“Miss Mary Stallins,” ses I.
“No, I never,” ses she; and they all roared out worse than ever.
I begin to git monstrous tired of sich fun, which seemed so much like the frogs in the spellin’ book—for it was fun to them but it was deth to me—and I don’t know what I would done if Mary hadn’t come up and ontied the hankercher.
“Let’s play something else,” ses she, and her face was as red as fire, and she looked sort o’ mad out of her eyes.
I seed ther was something wrong in a minit.
Well, they all went on playin’ “pawns,” and “ ’pon honour,” and “Here we go round the gooseberry bush,” and “Oh, sister Feby, how merry we be,” and sich nonsense ’til they played all they knowed, and while they was playin’ Mary told me all how cousin Pete bob’d me himself.
This was the most audacious take in I ever hearn of. Do you think the cus didn’t set rite down beside me, and never blindfolded himself at all, and hit me every lick himself, and now and then hittin’ his knee with the book, to make me b’lieve he was bob’d too. My bed was a singin’ with the licks when she told me how he done me, and I do b’lieve if it hadn’t been for her I’d gin Cousin Pete sich a lickin’ rite thar in that room as he never had afore in his born days. Blazes! but I was mad at fust. But Mary begged me not to raise no fus about it, now it was all over, and she would fix him for his smartness. I hadn’t no sort of a ide how she was gwine to do it, but I know’d she was enuff for Cousin Pete any time, so I jest let her go ahed. Well, she tuck the ’bominable fool off to one side and whispered to him like she was gwine to let him into a grate secret. She told him ’bout a new play what she learned down to Macon when she was at the college, called “Interduction to the King and Queen,” what she sed was a grate deal funnyer than “Brother Bob,” and ’swaded him to help to git ’em all to play.
After she and him made it all up, Cousin Pete put out three chairs close together in a roe for a throne, and Mary she put a sheet over ’em to make ’em look a little grand. Bill Byers was to be King and Mary was to be Queen.
“Now you must all come in t’other room,” ses Cousin Pete, “only them what belongs to the court, and then you must come in and be interduced, one at a time.”
“I ain’t gwine,” ses Tom Stallins, “for ther’s some trick in it.”