The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-04-14

HAYES doubts as 10 whether freedom was all
that had been represented to him. To have
to get up early every morning, and wash his
face and hands and comb his hair, seemed ut
the moment 10 be high price to pay for
liberty.
Does / hab tub do dat ebhery mornin',
Boss?" he said, turning with look of plant
i've inquiry to the Deacon.
''Why, certainly" said the Deacon who
had just finished his own additions, and was
combing his HAIR. Every man must do
that to be decent"
Abraham Lincoln gave deep sigh.
WASHES himself Us if he's afraid the
waterd scald him." said the Deacon, watch
ing the negro's awkward efforts. Hell
have to take more kindly to water, if he
comes into Baptist total-immersion family
There's no salvation except by water, and
plenty of it. too. Now he continued, as
the black man finished, "pick up that AK
and cut some wood to get break fast with
Abraham Lincoln took the AK, and began
belaboring the wood, while the Deacon
studied him with a critical eye There was
little that the Deacon prided himself on more
than his skill as wood chopper. People
who think that the AK is Il simple, sllill-less
tool, dependent for its efficiency solely upon
the strength and industry with which it is
welded, make great mistake. There is as
much difference in the way men handle axes,
and in the result they produce, as there is in
it is true, as anybody can daub with paint
brush, but a real ax-man of the breed of the
Deacon, who had gone into the wilderness
with scarcely any other tool siian an ak, can
produce results with it III which the clumsy
hacker can scarcely imagine. The Deacon
watched the negrO's work with disgust and
Impotence.
Hadn't Oughter named sich clumsy
FOUNDER as that Abraham Lincoln" he
unused. ''Old Abe could handle an AK with
the best of 'em. This Teller handles it as if
it was handspike. If ST couldn't we used
an AK better'n that when he was 10 years
old, I'd "a felt mortally ashamed O. him.
Gracious, what job l have before me- o.
maxim first-class man out o. him."
He took the AK from the negroes hand, and
patiently showed him how to hold and strike
with it. The man apparently tried his best
to learn, but it was a perspirng effort for
him and the Deacon. The negro presently
dropped his AK, sat down on the log, and
wiped his forehead with his shirt sleeve.
"'Fore God, boss, OATS de hardest way OBJ
cuttin' wood dat l ebber seed Hill kill
me done daid to chop wood dat-a-way."
Pshaw!" said the impatient Deacon.
You're simply stupid; that's all. That's
the only way to handle an AK You kin cut
with half the work that way"
He was discovering what so many of us
have found out, that among the hardest
things in life is that of getting people to give
up clumsy ways for those that are better
In the meanwhile the boys bad gotten
breakfast, and they called the Deacon in.
Abraham Lincoln was given liberal allow
ance of fried pork, soft bread, and coffee
with an abundance of brown sugar in it, and
for the while looked as if he had discovered
that there were real, unmistakable blessings
about freedom. But he was no sooner
through his meal than the boys put him
through course of tuition in washing the
dishes, cleaning the house, and making the
front tidy.