Diddie, Dumps Tot | Page 9

like Marse Santion Claws," said
Agnes; and Diddie thought that was so funny that she giggled outright,
and in a moment the wardrobe was opened and she was also taken
prisoner. Then the four little captives were laid on their backs, and
Polly scalped them with a clothes-brush for a tomahawk.
As soon as they were all scalped they started over again, and kept up
the fun until the big plantation bell sounded, and then the Injuns
deserted in a body and ran off pell-mell to the quarters; for that bell was
for the Christmas dinner, and they wouldn't miss that for all the scalps
that ever were taken.

[Illustration: PLAYING "INJUNS."]
There were three long tables, supplied with good, well-cooked food,
followed by a nice dessert of pudding and cake, and the darkies, one
and all, did full justice to it.
Up at the house was a grand dinner, with turkey, mince-pie, and
plum-pudding, of course.
When that was through with, mamma told the little girls that the little
quarter negroes were to have a candy stew, and that Mammy might take
them to witness the pulling. This was a great treat, for there was
nothing the children enjoyed so much as going to the quarters to see the
little negroes play.
The candy stew had been suggested by Aunt Nancy as a fine device for
getting rid of the little darkies for the night. They were to have the
frolic only on condition that they would go to bed and not insist on
being at the wedding. This they readily agreed to; for they feared they
would not be allowed to sit up any way, and they thought best to make
sure of the candy-pulling.
When the little girls reached Aunt Nancy's cabin, two big kettles of
molasses were on the fire, and, to judge by the sputtering and
simmering, the candy was getting on famously. Uncle Sambo had
brought his fiddle in, and some of the children were patting and singing
and dancing, while others were shelling goobers and picking out
scaly-barks to put in the candy; and when the pulling began, if you
could have heard the laughing and joking you would have thought there
was no fun like a candy stew.
As a special favor, the little girls were allowed to stay up and see
Candace married; and very nice she looked when her mistress had
finished dressing her: her white Swiss was fresh and new, and the
wreath and veil were very becoming, and she made quite a pretty bride;
at least Jim thought so, and that was enough for her.
Jim was dressed in a new pepper-and-salt suit, his Christmas present

from his master, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen all looked very
fine. Mamma arranged the bridal party in the back parlor, and the
folding-doors were thrown open. Both rooms and the large hall were
full of negroes. The ceremony was performed by old Uncle Daniel, the
negro preacher on the place, and the children's father gave the bride
away.
After the marriage, the darkies adjourned to the barn to dance. Diddie
and Dumps begged to be allowed to go and look at them "just a little
while," but it was their bedtime, and Mammy marched them off to the
nursery.
About twelve o'clock supper was announced, and old and young
repaired to the laundry. The room was festooned with wreaths of holly
and cedar, and very bright and pretty and tempting the table looked,
spread out with meats and breads, and pickles and preserves, and
home-made wine, and cakes of all sorts and sizes, iced and plain; large
bowls of custard and jelly; and candies, and fruits and nuts.
In the centre of the table was a pyramid, beginning with a large cake at
the bottom and ending with a "snowball" on top.
At the head of the table was the bride-cake, containing the "ring" and
the "dime;" it was handsomely iced, and had a candy Cupid perched
over it, on a holly bough which was stuck in a hole in the middle of the
cake. It was to be cut after a while by each of the bridesmaids and
groomsmen in turns; and whoever should cut the slice containing the
ring would be the next one to get married; but whoever should get the
dime was to be an old maid or an old bachelor.
The supper was enjoyed hugely, particularly a big bowl of eggnog,
which so enlivened them all that the dancing was entered into with
renewed vigor, and kept up till the gray tints in the east warned them
that another day had dawned, and that Christmas was over.
But you may be sure that in all Christendom it had been welcomed in
and ushered out by no merrier, lighter