Part 16 (2/2)
”Get out of the way, you damned Yankee,” shrieked the crackers, ”or we'll riddle you with bullets” Then they gave the far-reaching, fiendish, rebel yell
”Shoot,” I replied, ”if you want to be hung”
--”Boys,” I said, turning to the darkies, ”what's the matter?”
”Oh, boss, massa Linkuers be slabes agin We fight, we die, but on't be slabes agin, neber”
Again came the roar of rifles behindover our heads ”Boys,” I shouted, ”you are mistaken A million Northern soldiers will o at once to your homes; I will take care of you” Slowly the colored men, who trusted ain the rebel yell, again the rifle shots high in the air
”Gentle whites, ”come with me to the Hall, I want to talk with you”
”To hell with you!” they yelled, but followed
When they had sullenly taken seats, with guns threateningly at the ready, they glared atSoon a man, I had, on ood Florida cigars, and I quietly passed them around tothem, lit up, and co suit
The tender of a cigar in the South is a recognition of comradeshi+p which is a uns to the ground arms, parade rest, and the leader, an ex-Confederate officer, drawled out, ”Wall, Yank, what do you want of we uns?”
”Just as you please, gentlear, of peace, Yank”
”Sothat they were all members of the mystic tie ”We meet on the level, let us part on the square”
”So e rooed between chair and settees, the ice was broken, the ”lodge was opened in due forer any restraint, for ere all members of the most ancient fraternal order on earth, of which the wisest man who ever lived was founder
They had not known this before The white dove descended, and they promised on the sacred oath which roes no ave each other the Grand Masonic grip and departed to our ho froht ilant watch and ward about our cottage The nextmany valiant war-men in time of peace, but peace- they would have done for my protection had I but called upon them to do so
I stocked the lake with excellent food fish obtained froood sidewalks, arched by beautiful shade trees; and ht lands in our town We passed an ordinance forbidding the use of our public thoroughfares to cattle and hogs, and for a while the air quivered with the squealings of infuriated razor backs
Our valiant city -snouted swine; then ca-of-war, amid clouds of dust; doent hshare cleaving the earth near the sidewalks lined with laughing people Our great Floridian always triu-shi+p was incarcerated in the town ”pound” until owner paid charges and penned his property outside city limits
Once I saw a terrific contest between one of these long-legged, long-nosed porkers and the lone, pet alligator of our lake His pig-shi+p was enjoying a drink when Mr 'Gator seized hiator let go in a, then Greek met Greek, teeth hty tail, and all was over; the alligator and the porker lay down in peace together with the pig inside the 'gator
One day, one of our fisher of trout which far overshadowed the ht of fishes in the Sea of Galilee
On being questioned as to how he did it, he said he got one bite and pulled for three hours The fish kept catching hold of each others'
tails in their eagerness to be caught, until he had landed four barrels of the toothsoht froh quail for the entire town; and when asked how he did it, he replied: ”Oh, I saw three thousand quail roosting on the limb of a tree I had only my rifle with one ball; I shot at the lih the crack which closed when the bullet went through, and chained them all hard and fast All I had to do was to cut off the li the whole lot”
One day this ht home three bears and four deer
”How did you do it?” asked the envious aked up by a ruun, and chased the crowd around the hut till I was dead beat, then I bent my rifle across my knee into the exact circumference shape of my house, and fired The bullet whistled byeach other; buh the whole crowd, and by guwam naouw”