"It 's a' Nindian gentleman that 's comin' to live next door, miss," she said. "I don't know whether he 's a black gentleman or not, but he 's a Nindian one. He 's very rich, an' he 's ill, an' the gentleman of the Large Family is his lawyer. He 's had a lot of trouble, an' it 's made him ill an' low in his mind. He worships idols, miss. He 's an 'eathen an' bows down to wood an' stone. I seen a' idol bein' carried in for him to worship. Somebody had oughter send him a trac'. You can get a trac' for a penny."
Sara laughed a little.
"I don't believe he worships that idol," she said; "some people like to keep them to look at because they are interesting. My papa had a beautiful one, and he did not worship it."
But Becky was rather inclined to prefer to believe that the new neighbor was "an 'eathen." It sounded so much more romantic than that he should merely be the ordinary kind of gentleman who went to church with a prayer-book. She sat and talked long that night of what he would be like, of what his wife would be like if he had one, and of what his children would be like if they had children. Sara saw that privately she could not help hoping very much that they would all be black, and would wear turbans, and, above all, that—like their parent—they would all be "'eathens."
"I never lived next door to no 'eathens, miss," she said; "I should like to see what sort o' ways they 'd have."
It was several weeks before her curiosity was satisfied, and then it was revealed that the new occupant had neither
