The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-17
NAT LAsK AND his pARRor.
A Remarkable Story Of a Rsmarkablo
Man and "a Remarkable Bird.

cr was sucn @ remarkable parro., 7 don't
think But then, Nat Lask WIS some
.shat Of O. remarkable man. He was an
old Arkansas and Mississippi River boat
man Housed 10 run between Little Rock
and New Orleans in the good old times
before the war. He owned twenty
niZEers once, and they all got their free
dom Just because Nat was such "a re-
marKahlc man. There was a good
many niggers running away about that
time, and making their run for good
Nat gave H. out that he'd like 10 see any
of his get away. For every one that got
away he said, he'd set another one free.
Less tnan a week after that one Of Mats
best niggers turned up missing and he
c1uldn be found over the border sure.
The runaway's wife belonged TO Nat.
Dc 'Suse, said Nat, dye know whar
Joe isl
% Yes, massa.'
Wall then, you ies' go long an jine
him.
so he kept his word and set one slave
free because another had succeeded in
running away, and he showed what a re
markable man he was BY setting free the
wife of the fugitive And Nat wouldn't
take back his offer either and his niggers
kept running away, and he kept setting
others free 10 match EN-, until he hadn't
one left.
Don't make no di6'nce, Nat used to
say. Nobody didn' 'bleege me to sot my
niggcrs free Butts a time comm, mahk
my wuds when all yOre niggers II be sot
free, an yo' won't have nOthln' to say
bout it neither
That was pretty stiff talk for Ar1an-
sas, two years before the war, and less
remarkable man than Nat Lask would
have been hauled up short for it. Pro
phetic, Nat was, wasn't he, Somewhat.
just about the tune the war broke out
Nat was in New Orleans taking on cargo.
On the leveC one day he was passing an
old woman who was selling parrots, when
one Of the birds yelled out:
Damn fOolr
THAT fetched Nat up standing. and he
asked the woman which parrot had ad-
dressed him in such familiar tones.
He knows me. said Nat, but l swar
never knowel him.
NAT didn't have TO wait for the old
woman to tell him which parrot it was,
for the bird yelled out It's compliments
to him again on the spot. And Nat was
50 tickled with the parrot that he bought
it. He was so taken up with his new
companion that he paid no attention to
anything else all the way back on the
trip to Little Rock. When he arrived
there he gave up his boat
"'GOin' TO quit boatiu' he said. TIN
take all my time now on to tend to this
parrot
And if he didn't quit, right there and
theu.I hope to holler He Tied himself
up TO that parrot and had no time for any
thing or any body. Then the war began
to stir things up, and one day Nat said
Thar's goin' ter be hell ter pay round
hyah fore long, an I take to the woods
He was as good as his word. he took
his gun and his parrot, Went way back
INFO the wilderness along Big Mammelee
| creek, and put up a snug log cabin, And
it was there that the parrot came out
strong. The woods were full of game
Wild turkey, deer, bear, panther The
creek held plenty of wild ducks and
! geese. Nat trained the parrot to hunt.
| The bird got so he could give all the calls
and cries Of the wild turkey better than
the wild turkey could itself, and he never
! missed getting the right call or cry in at
| just the right time. He found out that a
| lost fawn, or a fawn hidden by its mother,
| could summon its mother or some other
| deer quickly to where ii was by a plant
| i've bleating, and the parrot got onto that
| bleat only too quick. Heimitated the I'M
| earthly screeCh of the panther so ably that
! Nat used to say il was nothing out of the
common for Bobby-that was the parrots
name-to call as many as a dozen big he fell
! lows around the cabin Of an evening. and
] STU lutlu ull 40 nRullll- 1T OllCt, 1oODDA
/ couldn't only do the quacS OF duck or
/ the gabblc of a goose to projection but
/ he could manipulate those cries so that
| you would think he was a whole flock Of
| ducks or geese. So, if there were ducks
/ or geese flying over it was no trick at all
for Bobby TO let himself loose, Just as if it
was dozen or so fowl iabbering to-
| gether, and IL flying flock, hearing him
| going on, would say to themselves
] bl'b Rgp ducks must have GtvsTlPly ,rOOH llplx
down there in the creek. Let's drop
down and get a piece of it And when
they had dropped down near enough Nat,
| hid in the bushes, would tumble a half
dozen or so before they could get on to
the way they wero fooled.
Bobby liked to hunt wild turkeys best.
If there was a turkey within hearing of
him, it couldn't resist that seductive call
of his, and when it came within gunshot
and Nat put a ball in it, Bobby became a
| very tend in his gloating over its death
| struggles He would fly around the poor
bird and laugh ahd yell like demon. But
if Nat should happen to miss the turkey
after Bobby had called it up, then maybe
he would get fits. The parrot would fill
the woods with language that Nat used to
say sometimes made him sit down and
wait for the shower of fire and birthstone
that he felt sure must be sent down on
them for that bird wickednes5.
And he'd fly at Nat, pull his
hair out in lunches, and make
vicious grabs at his eyes and face At
these unfortunate times, which, luckily,
were rare. Nat used 10 lie down on his
face and let Bobby peg away and pull at
him till his frenzy passed over. Nat knew
when that was by the bird perchmg
somewhere near and easing himself up
by simply yelling, Damn fooln Then
Nat would get up and start for home.
Bobby would fly TO his usual place on
Mats shoulder, whore he would at inter
walls yell in Mats ear, Damn fOolr Nat
never jawed back. He said that he knew
he deserved all that Bobby gave him at
such times There wasn't anything too
bad for a man who miss Il his turkey.
whenever Nat would take his gun ia
go oug hunting BOBBY would Cock his
head on one side and say:
Turkey"
If MAJ would say, No, Bobby would
say:
"'Qulcll quack"
IF Nd5 reptile in the NEGATIVE, Bobby
w0Jld make the pc uliar bleating sound
o. the fawu, iuterroEatively If Nat said
lac wasn't going after deer, Bobby would
say, decjsiyely:
Bari
Turkey, ducks or geese. deer and bear
were all the game Nat hun ted, and Bobby
knew if IL wasn't any OF the first three he
was going out after it must Of course be
I bear Eus he al EaVS wBu-a1 TO know