Chapter 32 - Page 2

of a wheel, as you may
say -- spokes made out of dogs -- circle of fifteen
of them packed together around me, with their necks
and noses stretched up towards me, a-barking and
howling; and more a-coming; you could see them sail-
ing over fences and around corners from everywheres.

A nigger woman come tearing out of the kitchen with
a rolling-pin in her hand, singing out, "Begone YOU
Tige! you Spot! begone sah!" and she fetched first
one and then another of them a clip and sent them
howling, and then the rest followed; and the next
second half of them come back, wagging their tails
around me, and making friends with me. There ain't
no harm in a hound, nohow.

And behind the woman comes a little nigger girl and
two little nigger boys without anything on but tow-linen
shirts, and they hung on to their mother's gown, and
peeped out from behind her at me, bashful, the way
they always do. And here comes the white woman
running from the house, about forty-five or fifty year
old, bareheaded, and her spinning-stick in her hand;
and behind her comes her little white children, acting
the same way the little niggers was going. She was
smiling all over so she could hardly stand -- and says:

"It's YOU, at last! -- AIN'T it?"

I out with a "Yes'm" before I thought.

She grabbed me and hugged me tight; and then
gripped me by both hands and shook and shook; and
the tears come in her eyes, and run down over; and
she couldn't seem to hug and shake enough, and kept
saying, "You don't look as much like your mother as
I reckoned you would; but law sakes, I don't care for
that, I'm so glad to see you! Dear, dear, it does seem
like I could eat you up! Children, it's your cousin
Tom! -- tell him howdy."

But they ducked their heads, and put their fingers in
their mouths, and hid behind her. So she run on:

"Lize, hurry up and get him a hot breakfast right
away -- or did you get your breakfast on the boat?"

I said I had got it on the boat. So then she started
for the house, leading me by the hand, and the children
tagging after. When we got there she set me down in
a split-bottomed chair, and set herself down on a little
low stool in front of me, holding both of my hands,
and says:

"Now I can have a GOOD look at you; and, laws-a-
me, I've been hungry for it a many and a many a time,
all these long years, and it's come at last! We been
expecting you a couple of days and more. What kep'
you? -- boat get aground?"

"Yes'm -- she --"

"Don't say yes'm -- say Aunt Sally. Where'd she
get aground?"

I didn't rightly know what to say, because I didn't
know whether the boat would be coming up the river