Brothers and sisters gathered round, and the eye might clearly trace
A happiness too deep for words, on the mother’s lovely face.
And when the fairy tale was done, the blue-eyed Ella said,
“Mama, please tell a story, too, before we go to bed,
And let it be a funny one, such as I like to hear,
‘Red Riding Hood,’ or ‘The Three Bears,’ or ‘Chicken Little-dear.’”
A smile beamed on the mother’s face, as the little prattler spoke,
And kissing her soft, rosy cheek, she thus the silence broke,
“I will tell you my own darlings, a story that is true,
Of a little Southern maiden, with a skin of sable hue.