ON IMM MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER XLVlJL
UNCLE REMUS AND MB. CABLE.
mb. joel chandler harris (' Uncle Remus') was to arrive from
Atlanta at seven o'clock Sunday morning; so we got up and received
him. We were able to detect him among the crowd of arrivals at
the hotel-counter by his correspondence with a description of him
which had been furnished us from a trustworthy source. He was
said to be undersized, red-haired, and somewhat freckled. He was
the only man in the party whose outside tallied with this bill of
particulars. He was said to be very shy. He is a shy man. Of
this there is no doubt. It may not show on the surface, but the
shyness is there. After days of intimacy one wonders to see that it
is still in about as strong force as ever. There is a fine and beautiful
nature hidden behind it, as all know who have read the Uncle
Bemus book; and a fine genius, too, as all know by the same sign.
I seen to be talking quite freely about this neighbour; but in
talking to the public I am but talking to his personal friends, and
these things are permissible among friends.
He deeply disappointed a number of children who had flocked
eagerly to Mr. Cable's house to get a glimpse of the illustrious sage
and oracle of the nation's nurseries. They said—
* Why, he's white!*
They were grieved about it. So, to console them, the book
was brought^ that they might hear Uncle Remus's Tar-Baby story
from the lips of Uncle Remus himself—or what, in their outraged
eyes, was left of him. Rut it turned out that lie had never read
aloud to people, and was too shy to venture the attempt now, Mr.