The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-12-14

while yo' played ta, fiddle I also
wan. TO talk 10 W bout Noer ana bis
ark
1--we got a sore thumb ami can't
fiddle. AMI MS fur Noer. hc Will Keep
till some other time Nutum rush,u
bout Nocr.
with chat she turns on me and
looks me squar in the face, and AFTER
a mint she says;
"Icb White. don't yo' 20 to foolin
with Noor and his ark or sunthla pow
erful bad will come out of it. Dan
Skinner may feel peckiSh. or he may
be dyin but what we wants to know is
how all them critters found their way
into the ark. How did it happen that
the hens didn't eat up the later bugs
while they was walkin togetherY
Dunno
"'Why didn't the foxes eat all the
hens"
Dunno
"'Why didn't the bars eat the pigs?'
"punno.'
"'Of co'sc yo' don't and that's why
| want yo' TO squat right down yere
with me and try ana figgcr it out.
shan't never be satisfied to die till
find out how the elephants and bosses
and cattle managed to git into that ark
without treadin on the sarpints and
bugs
81 seen that her jaw was sot fur a
row." continued Zcb, but | had sold
that whisky and must Git it ont that
night, and so | told her I'd 90 along
over to SINNERS and put in the next
two nights with her on Nocr. She
looked at me ag'in, but didn't say
nuthin till was on the doahstcp Then
she p'intcd her finger at me and said:
eco right along, Zeb White. but if
the Lawd don't dun git yo' into a
heap of trubble over it then | don't
know chestnuts from punkins"
II hurried off without sayin anything
back and half an hour later was bring
in up the kegs. 1t was dod rotted biz
ness. | had to slide down a rope, hitch
on to n kcg and then climb up and
pull the key arter me. Ought to had
Il llSSNl " HtliI me- Dul llldI WASH l
one around to trust. I'd got up fo'
kegs all right and was comm up to
pull the fifth one up when Sunthn
happened. Jest as | was ncarin the
top of the hole heard growl and
n 'whoof' and big bar made a stroke
durn skeered that | jest let go and
drapped to the bottom of the shaft and
got jar that made my bones ache fur
n week.
what they calls the situashun was
this: | was down III hole and a bar
was waitln fur me to come up ana do
biZneSs with him. Yo' kin see that the
pcsky varmint had all the advantage.
lie could smash my skull with one
blow Of his paw as my head come
within reach. yelled ana hollcrcd mt
him. thinkin to skeer him away. but he
looked over the edge of the hole ut me
and growled and shifted and seemed
minded TO fall on top of me. u vTas,l't
five minits befo ] wished ! wQs hCmo
talkin bout NoPr. but wishin was no
good kept quiet fur two or three
hours aud then started to climb up.
The bar was thar. lie was thar at
midnight and sunrise and I'm tclln
yo' that he was thar at noon and ut TO
o'clock in the AFTERNOON. The shaft
was as dry as a bone. and | was thirsty
huff TO drink swamp water. The
way things was fixed that bar could
keep me down thar till | persisted,
and when he appeared as if he was
like to do it | felt that | hadn't used
my old woman right and wanted to
ask her to furgive me. Bout 70 o'clock,
while was keepin mighty quiet.
hears a rife shot above. and directly
arterward human face looks down
on me. 1t was the old woman's. She
drawed the rope up beyand my reach
and then called down:
is anybody down thar visitin Dan
Skinner who feels peekish and wants
to play checkersY
eff yo'll femme up, I'll ak yo'r par
dom says l.
'Mebbe that voice belongs to Zeb
Winter
"'She do
"'And mebbe his sore thumb has got
we'll so that he kin fiddler
"'She has
"'Then wen hev some Hddlln and
singin.'