RASTUS was a peculiar looking negro, with wrinkled face and goggle eyes.
Paper teeth with a red lip line running around them were fitted into
a wrinkle of his prune face and fastened by a touch of mucilage. His
paper eyes were fastened on in the same way.
With a light paper vest neatly fitted over his prune body and a paper
collar round his peg neck he was as neat a colored gentleman as could
be found anywhere.
Then his chamois-skin suit with hat to match, gave him such style as
any one might be pleased to copy.
His checked trousers were his special pride, for they never bagged
at the knees or got out of shape in any way. On this account he was
perfectly satisfied to be a peg-leg.
His feet, though, gave him some trouble. They were always getting out
of shape. Being made of raisins, an ordinary step was likely to make
them swing round and look as though they would prefer to take him the
other way.
But Rastus smiled on, thinking, no doubt, that this apparent deformity
would prove a great convenience when it came to dancing a “backstep.”
[Illustration: RASTUS PRUNE]