The Conjure Woman, Charles W. Chesnutt [reading women txt] 📗

so I reckon I’ll hafter try sumpin’ diff’ent. I ’spec’ I better tu’n you ter a fox. En bein’ ez a fox is a good runner, you oughter git ter de Norf in less time dan a b’ar, so I’ll fix dis yer goopher so you’ll tu’n back ter a nigger en des th’ee weeks, en you’ll be able ter enjoy yo’ freedom a week sooner.’

“So Aun’ Peggy tu’nt Tobe ter a fox, en he sta’ted down de road in great has’e, en made mo’d’n ten miles, w’en he ’mence’ ter feel kinder hongry. So w’en he come ter a hen-house he tuk a hen en eat it, en lay down in de woods ter git his night’s res’. In de mawnin’, wen he woke up, he ’lowed he mought ’swell hab ernudder chick’n fer breakfus’, so he tuk a fat pullet en eat dat.

“Now, Tobe had be’n monst’s fon’ er chick’n befo’ he wuz tu’nt ter a fox, but he hadn’ nebber had ez much ez he could eat befo.’ En bein’ ez dere wuz so many chick’ns in dis naberhood, en dey mought be ska’se whar he wuz gwine, he ’lowed he better stay ’roun’ dere ’tel he got kinder fat, so he could stan’ bein’ hongry a day er so ef he sh’d fin’ slim pickings fu’ther ’long. So he dug hisse’f a nice hole under a tree in de woods, en des stayed dere en eat chick’n fer a couple er weeks er so. He wuz so comf’table, eatin’ w’at he laked, en restin’ wen he wa’n’t eatin’, he des kinder los’ track er de time, ’tel befo’ he notice’ it his th’ee weeks wuz mos’ up.

“But bimeby de people w’at own dese yer chick’ns ’mence’ ter miss ’em, en dey ’lowed dey wuz a fox som’ers roun’. So dey got out dey houn’s en dey hawns en dey hosses, en sta’ted off fer a fox-hunt. En sho’ nuff de houn’s got de scent, en wuz on po’ Tobe’s track in a’ hour er so.

“W’en Tobe heared ’em comin’ he wuz mos’ skeered ter def, en he ’mence’ ter run ez ha’d ez he could, en bein’ ez de houn’s wuz on de norf side, he run to’ds de souf, en soon foun’ hisse’f back in de woods right whar he wuz bawn en raise’. He jumped a crick en doubled en twisted, en done ev’ything he could fer ter th’ow de houn’s off’n de scent but ’t wa’n’t no use, fer dey des kep’ gittin’ closeter, en closeter, en closeter.

“Ez soon ez Tobe got back to’ds home en ’skivered whar he wuz, he sta’ted fer ole Aun’ Peggy’s cabin fer te git her ter he’p ’im, en des ez he got ter her do’, lo en behol’! he tu’nt back ter a nigger ag’in, fer de th’ee weeks wuz up des ter a minute. He knock’ at de do’, en hollered:⁠—

“ ‘Lemme in, Aun’ Peggy, lemme in! De dawgs is atter me.’

“Aun’ Peggy open’ de do’.

“ ‘Fer de Lawd sake! nigger, whar is you come fum dis time?’ sez she. ‘I ’lowed you wuz done got ter de Norf, en free long ago. W’at’s de matter wid you now?’

“So Tobe up’n’ tol’ her ’bout how he had been stop’ by dem chick’ns, en how ha’d it wuz ter git ’way fum ’em. En w’iles he wuz talkin’ ter Aun’ Peggy dey heared de dawgs comin’ closeter, en closeter, en closeter.

“ ‘Tu’n me ter sump’n e’se, Aun’ Peggy,’ sez Tobe, ‘fer dat fox scent runs right up ter de do’, en dey’ll be ’bleedzd ter come in, en dey’ll fin’ me en kyar me back home, en lamb me, en mos’ lakly sell me ’way. Tu’n me ter sump’n, quick, I doan keer w’at, fer I doan want dem dawgs ner dem w’ite folks ter ketch me.’

“Aun’ Peggy look’ ’roun’ de cabin, en sez she, takin’ down a go’d fum de chimbly:⁠—

“ ‘I ain’ got no goopher made up ter-day, Tobe, but dis yer bull-frog mixtry. I’ll tu’n you ter a bull-frog, en I’ll put in ernuff er dis yuther mixtry fer ter take de goopher off in a day er so, en meanw’iles you kin hop down yander ter dat ma’sh en stay, en w’en de dawgs is all gone en you tu’ns back, you kin come ter me en I’ll tu’n you ter a sparrer er sump’n’ w’at kin fly swif’, en den maybe you’ll be able ter git ’way en be free widout all dis yer foolishness you’s be’n goin’ th’oo.’

“By dis time de dawgs wuz scratchin’ at de do’ en howlin’, en Aun’ Peggy en Tobe could heah de hawns er de hunters blowin close behin’. All dis yer racket made Aun’ Peggy sorter narvous, en wen she went ter po’ dis yuther mixtry in fer ter lif’ de bull-frog goopher off’n Tobe in a day er so, her han’ shuck so she spilt it ober de side er de yuther go’d en didn’ notice dat it hadn’ gone in. En Tobe wuz so busy lis’nin’ en watchin’ de do’, dat he didn’ notice nuther, en so w’en Aun’ Peggy put de goopher on Tobe en tu’nt ’im inter a bull-frog, dey wa’n’t none er dis yuther mixtry in it w’atsomeber.

“Tobe le’p’ out’n a crack ’twix’ de logs, en Aun’ Peggy open’ de do’, en de dawgs run ’roun’, en de w’ite folks come en inqui’ed, en w’en dey seed Aun’ Peggy’s roots en go’ds en snake-skins en yuther cunjuh-fixin’s, en a big black cat wid yaller eyes, settin’ on de h’a’th, dey ’lowed dey wuz wastin’ dey time, so dey des cusst a little en run ’long back home widout de fox dey had come atter.

“De nex’ day Aun’ Peggy stayed roun’ home all day, makin’ a mixtry fer ter tu’n Tobe ter a sparrer, en ’spectin’ ’im eve’y minute fer ter come in. But he nebber come. En bein’ ez he didn’ ’pear no mo’, Aun’ Peggy ’lowed he’d got ti’ed er dis yer