"No," ses I, "that ackounts for it. The pesky critter has been playin one of his cunnin tricks on me; but my name ain"t Jack Downing ef I don"t expose him. No true const.i.tushinal Teliskope will giv such a view as that of the Union." So I sot down and took out my jack nife, and went to work takin it all apart. I found the box all rite; there warnt enything in the tube, and I was puzzlin myself what could be the matter, when I slipped up the magnifying gla.s.s, and rite back of it was a little bit of a _paper n.i.g.g.e.r_, black as the ace of spades, that _that feller Seward had cunninly slipped in there_! You see that at once ackounted for the hull troubbel, for the magnifin gla.s.s reflected the n.i.g.g.e.r instead of what it would, naterally, the white man. After I took the n.i.g.g.e.r out, it was all rite agin, and wen Linkin looked thru it, he was perfectly astonished. "Now," ses I, "Kernel, you see that it is tryin to put the n.i.g.g.e.r where he don"t belong that is the cause of all our trubbel. He don"t belong in the Const.i.tushin, and when we undertake to put him ther it won"t work. This trick of Seward"s jest shows you what he"s up to. Now, Kernel, I"m going to start for Downingville arly to-morrow mornin, and I"ll leave you this Teliskope so you can take a look at the Union _as it was_, and don"t you let Seward or Sumner, or any of them fellers, get hold of it. Wen you get puzzled, jest go and look thru that, and you may depend upon it it will lead you strate. If you get inter eny deep troubbel, write me and I"ll give you my advice, or ef you can"t get along without me, I"ll come back after the Fourth is over, and stay with you till you get out of this sc.r.a.pe with the rebils. I told you I would stick to you, and I will." So I bid good bye to the Kernel and his wife that nite, reddy to start in the early train in the mornin.
I intend to give you a full ackount of the celebrashin of the Fourth at Downingville. Insine Stebbins, of the Downingville Insensibles, who writ the piece of poetry on Mrs. Linkin"s ball, and who was wounded at Chickenhominy and c.u.m hum with a furlong, is to be orater of the occashin. Jerusha Matilda Jenkins, the darter of Deacon Jenkins, and who went down to Port Roile to teech the contrarybands their primers, will also be there. The Insine is a very smart chap, ef he is a n.i.g.g.e.rite, and I expect he"ll do himself creditable.
Excuse this long letter, and beleeve me
Yours till deth,
MAJER JACK DOWNING.
LETTER XII.
_The Major Disappointed--Meets the President at West Point--Sees Gen.
Scott--They Talk over Strategy--Returns to Philadelphia with the President--Makes a Speech at Jersey City--Mr. Lincoln also Speaks-- Meets Seward at the Astor House--A Wheel within a Wheel--Mr. Seward Caught._
DOWNINGVILLE, July 5, 1862.
_To the Editers of The Cawcashin:_
I don"t beleeve ther is enything that so sorter gets all my runnin-gear out of order as onsartinty. Wen I writ you last, I was jest leavin Washington, and wen you come to hear how I"ve scooted round the country sence, you will be astonished. You see I hurried on hum as fast as I could go, because I wanted to get to Downingville in time to see that the arrangements for the 4th were got up in the rite stile. But wen I got to Boston, I was struck all up in a heep by gettin a telliegraff from Linkin, tellin me not to go eny further till I heerd from him.
That puzzled me terribully, and I was in an awful state of onsartinty.
Thinks I to myself, now there"s sumthin up. What on arth can it be? Has that feller Stantin been cuttin up eny more of his capers? But I was so puzzled that I couldn"t imagin wat was to pay. But I waited a few days, and then I got a letter from the Kernel, in which he sed he wanted me to meet him at West Pint with Ginneral Scott, as ther was sum grate struttygy goin on which he wanted to advise about. Then I knowed ther was sum trubbel sumwher, so I jest packed up my trunks and tuk the ralerode for Allbanee, so as to c.u.m down the North River to West Pint.
I got ther in the nite, jest afore Linkin c.u.m, arly in the mornin.
