Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1893-09-21

J
he assured US be had sent that year to the
| North via Fernsndina, and when | retired
to my bedroom figure up the total and
found 1t reached the respectable sum OF
$50 $40 melons
lie did not tell Us how much he received
for his crop. but judged from his sur
roundings that the melons did not pan
out" as vigorously as they should have
done. Perhaps the shippers or the com
mission merchants cheated the old granger
out Of the frnits Of his honest toll. was
much pleased in noticing how 1t delighted
the old cracker" To have us listen so
patIentiy-the negro and me-to his Mum
chausen tales, and the child-like air with
which we swallowed his toughest lies was
a. balm TO his troubled soul.
Al ahou; . O'Clock the father told the
children it was "time 10 go to roost." So
the grandma brought in with the aid Of
the larger brats a great many little shake
downs" sort of mattress made Of cheap
duck or ticking and stuffed with corn
shuCks. These were arranged in parallel
rows four rows OF 'em-across the floor
of the big room in which we sat. and the
children began 70 90 % bed.
They did not seem 20 need much un-
dressing, having on only the one garment
and, a. near a. could Judge, al that was
required was 10 slip % that and put on a
dirty nights gown hardly dsiinguishable
from the day gown. The eldest child was
aged about sixteen wears, the youngest
about four months.
There wa, much giEglns among the
girls and wrsngling among the boys, but
presently they settled down and there V&-
few moments OF calm, during which the
old cracker" resumed his story. au Inter
cstipg and thrilling romance anent tie
days befo' de wah" and the customary
"thousan niggars" which he used to own,
Il is 4 singular circumstance that when
the "cracker" does brag about his former
prosperity be always fixes the number Of
his slaves at exactly a thousand mo more,
no less would suffice him. This Is a little
idiasyncra-y that | have never heard ex
planned, though there must be some good
reason for Il.
The quiet was Of brief duration. The
children began crawling from their shake
downs" aud chased each other round the
big room in lively game of tag. Their
noise attracted the attention Of their
dad" he broke the thread of his story
long enough % jump up, seized the frst
child he could catch, gave him a good
spanking and shouted; Now then 20
children, jest yo 90 ter sleep right away
an don We make no mo- noise. or III wal
lop yo' every one =
The children subsidized and the old man
resumed his story. In i've minutes or less
they were at their old capers again. Again
paw pursued them. caught another brat,
wslloped him soundly, hushed the others
and resumed his sea, on the tool-chest and
caught up the thread Of bis tale a. calmly
as II there had been no interruption. This
performance was repeated several times
during the evening.
Meanwhile NAV" peacefully rocked IN
her chair. nursed her babe and spit with
precision and regularity into the ire, II
reminded me-with a difference, to be sure
of The Cotter's Saturday Night" by
Burns.
But all earthly enjoymentS must have an
M, d. 81,
shown 70 our bedroom. There being only
three chambers, one for the cracker" and
his wife, one for the grandma, and one for
the guests, the dArkey and | were both
placed in the same room. The man OF
color politely offered me the exclusive use
Of the bed, saying that he much preferred
10 sleep on the floor, rs he had an old
buffalo skin for his mattress, and with his
coat rolled over satchel, be provided
himself su excellent pillow.
soon found that my Afro American
brother was wiser than he seemed. He
had gotten the best of the bargain Decid-
edly. The bedstead was OF iron. The
mattress wss stuffed with cornshucks,
from which not all the cobs had been
long without any changing of its contents
that the shucks had become matted and
hesped into little humps, ridges and hill
locks
All night long was busiiy engaged in
shifting my spinal column from one val
ley to another between the hillocks and
bestowing certain portions of it alternate
ly in one furrow and then in another. 1t
seemed to me tina. | resembled a serpent
wrigglins his way across a roughly
plowed field.
However morning arrived on time, as it
usually does, aud We rose from our luxuri-
Gus couches to par,ake Of a second edition
of the previous nights supper, same old
FLORIDA turkey" with little more grease
added and a trite more rancid than the
night before, same old 'pone," same bean
coffee sweetened with ''long sweetniDg."
Then paid the score, seventy-five cents
for US two. to say nothing Of the "hoss,"
The darkey rebuked me gently for not
resisting the eXorbitant demands of the
"cracker' for cur nights entertainment,
telling me that sit wasn't wuth mo- dan TO
bits, sab" but | told him that / reckoned
we'd had more than seventy-fve cents
worth of fun that night.
Yes, sab" said he, ''an' did yo hear
dat nice ole grandmaw aprayin' fo' US
las nightf' "No;-did she pray for usf"
Yes he told me she was in the next room
to us. and before she went to bed the old
grandma prayed long for every member of
the family, fifteen children and all, and
concluded with an earnest petition for
heavenly blessings to rest upon .the straa-
gers ,o,thin our gates.
"An' dat meant US, sab +" said my colored
brother. So am sure we got our moneys
worth.