"Me, sir," said the shamefaced Venus, getting up from her kneeling posture.
"What are you doing there?"
Up and down her gingham apron she was furtively rubbing her knees. Think of Venus losing her youth and acquiring "rheumatics!" How exactly like An' Jerusha she was growing!
"I wus lef' in chawge, sah."
"Well, you've left the veranda door open!"
She stopped rubbing her knees and wiped her eyes.
"Dat do' sutny am open, sah. I wanted—t' see de las' ob yer. Dis w'ere me an' maw done spy out fo' yo' dat firs' time. Ole Mis' G'no—she didn' min' me an' maw bein' yere."
"You saw me come back?"
"Yass, sah." Then, as if to palliate the crime of the open door: "Mebbe a long time fo' I see yo' comin' in agin."