Were you the cook of the Diamond L ?" "No, sah, I nebber cooked no di'onds.

I'se ol' Neb, sah." "What ?" "Yes, sah, I'se de boy dat libbed wid ol' Missus Caton durin' de wah.

I ain't seen yo', Massa Jack, sence de day we buried yo' daddy, ol' Massa Keith.

But I knowed yo' de berry minute I woke up.

Sho', yo' 'members Neb, sah ?" It came to Keith now in sudden rush of memory--the drizzling rain in the little cemetery, the few neighbors standing about, a narrow fringe of slaves back of them, the lowering of the coffin, and the hollow sound of earth falling on the box; and Neb, his Aunt Caton's house servant, a black imp of good humor, who begged so hard to be taken back with him to the war.