She got
through, as people do usually, and then something good happened."
"I'll remember that," said Marjorie, her hazel eyes full of light; "but
it was dreadful."
"And there were robbers in those days."
"Were there giants, too?"
"I never saw a giant, but I saw robbers once. The women folks were alone,
not even a boy with us, and six robbers came for something to eat and
they ransacked the house from garret to cellar; they didn't hurt us at
all, but we _were_ scared, no mistake. And after they were gone we found
out that the baby was gone, Susannah's little black baby, it had died the
day before and mother laid it on a table in the parlor and covered it
with a sheet and they had caught it up and ran away with it."
"Oh, _dear_," ejaculated Marjorie.
"Father got men out and they hunted, but they never found the robbers or
the baby. If Susannah didn't cry nobody ever did! She had six other
children but this baby was so cunning! We used to feed it and play with
it and had cried our eyes sore the day it died. But we never found it."
"It wasn't so bad as if it had been alive," comforted Marjorie, "they
couldn't hurt it. And it was in Heaven before they ran away with the
body. But I don't wonder the poor mother was half frantic."
"Poor Susannah, she used to talk about it as long as she lived."
"Was she a slave?"
"Of course, but we were good to her and took care of her till she died.
My father gave her to me when I was married. That was years and years and
_years_ before we came to this state.
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