Bacon and greens and her perennial tea were
good enough for her. And here may be noted the average negro's indifference
to cates. In my experience I never knew them to give up "strong food" for
delicate fare except on prescription.
The next phase of my intercourse with Mammy was after the evacuation of the
city and the event of Appomattox. The first incident was, with the negroes'
usual talent that way, so transmogrified in pronunciation that it could
mean nothing to them. It stood to them for a tremendous change, one which
could not be condensed into a word, even though it exceeded their powers to
pronounce it.
I had come back, as had thousands of others, with nothing in my hands, and
only a few days' rations accorded by the enemy in my haversack; had come
back to a mass of smoking debris and a wide area of ruin which opened
unrecognized vistas that puzzled, dazed, and pained the home-seeker.
By instinct, I suppose, I drifted towards my _ante bellum_ quarters. My
former landlord gave me a speechless welcome. To my inquiry as to the
possibility of my reinhabiting my old quarters, he simply nodded and handed
me the key.
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