I didn"t sleep a wink, but jest went rite over the river in the one hoss ferry-bote they"ve got there, and waited at the depow for the Kernel. He was eenamost as glad to see me as he was wen I fust went to Washington. He tuk me by the hand, and ses he, "Majer, I feel a good deal safer wen you"re around, for I know you won"t deceeve me." Ses I, "Kernel, that"s what I never do to eny man. Ef he don"t like my plane talk, then he needn"t heer it, but ef I talk at all, I must talk out the blunt truth." "Wal," ses he, "Majer, we will go over and see the old Ginneral, and then I will lay all my trubbel before you."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "He sed he jest c.u.m out to see and be seen, and didn"t intend to blab enything about public affairs."--Page 111.]
After we got our brakefast, we went to the old Ginneral"s room, and, takin out the maps, we went at it. I never studied geographee faster in my life than we did then. The Kernel sed the news from Ginneral McClellan was that he would be compelled to go to the Jeemes River for his supplize, and the grate questshin was, whether he cud turn his right wing around so as to swing agin the river jest like opening a barn dore. Ginneral Scott sed he thought it mite be done, provided it was done quick enuff. I telled em I hed often noticed that wen I opened one barn dore all at once there would c.u.m a gust of wind, an open would go the other in spite of all I could do. Ses I, "Kernel, ef the rebels should pitch at the left wing while the rite is swingin, then both dores would be open, an they might both get off the hinges." Ginneral Scott sed he was afrade it might work that way, but ef the thing c.u.m to the worst, he didn"t see eny help for it. You see, the army nigh Richmond was in a t.i.te fix, an Linkin knew it. Wen the Kernel telled Ginneral Scott how it was, the old man cried, and sed he didn"t want to live to see the rebils whip that grate army. The whole country have been in a grate fogo about what Linkin went to see Scott about, but that was all. Wen he went away the next day, he sed he wanted me to see Seward, an ef Ginneral McClellan got defeated, advise with him as to what to do. So I went with the Kernel back as far as Filadelfy, where I thought I stop a few days to see how things would turn out. Wen we got to Ja.r.s.ey City, the people wanted the Kernel to make a speech. He sed first he wouldn"t go out, but finally the cheers got so loud that I telled him he must go. "Wal," ses he, "Majer, I can"t. You jest go and tell em that I am too tired." So I stepped out on the platform and swingin my hickery around, ses I, "Feller-citizens, the President has been up two or three nites travellin, and he ain"t abil to speak. You must excuse him." Wen they heered that, it didn"t suit em at all, and a good meny yelled out, "Who are you?" Then I remembered that I had forgot to tell em who I was. So I stepped out, and ses I, "I"me Majer Jack Downing." Then you had ought to hev heered em cheer, and Linkin, you know is a queer feller, and wants to know all that"s goin on, so he c.u.m out to see what was the matter. After he c.u.m out, of course, he couldn"t back out of a little speech. He sed he "jest c.u.m out to see and be seen, and didn"t intend to blab enything about public affairs."
The whistle soon sounded, and off we went. Nothing happened on the way, and I bid the Kernel good bye in Filadelfy, and went to the Continental Hotel to wait and see how the battle c.u.m off. They have n.i.g.g.e.r waiters here, dressed up like Quakers, and that is the reason they call it a Continental hotel--so they say.
In a few days I saw how the battle had turned, and I knew Seward would be along. The Kernel sent me a telliegraff that he would be at the Aster House such a day, and I agreed to meet him there. I was determined to smoke the old fox out this time, ef it was in my power, and so I began to study him. Weed was there, who thinks he is very cunnin, and Governor Morgan and others. McClellan bein compelled to retreat from Richmond, they all thought that France and England would interfere, and what was to be done? Seward sed we must put the best face on matters we could, and raise more men to fight the rebils, and that by showin a bold front we might frighten off the Uropean powers.
