CHAPTER XV.
BLACK MAMMY'S STORY.
In the dead waste and middle of the night, the sleeping household ofEllsworth was startled from repose by long, loud, wailing cries thatrang through the wide corridors and vaulted roofs like the shrieks ofsome lost, despairing soul.
Instantly every sleeper was wide awake. Hurrying on scraps of outerclothing, they rushed from their rooms in wild alarm to the scene ofdisturbance.
On the floor at some distance from the half-open door lay Dainty Chase,clothed only in her night robes, her fair face upturned to the dim nightlight like the face of one dead, while over her bent the figure of oldblack mammy, grotesque in her red flannel petticoat, large-floweredcalico sacque, and white turban, and pathetic in the grief with whichshe chafed Dainty's cold little hands, begging her to open her eyes andspeak just one word to her poor old mammy.
"Yo' aine dead, is yo', honey, darlin', is yo' now? Don't you know dat Idone chase dat ole debbil, an' made him drap you ter sabe heself? When Iclutch him tight an' pinch he arms, he groan wif pain an' drap ye on deflo', slap me clean ober, and run fer his life. Open yer eyes now,deares', fer here comes Massa Love an' de ladies, an' all."
It was true. There was Love, his step-mother, her nieces, and severalof the upstairs servants on the scene; but Dainty Chase lay among themwhite and still as one already dead, making no reply to the old woman'saffectionate pleadings.
With a terrified cry, Love knelt by his stricken darling and clasped hertiny hands in his, but they were cold and limp like the newly dead.
"What means this?" he cried, sternly, to the wailing old negress; andshe sobbed:
"Oh, Massa Love, de black debbil heself kem by Miss Dainty's bed, grabher up in his arms, an' fly 'way wif her, an' I follow lik' de wind andpinch he arms so he scream wid pain an' drap her on de floor, kase heseen he cain't git 'way from me. Den he slap me so hard hit made me seestars, an' tumbled me ober by Miss Dainty, while he got 'way ter he ownbad place ergin."
"What silly lies! Do not listen to her, Love. She is as hysterical asDainty!" cried Mrs. Ellsworth, scornfully. "Take the girl back to herroom, some of you gaping servants, and let us bring her out of thisspell."
But Love took the silent figure up in his own arms and carried her back,after saying sternly to the servants:
"A hundred dollars reward to the person who discovers the fiend who hasplayed ghost and frightened Miss Chase again. Now, Carter, mount thefleetest horse, and bring the nearest physician here at once."
"But that is needless. We can revive her as we did the other night shehad another spell like this!" Mrs. Ellsworth cried, as she followed intothe room, where he laid his darling down tenderly, drawing the coversover the cold form with reverent hands.
"You can go now, Love. Your presence in the room is not quite seemly,and there are plenty women to attend Dainty," she added, imperiously,while Olive and Ela looked silently on.
To her chagrin, he answered, firmly:
"I shall not withdraw until she revives. She is my promised wife, and Ido not recognize any impropriety in my presence at such a crisis."
Fire flashed from her eyes; but she dared not oppose the master ofEllsworth further. She could only say, with a furtive sneer:
"Then Olive and Ela, you had better return to your rooms, as it isimproper for you to stay under the circumstances. Do not be uneasy overyour cousin. She will soon be all right."
The girls hurried away, and Mrs. Ellsworth remained with the old mammyand two white women servants all vying with each other in efforts torestore Dainty to consciousness, while Love looked on in wild anxiety.
"It is useless, all that you can do. As well wait till the doctorcomes!" he said, hopelessly, at last; and indeed the throb of Dainty'sheart was so weak it did not seem as if she should ever return to thelife from which the great shock seemed to have driven her.
"Poor old black mammy, I was forgetting you! Here, drink this," he said,hurriedly, mixing a stimulant, and placing it to the lips of thetrembling old negress, who had sunk to the floor, utterly unnerved, andturning to an ashen-gray pallor. "As soon as you feel better," he added,"I would like to hear a truthful account of all that happened to throwyou and Miss Chase into such a state."
The old woman gasped, rolled the whites of her big eyes at him; then,lying heavily back in the arm-chair where he had placed her, muttered,feebly:
"I gwine tell de trufe, an' nothin' else, Massa Love, an ef dat poredarlin' eber comes back ter life ergin, she gwine tell yer de same as Idoes. De black debbil hese'f comed inter dis room an' grab her up an'run off wif she inter de hall. I seen him plain as day, in his longblack gownd wif a string o' beads hangin' down by de side, an' er li'lole skull-cap on his haid, an' he face all gashly white like acorp--umme!" she groaned; adding: "But I'll tell de trufe--he didn'tpear to hab no hoofs nor horns, an' I always did hear dat he had both.Umme! ter think o' seein' dat ole debbil heself, an' livin' arterward!"groaned old mammy, while every one listened eagerly, Mrs. Ellsworthalone giving little sniffs of incredulity.
"Is that all?" queried Love, at this juncture; and dolefully wagging herturbaned head, mammy answered, impressively:
"No, suh, no, 'tain't all! I gwine begin at de beginnin' now, an' 'latede whole story. Fust t'ing, es I was settin' an' noddin' in my cheer, Iheerd de soun' o' somebody coughin' an' coughin' er dreadful hackin'cough, lak some one in de last stage o' consumption. Hit soun' sonateral it made my flesh creep, fer I suddenly 'members de story o' deghost-cough dat frighten sweet Miss Dainty. I turn my eyes to de baidter see ef she's awaken' by de noise, an' in de darkness dere all atonce flash a li'l blue-green gashly light, flickerin' erbout de ceilin',den here an' dar erbout de room, den down on Miss Dainty's face, an' Isee her so pale, wif her big blue eyes wide open, skeered lak, an' shelistenin' an' lookin', silent-lak, in turrible fear, so pitiful it nighbruk my heart!"