“You po’ chile!” was the sympathetic response.  “Ah well, honey, de good Lawd watchin’ ober you.  I year how dat ole snake in-de-grass Perkins git out Miss Whately’s keridge en tink he gwine ter tote you off nobody know whar.  You passin’ troo de Red Sea long o’ us, honey.  I yeared how you say you doan wanter lebe yo’ ole mammy.  I ain’ cried so sence I wus a baby w’en I yeared dat.  Doan you reckermember, honey?  You sot right dar en wish sump’n ter hap’n.  I ‘spects we bettah be keerful how we wishes fer tings.  Doan you min’ de time Uncle Lusthah pray fer rain en we wus all nigh drownded?”

“I’m not sorry, mammy, things happened, for my heart’s been warmed, warmed as never before.  Oh, it’s so sweet to know that one is cared for; it is so sweet to have somebody look you in the eyes and say, ‘I want you to be happy in your own way.’”

“Did Marse Scoville say dat?”

The girl nodded.

“I’se hab ter smoke on dat ar lil whiles.”

Both were lost in thought for a time, Miss Lou’s eyes looking dreamily out through the pines and oaks as they had before when vaguely longing that the stagnation of her life might cease.  All had become strangely still; not a soldier was in sight; even the birds were quiet in the sultriness of the early afternoon.  “Isn’t it all a dream?” the girl asked suddenly.

“Kin’ ob wish we could wake up den, if it is.  See yere, Miss Lou, you on’y a lil chile arter all.  Doan you see Marse Scoville des tekin’ a longer way roun’ de bush?  Wen he tell you he want you ter be happy he mean he want you hissef!”

“Oh, yes, Aun’ Jinkey, that was plain enough; but do you know how he would take me and when?”

“Dat’s des w’at I lak ter know, fer I tells you, chile, dis mar’in’ business orful serus.”

“He would take me only when I went to him of my own free will and not before.  I feel just as safe with him as with you.  I believe he would do what I asked just as he minds that general of his.  That’s the wonderful part of it, which almost takes away my breath.  Why, only the other day uncle and aunt were ordering me about as they always have, and now here’s a brave, educated man ready to do my bidding.  What a goose Cousin Mad was!  If he had acted that way I shouldn’t have known any better I fear than to marry him.  I was so starved for a little consideration and kindness, that if he’d been generous and made me feel that he cared for me and not for himself all the time, I fear I’d have just married him out of gratitude.  I would have acted like an impulsive, ignorant child, blind to everything except that some one cared for me.  But that’s all past now.  My eyes have been opened and I’ve been compelled to think and foresee the future.  Dreary enough it would have been with him.”

“What you gwine ter do, honey?”

“Stand on my rights.  See how much I’ve learned in a few short days, yes, even hours.  I’ve learned above all things that my life’s my own.  There were my relatives, who would reach out and take it, just as they would a ripe fig from a tree, with just about as much consideration for me as for the fig.  Thank God!  I have been shown clearly my right to my own life.  Since I have learned so much in a few days, I shall keep my freedom and choose that which is best for me as well as best for others.”