The morning times., 1897-02-07
AARON IN THE WILD WOODS |
A STORY OF A SOUTHERN
SWAMP.
BY JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.
Copyright, 1891, by Joel Chandler Harris)
CHAPTER l.
THE LITTL E MASTER.

All tells all the adventures of the Arab
while he was a fugitive in the wild woods,
you are very much mistaken. II you will
go back TO that book you will see that
I1rnoleou, The black stallion; Grunter, the
White pig; Gristle, the gray pony, and
Rambler, the track dog, told only what
they were asked to tell. And they were
not anxious to tell even that They
would much rather have been left alone.
What they did tell they told without any
fiourishes whatever, for they wanted to
get through and be done with it. Story
telling was not in their line, and they knew
1T very well; SO they said what they had
to say, and that was the end of it, so far
as they were concerned; setting worthy
example to men and women, and to chill
dren, too
tls natural, therefore, that man such
as Aaron was, full of courage and valuable
to the man who has bought him from the
specuiator, should have had many ad-
ventures that the animals knew nothing of,
or II they knew, had no occasion to relate.
ln the book you Will find that Buster John
ana sweetest Susan asked only about such
things as they heard of Incidentally. But
some OF the most interesting things were
never mentioned by Aaron at ali; SO the
children never asked about them.
Little Crotchet, it will be remembered,
who knew more about the matter than
anybody except Aaron, was dead, and so
there was nobody to give the children any
hint or cue as to the questions they were
to ask. You will say they had Aaron close
athand. That is true, but Aaron was busy,
and besides that he was not fond of talking,
especially about himself.
And yet the most OF the adventures Aaron
had in the wild woods were nosecret. They
were wcil-known to the people in tie neigh
borhood and for miles around. In fact,
they were made the subject of great
deal OF talk in Little Crotchett day
and many men ana women, too who We're
old enough to be wise shook their heads
over some of the events and declared that
| they had never heard of anything more
mysterious; and itso happened thatthisidea
OF mystery deepeueda and grew until itmade
q very romantic figure OF Aaron, and was
| great help to him net only when he was
| fusitivein the wild woods, bat afterward.
when he 'scttled down" and turned his
| attention TO looking after affairs on the
Abercrombie plantation.
| All this happened before Buster John and
| Sweetest Susan were born, while their
mother was a grlin her teens. When Little
| Crotchett was alive things We're very diff
| ferent on the Abercrombe plantation to
| what they were before or afterward. IL
| is true he was a cripple and had to go on
| crutches except when he was riding GTistle
| the gray pony. b 1t he was very active and
| nImble, and very restless, too, for he
| was here, there and everywhere. More
| thanthat, he wasai ways in a good umor.
| always cheerful, and most of the time
| laughing at his own thoughts or at some
| thing ne had heard. For IL was well un-
| derstood on that plantation, and. indeed,
| wherever Little Crotchett was Familiarity
| known, that. as he was something of an
| invalid, and such little bit OF a fellow TO
| boot, nothing unpleasant was to come To
his ears. II he found out about trouble
| anywhere he was to find it out for him
| self and without any help from anybody
| else.
| But, although Little Crctchett was small
| and crippled, he had very wise head on
| MS shoulders. one of the first things he
| found out was that everybody was in
| conspiracy to prevent unpleasant things
| from coming to his ears, and the idea that
| he was to be humbugged in this way made
| him laugh, it was so funny. He said to him.
| self that If he could have troubles while
| everybody was trying To help him alcng
and make life pleasant for him, surely other
| people who had nobody to look out
for them must llayeimuch larger troubles
| And he found it to be So although he never
said much about it
The truths thatwhile people thought they
were humbugeing Little crotchctt he was
| humhuggiDg everybody except a few who
knew what Shrewd little chap he was
These few had found out that Little
| Crotchett knew great deal moreaboutt the
troubles that visit the unfortunate in this
world than anybody knew about his trou-
bles-and he had many
| 1t was very peculiar He would so gal
Looping about the plantation on the Gray
Pony, and no matter where he stopped
there was always negro ready to let
down the bars or the fence. How could
this be? Why, it was the simplest matter
| in the world 1t made TO difference where
the field hands were working, nor what
| they were doing, they were always watch
ing for their Little Master, as they called
| him They were sure to know when he
| was coming sure to see him; and no mat
ter how high the fence was, down it would
| come whenever the Gray Pony was brought
| to a standstill.
| 1t was a sight to see the hoe hands or
the plnw hands when their Little Master
went riding among them. 1t was hats off
and "Howdy, honey" with all, and that
was something the White Haired Master
never saw unless he was riding with Little
| Crotchett, which sometimes happened.
| once the White Haired Master said to Lit tie
Crotchett; They all love you because you
are good, my son." But Little Crotchet
was quick to reply:
oh no, father; it isn't that. IT. S because
| / am fond OF them"
Now, wasn't he wise for his age? He had
| stumbled upon the great secret that makes
all the happiness there is in this world
The negroes loved him because he was fond
Of them He used TO sit on the Gray ony
and watch the hands hoeing and plowing
and although they did their best when he
was around, he never failed to find out the
tired ones and send them on1ittle errands
| that would rest them. To one it was
'tGet me a keen SWITCH" To another, "Set
ifyou can find me any flowers
One of the worst negroes on the plan
tationwas Big Sal, a muatto W oman She
had tongue and temper That nothing
could conquer. Once Little Crotchett
sitting on the Gray Pony, saw her hoeine
laway with a rag tied around her forehead
under her head handkerchief. So he called
her out of the gang, and she came with ne
very good grace, and only then becaus,