The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-08-07
An An U%UNSIHTTESSTTGG RRIIGG PAGE.
BY A r. SrOCTON.

The following story received a prize Olive
hundred dollars offered for the best humOr-
Gus story" in the Youths Companion.
An elderly negro man, Uncle EnOCh
by name, short of stature and with
hair and beard beginning to g~rizzle, but
with arms and body yet stout and
strong, stood back of his little log
house, not far from q Virginia public
road, endeavoring to pull his axe out
of a knotty black-gum log. Often and
often, when his stock of fire-woOd had
diminished to this one log, had Uncle
Enoch tried to split it, and now he
was trying again. While thus engaged,
there came to him his son Dick. This
was a youth rather taller and lighter
in color than his father, of ali active
and good-natured disposition, and
hitherto supposed to be devoid OF dis
turbing ambitions.
"Look a-heah, daddy" said he,
"won't yuh lemme GO to Washin'ton
mex week."
Uncle Enoch stopped tugging at his
axe, and turned round to look at Dick.
"What fur" said he. .
"Ise gwine to be a page in Con-
gress."
"What'sd at?" asked his father, his
bright eyes opening very wide. "What
yuh want to dat fur?"
"a page is n of dem chaps as runs
round and waits on de Congressman
when dey're doing dere work in Wash
in'ton, Dere'slots of .em and some of
'em is culle'd. Dey hab to be might
peart and cut around. and fetch de
congressman eberyting dey wants.
And dey don't have 20 work for 10
fifty cents a day, nudder. Dey gifts
se6enteen hundred dollars a year"
"Whatdatg' exclaimed Uncle Enoch.
"Yuh means de whole kit and Doodle
NV 'em gifts dat"
"No, / DON'T" said Dick. "Ebery
one gifts it for hisse'f."
"Yuh shu'h of dat?"
'fYes, sah," replied Dick. "I herd
1t from a man down at decross-roads,
when / took ole Billy to be shod dis
ebenin'., He was telling q lot of folks
all about it at de stoah. An won't
yuh femme 90 mex week."
The ole man put his hand onhis axe
handle and stood refectiyely.
Uncle Enoch HAD been born a slave,
and had been an honest and industri-
Gus servant, whose only failing was
that he was inclined to think himself
better on Sundays, than his compan-
ions; and now that he was as free as
anybody, he was still honest and i'm
dustrious, and still went TO church
with the highest white hat, the biggest
s~hirt-collar, and the longest coat of
anybody in the congregation. AS he
grew older, his opinion of himself did
not decrease, and he was very fond OF
Observation-Disclosures N church,
and OF giving them advice in private
whenever he saw cause for it, and this
very often III the shape OF some old fa-
BILE, which generally became strangely
twisted as it passed through the old
mans mental organism.
tLook a-heah, Dick" said he, else
gwne ter tell yuh a story. It'sone NV
ole Mashr Georges stories, and I've
heerd him tell it often to de chillun.
Dere was a mouse what lived In de city,
/ dunno 'zactly whar, but JUS as like
as not it was Washin'ton, an he went
to see O friend Nv his'n who had a plan
tation. De plantation mouse he were
glad to see de udder one, an put him
IN de chamber wild dc new carpet, an
glib him de bes' he had; but de fine gem
man he didn't pear to be satisfy wild
muffin but light bread an cohn pone
for breaKfus' an chicken an ham
for dinner; and he says, says he:
"sYuh dom cit canyis-back ducks
down heah, / reckin?'
"sNc, sah!' ses deplantation mouse.
"sNur tar'pins, stewed II Madary
wine?'
"sNo, sahl
g sNnr oysters, fresh from de bay
cherry mawnin'; nur ice-cream, all de
colors oh de rainbow; an little candy
balls, what 90 OF pop when you pull
'em; an a whole bottle oh champain
to each pusson?'
!" No, sahl' ses de plantation mouse,
aiannin' oh hisse'f wild he han kercher.
"tWell, now, JUS yuh look a-heah,
ses de udder one, gwine out on dc
poach to smoke his cigar, yuh come
p de city sometime, and when You
ase Whit dem dar tings Is like, yui
kon't be content fur to stay no NOR