day, sar, Marse Fofer July wuz dar; an' he made er big speech ter de
wite folks, caze I hyeard 'em clappin' uv dey han's. I nuber seed 'im,
but I hyeard he wuz dar, do, an' I knows he _wuz_ dar, caze I sho'ly
hyeard 'em clappin' uv dey han's; an', 'cordin' ter de way I 'members
bout'n it, dis is his birfday, wat de folks keeps plum till yet, caze
dey ain't no men nowerdays like Marse Fofer July. He wuz er gre't man,
an' he had sense, too; an' den, 'sides dat, he wuz some er de fus'
famblys in dem days. Wy, his folks usen ter visit our wite folks. I helt
his horse fur 'im de many er time; an', let erlone dat, I knowed some uv
his niggers; but den dat's ben er long time ergo."

"But what was he writin' about, Daddy?" asked Diddie, who remembered the
picture too well to give up the "writing part."

"He wuz jes signin' some kin' er deeds or sump'n," said Daddy. "I dunno
wat he wuz writin' erbout; but den he wuz er man, caze he lived in my
recommembrunce, an' I done seed 'im myse'f."

That settled the whole matter, though Diddie was not entirely satisfied;
but, as the wagon drove up to the creek bank just then, she was too much
interested in the barbecue to care very much for "Marse Fofer July."

The children all had their fishing-lines and hooks, and as soon as they
were on the ground started to find a good place to fish. Dilsey got some
bait from the negro boys, and baited the hooks; and it was a comical
sight to see all of the children, white and black, perched upon the
roots of trees or seated flat on the ground, watching intently their
hooks, which they kept bobbing up and down so fast that the fish must
have been very quick indeed to catch them.