“Oh, mum! don’t! I shall cry again if you do! Oh, mum, you used to say as how you would make that wilderness to bloom and blossom as the rose; and so you did, mum, lovely! But oh, mum! he have turned the beautiful place into a howling wilderness again!” bawled the boy.
“Never mind, Leo, I will get it back again some day and restore all its beauty,” said Drusilla, smiling. “And now, my boy, where is your sister?”
“She have gone back to Alexandria, mum; but sends her love and service to you, mum.”
“And the poor pets—the little birds, and the cat and kittens, Leo?”
“Pina has got them all to take care on for you, ma’am, till you sends for ’em and for her, cause she considers of herself into your service, ma’am, which likewise so do I.”
“And the cow and calf, and the horses, Leo?”
“They was sold to the people as bought the place, ma’am.”
“I hope they will be kindly treated.”
“I hope they will, ma’am; for they did miss you as well as me and Pina did; and they showed it in every way as dumb creeturs could.”
“And where did you leave my effects, Leo?”