Roxy Hastings — page 127: what you’re looking at

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% 118 ROXY HASTINGS. hung, and if at any time I shall have any doubt on the sub- ject, I have only to look at Luke to make quite sure.” Happy old Luke met with nothing but smiles and favors onall sides. He roamed at will about Washington, saw everything, and finally had the crowning delight of seeing “Presicent Linkum” at the White House, whither he accompanied Lieutenant Lee. “T didn’t ’spect to see him,” said the excited old man, “but de levtenant axed me to go along, and I tought I go and see de house, but after de levtenant had told de Presi- dent de ’ticlars about our ’scape, and told him I was out dere in de hall, he said, ‘Call him in, call him in—I’d like to see him. P’raps he’d like to see me, too.’ So I sot my hat down in de hall, and went in trembling a good deal worse dan I did when we comed out of jail pass old Hess. But when I gotan I never was so s’prised.” “Surprised at what?” asked Mrs. Lee, to whom he told the story. “At de President. He sot dere inde ’ception room— nobody but him and de levtenant—and he say, ‘Ah! dat’s de brave, noble old feller, is it? How de do, Luke?’ Dem’s de very words, if I die to-morrow, and den he reach out, ma’am, and shake dat ere black hand of mine. Yes, ma’am, fact. Iso ’fected I couldn’t hardly speak.” “But what did you say, Luke?” “T said, ‘Tank you, sir. It’s a great honor for ole Luke.’ Dat’s all, ’cause it wouldn’t do forme to say much. Den he say, ‘I honor truth and manhood, Luke, wherever I see it.’ Den Massa Lee shook hands wid de President, and we comed off, ’cause dere was a lot more waitin’ to go in, one at a time—some jess to see de father of de country, but a good many more to git offices, I ’speck.” | Leaving our happy family to return to New York, ac: companied by their sable friend, let us precede them, to take note of some other events bearing upon our history. CHAPTER XXIII. THE REAL FATHERLY INTEREST. Mr. Jedediah Burr was a tall, spare bachelor, who, up to the age of fiftv two—which he called forty-four—had given himself up entirely to a successful career of money making. He had acquired so much that all he could possibly find ecomicbooks.com