The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1886-11-06

dren, and the appearance she would make
ut meeting, not rejecting that the sum
they had pm Id on the property had never,
even with alf their stinting, amounted In
any one year to more than a few dollars
over the rent charged for the place, and
that the eight hundred dollars yet due on
lt was more than they could make at the
present rate In n lifetime.
somebody to help him." shc thought, "but
he ain got nnttin. De chiPn aim big
'nough to do nuttin hut eat; he 'ain' got
no brurrs. am he deddy took way an sold
down Souf de same time my ole marster
whar. dead buy him; dats. what al'ays
hear 'em say, an l know he's dead long
befo' dis, cause heah EN- say desc Vir-
ginia niggers earn stan hit long deah, hit
! so hot, hit frizzle 'em up, an reckon he
die befo' he ole marster, whar heah say
die of n broked heart torectly after dee
teck he niggers an sell 'em befo' he face.
heah Aunt Dinah say dat, an dat he
nightly sot on he ole servants, spressaly
on Ephum dcddy, whar named Little
Ephum an whar used to wait on him.
Dis mus q been a gret place dem
! went on: "Dee say he sutny live strong,
wuz jes rich as cream, an weahed he blue
coat an brass buttons, an lived in dat ole
house whar wuz up whar de pines Is now,
an whar burnt down, like he owned de
wull. AM now look at it; dat man own II
dom know nuttin' bout black folks, aim
nuver been fotch up wild him. Who ever
| heah he name TO- he come heah an buy de
place, an move in de overseer house, an
| charge we all eight hundred dollars for
dis land, jes cause 1t got little piece o.
bottom on 1t, and forty -eight dollars rent
BESIDES. wild no ole stingy wife whar oon'
| even gil way buttermilkw An express
sion Of mingled disgust and contemptc con :
| cluded tho reflection.
She took the ash cake out of the ashes,
slapped 1t first on one side, then on the
other, with her hand, busted it with her
apron, and walked to the door and poured
a gourd OF water from the piggin over it,
| Then she divided it in half; one half she
set up against the side of the chimney,
the other she broke up into smaller pieces
and distributed anong the children,
dragging the sleeping Eph, limp and
soaked with sleep, from the cradle to re-
ceive his share. Her manner was not
rough-perhaps even tender-but she
used no caresses, as a white woman would
have done under the circumstances. 1t
was only toward the baby at the
breast that she exhibited any endear-
ments. Her nearest approach to it with
the others was when she told them, as she
portioned out the ash cake: "Mammy
aim got nuttin else; but nuver min, she
gwine have plenty o. good meat next year,
| when deddy done pay for he land"
"Hi! who dat out dyah?" she snid sud-
denly. "Run to de do, son, am see who
dat comin'." and the whole tribe rushed
to inspect the new conner.
| 1t was, as she suspected, her husband,
| and as soon as he entered she saw that
| something was wrong. He dropped into
chair, and sat in moody silence, the
picture Of fatigue, physical and mental.
After waiting for some time, she asked,
| indifferently:
"What de matterW
"Dat man."
"What he done do nowW The query
was sharp with suspicion.
! HE say he aim gwine let me have my
land"
"He's half-strainer," said the woman,
with sudden anger. "How he gwine help
that there must be a delense against such
| an outrage.
HE say he aim gwine wait no longer;
dat wuz to have tell Christmas to finish
payin' for 1t, an 1 aim do it, an now he
done change his min.
"Tell dis Christmas comin',O said his
wife, with the positiveness of one accus-
toned to expound contracts.
change he MINI" The man had evidently
given up all hope; he was dead beat.
"De craps yourn," said she, affected by
promise.
"He say he gwine teck all dat for de
rent, an dat he gwine drive Ole 'Stracted
way, too"
1t expressed her supreme contempt.
"He say he'll gi' me jes one week mo- to
pay him all he AK for it," continued he,
forced to a correction by her intense feel
ing, and the instinct of a man to defend
the absent from a woman's attack, and
perhaps In the hope that she might sug-
gest some escape.
NHa nj iu1 nuttir CIV, v>oy ,pb;to %ro,y,
she repeated. "How you gwine raise
eight hundred dollars at once? Dee kyarn
nobody do dat"
"You 'ain' see dat corn lately, is you?"
he asked. "Hit jes as rank! You can al.
mos see it growin' of you look at it good.
IT," Rs'S strong LAM know dat when buy
He knew it was gone now, but he had
been in the habit of calling it his in the
past three years, and it did him good to
claim the ownership. little longer.
II wonder whar Marse Johnny is?" said
the woman. He was the son of her for
mer owner; and now, finding her proper
support failing her, she instinctively
turned to him. "He wouldn' let him turn
we all out"
kyarn git it in week." said Ephraim.
"Kyarn you teck it in de co'tI"
"Dat's whar he say he gwine have it of
| dom git out" said her husband, despair
in .ly.
Her last defense was gone.
"What you got?"
~ jes gwine kill chicken for you."
1t was her nearest approach to tender.
ness, and he knew it was a mark of spe-
cial attention, for all the chickens and eggs
had for the past three years gone to swell
the fund which was to buy the home, and
it was only on special occasions that one
was spared for food.
The news that he was to be turned out
of his home had fallen ON him like blow,
and had stunned him; he could make no
resistance, he could form no plans. He
went into rough estimate as he waited.
"Le' me see: l done wuck for it three
years dis Christmas done gone; how much
does dat meck!"
"An' TO- dollars, an five dollars, am two
dollars an a half last Christmas from de
chickens, an all dem ducks done sell he
wife, am de washin' been doin' for 'em;
how much Is dat" supplement ed his wife.
"Dat's what sayl"
His wife endeavored vainly to remember
the amount she had been told it was; but
the unaccounted- for washing changed the
sum and destroyed her reliance on the re-
suit. And as the chicken was now ap-
proaching perfection, and required her
undivided attention, she gave UP the
arithmetic and applied herself to her
culinary duties.
Ephraim also abandoned the attempt,
and waited In reverie, in which he saw
corn stand so high and rank over his land
that he could scarcely distinguish the
balk, and table and barn and mule, or
may betwo-it was possibility-and two
cows which his wife would milk, and
green wagon driven by his boys, while he
took 1t easy, and gave orders like mas
ter, and clover patch, and wheat, and
he saw the yellow grain waving, and
heard his sons sing the old harvest song