Litchfield enquirer., 1875-06-17
IFrom the Atlantic Aonthly.l STORY OF A coNTRARAND.

. The nero, ana indeed Cle auInOf, or tnlS little story (since took 1t down almost word for word from his own lips) is huge, let-black, powerful negro, whose trials and sorrows have never damped the cour- age or soured the sweetness of Q singularly brave and kindly nature. first saw him in the soft twilight of a lovely summer evening, working most energetically In a friends garden, and was instantly attracted by the fact that he was not only willingly and cheerily working after hours, but was doing so with immense energy and rapldl- ty. He replied to all his masters entrea- ties to stop work and go home with the assurance that he was interested in desc yer rlspberries goin' to rain tomorrow, and dey won't be nice fur de mist's jam If deY's wet |"
 Finally he emerged, carrying big bas- ket, tin pan, hoe, and a rake, all Tn ore hand, in peculiarly dexterous manner. For Joe Mcintyre had but one arm, and with this, as l soon discovered, accom- plished much more than most men with two. He was a great favorite with his em- ployers, and equally so with his fellow servants, while his skill, cleverness, and willingness made him factotum in general. In the rosy dawn, the first sounds that greeted our ears all that summer long were the mellow tones of Joe's naturally deep bass voice, subdued to softest accents Of persuasion, as he coaxed refractory COW to let down her milk. It was not his bus mess to milk this particular COW, but it became his habit, because she invariably kicked over stool, milking pail, and milk CT, ii any one else attempted to handle her. This Is only one instance out of many, Of his happy gift of managing animals. The kindly paternal way in which he used to coax, and pet. and feed the young calves and colts would have filled an orphan child's heart with longing; indeed. the dominant instinct of the mans nature led him to delight in making all creatures happy. and I remember well the odd sight he presented one morning, shambling across field, with colts, calves, and cows all following him Tn affectionate and un- comfortable proximity, while he exp0stu- lated with them: ''Now, honeys. ye done come fur enuff yer knows Is got to go home to my dinner, and 1 earn take all on yer along. Lemme go now, and I'll bring all on ye some salt when I come back.
 The story which follows took down at different times, as I followed Joe about the garden, for he never paused in his la- bor for an instant It will be seen that his diction is peculiar, the ordinary negro phraseology being diversified by some high flown expressions which he has pick ed up a: various times, while occasionally a singularly happy and picturesque phrase will find its way into his speech. 1t fist his recollections were given in rather fragmentary form, but at my earnest re- quest he devoted Sunday afternoon to my note book, and appeared in resplen- dent attire, arrayed i'll stiifiy starched nan- keen pantaloons and showy shirt, his shOes-he wears siXteens-brilliantly pol lshed a handsome coat much too small and a large white hat surmounting all, while four gorgeous breastpins shone radiant upon different parts of his person. One blazed in his cravat, a second adorned his shirt-front,a a third the bottom of his waist coat, while the fourth gleamed like an or der upon his empty sleeve. I give his story as nearly as possible in his own words, though unfortunately I cannot claim to have preserved. ln anything like its native freshness, the racy charm of his narrative, to which indeed his tones and gestures added not little.
 Yes, mist. I was born in Guinea, and de fust ting l member IS woods, woods, woods, stretchin' away like de ocean dar now. We was happy ennff in dem days. Not as l member so much, neither. was eight years old, s nigh as i can guess, when I was took, me and my brudder AL fred. and my fader and mudder. Dey was two sisters too, but dey got away, and I suppose Is livln' dar now. We'll, beside de woods, dar was de ocean dar, jus'' like it is yere, only dar was dar, so 1t seems to me. brighter-colored pebbles on de sho'.
 We was mighty fond of goin' down to de sho', all on us, young and old, to bathe, but We young ones 'joyed ourselves de best. We went dar day arter day, like times goes wanderin' over dem days, so my collections togeddA as smooth as beads on string Well, bout our bein' took Oar was a colored man dar; don know muffin bout how he cam, only know he was dar. and spoke our language like he was one of us, which was likely he had been, though now he was paid by pirates, which of course we did n't know. He was roun' dar a long time, tellin' stories to de chil'en, and talkin' eberlastin' wid de grown-up folks. till he got mos of de lead in Africans under his belief (Guinea, you know, mist. is in Africay; so that's why iey call my nation people Africans) dat he had a ship full of red blankets and red caps and beads and sich. Pears like de fus't ting cl'ar like picture to my mind Is follerin' on, a lot of us. .chii CT, parents, old folks, and all, fro de woods, follerin' on, I say, jess like birds charmer. By and by we see de sea shinin', and dar shore enuff was de ship, white sails spread, aud goin' softly up and down on de waves, like she was dancin' or courtesyin'. Den dis yer man turns roun', and he makes a speech. He seen dey was lot of old folks along, for dey was covetuous of de beads an caps an red stuffs, as we'll as de rest; an he tuck mighty good keer to let dem old folks know he had mt muffin fur dem.
 Finally we got aboard de ship, and we was tuck down to a place dat was all lit off wid lookin' glasses and colored lights and beads and red and yellow stufs hang- in 'roun'. A gorgerer place never saw. We all got in dar, and den he tole us to stand up close, and den when we was all fixed de t'iIgs would be give out to us So he got us till VIC YVES all settin' by, ex- pectin' of great treasures. an all dis time he was edgin' hisself to de do. All of a sudden like streak of lightnin' he jump ed cut, an de do was shut on us. De ole uns of us saw den how twas, an of all de jumpin' an boltin' an hollerin' an roarin' dar ever was in dis world, you bet dar was muffin like what was on dat ar boat Some of dem big double tinted African men struck de ship like dey'd break it in two.
 Iva n't no use, we could nit git out, and fore many minutes was over we felt de ship movin' over de water. I've heerd since, she hung about, de sho', skirtin'
 rom Africay a good while, 'fraid of anodder ship huntin' of her, and that it
 was about two months fore we got con-
 pass right, and off for de United States. Elf de ship had been caught, dey'd have fastened us all togedder wid big ball chain
 handcuffs an pitched us overheard. Twas
 bad time, anyhow; we was packed so
 close we could n't hardly breathe, and de
 food, beef an sich, was forked in to us
 fro de raiis. Oar was fghtin' den. you
 bet. Elf 1t had n't ha' been fur my big,
 double-j' 'inted brudder Alfred, we'd ha'
 died, fader an mudder and me. He fit
 de others and saved enuff to keep us alive.
 Dey was good many deaths, more n half;