| Show SAMS philosophy n and kate married because they found themselves so old and poor half a dozen men were discussing tho problem of marriage in the cafe of the southern society one evening these young new yorkers make me very weary said a kentucky colonel 1 I mean these young fellows who though in receipt of good incomes spend all their money in tomfoolery and then say they cant afford to marry 1 I agree with you colonel said a maryland gentleman from princess anne county if a man wants to marry ha never reckons the cost I 1 am reminded of a story of our two old house servants they had both been in our family for years when the emancipation proclamation was signed we told them that they were free we sympathized with the north during the war you know we could scarcely drive them away with a club however they had been bom and reared on the place sam had lost his wife he was eighty years of age old kate was our mammy she was sixty or seventy her husband was killed duck shooting a dozen years before tho war it was a great blow to the old people when we told them they would have to go they did not want to leave us and hustle for themselves but we could ill afford to keep them at that time it was particularly hard for the old mammy she thought we children all belonged to her finally we compromised the matter and let old kate have the use of one of the cabins and work on the place sam went to live in a little shanty in the town a mile or two away kate did washing and sam did washing too whenever ho could get a job whitewashing I 1 mean we were astonished one day at hearing that these old creatures each with one foot in the grave had married my father sent me to sam to learn if the report waa true I 1 found him whitewashing the wooden fence around his shanty sam I 1 said what in the world have yon and old kate been up to marrying at your age what did you do it for why massa will lie replied yo see it war this way olo kate an I 1 were 2 an I 1 say to ole kate kate wo po fool biggers nig gers Is done live bouts longs I 1 ker to an kate she say 1 I dunno bout dat sam but guess yo is tellin da so kate she say as how ashes ola too an cant grow much oler an hov she po an cant be no cooer an so we elude to get married kase we cant be no oler no cooer when wes mar ried den when kato is ansa kate an sams joss sam and so those two old darkies were married said the princess anne man because they wera old and could not live much longer and because they were poor and could not be any poorer whether they single or married new york herald |
