The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1876-03-04
PRIMU.S And HEROD.

you! He goes mad mos every sum
mer."
One always knew when Primus and
King Herod were cemingdown the street
The boys from the levees found no better
fun than to tease them, while the Ole
slave and the dog, who prided themselves
on their aristocracy, both treated the
"wbarfrats" with fine scorn.
Bring dat rubbish to de Sunday
SCHOOL," said Primus to the superinten
dent. Gus thing you know, sab, dey'l
be tryin' to get into heaben! Dey've got
iuss dat much brassr'
Primus looked upon heaven as a re-
treat reserved for certain good "Virgin
va famblys," with their house servants
For himself he scorned colored churches
and was the most prominent member OF
the little Sunday-school, and King Herod
the only dog allowed to cross its TIRES
hold. The old fellow sat just under the
stained window, with the hound at his
feet, in a class of little boys, spelling
over his thumbed, dog-eared bible. Be.
sides his lesson, he had taken on himself
to stir the fire and help carry round the
books, and to keep sharp eye on the
boys outside. When service began,
Herod took nap in the vestibule, while
Primus devoutly joined in the hymns
and slept through the sermon. In short,
we children looked upon him as so strong
pillar of the church that, when the
Sunday-school had contributed enough
money to choose a life member of the
missionary society, Primus was at once
elected. A few weeks after, a gorgeous
parchment emitting him to this dignity,
engrossed in German text, and with col
ored seals affixed, arrived, and was franz
ed and hung up in his shanty; and /
should like to have heard anybody ques
ton his right of way into "heaben" after
that!
His little cabin stood on the sunny
side of the hill just out of town; the walls
we've literally half windows, as Primus,
who was a tolerable carpenter, had a
habit of begging odd sashes out of torn
down houses, and of cutting place for
them in his own. His cot-bed was in
front of square window, the table be-
side triangular one, and the dogs
carpet under round one from the old
church.
Over the mantel-shelf hung the mis-
sionary parchment, and beneath stood a
row of tomato-cans with the red labels
turned out; in the little shed outside
were heaps of wood, coal, corner cup
board of provisions, and the barrels OF
vinegar which Primus called his oman.
ufactory,"- be sold only, however, to
certain "famblys."
The children of these 'famblys" were
always making journeys up the hill to
see chow comFble me and Herod keeps
house togedder." If we were CHORES, y
and "nuisances," and '1ittle pitchers
elsewhere, in Primus' shanty we were
guests worthy of high honor. The ole
mans eyes began to twinkle as he saw VI
coming through the paw-paw bushes
and King Herod dashed wildly to ano
| fro (f ever a dog laughed, ne laughed
then) the fire was piled up, johnny
cake put on the ashes, and deliciou.
sausages set on to sizzle in the pan
while Primus was coaxed out of some
of his hunting stories, in which Herod''
father and uncles bore thrilling part.
cold Mars Cha'les he kept none but
de best blood of dogs; look at de muzzlt
now OBJ dis pups, and de ears, fine al
any lady's. Hi! you He-rod! you
laughin' at dat? You's muffin to com
par wild yer fader," winking aside to us
and whispering, Mus take he's spirit
down. He's awful vain pup"
The pup was older than any of us ex
cept Primus, who might have been born
with Methuselah, for all we knew. His
woolly hair was white, and hung about
his neck; his leather-colored skin erin.
kled in countless wrinkles, and the half
worn clothes which we carried to him, as
soon as he put them on, suddenly took
on look of Unreasonable age. Primus
coming like the shadow down the sunny
street, knock-kneed and gray, with his
big demijohns of vinegar, one in each
hand, always seemed to us children to
have just walked out of that tar-away
time of his fairy stories, that "Once
upon time, when turkeys drank wine,
and swallows built their nests in old
mems Boards"
HerOd, Primus, and the demijohns
made weekly rounds of the "fambly; "
they had the freedom of every kitchen
and pantry, and there was always pie,
or loaf, or plate of turkey n fixin's'
set away for them to carry back to the
corner cupboard. The old man, too,
took the keenest interest in all the affairs
of the house, from the new wash tubs to
"Miss Embly's furrin' lover from New
York" lie would trot down by day
light on winters morning to know if
letters had come from Master Joe, who
was i'll at college; or protesting that he
couldn't sleep all night for thinkin' of
dat ar debble of a chimbly, an had made
out a way to make draw" while Herod
stood by as anxious as he. In fact,
Primus talked to him so constantly of
such things that the dog, am confident
to this day, understood all about them.
st. Nicholas for March.
TIE SUNSHINE OF SICKNESS.