Page:Emma Speed Sampson--The shorn lamb.djvu/190

186 Same way wif all the chilluns, 'ceptin' yo' pa, Marse Tom. Nothin' couldn't tease Marse Tom. He'd jes' larf an' tu'n the joke on him. I reckon tha's why he tho't mo' er Marse Tom than any o' the res' er his chilluns. That's how come he tuck on so when yo' pa lef' Virginny an' went off ter them furren parts up to Noo York. He ain't never stopped a missin' him."

"Did my father tease people, too?"

"An' that he didn't! He useter crack plenty er jokes, but they wa' allus the kinder jokes what made folks laugh wif him. Yo' grampa air allus a laughin' at folks instead er wif 'em. Now, honey baby, Ol' Aunt Pearly Gates air got a notion in her fool ol' haid that yo' is gonter make things kinder happier down here at Mill House. Yo' mus'n' be too much lak yo' grampa, but try ter be mo' lak yo' pa. I ain't a throwin' no sticks at Marse Bob an' I see all he virtues. You mus' copy 'em, Miss Beck baby, an' let all the faults go by. You is done made the ol' man happier by comin'. Now try an' make all the others happy, too."

"Yes, Aunt Pearly Gates, I'll try, but you must tell me where to begin," said Rebecca, solemnly.

"That's yo' pa's own chil'," approved the old woman. "Begin at the fust beginnin'. When