"Wat dat yo' mumblin', boy? Gwine ax 



yo'self a' invite? G' 'way; 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 



tol' yo' dat dog gwine talk possum by-um-Mt? 



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



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



Owl say. We done been layin' low jis s'prise 



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



And as lie placed tlie 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 hl'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 on his way out. 

 [19] 



