UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

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28 UNCLE TOM S CABIN : OR,
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was anxiously and with much fidgeting yer young un 's mine,and not yo.irn, and you 'vd
a tumbler of punch to his own peculiar no kind o' business with it. I 'm goingto sell
taste, occasionally looked up
from
his_employment,
it,firstchance ; mind, you don't cut up none o'
and,pokinghis sharpnose and chin almost yer shines about it,or I '11 make
ye wish ye 'd
into Haley'sface, gave the most earnest heed to never been born.' I tell ye, they sees it an't no
the whole narrative. The conclusion of it appeared
play,when I getshold. I makes 'em as whist
to amuse him extremely, for he shook his as fishes ; and if one on 'em begins and gives a
shoulders and sides in silence,and perked up his yelp,why, broughtdown his
"
and Mr. Loker
thin lips with an- air of great internal enjoyment. fistwith a thump that fullyexplained the hiatus.
"So, then, ye 'r fairly sewed up, an't ye?"
he said ;
"
he ! he ! he ! It 's neatlydone,too."
emphasis,'''' said
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That ar 's what call
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This yer young-un business makes lots of
ye may
Marks, pokingHaley in the,side,and goinginto
trouble in the trade,"said Haley,dolefully. another small giggle. " An't Tom peculiar "
If we could get a breed of galsthat didn't he! he! I say, Tom, I s'pectyou make 'em
care, now, for their young uns," said Marks ; understand,for all niggers' woolly.They
"tell ye,
I think 'twould be 'bout the greatestdon't never have no doubto' your meaning Țom.
mod'rn improvementI knows on," Marks j If you an't the devil,Tom, you 'shis twin brother,
patronized his jokeby a quietintroductory sniggle.
I '11 say that for ye !"
Tom received the compliment with becomuig
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Jes so,"said Haley; " I never could n't see modesty, and beganto look as affableas was consistent,
into it ; young
uns is heapsof trouble to 'em :
as John Bunyan says, " with his doggish
one would think,now, they 'd be glad to get clar nature."
on 'em ; but theyarn't. And the more trouble a Haley,who had been imbibing very freelyof
young un is, and the more good for nothing, as
gen"lthing țhe tighter theysticks to 'em."
"Wal, Mr. Haley," said Marks, "jest pass
the hot water. Yes, sir ; you say jestwhat I
a
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don't
feeland al'us have. Now, I boughta galonce,
when I was in the trade, a tight,likely re'lly is too
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Wal, now, Tom," he said,"ye
she was, too, and quiteconsiderable smart,'" bad,as I al'ayshave told ye ; ye know, Tom, you
and she had a
young un that was mis 'able sickly ; !and I used to talk over these yer matters down in
it had a crooked back,or something or other ; and Natchez,and I used to prove to ye that we made
I jestgin 't away to a man that thoughthe 'd [full
and was as well off for this yer
take his chance raisingon 't,beingit did n't cost world,by treatin' on 'em well,besides keepin'a
nothin' ; thought, yer know, of the gal'sbetter chance for comin' in the kingdom at last,
takin' on about it," but,Lord, yer oughterseen when wust comes to wust, and thar an't nothing
how she went on. Why, re'lly, she did seem to else left to get,ye know."
me to valley the child more 'cause H toas sickly "Boh!" said Tom, '"'"don't I know?
and cross, and plagued her ; and she warn't making
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b'lieve, neither, cried about it șhe did,and
now ;" and Tom drank half
; a glassof raw brandy.
was droll to think on 't. Lord, j "I say,"said Haley, and leaningback in his
chair and gesturing impressively, "I '11 say this
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Wal, jestso with me," said Haley. " Last now, I al'aysmeant to drive my trade so as to
summer, down on Red river,I got a gal traded make money on 't," fustand foremost,as much as
offon me, with a likely lookin' child enough,and any man ; but, then,trade an't everything, his eyes looked as bright as yourn ; but,come to
an't everything, 'cause we 's all got souls.
look,I found him stone blind. Fact "
was
stone blind. "Wal, ye see, I thoughtthere warn't
no harm in my jestpassing him along,and not
sayin'nothin' ; and I 'd got him nicelyswapped
off for a keg o' whiskey; but come to get him
away from the gal șhe was jest like a tiger Ṣo
'twas before we started,and I hadn't gotmy
gang chained up ; so what should she do but ups
like a cat, ketches a knife from
on a cotton-bale,
one of the deck hands,and, I tell ye, she made
all flyfor a minit țill she saw 'twan't no use ;
and she jestturns round, and pitches head first,
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went young un and all,into the river,
plump,
and never ris."
down
"' Bah !" said Tom Loker,who had listened to
these stories with
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ill-repressed disgust, shifless,both
on ye ! my galsdon't cut no
up such
shines,I tell ye !"
"Indeed! how do you help it?" said Marks,
briskly.
"
Help it? why, I buys a gal,and if she 's got
a young un to be soli,I jestwalks up and puts
my fist to her face,and says, ' Look here,now,
if you give me one word out of your head,I '11
smash yer
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face in. I won't hear one word
not
the beginning of a word.' I says to 'em, ' This
the staple of the evening, beganto feela sensible
elevation and enlargementof his moral faculties,
phenomenon not unusual with gentlemenof
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make me too sick with any yer stuff,
| ach is a leetie riled^
loppedround, as if she 'd lost every friend she
had. It re'lly
there an't no end to women's notions."
money
my
a serious and reflectiveturn, under similar circumstances
stom-
I don't care, now, who hears me say and I
it,"
think a cussed sight on so I it," may
as well
come out with it. I b'lieve in religion, and one
of these days, when I 've got matters tight and
snug, I calculates to 'tend to my soul and them
ar matters ; and so what 's the use of doin' any
more wickedness than 's re'lly necessary
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? it
don't seem to me it.'s 'tall prudent."
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Tend to yer soul !" repeatedTom, contemptuously
; " take a brightlook-out to find a soul in
yourself any care on that score. If
you,
the devil sifts you througha hair sieve,he won't
find one."
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AVhy,Tom, you 'recross,"said Haley; " why
can't ye take it pleasant, now, when a feller's
talking your gcod?"
Stop that ar jaw o' yourn, there,"said Tom,
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gruffly.
I can stand most any talk o' yourn but
your pioustalk," that kills me righfup. After
all,what 'sthe odds between me and you ? 'Tan't
that you
care one bit more, or have a bit more
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feelin', it 'sclean,sheer,dogmeanness, wanting
to cheat the devil and save
your own skin ; don't I
see throughit? And your ' gettin'religion,' as
you call it,artef all,is too p'isin mean for any
crittur ;
up a billwith the devil all youi