The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-08-21
EpOCEY DEES.
Tor TIC CONSTITUTION.
He Mas lo,y-dnwn-eHarybod said so.

him, and Knocky wasn't much better off than
good many negroes that did belong to some
body.
lie was an old man. too He used to come
! here to Shiloh on court days with baslletful
OF fruit or fish, and may be 'possuin or two,
and the lawyers had lots OF fun out of Knocky.
/ don't believe that old man ever did wear
coat, q vest, or a pair Of shoes. He was
very low-dowu. Some times he wore hat
and sometimes he didn't There was no rule
| about that,
| But the great feature Of Knocky's toilet
the one upon which the old man really prided
himself, was his pants. They were pants after
Knocky's own heart patched and repatched and
patched again. They were green originally.
The left leg was large enough for Knocky
Dees to crawl through and at least six inches
too long, while the right leg fitted like an eel
skin around his bony limb, and was as much
too short as the other wastoo long
They were remarkable pants.
| He had a shirt that was more or less like
otherspeople's, the only advanced idea about
it, and an idea thoroughly Characteristic of
Knocky Dees, being in the neck. There was
no split place to button up, either behind or
| bcfore-just a hole in the top Of his bag-like
shirt--and no collar.
A single wooden strap up one side and down
the other, held up his pants.
That was low-down Knocky Dees.
"Hello, Knocky," one lawyer would say,
''your legs don't match"
The old man would look first at the loose,
baggy leg and then at the other one, then back
again at the baggy one.
don't believe the thought ever entered his
head that one leg was baggy and one tight, or
one short and the other long.
Knocky lived all alone at the head of the
pond, and except on court days he was rarely
seem The head of the pond was a lonesome
place, anyhow. and two miles from Shiloh.
But one court day Knocky didn't come to
Shiloh.
remember that day very well-the day the
word came about the negro rising over in the
old Cherokee country. Wild stories came too
of massacre and pillage, and the groups around
the courthouse that day were strangely quiet
and earnest.
That was the day when Knocky didn't
come.
"Wonder where brother Dees 2"
81 was a thinkin' about that erwhile ago,
| squire, answered a farmer in the group on
| the courthouse steps. az was q thinkin' bout
i that jes little bit ago"
"knocky''s pretty thick with the niggers,
| too, | hear"
"Putty thick with the wus ones of 'em, an
| allus was.
There was thoughtful silence little
| while, and then the last speaker continued:
can what's moren that if the niggers
| 'roun' here give any trouble that same low
| down knocky DeeS will be into it thick"
| Court adjourned at IL o'clock that morning,
| and all that day feeling of uneasineSs brooded
| over the town.
That night the slaves came and went Just as
| usual and after supper they went to their
| shanties, Old Pomp fixed his pallet in the
| hallway rs he had done for years, and
the pickaninnies played leap frog, and
told ghost stories, aad sang patter roller songs
till the patter rollers gong sounded for bed
| time.
Then all grew still and quiet-only the whip
! poor-wills and the katydids.
| Next morning very carly, long before day,
was walked from sound sleep by my father
| He was bending over the trundle bed with his
old flint and steel rife in one hand, and as
soon as ! was awake he began loading 1t.
Old Pomp took little sister In his lap and
dressed her, while mama stood by and tried to
/ help papa.
Up town you could hear people talking just
like it was broad day light, and | knew right
| away that the negroes were gone. After the
rifle was loaded and little sister was dressed we
! all went up town. The doors were all left
! wide open-even the pantry and smokehouse
| doors, where old Pomp had been TO fill a sack
with provisions.
| Already three or four hundred people were
| up town, and they were coming in almost con-
| stantly, and all Of them had guns and ammu-
niton
BY daybreak the pickets had been posted
and Pomp was busy cooking breakfast, and
| after breakfast the men held meeting under
| the big mulberry tree. While they were still
| there the smoke began rolling up over the
| hills to the south of u.s.
"The niggers are leavin' the swamp said
old Deacon Holcomb, an by God it's time
| we left the courthouse!"
| II was the only oath ever heard him utter.
| There had been no organization vet, and the
| deacon wasn't the only man in that crowd
! that had fought at Buena Vista and Chapulte-
pee. but somehow or other they turned to him
! iustinctiyely.
| "Eall in, boys. No time Tor gOod-DyeS now.
| Forward, march,
There was no wrangling, no disturbance and
| the front of the column was moving quickly
down the road before the extreme rear had
| formed.
Old Pomp was the last man in the process
| sion-the only negro in all that country that
had remained faithful, They were marching in
fours, and it seemed rather odd TO see him all
alone there in the rear, with an ak on one
shoulder and gun on the other.
Until after three O'Clock the men were gone.
The smoke had died out, and when the wind
came from the south we could hear the rifle
shots once in a while Mama held little
sister in her arms and cried. All the women
lust watched and waited. After a while the
Shots quit coming, aud then from the top of
the first hill we could see the men coming
| back.
We ran back to tell the women, and then
they all went to the top of the hill and waited.
| What a meetingl
The best of it all was atnobody was killed.
| The deacon had splintered arm, and eleven
more were wounded, including old Pomp
Pomp's wound was Just below the knee. and
he had his rifle upside down for crutch.
"Pomp. asked mama as she saw him. care
you hurt?'
Not much, Missy, I'll be all RICH pres
| emily"
"Sit right down here Pomp."
And all the while protesting that he would
"be well, presn'ly.' the old darby sat down
while mama rolled up the dusty trowsers' leg
and bathed the wound. Papa helped, too,
and the old deacon stood by with his arm in
sling and gave directions
"Now. Missy. OATS all right, an thanky
mann. Please, Missy. don humor de ole nig-
ger so. kin fix dat myselt-thanky mann,
thanky nam. Now I'm all right Missy, jes
lem me fix dat.
The old deacon laughed heartily at
Pomp'S embarrassment and turned away
with thoughtful look on his
face that made me wonder what he was think
ing about.
Nearly everybody was eating dinner and
telling over the fight at the swamp when some
body shouted suddenly:
"knocky Dees! Stop there, Knocky."
Sure enough il was knocky He was within
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