The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1880-07-28

hood rendezvous. Her.shop is in the
window, across which Stats have been
nailed, against which articles of mer-
chandise have been placed, including
various penny toys, which have been
found n profitable investment, as their
value is fictitious one.
Aunt Lucy lives in an alley within
another alley, 1t being a circuitous
route, Milly, one of the old woman's
daughters-Lucy's family is numerous,
and universally down on their luck
escorts me back TO the highway, con-
versing.
Mother was well brought up" she
responds to some words of praise of
mine. De white ladies as raised her
treated her well, an she shows it.
Mother can't behave no odder way. De
good manners will come out. An she's
dat spryi"
cts pity that between you all you
are not able to make your mother thor
oughly comfortable in her old age"
say, slowly. In fact this view of the
subject has freq uently presented itself
to my mind before.
We are all so pore," was Millys
excuse. "An' / has, what's more, such
bad feelin's inside. Sometimes l don't
hardly expec' to see one day cotch an
odder."
In truth, now that took a good look
at her, she was little more than skin
and bones.
Its de misery in my head" she ex-
planned. It generally is this particu-
lar form of misery with colored people,
l have found. Poor SOUL poor souls J.
weak in body and mind and spirit
Milly and such as she are hardly able
to take care of themselves, let lone
each other.
was in hurry-who of us is at all
times free from the clutches of this fa-
milar fend of our oyercrowded ageP-
still, something in Milly's expression
made me say, am sorry you are so
badly off. Is your husband out of
workP"
"Bless you, madam, he don't do muffin
for me now. / had him goin' on nine
years, but he done lef me now. l has
muffin but de chillun, an nubbudy
wants dem desc days" And there was
actual y in her tones an apparent regIet
that boys and girls had ceased TO be val.
liable as chattels.
Under these circumstances l aband-
oned all hope that Milly might be able
to contribute to her mothers necessi-
ties. ] even inscribed her name on my
own mental tablets as an "object."
parted from her with feelings of depres
sion all the more lively because her owl
inherited cheerfulness had not sue
cumbed to the pressure of adverse cir
cumstances. She was apparently on
good terms with fate, and disposed t,
make the best OF things.
On Isaiah, however, l looked with
Sterner eyes. There seemed to be a ma
tural repulsion between himself and
steady work. Odds and ends of work
he would occasionally find to do; but he
never secured q months or even
Weeks employment. He came and went
to my house on errands for his mother,
always exasperatingiy stlf-sHtisfied and
good natured. Perhaps a little whole
some discomfort or discomfort would
have spurred him to exertion. l en-
ployed him to cut the grass in our gar
den, and he really did it well, with such
self-complacency, too, that one felt that
grass-cutting was perhaps his congenial
sphere. However, work must come to
Isaiah; he would never go to look it up.
He also did little odds and ends of gar
dening for me on this same occasion,
conversing politely meanwhile. AS, for
instance, in making the hay:
"In de country dey calls dis var win
nowin'. l worked at harvestin' onst in
Prince Georges. Harvestin' is god fur
de nerves 1t elder increase 'em or de-
crease 'em. Mine decreased-no, Imean
ter say dey increased"
"Thep harvesting didn't agree with
youP"
"Oh, yes it did. It suited me fust
rate. De nerves increased. l was as
hearty as buck"
"You look strong and we'll now" /
state This occurs to me as a good
opening for my favorite text. Isaiah,
l wish you could contrive to do more
for your old mother"
81 does try, miss" he declares; :" l
does my best tossing the grass pic
turesquely. - tries hard"
Lucy had given me to understand that
Isaiah was the rakish and rowing men,
Der of her family, addicted to singing
about the streets at night, never going
to church. referred to these facts in
his personal history Isaiah did not
deny them. But he made promises of
amendment. !, for my part, presented
him with an old coat, on the under
standing that he was only to wear it to
church. He had pleaded mis- deficient
toilet as an excuse for his neglect of
religious obserVances.
Not longer than a week after that our
town was startled by a murder com
mitted on the street at night, the victim,
an overbearing, quarrelsome youth of
the white race, who yet elected in his
death the sympathies of the whole COM
munity, so unprovoked and dastardly
was the way of his end. His murderers
were traced Immediately, and identi-
fed beyond reasonable doubt. Alas,
one of those arrested on suspicion was
the same Isaiah Isaiah Carroll-oi
whom have written above!
went to see Aunt Lucy directly, and
found her plunged in grief. But she
was confident of her boys innocence
She bewailed the way of life which had
had caused him to be identified with the
class of men by whom the murder haG
doubtless been committed. Il always
tell him So" she kept repeating. "l
tell him his company wud be de ruin oil
him. 1t war de singin', miss" she re
iterated. 81 allus knowed no gooC