insisted Aunt Peachy. "My baby ain't nebber had ter 'pend on clothes ter make him the king bee, an' he wa'n't nebber no han' ter set aroun' showin' off with a book. 'Tain't nothin' but showin' off. It stands ter reason that all them things you folks pertends ter read out'n a book ain't thar. You air jes' a makin' up lies."
"Ain't it the truth?" laughed Rolfe Bolling. "You've hit the nail on the head that time, Mam' Peachy. What do you say to a drap o' somethin'?"
"I say, praise the Lawd!"
"Do you want yo' baby to mix up a toddy?"
"No sirree! I don't want nothin' mixed in mine. Time was when I didn't min' a lil' sugar an' water 'longside er my dram, but my ol' gullet craves jes' plain juice now. If'n you put anything in it put a dash er red pepper."
The old woman leered greedily while her master padded around the kitchen getting tin cups from the shelves and unlocking a corner cupboard, taking therefrom a brown jug which, holding to his ear, he shook tentatively.
"Gittin' powerful low! Is you been a suckin' my bottle?" he asked suspiciously.
"Laws-a-mussy, honey chil', how could ol' Peachy git in yo' closet? I ain't mo'n crawled from my room ter my cheer an' back fer over a