He sed he thought it might all be settled in "sixty days" yet, and ef McClellan couldn"t settle it by fightin, he could by deeplomacy. He sed "he would run the machine as long as ther was a linchpin left, and let John Bull and Looe Napoleon do their best." Weed wanted to know, ef we had a war with England, wether it wouldn"t be better to have it carried on by contrack. He thought the government might let it out and make money by the operashin. He sed he could furnish the powder and shoddy, and wouldn"t charge over five per cent. commission. Gov. Morgan sed he was in favor of a war with England, and as it would be mostly a naval fight, the government would need a good menny vessels, and he had a brother who was a capital judge of sich matters. Stetson sed he thought a war with England would improve bizness in York, specially hotel-keepin, and as the Aster House was handy down town, it would be a first-rate place for officers" head-quarters.
After they all got through, they asked me my opinion. I turned rite to Mr. Seward, and ses I, "Boss, I"m goin to speak plane." Ses he, "That"s rite, Majer. No one can find fault with you. You"re a loyal man, and you"ve a rite to speak your mind." "Now," ses I, "in the first place, Boss, I want to ask you a plane questshin. We all know you are runnin the government machine, and whenever I look at a machine, I want to know what the drivin wheel is made of. You see if that is all rite, things will go putty nigh rite." Ses Seward, ses he, "Majer, I"ve got a model of my machine here, and ef you would like to look at it you kin."
So he took out a little curious-looking box, and out of the box a machine. It was a cute-lookin affair. "There," ses he, "do you see that big wheel?--that"s the drivin wheel." I looked at it, an I see it was marked aroun the rim, "The Union and the Const.i.tushin." "Wal," ses I, "Boss, that looks all rite. Eny machine that runs on that basis must be runnin rite. But," ses I, "somehow it don"t seem to work well. We ought not to get into so much trubbil ef we were jest runnin on the old const.i.tushinal basis." "Wal," ses he, "Majer, you see so it is." "Now,"
ses I, "Boss, there"s somethin rong sumwhere. Either the ile is poor or the stuff is bad, or our government machine on that basis would run jest as slick as greese."
The more I looked at the machine the more it puzzled me. I knew what a fox Seward was, an I remembered how he stuck the little n.i.g.g.e.r in Linkin"s Teliskope. So all at once the old sayin that "there"s allers a wheel within a wheel," popped into my hed. I didn"t say it out loud, but I sed, ses I, "Boss, will you let me see whether there ain"t sumthin rong about that?" Ses he, "Sartinly, Majer--go ahed." So I jest out with my jack knife an went at it. I tuck it all apart. Wen I went at the wheel I saw the Boss begin to wince, but I went rite on, an purty soon I saw, sure enough, the outside wheel was only a sham, for the rale wheel which run the government machine was marked "HIGHER LAW--ABOLITION." "Now," ses I, "Boss Seward, I"m done with you. Here"s a wheel within a wheel, jest as I expected. It shows what an infarnal hypocrite you are, and ef you"re a mind to fite John Bull or the South, or all the world, as long as you run on that wheel, I won"t help you."
So I jest tuck my hickery an went out of the room. You never see such a dumbfounded, scart set of men in your life, an Seward looked as ef he would craul through an auger hole. I c.u.m rite on after that to Downingville, but I didn"t get here in time to see about the arrangements. The Insine made his orashin and Jerusha sung the oad prepared for the occashin. My letter is so long that I can"t tell you enything about it, but wen I rite agin I may, ef sumthin more important don"t happen.
Yours, till deth,
MAJER JACK DOWNING.
LETTER XIII.
_The Major Returns to Washington--Things Get Mixed Up--Lincoln and the Panther--Splittin Rails and the Union--The Major and the President Visit Gen. McClellan"s Army--Going up James River--Alarm of the Rebels--Exciting Scene on Board the Boat--n.o.body Hurt--The President Reviews the Troops at Harrison"s Landing--The Return Trip--The President and Party Bathe in the Potomac--Almost a Catastrophe--The Major"s Life-Preserver--The Moral of it--The President Proposes a Conundrum._
WASHINGTON, July 21, 1862.
