"I made up mi minde to onst, what ter dew. It war darned harde work tur bee'way from hum jess then, but I war in fur it; soe I put ter Charleston, ter see th' Cunel's 'oman. Wal, I seed har, an' I toled har how th' ma'am felte, an' how mutch shede dun at makein' th' Cunel's money--(she made nigh th' hul on it, 'case he war alers keerles, an' tuk no 'count uv things; eff tadent ben fur thet, hede made a wil,) an' I axed har ter see thet the ma'am had free papers ter onst. An' whot der ye 'spoze she sed? Nuthin, by ---- 'cept she dident no nuthin' 'bout bisniss, an' leff all uv sech things ter har loryer. Wal, then I went ter him--he ar one on them slick, ily, seceshun houn's, who'd sell thar soles fur a kountterfit dollar--an' he toled me, th' 'ministratur hadent sot yit, an' he cudent dew nuthin til he hed. Ses I: 'ye mean th'

'ooman's got ter gwo ter th' hi'est bider?' 'Yas,' he sed, 'the Cunel's got dets, an' the've got ter bee pade, an' th' persoonel prop'ty muste bee sold ter dew it.' Then I sed, 'twud bee sum time fore thet war dun, an' the 'ooman's 'most ded an' uv no use now; 'what'll ye _hire_ har tur me fur.' He sed a hun'red for sicks months. I planked down the money ter onst, an' put off.

"I war bilin' over, but it sumhow c.u.m inter my hed thet the Cunnel's 'ooman cudn't bee _all_ stun; so I gose thar agin; an' I toled har what the loryer sed, an' made a reg'lar stump-'peal tew har bettar natur. I axed har eff she'd leff the 'ooman who'd made har husban's fortun, who war the m.u.t.h.e.r ov his chil'ren, who fur twenty yar, hed nussed him in sickness, an' cheered him in healtf; ef shede let _thet 'ooman_, bee auckyund off ter th' hi'est bider. I axed al thet, an' what der ye think she sed, Why jest this. '_I_ doant no nuthin' bout it, Mister Jones. Ye raily must talke ter mi loryer; them maters I leaves 'tirely ter him.'

Then, I sed, I 'spozed the n.i.g.g.e.rs war ter bee advertist. 'O, yas!' she sed, (an' ye see, she know'd a d----d site 'bout _thet_), 'all on 'em muss be solde, 'case, ye knows, I never did luv the kuntry,--'sides _I_ cud'ent karry on the plantashun, no how.' Then, sed I: 'the Orlean's traders 'ill be thar--an' she wunt sell fur but one use, fur she's hansum yit; an' ma'am, ye wunt leff a 'ooman as white as you is, who fur twenty yar, hes ben a tru an' fatheful _wife_ tar yer own ded husban,'

(I shudn't hev put thet in, but d----d ef I cud help it,) ye wunt put _har_ up on the block, an' hev har struck down ter the hi'est bider, ter bee made a d---- d---- on?'

"Wal, I s'pose she hadent forgot thet, fur more'n twelve yar, the Cunnel hed _luv'd_ t'other 'ooman, an' onely _liked_ har; fur w'en I sed thet, har ize snapped like h--l, an' she screetched eout thet she dident 'low no sech wurds in har hous', an' ordurd me ter leave. Mi'tey sqeemish thet, warn't it? bein' as shede ben fur so mony yar the Cunnel's ----, an' th' tuther one his raal wife.

"Wal, I _did_ leav'; but I left a piece of mi mind a-hind. I toled har I'de buy that ar 'ooman ef she cost all I war wuth and I had ter p.a.w.ne my sole ter git the money; an' I added, jess by way ov sweet'nin' the pill, thet I ow'd all I hed ter har husband, an' dident furget _my_ debts ef she did _her'n_, an' ef his own wife disgraced him, I'd be d----d ef _I_ wud.

"Wal, I've got th' ma'am an' har boy ter hum, an' my 'ooman hes tuk ter har a heep. I doant no w'en the sale's ter c.u.m off, but ye may bet hi'

on my beein' thar; an' I'll buy har ef I hev ter go my hull pile on har, an' borrer th' money fur ole Pomp. But _he'll_ go cheap, 'case the Cunnel's deth nigh dun him up. It clean killed Ante Lucey. She never held her hed up arter she heerd 'Ma.s.ser Davy' war dead, fur she sot har vary life on him. Don't ye fele consarned 'bout the ma'am--I knows ye sot hi' on har--_I'll buy har_, sh.o.r.e. Thet an' deth ar th' onely things thet I knows on, in this wurld, jess now, that ar SARTIN."

Such is Andy's letter. Mis-spelled and profane though it be, I would not alter a word or a syllable of it. It deserves to be written in characters of gold, and hung up in the sky, where it might be read by all the world. And it _is_ written in the sky--in the great record-book--and it will be read when you and I, reader, meet the a.s.sembled universe, to give account of what _we_ have done and written.

G.o.d grant that our record may show some such deed as that!