Diddie, Dumps Tot | Page 3

and bridled every fair day, and tied
to the horse-rack, that the little girls might ride him whenever they

chose; and 'twas no unusual sight to see two of them on him at once,
cantering down the big road or through the grove.
And, besides all these amusements, Mammy or Aunt Milly or Aunt
Edy, or some of the negroes, would tell them tales; and once in a while
they would slip off and go to the quarters, to Aunt Nancy the tender's
cabin, and play with the little quarter children. They particularly liked
to go there about dark to hear the little negroes say their prayers.
Aunt Nancy would make them all kneel down in a row, and clasp their
hands and shut their eyes: then she would say, "Our Father, who art in
heaven," and all the little darkies together would repeat each petition
after her; and if they didn't all keep up, and come out together, she
would give the delinquent a sharp cut with a long switch that she
always kept near her. So the prayer was very much interrupted by the
little "nigs" telling on each other, calling out "Granny" (as they all
called Aunt Nancy), "Jim didn't say his 'kingdom come.'"
"Yes I did, Granny; don't yer b'lieve dat gal; I said jes' much 'kingdom
come' ez she did."
And presently Jim would retaliate by saying,
"Granny, Polly nuber sed nuf'n 'bout her 'cruspusses.'"
"Lord-ee! jes' lis'n at dat nigger," Polly would say. "Granny, don't yer
min' 'im; I sed furgib us cruspusses, jes' ez plain ez anybody, and Ginny
hyeard me; didn't yer, Ginny?"
At these interruptions Aunt Nancy would stop to investigate the matter,
and whoever was found in fault was punished with strict and impartial
justice.
Another very interesting time to visit the quarters was in the morning
before breakfast, to see Aunt Nancy give the little darkies their
"vermifuge." She had great faith in the curative properties of a very
nauseous vermifuge that she had made herself by stewing some kind of
herbs in molasses, and every morning she would administer a

teaspoonful of it to every child under her care; and she used to say,
"Ef'n hit want fur dat furmifuge, den marster wouldn't hab all dem
niggers w'at yer see hyear."
Now, I don't know about that; but I do know that the little darkies
would rather have had fewer "niggers" and less "furmifuge;" for they
acted shamefully every time they were called upon to take a dose. In
the first place, whenever Aunt Nancy appeared with the bottle and
spoon, as many of the children as could get away would flee for their
lives, and hide themselves behind the hen-coops and ash-barrels, and
under the cabins, and anywhere they could conceal themselves.
But that precaution was utterly useless, for Aunt Nancy would make
them all form in a line, and in that way would soon miss any absentees;
but there were always volunteers to hunt out and run down and bring
back the shirkers, who, besides having to take the vermifuge, would get
a whipping into the bargain.
And even after Aunt Nancy would get them into line, and their hands
crossed behind their backs, she would have to watch very closely, or
some wicked little "nig" would slip into the place of the one just above
him, and make a horrible face, and spit, and wipe his mouth as if he had
just taken his dose; and thereby the one whose place he had taken
would have to swallow a double portion, while he escaped entirely; or
else a scuffle would ensue, and a very animated discussion between the
parties as to who had taken the last dose; and unless it could be decided
satisfactorily, Aunt Nancy would administer a dose to each one; for, in
her opinion, "too much furmifuge wuz better 'n none."
And so you see the giving of the vermifuge consumed considerable
time. After that was through with, she would begin again at the head of
the line, and, making each child open its mouth to its fullest extent, she
would examine each throat closely, and if any of them had their
"palates down," she would catch up a little clump of hair right on top of
their heads and wrap it around as tightly as she could with a string, and
then, catching hold of this "topknot," she would pull with all her might
to bring up the palate. The unlucky little "nig" in the meanwhile kept

up the most unearthly yells, for so great was the depravity among them
that they had rather have their palates down than up. Keeping their
"palate locks" tied was a source of great trouble and worriment to Aunt
Nancy.
[Illustration: SANITARY MEASURES.]
The winter was always a