The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1897-03-19
REUBEN'S PLUNGE"

There was certain sadness Ill Uncle .
Reuben's manner as he served me that
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 a
word of comment and went about his
attentions to the other guests of the
evening with that manner which beto- |
kenod an intense absorption in some mat
ter outside the dinner courses. When |
he put down the coffee, he leaned over
and asked in a deferential way if
would mind staying awhile-he wanted
to talk to me on "mattah which is
much wOrriment tub me, sub. " Of
course l said I'd stay, and waited with
not a 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 for
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.
81 reckon yuh m Nber, sub, bout
Majah Baxtah comm TO New Yawk tub
live?
l nodded assent l 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
mis- place could lay without ever giving
the master an idea that he was receiv-
ing charity. l had never forgotten the
tenderness Of Reuben's attentions to the
man who had once owned him, body
and soul
"Yuh member him, an I wan tub
ak yuh advice bout uh mattah consarnin
i'm. It's this way, sub. Yuh see, Majah
Baxtah, he'su 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 don bothah
bout nothin. He des set on he front
po'ch wiz he frien's an drink julips.
He look out ovah thu big fiel, an he say:
"Thah ma niggah, an than sma HOSES,
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 livin. He DIES go tuh
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 ain raised that way.
"Yuh member tole yuh bout how
he get broke up at home an come tub
New Yawk tub staht all ovah ag'in.
reckin he thought he'd fin uh cotton
crap on evan street in New Yawk, kase
he ain wor'yin much bout nothin tel
he ain got no money tall Then's W 'er
l see i'm fust, yuh member
He knows some gemmen hyah, al
NV co'se they do whit they kin tub give
i'm uh staht, but thu majah he don
know bout how tub take chances il
bus ness, an so l reckon he ain doin de!
ez well ez he ought, least l hearn tel
he ain, an 1 DIES want AK yuh bout it
1 want yuh tub look at this faw me-"
Uncle Reuben went down into somt
mysterious recess behind his apron ant
drew out small book carefully wrap
ped about with a long string Taking
) precautionary look about the room, h
laid it down in front of me. 1t was
handbook, and it showed balance il
favor of Reuben Baxter of Tennessee o
a fraction over $4,000.
That's whit l save outen thu bust
. ness hyah, yuh know, Thu gemme-
whit does me thu honah NV comm hyal
, faw uh canvasback pays me putty well
an Use been layin way some nv it al
thu time, thinllin some day might b
1 needin sumpin eff wan tub go home
Putty nigh 'nough than tub buy u
plantation, ain they?"
+ You might get fairly good plac
a with that, Uncle Reuben. "
t IAN eff had twic't ez much I coul
5 git twic't ez good uh place, couldn't 1?
i Eyes, perhaps more than twice &
good "
: "Yuh knows anythin bout thes
J stocks they sell down Wall street way
: Gemmen talk lot bout 'em one day, a
> mex day sell 'em faw twic't ez much?
d "They are dangerous things to meC
die with, Uncle Reuben. Sometime
you pay a price for them one day an
the next they are worth nothing at all.
!, "Yessuh, reckon so, but eff bougl
Il tina much wo'th one day and the
= want with nothin thu next, nobod
would know nOthin bout it 'cept yC
an me, would they?"
"No"
"Then l mus tell yuh. Yuh know
e. kahn nevah go back home tub thu Ba,
k tabs tell I've fixed it bout tina time
tux Mistah Tom Baxtah's boss in ii
wah an got him killed. Itole you 'bo1
that. Well, l wuz thinkin tina eff ha
twic't tina much money might {
back home wiz my head up"
I tried persuasion with Uncle Re-
ben, telling him of all the certain dal
gers of stock gambling, but nothiI
would move him from his purpose. T
RS was steadfast in his determination
put that 50, 900 in some sort of sDecul