Aug.
6,
1899: "You'se a lady …. You'se fum one er de fust famblys in Ferginy, an' you ain't a gwine to work long as I'se got two han's. Ef you'll des behave yo-seff, an be a lady, I'll be yo servant. I'll pay all you' bills, an' take keer er you, 'cause I ain't a gwinter se any er my old marster's blood er workin' out like no 'count po' white folks."

OK, the dialect is pretty repulsive and I suspect this passage seems cryptic to someone who isn't a native English speaker. But really, don't you sense there's more to the story of Mattie Adams?  I wonder if her loving devotion isn't all that hard to figure out 110 years later.