t
don't astonish nobody to death when next day he quiles up in his
blankets sick. Marm Bender tries rekiverin' him with yarbs, an'
kumfrey tea, an' sweet gum sa'v. When them rem'dies proves footile she
decides that perhaps a frolic'll fetch him.

"'It's about second drink time in the afternoon when Marm Bender
starts out Fiddler Abe, givin' notice of the treat. I hears the old
nigger as, mule-back, he goes meanderin' along, singin':

Thar's a smoke house full of bacon,
An' a barrel full of rum.
For to eat an' drink an' shake a laig
You've only got to come.

"'As soon as Fiddler Abe starts singin' the girls an' boys begin
comin' out of the woods like red ants out of a burnin' log, headin'
hotfoot for old Bender's.

"'Do I go?

"'It ain't a hour after candle lightin' when, with mebby it's a pint
of baldface onder the buckle of my belt, I'm jumpin' higher, shoutin'
louder, an' doin' more to loosen the puncheons in the floor than any
four males of my species who's present at that merry-makin'. It he'ps
old Bender, too, an' inspired by the company an' onder the inflooence
of four or five stiff toddies, he resolves not to let that hoss trade
carry him to a ontimely grave, an' is sittin' up in his blankets,
yellin', "Wake snakes; an' Gin'ral Jackson fit the Injuns!" in happy
accord with the sperit of his times.

"'Fiddler Abe strikes into the exyooberant strains of "Little Black
Bull Come Down the Mountains," an' I hauls Ten-spot Mollie out of the
gin'ral ruck of calico for a reel. We calls her Ten-spot Mollie
because she's got five freckles on each cheek. All the same, when it
comes to dancin', she's shore a she-steamboat. Every time we swings
she hefts me plumb free of the floor, an' bats my heels ag'in the
rafters ontil both ankles is sprained.

"'Sarah Ann falls jealous, seem' me an' Ten-spot Mollie thus
pleasantly engaged, an' to get even goes to simperin' an' talkin'
giggle-talk to Mart Jenkins, who's rid in from Rapid Run. Jenks is a
offensive numbskull who's wormed his way into soci'ty by lickin' all
the boys 'round his side of Gingham Mountain. At that, he's merely
tol'rated.

"'Seein' Sarah Ann philanderin' with Jenks, I lets go of Ten-spot
Mollie, who goes raspin' an' rollin' into a corner some abrupt, an'
sa'nters across to whar they're at. Leanin' over Sarah Ann's
off-shoulder, bein' the one furthest from that onmitigated Jenks, I
says, "