JIMCRACK AND THE JUMBIES. 171 



time with a delighted expression on his wrinkled fea- 

 tures. "Dis a bud ken swar en fawty langwidges, 

 sah ; he ken swar en Spanish, an' French, an', 

 an' " 



" Orter hear um swar," broke in the bird again, 

 " swar in Spanish — ha, ha ! — caramba ! old black son 

 of a gun ! " 



" Yo' heah dat, massa ? Wha' um tole yuh ? Da 

 ain' no use tryin' c'reck him, nuther ; he done tawk 

 dat a way mor'n twenty yeah ; tawk jes so when ole 

 massa buy him, from a sailor on Spanish Main ; tawk 

 lek dat when ma missus die; he mos' scandalumize 

 de pahson, sah, to def. 



" Lemme discose to yo', sah. Dis a bud he nuffin' 

 less'n de debil, sah. When ma missus come to die, 

 sah, an' de pahson arribe, an' de serbants all aroun' 

 a-snifflin' an' a-cryin', an' de room fuU'n frien's so yo' 

 couldn' see across it, an' de air all stiflin', an' pore 

 ole missus a-gaspin' fer bref — can see um now, mas- 

 sa, jes lek et was yist'dy — den wha' yo' tink dis a 

 bud done do, sah ? It mus' a ben de debil, sah, put 

 et in he head ; why, sah, he done puch on de foot- 

 bo'd, an' nobuddy don't see him dah, an' he keep 

 bery quiet, like he don' wan' nobuddy see um. 



" An', sah, when de pahson done put de ques'ion : 

 whereabouts dis good woman go ef she die, who had 

 ben good missus all her life an' \xo harm nobuddy — 

 when de pahson say dat, up hop ole Jimcrack an' 

 holler out, so all de aujence hear um, de patois fer 

 go to de bad place, sah ! Dey don' speak it in dis a 

 island, sah, but ober en Grenada, what de French 



