"Mammy tole me to go ask her.
Come along with me, an' I'll tell you what all Miss Hallie got for her
buthday. I reckon she had mos' a thousand presents, an' a box of candy
half as big as Ivy."
Bud opened his eyes in amazement.
"Deed she did," persisted John Jay, enjoying the sensation he was
making. "She gave me some, and I saved a piece for you." After much
searching through his pockets, John Jay handed out a big chocolate cream
that had been mashed flat. Bud ate it gratefully as they walked on, and
wiped his lips with his little red tongue, longing for more.
After supper, as Mammy and John Jay went down the narrow meadow path in
Indian file, he ventured a question that he had pondered all day.
"Mammy, does we all have buthdays same as white folks?"
"Of co'se," answered the old woman, tramping on ahead with her skirts
held high out of the dewy grass.
"When's yoah's?" he asked, after a pause.
"Well," she began reflectively, not willing to acknowledge that she had
never known the exact date, "I'm nevah ve'y p'tick'lah 'bout its
obsa'vation.
Pages:
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54