Chapter I

THE
BULL CALF
AND
OTHER TALES,

BY
A.B. FROST.
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
NEW YORK.
]

COPYRIGHT
1892

BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
NEW YORK.
]

PAGE

_1._ _The Humane Man and the Bull Calf_ _5_

_2._ _A Warning to Mutton that Thinks Itself Lamb_ _19_

_3._ _Antonio and Jeremiah; an Inharmonious Tale_ _29_

_4._ _Dizzy Joe_ _37_

_5._ _Violet's Experience_ _55_

_6._ _The Entire Discomfiture of Uneasy Walker_ _63_

_7._ _'Twas a Poem about Gentle Spring_ _73_

_8._ _The Kidnapping of Private Jean François: A Frontier_
_Episode of the Next War_ _87_

_9._ _A Low Down Trick; or, Louisa's Capitulation_ _101_

_10._ _A Tale of Two Tails_ _109_

"Oh, never fear; he is a gentle thing," says the Humane Man.]

"Lor'! Toby! we're too old and fat fer the likes of that."

"Fat nothin'! come on, let's do it?"

"Well, you go ahead, I'll foller."]

"I don't know, Toby, I think I'll stop!"]

"Hold on to what, you ole fool, stop yerself!"]

"Think--I'm--'s--big--fool--as--you?"]

"I--won't--ol'--fool!"]

"What's left of me's here!"

"Hol' on tight, Maria, we may start agin any minit!"

"I wish _you_ would, and never stop!"]

"If I look half as bad as you, I want to die right here!"]

"Fool who? You proposed it, Maria!" etc., etc.]

"Don' you pester yo'sef 'bout dat figger Emmerline Jane; dat's a little surprise fo' Vi'let!"]

"I ain' gwine ter die jist yit, Brer Hacklefeather!"

"Ain' dat yo' kicken' muel Vi'let?"

"Dis here my muel Vi'let, but she ain' a kicken mule no mo'! She done had a 'sperience!"]

Small Party:--"I was a-givin' Mr. Snees, the poet, a sparrin' lesson an' he says, jist slip my coat on an' run over to the _Weekly Whoop_ with this 'ere Spring poem, while I git me breath."

Editor W. W.:--"Who are _you_?"

Small Party:--"Jist excuse me----]

Editor W. W.:--"Well, call in again, Professor. This is my busy day."]

"I done bruk ebery shubel an' broom on de place on dat muel an' kyant cure her, Brer Peters."

"I kin, Brer Jackson!"

"Brer Peters, ef you cure that muel I gwine giv' yo' two pullets an' a water-million."]

"Ki, Brer Peters, ain' she a-gwine?"]

"Did yo' foots slip, Louisa? W'at make yo' jump in de water dat-a-way?"

"_Po' Louisa!_"]

"Dey ain' no mo' pull back in that muel; I jist keep de blinkers on her and tie her wif a piece of cotton thread dese days."]

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
The spelling inconsistencies of the original have been retained in
this book.
Obvious printing mistakes have been corrected.
Page 4, "Francois" changed to "François."
Page 12, single opening quotation mark changed to double opening
quotation mark.
Page 60, closing quotation mark added.
Page 77, closing quotation mark placed at the end of the sentence.
Page 78, opening quotation mark added.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Bull Calf and Other Tales, by A. B. Frost