"
Mammy paused for corroboration, but I determined to hear what she might add
to this remarkable statement. "Well?"
"Well, sah, I didn't want to go down thar without no price, so I called in
to arst you what you might consider yo' fif' worth, an' five times ovah."
I did not laugh at Mammy. The emancipated negroes had such utterly wild
notions of what was going to be done for them that Mammy's statement did
not surprise me very much. I let her go with the assurance that I would
inquire into the matter. She left enjoining me not to put that "fif' too
cheap," and I insisting that she should not go to the Bureau, in deference
to whose officials her astonishing toilet had evidently been made.
I was so much pleased with my own work that it was nearly twilight before
the knock of a familiar friend roused me. He was a clever amateur, and took
the greatest interest in my work. His enthusiasm over Mammy's effigy made
me glow. He agreed to pose for me in Mammy's costume.
Next day I borrowed the outfit without intimating that it was to be worn by
anybody. Mammy was over-nervous about its being properly cared for.
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