Page:Pieces People Ask For.djvu/81

Rh We started her goin' at sun-up,
 * An' kep' her a-bilin' till night,

When forty-odd mo'nahs wuz shoutin',
 * An' forty more cornin' in sight.

Des den it come into my min', sah,
 * To gib dem ar niggahs a trile;

An' so I riz up, an' I says, sah,—
 * I says, with a beautiful smile :

"My Men's, I'm a-gwine to propose you
 * A small, onsignincant test,

To proobe—out ob all ob de virtues—
 * Which ob you has charity best.

"Now, hush up a minnit! I'll tell you,
 * An' den you kin go on an' shout.

De short ob de mattah is: Friday
 * My barrel ob whiskey gub out;

It happens, too, des at dis moment,
 * I hasn't de money to buy:

An' so I proposes to you all,
 * Dat you shill make up de supply.

"To-morrow I'll hab me a barrel
 * A-settin' out dar on the bluff,

An' eb'ry good Christian's expected
 * To fotch 'long a pint o' good stuff.

So I'll git my barrel ob whiskey,
 * An you'll git the feeling dat you

Is got charity down till you're ekal
 * To gibbin' de debbil his due."

Nes' mohnin', sah, dar wuz de barrel;
 * An' eb'ry man fotched up a flask,

An' put de neck down in de bunghole,
 * An' emptied it into de cask.

I thought 'at I'd try how it swallowed,
 * An' held a gourd under the spout,

An' den gib a turn on de fossit—
 * When nuffin but come out !