The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-09
From Life on the Mississippi" by Ma

From Life on the MISSISSIPPI, by MAIN
Twain.
y Ut you know young person can
wait very well when he is in
~ hurry to find a thing out. we
! talked it over. and by and by Jim said 1t
was such black night, now, that 1t
wouldn't be no risk TO swim down to the
big raft and crawl aboard and listen
they would talk about Cairo. because
they would be calculating to go ashore
for a spree. maybe; or anyway they
would send boats ashore to buy whisky
or fresh meat or something. Jim had a
wonderful level head, for a nigger he
could most always start a good plan
when they wanted one
| stood UP and shook my rags off and
jumped into the river and struck out for
the RATS light. BY and by, when I got
down nearly to her, | eased up and went
slow and cautious. But everything was
all right-nobody at sweeps. So | swum
down along the raft till | was most
abreast the camp fire in the middle
then / crawled aboard and inched along
and got in among some bundles of
shingles on the weather side of the fire.
There was 10 men there--they was the
watch on deck, of course. And a mighty
rough looking lot, too. They had jug
and tincups, and they kept the jug NOV
ing. One man was singing-roaring you
may say; and 1t wasn't nice song-for
a parlor, anyway. He roared through
his nose, and strung out the last word
of every line very long. When he was
done they all fetched a kind of Injun
war whoop, and then another was sung
1t begun
There was a woman in our town.
In our town did dwed'l (dweD,
She loved her husband dear-i-lee,
But another man twyste as wedl.
Singing, too, rioo, riloo, riloo,
Ri-too, riloo. riay-e,
She loved her husband dear-i-lee,
But another man twyste as wed1
And so on-14 verses. 1t was kind of
poor. and when he was going TO start on
the next verse one of them said it was
other one said, "Oh give us a rest.' and
another told him to take walk They
made fun of him till he got mad and
jumped up and begun to icuss the crowd,
and said he could lam any thief In the
lot.
They was all about to make a break
for him. but the biggest there. jumped
up and says:
Set whar you are. gentlemen. Leave
him to me; he's my heat
Then he jumped up in the air three
times and cracked his heels together
every time. He flung off a buckskin
coat that was all hung with frnges, and
says. You lay there till the chawin
ups done" and flung his hat down,
which was all over ribbons and says
You lay there till his sufferin's over"
Then he jumped up in the air and
cracked his heels together again and
shouted out:
''Whoo-oop! I'm the original IRON
jawed. brass-mounted, copper bellied
corpse maker from the wilds of Arkan-
saw! Look at me. I'm the man they
call Sudden Death and General Desola-
ton. Sired by hurricane, dam ed by an
earthquake, half brother to the cholera
nearly related to the smallpox on my
mothers side! Look at me! take 10
alligators and barl of whisky for
breakfast when I'm in robust health, and
bushel of rattlesnakes when, I'm ailng
[ split the everlasting rocks with my
glance, and I squench the thunder when
| speak! Whoo-oop. Stand back and
give me room according to my strength
Blood's my natural drink, and the walls
of the dying is music to my ear! Cast