"Dat kase we didn't make no corn dis year, de ole woman an' me, we was bofe so bad wid de misery in the leaders" (rheumatism in the legs). "But Sancho won't stay pore ef you buys corn enough, missis. He powerful good horse to eat."
Further conversation revealed the fact that old man Spafford was "de chief man ob de chu'ch."
"What! a minister?" asked the Invalid.
"No, sah, not azatly de preacher, sah, but I'se de nex' t'ing to dat."
"What may your office be, then, uncle?" asked the Pessimist.
"I'se de section, sah," answered the old man solemnly, making a low bow.
"The sexton! So you ring the bell, do you?"
"Not azatly de bell, sah—we ain't got no bell—but I bangs on de buzz-saw, sah."
"What does he mean?" asked Merry.
The Pessimist shrugged his shoulders without answering, but the "section" hastened to explain: "You see, missy, when dey pass roun' de hat to buy a bell dey didn't lift nigh enough; so dey jis' bought a buzz-saw and hung it up in de chu'ch-house; an' I bangs on de buzz-saw, missy."