The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1925-10-08
SMILIN' THU
BY GORDON COOPER
Copyright 1925 BY Gordon Cooper
THE NIGHT BLOOMING
SERIOUS

An uOan KNOW no sCieHbIliChSg
Or rithmetics an such.
But wen hit comes ter money,
Dis niger amt no fool;
An kin spend hit jes' ez easy
Ez de folks whut went ter school!
#s#4A*
A farm wagon loaded with water
melons stopped at a corner opposite
Mercer University campus Doc
Bloom, gardner and preacher,
Strengthened up from the flower
bed in which he was working and
viewed the melons like a bird fas-
cinated by a snake. He seemed to
forget what he was doing, and
stood leaning on his rake, moisten-
ing his lips with his tongue as he
gazed with hungry eyes. And it
was hot day, too!
A hurley negro farmer sat en-
throned on the wagon seat, and be-
side him a diminutive piekaninny
whose perpetual grin showed his
Joy at coming to the city. The
elder negro climbed down and
hitched his horses while he deliver
ed orders to the little pickaninny,
who vas apparently his son.
Now yo' stay on dat Vaughn
vile All goes inter Miz. Hillston's
an see how many desc MELONS
she want An keep yo' mouf shet!
Does ennybody ak yo' ennything
doan try ter ans'er EN-. Jes' keep yo'
mouf shet! Cause ev'y time yo'
opens yo' mouf folks finds out how
much sense yo' amt got Ah'll be
back in a mint, an ef ennybody
wanter buy melons dey kin wait
twell All gifts back.
With that he started for the side
entrance of Mrs. Hillstons palatial
residence. But at the gate he stop
ped and delivered parting niunc-
ton to the still grinning piekaninny;
"Now yo stay right dere! All doan
want nobody findin out how big a
fool yo' isl"
Doc Bloom took this all in. Huh!
Dat boy must be ijut!" And then
on further reflection, But dat doan
keep i'm frum tellin' how much de
melons isp So he dropped his rake
and ambled across the street.
The melons were Of the Rattle
snake variety, with the green and
whitish stripes decorating their
lengths with cooling colors Of invi-
tation. Some of them still had the
earth clinging to them where the
rains had splattered it Evidently
they had been picked but . short
time.
Doc thumped several Of them The
resonant thuds bespoke for them,
firm and meaty hearts. His mouth
was fairly watering. How much de
melons wuth?" he asked, looking UP
at the pickaninny.
The little fellow didn't reply, but
his grin widened.
Doc waved toward the rattle
snakes" "How much?" he asked in
a louder voice
The piekamnny still remained 81
lent but his grin widened to such
an extent that his mouth gave the
grotesque appearance that his throat
was cut.
Due clucked in annoyance "Ah
reckons yo' is a fool, aft ALL" he
snorted and learned against the wa
gon to await the return of the
owner
Presently the piekaninnys daddy
appeared, and before Doc could
speak, the little fellow piped up,
"Hey, Paw! Dis man find out Abs
fool aft all An All didn say
nuthin' ter i'm atalll'
His daddy frowned like a thunder
cloud, but Doc saw the humor Of
the thing and broke into outlaws of
laughter The other negro turned on
him as if in anger but recognized
Doc and relented. Amt yo' Doe
Bloom, de pastor oh de Antioch Bap-
tbs Chech ?" he asked
Docs chest swelled. "Ah amt
nothin' else but" he replied genially
And extending his hand. But All
doan seem ter reekernize yo', Brud-
der"
Dat amt yo' fault replied the
country negro. "Ah's heard w.
preach, but All amt been interiuced
ter yo' Nah names Brown Deacon
Brown frum Silver Creek Chech. "
Doe fairly oozed brotherly love
lie saws visions Of an early owner
ship of one of those alluring melons
which were tantalizing his thirsty
tongue. "Now amt dat a quinei-
dencel" he exclaimed "Ah's ies' been
a-thinkin' how nice it'd be fer me
ter come out dar an preach yo
sermont some Sunday Yo' know,
(and here he waXed eonfdential,)
Ans got weakness Ter desc eoun-
try ehechs lo' know All wuz bawn
on de farm. an All likes de eoun-
try Specially de country whar dey
grows good watermelons' And he
cast suggestive eye over the rat
tlesnakes.n
But before Deacon Brown could
answer, man stopped and inquired
the price of the melons. 1.-TWO bits,
an Ahll give yo' de pick o de
lot" said Brown, rolling several
of the melons over to show they
had no spots on them.
The man selected a melon and eX-
tended a five dollar bill in payment.
Browns face fell "Ah's sorry, Boss,
but All jes git ter town. and All
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