204 MARK TWAIN'S SKETCHES. 



"Well, bymeby my ole mistis say she's broke, an' she' got to sell all the nig- 

 gers on de place. An' when I heah dat dey gwyne to sell us all off at oction in 

 Richmon', oh de good gracious! I know what dat mean!" 



Aunt Rachel had gradually risen, while she warmed to her subject, and now 

 she towered above us, black against the stars. 



" Dey put chains on us an' put us on a stan' as high as dis po'ch, — twenty foot 

 high, — an' all de people stood aroun', crowds an' crowds. An' dey'd come up 

 dah an' look at us all roun', an' squeeze our arm, an' make us git up an' walk, 

 an' den say, 'Dis one too ole,' or 'Dis one lame,' or ' Dis one don't 'mount to 

 much.' An' dey sole my ole man, an' took him away, an' dey begin to sell my 

 chil'en an' take dem away, an' I begin to cry ; an' de man say, ' Shet up yo' dam 

 blubberin',' an' hit me on de mouf wid his han'. An' when de las' one was gone 

 but my little Henry, I grab' him clost up to my breas' so, an' I ris up an' says, 

 * You shan't take him away,' I says ; ' I'll kill de man dat tetches him ! ' I says. 

 But my little Henry whisper an' say, ' I gwyne to run away, an' den I work an' 

 buy yo' freedom.' Oh, bless de chile, he always so good ! But dey got him 

 — dey got him, de men did ; but I took and tear de clo'es mos' off of 'em an' 

 beat 'em over de head wid my chain ; an' dey give it to me, too, but I didn't 

 mine dat. 



"Well, dah was my ole man gone, an' all my chil'en, all my seven chil'en — 

 an' six of 'em I hain't set eyes on ag'in to dis day, an' dat's twenty-two year 

 ago las' Easter. De man dat bought me b'long' in Newbern, an' he took me 

 dah. Well, bymeby de years roll on an' de waw come. My marster he was a 

 Confedrit colonel, an' I was his family's cook. So when de Unions took dat 

 town, dey all run away an' lef me all by myse'f wid de other niggers in dat 

 mons'us big house. So de big Union officers move in dah, an' dey ask me 

 would I cook for dem. ' Lord bless you,' says I, ' dat's what I's /or.' 



" Dey wa'nt no small-fry officers, mine you, dey was de biggest dey t's y an' de 

 way dey made dem sojers mosey roun' ! De Gen'l he tole me to boss dat kitchen ; 

 an' he say, ' If anybody come meddlin' wid you, you jist make 'em walk chalk ; 

 don't you be afeared,' he say ; * you's 'mong frens, now.' 



" Well, I thinks to myse'f, if my little Henry ever got a chance to run away, 



