"What wus he lak?" echoed Charlie, digging into his pockets with both
hands and standing upon one barefoot. "Lak a jacker lantern cum outen de
groun."
"What became of him?" asked the lady.
"What cum of him?" asked Charlie "He flewed clean erway," answered
Charlie as smartly as before.
"Oh my dear, dear, child, what is to become of you!" she exclaimed
disparagingly. "Susan, come here, my pretty gyurl," called the lady.
"Oh! how pretty are your sparkling jetty eyes," she exclaimed as she
turned up the little negro's face to kiss her. "Now dear, how old are
you?"
"Me!" asked the girl, "I's furteen gwine in foteen."
"And now tell me who made you?"
"Who made me!" echoed the child. "Oh, I fort yu axed dat ar boy who made
him," she answered with a broad smile.
"So I did; now I wish to know who made you?"
"I aint no kin to dat ar boy, kase his daddy aint got but wun eye und my
daddy has got too eyes."
"Who made you, child?"
"Ho, I furgot," replied Susan "Gord made me."
"That is correct," answered the teacher, "Now what did God make you out
of?"
"Outen?" again replied Susan, "Oh, outen lasses candy. My mudder says
kase I's so sweet."
"Dear, dear, dear, shall I give entirely up?" exclaimed the discomfited
lady. "Shall I try again? yes, perhaps I shall find a little leaven
directly." "Come here Willie; I can see from your bright face that you
are a smart little boy. Now tell me did you ever hear of the rebellion?"
"Belliun?" echoed Willie as he thrust his fingers into his mouth and out
again with a pop that made the children titter. "Neber heerd ob nuffin
else epseps de belliun."
"What is a traitor, dear boy?"
"Tater?" "What sort er tater, sweet tator ur Orish tater?" enquired
Willie.
"Perhaps I may teach the little heathen to understand," said the school
marm, suggestively. "Willie," she asked "What do you call that gentleman
who lives in that fine house over the way?"
"Calls him!" again repeated Willie, "I calls him po white trash; what
dos yer call him?"
"Oh dear, dear, dear," screamed the teacher utterly bewildered. One more
time she exclaimed "James, come here," and another little negro as
black as tar with one eye closed by a great knot upon it came forward.
"What is the matter, James, with your face?"
"Umph!" grunted James, "Specks if yer seed whar I been you'd know 'dout
axin. Dat ar boy has been scrougin me lak I wus a trabball."
"James, if you are a bad boy do you know where you will go when you
die?" asked the lady.
"Umph," exclaimed James, "I haint eben a studdin erbout which erway I'm
a gwine arter I die. I'm studdin which erway I'm ergwine arter I git
outen dat ar do. See dat ar boy a shaking he hed?" "He sez how dat ef I
cum by his mudders house agwine to my mudders house he's agwine to
scrouge me sum mo, und I'm skeert to go tuther way."
"One other question" (half aside), "James, if you live to be a man what
are you going to do for a living?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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