Part 13 (2/2)

So clar de kitchen, etc.

A bull-frog, dressed in soger's clothes, Went in de field to shoot some crows; De crows smell powder and fly away-- De bull-frog mighty mad dat day.

So clar de kitchen, etc.

I hab a sweetheart in dis town, She wears a yaller striped gown; And when she walks de streets around, De hollow of her foot makes a hole in de ground.

Now clar de kitchen, etc.

Dis love is a ticklish ting, you know, It makes a body feel all over so; I put de question to Coal-Black Rose, She's as black as ten of spades, and got a lubly flat nose.

Now clar de kitchen, etc.

”Go away,” says she, ”wid your cowc.u.mber s.h.i.+n, If you come here agin I stick you wid a pin.”

So I turn on my heel, and I bid her good-bye, And arter I was gone she began for to cry.

So clar de kitchen, etc.

So now I'se up and off you see, To take a julep sangaree; I'll sit upon a tater hill And eat a little whip-poor-will.

So clar de kitchen, etc.

I wish I was back in ol' Kentuck, For since I lef' it I had no luck-- De gals so proud dey won't eat mush; And when you go to court 'em dey say, ”O, hus.h.!.+”

Now clar de kitchen, etc.

Of course before Annie got through, everybody was joining in the chorus, and the darkies were patting and some of them dancing. There wasn't the ghost of a ghost in their minds now and really we might have dispensed with the grand finale as far as they were concerned. Maxton was no longer a place to be shunned; but Mary was to go through with her act before lunch and I for one knew that that gumbo was stewing down mighty thick. I stole off once and stirred it and put it back a little.

CHAPTER X

THE GHOST OF A GHOST

THE last patter occasioned by Annie's spirited tune had died away and a sudden hush fell upon the seated throng. It was time for the great act.

We thought the impressiveness of the scene would be heightened if someone would tell the story. General Price suggested Lady John as the best raconteur of the neighborhood. Of course Lady John was more than pleased to comply. He loved to be in the lime light and to show off.

This was his opportunity.

”Ladies, gemmen an' n.i.g.g.e.rs, what ain't neither, some er you,” he declaimed, standing up on an ivy-covered stump and making his inimitable curtsey, ”I is a-makin' this speechifying at the inquest of the white folks an' if respec' is not handed to me it is also infused to them.”

That rather silenced the t.i.ttering that Lady John's elevation had caused.

”Gen'l Price is inquested me to lay befo' de meetin' de gospel of de ghoses what is thought by some to hant these here abode of plenty.

Without more pilaverin' I'll lay holt the shank of the tale.--Mos' about a thousan' years ago whin my gran'mammy warn't mo'n a baby an' Gen'l Price here, savin' his presence, warn't even so much as thought about although his amcestroms were abidin' here, the tale runs they war a young miss of the family by name Lizzy Betty. Miss Lizzy Betty war that sweet an' that putty that all the young gemmen war mos' ready to eat her up. Ev'y steamboat that come a-sailin' up de ribber brought beaux for Miss Lizzy Betty. One young man come all dressed in gold an' wid a long feather in his hat an' a sword as long as a hoe han'le. He had no land an' he had no boat but he come on his hoss a-ridin' ober de hills, an'

Miss Lizzy Betty she done tol' him she would be his'n through sickness an' through healthfulness.--But, ladies an' gemmen an' you n.i.g.g.e.rs what is 'havin' better'n I ever seed you 'have befo', ol' Ma.r.s.e Price he got yuther notions in his haid. He see no reason why Miss Lizzy Betty shouldn't marry to suit him stid er herse'f. They was a rich ol' man what didn't carry all his b'longin's on his back, an' ol' Ma.r.s.e Price he go to de sto' an' come back with a dress an' veil for Miss Lizzy Betty an' he say fer her to go put it on an' he'd fotch the preacher. An'

'twas all the po' young thing could do to git word to her beau lover.

All the comp'ny was dissembled an' de bride had comb out her har an' put on de dress an' veil, whin she say to her frien's an' de n.i.g.g.e.r maid fer them to lef her alone fer a moment so she could wrastle in prayer. So so soon as they got out her room, she locked de do' an' thin she peeped out'n de winder, an' thar, kind an' true, was de beau lover.”

At this point Mary poked her head out of the window and Shorty appeared below brave in all his finery, although it was not of pure gold as in Lady John's version. This was some astonishment to the old tale teller and he stopped in his narrative.

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