I do not see how you could get such a notion into your head." Mike gave himself a shrug.
"Now look a here, Miss Miriam," he said; "I've heard before of red-headed cooks, an' colored pussons as wasn't satisfied with their victuals, an' nobody knows what they died of, an' the funerals was mighty slim, an' no 'count, the friends an' congregation thinkin' there might be somethin' 'tagious.

Them red-headed kind of cooks is mighty dangerous, Miss Miriam, an' lemme tell you, the sooner you git rid of them, the better." Miriam's previous experiences had brought her very little into contact with negroes, and although she did not care very much about what Mike was saying, it interested her to hear him talk.

His intonations and manner of expressing himself pleased her fancy.

She could imagine herself in the sunny South, talking to an old family servant.

This fancy was novel and pleasant.