NIGHTS WITH UNCLE REMUS 
“ * Shoo ! 5 sezee, ‘ Brer B’ar foot too big en he tail too long fer ter 
slide down dat rock,’ sezee. 
“Dis kinder put Brer B’ar on he mettle, en he up’n ’spon’, he 
did: — 
“‘Maybe dey is, en maybe dey ain’t, yit I ain’t a-feared ter 
try.’ 
“ Wid dat de yuthers tuck’n made way fer ’im, en ole Brer B’ar 
he git up on de rock, he did, en squot down on he hunkers, en 
quile he tail und’ ’im, en start down. Fus’ he go sorter slow, en he 
grin lak he feel good; den he go sorter peart, en he grin lak he feel 
bad; den he go mo’ pearter, en he grin lak he skeerd; den he strack 
de slick part, en, gentermens! he swaller de grin en fetch a howl 
dat moughter bin yeard a mile, en he hit de water lak a chimbly 
a-fallin’. 
“You kin gimme denial,” Uncle Remus continued after a little 
pause, “ but des ez sho’ ez you er settin’ dar, w’en Brer B’ar slick’d 
up en flew down dat rock, he break off he tail right smick-smack- 
smoove, en mo’n dat, w’en he make his disappear’nee up de big 
road, Brer Rabbit holler out: — 
“‘Brer B’ar! — O Brer B’ar! I year tell dat flaxseed poultices 
is mighty good fer so’ places! ’ 
“Yit Brer B’ar ain’t look back.” 
XXII 
HOW BRER RABBIT FRIGHTENED HIS NEIGHBORS 
When Uncle Remus was in a good humor he turned the most 
trifling incidents into excuses for amusing the little boy with his 
stories. One night while he was hunting for a piece of candle on 
the shelf that took the place of a mantel over the fireplace, he 
knocked down a tin plate. It fell upon the hearth with a tremen¬ 
dous clatter. 
100 
