"What did you cum for, den?"
"My dear sir," I replied, in a melo-dramatic tone, "I am a member of
the press, and take an interest in your welfare."
"You is--you do? De press--wha-what press--de ex-press?"
"No--the printing press--for printing newspapers."
"Oh!--Is you a-gwine to print a paper? I tought you was a sojer!"
"And so I am, my friend; but I'm a printer also."
"Dus you make books like dis-a-one?" displaying a primer.
"Yes; I could print a book like that, or--a testament."
"Look here, sojer," he said, the remembrance of the loss he had
sustained making him suspicious--"I tink you'm foolin' me. Now, sar,
I dusent like to be fooled--I dusent!"
But I assured him I didn't want to fool him, and so pacified him that
he became confidential, and told me his history. He was 'raised' in
Plymouth, and had been taught to read by a nephew of his master's,
who gave him lessons on Sundays, on the sly. None of his scholars had
advanced beyond lessons in spelling, and most of them were in the
alphabet. The girls seemed to make the most rapid progress; and two
of these--named respectively Rosette and Melvina--could spell words
of two syllables, after a tuition of only four weeks.
"Ise glad Ise free now--dat's so!" I one day heard a little
curly-headed ebony urchin say to another. They had just been let out
of school in Newbern. Struck by the oddity of the saying, I stopped
and questioned the lad--
"Why are you glad you're free, my little fellow?"
"'Cause, sar, I can go to school, and learn to read; and den--"
"Well, what then?"
"Why, den de ole woman'll guv me heaps of sweet 'tater pies!"
When the Goldsboro expedition was about to start a requisition for
thirty negroes was made upon Mr. Kimball. These, together with a
like number from other camps, were to be used as auxiliaries to the
pioneer corps. He called them together and stated that an expedition
was going off, that Gen. Foster wanted thirty of them to go with it,
and called for volunteers. Only six men stepped forward in answer to
the call.
"What," said he, "only six! Is that all the men I have?"