Of course they had plenty of time, and they all followed him to the shop, where he turned some baskets bottomside up for seats for the children, and seating himself on his accustomed stool, while the little darkies sat around on the dirt-floor, he began to weave the splits dexterously in an out, and proceeded to tell the story.
CHAPTER XII
HOW THE WOODPECKER’S HEAD AND THE ROBIN’S BREAST CAME TO BE RED
“Well,” began Uncle Bob, “hit wuz all erlong er de jay bird, jes ez I wuz tellin’ yer. Yer see, Mr. Jay Bird he fell’d in love, he did, ’long o’ Miss Robin, an’ he wuz er courtin’ her, too; ev’y day de Lord sen’, he’d be er gwine ter see her, an’ er singin’ ter her, an’ er cyarin’ her berries an’ wums; hut, somehow or udder, she didn’t pyear ter tuck no shine ter him. She’d go er walkin’ ’long ’im, an’ she’d sing songs wid ’im, an’ she’d gobble up de berries an’ de wums wat he fotch, but den w’en hit come ter marry’n uv ’im, she wan’t der.
“Well, she wouldn’t gib ’im no kin’ er ’couragement, tell he got right sick at his heart, he did; an’ one day, ez he wuz er settin’ in his nes’ an’ er steddin how ter wuck on Miss Robin so’s ter git her love, he hyeard somebody er laughin’ an’ talkin’, an’ he lookt out, he did, an’ dar wuz Miss Robin er prumurradin’ wid de Woodpecker. An’ wen he seed dat, he got pow’ful mad, an’ he ’low’d ter his se’f dat efn de Lord spar’d him, he inten’ fur ter fix dat Woodpecker.
“In dem times de Woodpecker’s head wuz right black, same ez er crow, an’ he had er topknot on ’im like er rooster. Gemmun, he wuz er han’sum bird, too. See ’im uv er Sunday, wid his ‘go-ter-meetin’’ cloze on, an’ dar wan’t no bird could totch ’im fur looks.
“Well, he an’ Miss Robin dey went on by, er laffin’ an’ er talkin’ wid one ernudder; an’ de Jay he sot dar, wid his head turnt one side, er steddin an’ er steddin ter hisse’f; an’ by’mby, atter he made up his min’, he sot right ter wuck, he did, an’ fix him er trap.
“He got ’im some sticks, an’ he nailt ’em cross’n ’is do’ same ez er plank-fence, only he lef’ space ’nuff twix’ de bottom stick an’ de nex’ one fur er bird ter git thu; den, stid er nailin’ de stick nex’ de bottom, he tuck’n prope it up at one een wid er little chip fur ter hole it, an’ den jes res’ tudder een ’gins de side er de nes’. Soon’s eber he done dat, he crawlt out thu de crack mighty kyeerful, I tell yer, caze he wuz fyeared he mout er knock de stick down, an’ git his own se’f cotch in de trap; so yer hyeard me, mum, he crawlt thu mighty tick’ler.
“Atter he got thu, den he santer ’long, he did, fur ter hunt up de Woodpecker; an’ by’mby he hyeard him peckin’ at er log; an’ he went up ter him kin’ er kyeerless, an’ he sez, ‘Good-mornin’,’ sezee; ‘yer pow’ful busy ter day.’
“Den de Woodpecker he pass de kempulmence wid ’im, des same ez any udder gemmun; an’ atter dey talk er wile, den de Blue Jay he up’n sez, ‘I wuz jes er lookin’ fur yer,’ sezee; ‘I gwine ter hab er party termorrer night, an’ I’d like fur yer ter come. All de birds’ll be dar, Miss Robin in speshul,’ sezee.
“An’ wen de Woodpecker hyearn dat, he ’lowed he’d try ter git dar. An’ den de Jay he tell him good-mornin’, an’ went on ter Miss Robin’s house. Well, hit pyeart like Miss Robin wuz mo’ cole dan uzhul dat day, an’ by’mby de Jay Bird, fur ter warm her up, sez, ‘Yer lookin’ mighty hansum dis mornin’,’ sezee. An’ sez she, ‘I’m proud ter hyear yer say so; but, speakin’ uv hansum,’ sez she, ‘hev yer seed Mr. Peckerwood lately?’