Poor little creeter! he didn’t have no more idee of the value on’t than a Hottentot has of snow ploughs, or than we have as to what the folks up in Jupiter are a havin’ for dinner.
And he sot by the winder a cryin’ as if his poor little childish heart would break, and the Senator wuz hoppin’ mad.
But neither the tears nor the anger could bring back the jewel—it wuz lost. Thomas J. of course had gone down to the coachman’s cottage to make inquiries about it, accompanied by the distracted statesman. But of course Rosy had lied about it; she said little Tom, three days before, jest after Raymond had gin it to him, had dropped it into the river.
But nobody believed it. How could that infant have dropped it into the river more’n a mile off?
No; we all spozed that Rosy, a naterel thief and liar, had passed it on to some other thief, and it wuz all broke to pieces and the diamonds hid away and passed on out of reach.
The strictest search hadn’t amounted to nuthin’. Wall, I didn’t say much about it till after breakfast—my manners wuz too perfect for that, and then I wuz hungry myself. And I felt that I had some things I wanted to say, and I didn’t want to say ’em on a empty stomach, and didn’t want ’em hearn on one.
After breakfast the Senator begun agin on the subject, and kep’ it up. And I did feel sorry for him from the bottom of my heart, for, if you’ll believe it, as we sot there alone in the settin’ room after breakfast, that man cried—or, that is, the tears come fast into his eyes when he talked about it.
And I gin the man credit where credit wuz due; it wuzn’t the money worth of the gem that he cared for, though it wuz very valuable.
No; it wuz the memory of lovely Kate Fairfax, and the blendin’ of their two names on it, and a part of their two selves, as you may say—the curl of her golden hair twisted in with his dark locks. And all the tender memories of the happy time when she gin him this jewel with her first true love, and he gin her his hull heart. Memories bitter-sweet now as he mourned his losses.
Wall, I see the Senator wuz all melted down and broke up; and as is my way, havin’ the good of the human race on my mind and heart, and havin’ to do for ’em all the while, I see that now wuz the very time for me to tackle the relation from Delaware about a matter that I had long wanted to tackle him on, concernin’ a law of his own State—