unt of all that had happened to him in the course of
his late adventure. As if the wonderful reality were not enough to
satisfy any reasonable lover of the marvelous, he must needs lug in a
deal that had not happened to him in the time, and never could have
happened at any time to anybody, excepting giant-killers,
dragon-fighters, and the like, whose exploits, though never witnessed by
mortal eye, have made such a noise in the world of fancy, fog, and
moonshine. Though he could confine himself to facts with modest brevity
when speaking of his achievements to white people--as we have already
noticed--the Fighting Nigger, it must be owned, was something of a
long-winded boaster, with a proneness to slide off into the fabulous,
when blowing his own trumpet for the entertainment of his colored
admirers, who bolted whatever monstrosity he might choose to toss into
their greedy chops. But let us be just. It was with no direct intention
of hoaxing or deceiving his hearers that he played the fabler; it was
simply a way he had of holding up a magnifying-glass, so to speak,
before their eyes, that he might help them to bring their imaginations
up to his own idea of the wonderful reality.

As the romancing went on, Grumbo, who had taken the stump likewise, sat,
with grim dignity, upon his haunches at his master's side, to lend his
countenance to the matter under consideration; presiding, as it would
seem, as chairman of the assembly. That such was the view he took of his
present position was evident from his manner; for, ever and anon, when
he saw their audience staggering under some marvel tossed too suddenly
into their gaping mouths, our chairman would fetch the stump a ratifying
rap of the tail, which said more plainly than his lips could have said
it: "A fact, gentlemen--fact. On the word of an honest dog, that, also,
strange though it may seem, is as true as all the rest my comrade has
told you. I myself was present and had a hand in the matter; therefore
ought I to know."

Now and then the speaker would be interrupted by his excitable listeners
with some exclamation of wonder, horror, incredulity, derision, pity, or
the like--which, being in Anglo-Congo or ebony lingo, must needs be
unintelligible to many of my readers. Therefore, for the enlightenment
and edification of the unlearned, have I thought it best to give a list
of the interjections and phrases in question, with the definition or
free translation of each, ignorin