HOW BIG BLACK BURL AND BUSHIE FIGURED IN EACH OTHER'S EYES.
I spied a jay-bird on a tree,
A ridin' on a swingin' lim';
He cocked his eye an' winked at me,
I cocked my gun an' winked at him;
An' de jay-bird flew away--
De jay-bird flew away--
An' lef' de lim' a-swingin'--
A-swingin'.
Such was a stanza from one of the songs that Big Black Burl was singing
while he plowed. The words were simple and crude enough, yet would the
melody now and then be varied with an improvised cadence of wild and
peculiar sweetness, such as one might readily fancy had often been heard
in the far-off, golden days of Pan and Silvanus, and the other
cloven-heeled, funny-eared _genii_ of the greenwood.
Though a swell in the ground hid them from his view, Bushie could tell
almost to the minute when Burl and old Cornwallis made their turn at the
farther side of the field, by the singing, which now began to draw
gradually nearer. The morning was breezy, and ever and anon, when a wave
of air came softly flowing over the rustling corn, the song would reach
his ear with an augmented volume and distinctness that made the unseen
singer seem for the moment a hundred yards nearer than he really was. At
length, right leisurely, they crept in sight--Cornwallis first, with
his piebald face; then, as the old horse would dip his head to nibble
at the green blades under his nose, short glimpses of Burl, though for
awhile no further down than his enormous coon-skin cap, made, it is
said, of the biggest raccoon that was ever trapped, treed, or shot in
the Paradise. But presently, observing the old horse prick up his ears
at some object ahead, Burl sighted the woods from between them, and
caught a glimpse of the little figure perched up there on the topmost
rail of the fence, square in front. Whereat, snapping short his melody
in its loudest swell, the plowman, in an altogether different key and
tone, and at the top of his tremendous voice, sent forward his favorite
greeting: "I yi, you dogs!" "I yi, you----" piped back Bushie; but just
as he would have added "dogs," he thought that "coons" would be more
pat; but not acting upon the thought in time for right effect, he
supplied its place with a grin which said more plainly than words could
have said it--than even "dogs" or "coons"--"I knew you would be glad to
see me out here!"
And glad Burl was, for as the plow, with the pleasant smell of fresh
earth and growing herbs floating about it in the air, ran out of the
furrow into the fence corner, he said, looking up with huge complacency
at his little master: "He's come out to de fiel' to see his ol' nigger,
has he? Well, me an' Corny's a little tired, so we'll take a little blow
here in de shade uf de woods, an' hab a little good soshyble talk wid
our little marster."
So saying, he threw his plow-line over the plow-handle, and mounted the
panel of the fence next to the one on which Bushie was sitting, and
squared himself for the confab, which the little master opened thus;
"Burl, just look at them crows up there on the dead limb of that big
acorn-tree; what are they doing?"
"Dey's holdin' a pra'er-meetin', I 'spec'. No, not dat--camp-meetin',
dey's so noisy. Or, may be, now"--eyeing his black brethren with close
attention--"may be dey's holdin' a kunvintion, like Gener'l Wilkerson
an' t' other big guns, to hab ol' Kaintuck stan' 'pon her own legs, so
she kin lay off lan' as she please, an' fight de Injuns on her own
hook."
"But why do they make so much noise?" inquired Bushie.
"Beca'se dey likes to hear 'emselves talk--eb'rybody wantin' to do all
de talkin', an' nobody wantin' to do none uf de list'nin'--jes' like
people."
"Don't you wish you had Betsy Grumbo out here, Burl? How she'd make
their black feathers fly! And the woods are alive with squirrels. Just
see how they are running up and down the trees and along the top of the
fence."
"Ef I had Betsy Grumbo out here, de woods wouldn't be alive wid
squirrels, an' dem black rogues up dar wouldn't be so near by--so easy
an' sassy."
"Why wouldn't they?" inquired Bushie.
"Beca'se dey'd smell Betsy's breaf, an' make 'emselves scarce."
"What's the matter with Betsy's breath?"
"W'y, Bushie, if Betsy is always belchin' gunpowder, don't you know her
breaf mus' smell uf gunpowder?"
"Burl," said Bushie, turning his eyes from the crows and fixing them
wide open on his black chum's face, "I killed a rattlesnake yesterday,
while I was out in the woods hunting May-apples--a rattlesnake as big as
your leg."
