Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1873-11-15

back, until she had reached the stone
wall at the foot of the garden. Ha'g
Hi! Dat cats a good runner! Shed
ought'er jine the 'federates. She'd do
for ole Massa Jim's company! Dey was
de sojers to run when de battle begin -
and the boy went into convulsion of
laughter at the memory of how Massa
Jim's soldiers ran in the time of action.
1t was only Ned, the doctors boy.
tBlack Ned" and 'sDarkey Ned"t the
street boys called him, and true enough
he was black. With, q, face that would
shame ebony, eyes that glistened and
teeth like bits Of polished ivory was Ned,
born a full-blooded' negro, and a slave.
For twelve years had the boy romped
with other babies like himself, upon the
plantation of cole Massa jim Carroll,''
way down on tile borders of Lake Pont-
chartrain in Louisiana but the war
| came. Ned was made a '-cOntraband,"
and when, the Union forces entered and
| took possession of New Orleans and the
army became % SERVANT sit' T io Df. R if Haskin, m
| and with him returned to live in a quiet
little inland town in the State of Maine.
Here he was Office and chore boy, run
ming errands and working in the garden
in summer, and attending school in the
| fall and winter. -.-.r,t,.,..t
Every day was a happy one to Ned.
| A parents love he had never known,
| for both his father and mother were sold
| in the years gone by, before he was old
| enough to remember them but the doc
| tor was all in all to him, and the attach
ment which the boy had for his kind
| hearted master was almost wonderful.
But mistress puss had disappeared,
| the onion-bed was weeded, and milking
time had come. Ned sprang to his feet,
ana hurried away in the direction ofthe
barn. -5,oh
Ten o'clock at night. The little, viii
| lage was dark and still. Only the twink
his homeward way, for gas was as yet
unknown to the simple country folk.
| Ned's bed-chamber was at the back of
the house, overlooking the yard and
barn. As was his custom, the boy had
gone up stairs without a caudle. -.
"Kin see jes' as we'll in the dark,
cause my eyes is big you know" he
used to say. - e,r .&lf!. ai'A /
Leaning on the. windewssill he gazed
wonderingly out into the calm, clear ciearf
night. 60 '....l 49,, ,....',.s..S -, y
4 what de teacher say. 1 reckon dey s a
could go to 'em. Maybe dey's differ mt
from dis. Hi! What dem hen dpin' 90
aud in an Instant the little fellows at
| tention was drawn to the dark forms of
two stalwart men, who were advancing
| from the orchard to the barn. filalat
s'Reckon I'd better git down dar !
Maybe dey's looking round fur some
thing to Hlt!" Lift was Ned's word for
steal. ei4ta.
| Hurrying on his clothes, he crept
noiselessly out of the house just in time
to see the two men entering the barn.
Following, he stationed himself outside
where a wide crack in the boards gave
him good view of all that was going on
| within.
The door was carefully closed, and
then one of the intruders pulled 4 dark
lantern and Il bag from under his coat.
eli! Dey's going for de grainr' thought
! Ned: but he was mistaken. Advancing
/ to the horse, the other man offered him
u cob of corn, then loosed and led him
from the stall and quietly, but rapidly,
led him to the doctors covered buggy,
| while the fellow with the lantern, in the
meantime, drew from his bag a small
tin can, attached a cord to it, and set it
ON the floor in the corner. Not a word
had been spoken as yet. and both me n
were mu1f1ed to tile eyes almost, so that
Ned could form no opinion as to who
they were. -..,..[ ~, T..
'fAll ready Tom?''
rA''Yes, light the fuse. ''aizuaF II ~.
Ned heard the the fizz of match, and
saw one of the men set fire to the end of
the string which was attached to the can
spoken of, and then the latern was
quickly concealed, the barn door opened
again, and the two came forth, quietly
leading the horse, whose feet had been
muff1ed, SO as to make no noise, and who
: TO
sob. dat's what dey's gwineo to lift.
IN watch 'em'' and, suiting the action
to the word, Ned stole along in the shad-
ow of the fence toward the road. Sud-
denlv he remembered the string in the
barn. fs..!,
4 "tsNever'll do to leave dat! Z" 'Dey
meant to burn de things up" 9il7.-''
iRetracing his steps, he entered the
building by side door. The cleaning
spark was creeping along THE floor to-
.wartl the can. Ned ran forwards there
was flash. IA slight report, moment OF
light and heat, and then all was dark
again. The boy passed his hand oven
his face in amaZement.g 3. .s NHt 1850
ssDat was powder! But it was wet
reckon. How lucky. If dat can had
bust, Ned'd be II deadinigger. sliure,' ,
and reaching ont his hand, he seized
the dangerous can, and. carrying it oul
of doors, examined it carefully. lat
) ''Yes, dat's powder, shore, but she's
wetn' and he tossed it from hin. Now
for the men, the thieves. Listening
carefully, he heard the light rattle ol
the buggy moving slowly up the village
street. If he stopped to waken his mas
. ter they would be gone. He must fol.
His bare, nimble, feet fell noislessly
in the dusty road, and soon he was close
in the rear of the buggy. 1T was 4 GOV.
, cred one, with a narrow, Hat boot, OF
shelf, behind. "Why not ride s'' thought
Ned, and with quick spring he tossed
himself to the offered seat. nuG
, When the outskirts OF the town were
reached the horse WAS whipped to q
faster gate, and soon the road became al
unkncwn Que to the boy. On they wen'
over hills and valleys, through bits o
woods and open misty plains; by farm
houses, where sleepless watch-dogs
barked vigorously; through silent vii.
, lagos, where the buildings echoed bach
the horse's heavy tread. For hours they
, rode. until the eastern sky grew bright
aud rosy with the coming mora, ant
lights began to gleam from window.
; and smoke to curl from chimneys a,
they passed: then they approached
large town. r'it fet lal-s,
Neu ndu nol slept. Ilc couiu OILY
e keep on by elinging to the edge of hi
1 parrow seat, and he must be awake to Il,
J it. As the broad, glad sun peeped dowl
S upon the dusty boy, they entered th'
place, and We're soon rattling over il
paved streets, in company With man,
e other early comers, headed toward til,
5 market of the town. .aeh'SH .
] "Whip behint. whip behint, mister
I there's anere's nayger risim' on be
), hint. cried a harsh, childish voice
: Quick as thought the stock of the heav,
= whip came around. Ned had heard th
: call and was preparing to jump down
q but was an instant too late; he wa
1 struck upon the temple aud knocke,
g senseless to the ground. sl.t
n "He's coming around all right" Sal,
II the kind-hearted ward surgeon sit wa
{ an ugly blow, however. i
i Ned opened his eyes. lie lay on
5 clean, white bod, just like thirty other
y in the room. He knew where he was
> for he had seen such places during TN
Il war; II was a hospital. lie raised hi
q hand to his head. ',' "l't 80 v'i'e