"Laws! she don't care," said Maria. "Taint no use give dem
darkies not'ing; dey not know how to keep' um."
But this was not Maria's real opinion, I knew. There was often
a strange sort of seeming hard edge of feeling put forth,
which I learned to know pointed a deep, deep, maybe only half-
conscious irony, and was in reality a bitter comment upon
facts. So a pair of new shoes for Sarah went down in my list
with a large print Testament for Pete. Then I found that some
of the people, some of the old ones, who in youth had been
accustomed to it, liked nothing so well as tea; it was
ambrosia and Lethe mingled; and a packet of tea was put in my
list next to the Testament. But the tea must have sugar; and I
could not bear that they should drink it out of mugs, without
any teaspoons; so to please myself I sent for a little delf
ware and a few pewter spoons. Little by little my list grew. I
found that Darry knew something about letters; could write a
bit; and would prize the means of writing as a very rare
treasure and pleasure.
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