Page:Salem - a tale of the seventeenth century (IA taleseventeenth00derbrich).pdf/146

 *ed was old Drosky. He went in, and silently contemplated the little apartment with intense satisfaction; possibly he was admiring the work of his own hands—more probably he was thinking how superior the accommodations were to his own; but he stayed so long in wrapt contemplation that Winny had to interfere at last.

"I 'clare for't," she said, "I b'liebe dat ole nigger ob mine wud jest stay an' sot in dar all night, if we'd let 'im; pity he could'nt sot for yer hens, Alice—'twould save dere time, an' it's jest 'bout what he's fit for." But Winny knew of a potent charm sufficient to draw him out.

"Kim a he'ar, nigger, an' get sum'pen to eat;" and the old man was at her heels in a moment.

Laughingly Alice followed them to a table, which Winny had improvised out of two barrels and a board for his express use. Here the indulgent daughter laid out two or three dozen of cold boiled potatoes; half a peck of cold baked beans, with a corresponding lump of pork; half of a pie; a loaf of bread; a huge bit of cheese; a ham-bone;