OLD BILLY

THE gin-house on the plantation was some distance from the house; and
in an opposite direction from the quarters. It was out in an open
field, but a narrow strip of woods lay between the field and the
house, so the gin-house was completely hidden.

Just back of the gin-house was a pile of lumber that Major Waldron had
had hauled in build a new pick-room, and which was piled so as to form
little squares, large enough to hold three of the children at once.
During the last ginning season they had gone down once with Mammy to
"ride on the gin," but had soon abandoned that amusement to play
housekeeping on the lumber, and have the little squares for rooms.
They had often since thought of that evening, and had repeatedly
begged Mammy to let them go down to the lumber pile; but she was
afraid they would tear their clothes, or hurt themselves in some way,
and would never consent.

So one day in the early spring, when Mammy and Aunt Milly were having
a great cleaning-up in the nursery, and the children had been sent
into the yard to play, Chris suggested that they should all slip off,
and go and play on the lumber pile.

"Oh, yes," said Dumps, "that will be the very thing, an' Mammy won't
never know it, 'cause we'll be sho' ter come back befo' snack-time."

"But something might happen to us, you know," said Diddie, "like the
boy in my blue book, who went off fishin' when his mother told him not
to, an' the boat upsetted and drownded him."