"'"What you-all states is troo," says my grandfather. "But my party
turns, an' I turns with it. You-all can't lose Jack Sterett. He can
turn so quick the heels of his moccasins will be in front."
"'"Which them talents of yours for change," says Witherspoon,
"reminds me a powerful lot of the story of how Jedge Chinn gives
Bill Hatfield, the blacksmith, that Berkshire suckin' pig.
'"An' whatever is that story?" asks my grandfather, beginnin' to
loosen his bowie-knife in its sheath.
"'"Take your paws off that old butcher of your'n," returns this
pesterin' Witherspoon, "an' I'll tell the story. But you've got to
quit triflin' with that 'leven-inch knife ontil I'm plumb through,
or I'll fool you up a lot an' jest won't tell it."
"'Tharupon my grandfather takes his hand offen the knife-haft, an'
Witherspoon branches forth:
"'"When I recalls how this oncompromisin' outlaw," p'intin' to my
grandfather, "talks for Calhoun an' nullification over on Mink Run,
an' today is yere shoutin' in a rum-sodden way for the union an'
Andy Jackson, as I observes yeretofore, it shore reminds me of the
story of how Jedge Chinn give Bill Hatfield that Berkshire shoat.
'Send over one of your niggers with a basket an' let him get one,
Bill,' says Jedge Chinn, who's been tellin' Hatfield about the pigs.
Neyt day, Bill mounts his nigger boy, Dick, on a mule, with a basket
on his arm, an' Dick lines out for Jedge Chinn's for to fetch away
that little hawg. Dick puts him in the basket, climbs onto his mule,
an' goes teeterin' out for home. On the way back, Dick stops at
Hickman's tavern. While he's pourin' in a gill of corn jooce, a wag
who's present subtracts the pig an' puts in one of old Hickman's
black Noofoundland pups. When Dick gets home to Bill Hatfield's,
Bill takes one look at the pup, breaks the big rasp on Dick's head,
throws the forehammer at him, an' bids him go back to Jedge Chinn
an' tell him that he, Bill, will sally over the first dull day an'
p'isen his cattle an' burn his barns. Dick takes the basket full of
dog on his arm, an' goes p'intin' for Jedge Chinn. Nacherally, Dick
stops at Hickman's tavern so as to mollify his feelin's with that
red-eye. This yere wag gets in ag'in on the play, subtracts the pup
an' restores the little hawg a whole lot. When Dick gets to Jedge
Chinn, he onfolds to the Jedge touchin' them transformations from
pig to pup. 'Pshaw!' says the Jedge, who's one of them pos'tive
sharps that no ghost tales is goin' to shake; 'pshaw! Bill
Hatfield's gettin' to be a loonatic. I tells him the last time I has
my hoss shod that if he keeps on pourin' down that Hickman whiskey,
he'll shorely die, an' begin by dyin' at the top. These yere
illoosions of his shows I drives the center.' Then the Jedge
oncovers the basket an' turns out the little hawg. When nigger Dick
sees him, he falls on his knees. 'I'm a chu'ch member, Marse Jedge,'
says Dick, 'an' you-all believes what I says. That anamile's
conjured, Jedge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account