THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



21 



UNCLE JIM'S DANCING. 



Uncle Jim, he'd never been 



To any city ball 

 Until he come a-visitin 



The folks in town last fall ; 

 Could dance until you couldn't rest, 



Knowed how to fling his heel, 

 But all the dance he knowed wuz jeal 



The old Virginny reel. 



So when they took him to the ball 



The gals had lots of fun. 

 He went a-slippin crost the hall 



An bumpin every one. 

 Of course he couldn't waltz, but they 



Jest made believe he coiild. 

 They kept on whirlin him away. 



'Twnz worse than splittin wood. 



Jest serious as could be he kept 



A-goin roun an roun. 

 On all the ladies' trains he stepped 



When he warn't fallin down. 

 He stood it jest as long as ho 



Could stand it ; then he throwed 

 His liat down till they laughed to see, 



Then jerked his coat an blowed. 



He give his galluses a hitch 



An squared himself, an then 

 As quick as that they seen him pitch 



Right 'mongst the gals an men. 

 'Twas dancin now without a doubt, 



Per then ♦hey seen him peel 

 His weskit off an jump about 



In a Virginny reel. 



—Atlanta Constitution 



A MUTUAL FRIEND. 



Howard, desiring to bring Ferguson 

 Hid Walker into a fellowsliip like that 

 of Daruou and Pythias, set them so far 

 ipart that oceans roll between them and 

 deserts parch and bake. This is, of 

 course, a figure of speech, for Ferguson 

 and Walker both live in Chicago, where 

 there are no oceans or deserts. 



But the feeling of loathing which has 

 risen up to separate these two men whom 

 Howard had hoped to make firm friends 

 accomplishes the purpose of desert and 

 ocean and mountain chain too. And yet 

 the two men have met but once, and 

 then only to say "How d'ye do?" 



Howard lives in Pocatello, Ida. To 

 Pocatello a year ago went Ferguson, 

 journeying on some affair connected 

 with the railroad company which pays 

 him well for knowing intricate and hid- 

 den things about the tran.sportation bnsi- 

 uess. Ferguson was in Pocatello for 

 two weeks. It was a gloomy sort of ex- 



ile, and but for the presence of Howard, 

 •whom he met on the first day of his vis- 

 it, he would have suffered horrible 

 pangs and gripiugs of louesomeuess, but 

 Howard, bright, entertaining and all 

 informed, was as a wellspring of hap- 

 piness and made the railroad man's stay 

 in the sunburned regions of Idaho a 

 pleasant vacation, and when Ferguson 

 was ready to leave Howard said to him: 



"Now, old man, I want you to be 

 sure and meet my friend Walker. It's a 

 shame that two such splendid fellows 

 should live in the same town and be 

 strangers. I've written a letter of intro- 

 duction, and you just walk around to 

 his place when you get back to Chicago 

 and go out and take one on me. You'll 

 like Walker and he'll like you." 



Ferguson thanked Howard with an 

 easy conscience, for he, too, thought it 

 would be pleasant to meet one whom 

 Howard recommended for his worth. 



Then he returned to Chicago. 



The letter of introduction nestled in 

 his pocket for a month, quite forgotten. 

 At the expiration of that time Ferguson 

 received a note from Howard, who 

 wanted to know something about a 

 business matter which they had discuss- 

 ed in Pocatello. As a postscript Howard 

 added the question : 



"You have seen Walker, of course? 

 Great fellow, isn't he?" 



"Walker, Walker — let me see," Fer- 

 guson mused. "Who in thunder is 

 Walker? Oh, yes. That fellow I have 

 the letter of introduction to. Well, I 

 really must call on him." 



The same mail which bore the mis- 

 sive to Ferguson also carried one to 

 Walker. Howard, among other things, 

 wrote these words: "You remember 

 Ferguson, whom I asked you to call up- 

 on? What do you think of him? He's 

 the right sort, isn't he?" 



"By George," Walker cried on read- 

 ing Howard's letter, "he did ask me to 

 drop in on somebody named Ferguson, 

 to whom he had given a letter for pres- 

 entation to me. And I've clean forgot- 

 ten it. Wonder where the man's to be 

 found?" He examined the directory's 

 list of Fergusons, and then, with some 

 show of disappointment, said to him- 

 self: "Pshaw! His office is down in 

 the Grand Central station, three miles 

 away. Well, next time I'm over that 

 way I'll stop." Then he called for his 



