"Watch Out...They're Cunning!!!"

                Two men were just identified and reported by a group of former male Arkansans. Reporters have made it known of the similarities the men share with the scammers who fled vigorously from the Mississippi area several weeks ago. According to witnesses, “one of these fellows was about seventy, or upwards, and…the other fellow was about thirty” (page 130). Rumors had it that these unsuitable varlets were quite witty. Mississippi witnesses said they chased them into the woods with dogs and horses attempting to capture the con-artist who had been on the loose for some time. These varlets had “ben a-runnin’ a little temperance revival…takin’ as much as five or six dollars a night-ten cents a head, …puttin’ in time with a private jug, on the sly” (page 131).  One of the varlets had also been involved in “selling an article to take the tartar off the teeth- and generally the enamel along with it” (page 130).

Word slowly surfaced until recent Arkansan men sent in a descriptive report concerning their experiences with the artists and their portrayals. Anonymously, it’s been said that the artists were seen boarding a raft where a young Caucasian boy and (it appeared to be) a runaway slave had been affiliated with these men. Apparently suspicions have been concluded that all four men are affiliated with one another due to the ironic invasion of the camp-meeting. An Arkansan preacher says: “Can’t b’lieve those so called “pirates for thirty years...(who claimed to be) robbed and put ashore off of a steamboat without a cent”(page 141) had me convinced enough to “let him pass the hat around” (page 141) for a collection.” A false bill was even found advertising a “$200 reward…(for) a run away from St. Jacques’ plantation, forty mile below New Orleans…”(page142). Speculations have been made that this confirmed the affiliation of the con-artist and the African American man who had been anonymously seen and reported back in Mississippi. It appeared that they were looking hard to make a quick buck wittily. These cunning fellows have been place to place with new approaches.

It’s safe to say that the low comedy used to con the Arkansan men were derived from a general statement recorded: “…these Arkansaw lunk-heads couldn’t come up to Shakespeare; what they wanted was low comedy…”(page 159). “AT THE COURT HOUSE! FOR 3 NIGHTS ONLY!...” (page 159) several low comedies were performed with a charging admission of “50 cents, LADIES AND CHILDREN (were) NOT ADMITTED” (page 159).  Rumor has it that the house was full; yet, these cunning men had conned these gentlemen. The Arkansan men once more showed for the following night of Showtime with “sickly eggs…and rotten cabbages” (page162). They left the town awaiting a show and the men escaped with their profits. No one knows where these men are headed for; they are still on the loose. “Watch Out… They’re Cunning!!!”