Old Hendrik's Tales

by Arthur Owen Vaughan

“Ou’ Jackalse he bring Ou’ Wolf along to de gate an’ he give him darie hoe. ‘Dis is you’ patch,’ ses he, ‘mine’s furder along on de yonder side de house. I’ll bring de scoff at dinner time, an’ in de meantime you yust get a sort o’ wiggle on you, like’s if you could work if you had to,’ an’ off he stalk till he get out o’ sight. Den he flop down an’ bake hisse’f in de sun.

“Well, Ou’ Wolf he gets a sort o’ stroke on him like a bywoner dat tinks it’s a-pretty near time he shifted to some farm where dey don’t raise no crops nohow, and den about an hour before noon along comes Ou’ Jackalse agen, an’ he looks at what Ou’ Wolf’s done, an’ he slant his eye at what he ain’t done, an’ he tinks dere’s a fair ole little lot o’ dat yet.

“‘Look-a’-me, Ou’ Wolf,’ ses he. ‘It’s a-comin’ along to dinner time soon, but you; you yust about ain’t if dat’s all you’s done yet. De baas he’ll tink what I done, an’ he’ll see what you ain’t done, an’ den, why, dere you is! You ought to be sorry fo’ you’se’f, when you looks at what you done.’

“‘I yust is,’ ses Ou’ Wolf, an’ he ain’t a-considerin’ ’fore he ses it needer. ‘I yust is,’ an’ he sort o’ squint up at de sun to see how soon it’s a-gun’ to be noon, an’ he sort o’ guess at de row to see how soon it ain’t likely to be done.

“‘Well, it ain’t my look out if de baas don’t gi’e you no scoff fo’ dat bit,’ ses Ou’ Jackalse. ‘I got you de work, but you cahnt look fo’ me to do it fo’ you too, as well’s my own. I cahnt only ’pologise fo’ you. You better get a bit wigglier wiggle on you if you wants some dinner, anyhow,’ ses he, an’ off he pops.

“Well, Ou’ Wolf he tinks p’r’aps he had better hump hisse’f along a bit an’ make a kind of a shine anyhow. ‘I ain’t a-gun’ to let no sich a skellum ha’ to ’pologise fo’ me,’ ses he, an’ he yust lit into dat row like he wants to get de baas to let him opset wid his daughter.

“Den it come along to noon, an’ de farmer he come out to see what about de hoein’. Ou’ Jackalse he pop up out o’ de long grass an’ meet him. ‘I was yust a-comin’ fo’ de scoff,’ ses he.

“‘Scoff fo’ dat much?’ ses de farmer; ‘an’ two o’ you too!’ ses he.

“‘Well,’ ses Ou’ Jackalse, ‘we’s a bit gone in fo’ want o’ scoff, dese last days since de rinderpest, so p’r’aps we ain’t a-quite got into de stroke yet. But if we has a good dinner to-day, why den to-morro’—well, to-morro’,’ ses he, an’ he t’row out his ban’s like to-morro’ dey’ll yust scoff darie hoein’!

“‘Well, we’ll see,’ ses de farmer. ‘You can come along now an’ get de scoff,’ an’ so dey goes.