The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1886-06-16

/ anlnnleS mus know nut n bout. 10u les
eat y0' supper an be quiet"
His thoughts diverted for few minutes
by this last suggestion, Lex busted himself
with his bread and molssses Then he
asked
NANNY, who was it you read bout in de
Bible dat got fc' or five tousand hoe-cakes
FIN flock of crowsr'
'Laws-a-me, jes hear him." cried nanny
an Unsurpassed chuckle of fun driving the
anxiety out of her face for a moment.
Twas meat meat, chile what dem birds
bro't to 'Lijah.'
AN would dey brung meat to us, mann
my, eff we wus mighty hungry"
II reckon So honey" said Chloe, with
sweet look of faith in her honest eyes. Hes
never forgot us yit."
So Lex was satisfied. and returned to his
post by the fire. Presently he looked up,
with little shiver.
NANNY. please put SONS mo- wood on
de fire."
Nanny glanced up quickly, then came to
the small stove and stirred the brands to-
gether till they cracked and blazed again.
| Lex" she said, quietly, I'm gwine out
fer little while. You an Bess stay here
| an have yerselves till git back"
| Without further words, she drew a faded
shawl over her head, and went out into the
| bleak night.
/ 1t was half an hour or more before she
came back. She kept her shawl about her
| till she had sent the children out of the
room on an errand, then deposited upon the
| floor few sticks of wood she had brought
in. When they returned, she was replenish
ing the fire.
. Pears colder'n ever" she said. You
| chillun'd better go to bed now"
And they went, curling up in a heap of
straw and under patched quilt in one cor
/ ner of the hut.
Are We sho' de crows will come. man.
/ my? yawned Lex, as she tucked the raw
| edges of an old blanket around him.
'Sho', honey, she replied, heartily.
| can could-dey-bring-Wo Lex
was too sleepy to wait for an answer.
1t will be long before the Atlanta people
bitter wind which only a few weeks before
had urged conhagration TO do its fearful
work, until whole city seemed mounting
to heaven in a chariot of FIRE, now with icy
GOODNESS crept in noiselessly, to counteract
the efforts OF the very element it had so
In the night Lex had a curious dream.
He thought he saw his mother creep softly
| into the kitchen, and bear the old pine table
| out OF the house. Then there seemed to
come cracking noise, and.presently the
fireligh shone ou- merrily through the little
| bars, and Lex f. warm and comfortable.
| Nanny stayed b., The stove, occasionally
| throwing in bits OF - Nd, until his dream
i carried him eisewnet.
The next morning l. was walked by hear
ing BesS crying softly eside him.
| Nv hats DE matt. g. Bess?" he asked
sleepily.
"l'se $50 cOld!" SHE sobbed, cuddling up
close to him
But manmy's ID caught the sound
too, and she was besido her little black lambs
in moment, coverlnl them with the shawl
she had worn the night before. As she did
| so, Lex felt something warm between him
and Bess. 1t was the White kitten. 1t struck
| Lex as strange that tll- white kitten should
| prefer his bed to the floor underneath the
stove where she was usually found on other
| n ornings. At that same moment he OBJ
served that the steam was not putting from
the teakettle, as was the wont
| "Wh-what's de matter wild de stove, man.
| my?' he stammered, rubbing his eyes.
"Doan you b0dder yo head bout dat ar
stove" said Chloe, with great cheerfulness.
bTeahas, OATS al"
"B-but-whar's de table"
Chic turned her head away at first with.
out answering. She had loved the fourfoot
table at which she and her husband had sat
so often, and il had been a sore sacrifice to
burn it up. But she had all her motherhood
stirred in defence of her children. She
fought the cold as if it had been living
thing
Just then Bess catching the look, gave a
little miserable wall of distress and cold.
At that cry, the fierce light that sometimes
in Chle's as she crouched by the little heap
of straw and glanced nervously about the
| room.
There were only two wooden pieces Of
furniture that had survived the demands of
that night; old, broken-legged stool,
which her husband had brought from the
plantation, and which had always been
specially set apart for him and small shelf,
high up on the opposite wall, on which were
laid worn Bible and hymn-book.
Chic rose, hesitated a moment, then
stepped across the room, swiftly reached up
and taking the two books from their resting
place, laid them carefully and reverently
upon few wisps OF clean straw, in a corner
OF the hut. Next she gave the shelf a
wrench that brought it down with cloud of
dust, and without pausing-as if she were
afraid of repenting-opened the stove door
and thrust in the fragments upon the glow.
ing brands.
All these proceedings Lex and Bess and the
white kitten watched with intense interest.
and with very dubious faces Bess no longer
cried, but had hard work to keep her lip
from quivering. Kitty put out one dainty
paw, shook 1t as If she had dipped it into
cold water, curled up again in Lexis bosom,
and made brave attempt to purr.
Lex privately thought it might be time for
the ravens. 1t comforted him little, he
hardly knew why, to think that they would
be black, like himself-those chosen messen-
| SCAo nun uCdNcu. 1lc was Cut SHUT III us
reflections by nanny.
'Pse gwine out again" she said, in queer
voice Lex had never heard. "Ise gwine out
ter git somefin fer We ter burn an ter eat"
"But dem-dem crows mammy?'
'Ise gwine ter look fer EN-" And she
was gone. "Mebbe dey mout light down
rouR' de house." meditated Lex. "Pll jes'
keep de cat inside de do anyways"
This time it was an hour before Chloe re-
turned, weary, footsore, slow of speech, be-
numbed with cold. She had left the shawl,
you see, over little Bess.
In her pocket she brought few chips,
two bits OF coal, and fragment of bread
crust. With the remains of last nights
supper, for which she had used the last
crumb OF provisions in the house, they made
meagre breakfast. The children were not
allowed to get up, so they did not miss the
table so much.
Still, the ravens did not come. Chloe
dragged herself out once more, and returned
empty-handed
Ii was Sunday and the church-bells, in
the Weather part of the city, rang merrily.
But congregations that morning were small.
Those whose conscience permitted them to
| do QtQvad of hopna Tho lowar etrQpfe