uck he cane, en
t'er'n tuck he fiddle, en den dey up'n say:

"'Law, Mr. Ram! whar de name er goodness is you bin? We so glad you
come. Stir 'roun' yer, folks, en git Mr. Ram a cup er hot coffee.'

"Dey make a mighty big ter-do 'bout Mr. Benjermun Ram, Miss Meadows en
Miss Motts en de gals did, but 'twix' you en me en de bedpos', honey,
dey'd er had der frolic wh'er de ole chap 'uz dar er not, kaze de gals
done make 'rangerments wid Brer Rabbit fer ter pat fer um, en in dem
days Brer Rabbit wuz a patter, mon. He mos' sholy wuz."

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FOOTNOTES:

[11] That is, from the foundation, or beginning.

[12] To pine or long for anything. This is a good old English word,
which has been retained in the plantation vocabulary.
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X

BROTHER RABBIT'S RIDDLE

"Could Brother Rabbit pat a tune, sure enough, Uncle Remus?" asked the
little boy, his thoughts apparently dwelling upon the new accomplishment
of Brother Rabbit at which the old man had hinted in his story of Mr.
Benjamin Ram. Uncle Remus pretended to be greatly surprised that any one
could be so unfamiliar with the accomplishments of Brother Rabbit as to
venture to ask such a question. His response was in the nature of a
comment:

"Name er goodness! w'at kinder pass dish yer we comin' ter w'en a great
big grow'd up young un axin' 'bout Brer Rabbit? Bless yo' soul, honey!
dey wa'n't no chune gwine dat Brer Rabbit can't pat. Let 'lone dat, w'en
dey wuz some un else fer ter do de pattin', Brer Rabbit kin jump out
inter de middle er de flo' en des nat'ally shake de eyel'ds off'en dem
yuther creeturs. En 't wa'n't none er dish yer bowin' en scrapin', en
slippin' en slidin', en han's all 'roun', w'at folks does deze days. Hit
uz dish yer up en down kinder dancin', whar dey des lips up in de a'r
fer ter cut de pidjin-wing, en lights on de flo' right in de middle er
de double-shuffle. _Shoo!_ Dey aint no dancin' deze days; folks' shoes
too tight, en dey aint got dat limbersomeness in de hips w'at dey uster
is. Dat dey aint.

"En yit," Uncle Remus continued, in a tone which seemed to imply that he
deemed it necessary to apologize for the apparent frivolity of Brother
Rabbit,--"en yit de time come w'en ole Brer Rabbit 'gun ter put dis en
dat tergedder, en de notion strak 'im dat he better be home lookin'
atter de in