... the months passed they ceased to hear at all, except the wild rumors which often frightened and distressed the anxious wife. Maum Winnie, an old negro servant, who claimed to have raised Mars Ned ( Nelly 's papa), now proved a faithful friend and a great comfort to her mistress; but Nelly, missing the old woman's cheerful talk and the laugh that used often to shake her fat sides, thought she had grown...