"That helps a lot," said Hamilton, as he noted down the facts that the woman was a laundress, and that she worked on her own account, typified by the letters "O.A." in the wage column.
"You both read and write--or, wait a bit, I think you said you couldn't write, and that you have to get the neighbors' children to help you."
"Ah can read pretty well," the woman replied, "but Ah never had enough schoolin' to write much; mah mother was ill all the time, an' Ah had to stay home. But Steve, he writes beautiful, an' he makes out all mah bills an' things like that."
"I think there's only one question more," the boy said, delighted to find that after all, even in the house of a negro laundress who did not know how to write, the information could be so easily secured. After jotting down a "Yes" and a "No" respectively for Husband and Wife in the columns for literacy, he continued, "And that question is, whether this house is owned by you or whether you rent it."
"We're only rentin' it, sah. Steve wants to buy it an' put a mo'gage on, but Ah don't know anythin' about mo'gages an' Ah won't buy until Ah can pay the whole price right down. Don' yo' think Ah'm right?"
"Well, Lily," answered the lad, as he folded up his portfolio and prepared to go to the next house, "it would hardly do for one of Uncle Sam's census men to come between a husband and a wife on the question of their buying of their own home, would it?"
"Yes, Lily, that's all, and I'm very much obliged."
"It wasn't so awful bad," said the woman, with a sigh of relief.
"It's easy enough to answer census questions when you want to make it easy and tell a straight story," Hamilton replied, "but you see what trouble it would be for me with some one who wasn't willing to talk, and how hard it would be for any one to make up a story as he went along, and find it tally at every point in all the later questions."
"Well, sah," she called, in reply, as the lad passed out, "Ah jes' hope yo' don' fin' a single one like that in this hyar whole village."
"I hope not, Lily. Good-morning," he rejoined and turned toward the next house.
The enumeration of the rest of the village went on rapidly. By working quickly Hamilton was able to complete the numbering of the village by nightfall, and he so stated on his daily report card, which he mailed to the supervisor that evening.