“ ‘I say, I wonder if there isn’t a cat about somewhere?’ ”
§ 17 Absolutely no Hurry about It
One chilly evening in the early part of March the sheriff entered the county jail and addressing the colored person who occupied the strongest cell, said:
“Gabe, you know that under the law my duty requires me to take you out of here to-morrow and hang you. So I’ve come to tell you that I want to make your final hours on earth as easy as possible. For your last breakfast you can have anything to eat that you want and as much of it as you want. What do you think you’d like to have?”
The condemned man studied for a minute.
“Mr. Lukins,” he said, “I b’lieves I’d lak to have a nice wortermelon.”
“But watermelons won’t be ripe for four or five months yet,” said the sheriff.
“Well, suh,” said Gabe, “I kin wait.”
§ 18 One Who Desired to Know
A suburbanite in New Jersey was moving from one street to another. Observing with dismay the care-free way in which the moving crew yanked his cherished antiques about, he was filled with a desire to save from possible damage a tall grandfather’s clock which he prized highly.