Some fragment of a half-forgotten sermon floated through her mind as she looked on the ragged little fellow standing before her.
"The mantle of the prophet 'Lijah done fell on his servant 'Lisha," she muttered under her breath.

"What if the mantle of Gawge Chadwick have been left to my poah Ellen's boy, 'long with them books ?" John Jay was balancing himself on one foot, while he drew the toes of the other along a crack in the floor between the puncheons, anxiously awaiting her decision.

Not knowing what was passing through her mind, he was not prepared for the abrupt change in both her speech and manner.

He almost lost his balance when she suddenly gave her consent; but, regaining it quickly, he tumbled through the door, giving vent to his delight in a series of whoops that made Mammy's head ring, and brought her to the door, scolding crossly.
A few minutes later, a dusky little figure crept through the gloaming, and rustled softly through the leaves lying on the path.

Resting his arms on the fence, he looked across the dim fields to the darkly outlined tree-tops of the hill beyond.
"I wondah if he knows that I'm keepin' my promise," he whispered.