Then came the inevitable to the elders, and it became
necessary to convert all property into cash.
We were happy in being able to retain a good many of our household gods,
and they are the Lares and Penates of our several homes to this day. We had
long since ceased to think of Mammy Becky--she was never Rebecca--as
property. In fact, we younger ones never thought of her as such. By law we
were each entitled to a fifth in Mammy.
This came upon us in the nature of a shock at a family consultation on ways
and means, and there was a disposition on the part of every party to the
ownership to shift that responsibility to another.
I must do ourselves the justice to say that such a thing as converting
Mammy into cash, and thus making her divisible, never for a moment entered
our minds. It seemed, however, that the difficulty had occurred to her.
We all felt so guilty, when Mammy served tea that last evening, that we
were sure she read our thoughts in our countenances. It would be nearer the
truth to say that it was rather our fears that she should ever come to the
knowledge that the word "sale" had been coupled with her name.
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