THE DARKIE FIDDLER. 453 



with lolling tongues and pricked ears, listening to their com- 

 pulsory charmer, for several weary hours, until the negroes 

 at the wedding, becoming impatient or alarmed about the old 

 man, came out to look for him, and found him thus perched 

 upon the roof of the tottering hut, sawing away for dear life, 

 while he was ready to drop every instant from sheer fatigue 

 and the freezing cold. They rescued the old man from his 

 comfortless position, while the lingering forms of his late 

 audience told that they most unwillingly surrendered the 

 fruition of their unwonted feast. 



