Page:Harris Dickson--Old Reliable in Africa.djvu/274

 "Ef he sot dar long ernuff."

"Ah! I see—a tenacious person?"

"No suh, jes hongry. One day a strange nigger come in, an' claim he jes lousy wid money—wouldn't some gen'l'man step up an' have a snack? Jube tumbled off'n his cheer, an' wropped his legs underneath de table, an' call out, 'Aunt Fanny, gimme a piece o' catfish.' Well, suh, Cunnel, dat was jes de startin' of it.

"Dat same evenin' when I gits back to de Hot Cat dar was Jube settin' beside de stove, smellin' an' a sniffin', but he can't get no fish 'cause Bud Lowe runs a spot cash eatin' house. 'Mus' be purty nigh train time,' say ole man Eli Mundy, 'an' us kin see de hacks gwine down hill to de deepo. Jes den de train blowed. Jube hunched himself, den up an' runs out de front do' widout sayin' nothin' to nobody. I looked out de back do' 'cause I 'lowed maybe de constable mought be comin'. Ole Man Eli ketch his breath—'Huh! You see dat? Sumpin' sho' did itch Jube right sudden.'

"D'reckly Jube come puffin' up dat steepes' hill, totin' a white man's grip sack to de hotel. Den he stomps into de eatin' house, and say, 'Aunt Fanny, gimme two slices o' catfish. Here's yo' dime.' Atter dat Jube commence totin' grip sacks reg'lar. Some days he didn't ketch no grips, an' dat put him in de notion of a steddy job.