Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-12-22

er, gran'dadl She's with dozen o. deze
heah white-boy w'ps she is ~
Inc last thing Nose heard as Duke de-
scended the levee that morning, was the
crack of the new whip and he said, as he
hlled his pipe ode idee o. dat little tar
baby o mine fetchin' me a Christmas off p
IL was past noon when Duke got home
again, bearing upon his shoulder, like a
verltable little Santa Claus himself, a half,
hlled coffee-sack, the joint result of his
service IN the market and of the munifi-
cence of its autocrats.
The latter had apparently measured their
gratultles by the size of their beneficiary.
as Vnelr gifts were very small. Still, as
Gne little fellow emptied the sack upon the
Ioor, they made quite tempting display
There were oranges, apples, bananas, sew
eral OF each; bunch of soup-greens,
scraps of fresh meat-evidentlv butch, RS
trlmmings"-odds and ends of vegetables;
while in the midst of the melee three live
CRABS struck out in as many directions for
freedom.
They we're soon landed in pot while
Nose, who was really no mean cook was
preparing what seemed a sumptuous mid
dav meal.
Late in the afternoon, while Nose nod
ded in his chair, Duke sat in the open door
way, stuffing the last banana into his lit
tie stomach, which was already as tight as
a kettle-drum. He had cracked his whip
until he was tired, but he still kept
cracking it, He cracked it at every fly
that lit on the floor, at the notes that float
ed into the shafts of sunlight befo re him.
at special knots in the door-sill, or at moth.
ing, as the spirit moved him. A sort of
holiday feeling, such as he felt on SUNDAYS,
had kept him at home this afternoon. If
he had known that to be little too full of
good things, and little tired of cracking
or footing, or drumming, was the happy
condition of most of the rich bows of the
land at that identical moment, he could not
have been more content than he was. If
his stomach ached just little he thought
of all the good things in it, and was rather
pleased to have it ache-just the little. 1t
accumulated his realization of Christmas
AS the evening wore on, and the crabs and
bananas and molasses candy stopped argu-
ing with one another down in his little
stomach, he found himself thinking, with
some pleasure, of the pan of scraps he was
to get for his grandfather and he wished
for the hour when he should 60. He was
glad, when at last the old man walked with
a start and began talking to him.
Il been wushin' you'd week up an talk
/ gran'lad he said, "caze | wants ter ak
yer what's all dishere dey say bout Christ
mus When l was comm long ter day,
stopped in big chuch, an dey was a
preacher.Anan standin' up wild white
night-gown on, an, he sch dishere's our
Lords birf day heerd i'm sch it mysef.
Is dat so =
Goose it is, luke Huccome you ak me
sech ignunt questions Gimme dat Bible,
| -. > l. ANA raa1 Vn,, Gonna 'liuiot, ~
Nose had been a sort of ley-preacher in
his day, and really could read little, spell
ing or stumbling over the long words.
Taking the book reverently, he leaned for
ward until the shaft of light fell upon the
open page; when, with hating speech, he
read to the little boy, who listened with
open-mouthed attention, the story of the
birth at Bethlehem.
Gan look heah, luke, my boy, he said
finally, closing the book, hits been on
my min all day ter tell yer l amt goin
fishin no mo- tell de hghwater come back
You heah Gaze yer know somebody's
chickens ,nought come an pick up de bait,
an I'd be 'bleeged ter kill EN- ter save EN-,
an we amt gwine do dat any mo, me an
you You heah, luke" Duke rolled his
eyes and looked pretty serious.
"Yassir, heah, he said.
| Az
gain ON de Lords birf -day-yer heah boy
wild Cords sunshine kiverin us all over,
an my han layin on de page. Heah lay
yo' little han on top o mine, luke, an
promise me you gwine to be a square man,
so hep YOU. OATS it. Say it out loud, an
yo' oil gran dad he done said it, too. Wrop
up dem fishiil' lines, now, an throw EN- up
on de rafters. Now come set down heah,
an lemme tell yer bout Christmas on de
OF plantashun. Look out how you pop dat
whup crost my laig OATS a reg lar
horse-hy-killer, wild coal o fire on 'er tip.
Duke laughed.
"Now han me live coal fur my pipe.
Dishere tobacco you brung me, hit smokes
sweet as sugar, boy. Set down, now, close
by me-so."
Duke never tired of his grandfather
stories, and he crept up close to the old
mans knee as the story began.
''When de big plantashun bell use ter
ring on Christ mus mornin all de darkies
had to march up ter de greet house fur dey
Christmas Gifts an US what wicked at dc
house. we had ter stan in front o. de fiel
hams An after ole marster axed bless
in. an de strin ban play, an we all sing q
sopg-air one we choose-boss, he'd cal
out de names, an we'd step up, one by one
ter git out our presents an Ell we'd walk
too shame faced ur too 'bovelsh, he'd pass
Joke ON u.s. ter set ev'ybody laughin'.
II ricollec' one Christmas time | was
coffin yo gran'ma. done had been coffin
'er two years, an she helt 'er head so higt
was 'feerd ter speak, An when Christ
mus come an ! marched up ter git my
present, ole marstef gimme my bundle an
/ started back, GRIMM lax a chessy-cat
an he calf me back an he say ,hol on
Moses, he say, 4 got mother present fun
YOU terday. Heah's finger-ring | got flu
you, an Of it don't fit you, l reckon it'll
fit zephyr'-you know yO' gran'ma was
name Zephyr. An wid dat he run M mn
thumb in lis pocket an fotch me out a III
tie gals ring"
"a gop ring, gran'dad ?"
''No, boy, but silver ring-ginniwin'
German silver. Well, | wusht you could
o. heerd dem darkies heller an laugh An
Zephyr, eff she hadn't o been so valley
she'd O. been red as dat sky yonder, de wal
she did blush buff"
"An' what did you do, grandad ?"
"Who, me Dey waI'n't but one thing
for me to do. l des gin zephyr de ring
an she ak me is l mean it, an'-an' az
her is she mean it, an we bofe say-nont
o. yo' business, what we say What
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