_To the Editers of The Cawcashin:_
Wal, here I am back agin to Washington. I didn"t expect to c.u.m on before fall, at eny rate, but I got a letter from Linkin, tellin me he couldn"t do without me, no how. He sed that the bars were all down since I left, and that the cattle, an hosses, an hogs, an sheep, an mules, were all mixed up together. Now, every farmer knows what a mess it makes of it wen you git fat cattle, an the cows, an the sheep, an hosses, an hogs, all muddled together in one lot. I see, at once, the pickle Linkin was in, an so I detarmined to push off for Washington once more, an see ef I couldn"t help him out. It was oncommon hot wether, an it pulled down purty hard on a const.i.tushin which has had to go thru about eighty sich summers. Howsoever, no one ought to stand about hot wether in the sarvice of his country, even ef he don"t git a salary, or have a contrack, or some brother or son where he kin make a pile. I never had a cent for all I"ve done, and wouldn"t take it. I think, ef there is any human critter on arth who is meaner than another, it is the one who plunders the people, all the while purtending to be a patriot. Wen I arriv, ses I, "Kernel, what"s the matter?" Ses he, "Majer, did you ever hear of the story of a man who caught a panther by the tail?" Ses I, "Yes, Kernel, I have." "Wal," ses he, "I"m that man. I"ve got the biggest he-panther by the tail that you ever heerd tell of. Ef I was splittin rails I"de know jist what to do."
"Why," ses I, "Kernel, what could you do then?" "Wal," ses he, "jest stick his tail in the crack of the log, knock out the wedge, and run.
But you see, Majer, I ain"t splittin rails now, an that plan won"t work." "Now," ses I, "Kernel, you ain"t splittin rails, but I"m afeerd you"re splittin somethin else." Ses he, "What?" Ses I, "THE UNION!"
"Now, Majer," ses the Kernel, "you don"t think I want to split the Union, do you?" "No," ses I, "I don"t know as you"re raley _tryin_ to split it, but then you"ve been such a splitter all your life, that perhaps you are doin it unbeknown to yourself. You see, Kernel, as long as you stick to them Abolishinists, jest so long the Union will not only stay split, but the split will grow wider. They are the wedge an you are the mallet. You jest knock the wedge out, an the Union will c.u.m together jest like shuttin up a jack-nife. You see, they hold that some of the States have got an inst.i.tushin which they consider rong, and they are detarmined to uproot it. In tryin to do that, they"ll split everything all to smash, an by the time they get thru, it will look as ef lightnin had struck this country from Maine to Texas, in spots not more than six inches apart."
"Wal," ses the Kernel, ses he, "Majer, that brings up a great moral questshin, as the n.i.g.g.e.r said when he was stealin chickens, an we ain"t got time to discuss it now. You see, Majer, I sent for you to know what I better do about McClellan. I git all sorts of contradictory stories from his army, an I"m puzzled most to deth to know what to do." "Wal,"
ses I, "Kernel, there"s nothin like goin in the field yourself, an examine for yourself ef you want to know how things stand." "Wal," ses he, "that"s jest what I"ve been thinkin of, an as you"re a military man, I wanted you to go with me." I telled him I had no objecshin to goin, an that ef I had a fair chance I thought I could tell about how things looked. So we got reddy, and the Kernel asked old Blair"s son Frank and Sekertary Stantin"s chief clark to go along with us. We went down the Potomack, an jest called at Fort Monrow, and then went up the Jeems River to Harrisin Landin. Goin up the river we kept a sharp look-out for the rebils, who line the bank and shoot at our botes. I told the Kernel that he must be mitey kerful an not get hit, as the way stocks would tumble in Wall street would be a caushin. So I tuk him down stairs wen we come to the dangerous places. There they had the bote lined with bales of hay. Ses he, "Majer, which way does the shootin c.u.m from?" "Wal," ses I, "Kernel, there"s no tellin, but," ses I, "you better get behind that bale, for it"s a big one, an here"s another on t"other side, so I guess you"ll be safe." While he was settin there, ses he, "Majer, I ain"t afeerd a hooter, but you see I didn"t want them seceshers to brag about killin me." "No," ses I, "Kernel, that wouldn"t do eny how." Jest then "bang" went sumthin like a shot. The Kernel jumped about ten feet, rite across the bote, and hit Frank Blair with his left boot rite where he ought not to. Frank thought he"d been struck with a cannon-ball, and tumbled over, leavin the seat of honor uppermost. Stantin"s chief clark acted as ef he"d been eatin poke-berries, and had an awful gripin in the bowels. It seems one of the bales of hay had been tipped over when the Kernel give his big jump, an hit the chap rite in his bread-basket. We were all purty badly scart, for I tell you it makes a feller feel mighty narvous wen he"s in an inemies country, an may be hit eny moment with a cannon-ball or a Minny bullet. Shootin will do very well as long as sumbody else is shot at; but wen it c.u.ms to yourself, it makes you feel week in the jints, an sumtimes brings on the die-area. Wen we c.u.m to find out, however, we learned we had a scare for nothin. The pilot, in turning one of the short bends in the river, had jerked on his chains too hard, an snapped one of them rite in two. This noise was what sounded down in the cabin like a shot.