"Now, Bushie, ain't you lettin' on?" said Burl with an incredulous grin.
"Wusn't it a black-snake, big as your leg?"
"Do rattlesnakes always rattle with their tails when they poke out their
heads to bite a man?"
"Yas, always; or to bite a boy, either."
"And are rattlesnakes ever black?"
"Neber, 'ceptin on de back, an' dare dey's brown an' yaller."
"Well, then, I reckon it must have been a black-snake, for it was black,
and didn't rattle its tail when it poked out its head to bite me."
"Now, dare's reason in dat; dare's reason in all things," said Burl,
looking at his little master, with his head turned slightly downward and
his eyes turned slightly upward, showing more of the whites, which was
his way of looking wise. "Things as has reason in 'em I likes. Says I to
sich things, 'Come 'long, me an' you can agree; walk in my house an'
take a cheer, an' make yo'se'f at home.' But things as hain't got reason
in 'em, says I to sich things, 'You g' 'long; me an' you can't agree;
I's no use for you, don't want you in my house. Scat!'"
"And, Burl, after I killed the snake I saw a painter."
"Now, Bushie, lettin' on agin, ain't you? Wusn't it our yaller Tom dare
at de fort, gwine out to see his kinfolks 'mong de wilecats 'way off
yander?"
"Do painters always scream like a skeered woman or a burnt baby, when
they go a-jumping from one tree to another? And do they always keep
a-swinging their long, limber tails?"
"Dat's de cretor's music, an' dem's de cretor's capers," replied Burl.
"Then I just know it was a painter," said Bushie, more certain of his
panther than he had been of his snake; "for that was just the way he
carried on."
"An' what did you do to de painter, Bushie? Kilt him, too, I 'spect."
"No, I just looked cross-eyed at him and skeered him away."
"H-yah, h-yah, h-yah!" laughed the black giant, till the fence shook and
rattled.
"Now, Burl," said Bushie, regarding his black chum with great soberness,
"didn't you tell me if ever I saw a painter I must skeer him away by
looking cross-eyed at him?"
"Look at me, Bushie, de way you did at de painter," said Burl, with a
broad grin. "I wants to see how well you've larnt your lesson."
Complying at once, Bushie pulled down and screwed up his quizzical
little face in such a marvelous manner that eyes, nose, mouth, and
coon-skin cap seemed on the point of breaking out into a family row
beyond hope of ever coming again to a good understanding one with
another.
"No wonder the varmint was skeered and went screamin' away!" And the
black giant laughed till the forest shook to its roots, and every
inquisitive squirrel and prying fox within a half mile peered warily
forth from its hole to discover what jovial monster this might be that
had invaded their leafy wilds. Suddenly checking his laughter, Burl
said: "But, Bushie, I forgot to ax you if you axed your modder to let
you come out here to de fiel'. Did you?"
"Yes."
"An' she said you might come, did she?"
"Just look up yonder, Burl, and see how the crows have gone to
fighting."
"You g' 'long with your crows, an' look at me right, an' tell me if yo'
modder said you might come."
"And Burl, after I skeered the painter away," remarked Bushie, "I saw
two buffalo bulls fighting right on the high river-bank, and the one
that got his tail up hill pushed the other clean----"
"You g' 'long with your bulls too, an' no mo' uf yo' dodgin', but look
me right in de face an' answer my question."
Now, Bushie had never told a lie--that is to say, a downright lie--in
all his life. It must be owned, however, that he would sometimes try to
dodge the truth, by throwing out some remark quite foreign to the
offense under consideration; an effective way of whipping the father of
fibs around the stump, as many people who ought to know can testify. Or,
failing to clear his skirts by this shift, he would go on picking at the
mud-daubing in the wall, near which he might chance to be standing, or
breaking off splinters from the fence on which he might chance to be
sitting, without saying a word either foreign or akin to the matter in
hand. But let him once be fairly cornered, convinced that dodging the
question was out of the question, then would he turn himself square
about, and looking you full in the face, out with the naked truth as
bluntly as if he had "chawed" it into a hard wad and shot it at you from
his pop-gun. So, in the present instance, throwing down the handful of
splinters he had broken from the rail, he turned his big blue eyes full
upon the face of his black inquisitor, and bluntly answered, "No, she
didn't."
