Rose O'Paradise

"Matty's a good nigger!" she insisted, passionately. "She'd do anything she could for me!"

Seemingly the man was not impressed by this, for his strong jaws were set and unyielding upon the unlighted cigar clenched between his teeth.

"I might as well tell you to-night as to-morrow," he concluded, dropping the cigar on the table. "Your mother left you her money and property when she died."

"I know it, sir, and it's a lot, too! Matty told me about it one night along with 'er ghost stories, sir.... Ever heard Matty's ghost stories, sir?"

"No, but I didn't bring you here to talk about Matty. And tell me, what makes you say 'sir' to me all the time?"

His impatient tone, his sharp, rasping voice, didn't change Virginia's respectful attitude. She only bent her head a trifle and replied:

"Anybody must always say 'sir' to another body when she's kind of half afraid of him, sir."

She was composed for a moment, then went on:

"It isn't ev