The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1874-11-13

orange; aud the negro wsllowe.l along
Up tho beach, using his long ungainly
egs and great Hat feet like man in
much haste. A volley Of oaths thrown
after him by daddy" however, brought
him to halt; he waited uneasily. Then
they passed on together, crushing Gin"
ders, filth, and decaying denominations
Of all kinds under their dripping boots;
the effiuvium from which was enough to
anyone but scavenger.
"Daddy, Thaddeus Herrick, sit down
here" said tho negro, when they came
to the steps opposite the low shed
where the bears, monkeys and other
animals belonging to the saloon keeper
at the corner were sleeping; sit down
and tell rue if yer sober enuf to heah
somefin'-somefn' about yer own
Zoe Herrick; do ye
heah! I'm muffin to you, if I does
call yc daddy in short, an I amt very
pertickler, n more'n you bout most
things at my nanny does but Dad.
dy, Thaddeus Herrick, if yer sober
cnuf to sit yer own daughter Zoe out
O mammy's house, git her out right
away-to.night; or, tell ye, Daddy,
yer daughter II be-gone to HI. like
my ma'nmy-likc the other women on
that street-like-'
Unusual thing as it was for San
Francisco the heavens had been lit up
at intervals bv lightning during that
evening, and the negro's speech was
broken off by a crash as if half the
city were in ruin, while vivid, long
enduring sheet Of fame lit up both sky
and earth until the moon was hidden
by the light as at MONDAY. That light
also showed old Ierrick striking down
Hamon, who fell as if he had been
smitten by the paw Of the great grizzly
then roaring with fright and
tearing at his bars in the shed.
The thunder rolled again until every
beast in the menageric crouched and
howled with terror; but through all the
voice of Thaddeus Herrick pierced dis
tinctly into the ear of the PROSTATE
Hamon Crowse: "Speak of my own
Zoe again like that, and I'll rake your
black heart out and give it to the
bears!"
'Lct me speak; take yer hand off my
throat" gasped poor Hamon. "Mr.
Observation-Disclosures" he added, as
the grasp relaxed little, I'm tellin' ye
on'y the gospel truth; and may God
strike me dead with that lightnin' il
I'm not. Listen, Massa. Nanny
Baby lonia's been eivin' We more an
more whisky all this week jist to make
We good for muffin when the time comes,
an sic forced me to git We out here a
rakin' tonight to keep ye out . the
way besides. Listen, massa."
The old man, with his white hair fall
ing over his cheeks-still filthy with
the pieces of rotten orange that had
struck him-knelt on lannon's breast,
his two hands on his throat, and his
white hair touching the black face
and the Negro talked on earnestly in
an almost inaudible whisper, made still
more inaudible at intervals by the
throttling through which it had to pass
up and out.
Down low, narrow alley off Dupont
street, there farcd dirty oil-lamp in
side dirty box whose front and sides
were of semi-transparent canvas, paint
ed over with certain coarse letters
which read thus:
MADAME BABYLONIA.
Black Fortune-teller from Bagdad, Obi an6
Spirit Medium.
Madame Babylonia was in her room
She was generally in, for her huge
bloated, shapeless black body was ar
announcement thing to carry out, anG
her evil, hideous face attracted too
much unpleasant notice in public. Be
sides, the interests Of her transccnden
tai profession were much furthercd By
the mystery and secrecy that scclusior
gave. The incessant binding light
ming rendered the one dim candle al
most a superiority in her apartment
By this candle at low table near thu
solitary window sat girl, not more
than Is years Of age, with beautiful
though sad and worn face. She looked
as if she had been reading, and hat
stopped to think or to watch the storm
outside. At the opposite end of the
long, narrow room, almost in darkness
as far as tho feeble rays Of the candle
were concerned, there crouched on he1
hams, by ruinous old stove, Madame
Babylonia herself, the great negro
trance-medium, obi.woman, fcrtune.tel
Ter, etc. As from time to time the
storm lit up the place. q curious sight
might have been seen; though The
girl, Zoe Herrick, from her place
at the window, paid no attention
to it, perhaps from long famil.
iarity with such things. A large
box, the top and one side
being Of wire-netting, stood beside the
stove, in which box q dozen Or SO Of
rattlesnakes writhed over each other
and Kissed as the Negress stirred up
the charcoal in the stove, or leased
them with short stick, or laughed
horribly as she succeeded in throwing q
bit Of hot charcoal into the cage of q
miserable and blasphemous parrot, set
on kind Of devils altar against the
opposite wall, amid a perfect thicket
Of ugly wooden fetichcs, old bladders
painted over with hideous faces, stuffed
skins dusky and distorted, and the
whole other paraphernalia of bones,
herbs, and old metal that go to set up
an obi'woman and fortune. teller. AT
last prolonged and furious screaming
by the parrot Of its favorite
sentence, ''Git up and git,
d--n yer SOUL" and a cracking
and smell Of fire, drew Zoe's attention
to the spot where tho half:drunken
woman had been pitching live Goals,
and the girl saw that some of the trump,
perry had taken fire. There was no
alarm or fuss; she simply took buckle,
OF water, put tho thing out, and re-
turned to her seat, looking very pale
and resolute Us the momently bright