Wen we got to the landin, Ginneral McClellan had hosses reddy for all of us to ride. Linkin chose a black one, and got on. Ses I, "Kernel, is black your favorite color?" Ses he, "Majer, no joking now. This is serious bisiness." So I got a white one. I can"t ride quite so handy as I did thirty or forty years, yet it is not every nag that could throw me now. Linkin"s sterrups were too short for his legs, though they were let out jest as long as they could be. It kinked him up a good deal, an before we got through reviewing the troops, ses he, "Majer, I can"t stand this bendin of my jints. I"m going to remedy it;" and so he jest turned one leg over the hoss"s neck and rode sideways the rest of the time. The sojers cheered him as we went along, an seemed mity glad to see him. In one place he got up on a brestwork an made a short speech to "em. He wound up by telling "em that he had Majer Jack Downing, Ginneral Jackson"s old frend, with him. When he sed that, the cheers were dubbled, an I paid my respects to the complyment by takin off my hat an makin jest about the neetest bow that ever was.
After we had seen all the troops an made all the inquiries we wanted to, we c.u.m away. The seseshers did not trubbel us comin down the river, an we soon once more were sailin up the Potomack. Comin up the river the day was warm, an we all felt first rate that McClellan was as well off as he was; the Kernel said he felt jest as if he would like to have a swim. All hands agreed it would be a capital chance, an so Linkin, and Blair, and Stantin"s chief clark, undressed for a splurge in the water. The Kernal asked me to go in too, but I telled him that, hot as it was, my rumatiz would not allow it. Wen they got about reddy, now, ses I, "Kernel, look out and don"t go where the water is too deep, for if you get tuckered out or have the cramp, you may not get back to the bote." He sed "there warnt eny danger--that he hed swum the Mississippi River nigh about all over wen he was a boy, and that he guessed he could stand the Potomack." So off they went. Linkin could outswim the hull party, and Blair an the other feller with him looked like sunfish alongside a sturgeon. I thought likely Linkin mite overdo himself, or get the cramp or sumthin, so I jest went to my valese and tuk out my patent gutty perchy life-preserver. I ment to have it reddy if enything happened. Wal, I hadn"t more than got back to the side of the bote, wen I seed the Kernel flounderin and kickin, and blowin, as ef he was chokin.
Blair and Stantin"s chief clark were tryin to help him, but it was like the blind ledin the blind, an sech another muss in the water you never did see. I saw it was time for my life-preserver, so I jest blowed it up and hollered out to Linkin to ketch hold of it, an told Blair an the other feller to let him alone, that that would save him. Wen Linkin got hold of it he jest raised himself rite up, an looked as happy as a boy with a new hat. He floated rite along towards the bote, an soon c.u.m aboard. Ses he, "Majer, I owe you a debt of etarnal grat.i.tude. You"ve saved my life." Ses he, "Majer, this life-preserver of yours is the greatest article ever invented. Wen I get dressed I want to examine it." So, purty soon, he c.u.m in, an ses he, "Let"s take a good look at it." So I showed it to him. The first thing he saw on one side of it was the following words: "_The Const.i.tution as it is, and the Union as it was._" Ses he, "Majer, what have you got that motto on a life-preserver for?" "Wal," ses I, "Kernel, I put that there because of the similarity between the two things. Now, that preserver saved your life, didn"t it?" "Yes," ses he, "Majer, it did." "Wal, the _sentiment in those words is the life-preserver of the country_. You can"t any more save the country without stickin to them, than you could have saved yourself without holdin on to the life-preserver. You must stick to the Const.i.tution _as it is_, and not as Sumner and Greeley want it."