"Did she say you mus'n't come?"
"Yes, she did."
"Den, why didn't you mind yo' modder?"
"Because."
"Ah, Bushie, my boy, beca'se won't do. Dare's painters an' wolves fur
bad little boys as runs away frum home an' hain't got nothin' to say fur
'emselves but beca'se. An' Injuns, too, wid cuttin' knives an' splittin'
tomahawks fur sich boys; yes, an' bars too. W'y, Bushie, don't you
'member how we reads in de Good Book 'bout de bad town-boys who come out
to de big road one day an' throwed dirt at de good ol' 'Lishy, de
bal'-headed preacher, an' made ugly mouths at him, an' jawed him, an'
sassed him, an' all de time kep' sayin', 'G' 'long, you ol' bal'-head;
g' 'long, you ol' bal'-head!' Den de good ol' 'Lishy looked back an'
cussed 'em, when two she-bars heerd him an' come out uf de woods wid
der cubs at der heels, an' walked in on der hin' legs 'mong dem bad
town-boys, a scratchin' an' a clawin', a bitin' an' a gnawin', right an'
lef', an' neber stoppin' till dey had tore an' chawed 'em every one up.
Now, you see, Bushie, dese bad town-boys had run 'way frum home dat
mornin' when der modders had said dey mus'n't, an' hadn't nothin' to say
fur 'emselves but beca'se."
"Burl, did you ever see Colonel Daniel Boone?"--breaking off this
disagreeable subject as he would a rail-splinter.
"What's Colonel Danel Boone got to do wid de good ol' 'Lishy an' de bad
town-boys? You look me right in de face an' tell me you's sorry fur not
mindin' your modder. Now, ain't you?"
"No, I ain't."
"Ah, Bushrod, Bushrod, you's a hard little case, I'm afeard," said Burl,
with a grave shake of the head; but determined to bring the delinquent
to a sense of his evil ways, he thus proceeded: "But, s'posin' now,
while you's runnin' 'way you's to git lost 'way down yander in de black
holler whar I kilt de one-eyed wolf las' fall, an' hafter stay dare all
night all by yo'se'f, nothin' fur a good warm supper but a cap full of
pawpaws or pussimmons, an' nothin' fur a good warm feather-bed but a
pile of dry leabs. Wouldn't you be sorry den?"
"Not much."
"He's a pow'ful hard little case" said Burl to himself; "I mus' try him
a leetle stronger. Well, den, sposin' next mornin' you's to wake up an'
see a she-bar, wid a pack uf hungry cubs at her heels all a-comin' at
you on dare hin' legs, an' all begin a scratchin' an' a clawin', a
bitin' an' a gnawin' all over you, an' all at once. Wouldn't you be
sorry den?"
"Yes."
"I yi!" cried Burl triumphantly, "I thought dat would bring de little
sinner to his milk." And having brought the young transgressor to know
and feel the evil of his ways, he was now ready to answer the inquiry
touching Colonel Daniel Boone, and more than ready, since it had a
direct bearing upon subjects in which he took particular interest.
"So my little man would like to know ef I eber seed Colonel Danel Boone.
Did I eber see a bar? Did I eber see a buck? Did I eber see a buffalo?
Course, I's seed Colonel Danel Boone, many an' many a time, an' I knows
him too, like a book."
"Is he the greatest man in the world, Burl? I've heard he was."
