes afterwards, one of the girls slunk in and stood behind me, as far as possible from her mistress. Presently, however, she was discovered.
"You Bet, you there? Come here! come here to me! close to me! (Slap, slap, slap.) Now, why don't you stay in here? (Slap, slap, slap, on the side of the head.) I know! you want to be out in the kitchen with them Indians! (Slap, slap, slap.) Now see if you can stay here." (Slap!) The other girl didn't come at all, and was forgotten.
As soon as supper was over my hostess exclaimed, "Now, you Bet, stop crying there, and do you go right straight home; mind you run every step of the way, and if you stop one minute in the kitchen you'd better look out. Begone!" During the time I was in the house she was incessantly scolding the servants, in a manner very disagreeable for me to hear, though they seemed to regard it very little.
The Indians, I learned, lived some miles away, and were hired to hoe cotton. I inquired their wages. "Well, it costs me about four bits (fifty cents) a day," (including food,
