The men are but little better than the women in their extravagance. I saw a man on the square who had bargained for a mule, which he very much needed, and which he had been intending to purchase as soon as he sold his cotton. He agreed to pay fifty-seven dollars for the animal, and felt in his pocket for the money, but could find only sixteen dollars. Satisfying himself that he had no more, he said:
“Well, well, ef dis ain’t de most stravagant nigger I ever see; I sole two bales of cotton dis bressed day, an’ got one hundred and twenty-two dollars, an’ now I is got only dis.” Here he gave a loud laugh and said:
“Ole mule, I want you mighty bad, but I’ll have to let you slide dis time.”
While the large dealers were selling their products and emptying their wagons, those with vegetables and fruits were vending them in different sections of the city. A man with a large basket upon his head came along through one of the principal streets shouting:
“Hellow, dar, in de cellar, I is got fresh aggs, jess fum de hen, lay ’em dis mornin’ fer de ’casion; here dey is, big hen’s aggs, cheap. Now’s yer time. Dees aggs is fresh an’ good, an’ will make fuss-rate agg-nog. Now’s yer time fer agg-nogg wid new aggs in it; all laid dis mornin’.” Here he set down his basket as if to rest his head. Seeing a colored servant at one of the windows, he called out:
“Here, sister, here’s de fresh aggs; here dey is, big aggs fum big hen, much as she could do to lay ’em. Now’s yer time; don’t be foolish an’ miss dis chance.”
Just then, a man with a wagon-load of stuff came along, and his voice completely shut out the man with “de fresh aggs.”
“Here,” cried he, “here’s yer nice winter squash, taters,—Irish taters, sweet taters, Carliner taters. Big House, dar, Big House, look out de winder; here’s yer nice cabbages, taters, sweet taters, squash. Now’s yer time to get ’em cheap. To-morrow is Christmas, an’ yer’ll want ’em, shore.”
The man with the basket of eggs on his head, and who had been silenced by the overpowering voice of the “tater” man, called out to the other, “Now, I reckon yer better go in anudder street. I’s been totin’ dees aggs all day, an’ I don’t get in nobody’s way.”
“I want to know, is dis your street?” asked the “tater” man.