"Shut up!" cried Virgie.

"I'm shuttin'," said Uncle Billy, retreating.

Thus reassured Sally Ann continued:

"I gwine down stairs to git my dinner When I come back, I sho' gwine
kill you. Fyar you well," and Blue Beard, making a wide circle around
the carriage whip, took himself off the scene.

"Now, Mother," Virgie announced, "I have to watch at the castle window,"
and she jumped up on the bench.

"Sister Anne; Sister Anne, do you see anybody coming?"

"No one, Fatima--nothing but a cloud of dust made by the wind."

"Look again, Sister Anne. Do you see anybody coming?"

"Oh, Fatima, Fatima. It's growing bigger."

"Dar now," interposed Uncle Billy. "She's seem' som'pin."

"Sister Anne! Sister Anne. And what do; you see?"

"Dust! Dust! I see a horseman in a cloud of dust. Look! Look! He's
coming this way." By this time Virgie's acting had taken on so close a
resemblance to the real thing that both Mrs. Gary and Uncle Billy rose
to their feet in wonder.