NIGHTS WITH UNCLE REMUS 
’membunce go back, he ain’t come ’cross nothin’ in de lawyer- 
book ter de contraries er dat, en den dey all ’gree dat Brer Rab¬ 
bit kin have a walkin’-cane. 
“ Wid dat, dey ketch up Brer Rabbit en put ’im in a wheelbor- 
row en kyar ’im down ter de branch, en fling ’im in.” 
“Eh-eh!” exclaimed ’Tildy, with well-feigned astonishment. 
“Dey fling ’im in,” continued Uncle Remus, “en Brer Rabbit 
light on he foots, same ez a tomcat, en pick his way out by de 
helps er de walkin’-cane. De water wuz dat shaller dat it don’t 
mo’n come over Brer Rabbit slipper, en w’en he git out on t’er 
side, he holler back, sezee: — 
“‘So long, Brer Fox!”’ 
XIII 
BRER FOX, BRER RABBIT, AND KING 
DEER’S DAUGHTER 
Notwithstanding Brother Rabbit’s success with the drum, the 
little boy was still inclined to refer to Mr. Benjamin Ram and his 
fiddle; but Uncle Remus was not, by any means, willing that such 
an ancient vagabond as Mr. Ram should figure as a hero, and he 
said that, while it was possible that Brother Rabbit was no great 
hand with the fiddle, he was a drummer, and a capital singer to 
boot. Furthermore, Uncle Remus declared that Brother Rabbit 
could perform upon the quills , 1 an accomplishment to which none 
of the other animals could lay claim. There was a time, too, the 
old man pointedly suggested, when the romantic rascal used his 
musical abilities to win the smiles of a nice young lady of quality 
— no less a personage, indeed, than King Deer’s daughter. As 
a matter of course, the little boy was anxious to hear the particu¬ 
lars, and Uncle Remus was in nowise loath to give them. 
1 The veritable Pan’s pipes. A simple but very effective musical instrument made of 
reeds, and in great favor on the plantations. 
58 
