“‘Dis yer baby doll,’ sez she, ’is Hannibal.  Dis yer peth head is Hannibal’s head, en dese yer pepper feet is Hannibal’s feet.  You take dis en hide it unner de house, on de sill unner de do’, whar Hannibal ’ll hafter walk ober it eve’y day.  En ez long ez Hannibal comes anywhar nigh dis baby doll, he’ll be des lack it is,—­light-headed en hot-footed; en ef dem two things doan git ’im inter trouble mighty soon, den I’m no cunjuh ’oman.  But w’en you git Hannibal out’n de house, en git all th’oo wid dis baby doll, you mus’ fetch it back ter me, fer it’s monst’us powerful goopher, en is liable ter make mo’ trouble ef you leabe it layin’ roun’.’

“Well, Jeff tuk de baby doll, en slip’ up ter de big house, en whistle’ ter Chloe, en w’en she come out he tol’ ‘er w’at ole Aun’ Peggy had said.  En Chloe showed ’im how ter git unner de house, en w’en he had put de cunjuh doll on de sill, he went ’long back ter de qua’ters—­en des waited.

“Nex’ day, sho’ ’nuff, de goopher ‘mence’ ter wuk.  Hannibal sta’ted in de house soon in de mawnin’ wid a armful er wood ter make a fire, en he had n’ mo’ d’n got ‘cross de do’-sill befo’ his feet begun ter bu’n so dat he drap’ de armful er wood on de flo’ en woke ole mis’ up a’ hour sooner ‘n yushal, en co’se ole mis’ did n’ lack dat, en spoke sha’p erbout it.

“W’en dinner-time come, en Hannibal wuz help’n’ de cook kyar de dinner f’m de kitchen inter de big house, en wuz gittin’ close ter de do’ whar he had ter go in, his feet sta’ted ter bu’n en his head begun ter swim, en he let de big dish er chicken en dumplin’s fall right down in de dirt, in de middle er de ya’d, en de w’ite folks had ter make dey dinner dat day off’n col’ ham en sweet’n’ ’taters.

“De nex’ mawnin’ he overslep’ hisse’f, en got inter mo’ trouble.  Atter breakfus’, Mars’ Dugal’ sont ‘im ober ter Mars’ Marrabo Utley’s fer ter borry a monkey wrench.  He oughter be’n back in ha’f a’ hour, but he come pokin’ home ’bout dinner-time wid a screw-driver stidder a monkey wrench.  Mars’ Dugal’ sont ernudder nigger back wid de screw-driver, en Hannibal did n’ git no dinner.  ‘Long in de atternoon, ole mis’ sot Hannibal ter weedin’ de flowers in de front gya’den, en Hannibal dug up all de bulbs ole mis’ had sont erway fer, en paid a lot er money fer, en tuk ’em down ter de hawg-pen by de ba’nya’d, en fed ’em ter de hawgs.  Wen ole mis’ come out in de cool er de ebenin’, en seed w’at Hannibal had done, she wuz mos’ crazy, en she wrote a note en sont Hannibal down ter de oberseah wid it.

“But w’at Hannibal got fum de oberseah did n’ ’pear ter do no good.  Eve’y now en den ’is feet ’d ’mence ter torment ’im, en ‘is min’ ’u’d git all mix’ up, en his conduc’ kep’ gittin’ wusser en wusser, ’tel fin’lly de w’ite folks could n’ stan’ it no longer, en Mars’ Dugal’ tuk Hannibal back down ter de qua’ters.