The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-07-28
THE FIELD OF HONOR.
rBaaf-sa Jay in Detroit Free Press.I


son, black cJmmonly called "Ju, lived
on the other side Miss SOphy Giggles,
the color OF an underdone buckwheat
cake lived about five miles from the
branch and vas the cause of an undue
secretion bile in both Mas" and
-Ju
The branch itself is not OF sufficient
importance to be indicated In red colors
on any map of these blessed United
States, and yet its local coloring is enter
tanning enough to warrant its being
taken from the somewhat moldy cup
board of obscurity and placed on the in
vfting center table of the present day.
The dark and bloody ground of Ken
lucky, with its expiations on the field Of
honor, Blennerhassetts island with its
tragic tale of love and dishonor, have
both been embalmed in song and story,
why not Postum branch with its Iliad of
woman's caprice mans devotion, and the
fearless heroism of fascinated hearts?
The branch itselfis a dull, sluggish stream
about ten or twelve feet wide. running
through the southern portion OF
Leon county. In the east it
might be called creek. In
the west it might be dignifed by the name
of river In Florida it is simply branch.
A branch of what, l am not at this mo-
ment prepared to state
It is lined with live oak, water oak,
cypress, persimmon and some few other
varieties of trees. The country road goes
over it dry-shod, on a rustic bridge,
shaky and decrepit, the nucleus of any
amount of possible and probable acct
dents The water is about ten feet deep
and very dark No one but a coroner
could possibly find any enjoyment look
ing at it
The bridge also serves as a short cut for
predatory foxes seeking through highways
nd bTyxE for tho cUPOnIQnt chicken
the philosophic turkey. and the disciple of
a certain school Of medicine-the duck.
At times the trees that line this bank
take on a vivid beauty. The bamboo
climbs to the tops Of the tallest ones and
filings graceful crown over their swaying
beauty. Scarlet cOronals of unknown
flowers emphasize the fragrant green,
through which tiny birds peep and watch
with wide-eyed wonder the creaking We
hicle and strange figures that pass slowly
by. Outbursts of rarest song can be heard
there through the soft languorous days,
and swift-darting fins, like Grant rays of
light, ripple the waters below.
On the east side are half dozen or so
of rough log cabins, keeping guard over
few acres of broken soil; cotton and po-
toe patches, the garden of long cOllards
and turnips, the parterre of sunhOwers
and oleanders. Each demesne has its
dilapidated chicken house, its rheumatic
shed for the reflective mule, and its bOu-
doir for playful swine The owners and
inhabitants of these freeholds are happy
and careless negroes, raising enough TO
eat and a little to sell, basking in the sun
shine, and obeying implicitly the scrip
tural injunction to take no heed to the
morrow.
Ia a little log house, standing on the
very banks Of the branch, in a crouching
attitude, as if just about leaping into the
waters for bath, both cleansing and
sanitary, lived at the time of which l
write. Ananias, one of my heroes.
On the west side of the branch the
scene was almost literally repeated with
the exception that one of the houses was
OF frame, with two rooms and lean to,
and had forty acres of land attached to it.
There lived with his parents, Jerusalem,
lay other hero until the fiend of jealousy
catered his otherwise placid bosom, and
lzft wreck and ruin there.
I've miles off was another little settle
ment of the same genus. and here Miss
SOply, my heroine, helped bake the hoe
cake In the ancestral mansion, and by
was hing for the neighboring planters
fam lies. earned the shekels that went to
purchase articles so dear to the average
EeG-
lanias was tall and thin, deliberately
80 to legs, and the suns of twenty-five
yesr had enhanced the dingy yellow of
his complexion. His eyes were Of the
w age known as pop" and the prema-
removal of three front teeth had
ven him a weirdly poetical appearance.
Among intensely black surroundings,
the fairness of his skin was a drawback.
more especially as his parents by some
strange oversight are both of the same
orthodox color. In temperament he was
somewhat naughty and passionate, and by
his demeanor seemed to be continually
protesting against his environment
Although entirely ignorant of bellies
letters, or, in fact. Of any letters, he was
shrewd and forehanded, and was in a
talist, when the unlucky collapse o. the
Freedman's bank swept away the bulk
of his garnered boards This made him
moody and irritable at times, but did not
impair his ability as a cotton picker.
which was something wonderful to be-
hold
Jerusalem, or "Ju, " was short and fat,
and, Nike my old friend, Hamlet some
what scant of breath His skin was so
black that SCOT would have made white
mark upon it His eyes were small and
twinkling. induces of the good humOr that
animated his being. His lips were large
and luscious, like slices of ripe mango,
and a No. II shoe gave him dignity
otherwise impossible to obtain:
His speech was slow and deliberate, 1n'
dicative of mind much given to inward
thought, and his ears were large and way
ward restless with every motion that
fitted across his expansive face AS an
only son and presumptive heir TO much
land and some stock, his presence was
always desirable one at the little social
gatherings that enlivened either side of the
Sbranch The woman in the case, Miss
Sophy Giggles, was a winsome creature
of some 10 years, voluptuous as to out
line, and tasty as to dress. Her com
plexion was clear. healthy brown. and
dazzling white teeth lent splendor to her
frequent smiling The way she frightened
up her hair during the work, and let it
out on Sundays, convinced all of her in
herent genius, and her singing is said to
have made many a mocking bird pull out
its tail feathers in sheer envy.
She had worked two seasons in ITALIA
hassee, also so to her other charms were
added the vague but delicious refnements
of city life No wonder the little boy
Cupid used her as bow from which to
launch his dainty arrows. Given the
place and material, he could not have dis
pIayed much greater wisdom
141f1 man TVora in 1Oun with bor- that