Iola Leroy - Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (suggested reading txt) š
- Author: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
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āIāse a goin,ā said Tom Anderson, ājisā as soon as dem Linkum soldiers gits in sight.ā
āAnā Iāse a gwine wid you, Tom,ā said another. āI specs my ole Marsterāll feel right smart lonesome when Iāse gone, but I donāt keer ābout stayinā for companyās sake.ā
āMy ole Marsterās roomās a heap betterān his company,ā said Tom Anderson, āanā Iāse a goner too. Dis yer freedomās too good to be lefā behind, wen youās got a chance to git it. I wonāt stop to bid ole Marse goodbye.ā
āWhat do you think,ā said Robert, turning to Uncle Daniel; āwonāt you go with us?ā
āNo, chillen, I donāt blame you for gwine; but Iāse gwine to stay. Slaveryās done got all de marrow out ob dese poor ole bones. Ef freedom comes it wonāt do me much good; we ole oneās will die out, but it will set you youngsters all up.ā
āBut, Uncle Daniel, youāre not too old to want your freedom?ā
āI knows dat. I lubs de bery name of freedom. Iāse been praying and hoping for it dese many years. Anā ef I warnāt bounā, I would go wid you ter-morrer. I wonāt put a straw in your way. You boys go, and my prayers will go wid you. I canāt go, itās no use. Iāse gwine to stay on de ole place till Marse Robert comes back, or is brought back.ā
āBut, Uncle Daniel,ā said Robert, āwhatās the use of praying for a thing if, when it comes, you wonāt take it? As much as you have been praying and talking about freedom, I thought that when the chance came you would have been one of the first to take it. Now, do tell us why you wonāt go with us. Aināt you willing?ā
āWhy, Robbie, my whole heart is wid you. But when Marse Robert went to de war, he called me into his room and said to me, āUncle Danāel, Iāse gwine to de war, anā I want you to look arter my wife anā chillen, anā see dat eberything goes right on de placeā. Anā I promised him Iād do it, anā I musā be as good as my word. āCept de overseer, dere isnāt a white man on de plantation, anā I hear he has to report ter-morrer or be treated as a deserter. Anā derās nobody here to look arter Miss Mary anā de chillen, but myself, anā to see dat eberything goes right. I promised Marse Robert I would do it, anā I musā be as good as my word.ā
āWell, what should you keer?ā said Tom Anderson. āWho looked arter you when you war sole from your farder and mudder, anā neber seed dem any more, and wouldnāt know dem today ef you met dem in your dish?ā
āWell, dats neither yere nor dere. Marse Robert couldnāt help what his father did. He war an orful mean man. But heās dead now, and gone to see ābout it. But his wife war the nicest, sweetest lady dat eber I did see. She war no more like him dan chalkās like cheese. She used to visit de cabins, anā listen to de pore women when de overseer used to cruelize dem so bad, anā drive dem to work late and early. Anā she used to senā dem nice things when they war sick, and hab der cabins whitewashed anā lookinā like new pins, anā look arter dere chillen. Sometimes sheād try to git ole Marse to take dere part when de oberseer got too mean. But she might as well a sung hymns to a dead horse. All her putty talk war like porin water on a gooseās back. Heād jisā bluff her off, anā tell her she didnāt run dat plantation, and not for her to bring him any nigger news. I never thought ole Marster war good to her. I often ketched her crying, anā sheād say she had de headache, but I thought it war de heartache. āFore ole Marster died, she got so thin anā peaked I war āfraid she war gwine to die; but she seed him out. He war killed by a tree fallinā on him, anā ef eber de debil got his own he got him. I seed him in a vision arter he war gone. He war hanginā up in a pit, sayinā āOh! oh!ā wid no close on. He war allers blusterinā, cussinā, and swearinā at somebody. Marse Robert aināt a bit like him. He takes right arter his mother. Bad as ole Marster war, I think she jisā lobād de grounā he walked on. Well, womenās mighty curious kind of folks anyhow. I sometimes thinks de wuss you treats dem de better dey likes you.ā
āWell,ā said Tom, a little impatiently, āwhatās yer gwine to do? Is yer gwine wid us, ef yer gits a chance?ā
āNow, jesā you hole on till I gits a chance to tell yer why Iāse gwine to stay.ā
āWell, Uncle Daniel, letās hear it,ā said Robert.
āI was jesā gwine to tell yer when Tom put me out. Ole Marster died when Marse Robert war two years ole, and his pore mother when he war four. When he died, Miss Anna used to keep me ābout her jesā like I war her shadder. I used to nuss Marse Robert jesā de same as ef I were his own fadder. I used to fix his milk, rock him to sleep, ride him on my back, anā nothinā pleased him betterān fer Uncle Danāel to ride him piggyback.ā
āWell, Uncle Daniel,ā said
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