“Thar’s somebody comin’,” said Dinah, shading her eyes with her hand, and looking toward the highway; “somebody with somethin’ on his back. You, Josh, go after them dogs, afore they skeer him to death.”
Stuttering out some unintelligible speech, Josh started in the direction the dogs had gone, and soon came up to a tall six-footer, who, with short pantaloons, a swallow-tailed coat, stove-pipe hat, sharp-pointed collar, red necktie, and two huge boxes on his back, presented a rather ludicrous appearance to the boy, and a rather displeasing one to the dogs, who growled angrily, as if they would pounce upon him at once. The club, however, with which he had armed himself kept them at bay, until Josh succeeded in quieting them down.
“Ra-ally, now,” began our friend Ben, who vainly imagined it necessary to put on a little, by way of proving himself a genuine Yankee—“ra-ally, now boot-black, what’s the use of keepin’ sich a ’tarnal lot o’ dogs to worry a decent chap like me.”
It was Josh’s misfortune to stammer much more when at all excited, and to this interrogatory he began, “Caw-caw-caw-cause ma-ma-mars wa-wa-want——”
“Great Heaven!” interrupted the Yankee, setting down his pack and eyeing the stuttering negro as if he had been the last curiosity from Barnum’s—“will you tell a fellow what kind of language you speak.”
“Spe-pe-pe-pects sa-sa-same ye-e-e you do,” returned the negro, failing wholly to enlighten Ben, who rejoined indignantly, “You go to grass with your lingo;” and, gathering up his boxes, he started for the house, accompanied by Josh and the dogs, the first of which made several ineffectual attempts at conversation.
“Some nateral born fool,” muttered Ben, thinking to himself that he would like to examine the boy’s mouth and see what ailed it.
After a few minutes they entered the yard, and came up to the other blacks, who were curiously watching the new comer. Seating himself upon the steps and crossing one leg over the other, Ben swung his cowhide boot forward and back, and greeted them with, “wall, uncles, and ants, and cousins, how do you dew, and how do you find yourselves this afternoon?”
“Jest tolerable, thanky,” answered uncle Phil, and Ben continued, “wall, health is a great blessing to them that hain’t got it. Do you calkerlate that I could stay here to-night? I’ve got lots o’ gewgaws,” pointing to his boxes—“hankerchers, pins, ear-rings and a red and yeller gownd that’ll jest suit you, old gall,” nodding to Dinah, who muttered gruffly, “if he calls me old what’ll he say to Hetty?”
Ben saw he had made a mistake, for black women no more care to be old than their fairer sisters, and he tried to make amends by complimenting the indignant lady until she was somewhat mollified, when he asked again if he could stay all night?