out in a go'd fer
Henry ter drink. He manage ter git it down; he say it tas'e like whiskey
wid sump'n bitter in it. She 'lowed dat 'ud keep de goopher off'n him
tel de spring; but w'en de sap begin ter rise in de grapevimes he ha'
ter come en see her agin, en she tell him w'at e's ter do.

"Nex' spring, w'en de sap commence' ter rise in de scuppernon' vime,
Henry tuk a ham one night. Whar'd he git de ham? I doan know; dey wa'nt
no hams on de plantation 'cep'n' w'at 'uz in de smoke-house, but I never
see Henry 'bout de smoke-house. But ez I wuz a-sayin', he tuk de ham
ober ter Aun' Peggy's; en Aun' Peggy tole 'im dat w'en Mars Dugal' begin
ter prume de grapevimes, he mus' go en take 'n scrape off de sap whar it
ooze out'n de cut een's er de vimes, en 'n'int his ball head wid it; en
ef he do dat once't a year de goopher wouldn' wuk agin 'im long ez he
done it. En bein' ez he fotch her de ham, she fix' it so he kin eat all
de scuppernon' he want.

"So Henry 'n'int his head wid de sap out'n de big grapevime des ha'f way
'twix' de quarters en de big house, en de goopher nebber wuk agin him
dat summer. But de beatenes' thing you eber see happen ter Henry. Up
ter dat time he wuz ez ball ez a sweeten' 'tater, but des ez soon ez de
young leaves begun ter come out on de grapevimes de ha'r begun ter grow
out on Henry's head, en by de middle er de summer he had de bigges' head
er ha'r on de plantation. Befo' dat, Henry had tol'able good ha'r 'roun
de aidges, but soon ez de young grapes begun ter come Henry's ha'r begun
ter quirl all up in little balls, des like dis yer reg'lar grapy ha'r,
en by de time de grapes got ripe his head look des like a bunch er
grapes. Combin' it didn' do no good; he wuk at it ha'f de night wid er
Jim Crow [1], en think he git it straighten' out, but in de mawnin' de
grapes 'ud be dere des de same. So he gin it up, en tried ter keep de
grapes down by havin' his ha'r cut sho't."

[Footnote 1: A small card, resembling a curry-comb in construction, and
used by negroes in the rural districts instead of a comb.]

"But dat wa'nt de quares' thing 'bout de goopher. When Henry come ter de
plantation, he wuz gittin' a little ole an stiff in de j'ints. But
dat summer he got des ez spry en libely ez any young nigger on de
plantation; fac' he got so biggity dat Mars Jackson, de oberseah, ha'
ter th'eaten ter whip 'im, ef he didn' stop cuttin' up his didos en
behave hisse'f. But de mos' cur'ouses' thing happen' in