it's all right, I'll come back an' weed yer flower-garden fur yer as
purty as preachin'."

I agreed to do all uncle Ned asked, and we parted like conspirators. The
next morning Uncle Ned was missing, and, after waiting a reasonable time
I explained the matter to my parents, and went over with his letter to
Aunt Anniky.

"Powers above!" was her only comment as I got through the remarkable
epistle. Then, after a pause to collect her thoughts, she seized me by
the shoulder, saying: "Run to yo' pappy, honey, quick, an' ax him ef
he's gwine ter stick ter his bargain 'bout de teef. Yer know he pintedly
said dey wuz a _weddin'_ gif'."

Of course my father sent word that she must keep the teeth, and my
mother added a message of sympathy, with a present of a
pocket-handkerchief to dry Aunt Anniky's tears.

"But it's all right," said that sensible old soul, opening her piano-lid
with a cheerful laugh. "Bless you, chile, it wuz de teef I wanted, not
de man! An', honey, you jes' sen' word to dat shif'less old nigger, ef
you know whar he's gone, to come back home and git his crap in de
groun'; an', as fur as _I'm_ consarned, yer jes' let him know dat I
wouldn't pick him up wid a ten-foot pole, not ef he wuz to beg me on his
knees till de millennial day."--_From "Dialect Tales," published in 1883
by Harper Brothers._

* * * * *

It is not easy to tell what satire is, or where it originated. "In
Eden," says Dryden, "the husband and wife excused themselves by laying
the blame on each other, and gave a beginning to those conjugal
dialogues in prose which poets have perfected in verse." Whatever it may
be, we know it when it cuts us, and Sherwood Bonner's hit on the Radical
Club of Boston was almost inexcusable.

She was admitted as a guest, and her subsequent ridicule was a violation
of all good breeding. But like so many wicked things it is captivating,
and while you are shocked, you laugh. While I hold up both hands in
horror, I intend to give you an idea of it; leaving out the most
personal verses.

THE RADICAL CLUB.

BY SHERWOOD BONNER.

Dear friends, I crave attention to some facts that I shall mention
About a Club called "Radical," you haven't heard before;
Got up to teach the nation was this new light federation,
To teach the nation how to think, to live, and to adore;
To teach it of the heights and depths that all men should explore;
Only this and