Returning to the cabin, the negro resumed his usual position in the chair beside the door, first, however, handing Dinah the bottle, which, in consequence of having been sampled on his return trip, was not now entirely filled. But before it reached her hand the wary old man put his finger on the vial, close to the upper surface of the liquid, and remarked: “De lickah am heah, yo’ kin see de top mark; doan yo’ let none ob et sweat fru de glass while Cupe am gone.”
Long he sat in meditation, chewing wisps of tobacco which from time to time he stripped from the ever-present hand of the leaf above his head. Finally he arose, took a spade, and strode into the garden, back to the graveyard. Digging next to the foot-stone That marked the resting-place of his mistress of other years he unearthed a large closed stone jar. Removing the cover, he took out an oblong tin box, again covered the jar, returned the soil and carefully sodded the disturbed earth’s surface. Taking the box in his arms, he carried it to the stable, and there thrust it into an empty meal sack, which he then threw over his shoulder. Returning to the house, he spoke to Dinah: “Yo’ know de papah what de muddah ob Susie wrote an’ lebe in yoah charge?”
“Yes.”
“She say t’ yo’ dat ef de painfulness ob her life ebah had t’ be known, dat de papahs wah t’ be used fo’ de sake ob de chile.”
“Dat am what she say.”
“Brung me de papahs, Dinah; dat time am come.”
Dinah hesitated.
“Doan yo’ heah? Am yo’ gittin’ deaf er losin’ yoah senses? Yo’ bettah be keerful, yo’ hain’t got much sense t’ lose.”
Dinah dived her hand into the corner of the cupboard and produced a package nearly wrapped in newspaper, which she handed to Cupe, who placed it in the sack, which he threw across his shoulder and started for Stringtown. The old dog with nose against the ground trotting lazily at his heels. Dinah in the doorway watching the retreating figure. Mumbling to herself, and accompanying her voice with an occasional shake of the head, she stood long after the form disappeared; then returning into the cabin, she glanced at the bed where Susie, tired of play, had carelessly thrown herself and fallen asleep. She hesitated a moment and then went straight to the mantel-piece, taking therefrom the bottle Cupe had brought from Mr. Nordman’s. Carefully tying a thread around the bottle exactly on the top line of the liquid, she uncorked the vial, raised it to her lips and drank a deep draught, half emptying it; then, smacking her lips, she stepped to the water bucket, and poured water into the bottle until the liquid’s surface struck the thread again, which latter she then removed. Finally she replaced the bottle on the shelf.
“Yo’ am a sly old fox, Cupe Hardman, yo’ am a sly ole coon, but Dinah—.” Whatever she might have intended saying as a continuation of her soliloquy was lost, for, glancing at the little bed, she again caught sight of the sleeping face of Susie.
Dropping on her knees, the old negress clapped her lips upon the delicate hand that lay upon the white coverlet, murmuring:
“De win’ blow cole an’ de snow am deep in de Canerdy country; de nigger lub de Kaintuck sunshine, de sweet-’tatah an’ de ’possom; de grabe ob de ole fo’ks an’ de chillun am bery deah t’ de brack fo’ks heaht, an’ de cabin an’ de fren’s what lib in ole Kaintuck am presh’us. But when Cupe say t’ Dinah, fo’ de good ob de chile, de deed mus’ be done, Dinah ’ll let de fiah go out on de cabin harf, an ’ll close de cabin doah; she ’ll took a las’ look at de ole home, an’ wid Cupe an’ de honey chile ’ll slip away in de night.”
The head of the negress fell upon the coverlet, her eyes sought the bottle on the mantelpiece. For a long time she rested in this position, then attempted to rise, but irresistible languor held her in place. She reached up her hand, pointed to the vial, and wanderingly spoke: “Yo’ wah sweet t’ de taste, yo’ honey bottle, but yo’ caint tole Cupe nuffin, fo’ de line am on de mark.” Her eyes closed dreamily and she mumbled: “De Canerdy Lan’ am cole an’ de grabes ob de missus an’ de chillun in Kaintuck am deah, but fo’ de good ob de Susie chile an’ de lub ob ole Cupe, Dinah ’ll close de cabin doah ferebah.