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Show u As Told by Irvin S. Cobb H. C. OF L. HAD DROPPED AS I heard the tale it had to do with a small community where the railroad ran through the maiu street and on either side of the track stood a short order restaurant owned and operated by a colored man. One night the official bad man of the vicinity came lurching into one of these rival establishments. It immediately immedi-ately was apparent to the apprehensive apprehen-sive eye of the proprietor that the visitor vis-itor was looking for trouble. While the uneasy negro made pretense pre-tense at being glad to see him the bully flopped his long frame into a chair and demanded: "Nigger, have you got a nice tender sirloin steak here?" "Yas, sun!" "All right, then ; you cook It far me and don't you cook it too long else I'll cook you awhile myself. And along with it you better bring me some fried onions and fried potatoes and some celery and a mess of hot biscuits and green peas and roasting ears and pie and coffee and anything else tasty that you've got around this dump. Now jump before I start jumpin1 you." The black man jumped. In a miraculously miracu-lously short time, considering the magnitude mag-nitude of the order, he staggered iD from Ills cubbyhole of a kitchen at thu rear bearing a waiter tray piled high with dishes. He ranged the array of food In a half moon effect before his patron and then fluttered back a few paces hoping for the best, yet dreading the worst. 1 When the bad man had eaten he leaned back in his chair, drew a spring-back spring-back dirk knife out of his pocket, flipped its five-inch blade out with a nudge of a practiced thumb and leisurely picked his teeth with its needlelike point. His caterer watched him as a fascinated bird watches a coiled serpent. Suddenly he spoke and the negro jumped. "What sort of a dump does that , other nigger over acrost the tracks , run?" he asked. "Oh, Mister fhitlin. you wouldn't Ink flat place a-tall," stated the colored man. "Pat mgger nntohelly thinks a j fly is sometliin' you cooks v.'id. He ' ain't sanitations. Ink I aims to be." j "Yes." said the bully, "and wlnit's more, he's a robber lie's a regular , pirate." "Is ilat so. suh ?" ! "Well, judge for yourself. Last ' night I went into that nigger's joint and ordered just about what I've had , hce tonhrl.t maylm a little mor, ! maybe a H'.tlo less. When I got through I asked him what the damage was i and. do you know, that black scoundrel j had the gall to ask me for a dollar and j a quarter? Of coursp I otightcr killed htm. Tint something sort of stayed my ! hand. All I done to him was just to cut off both his ears with this here j frog-sticker and feed 'em to him. By j the way. what do I owe you for this ' mess of vittles?" "Boss." said the darkey, "I reckon a dime would be ample." by the Centra! Press Association.) |