"At last it cleared away entire, But all that we could see Was Lige's dog a squattin' down Beneath the axletree.
"'Law!' says the pedler, lookin' blue, 'What's happened to _my_ pup?' Says Lige: 'It's my opinion, boss, My pup has eat him up.'
"'But where's the chain I tied him with?' The pedler loud did call. And would you b'lieve me--Lige's dog Had swallowed chain and all!
"One end was hangin' from his mouth And gev him such a cough, We had to fetch a chisel out And cut some inches off.
"Then that ere brute, to show the joy That's nat'ral to dum brutes, Insulted that sad pedler there, By smellin' round his boots.
"The pedler dropped a tear, and then Says he to Lige, says he: 'I'd like to buy that yaller pup And take him home with me.'
"But 'no,' says Lige, with proud disdain And sot down on a log, 'That pup is plural now, you know-- A dog within a dog.'
"'He's twice as strong to fit,' says Lige; 'For if he's killed outside, I'll turn the critter inside out, And let _your_ critter slide.'
"'Well,' says the pedler, with a sigh, 'The pup's a trump, I think; But let us change the subject now; Say, strannger!--do you drink?'"
But let me not indulge in sentiment, my boy, while it is still before me to describe the recent successful reconnoissance of the Anatomical Cavalry, whose horses remind me of the celebrated war-horse described by Job, inasmuch as it is believed that the far-famed patience of that scriptural patriarch would have stood a very poor chance with them.
The Grim Old Fighting Cox, the new General of the Mackerel Brigade, having learned from the New York daily papers, of the week previous, that a few hundred thousand freshly-drafted Confederacies were massing themselves on his right, resolved to order a triumphant reconnoissance by the Anatomical Cavalry and the Orange County Howitzers, for the purpose of discovering whether the war was actually going on yet. As the steeds of the cavalry were widely dispersed through the various gravel meadows around the Mackerel camp, my boy, and had grown somewhat wild from long disuse, I was somewhat puzzled to know how they could all be caught quickly enough, and says I to Captain Villiam Brown, who was to command the combined expedition: