The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-12-18
A HUMOROUS SKETCH.
DIR. JEx'S PREDICAMENT.
BY SHERWOOD BONNER.

From Udtper'$ IrcekiH.
1t was the funniest thing that cvel
saw in my life. Cruikshank would have
gloried in it. ! wish | had him here t,
Illustrate that scene with the spirited
vigor that only his dancing pencil gives
1t was in Kentucky that it happened
that pleasant land of blue grass, and to-
bacco. and fine stock. and white teethed
girls. Mabel, my sister, had married
Dick IIucklestone, and they had begun
life i'll great contentment and little
tllree-roomed house scarcely big enough
to hold the bridal presents But they
were happy, hearty. healthy They had
two cows, ice cream every day, 4 charm.
ing baby, and Uncle Brimmer. Who
shall say that their cup was not full :
Indeed, they thought it full before Uncle
Brimmer added himself thereto-a very
ponderous rose leaf. He WAS one of our
old family servants, who fondly believed
that Miss Mabel and her young husband
would never be able to get on without
him. He walked all the way from Mis-
sissippi to Kentucky. with his things tied
up in a meal sack, and presented himself
before Mabel, announcing ailably that he
had come to stay on
but haven't any place for you, Tn
Gle Brimmer,' said Mabel, divided be-
tween hospitality and Embarrassment.
"Lor', honey. you kin jes' tuck me
aroun' anyuhar. | don't take up no
room.
Mabel looked thoughfully upon the big
brown gray-whiskered old negro, whose
proportions were those of Hercules,
and shook her head. You are not a
Tom Thumb, Uncle Brimmcr.'
"No, ma am, said he submissively,
"but I've got his SpcrH. Couldn't I sleep
in de kitchen, honey?" he went on, with
insinuating sweetness.
No, indeed cried our young house
keeper: Il put my foot down or any
body sleeping in the kitchen"
Aunt Patsey, the cook, stood by, bal
ancing a pan Of flour ON her head one
fat hand on her hip. l suspected her of
a personal interest in the matter, and
indeed she afterward acknowledged that
she thought Uncle Brimmers coming
would prove a 'blessin' to her feet. =
TboSe foot Of bnrS b,6 haop cayal ,,,.,,,
steps thaough the service of her ten
year-old daughter. Nancy Palmra Kate
called Nanky Pal for short. But of
late Nanky's services had been called
into requisition as a nurse, and Aunt
Patsey, who was fat and scant O breath,
thought she had too much to do: and so
she viewed with evident delight the stall
wart proportions of our good-natured
giant from the south
Oars de lof, Miss Mabel, she sug-
gested.
:" 1t is too small. and is cluttered up
with things already
ooh, sho, chile, dar amt nothing in
dat lof 'cep de Eaters. an de peppers,
an de dried apples, an some strings O
terbacker, an de broken plough, an some
odds an ends O de chillen's. an Lucy
Crittenden's pups. Lor'. dar amt moth
in ter speak Of in de lof.''
He can't get in at the window said
Mabel, shifting her ground.
"Lemme try" said Uncle Brimmer.
The kitchen wasa small log cabin some
distance from the house-''in good hol-
lerin' reach, to quote Aunt Patsey.
Above it was low room, or loft, crowd
ed with the miscellaneous articles emu
merated. The only way of getting into
it was from the outside. A ladder against
the side ofthe cabin admitted one. through
a little window, no larger, am sure, than
that of a railway coach, into this store
house Of treasures. Nanky Pal, who was
as slim as snake, was usually selected
to fetch and carry through the small aper-
ture. But Uncle Brimmer.
I'm pretty sho kin do it he said
squirting up one eye, as he took off his
coat and prepared to try.
We stood in the doorway as he eau
tiously went up the ladder; and after
an exciting moment he pushed himself
through the window, and turning, smiled
triumphantly.
This settled the matter. \ cot bed
was procured for Uncle Brimmer. and he
soon became the mainstay of the family.
Cheerfully avoiding all the work posi-
BILE: indifferently us an ostrich eating all
he could find in cupboards or highways
grimly playing hobgeblin for baby: gay.
ly twanging his banjo on moonlight nights
recalls thee with a smile, Tn
Gle Brimmer. | can close my eyes now
and recall him. big, shapeless indistinct
in the semi-darkn ness, as he sat under the
tree, singing,
Wish i was in Tennessee,
.A-settin' in my cheer,
jug o whisky by my side,
An arms aroun' INV dear"