The Marengo Jake Stories: The Tales of Jake Mitchell and Robert Wilton Burton

An Assin a Lion's Skin

AnAssinaLion)sSkin Not long since, as Jake was doing som[e] work in a garden, he espied acolored ma[n] of distinguished appearance walking in th[e] direction of the experiment station. Now Jake is quite accustomed to seeing farmer[s] from various parts of the state who come to Auburn to inform themselves on some ma[t]ter pertaining to their vocation, but suc[h] farmers are always Anglo Saxons, neve[r] negroes. Jake was therefore surprised, an[d] he at once resolved to lay down his hoe an[d] ascertain what business was taking to th[e] station a person too well dressed to pass tIor] a laborer seeking work, yet of a race whic[h] has never shown any desire for a knowledge ofscientific agriculture. The stranger was short ofstature, middle-aged and black. He was dressed in a new business suit, a standing collar and a stove-pipe hat. He did not seem to be in a very great hurry, but walked like a gentleman ofleisure, duly impressed with his own importance. 148 / An Ass in a Lion)s Skin "Mornin'!" said Jake, raising his tattered hat in respectful salutation. "Mornin'!" returned the stranger, halting. "Pear like you gwine to de speerment station," said Jake. "Way say," said the stranger, interrogatively. "Dis lots 0' folks goes out dar to larn how to make fine truck grow on po' Ian," continued Jake. "You'll be mo'n ap to see sights you never is seed befo out dar at dat speerment station, vidin you gwine dar." "Way him?" inquired the stranger. "I reckon you knows de way, or you'd a axed me[.] You des keep on out dis yer straight-farrud street tell you git to de fus big gate, an' you turn in d[a]r efyou want to see all dem fine grape vines an' dat ar big plum orchud an' dat ar strawberry patch an' sich like." "Ki!" exclaimed the stranger. "What mought be yo entitlements?" inquired Jake. "I lib Sawannah," said the stranger. "You cum a fur ways, 1speck," ventured Jake, unwilling to expose his ignorance ofgeography. "How did you git yer?" "I been ride on de cyaz," said the stranger. "I dunno what sort 0' critter dat is," said Jake, "but 1 lay hit's perter 'n a mule. A mule he'll stop at ever house, an' he always wants to take de wrong road, an' dat way hit take anybody a long time to ride him anywhars[.] "You see dat fus house up yonder mongst dem trees?" "I shum," said the stranger. "Efyou go in de gate des dis side 0' dat house, you'll be mo'n ap to see Joe Eady in dar knockin bout de lot." "Him buckra?" inquired the stranger. "Joe, he's my brer-in-law," said Jake, "leasways he use to be fo his wife quit him. Well, Joe, he'll show you round de place. He'll take you down dar to de dairy-hit's dat little An Ass in a Lion)s Skin / 149 house a settin down dar at de foot 0' de hill. Wen you go in dat house yo eyes'll open plum stonish." "Hi!" exclaimed the stranger. "You'll see mo milk an butter 'n you ever seed befo in all yo born days." "Shum nuttin; git urn him!" said the stranger in contemptuous tones. "You'll see sumpn in dar what look like a big sotched grinder," continued Jake. "Ki! for true," exclaimed the stranger. "Dey calls hit de sep'rater," said Jake, "an' dey grines de milk in hit. Dey des po's de milk in hit an' turns de crank, same es you turns a grine rock, and de skim' milk hit spees out'n a little hole same es you see hit spee out'n a cow's titty, an' de rummunt cream hit run out'n aner' hole. You see hit grines de milk same ez you grines sotched meat, an' dat makes de cream come aloose f'om de skim' milk." "Humph!" grunted the stranger. By this time Jake was beginning to grow impatient. He had hoped to draw the stranger into conversation and thus learn the obj[e]ct ofhis visit to Auburn, but the man did not seem disposed to talk, and the little he said was wholly unintelligible to Jake. "I reckon 1 better be...