4

4

"Ole maids what never had a beau - an' never will - comes an' ax me
can't I see a man in dey life. Dey say, 'Uncle Henry, I's mighty lonesome. I want
you to see fur me. I wants you to do de bes' you kin fur me'. Yessum dey does. Dey
she does. So I looks in mah glass, but nuffin shows up 'cept a misty cloud effect
perduced by dey troubled thoughts. Insomuch as dat ain't what dey wants, dey's
pow'ful disappointed. But I's hepless Miss. I's hepless. 'Cause you know if dey
cant see no man settin' in dey parlor or on dey front po'ch. how is I gwinner
find one in a glass er water? But wimmens don't think about lil things lak dat.
Dey wants Uncle Henry to see all de things fur dem - in a crystal goblet what dey
carries in dey minds. An' cose dat ain't possible. No'm, it sho ain't. I kin see
heaps er things in mah glasses, but I can't glimpse no beaux fur dem sisters whats
pushin' on to fifty. Dey ain't much lef' fur dem 'cept to learn how to read. Dat's
a good peaceful diversion. I tele some of 'em dat. But dey say dey kin already read
anyhow. An' ax me how come I talks sich imp'tent ole nigger foolishness to white
ladies.

"I 'low I don't know no better way to talk. So dey hafta s'cuse it.
Den dey laff an' goes home an' sends some friends fur to git dey fortunes tole.
Dey comes in droves at times, an' den again I hardly has a one. As a rule, dou',
I averages about a hund'ed dollars a munt fum soofsayin' alone. Dat's not countin'
what I makes on mah powders. Yessum, I sells cunjures, an' good luck powders too.

637