Page:Emma Speed Sampson--The shorn lamb.djvu/225

221 "It jes' depen's! Sometimes I sets about three times an' sometimes I don't git a notion mo'n every six months. One time I got greedy an' set on about thirty aigs. I 'lowed that I wa' bigger'n mos' hens an' I might do double duty, but I wa' punished fer my graspin' ways. I overlaid some of them one night in my sleep an' made sech a mess as never wa' seen an' po' Brer Johnson wa' nigh on ter goin' crazy tryin' ter git things cleaned up. 'Tain't never right to go out of nachel ways. 'Tain't nachel fer a hen ter set on mo'n fifteen or eighteen aigs, an' it ain't nachel fer a ol' bedridden ooman ter try ter outdo a hen at her own business."

Rebecca laughed merrily and the old woman looked pleased. She had been trying to make her laugh.

"The mos'es' trouble I has with this settin' business is gittin' holt er the right aigs. Co'se Si does the best he kin. He ain't no nachel chicken raiser an' he has ter give mo' of his time ter Marse Taylor's mill. Sometimes he has bad luck with his aigs an' has ter go git some off'n the neighbors. Then I fin's sometimes that I been a settin' fer three weeks on aigs that ain't got no mo' virtue in 'em than darnin' gourds. I takes mos' pleasure in Brer Johnson's pussonel aigs. He laughs at me