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"I don't 'zactly 'member 'bout goin' over to de field, but when I got dar wid dem two babies in my arms an' stood 'long side o' Miss May " Mammy Delphy spoke more and more slowly. She had stopped picking the chicken, and great tears were rolling down her cheeks. The boys stood stricken and silent.
'Delphy, Miss May say, 'Delphy, does you know whar Will an' Jerry is? Dey ain't been seen sence breakfast dis mornin'. "I felt curus-like dat minit, an' I jump up an' run all over de place lookin' for dem boys. 'Rectly all de house gals an' everybody Mas' and Mis' an' everybody commence to hunt for dem chillun.
And she will say, 'Conor I am so glad you fished me out of the Ohio with your drift-wood! And won't that be good luck for Connor Magan!" Mammy Delphy was sitting out under the vines that climbed over the kitchen gallery, picking a chicken for dinner, and singing. And such singing!
"Dey tell me," said Delphy, glancing sternly at the head on Betsey's knee, "dat de quality don' set demse'ves up on er pa'sel er chillun no mo'. De time done gone by. My Mahaly, she went up ter some outlandish place wid er wild Injun name, like Philadelphy, en she sez de smaller de fambly de mo' stuck up is de heads er it.
Dudley took up his hat and carefully examined the inside lining. "Well, I'll settle it," he said at last, and went out. The next day, when Eugenia went upstairs from dinner, she found Delphy in a nurse's cap and apron, installed in a low chair before the fire, jolting the baby on her knees with a peculiar rhythmic motion. Eugenia fell back, regarding her with blank amazement.
'Yes, of course, of course, echoed their father; 'but all the same, children, your aunt must come. She is, remember, your dear mother's sister. 'Did you ever meet her, daddy? asked Jasmine. 'Yes, years ago, when Delphy was a baby. 'What was she like, daddy? 'She wasn't like any of you, my precious Flowers. The five little girls gave a profound sigh.
'There's Jasmine, that's me; there 's Gentian, meaning the little gray-eyed girl in the corner; there's Rose, who always will be and can be nothing but Rose; there's Hollyhock; there's Delphinium. Delphinium is hard to say, but Delphy is quite easy. 'And I suppose you think, said their father in his half-humorous, half-serious voice, 'that you were really baptised by those names?
"I'se monst'ous glad I'se got religion," remarked a strange little negro woman who had come over to sell a string of hares her husband had shot. "De Lawd He begun ter git mighty pressin' las' mont', so I let 'im have His way. Blessed be de name er de Lawd! Is you a church member, Sis Delphy?" "Yes, Lawd, a full-breasted member," responded Delphy, clamping the declivity of her bosom.
She made a dart at the baby, but he raised a shrill protest, which caused her hopelessly to desist. "O Delphy, you've come between us!" she cried. "I 'low ef I hadn't you'd 'a' run plum crazy," was Delphy's justification. "Dis yer chile's my bizness, en yourn it's down yonder in de parlour wid Marse Dudley." Eugenia wavered and stood irresolute.
"Lawd, Miss Euginny, dis yer ain' gwineter hu't you. Hit ain' nuttin but ker'sene oil nohow. Miss Sally Burwell des let me souse her haid in it de udder day. Hit'll keep you f'om gittin' gray, sho's I live." "You shan't touch me with it, Delphy. And you ought to be ashamed I haven't a gray hair. Have I, Dudley?"
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