ng on the steadfast mind of Grumbo. The dog was composedly
waiting for him a few yards in advance; his nose, that infallible index
of what was in the wind, turned straight before him in the direction of
real dangers, not of imaginary horrors, which--let them be met with
where they might--were rather to be sneezed at than sniffed at. Whereat
the black giant picked up heart enough to pick up a club and fling it at
the ghastly apparition, half expecting to see the missile pass through
without impediment, as missiles are wont to do under circumstances of
the kind. But the club was cheeked by substance as solid as itself, the
result being a sounding thump. Thereupon, eyes and ears comparing notes,
it was discovered that the thing of dread was nothing more than the
twisted and splintered stump of a storm-felled hickory-tree, the white
sap-wood whereof had been stripped of its bark by lightning.

"Pshaw! what a fool you is anyhow, Burlman Rennuls!" cried the Fighting
Nigger, fetching the individual addressed a heavy blow of the fist on
the breast. "Sich a everlastin' ol' fool, always a gittin' our nose out
o' j'int somehow, you don't know how; an' skeerin' at somethin' you
don't know what, that even a dog won't stop to smell at. Git out an' g'
'long!" And smarting under this stinging rebuke, the unlucky Burlman
Reynolds hastened to rejoin his dog, who, doubtless, was wondering why
his two-footed comrade should all on a sudden become so intensely
interested in a splintered stump.

Just here, I am reminded to say a few words with regard to a certain
trait in our hero's character--a trait not unfrequently to be noticed in
men of his color, but which, so far as I am aware, has never been made
matter of particular comment. Viewing himself from a point within
himself, Big Black Burl was wont to look at himself as made up of two
distinct individuals, who though having their home in the same body,
using the same limbs, and taking their observations of the outward world
through the same senses, were yet in his eyes quite different each from
the other. One of these individuals was called the "Fighting Nigger,"
the other went by the name of "Burlman Reynolds." The Fighting Nigger
was a man of great distinction, Burlman Reynolds a fellow of small
repute. When the two distinguished themselves, the Fighting Nigger
claimed the lion's share of the glory; but when they disgraced
themselves, then Burlman Reynolds must take the dog's share of th