The story of my life ; or, The sunshine and shadow of seventy years / by Mary A. Livermore ... with hitherto unrecorded incidents and recollections of three years' experience as an army nurse in the great Civil War, and reminiscences of twenty-five years' experiences on the lecture platform ... to which is added six of her most popular lectures ... with portraits and one hundred and twenty engravings from designs by eminent artists ...

FIRST APPEARANCE OF AUNT AGGY.

165

"I've hearn Gran'ma talk, an' she tells that Pa was
powerful lazy when he was a boy, an' you can't deny but
he's lazy now, an' yet folks about here think he's a mighty
smart man. I reckon I'll make a heap sight smarter man
than he is."
Every accent and interjection of derision followed Dick's
announcement; and Jenny was gathering herself up for
another broadside, when Aunt Aggy put her head within
the door, with the air of an African princess.
"Chillun! youah ma 'specs yo's makin' heaps o' trouble
for dis yer lady, an' says you mus' all tote yersel's off to bed,
an' say youah pra'rs, an' go t' sleep. Heah, Car'line " -
accent on the last syllable--to the mulatto girl who had
followed behind her, "take Miss Lily an' Mas'r Jim to dar
Ma's room, an' ondress 'em. Lor' bless youah little soul!
does you love youah po' old mammy?" Lily leaped to her
shoulder, and wound her tiny arms about the black woman's
neck, and kissed her again and again most affectionately.
Immediately Jennie and Jamie sprang into her arms also,
compelling Aunt Aggy to be seated, and even Dick forgot
the endless discussion of his laziness, and forced his way to
a seat on her knee, at the same time whispering in her ear,
" You'll bake me 'nother ash-cake in your house, won't you;
Mammy?"
"Yes, dat I will, honey; lots on 'em, an' for all you
chillun;" was her answer, beaming tenderly on the little
group, and nodding significantly. I was astonished beyond
measure to see white children so fond of this black nurse,
for I was much afflicted with colorphobia in those days, and
was reluctant to shake hands with colored people. Aunt
Aggy was the foster-mother of two of the children, and had
been the nurse of all. To all of them she was " Mammy
Aggy" when they addressed her, and "Aunt Aggy" only