The Kernel began to look kinder struck up wen he see how I had him, an so, seein my advantage, I kept on. Ses I, "Kernel, the truth is, you are just now in swimmin with Greeley, an Sumner, an Wilson, an Lovejoy, an Thad. Stevens, an it is no wonder the country is like you was jest now, chokin and gaspin, and just reddy to sink. You must git out of such k.u.mpany, an the only way to do it is to lay hold of the "_Const.i.tushin as it is_," and ef you do that, you"ll save the country jest as easy as I saved you with that life-preserver." Ses he, "Majer, hold up, you"re drivin your hoss rite into my stable, an you don"t give me a chance to say whoa." Ses I, "Kernel, go ahed, an ef you can refute what I"ve sed, I"d like to see you." Ses he, "Majer, do you know why a man"s face is like the eend of an old-fashioned house?" Ses I, "No, Kernel, can"t say I do," "Wal," ses he, "because it"s his _gabble_ eend." "Wal," ses I, "that may be a good joke, but after all, Kernel, it don"t answer my arguments." But I couldn"t get another word on politics out of Linkin that day. He seemed to keep up more of a thinkin than I"d ever seen him before. We all got home to the White House safe that nite, an, on the hull, the trip had not only bin pleasant, but profitable, for it will lead to some grate changes in a few days.
Yours, till deth,
MAJER JACK DOWNING.
LETTER XIV.
_The President Has an Attack of Fever and Ague--The Major Prescribes Elder Bark Tea--A Fearful Mistake--The Bark Sc.r.a.ped the Wrong Way--Mr.
Lincoln has to be Rolled--Stanton, Seward and the Major--A Ludicrous Scene--The "Kernel" comes to and Begins to Joke--The Moral of Taking the Wrong Medicine--"The Irrepressible Conflict."_
WASHINGTON, August 1, 1862.
_To the Editers of The Cawcashin:_
SURS:--I tell you I"ve had my hands full since I writ you last. Linkin has been nigh about down sick with the fever an ager. Of course it wouldn"t do to let the tel-lie-graf git hold of it, for it would scare Wall street in spasms, and knock stocks down wus than the retreat of Ginneral McClellan. So Stantin put his sensership on the news, an that was the end of it, while I went to work as I could to cure the Kernel up. You see, the Kernel, for the last month or so, has been very much broke of his sleep. Sumtimes he"s up nigh about the hull nite consulten with Stantin, an Hallick, an Seward, an the nite air has been too much for him. The banks of the Potomick in July an August are mity hard on the const.i.tushin, an ef there is any bilyusness in a man, its purty sure to bring it out. Linkin says his const.i.tushin is just like the war, so far, nigh about all _bill_yus. One day I went into the Kernel"s room, an seein he looked kinder blue about the gills, ses I, "Kernel, what"s the matter?" Ses he, "Majer, I feel as cold as a frozen turnip."
