IV
A Small Interruption.
When Melicent came to visit her brother, Mrs. Lafirme persuaded him toabandon his uncomfortable quarters at the mill and take up hisresidence in the cottage, which stood just beyond the lawn of the bighouse. This cottage had been furnished _de pied en cap_ many yearsbefore, in readiness against an excess of visitors, which in days goneby was not of infrequent occurrence at Place-du-Bois. It wasMelicent's delighted intention to keep house here. And she foresaw noobstacle in the way of procuring the needed domestic aid in a placewhich was clearly swarming with idle women and children.
"Got a cook yet, Mel?" was Hosmer's daily enquiry on returning home,to which Melicent was as often forced to admit that she had no cook,but was not without abundant hope of procuring one.
Betsy's Aunt Cynthy had promised with a sincerity which admitted notof doubt, that "de Lord willin' " she would "be on han' Monday, timeto make de mornin' coffee." Which assurance had afforded Melicent aSunday free of disturbing doubts concerning the future of herundertaking. But who may know what the morrow will bring forth? Cynthyhad been "tuck sick in de night." So ran the statement of the weepickaninny who appeared at Melicent's gate many hours later thanmorning coffee time: delivering his message in a high voice ofcomplaint, and disappearing like a vision without further word.
Uncle Hiram, then called to the breach, had staked his patriarchalhonor on the appearance of his niece Suze on Tuesday. Melicent andTherese meeting Suze some days later in a field path, asked the causeof her bad faith. The girl showed them all the white teeth whichnature had lavished on her, saying with the best natured laugh in theworld: "I don' know how come I didn' git dere Chewsday like Ipromise."
If the ladies were not disposed to consider that an all-sufficientreason, so much the worse, for Suze had no other to offer.
From Mose's wife, Minervy, better things might have been expected. Butafter a solemn engagement to take charge of Melicent's kitchen onWednesday, the dusky matron suddenly awoke to the need of "holpin'Mose hoe out dat co'n in the stiff lan."
Therese, seeing that the girl was really eager to play in the briefrole of housekeeper had used her powers, persuasive and authoritative,to procure servants for her, but without avail. She herself was notwithout an abundance of them, from the white-haired Hiram, whoseposition on the place had long been a sinecure, down to the littlebrown legged tot Mandy, much given to falling asleep in the sun, whennot chasing venturesome poultry off forbidden ground, or stirringgentle breezes with an enormous palm leaf fan about her mistressduring that lady's after dinner nap.
When pressed to give a reason for this apparent disinclination of thenegroes to work for the Hosmers, Nathan, who was at the moment beinginterviewed on the front veranda by Therese and Melicent, spoke out.
"Dey 'low 'roun' yere, dat you's mean to de black folks, ma'am: datwhat dey says--I don' know me."
"Mean," cried Melicent, amazed, "in what way, pray?"
"Oh, all sort o' ways," he admitted, with a certain shy brazenness;determined to go through with the ordeal.
"Dey 'low you wants to cut de little gals' plaits off, an' sich--Idon' know me."
"Do you suppose, Nathan," said Therese attempting but poorly to hideher amusement at Melicent's look of dismay, "that Miss Hosmer wouldbother herself with darkies' plaits?"
"Dat's w'at I tink m'sef. Anyways, I'll sen' Ar'minty 'roun'to-morrow, sho."
Melicent was not without the guilty remembrance of having one dayplayfully seized one of the small Mandy's bristling plaits, daintilybetween finger and thumb, threatening to cut them all away with thescissors which she carried. Yet she could not but believe that therewas some deeper motive underlying this systematic reluctance of thenegroes to give their work in exchange for the very good pay which sheoffered. Therese soon enlightened her with the information that thenegroes were very averse to working for Northern people whose speech,manners, and attitude towards themselves were unfamiliar. She wasgiven the consoling assurance of not being the only victim of thisboycott, as Therese recalled many examples of strangers whom she knewto have met with a like cavalier treatment at the darkies' hands.
Needless to say, Araminty never appeared.
Hosmer and Melicent were induced to accept Mrs. Lafirme's generoushospitality; and one of that lady's many supernumeraries was detailedeach morning to "do up" Miss Melicent's rooms, but not without theprevious understanding that the work formed part of Miss T'rese'ssystem.
Nothing which had happened during the year of his residence atPlace-du-Bois had furnished Hosmer such amusement as thesemisadventures of his sister Melicent, he having had no like experiencewith his mill hands.
It is not unlikely that his good humor was partly due to theacceptable arrangement which assured him the daily society of Therese,whose presence was growing into a need with him.