Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-01-14

There are few of oug readers who have not heard
the Arkansas Traveller" on the violin Its eompo-
ser rather its improrisatrice is Col s. c. Faulkner
Of Little Rock, who relates the following story as
the foundation for his burlesque inspiration:
in the earlier days Of the Territory Of Arkansas,
when the settlements were few and far between,
an adventurous traveller from Of the old States.
while traversing the swamps of that portion of
Iedn'trv gets lost on cold and rainy day, in the
autumn Of the year. After wandering till evening,
and despairing Of finding habitati0n, while search
inc tor place % camp strikes trail which seems
TO lead somewhere, and alsa hears ia that direction
the noise of q fiddle. Accordingly he takes the
trail and soon discovers ahead Of him, rising above
the timber a light column Of smoke, which he
knows comes from the cabin of a squatter. As he
approaches lie finds it to be a log cabin, ten logs
high and about ter feet square-One side being
rooted, and the other only ha fcovered with boards
lie also sees the proprietor seated on an old whisky
barrel near the door, sheltered by few boards
which project from the caves, playing tune,
rather the first snatch Of tune, on an Old fiddle
After surveying the habitation and surroundings
of ~cotton-head7 children the traveller rides up
see if he can get lodging. when the following dia
l0gue ensues The Hoosier, however, still continues
70 play the same part over and over again, only
stopping to give short and Indifferent replies TO the
travellers queries:
Traveler-"Good evening, sirn
Squatter-"How dye do sir =
Tray.-~Can get to stay all night with you =
Squat-"No SIR
Trav-'Can't you give me a glass Of something
to drink. Pm very wet and cold"
Squat drank the last drap this morning
Trav.-'I am very hungry; amt had thing to
eat to-day. VIII you let me have something 10
eat?7
Squat-"Hayn't a darned thing in the house
Trav-"Then can't you give my horse some
! thing!7
Sguat.-aGot nothin to feed him on"
Trav-"How far is it to the next house.
Squat.-"Stranger Idon'r know. I've never been
there
Squat-''Its never been anywhere since I've liv-
ed here It's always here when l get up IN the
morning.
Trav2"As I ana not likely to get to any other
house tonight can't you let me sleep IN yours, and
III tie my horse to a tree and do without anything
/ to cat or drinlIz'
! Souat-aMy house leaks; there l. only one dry
/ spot in it. and me and Sal sleeps on that
Trav.-''Why don't you finish covering your house
/ and stop the leaks p
! Squat-.It's raining"
Trav.-..Well, why don't you do it when it is not
raining2"
Sauat-.It don't leak then"
/ Trav-.WeIl, as you have nothing to eat or drink
in your house. and nothing alive about your place
/ bat children. how do you do here anyhow
Squat--"Putty well, thank you. How dye do
y0urself?'
Trav-lA After trying in vain all sorts Of ways to
extract some satisfactory information from hlm')
My friend, why don't you play the whole Of that
! tune ~
Squat STOPS playing and looks up for the first
tme) u did not know there was any mere to 1t
Can you play the fiddle stranger :"
I Trav.-''l play little sometimes.
Squat-''Y GU don't look much ike fiddler (nand-
ing him the fdde.) VIII you play the balance OF
that tune p
The traveller gets down and plays the tune.
Squat-'Stranger, come in. Take half dozen
chars and sit down Sal, go round into the holler
where killed that buck this morning. Cut of some
of the best pieces and fetch it and cook 1t for me
and this gentleman directly. RAISE up the board I'M
der the head Of the bed afOre you go, and get the
old black Jug hid from Dick. and give Us some
| whisky; know there's some left yet. Dick carry
the gentleman's horse round to the shed, and youH
find some fodder and corn there. Give him much
| as he can cat. Durn me, stranger if you can't stay
as long as you please and I'll give you plenty to eat
and drink Hurry, old woman. If you can't find
the butcher knife take the cob handle or granny 5
knife Play away, stranger. You shall sleep on the
dry spot tonight.
After about two hours fddling and some CONVEX
saton in which the sguatter shows his Characters
tics the stranger retres to the dry spot,