"
"Co'se yer do," said Nimbus, proudly. "Yer jes comes ter me an' I
takes keer on ye. I needs anudder han' in de crap, ennyhow."
"Now, Cousin Nimbus, yer ain't in airnest, is yer? Yer don't
mean dat, pop-suah, does yer now?" asked Berry anxiously. "Dat
I does, Cousin Berry! dat I does!" was the hearty response.
"Whoop, hurrah!" cried Berry, throwing up his hat, turning
a hand-spring, and catching the hat as it came down. "Whar's dat
Sally Ann? H'yeah, you fellers, clar away dar an' let me come at
her. H'yer I goes now, I jes tole her dis yer bressed mornin' dat
it tuk a fool fer luck. Hi-yah!" he cried, executing a sommersault,
and diving through the crowd he ran away. As he started off, he
saw his wife walking along the road toward Nimbus' house by the
side of Eliab Hill in his rolling-chair. Berry dashed back into
the circle where Nimbus was engaged in earnest conversation with
the crowd in relation to the threats which had been made to them
by their employers.
"H'yer, Cousin Nimbus," he cried, "I done fergot ter thank ye,
I was dat dar' flustered by good luck, yer know. I'se a t'ousan'
times obleeged ter ye, Bre'er Nimbus, jes' a t'ousan' times, an'
h'yer's Sally Ann, right outside on de road h'yer, she'll be powerful
glad ter hear on't. I'd jes ez lief wuk fer you as a white man,
Bre'er Nimbus. I ain't proud, I ain't! Yah! yah!"
He dragged Nimbus through the crowd to intercept his wife, crying
out as soon as they came near:
"H'yer, you Sally Ann, what yer tinks now? H'yer's Bre'er Nimbus
sez dat ef dat ole cuss, Marse Sykes, should happen ter turn us off,
he's jest a gwine ter take us in bag an' baggage, traps, chillen
and calamities, an' gib us de bes' de house affo'ds, an' wuk in de
crap besides.
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