[Illustration: "LITTLE MAMMY."]

How much circumstances evoked, how much instinct responded, belongs tothe secrets which nature seems to intend keeping. As a baby she hadeyes, attention, solely for other babies. 0ne cannot say while she wasstill crawling, for she could only crawl months after she should havebeen walking, but, before even precocious walking-time, tradition orthe old gray-haiblack negro janitor relates, she would creep from babyto baby to play with it, put it to sleep, pat it, rub its stomach (anegro baby, you know, is all stomach, and generally aching stomach atthat). And before she had a lap, she managed to force one for someailing nursling. It sometimes was then that they began to call her "littleMammy." In the transitory population of the "pen" no one stayed longenough to give her another name; and no one ever stayed short enoughto give her another one.

Her first recollection of herself was that she could not walk--she waspast crawling; she cradled herself along, as she called sitting downflat, and working herself about with her arms and her one strongleg. Babbling babies strode all around her,--many walking before theybabbled,--and still she did not walk, imitate them as she might anddid. She would sit and "study" about it, make another trial, fall;sit and study some more, make another trial, fall again. Negroes, whobelieve that they must give a reason for everything even if they haveto invent one, were convinced that it was all this studying upon herlameness that gave her such a large head.