Page:Scarlet Sister Mary (1928).pdf/42

 a-tellin de bad news an' you body a-swellin an' a-braggin. Why couldn' you wait for de preacher to read out de book over you an' make you July's lawful wife? Lawd, gal, I'm dat sorry, I could pure cry like a baby. I could, fo-true. Some sin is black, an' some ain' so black, but dis sin you had is pure scarlet."

Cold misery made Mary sick. Frightened tears began streaming down her cheeks. She slipped down on her knees.

"But you love me, enty, Auntie?"

Maum Hannah sighed, "Sho, I love you, I couldn' stop lovin you. I'll never stop, not till I'm dead. I love de sinner, but I hate de sin. Yes, Jedus. A scarlet sin is a awful bad sin."

A sudden hope sprang in Mary's heart. Maybe if she denied the sin, Maum Hannah might think her eyes had not seen right.

"I ain' had sin, Auntie—I'm just a-growin. I'm just fat by I eat so much victuals lately." Mary ventured it timidly, but Maum Hannah's eyes flashed fire and her voice grew sharp and stinging.

"Shut you mout', gal, befo Gawd strikes you dead wid a lie on you tongue. You might could fool some people, but you can' fool me! Neither Gawd. Gawd's eye stays on you, all de time, day an' night. A-seein all you do same like