"Now dar wuz er nudder little Fraid name Dreary; an' she wuz sad an'
gloomy, an' neber dance, nor play, nor nuf'n; but would jes go off
poutin', like to herse'f. Well, one day she seed er big flat stone
under a tree. She said ter herse'f, 'I ain't gwine ter be like dat
foolish Cheery, dancin' an' laughin' foreber, caze she thinks such
things ez flowers an' grass kin make folks happy; but I'm gwine ter do
er rael good ter eb'ybody," so she laid er spell on de stone, so dat
w'en anybody sot on de stone an' wush anything dey'd hab jes w'at dey
wush fur; an' so as ter let er heap er folks wush at once, she made it
so dat eb'y wush would make de stone twice ez big ez 'twuz befo'.
"Po' little Cheery was mighty troubled in her min' w'en she foun' out
'bout'n hit, an' she beg Dreary ter tuck de spell off; but no, she
wouldn't do it. She 'lowed, do, ef anybody should eber wush anything
fur anybody else, dat den de stone might shrink up ergin; fur who, she
sez ter herse'f, is gwine ter wush fur things fur tudder folks? An'
she tol' de little birds dat stay in de tree de stone wuz under, when
anybody sot on de stone dey mus' sing, 'I wush I had,' an' 'I wush I
wuz,' so as ter 'min' 'em 'bout'n de wushin'-stone. Well, 'twan't long
fo' de gyarden wuz plum crowded wid folks come ter wush on de stone,
an' hit wuz er growin' bigger an' bigger all de time, an' mashin' de
blossoms an' grass; an' dar wan't no mo' merry chil'en playin' 'mong
de trees an' wadin' in de streams; no soun's ob laughin' and joy in de
gyarden; eb'ybody wuz er quarlin, 'bout'n who should hab de nex'
place, or wuz tryin' ter study up what dey'd wush fur; an' Cheery wuz
jes ez mizer'bul as er free nigger, 'bout her gyarden.
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