"
"Wal sah," said Nimbus, "I reckon I'll take dat ef I must hev enny
mo' name. Yer see he wuz my ole oberseer, Mahs'r, an' wuz powerful
good ter me, tu. I'd a heap ruther hev his name than Marse Desmit's;
but I don't _want_ no name but Nimbus, nohow.
"All right," said the chairman, as he made the entry. "Ware it is
then."
As there might be a poll held at Red Wing, where Nimbus lived, he
was given a certificate showing that _Nimbus Ware_ had been
duly registered as an elector of the county of Horsford and for
the precinct of Red Wing.
Then the newly-named Nimbus was solemnly sworn by the patriarchal
Pharaoh to bear true faith and allegiance to the government of the
United States, and to uphold its constitution and the laws passed
in conformity therewith; and thereby the recent slave became a
component factor of the national life, a full-fledged citizen of
the American Republic.
As he passed out, the sheriff said to those about him, in a low
tone,
"There'll be trouble with that nigger yet. He's too sassy. You'll
see."
"How so?" asked the chairman. "I thought you said he was industrious,
thrifty, and honest."
"Oh, yes," was the reply, "there ain't a nigger in the county got
a better character for honesty and hard work than he, but he's too
important--has got the big head, as we call it."
"I don't understand what you mean," said the chairman.
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