The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1892-06-03
VOL. XXXVII---NO. %.

And Solomon, in weak voice, ex-
claimed: Fur marcy sake, pull dis
hyar fool often me He's got me by
the froat SO tight | skeercely kin
breaver'
Finally the tent was dragged away,
and there on the ground lay Solomon
with David ''holdin' onter him like
grim deaf true enough.
What do you mean, you black
rascal - cried. What are you try
ing to kill Solomon for p
"What Solomon 90 he asked, in a
bewildered way. II 'ain't seen no
Solomon.
''This is Solomon" l cried, land
you have nearly strangled him to
death. What do you mean by all
this -
II clare ter grayshus, Marse Will
liam, 'ain't laid eyes on Solomon
sence | furst went ter sleep. / wus-
sent doin' a blessed t'ing-just a-iayin'
up dere sleepin, when, all OBJ a sudden,
sumptin' hit me kerwhop in the de
face, an den jumped squar' on top OBJ
me, an jist grab him an holt on till
you and Marse Allen Gomez
Oats de mostest big fool of q Niger
ebber did see ~ said Solomon. "Hyar
| was a-lyin' up dere like a lamb, an
he come a-pouncin' inter ME an grab
bin me by de froat an nearly choak-
in de wind out OBJ my festive organs"
well, DECLARE" said David. War
dat you, Solomon
Most in sartin it war;" said Solo
mon, snappishly
swell, look a-hyar, niggar, what
done 'sess you ter come flop me in der
face, and den come a-jumpin' inter
me like dat -
Muffin OBJ de sort ~ replied Solo
mon. Muffin oh de sort On de con-
trary, youse de one what come "a
buckin' inter me-
'Look a-hyar ~ cried David
But l broke in with Here, stop
this quarrelling Neither one of you
hit the other in the face. 1t was the
tent which blew down on you
then you were frightened out of your
wits, and began fighting each other
and yelling murder loud enough to
wake every man in the company"
They began to mutter words of
apology, but the excitement was over,
and our teeth were chattering violent
ly out there in that freezing rain, so l
cut their protestations short with
''That's all right. No harm done.
The only thing you can do now is to
put this tent up again. Be sure to
drive the poles and pins in deeper"
And my brother and l made a dash
for the friendly shelter of our tent
Back in bed and warm once more,
we buried our heads in the blankets
and laughed until we were weak.
For the sake of discipline l had tried
to appear stern and angry, but was
only able to carry on my acting to
satisfactory close, thanks to the dark
ness which hid my face. This was
twisted, 1 know, into the queerest
contortions in my struggles to keep
from laughing outright. Outside,
David and Solomon could be heard
fumbling about in the dark for the
poles, and the holes to place them in.
Presently we overheard David say to
Solomon, "Well, l nebber did speck
ter come ties dis" And Solomon re-
piled, with a strong tinge of malice in
his voice, "But youse done come ter
dat, Dough- No one can imagine
how supremacy ridiculous this dialogue
sounded-the disguised tones of
David's voice, the triumphant tones
of Solomon's.
Ny brother and | laughed till we
fairly cried, and more heartily still
when, after half an hours work, Solo
mon appeared timidly at the door of
tent to ask "Marse Allen please to
speak to his "niggarn David, and
make him give him the place nearest
to the door fur" said he, ''if dat
fool am took agin wild anodder oh dem
rabbit fits, wants ter be whar kin
git out ~