"Wat dat yo' mumbling boy? Gwine ax 

 yo'self a' invite? G' 'way 5 g' 'way ; . yo' don' 

 lak possum. Wat dat yo' sayin' 'g'in' C'lamity ? 

 Yo' 's needin' sleep, chil', yo' is. Ain't I done 

 tor yo' dat dog gwine talk possum by-um-bit? 

 Wat dem 'flections 'g'in' oF Miss Owl? 

 Boosh, boy ! Dat all fool-talk, w'at oF Miss 

 Owl say. We done been lay in' low jis s' prise 

 yo', me an' C'lamity an' oP Miss Owl has." 

 And as he placed the chopping-block upon the 

 barrel to keep the possum safe till morning, he 

 began again : 



" Coon he up a gum-tree, 



Possum in de holla; 

 Coon he roll hi' self in ha'r, 

 Possum roll in talla. 



" Lawd, I wunda, who kilt John Henry, 

 In de la-ane, in de lane." 



The next morning Uncle Jethro went to get 

 his possum. But the possum was gone. The 

 chopping-block lay on the woodshed floor, the 

 cover of the barrel was pushed aside, and the 

 only trace of the animal was a bundle of seed- 

 corn that he had pulled from a nail overhead 

 and left half eaten on the floor. He had stopped 

 for a meal oa his way out. 

 [19] 



