The Osceola times., 1886-10-16
the dark recesses Of the river. T

Il
Suescnes o,or out upon a plank, puts his cap
over ms eyes, and is lost in pleasant
feverle. The sun beams down upon
MN with seorching force, but he heed,
IL not The tapping of the waves
| against the docks is like Eolian mps;o
IN his ears. A vagrant dog snuffs "A
MN curlously; he merely remarks.
N way fom dar," but does not move
ms eyes gradually close and soon !.
,Men-authentlcated snoring tells that he
Is IN the land of dreams.
The melon of his heart is not the
ooughten melon, however, nor vet tbs
one that is given to him. 1t il the
Meion That has not yet been plucked
| from tne vine. The air is free. so 4. In.
ue" ana the rain, so should the melon
De, he argues, rs it has grown throuch
these agencies, combined with an inci.
uehtal occupation Of some ones rich
ana cultivated soil. So he proceeds Ia
gather ms share of it in. He loves Ia
reap II IN the dark of the moon. when
ne can not be told from the shadows
that iurk IN the field, for he has a we'll
rooted objection to giving entertainment,
IN MS sooty person TO a wrll-directeJ
load OF bird-shot He selects about fen
or eleven r. m. as the time and gener.
ally goes alone. In such an enterprise
more than one is an unwieldlv crowd
lie cautiously skirts the field first To see
II any one is on the skirmish line. Find.
ing no pickcts out in the shape of speci.
mems Ot the canine race, he lightly
Chambers over the fence and is in the
garden OF Eden. The negro is an ex-
pert IN melons. He rarely makes .
mistake. lie can tell the ripe from the
unrlpe with an almost certainty of
touch. If he does make a mistake he
cares nothing for it. There is nothing
small about Sambo, and to obtain pne
perfect one he viii break twenty others
without a pang. This. too, is of prac-
teal benefit to the farmer, for il saves
him the labor of breaking them up for
his swine and cattle. There has al.
ways been doubt in my mind, how
ever. whether he fully appreciates it.
Sambo rarely eats the melon in the
Held where he obtains IT, He generally
retlres and deyours it along The road
side, ''to hab de law on his side" as he
sagely remarks. II his appetite is not
satlatod he climbs back again and helps
himself to another. and so on ad nall-
scum. lie rarely takes stolen melon
home. Cause whyP He amt "gwine
Ter 'cou' age de chillen in stealn'." lie
Is very thoughtful in his paternal and
family relations. As he very truly re-
marks; "Ef de ole oman want one, she
know whar ter git hit. ="
Somewhere in the white sand by the |
solemn sea there grows melon called |
the pine melon. 1t is harder than the
way of the transgressor, ard unfit for |
any purpose that know of But it in |
outward appearance is the perfect pat
tern of splendid watermelon, and |
many there be that have been fooled |
thereby A friend of mine, who keeps |
a place where the worm that never |
dieth is given local habitation and a
name, had one given unto him and he |
placed il at his front door. II was
about month before the most venture |
some melon could possibly hope to get |
ripe. OF course, it attracted an i'm |
mense crowd, with Africans largely in |
the majority. Big and little, of all
shapes and sizes, all colors, from mud |
to molasses and from clay to ink, the |
negroes gathered around it. They |
gazed at it with respectful awe, mingled
with wistful alteration. They patted it
on the back and petted it with tremb-
ling hands. They talked to it and to
each other. what you doin' dar,
melon' Don you know tain't yo sun
up yit?n Wun'ner EFF dat's real mill
yum, Mariar?" BLESS my soul! Don
wish had 'imn At nightfall, when
my friend went to take It in it was
gone. Some coon. slyer and bolder
han the rest, had gathered it in as
icn gathercth her chickens. and it was
1nown of that place no more. What a
iableau it must have been when the
,aptor put knife TO his prize.-Hamii-
Ton JdU, IN CHICAGO Herald.