To which, with that profound air which men are apt to assume when called
upon for an opinion touching a matter of moment, and aware what weight
their judgment will carry in the minds of their listeners, and that it
therefore behooves them to be cautious in expressing it, Big Black Burl,
with emphatic pauses between phrases and now and then an emphatic
gesture, thus made response:
"Well----take him up dis side an' down dat----at de britch an' in de
barr'l----Mars Dan--Colonel Boone, I mean--is----I s'pose you may
say----de greates' man in de worl', but," an emphatic gesture, "if you
mean by dat, is he de greates' Injun-fighter in de worl', den says I,
No, sir, Colonel Boone ain't de greates' Injun-fighter in de worl'. He's
a leetle too tender-hearted to be a real, giniwine, tip-top, out-an'-out
Injun-fighter. W'y, sir, he neber tuck a skelp in all his life. Time an'
agin has I been out wid him Injun-huntin', a-scourin' de woods, hot on
de heels uf de red varmints, an' when he shoots 'em down, dare he lets
'em lay an' neber fetches a har uf de skelps. Den says he, 'It does seem
sich a pity to kill de pore cretors, dey looks so much like humins, but
it's boun' to be done: ef we don't kill 'em dey'll kill us, nip an'
tuck.' Den says I, 'Mars Dan--no, I don't say dat--Colonel Boone,' says
I, 'what you gwine to do wid de skelps?' Says he, 'Jest let 'em stay
whar dey is fur de buzzards.' Den says I, 'Colonel Boone, let me have de
skelps to hang up in my cabin to 'member you by.' Says he, 'Burlman
Rennuls,' dat's me, you know, Bushie; 'Burlman Rennuls,' says he, 'you's
'tirely welcome to de skelps, ef you kin take 'em widout cuttin' an'
spilin' de skin.' H-yah, h-yah, h-yah!" And the black braggart laughed
as sincerely as if he were for the moment self-deceived into thinking
that he was dealing in facts. But quickly recovering his lofty air,
which had vanished while he laughed, the Fighting Negro thus proceeded
with his observations upon the lights of the age: "Now, ef you'd like to
know my 'pinion as to who's de greates' Injun-fighter in de worl', den
says I agin, it ain't Colonel Boone; I will say it ain't Colonel Logan;
yes, an' I'll say it ain't Giner'l Clarke; but dat man, sir, is----" an
emphatic pause, "Cap'n Simon Kenton. Cap'n Simon Kenton, sir, is de
greates' Injun-fighter in de worl'."
"Does Cap'n Kenton take scalps?" inquired Bushie.
"Does he take de skin uf a bar when he traps it? Does he take de
tail-feathers uf a eagle when he shoots it? Course he takes skelps.
How'd people know he had kilt de red varmints ef he didn't hab de
top-nots to show fur it? Cap'n Kenton, sir, is a man uf grit. None o'
yo' tender-hearted flinch in Cap'n Kenton; ef he's got any tender
feelin's in him, dey's all fur us white folks. Flint, sir, flint, lead,
an' steel is all he has fur de red rubbish."
"But mother says it is wrong for white men to take scalps," observed
Bushie.
Whereat the Fighting Negro was somewhat taken aback, and for a full
minute quite at a loss for an answer which would justify himself and
Captain Kenton in their practice of taking scalps, and yet not gainsay
Miss Jemima's disapprobation of the same. But after taking a bird's-eye
view of the landscape before him, and with it a bird's-eye view of the
subject, he was his collected self again. He began his answer by
observing, in a general way, that Miss Jemima doubtless meant that the
practice in question was wrong so far only as it concerned the duties
and obligations of husbands and fathers, without intending her stricture
to apply to bachelors, like himself and Captain Kenton. Having thus
skillfully accommodated both sides of the matter in dispute, the
Fighting Negro, with a persuasive gesture, wound up his vindication
thus: "So, you see, Bushrod, Jemimy Rennuls wus right, an' Burlman
Rennuls wus right. Dare's reason in all things. Now, when you grows up
an' gits to be a married man, den comes I to you an' says, 'Cap'n
Rennuls;' dat'll be you, you know, Bushie; 'Cap'n Rennuls,' says I,
'you's a married man now, got a wife, gwine to be a man of fam'ly, den
it won't do fur you to take skelps. Jes' leab dat part uf de business to
de bucks dat hain't got no do's, like me an' Cap'n Kenton. I say, Cap'n
Rennuls, don't you take no skelps, yo' wife won't like it.'" And the
Fighting Negro triumphantly crossed his legs. A delicate and difficult
question had been settled, and to the entire satisfaction of at least
one party concerned.
