The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-07-07
He Rested Up. ~.. -

If all darkeys are as lazy as those with whom I have had dealings, 1 don't wonder that the "cruel over seer" was a necessity on the plantation or that he had used his rawhide with such freedom. My last experience was with little, robust old darkey known in our town as Uncle Scip. I hired him to spade Qp my wife's flower garden, a task any half active man would have completed in half 2 day. Uncle Scip said he would "drap round" and "frow up dat dirt in bout fo'ty miLnits." He didn't know but he'd come around and do it some morning "befo' breakfus, jes' fo' de ex- ercise."
 He came instead at half- past eight one morning, when everybody else had their seeds in. 1 was doing some W ork at home that day, and I said:
 "Hurry up, uncle; my wife wants to get her seeds in the ground tot day."
 "Yes, sah, yes, sah Pll hab it done in less'n no time now"
 Half an hour later I went out and found the spade sticking up in the ground and three or four shovels of dirt thrown up.
 "Here, Uncle scip," I said, "this won't do; you must work faster.''
 "Yes, sah, yes, sah; l was jes' resin up spell"
 He seized the spade, made the dirt fly while I was in sight, and in ten minutes was lying flat on his back under sn apple tree.
 Resting up some more, eh?" asked suddenly appearing.
 "Yes, sah; spadin' am monst'ous hard work !; a fellow has to res' up 8 good deal w'ile he's at hit"
 "Well, if you don't hurry up you won't get it done this day."
 "Huh, sah! Guess yo' don't know old Unc' Scip, does yo'? I'd go hide my head if I couldn't spade up dat little gyarden spot in an hour."
 At the end of an hour he had spaded a space about six feet square, and was sitting down with his back to the fence, flaming himself with his hat.
 "Get up and go to work there," I cried out of window.
 "Yes, sah, yes, sah; soon's I res up bit"
 He spaded two feet more and be- gan "res'n up" again, this time lying fiat on his stomach on the grass, his heels in the air.
 "Jess resin up little, Missus," he said to my wife who went out to see how he was getting along. "Don't yo' gib yo'se'f no worryment bout dis gyarden; hit'll be all spaded up long to' yo' need hit"
 "He crested up" steadily until half past 10 o'clock. Then a crony as tired as himself, came around, and they "rested" together in sunny cor ner of the lawn until II o'clock; then 1 went out and said;
 "See here, Scip; either go to work and finish this spading or clear out and let some one else do it." "Sho," he sniffed, wha' fo' yo' make sich to-do 'bout little job like dat? Pll git dat done in less'n no time, now"
 He seized the spade with great alac- rity, spaded three feet, and then came to the door and asked:
 "What time am it?"
 "A quarter after H."
 "Well, I lib so fla 'way guess I'll hab to start home to dinnah now. l likes allus to res' up little fo' eatin' my dinnah."
 He came back at o'clock and, after his walk of eight blocks, had to "res' @ spell" He rested nearly all the afternoon and at o'clock I gave him fifty cents of the $2.5O he wanted "fo' his days york;" and gave him his walking papers and called in 8 good sized boy from the street who spaded up the whole flower garden by o. clock