The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-02-09
REUBEN's PLUNGE

Reuben manner as he served me thai
night-a certain silence which you al
ways recognize as foreboding in those
whom you know well. He brought the
dishes and went away without ever 6
word of comment and went about hii
attentions to the other guests of the
evening with that manner which beto
kened an intense absorption in some mat
ter outside the dinner courses. Whe1
he put down the coffee, he leaned ovel
and asked in deferential way if
would mind staying awhile-he wanted
to talk to me ON a "mattah which il
much worriment tub me, sub. :" Oh
course 1 said I'd stay, and waited with
not little curiosity to hear what Uncle
Reuben had to say. That it was por-
tentous affair which weighed upon him
was too evident
Finally the place was empty, save fo1
my presence, and Uncle Reuben came
over to me and sat him YEARLY down.
His eyes were shining with the resolve
of some great purpose, but he approach
ed it cautiously.
II reckon yuh member, sub, bout
Majah Baxtah comm to New Yawk tub
liver"
nodded assent. remembered well
the night when he and Uncle Reuben
met for the first time since Reuben had
gone into the war as a body servant,
and remembered how Uncle Reuben
had fed his impoverished old master
through the courses of the best dinner
his place could lay without ever giving
the master an idea that he was receiv-
ing charity. had never forgotten the
tenderness of Reuben's attentions to the
man who had once owned him, body
and soul.
"Yuh member him, an / wan tub
ak yuh advice bout uh mattah consarnin
i'm It's this way, sub. Yuh see, Majah
Baxtah, he's uh gemman. He ain nevah
use tub wuk Nv no kin, an he fin it
mighty hahd tub git long hyah in New
Yawk whah evabody wuk faw what he
git. Co'se down home he dom bothah
bout nothin. He des set on he front
po'ch wiz he frien's an drink julips.
He look out ovah thu big feel, an he say:
'Thah S ma niggah, an than s ma bosses,
an thah's ma lan's Gemman, thu craps
is gwine tub be pow'ful fine. Take uh
drink. " An they take uh drink, and this
majah is happy. That's all he know
bout maxim uh Twin. He DIES go tub
town an sign thu papers an git thu
money fun thu crap. Co'se he don't
know nothin bout how thu crap come
tub be made He aim raised that way.
"Yuh member l tole yuh bout how
he get broke up at home an come tub
New Yawk tub staht all ovah ag'in. ]
reclxin he thought he'd fin uh cotton
crap on evan street in New Yawk, kase
he ain wor'yin much bout nothin tell
he ain got no money tall Then's ZEN
see i'm fust, yuh member
He knows some gemmen hyah, an
nv co'se they do whut they kin tub give
i'm uh staht, but thu majah he dom
know bout how tub take chances in
bus ness, an so reckon he ain doin des
ez well ez he ought, least hearn tell
he ain, an DIES want ak yuh bout it.
want yuh tub look at this faw me. y
Uncle Reuben went down into some
mysterious recess behind his apron and
drew out small book carefully wrap
ped about with long string. Taking a
precautionary look about the room, he
laid it down in front of me. 1t was a
handbook, and it showed balance in
favor of Reuben Baxter of Tennessee of
fraction over So, 900.
That's whut save outen thu bust
ness hyah, yuh know. Thu gemmen
whut does me thu honah Nv comm hyah
faw uh canvasback pays me putty. well,
an Use been layin way some Nv it all
thu time, thinkin some day I might be
needin sumpin eff I wan tub go home
Putty nigh 'nough thah tub buy uh
plantation, ain they?''
You might get fairly good place
with that, Uncle Reuben
An eff had twic't ez much could
git twic't ez good uh place, couldn' I?''
Eyes, perhaps more than twice as
good f"
"Yuh knows anythin bout these
stocks they sell down Wall street way?
Gemmen talk lot bout 'em one day, an
mex day sell 'em faw twic't ez much?'
They are dangerous things to med
die with, Uncle Reuben. Sometimes
you pay price for them one day and
the next they are worth nothing at all. -
"Yessuh, reckon so, but eff | bought
tina much wo'th one day and they
want with nothin thu next, nobody
would know nothin bout it 'cept you
an me, would they?'
"No."
"Then / mus tell yuh. Yuh know
kahn nevah go back home tub thu Bax-
tabs tell I've fixed it bout tina time
TUX Mistah Tom Baxtah's boss in thu
wah an got him killed Itole you bout
that Well, wuz thinkin tina eff l had
twic't tina much money l might go
back home wiz my head up :"
tried persuasion with Uncle Reu-
ben, telling him of all the certain dam
gers Of stock gambling, but nothing
would move him from his purpose. He
was steadfast in his determination to
put that So, 600 in some sort of specula-
don in Wall street in an effort to dou-
BILE it. AS was his only friend who
had in the past kept his condolences
sacred he appealed to me. 1t hurt him
when I refused to handle his money in
the street.
knew Of particularly good thing
in Cordage just then, and, having much
confidence in it, finally consented to
act as Reuben's agent in the matter,
and did His bank roll went into Cord
age. Fortune does sometimes favor a
good cause, and Cordage was the only
thing in the street which showed activi-
ty. 1t went up and up Within a week
sold Reuben's stock at a rough profit
of So, 900 and dined that night on sue
culent bird out of season.
Uncle Reuben was radiant and flew
about his place like boy. l waited for
him, and he hung over the table with
an attention that was almost devotion.
When we had a chance to talk, he in
quired all about how it had been done,
and l had to go into all the details of a
Wall street deal There was none of the
passion of gain or Of the gambler in his
eager attention, just the passion Of an
accomplished purpose. 1t was good to
see him
Weeks after, when the winter SHOWS
had come and Uncle Reuben's was a
refuge from the storm at the dinner
hour, sat silently over 'madeery "
He sank quietly into a chair opposite
and pointed across to q gentleman en-