Ses I, "Kernel, ain"t you gettin the ager?" Ses he, "No, Majer, I don"t think I"m gettin it, for I"ve got it already." "Wal," ses I, "Kernel, ef there is eny feller on arth who can cure the fever an ager, it"s me." "Wal," says he, "Majer, I wish you would go ahead, for I can"t afford to be sick now. The truth is, ef I had a good ax an some chestnut timber I could soon work off the shakes myself. I used to have them when I was a boy, powerful bad, but I could jest go out eny mornin and break an ager by splitting up a hundred rails as a breakfast spell; but now I s"pose I must dose myself with some sort of pizen doctor stuff, just because it wouldn"t look well for a President to split rails." "No," ses I, "Kernel, you needn"t take eny pizen stuff. I"ll fix you sum medecin which was a grate favorite with Ginneral Jackson, an it will cure you up as sure as my name"s Downing." Ses he, "What is it?" Ses I, "It"s elder bark tea." So I jest went to work and got the feller in bad close, who does ch.o.r.es around the White House, to go out into the sububs an sc.r.a.pe me sum bark. I told him very particaler how to do it, an to be very kerful an not to sc.r.a.pe it roundabout-ways of the wood. You see, elder bark is the queerest stuff in the world. If you sc.r.a.pe it down it acts as a fisic, an if you sc.r.a.pe it upwards it becomes an emetick, while by sc.r.a.pin it around-ways, it ain"t nuther one thing nor tother, but just raises a young arthquake gripin an panein a feller as ef the cholery, an yaller fever, an kronick rumatiz had all got hold of him at once. Purty soon the feller c.u.m back, and I went to work makin the tea. After I got it fixed, I went in an give it to Linkin, who was shakin away as ef he would fall apart. "Now," says I, "Kernel, ef you feel bad in the nite jest call me, and I will see what"s the matter." Nigh about mornin sum one was rappin at my door like all possessed. I bounded out as spry as I could, an down stairs I went. There was Linkin agroanin an writhin, an lookin as pale as a ghost, an as lean and lank as a rail. They had sent for Seward an Stantin, an all hands were in a terribul excitement. Seward seemed to be awfully worried. Ses he, "Major, what would we do if Linkin dies, for he"s the only one of us left that the peeple"s got eny faith in at all?" Stantin didn"t say nothin, but he was lookin round, I thought, to see where the Kernel"s trowsers was. As soon as I got a fair look at the Kernel, an felt his pulze, I began to suspect what was the matter.
The fust thing I did was to call the feller in bad close who got the elder bark, an ask him particular how he sc.r.a.ped it. c.u.m to find out, the numskull had cut the bushes down, an then sc.r.a.ped them around, jest what I had telled him not to do. I comprehended the situashin in a jiffy. Ses I, "Mr. Seward, I understand all about this case, an ef you"ll stand back about four inches, an do jest as I tell you, we"ll have the Kernel all rite in no time." Then, turnin round, ses I, "Stantin, I want you to lend a hand, too, and make yourself ginnerally useful, an don"t run off an issoo a proclamashin afore you know what is what." "Now," ses I, "the feller that got the elder bark for the Kernel sc.r.a.ped it the rong way, an the medicine won"t work. The only way to get it rite is to roll the Kernel over fourteen times clean across the floor. It is a tough remedy, but desput diseases require desput remedies." So I telled Seward an Stantin to take hold, and the way we rolled the Kernel over an over was a caushin. It seemed as ef it might break every bone in his body, for his frame is so sharp an so full of angles that it jarred an jolted like rollin over a wagin wheel wen there"s no fellers on the spokes. Finally he c.u.m to, an we lifted him on the bed, an in a little while he felt like another person. Seward an Stantin looked skeert yet, but I telled them they needn"t have no fears--that the Kernel was as sound as a dollar. Stantin said he"d hurt his spine in rollin Linkin; at eny rate, he puffed an blowed like a porpose. I telled him to go home an take some of Chase"s "greenbacks"
for a poultice, an ef that didn"t cure him, then there warn"t no virtue in "legal tenders." Seward sed, as I was sich a good doctor he"d like to know what was good for pizen. Wen he was a boy he sed he pizened one of his feet, an that it had allers trubbled him, more or less, ever sence. I telled him to get one of Sumner"s speeches, an bind on the place, for there warn"t enything like pizen to draw out pizen, and I thought Sumner"s speeches would draw pizen out of ded men, and that I wondered the doctors hadn"t got to usin them for bringin to life people who had killed themselves with laudalum, prussick acid, an sich things.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "So I telled Seward an" Stanten to take hold, and the way we rolled the Kernel over was a caushin."--Page 128.]