There was nothing in common
between the two. Indeed they frequently had differences, for "Jinny"
proper is industrious, obliging, cheerful, and full of fun, while she,
"Little Jinny," was silent, sulky, and ever averse from toil.
Tom, her man, alternately petted and beat her. She, no doubt, deserved
both, for she was proud and haughty for a black gin, and as venomous at
times as a scorpion. His hand is heavy, and when he lifted it in anger
poor "Little Jinny" suffered--but suffered in silence. Her chastisements
were not frequent, but they seemed to increase her loyalty towards her
lord and master.
From a European standpoint, "Little Jinny" had little of which to be
vain. She had a fuzzy head of hair. Some, like fur, crept down across
her brows, giving her face a singularly unbecoming cast. I did not
notice this peculiar uncomeliness until she was dying, and I felt then
more than ever that she was not to be judged in accordance with our
standard of beauty--though she had many of our little weaknesses. Her
ignorance of civilised ways was pathetic, yet she was vain and
coquettish as the fairest of her sex. And her besetting vanity was
endeavouring to be a "lady.
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