“‘Dave, w’en yer en Dilsey gits ready fer ter git married, I ain’ got no rejections.  Dey’s a poun’ er so er chawin’-terbacker up at de house, en I reckon yo’ mist’iss kin fine a frock en a ribbin er two fer Dilsey.  Youer bofe good niggers, en yer neenter be feared er bein’ sol’ ’way fum one ernudder long ez I owns dis plantation; en I ’spec’s ter own it fer a long time yit.’

[Footnote 3:  Sweetheart.]

“But dere wuz one man on de plantation w’at did n’ lack ter see Dave en Dilsey tergedder ez much ez ole marster did.  W’en Mars Dugal’ went ter de sale whar he got Dilsey en Mahaly, he bought ernudder ban’, by de name er Wiley.  Wiley wuz one er dese yer shiny-eyed, double-headed little niggers, sha’p ez a steel trap, en sly ez de fox w’at keep out’n it.  Dis yer Wiley had be’n pesterin’ Dilsey ‘fo’ she come ter our plantation, en had nigh ‘bout worried de life out’n her.  She did n’ keer nuffin fer ‘im, but he pestered her so she ha’ ter th’eaten ter tell her marster fer ter make Wiley let her ’lone.  W’en he come ober to our place it wuz des ez bad, ’tel bimeby Wiley seed dat Dilsey had got ter thinkin’ a heap ‘bout Dave, en den he sorter hilt off aw’ile, en purten’ lack he gin Dilsey up.  But he wuz one er dese yer ’ceitful niggers, en w’ile he wuz laffin’ en jokin’ wid de yuther ban’s ’bout Dave en Dilsey, he wuz settin’ a trap fer ter ketch Dave en git Dilsey back fer hisse’f.

“Dave en Dilsey made up dere min’s fer ter git married long ’bout Christmas time, w’en dey ‘d hab mo’ time fer a weddin’.  But ’long ’bout two weeks befo’ dat time ole mars ‘mence’ ter lose a heap er bacon.  Eve’y night er so somebody ’ud steal a side er bacon, er a ham, er a shoulder, er sump’n, fum one er de smoke-’ouses.  De smoke-’ouses wuz lock’, but somebody had a key, en manage’ ter git in some way er ’nudder.  Dey ‘s mo’ ways ‘n one ter skin a cat, en dey’s mo’ d’n one way ter git in a smoke-’ouse,—­leastways dat’s w’at I hearn say.  Folks w’at had bacon fer ter sell did n’ hab no trouble ‘bout gittin’ rid un it.  Hit wuz ‘g’in’ de law fer ter buy things fum slabes; but Lawd! dat law did n’ ’mount ter a hill er peas.  Eve’y week er so one er dese yer big covered waggins would come ‘long de road, peddlin’ terbacker en w’iskey.  Dey wuz a sight er room in one er dem big waggins, en it wuz monst’us easy fer ter swop off bacon fer sump’n ter chaw er ter wa’m yer up in de wintertime.  I s’pose de peddlers did n’ knowed dey wuz breakin’ de law, caze de niggers alluz went at night, en stayed on de dark side er de waggin; en it wuz mighty hard fer ter tell w’at kine er folks dey wuz.

“Atter two er th’ee hund’ed er meat had be’n stole’, Mars Walker call all de niggers up one ebenin’, en tol’ ’em dat de fus’ nigger he cot stealin’ bacon on dat plantation would git sump’n fer ter ’member it by long ez he lib’.  En he say he ‘d gin fi’ dollars ter de nigger w’at ‘skiver’ de rogue.  Mars Walker say he s’picion’ one er two er de niggers, but he could n’ tell fer sho, en co’se dey all ’nied it w’en he ’cuse em un it.