THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. 283 



At last he broke the silence : 



" Well, Dan, that's certainly a solemn account of 

 things. But, accordin' to my mind, you hain't made 

 out a very clear case agin the crickets. It looks to me 

 about as broad's long, an' a leetle more so. If the 

 crickets wuz responsible fer affairs at all, the loss uv 

 your mannny is purty well balanced by the freein' uv 

 all your master's slaves. You don't 'pear to reckon 

 much on that, I 'low ; but, I rether 'spect thet you 

 wouldn't find many uv the party to agree with you ; 

 an' I "magine you'd sing another tune yourself ef you'd 

 had to take the changes and chances uv a slave's life. 



"I remember hearin' somethin' uv this talk about 

 crickets w'en I was a boy, but as I recolleck it was kind 

 of betwixt an' between your notion and Sarah's. It 

 was about like this : If crickets has been livin' in a 

 house fer a long time, an' then up an' leaves uv a 

 sudden, it's a sign that some evil '11 befall the family, 

 p'r'aps the death uv some member. But then, on the 

 contrary, the return uv these ins'tcks after they've been 

 absent is a sign uv good luck ; in ftic', I alius heerd 

 that the very presence uv crickets wuz counted lucky. 



"But the way I look at it, there's a heap o' humbug 

 about the whole thing, not to call it wus'n that. Now, 

 jist think a minit. Here we are, callin' ourselves 

 Christian folks, an' believin' in a Providence thet rules 

 the world. An' yit we sit down an' talk uv the Father 

 Almight}^ Ruler uv Heav'n an' earth turnin' roun' and 

 killin' ofl' a poor ole woman all along uv an innocent 

 baby killin' a cricket. Fer my part I liain't no notion 



