A face of a fair oval, with full, sweet lips, and an expression heavenly sweet and yet sort o’ sad in it, and in the big dark eyes.
They wuz as beautiful eyes as I ever had seen, and I have seen some dretful pretty eyes in my time, but none more beautiful than these.
And there wuz a look into ’em as if she had been a studyin’ on things for some time that wuz sort o’ pitiful and kind o’ strange.
As if she had been a tryin’ to get the answer to some momentous question and deep conundrum, and hadn’t got it yet, and didn’t seem to know when she would get it.
Dretful sad eyes, and yet sort o’ prophetic and hopeful eyes too, once in a while.
Them eyes fairly drawed my attention offen the young babe, and I found that I wuz, in spite of myself, a payin’ more attention to the nurse than I did to the child, though he is a beautiful boy, beautiful and very forward.
Wall, I entered into conversation with Genieve, and I found that she had lived in that neighborhood ever sence she wuz a small child, her mother havin’ owned a small place not fur from Belle Fanchon.
Her mother had gone out nursin’ the sick, and Genieve had learnt the trade of her; and then she had, poor child, plenty of time to practice it in her own home, for her mother wuz sick a long time, and sence her death Genieve had gone out to take care of little children and sick people, and she still lived on at the little cottage where her mother died, an old colored woman and her boy livin’ with her.
There wuz a few acres of land round the cottage that had fruit trees and berry bushes and vines on it, and a good garden. And the sale of the fruit and berries and Genieve’s earnin’s give ’em all a good livin’.
Old Mammy and Cato the boy took care of the garden, with an occasional day’s work hired, when horses wuz required.