After the supper the young folks sang and danced before the big fires until ten o'clock, and then the crowd began to thin, and by eleven the last man was gone and the harvest festival was over.
It was nearly twelve before the Boy knelt at his mother's knee to say his prayers.
When the last words were spoken he still knelt, his eyes gazing into the flickering fire.
The mother bent low:
"What are you thinking about, Boy? The house you're going to build for me?"
"No."
"What?"
"That nigger—wasn't he funny? You don't want me to get you any niggers with the house do you?"
"No."
"I didn't think you would," he went on thoughtfully, "because you said General Washington set his slaves free and wanted everybody else to do it too."