The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1876-01-13
They Knew Each O,hcr.

They Knew Each Other.
From the Virginia (Ney) Enterprise
The bootblack at the corner stand on
Z street was looking for customer.
he was black AZ the ace Of spades, and
rs he carelessly busted Off ms stand
with the stump of n corn brush, he oc-
easionally paused aud rolled his eyes
hungrily up and down the street.
Presently a tall, raw-boned, middle
aged man, with considerable length
of goatee, and not II little breadth of
hat brim, stopped and glanced at the
stand with some show of interest.
'Have shine, boss?" said the
owner of the stand, giving his chair a
parting slap with his brush. "Shine
'em up in half mint, sab. Youth
iist have time to glance over de morn
in papers"
Without deigning an answer the
lank chap climbed into the seat before
him.
"Whar yer a-rollin' them pants tor
was his first remark after the owner o {
the stand began to operate.
"All right, now, boss. We mustn't
muss 'em, you see. 1t is all feasible
now, sah."
"Well, perceed to business
ops a.movin', boss rs a-movin'.n
"Well, see that you keep o-movin'.n
"De people of de souf,n said the
bootblack, cooking u cunning eye up
at his customer, "the de people de souf
(another look of the eye) most allus
gives us pore cullud boys any little
feasible jobs dey's got.n
"You think Pm from the South ~
"ps from de souf myself, sah."
"Likely."
'ps from de souf, sah-ol Kaintuck,
sah."
"Indeed ~
"Sartin, boss. rs from Lexington,
Kaintuck, sab" scraping away with
an old case-knife at the mud on the
soles of his customers boots.
"pm from Kentucky, myself,s and
from Lexington" said the man, be-
ginning to look interested. $50, you're
from Lexington, ell ?"
"Jes So boss. Practically was born
dar, sah."
lJhS yuuy w as WI u lhdl'
"Nice old town, boss"
Very"
81 golly, boss, eff didn't think from
de fust dat | saw in you de rale old
Kaintucky gentleman. You've got a
good deal of dc cut of some dem law
and med'cin students dat used to be
round de old Transylvany varsity; but
yous aged little boss--aged a le-etle
grain more dan was de boys in dem
days"
"l've often seen the old university"
at was u fine old town, too. De
main street was more dan mile long;
dar war beautiful trees along de streets,
de orphan 'sylum, an de baggin' fact
rvs, de wire work, an de-
"The lunatic asylum"
ayes, boss, shore 'nutf, dar was de
lunatic sylum.n
"And the river"
cam de ribber; l golly dat fust big
bend in Town fork of de Elkhorn, up
bove de cit-practically dat was a
mighty feasible proposition for cat
| fish,
"Amazn'."
81 say, boss, practically, you never
happened to know cullud boy named
| Columbus Parsons, as lived on de road
toards war ole Harry Clay was horned
out to'ards Ashland-did you, sab ~
~ knowd colored boy named CO.
lumbus Parsons that rode old Wood
pecker against Ploughboy, down at
the Blue Grass course and won the
puss."
abe Lord love us !! Was you dar ?
De great hockey! Practically, | am dat
same Columbus Parsons what rode ole
Woodpecker an won de puss down
dar to Blue Grass"
"The Columbus Parsons | know used
to be great fiddler played for all the
balls and parties for miles around"
"Dat was me, sab. | was de boy.
Now you's a-beginnin to know me-"
"The Columbus that used to know
was great singer-was lightnin' at
all the niger campmeetin's."
"Dat was me, boss Pm identically
aud practically dat same Columbus
Parsons You's got de most feasible
mem'ry dat ever saw, sah.p
"The ColumbusParsOns that | know
went down to Frankfort and run on
the river as steward on the Bell Wag-
ner.'
"Yah, yah! You knows me-you
knows me, boss you Knows me like d
brudder, sab Wasn't | attired? Prac'
tically, sab, you's got de most feasible
mem'ry dat ever saw"
"The Columbus Parsons that |
knowed, the Columbu Parsons that
rode ole Woodpecker, the Columbus
Parsons that used to sing at camp
meetin's, the Columbus Parsons that
was steward on the Bell Wagner, that
Columb bus Parsons busted open the
trunk of passenger, stole a thousand
dollars and was sent to the peniten
tiary at Frankfort for five years"
''Practically, boss, you's got power
full feasible mem'ry, but dar was
anoder Columbus Parsons down dal
bout Lexin'ton and Frankfort--par'
tic'larly South, cross de chain bridge
dat was hoss-rider, fiddler, singer
and steamboater an he was low
flung, harum. scarum, no-account teller
guess he mout bin de Columbus
Parsons whatyou knOwed, sah."
"You think so?''
"Sartin, sure, boss; but don't say
muffin, bout de Teller heah, sab. Yol
see. practically, it mout inJure my
good name, sah."