Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1839-11-28

'ONAiHAN SLICK IN NEW YORK. |
To MIR. ZEpuANiAu SLICK, Justice of Ire Peace.
and Deacon fMe Church, oper tie Heaihers-
field, IN The State Of Connecticut.
THE DINNER To mR. SLICE.
"Wal, see you've found the way, cousin
Slick" SEE he. "Mary, my dear, is dinner
ready2" She hadn't time to speak before two
great doors slid into the partition, and there
was another room jist as much like the one we |
was in, as two peas in pod. A table was
sot in the middle of the room, all covered |
with rale china dishes, and first-rate plass
tumblers, and silver thing to set the pepper
box in; you haint no idea how stilish it was.
But as true as You live, there stood the ctarnal
niger close by the table as large as life. l
did mt know what to make on il, but seq tn
myself, if cousin Johns got to be an aboli-
ZIONIST and expects me to eat with a nigger.
he'll find himselfmistaken, I'll be darned to
darnation If he don't! But needn't Il pot so
wrathy, the critter didn't offer to set down.
he only stood there to get any thing we wan
ted.
''DO you take Verminsilly, Mr.. Slick -
says Miss Bebee, biting off her words as ifshe
was afraid they'd burn her. With that she
took the knife off one Of the dishes, and BEGAN
to iadle out some soup with n great silver dip
per, as bright as new fifty cent piece.
"No thank you," says .'but iii take some
ofthat are soup instead, if you've no obicc-
ton The crttcr was jist beginning to puc-
ker her mouth again as if she'd found out
something to poke fun at, but cousin John
looked at her so etarnal cross that She was
glad to choke in. suppose cousin John see
that felt dreadful uneasy, so he said, kind a
coaxing. "She meant verninsilly soup, cou-
s!a Slick. Let her help you to some, Pm sar-
tin you'll like it,
"Wal," says 1, ..Idon't care if do So
l took up queer looking spoon that lay by
my plate, and tried to eat, but, all could do.
the soup would keep running through the
spoon into the dish agin. / tried and tried to
git one good mouthtul, but might list as
well have determined to dip UP the Connect
cut river in sieve, and the most / could git
was two or three sprangles of little whit
things that stirred up from the bottom of the
plate, that didn't taste bad, but to save nv life
I could'n make out what they were made out
Of. AFTER ia been fishing and diving ever so
long, trying to git one good spoonful, so
that could tell what it was, looked up. and
there was the niger showing his teeth, and
rolling about his eyes, like black cat in the
dark 1t made me rathy, for surmised that
he was larfing to see me working so to git a
nou.hful of something to eat. | could mt
hold in any longer, so Jumped up and flung
down the spoon upon the floor, as spiteful as
could be, and seq to the niger, sez /, ssWhat
do you stand grinning at there, woolly
head; go and git me spoon that haint got
no Sits in it, I'd as lief eat with rake as that
thing 2"
"Ha, Ia, haw, larfed out the eternal black
yarmint, al thought you would not make the
fork hold.''
With that Miss Bebee giggled right out,
and cousin John looked as if he would a burst
TO keep from larling too.
"Stop your noise, sir" says he to the mig
ger, ''pick up the fork, and give Mr.. Slick "a
spoon"
begun to feel awful streaked, I can tell
you but | sot down agin, and took up the real
up by my plate, and begun to cat, without
saying word, though I'd given silver
dollar if they would let me got up and lick
ed the niger.
Wal, arter I'd got good mouthful of the
soup, couldn't make cut what it was made
OF, for l could mt remember of ever seeing the
name Miss Bcbee called it by, in the dictiona-
ry. Maybe its Latin, says to myself, and
tried to think over what it could mean, and if
nobody had told me what the definition was
In the Latin school which you sent me to
there in Weathersfeld. Vcrninsilly! Yer
minsilly Verminsilly kept a running through
my head all the time. | knew what silly
meant well enough and then it popped into
my head, all at once, that pernai1r comes from
Latin rernlis, which means worms. Worm
soup! my gracious, the very idea of it made
me feel awful bad at the stomach. But |
might have known it by the looks, and /
should if I'd ever heard of such d thing, for
the little slim critters swimming round in the
liquor looked as much like angle worms billed
down white as could be. AFTER | found out
what it was made of, / rather guess they
didn't catch me eating any more OF their
yerminsilly soup--so | pushed it away half
:cross the table, and wiped my mouth purity
considerable with my pocket handkerchief
The Niger took the whole ont away, and |
declared was glad enough to git rid Of it.
"What on arti have they put this towel
here for " says to myself; and then stole
got enc, OK If they only gave towels to conpa-
ny. Cousin John had one just like mine, but
he'd spread il out on his lap, so jist took up
mine, and covered over my carsameres too.
Considering there was no onions on the Ia
bic, made outa purity fair dinner. | was be-
ginning to think about moving, when the mig
ger brought lot of blue glass bowls about
half full Of water, and sot one down by each
of us. What they could be for hadn't the
least notion, but kept bright look out TO
sac what cousin John did, and when saw
him dip lIis fingers into his bowl, and wipe
'em on aort Of Q red towel which the niger
brought along with the bowls, jist went over
the same maneuvre as natural as life.
Wal, while We were talking about the banks
and Gen. Jackson's dying off 80, that coot of
Il nigger cleared the table right off as slick as
i whistle, and afore l hardly knew what the
fellow was up 10, he come along and set down