Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1885-05-16

| de cabin door. | had done hard days
work at de forge, and as | had been up
most all de night before watching wild
Ida at de little ones bedside, | was
mighty tired and worn. Ida had prom
ised tC run down from de mansion to
look after Joe, and | was wondering
what was keeping her away 500 log,
| when | saw d lot ob slaves aroCndide ngi
house in the distance. At first l though
there must be fire or something oh dat
sort, but soon one of de lads comes run
ming ober to me, and 'Tom,' says he,
'Lidas in trubble.'
| whats de matter% SAYS |.
"DOn't know says de lad; 'someting
| has been lost or stolen, and dey say she's
done it."
look ere, boy says |; jes you held
! dis baby for minute while | run Ober
and see what's the fuss. Hold de poor
fello gently says /, he's mighty sick
"When ! got to de big house, L found
de oberseer and our new masSa gwine to
de calaboose Wild nv poor Ida. Miss
Flo stood crying on de steps.
Whats de matter, Miss Flop says |;
what are dey gwine to do wild poor
Ida?
"'Oh. my poor Toni says she, wild de
tears falling down her pOoty face, 'oEe of
my earrings has been lost, and my hus-
| band seems fixed IN de belief dat Ida
| has stolen it. | DONE believe it, Tou;
but yodr massa'S determined TO put Ida
i 1 de calaboOse, and dcy are goin' to lock
her up
"Oh, my dear Miss Flo said [, 'dev
amt gwine to prison dat poor gal; dey
amt gwine to put nv dear Ida in de
| calaboose. She never stole nothin'; she
| is TOO good. What's ~ become OF my
| poor sick chile without mudd,r TO look
after him?"
"'Ah, nv poor Tom! I've tried my
best to prevent Ida being taken away,
but can't prevent it, And Miss Flo
wrung her hands in pity for me.
"'Lookee ere, mas a. said |, Just as We
got 10 de door OBJ de Jail, don't put my
Ida in dere. She amt done nothin'
Dar's a sick baby in de cabin yonder dat
wants mudder's care. Ida ain't stole
nothin'. Dat ear rings lost somewhere
ab ut de house. 1t will he found agen.
Please let her 90
The only answer | got was a crack
| across de face from de whip of de Ober-
seer, as dey closed de iron door on my
p or weeping wife.
"Wii my heart almost broke, and de
sting Cf dat heavy blow on my forrid, |
went back to my cabin. | found Miss
| Flo Gere, wId my poor sick baby in her
| arms. together we watched that drOOp-
iug little chile, till ies' before midnight
| lie angels came and whispered, 1t was
time to go;' lie Lord had called him
home.
Don't stop here no longer, Miss FlO,'
said |. 'GO home. honey, and leave me
wid de dead D dear lady didn't want
% 90. but after while. weeping and
crying. she left me, and went off In de
darkness toward de biz house. Den my
heart Civ wav, and | cried as if my heart
would break. sab. Little Tom woke up.
and, stretching his arms oher to his dead
brudder, trleG to wake him up. Oh! dat
was too much for me, sab. L fell down
on NV knees and was gwinc to cuss,
when / though: it was wicked, sab, for
two wrongs didn't make one right.
Suddenly the thought struck me dat
I had made de iron door of de calaboose
and dat no oder man on earth could open
dat door widout a kew but me. Wrap
ping de dead chile up in Llda's shawl,
and givln' it one kiss. | laid ii on de
| DUNK. lpOh uc OutT DdDi III III dI MS,
rushed over to de forge, picked up a
large hammer and chisel. and Ill de
darkness crept toward de jail. 1t was an
awful cold night, and Us | held little
Tom close to my breaking heart, de tears
almost frOze running down my cheeks.
But was strong in my purpose. sab, and
savage in my despair. After two or three
blows on de lock de iron door oh de cal
aboose swung open. and III very short
time | clasped Ida in my arms, once
more free woman.
Take de chile, honey, said l. We
have but two hours between now and
dayligt t, and We must make tor de river
before de alarm is given.
"'But whar's de oder? whar's little
Joe?" said she.
Dead. honey said l. Our chile is
gone to cline de golden stair
"'Oh. my God! Nv chitel Nv little
joe? Dead. deadr cried de poor creature
falling at my feet.
"Come, come You want all your
streneth, Ida, to reach de river before
daylight, and de canebrake is more than
four miles across
after good hours tramp along de
road, we entered a wood. and reached
de canebrake, through which we had to
pass before reaching de river. We could
now hear de sound OBJ de horses follow
ing in de distance.
"'Heaven help us now, Lidap cried l.
'They's after us. Courage, honey, cour'
agep
son, sn we struggled. and nearer
? nearer came de sounds. Dey hai traced
US and entered de canebrake in hot pur
/ suit. A few minutes more and dev wa:
close upon us.
, I'VE must hide here now said |, 'anC
; if dey hab no dogs wild 'em dey will pas;
by
so we plunged into de thickest ob de
, brake, Ida holding de baby to hel
j breast to prevent his letting our pursuer'
> know our whereabouts by his crv.
/, ave waited, holding our breath while
!, dey searched riynt and left OBJ US, some
oh dem coming just to where We wa
. concealed.
: "MoSt oh de party-for dere were five
or six OBJ 'em-went on; but lay CubaI
! massa, who had dismounted had left hi
a horse a. de entrance ob de canebrake
: Jagged behind. searching every corner
q He suddenly appeared, and wild de all
. oh his bulls-eye lantern he dlscovere'
! our hiding place.
"One moment more and he would hal
. gwen de alarp, and called back de res
i ob de party. but in de twinkling ob al
: | eve | graspRd him by de throat ant