The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1897-12-23
Continued from first page,

plenty about his place as hills of corn.
As rule, the mere abjectly poor a
Southerner was, the more readily he
worked himself into rage over the idea
of "takin' away onah niggahs"
replied in bdrlesque of his assump-
ton of ownership q
why are you coming up North to
burn my rolling mills, and rob my COM
rade here's bank, and plumber my
brothers store, and burn down my
uncle's factories?'
No reply to this counter thrust. The
old man passed to the third inevitable
proposition:
"What air you'uns putin ouah Mig
gahs in the field to fight we'uns fob ?"
Then the whole carload shouted back
at him at once:
"What are you'uns putting blood
hounds on our trails to hunt US down
for?"
Old man-(savagely), "Waal, ye
don't think We kin ever lick us; least
ways SIGH felers as We air?"
Myself" Well, We warmed it to you
pretty lively until you caught US. There
were none of us but what were doing
about as good work as any stock you
fellows could turn out. No rebels in
our neighborhood had much to brag on.
We are not drop in the bucket, either.
There's millions more better men than
we are where we came from, and they
are all determined to stamp out your
miserable Confederacy. You've got to
come to it, sooner or later; you must
knock under, sure as white blossoms
make little apples. You'd better make
up your mind to it..
Old Man" No, sab, nevah. Ye
nevah kin conquer us! We're the BRAY
est people and the best fighters on airth.
Ye nevah kin whip any people that's a
fightn fur their liberty, an their right !;
an We nevah can whip the South, sab,
any way. Well fight We until all the
men air killed, and then the wimmen
III fight We, sab"
Myself Well, you may think so,
or you may not. From the way our
boys are snatching the Confederacy's
real estate away, it begins to look as if
you'd not have enough to fight anybody
on pretty soon. What's the meaning
of all this fortifying?"
Old Man" Why, don't you know?
Our folks are fxin' up place foh Bill
Sherman to butt his brains out agin'."
"Bill Sherman! we all shouted in
surprise !" Why he amt within 200
miles of this place, is he?"
Old Man" Yes, lbut heis, tho He
thinks he's played sharp Yankee trick
on Hood. He found out he couldn't
lick him in a squar' fight, nohow; he'd
tried that on too often; so he jist
sneaked round behind him, and made
break for the center of the State,
where he thought there was lots of good
stealin' to be done. But we'll show
him. Well sooh hev him just whar
we want him, an we'll learn him how
to go traipesin' round the country,
stealin' niggahs, burnin' cotton, an
runnin' off folkses' beef critters. He
sees now the scrape he's got into, an
he's tryin' to get to the coast, whar the
gunboats'll help him out. But he'll
nevah git thar, sab; no sab, nevah.
He's monty nigh the end of his rope,
sab, and we'll purity soon hev him jist
whar you fellows air, sab"
Myself" Well, if you fellows in
tended stopping him, why didn't you do
it up about Atlanta? What did you
let him come clear through the State,
burning and stealing, as you say? 1t
was money in your pockets to head him
off as coon as possible"
Old Man." Oh, we didn't set moth
ing afore him up thar except Joe
Browns Pets, these sorry little Reserves;
they're powerful little account; no
stand-n~ 70 'em at all; they'd break