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.
“Xariffe, her mother called her, a child of beauty rare,
With soft gazelle-like eyes, and curls of dark and shining hair,