The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1885-10-24
HE HEARD THEN COUNTED.
STORY WITH A MORAL 10 SUSPICIOUS
BUYERS or r.1,Ia

! bCfG1S OF BOUS,
Old Nose, who sells eggs and chick
ems on the streets of Austin for living,
Is as honest an old negro as ever lived,
but he has got the habit Of chatting
Familiarity with his customers, hence he
frequently makes mistakes In counting
out the eggs they buy. He carries his
wares around In small cart drawn bya
diminutive donkey. He stopped in
front Of the residence Of Mrs. Samuel
Burton. The old lady herself came out
to the gate to make the purchases.
Have you got any eggs this morning,
Uncle Mose?" she asked.
"Yes, indeed, has, Jess got in ten
dozen from de kentry."
"Are they fresh?r
81 gua'ntee 'em. I knows dey am
fresh jes de same as eff had laid 'em
myself"
I'm take nine Dozen. You can Just
count them into this basket"
"All right, mum" He counts, zone,
two, free, foah, five, six, seven, eight,
nine, ten. You kin rely on dem bein'
fresh. How's your son coming on at de
schoolP He mus be mos grown"
"Yes, Uncle Nose, he is a clerk in
bank at Galveston"
"Why, how ole am de boy9"
"He is eighteen"
"You don't tole ME so. Eighteen and
getting a salary already--eighteen, ,ct un-
ting), nineteen, twenty, twenty-cne,
twenty-five. twenty-free, twenty-foah,
twenty-five, and how's yer gal coming
on? She was most crowd up de last time
/ seed her."
"She is married and living in Dallas"
"Wall, declare. How de time scoots
awayl And yo' say she has childrunsp
Why, how ole am de gal? She must he
jess about"
"Thirty-three."
"Am dat so? (counting), fifty-free,
fifty-foah, fifty-five, fifty-seben, fifty
eight, forty, forty-one, forty-two, forty
three. Hit am so singler dat you has
sich ole childruns. can't believe you
has grandchildruns, You don't look
more den forty yeahs old yerself."
Nonsense, old man, l see you want
to fatter me. When person gets to be
f1fty-three old"
'Flfty-freeP ] Jess dun gwinter b'lleve
hit--fftS free, flfty-foah, flfty-fve, fifty
six--I want you to pay tenshun when
counts de eggs. so dar'll be no mistake
fifty'nine. sixty, sixty-one, sixty-two,
sixty-free, sixty-foah--Whew! Dis am q
warm day. Dis am de time OBJ year
when feels Use getting ole myself. /
amt long for dis world. You comes
from an ole family. When your father
died he was sebenty years OLE"
"Seventy-two."
"Dat's old, shuah. Sobenty-two, ,seb-
enty-free, sebenty-foah, sebenty-five,
sebenty.six, sebenty-seben, sebenty.
eight, sebenty-nine-and your mudder--
She was one OBJ &c noblest looking
ladies eber see. You reminds me oil
her so much. She libbed to most o
hundred. / bleebes she was done pass
a centurion when she died"
"No, Uncle Nose; she was only Ga
when she died."
''Den she warn't no chicken whon n she
died. ! know that--ninety-six, ninety.
seben, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one
hundred, one, two, free, foah, five, six,
seben, e!ght-dar, 10S nice fresh eggs,
jes nine dozen, and here am one noah
egg in case discounted myself"
Oh Nose went on his way rejoicing.
A few days af erwsrds Mrs. Burton sa.d
to her husband:
'I am afraid we will have to discharge
Matilda. l am satisfied she steals the
milk and eggs. am positive about the
eggs, for / bought them the day before
yesterday, and now about half of them
are gone. / stood right there and beard
Old Nose count them myself, and there
were nine dozen"