“Well, Ou’ Wolf he don’t know what to say. He feel dat mean he wish Ou’ Jackalse ’ud slip an’ break his neck comin’ up. But Ou’ Jackalse he ain’t a slippin’ while he ain’t had dat meat yet outen darie pot, an’ he comes up yust as chirpy as a finch in a peach tree. ‘Why, we’ll ha’ dis yob finis’ in no time,’ ses he, an’ he smack Ou’ Wolf on his back atween de shoulders dat hearty he jarred de frown right off’n his face.
“‘You’s too slow to shift you’ own shadda. See me now. I’ll lay de t’atch on dis lower row an’ you work on up to de top f’m dat,’ ses Ou’ Jackalse, as he slam one bundle o’ reeds at Ou’ Wolf an’ hitch anoder under his own leg on de rafter where he’s a-straddlin’. ‘You’s worse dan Ou’ Miss Kuraan for stan’in’ an’ yaw, yaw, yawin’,’ ses he.
“Well, Ou’ Wolf he cahnt yust feel like he’s a-likin’ it at all; he’s knowed Ou’ Jackalse too long for dat; but yet he cahnt yust see his way outen it needer. De longer dey work, de harder he get to studyin’ yust what Ou’ Jackalse is a-meanin’; an’ he tink so much an’ he tink so deep dat he clean forgot to watch yust what Ou’ Jackalse is a-doin’.
“An’ what was Ou’ Jackalse a-doin’ all de time, ses you? Why now, what would darie ou’ skellum be a-doin’ but doin’ skellum. First string o’ t’atch he lay along de rafters he’s mighty cheerful an’ mighty busy. Second string he lay along an’ you can see all de cheerful drop outen his face an’ see de grin begin to run an’ flicker where de cheerful was before. De t’ird string he lay an’ de fun begun to sheet in his eyes like de dry lightnin’ on a summer night, an’ he yust couldn’t hold in no longer. He ketch hold o’ de roots of his tail an’ he fair whizz it round and round till he almos’ make it hum, he feel dat full o’ laughin’ inside him. An’ all dis time Ou’ Wolf yust had his back to him, a-studyin’ an’ a-won’erin’ what mischief make Ou’ Jackalse want to he’p him. But he don’t like to look round to watch somehow.
“Den de fourt’ string Ou’ Jackalse lay he work as quiet an’ as slim as if he’s a-stealin’ it; an’ de ting dat it’s in his mind to do, dat’s de time he’s doin’ it? Ou’ Wolf he’s still a-studyin’ an’ he keep on still a-studyin’, till in about one jiff he hear darie pot lid a-liftin’ agen, an de smell comes up dat good an’ t’ick he can taste it.
“He swip his head round, an’ dere was Ou’ Jackalse wid de lid up an’ his nose a-workin’ an’ a-sniffin’ in de steam Didn’ Ou’ Wolf shout den. ‘Ho, yeh! How com’ yeh at darie dinner again?’
“Ou’ Jackalse he cock one year up to hear, an’ he cock one eye up to see. ‘Oh, dat’s all right,’ ses he, quite comfy. ‘Dis ain’t dat pot at all. Dis ain’t no dinner; dis is yust a breakfas’. You ain’t got no shout in dis at all.’
“Ou’ Wolf he don’t say not a word, but he yust make one flyin’ yump to land right fair on Ou’ Jackalse neck.
“But he don’t land. ’Stead o’ dat he tink he’s yumped right troo hisse’f an turned hisse’f inside out. Anyway, he knows he finds hisse’f hangin’ down, head first, between de rafters, a-scratchin’ an’ a-fratchin’ in de air. When Ou’ Jackalse t’atch dat fourt’ string he t’atch Ou’ Wolf’s tail fast in wid it, an’ dere’s Ou’ Wolf now a-hangin’ by dat tail, head down an’ fightin’, an’ he cahnt get back nohow.