"Dunno, Mass Cap'n. I'd like ter stay 'long wid you."
"Kin wait on yer, Mass Cap'n; kin shine up boots, an'"--brightening up as his eyes, wandering round caught sight of the horses--"kin clean de hosses right smart." * *
"If I keep you with me you must be a good boy, and do as I tell you."
"'Deed I will, Mass Cap'n. I'se do ebery work yer say, sho's yer born."
So when the troops left Harrison's Landing, Tobe went too, in charge of the captain's horse and baggage; and, when the steamer was fairly under way, he brightened into a new creature as every revolution of the wheel placed a greater distance between himself and "old massa." * *
*It proved that Tobe had told the truth about his skill in taking care of horses. Captain Leigh's horse had never looked so well as now, and the captain was delighted. Tobe turned out, moreover, to be a very good boy. But the army is not a very good place for boys. So one day Captain Leigh said:--
"Does yer mean ter sen' me away from yer, Mass Cap'n?"
Captain Leigh was touched, and answered him very gently,--
"Yes, I want to send you away from me now, because it will be better for you. But, when the war is over, I shall go home, and then you can stay with me always if you are a good boy."
"I allus does jes' de t'ings yer tell me, Mass Cap'n."
"I know you do. And, just because you do what I tell you so well I want to send you to my home, to run errands for my wife, and do what work she will give you in the house. And I have three little children--two little girls and a baby boy. I want you to go with them when they go out to play and take care of them. My home is in a very pleasant place in the country. Don't you think you would like to go there?"
"I'se do jes de t'ing yer say, Mass Cap'n. Ef yer tells me to go, I'se go. An' I'se jest do ebery word the missus say, an' I look af'r de chillens de bes' I knows, ontel yer comes dar. On'y please come right soon, Mass Cap'n."
And, as the captain left the tent, Tobe laid his head upon his arm and cried as if his heart would break.
Captain Leigh found a brother officer who was expecting to go home on a furlough, and who readily agreed to take charge of the boy in whom his friend was so deeply interested.