, 1889-01-24

night jes' o. the chickens crowed for
midnight, de door flew wide open, and
old Aunt Milly, she raised up in her
bed and say; Dat you, Almost Come
in You looks mighty cold, Amos.
Is you hongry, Almost You sies' look
in dat box under little Milly's bed and
git your clo'es what l done put dar for
you, and den look IL dat cupboard
ober Milly's bed, and you find some
whites what / done put away for you
Bout dat time little Milly gin a yell
and lit out dat window and run cI'ar
up TO white folks house fore she
stopped, hollerin' cherry jump OBJ de
way and wake up de whole planta-
ton"
Then the stories would take q turn
and animals would be gifted with hui
man voice. Br'er Fox and Br'er Rab-
bit would meet in friendly intercourse
"and set On de cross fence 'twixt de
plantations and talk bout de craps and
de news o. de neighborhood, md how
dey sot dar and listen at old Mrs. Rab-
bit sing to her chil'en;
"De whippoorwin sing when dc daylight gone
De blhckbird come to de drappin' OBJ de corn,
De bull bat sail when de sun git low,
And de wild goose Hy when de norf wind blow,
Do 'possum eat supper in de dark o. de moon,
And dc rnccoon dance by dc bullfrog's chune,
De squ'el clam high in de big oak tree,
But old Mister Rabbit, he's de man for me-"
And then: ''Br'er Postum and Br'er
Coon would meet and talk about
family matters and dey chi1'ens, and
'scuss dc reason why ole Mrs. Postum
an Miss Coon couldn't never gree
togedder." And then: Young Miss
Blackbird would start n confab wild ole
Mister Grow, and AK Mister Crow:
what makes de white folks hate US soY-
To which old Mister Crow would re-
ply:
"Ebcr since old Adams bin BON,
We bin scrntchin' and pullln' up de corn"
And so on, until it would take me all
night If told you all the old stories
and negro melodies l heard in those
bygone days.
l r%ccollect one night, after we had
finished a famous hunt, had stretched
ourselves about the fire, and all these
old stories and melodies had been re-
told n rcsung, without seeming to
have lost one particle of interest to
any of us, and certainly not TO me, a
negro boy called Loss" who hap
pened TO be with us, related the par
ticulars of u story which became much
famed. Loss, by the way, was ono of
the best mimics / ever saw, and the
grandest rascal. He raised up on his
elbow and asked old Gran, who was
lying on the other side of the fire, eff
he 'membered bout dat 'possum he
kotched dat time when do hands was
%arclearin' up de fork 6eld2"
Course 1 does" said old Gran.
What make me gwine forgit dat pos
sum, when he was sperrited outen dat
skillet, and l amt neber got satisfied
in my min how he done ita"
I'll tell you folkses how dat was"
said Loss, land l been a keepin' dat
secret for dc longest case l was a.
feared o. Unc. Gran. You see, one
Sat'day, when de hands was q rollin'
logs and cl'arin' up dat field, I was de
water toter, and jes' as l was comm
up wild n bucket o water Unc. Gran
he done kotched a pretty good size
young 'possum outen o holler tree
what he cut down, and l heard Unc.
Gran say as how he lowed TO take dat
'possum homo and mako Aunt Sylvia
cook it So | crep' up TO Unc. Grams
cabin when de hands come from work,
and | watch Unc. Gran from a hole
what done burn In do chimney Jam,
and L heerd Aunt Sylvia say as how
sho want gwine TO clean no 'possum
Satday night, sho want, but was
gwine ODER to Sis. Hannah's house to
tend pra'r meetin' she was, and away
h went outen de cabin, singin' bout
longin' for dc SCUM of Mars Jesus
voice calm her home to glory"
"Neber min bout dat song" said
old Gran, rising up, you go on bout
dat 'possum."
We'll, you see, folks, de ole man
had to clean dat 'possum hisself or do
'dout his supper, case Aunt Sylvia she
done gone to de pra'r meetin'. So
Unc. Gran no sot down and he clean
dat 'possum, he did, jesas good as any
oman. And he put him in de skillet,
and he put q whole heap OBJ live Goals
under dat skillet and on top OBJ it, and
when he done fix dat 'possum for cook
in he say to himself, he did: Now,
Mister Possum, done fix you, and III
jest drap back on dis stool in de Chin
ney r and take a nap while you's
q cookin'.' De ole man been q rollin'
logs all day, and he mighty tired, and
he hadn't more'n hit dat stool fore he
fast asleep.
Il went roun' 'mong de quarters till
bout de time 1 thought dat 'possum
was done, and den went back TO Unc
Grams house to ak him GIN me little
taste, but when l got dar de ole man
still fas' sleep. / step in de door and
say, 'Unc. CRAM Kinder low like.
De ole man he didn't say muffin. Den
| say 'Unc. Grant a little louder. IBut
dc ole mar sno' away and nod packard
and forrads and look like he gwine to
tumble often dat stool cherry minute.
Den l creep in, and l tuck dc fire stick
and poke it frou dc eye OBJ dat skillet
lid and tuck it off. U-m-umphl folkses,
fore God, it seem to me l can smell
de fumes O. dat 'possum right now.
1t smell SO good, I clar to gracious, l
feard it wake Unc. Gran up. But do
ole man he too fur gone; so | sot
down on de hath and l eat dat pos
sum 'senchly up. Den l put alt dc
bones in de skillet and put de lid on
'zactly like l foun' it, and lef' Unc.
Gran de grady. Den I tuck some O.
dc 'possum fat and rubi all ober Unc.
Grams fingers and roun' his mouf,
and dodge outen dc cabin jes in time
to miss ole Aunt Sylvia comm from
dc pra'r meetin, singin' dat same song