The Monitor., 1885-07-03

station i'll the very centre of the patch, shot
gun in hand, and generous supply of pie
and fried chicken for lunch.
81 tell yo. NANNY he said, ''I'll foteh
'em dis time t'ink dey's five or six OF
'em, an eff we kotch one. well make i'm
pay fo' eb'ry million dat's been hooked"
dat We will - said Hepsy, as she went
into the cabin with troubled visage.
She worked very hard all day, and must
sleep at night, SO could not join in the
watch.
She was so troubled tonight about the
loss of the money she expected to get for
her melons that she could not sleep. She
heard Stonewall's $ shotgun once or twice.
but no outcry.
A little after midnight she arose. and
stole quietly out to the melon patch, deter
mined to reconnoitre the ground herself.
She slipped along in the shadow of the
fence until she reached a point at the edge
of a strip of timber, near which the mscre-
ants must pass if they came from the dis
tant village.
Hidden behind a tree. she watched and
waited. Her eyes were sharp, and the moon
was up, and soon she saw figure striding
boldly along in the open field, with an iml
mense bag on his back. The bag was full
of something she felt sure were melons
''Dat trihin', sleepy Stonewall Jackson
thought Hepsy. ''Ef his eyes wasn't fast
shet, he couldn't help seein' dat fellah. Oh,
chile but I'll warm yo' back fo' yo' fo'
snorin' wild millions goin' off undah yo'
berry nose y
The figure advanced into the wood. Hep
sy determined to follow him, and see where
he lived, that she might take out a warrant
for his arrest; but soon the thief stopped,
and from her place of concealment Hepsy
could see in the ground a shallow hole filed
full of melons.
The contents of the bag were added to
the pile, and the thief was carefully cover
ing the melons with leaves and branches,
when Ma'am Hepsy, furious with rage,
sprang forth with bound, and caught the
intruder by the collar. She was large and
very strong, and the thief was helpless in
her grasp, although he struggled desper-
ately.
'sOh. yo' yo'-i dunno what 10 call yo'
yo squintessence q little meanness" Come
long hyar wild yo', right long to de light
till | see who yo' am; an I've mine to
make my son Stonewall fill yo' up wild
beans 'foah I let yo go. Come long, |
say y
So, dragging and cnffing him all the way
she pulled him into her cabin, turned mp
the light, twisted the thief's averted face
around, and then. in one prolonged. shrill
| scream, cried:
| ''Stonewall-Jacks -Winterbottomr
| Her cowed, trembling eldest born fell
from her grasp in quivering heap on the
| floor. and Ma'am Hepsy reached for the
''hick'ry.'
''Shell kill yo'?'' she cried, in terrible
tones. ''or shell Jess smash all yo' bones.
an let yo' live to wiggle roun' like de
crawln' wum an sarpent yo' is?'' I done
kotch yo' at yo' trcks.'I know now wheah
yo's bin eb'ry AFTERNOON de pas week. io's
bin totin' dem millions to town, an selln'
oh 'em; but, sho's yo's bon, eff yo' don t
glib me ebry single cent yo' got 70 dem,
I'll twist yo' skiliton right out. Wanted
ter get money ter go ter Cine 'natty,
reckon, an 'ceived yo' own pore ole man.
my wild yo' lynn an firm off de ole gun fo'
blind. And me a-givin' yo' pie and chick
ems. Shell let de hick 'ry come right down
on yo' head - En- shell I?''
No response from Stonewall Jackson,
but the hickory came DOWN. Golden Days.