The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-10-09

w. EWlV II aUWeen ner an
parternel justis,
M'randy. There she be now!"
She was coming down the little. tangled
lane, singing at the top of her voice and
swinging pail half full Of blackberries to
mark tb time.
"Hi-yup, you darkies, big and small,
Oh, listen to de fiddl an de horn!
Oh, dom you heah dat banjo calf
Listen to de tadl an de horn!
Oh, SO early in de mornin',
Down in de yellow corn,
oh, SO early in de mornin',
Listen to de fddr an de horn!'
The swinging melody was SO catching
that Uncle Nose forgot his grim resolution
for the moment and beat time with his
down-trodden slipper. At the chorus his
musical soul could not resist taking his pipe
from his mouth and joining with hearty
bass, while M'randy, pleased that things
seemed to be so amicably settled, added her
second. This was such a success that when
the verse was finished they repeated it by
common consent, Laws Jane ending in
shrll "Ya-ah' of triumph at the happy
ending Of her little ruse Uncle Nose So
bered at once, remembering his duty.
Laws Jane, whar you been!" he asked,
sternly.
"Whar beenY" replied Laws Jane, limo.
Gently. "Why, been to Mis- Whites fer de
garding seed. Tda.been home afore, honey
pa, only stopped to pick desc yer berries
fer ye."
Considering that the blackberries must
have taken about fifteen minutes to pick,
and that Laws Jane had been gone fully
two hours, this was very flimsy excuse,
but Uncle Nose secretly loved and was
proud of his Laws Jane-which fact
Laws Jane knew as we'll as he did and this
little token of her thoughtfulness for him
more than half turned his anger at once.
"Wal," he said, less sternly, 'whar's de
garding seed?"
At this Laws James smiling face grew
very blank She looked down at the ground
and up at the sky and finally at Uncle Nose.
whose wrath was gradually gathering. II
Il dom forgot itr' she faltered at last.
Here M'randy, seeing danger imminent,
charged to the rescue. She seized the de-
linquent by the arm and marched her of
hurriedly. 'You shiftless piece!" she
cried, shaking the arm she held. "You &C
straightaway upstairs and go to bed. Yo'
dom forgit yer own name next Mex time
yo' catch it, suah!'
Laws Jane disappeared up the crooked
stairs with alacrity and M'randy returned
to her work Uncle Nose went on putting
his pipe outside on the doorstep as if moth
ing had happened. Indeed, such occurrences
were so frequent that they had lost their
power to disturb. Both knew perfectly
that Laws Jane would swing herself out of
the window and into the tree that grew
close by it, and that they would see no more
of her till supper time, when she would APP
pear with penitent face and all would go
on as before.
To-day, however, some hidden forces
were at work in Uncle Moses breast.
"M'randy," he said, solemnly, after a long
silence "Wal, Unc Moser' inquired
M'randy, pleasantly, coming to the door
with dish in her hand. "Mrandy, de mex
time dat chile fergit herself Use gwine
warm her mem'ry. She's got ter be bruk
of it. An dom you interfere wild parternel
justiss de Mex time, M'randy." Perhaps
the same forces had been at work in
Mrandy's breast too, for after moments
silence she only replied, thoughtfully:
"Wal, Unc' Nose, p'raps yo' better. She's
done grew powful fergitful." Laws Jane.
half out of the window above, heard the
conversation, and whistled softly to herself:
"Golly Dat mean business dis time, sure.
Dis darkey better look out fer herse'fv'
Then her mouth widened into grin and
she shook her head half dolefully: II has
got pow'ful poo memry!" she thought,
as she disappeared in the field behind the
house.
For several days Laws Jane was on her
good behavior. She did not run off to fill
the WATERFALL down at the spring and for
get to come back for hours afterward; she
had wiped the dishes carefully, and had
not dropped a saucer, and to-day she was
bending her back with apparent willing
ness, pulling the weeds out of the little
garden. M'randy looked out of the window
several times, and found each time with re-
newed satisfaction that she had not yet run
away and left the wedding to take care of
itself.
At last she called claws janet" Laws
Jane was just Strengthening her aching
back and muttering dlsgustedly to herself:
want me to weed de old garding wen de