Rastus Prune
RASTUS was a peculiar looking negro, with wrinkled face and goggle eyes.
Paper teeth with a red lip line running around them were fitted into a wrinkle of his prune face and fastened by a touch of mucilage. His paper eyes were fastened on in the same way.
With a light paper vest neatly fitted over his prune body and a paper collar round his peg neck he was as neat a colored gentleman as could be found anywhere.
Then his chamois-skin suit with hat to match, gave him such style as any one might be pleased to copy.
His checked trousers were his special pride, for they never bagged at the knees or got out of shape in any way. On this account he was perfectly satisfied to be a peg-leg.
His feet, though, gave him some trouble. They were always getting out of shape. Being made of raisins, an ordinary step was likely to make them swing round and look as though they would prefer to take him the other way.
But Rastus smiled on, thinking, no doubt, that this apparent deformity would prove a great convenience when it came to dancing a “backstep.”