Now, between these two personages of our story, so widely different from
each other in size, age, color, and condition, there existed, as
doubtless has already been discovered, a sort of mutual-admiration
understanding, which always kept them on the best of terms one with
another, no matter how roughly they might be at rubs with the rest of
the world: the black giant making a household idol, so to speak, of his
little master; the little master a pattern, so to speak, of the black
giant. So, when the pattern crossed his legs, the idol needs must cross
his legs likewise. But in the act, the rail on which he was sitting,
giving a sudden turn, marred the new attitude before it was fairly
assumed; when, up with a flourish, flew the little naked heels, as high
as the little coon-skin cap had been, and backward tumbled the household
idol into a dense clump of pea-vines which, with a smart sprinkling of
briers, grew in the fence-corner behind him. In an instant the little
man had vanished, and there instead lay sprawling a yelling urchin; the
yelling, however, considerably smothered by his coon-skin cap rammed
down over his mouth, and by his two shirts turned up over his head. With
a swing of his huge limbs that made the knitted panels shake and rattle,
Burl had flung himself over the fence, and was now engaged in the
ticklish task of extricating his little master from amongst the vines
and briers, the latter being just sufficiently thick to spice the
disaster. When he had succeeded in fishing him out, pulled down the
shirts, and pushed up the cap, he began vigorously rubbing the bare
young legs with the palm of his hand, spitting upon it, the better, as
he said, to draw out the smarting and the stinging of the
brier-scratches. Then setting his idol, still howling, upon his own
panel of the fence, Burl began looking about him with wide-open eyes, as
if in quest of something lost, wondering the while what could have
become of his little man.
"Has he tuck de wings uf a duck an' flew away?"--giving a broad stare at
the open sky, then, with a disappointed shake of the head, added:
"N-o-h. Has he tuck de claws uf a coon an' clum a tree?"--attentively
scanning the tree-tops. "N-o-h," with another disappointed shake of the
head. "May be he's changed hisself into a groun'-squirrel, an' crep'
into a hollow log"--peeping narrowly into the hollow trunk of a fallen
tree near by, "N-o-h. Den whar can my little man a-went to?"--now quite
desperate, taking a general survey of the neighboring country, and
scratching his back with the knuckle of his thumb. "'Pon my honor, I
b'lieve he's plowin' on tudder side de fiel'; thought I heerd him
a-whistlin ober dar"--feigning to listen for a moment. "N-o-h; jes' Bob
White a-whistlin' ober dar. Den sholey he's tuck his gun an' went to de
lick to shoot us a buffalo calf for dinner; or, if not dat, he's went a
Injun-huntin' wid my frien' Cap'n Kenton. Sho's you bawn, he's went a
Injun-huntin' wid my frien' Cap'n Kenton. W'y, dar he is!" exclaimed he
with delighted surprise, bringing his eyes at last to bear upon his
little master, who, having made a manful effort to call back his
manhood, was now the howling urchin no longer, though he did look a
little chap-fallen, nor had he yet left off rubbing his legs. "Dar's my
little man, come back to tell me how my frien' Cap'n Kenton is gittin'
along. While he was gone I thought I heerd a buffalo bull-calf ober dar
in de woods a bellerin' as if Grumbo had him by de tail; but when I went
to look fur him I couldn't find him. Den I thought it mus' be a wilecat
kitten a-mewin' ober dar in de woods, but couldn't find a kitten nudder.
Wonder ef my little man couldn't tell me what it was I heerd."
The little man looked as if he knew nothing at all about the matter, and
was quite willing to take Burl's word for it and let the noise in
question pass either for the bellowing of a buffalo bull-calf or for the
mewing of a wild-cat kitten, he cared not a whistle which. By this time
Burl had climbed back over the fence into the field, and was now slowly
turning his horse and plow to run his next furrow.
"Well, Bushie, me an' ol' Corny's had our blow. So we mus' pitch in agin
an' go to scratching', an' keep a-scratchin' an' keep a-scratchin'; ef
we don't, our little marster won't hab no roasin'-ears fur summer, no
johnny-cakes an' punkin-pies fur winter. So you jes' stay whar you is,
an' when de dinner horn blows I'll put you on ol' Cornwallis an' take
you home a-ridin'."
And with a pleasant smell of fresh earth and growing herbs floating
about them in the air, plow and plowman went their way, the singing
recommencing with the work, as naturally as consequence follows cause:
"Squirly is a pretty bird,
He carries a bushy tail,
He eats up all de farmer's corn
An' hearts it on de rail.
He hearts it on de rail, young gals,
He hearts it on de rail."
Louder and louder, higher and higher rose the giant voice, till filling
all the hollow clearing, it overflowed the leafy walls of forest green
in waves of jocund and melodious sound.