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night, en nex' day de one-laigged nigger say de bank 's busted. So dey

didn' none uv us git no money." ssssssssss

'' What did you do with the ten cents, Jim?"

"Well, I 'uz gwyne to spen' it, but I had a dream, en de dream tole

me to give it to a nigger name' Balum -- Balum's Ass dey call him for short,

he's one er dem chuckle-heads, you know. But he's lucky, dey say, en I

see I warn't lucky. De dream say let Balum inves' de ten cents en he'd

make a raise for me. Well, Balum he tuck de money, en when he wuz

in church he hear de preacher say dat whoever give to de po' len' to de

Lord, en boun' to git his" money back a hund'd times. So Balum he tuck

en give de ten cents to de po,' en laid low to see what wuz gwyne to

come of it." ssssssssss

"Well, what did come of it, Jim?"

"Nuffn' never come of it. I couldn' manage to k'leck dat money no

way; en Balum he couldn'. I ain' gwyne to len' no mo' money 'dout I

see de security. Bonn' to git yo' money back a hund'd times, de preacher

says! Ef I could git de ten cents back, I'd call it squah, en be glad er

de chanst." ssssssssss

"Well, it's all right, anyway, Jim, long as you're going to be rich

again some time or other." ssssssssss

"Yes -- en I's rich now, come to look at it. I owns mysef, en I's

wuth eight hund'd dollars. I wisht I had de money, I wouldn' want no

mo'."

ssssssssss

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