Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-01-25

a.
long'r old Gran. Don't 90 to de
kitchen for dat vittlcs, for dat nigger
oman what's dom dat cooking, aldo
she's been bon and raised on dis plan
tation, and many's de bucket O. water
she's toted on her head to de cotton
choppers when old Gran was carryin'
de lead row 'mong de hands, she's
done got so quality case she's coolxin'
for de white folks she don't notice a
plantation niger, and she gwine to
give you scraps shores you born il
you go dar. knows her case done
tried her."
Gran always got his supper, so did
Ring, and we were soon off on the
hunt. Gran was always the autocrat
of the occasion and the master of cere-
monies, selected his own crowd and
always picked four good axmen to as
sist in cutting down the tree. Each
negro carried his only weapon, his ak.
One carried a lighted torch and ma
terial for more, and as we went down
through the turn rows in the field to
get to the swamps on the back of the
plantation, Ring followed behind us,
as unconcerned as if he intended to
take no part in the hunt But when
he climbed the back fence on the back
side of the plantation and Gran gave
his familiar war whoop:
"Whar you, Ring9 Hank to 'em,
puppy"
Ring was gone in a moment and the
hunt began, and whether Gran in
stinctively followed Ring, or Ring in
stinctively hunted before Gran, l
could never tell, nor could he; but
they always kept in hearing distance
of each other. No particular course
was taken. no point aimed for. | was
lost as soon as got in the woods, and
remained SO until we got back to the
clearing. But old Gran would hunt
and ramble for hours and hours, and
when the hunt was over and we
started back he would strike bee line
for the quarters, and was never
known to miss his course. Every few
minutes during the hunt, and until
Ring started on hot trail, he gave an
occasional yelp, to which old Gran
would respond: Speak to me, Ring"
And in voice you could hear for a
mile and which rang out in the night
as clear as bugle note and echoed far
and near through the tall trees and
gloomy brakes of the dark woods.
The glare of our torchlight disturbed
many little bird which had nested
for the night in some scrubby bush,
and as it fitted away to find another
hiding place it would give it's chirrup
of warning to its companions hard by.
The solemn old owl from her perch in
the tall tree top hooted at her neigh
Dor across the lake:
cooks for my folks,
Who cooks for you dlls
Then would be heard the quack of a
startled duck aroused from its quiet
repose on the silent waters of some
bush hidden bayou, and occasionally
frightened deer would dash through
the tangled thickets, nor stop to see
who were the midnight providers upon
his hidden lair So the hunt con-
tinued-Gran in the lead, barefooted
and MASKING down the vines and brush
like a great bear, the rest of us follow
ing as best we could, until Ring struck
a hot trail, and then his yelp changed
to fierce banks.
All then was excitement and we
crowded to follow Rings voice, but
long before we could Overtake him
his prolonged bowls far ahead of us
told us the 'possum was freed. Rings
veracity was never questioned, for we
knew nothing could deceive him but
'hants, and he would not run
'hants. Our torch man flashed his
light up the body of the tree, to see
the way it would fall, that it should
not fall across de kerr in" and soon
the measured strokes of the four az
men rang out in the still night. Ring
squatted close by, just out of the reach
of the axes and an occasional whine
told OF his Impotence, and SO the
work progressed until the loud crack
gave the signal that the tree was Civ
ing away. The two choppers on the
lower side then ceased their work and
the two on the upper continued. Gran
and Ring took their stand side by side,
both gazing upward at the long, naked
branches until their gradual sway told
that its last struggle was over. No ex-
element so intense and as far beyond
description was ever experienced by
me as that produced by the loud crash
and dull thud echoing through the
woods when that monarch of the forest
met its mother earth. Gran and Ring
had both disappeared, both making for
the tree top and both rushing to de-
struction, as it appeared to me, right
under the falling branches, and why
both of them were not crushed TO death
| could never tell. But they always
came out unframed and seldom with
out the possum. A large brush fire
had been kindled in the meantime by
the torch man, and we all dropped
down around it on the dry leaves to
rest.
Then began a genuine negro pow
WOW, the like of which has forever
passed to the things that were. Free
and unbridled before me, boy, who
had been raised among them, and
who, as they well knew, would take
sides with them on all occasions, in
every trouble. Overseers, track dogs,
''patter rollers" poor white folks
always came in for their full share of
abuse. Ghost stories of the most mar
velous and startling nature were told
about sights seen and noises heard