rings a bell. This brings in his second in command; and sais he,
'Pray walk in here, if you please, Sir,' and he led me into a little
plain, stage-coach-house lookin' room, with nothin' but a table and two
or three chairs in it; and says he, 'Who shall I say, Sir?'

"'The Honourable Mr. Slick,' sais I, 'Attache of the American Legation
to the court of Saint Jimses' Victoria.'

"Off he sot; and there I waited and waited for ever so long, but he
didn't come back. Well, I walked to the winder and looked out, but there
was nothin' to see there; and then I turned and looked at a great big
map on the wall, and there was nothin' I didn't know there; and then
I took out my pen-knife to whittle, but my nails was all whittled off
already, except one, and that was made into a pen, and I didn't like to
spile that; and as there wasn't any thing I could get hold of, I jist
slivered a great big bit off the leg of the chair, and began to make
a toothpick of it. And when I had got that finished, I begins to get
tired; for nothin' makes me so peskilly oneasy as to be kept waitin';
for if a Clockmaker don't know the valy of time, who the plague does?

"So jist to pass it away, I began to hum 'Jim Brown.' Did you ever hear
it, Squire? it's a'most a beautiful air, as most all them nigger
songs are. I'll make you a varse, that will suit a despisable colonist
exactly.

"I went up to London, the capital of the nation,
To see Lord Stanley, and get a sitivation.
Says he to me, 'Sam Slick, what can you do?'
Says I, 'Lord Stanley, jist as much as you.
Liberate the rebels, and 'mancipate the niggers.
Hurror for our side, and damn thimble-riggers.

"Airth and seas! If you was to sing that 'ere song there, how it would
make 'em stare; wouldn't it? Such words as them was never heerd in that
patronage office, I guess; and yet folks must have often thort it too;
that's a fact.

"I was a hummin' the rael 'Jim Brown,' and got as far as:

Play upon the banjo, play upon the fiddle,
Walk about the town, and abuse old Biddle,

when I stopped right in the middle of it, for it kinder sorter struck it
me warn't dignified to be a singin' of nigger-catches that way. So says
I to myself, 'This ain't respectful to our great nation to keep a high
functionary a waitin' arter this fashion, is it? Guess I'd better assart
the honour of our republic by goin' away; and let him see that it warn't
me that was his lackey last year.'

"Well,