Dey had a gread big pahty down to Tom's de othah
night;
Was I dah? You bet! I nevah in my life see sich a
sight;
All de folks f'om fou' plantations was invited an' dey
come,
Dey come troopin' thick ez chillun when dey heahs a
fife an' drum.
Evahbody dressed dere fines'--Heish yo' mouf an' git
away,
Ain't seen no sich fancy dressin' sence las' quah'tly
meetin' day;
Gals all dressed in silks an' satins, not a wrinkle ner a
crease,
Eyes a-battin' teeth a-shinin' haih breshed back ez
slick ez grease;
Sku'ts all tucked an' puffed an' ruffled, evah blessed
seam an' stitch;
Ef you'd seen 'em wif deir mustus, could'nt swahed to
which was which.
Men all dressed up in Prince Alberts, swaller-tails 'u'd
tek yo' bref!
I cain't tell you nothin' 'bout it, y'ought to seen it fu'
yo'se'f.
Who was dah? Now who you askin? How you 'spect
I gwine to know?
You mus' think I stood an' counted evahbody at de
do'.
Ole man Babah's house-boy Isaac, brung dat gal, Ma-
lindy Jane,
Huh a-hangin' to his elbow, him a-struttin' wif a cane;
My, but Hahvey Jones was jealous! seemed to stick
him like a tho'n;
But he laughed with Viney Cahteh, tryin' ha'd to not
let on,
But a pusson would a noticed f'om de d'rection of his
look,
Dat he was watchin' ev'ry step dat Ike an' Lindy took.
Ike he foun' a cheer an' asked huh: "Won't you set
down?" wif a smile,
An' she answe'd up a-bowin', "Oh I reckon 'tain't wuth
while."
Dat was jes' fu' style, I reckon, 'cause she set down jes'
de same,
An' she stayed dah till he fetched huh fu' to jine some
so't o' game;
Den I heerd huh sayin' propah, as she riz to go away,
"Oh, you raly mus' excuse me, fu' I hardly keers to
play."
But I seen huh in a minute wif de othahs on de flo',
An' dah wasn't anyone o' dem a-playin' any mo';
Comin' down de flo' a-bowin' an' a-swayin' an'
a-swingin',
Puttin' on huh high-toned mannahs all de time dat
she was singin':
'Oh swing Johnny up an' down, swing him all aroun',
Swing Johnny up an' down, swing him all aroun,'
"Oh swing Johnny up an' down, swing him all aroun'
Fa' you well my darlin."
Had to laff at ole man Johnson, he's a caution now
you bet--
Hittin' clost onto a hunderd, but he's spry an' nim-
ble yet;
He 'lowed how a-so't o' gigglin', "I ain't ole I'll let you
see,
D'aint no use in gittin feeble, now you youngsters
jes' watch me,"
An' he grabbed ole Aunt Marier--weighs th'ee hun-
derd mo' er less,
An' he spun huh 'roun de cabin swingin' Johnny lak
de res',
Evahbody laffed an' hollahed: "Go it! Swing huh
Uncle Jim!
An' he swung huh too, I reckon, lak a youngstah, who
but him.
Dat was bettah'n young Scott Thomas, tryin' to be so
awful smaht.
You know when dey gits to singin' an' dey comes to
dat ere paht:
"In some lady's new brick house,
In some lady's gahden.
Ef you don't let me out, I will jump out,
So fa' you well my dahlin'."
Den dey's got a circle 'roun' you, an' you's got to break
de line;
Well dat dahky was so anxious, lak to bust hisse'f
a-tryin';
Kep' on blun'drin' 'roun' an' foolin' tell he giv' one
gread big jump,
Broke de line, an' lit head-fo'most in de fiah-place
right plump;
Hit 'ad fiah in it, mind you; well I thought my soul
I'd bust,
Tried my best to keep f'om laffin' but hit seemed like
die I must,
Y' ought to seen dat man a-scramblin' f'om de ashes
an' de grime.
Did it b'un him! Sich a question, why he didn't give
it time;
Th'ow'd them ashes and dem cinders evah which-a-
way I guess,
An' you nevah did, I reckon clap yo' eyes on sich a
mess;
Fu' he sholy made a picter an' a funny one to boot,
Wif his clothes all full o' ashes an' his face all full o'
soot.
Well, hit laked to stopped de pahty, an' I reckon lak
ez not
Dat it would ef Tom's wife, Mandy, hadn't happened
on de spot,
To invite us out to suppah--well, we scrambled to de
table,
An' I'd lak to tell you 'bout it--what we had--but I
ain't able,
Mention jes' a few things dough, I know I hadn't orter,
Fu' I know 'twill staht a hank'rin' an' yo' mouf 'll
'mence to worter.
We had wheat bread white ez cotton an' a egg pone
jes like gol',
Hog jole, bilin' hot an' steamin' roasted shoat an' ham
sliced cold--
Look out! What's de mattah wif you? Don't be fallin'
on de flo';
Ef its go'n' to 'fect you dat way, I won't tell you
nothin' mo'.
Dah now--well we had hot chittlin's --now you'se
tryin' again to fall,
Cain't you stan' to heah about it? 'Spose you'd been
an' seed it all;
Seed dem gread big sweet pertaters, layin' by de pos-
sum's side,
Seed dat coon in all his gravy, reckon den you'd up an
died!
Mandy, 'lowed "you all mus' 'scuse me, d'want much
upon my she'ves,
But I've done my bes' to suit you, so set down an' he'p
yo'se'ves."
Tom, he 'lowed: "I don't b'lieve in 'pologizin' an' per-
fessin,'
Let 'em tek it lak dey ketch it, Eldah Thompson ask
de blessin'."
Wish you'd seed dat colo'ed preachah, cleah his th'oat
an' bow his head;
One eye shet, an' one eye open--dis is evah wud he
said:
"Lawd look down in tendah mussy on sich generous
hawts ez dese;
Make us truly thankful, amen. Pass dat possum, ef
yo' please!"
Well, we eat and drunk ouah po'tion, twel dah was'nt
nothin' lef,
An' we felt jes like new sausage, we was mos' nigh
stuffed to def!
Tom, he knowed how we'd be feelin, so he had de
fiddlah 'roun'
An' he made us cleah de cabin fu' to dance dat suppah
down.
Jim, de fiddlah, chuned his fiddle, put some rosum on
his bow,
Set a pine box on de table, 'mounted it an' let huh go!
He's a fiddlah now I tell you, an' he made dat fiddle
ring,
'Twell de ol'est an' de lamest had to give deir feet a
fling.
Jigs, cotillions, reels an' break-downs, cordrills an' a
waltz er two;
Bless yo' soul, dat music winged 'em an' dem people
lak to flew.
Cripple Joe, de ole rheumatic, danced dat flo f'om side
to middle,
Th'owed away his crutch an' hopped it, what's rheu-
matics 'ginst a fiddle?
Eldah Thompson got so tickled dat he lak to lose his
grace,
Had to tek bofe feet an' hol' dem so 's to keep 'em in
deir place.
An' de Christuns an' de sinnahs got so mixed up on
dat flo',
Dat I don't see how dey'd pahted ef de trump had
chanced to blow.
Well, we danced dat way an' capahed in de mos' redic-
'lous way,
'Twell de roostahs in de bahn-yard cleahed deir th'oats
an' crowed fu' day.
Y'ought to been dah, fu' I tell you evahthing was rich
an' prime,
An' dey ain't no use in talkin', we jes had one scrump-
tious time!

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