The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-04-18
DOCTOR BOB.

AAoV y 0AC-I Al VIC mOru1QSI
The Academy,
DOCTOR BOB.
How He Freed Aunt Tempe from
p, tho "Kunjer."
Unc' Primus' wife, Priscilla, who kept
the dairy on Tom in-Luck Plantation, died
about midsummer, in the twelfth year after
Mawse Tom and Mis- Mamie were married,
and settled on place of their own. She
lett, among other valuables a lowered
pitcher that was the cause of quarrel be-
tween Unc' Primus and his sister-in-law.
Aunt Tempe.
Aunt Priscy had left no children, but
Unc' Primus had a niece to whom he wished
to present the lowered pitcher, while Nom
Rhody declared that Aunt Priscy had aoilled
that particular pitcher to her nearest of kin,
Aunt Tempe.
Backed by Nom Rhody, Aunt Tempe got
possession Of the pitcher, but in the strug-
gle the spout was broken of, and this small
fragment Unc' Primus pocketed, vowing
vengeance.
Hits greet pity" said Nom Rhody, un-
easily, "det Primus is sisters sons wife's
nephew ter ole Unc' December over ter
Mawse Goes" and she speedily procured
rabbits left hind-foot for Aunt Tempe to
wear in her bosom.
Thus panoplied, Aunt Tempe defied Unc'
Primus, who, in less than three months,
took second wife, professcd himself 1t
peace with all the world, and made over to
Aunt Tempe whatever possessions of her
deceased sister he had not already bestowed
apon his niece.
dat 'ceitful Primus ~ said Nom Rhody ::
Ind when, on day in September, Aunt
Tempe was taken i'll, Nom Rhody declared.
mysteriously, that it was just what she had
expected.
But it was not what any one else would
have expected, for Aunt Tempe was q
robust, cheerful woman, brisk and tidy, and
trolicsome as kitten with Mis- Nannie's
children. That Aunt Tempe should be i'll
was incomprehensible, and 50 strangely ill !!
she had no fever, she complained of no
''misery'' anywhere; she simply stopped in
The midst of cutting out the plantation
clothing, and announced with solemnity
shat ''somethin' ur mother wuZ wrong"
As Nom Rhody stated it:
"Of Friday by noon,
'Cordin' tor change Oh de moon,
Sis Tempe her wuk wuz done''
Nom Rhody had gift at oracular jingles
that procured her great esteem on the plan
alton. 1t was not hidden from the negroes
that this old nurse, who had ''raised' Mawse
Tom was deep in the lore Of the evil one and
I'll his works-not to do them, but to give
warning thereof; for Nom Rhody was Sis
er in the church that stood in the sandy
bottom beside the creek, shouting and
lasting member, a leader in "prah-meetin's, -
Is one called to wage perpetual warfare,
70 she said, against Satan and his imps, and
Nom Rhody held that Friday was the DEVILS
,wn day.
''Hukkom know data" said she. DE is
'igns a-plenty. Doan' ev'y body see jay-buds
skaase o. Fridays, long o. totin' sticks
;er mem de hahs below? When you see mis-
chance happen o. dat day, debbil got a ham
N dat job by means o. his ministers, sho'ly
mon perticklar effen moon changes.''
When it was suggested that the doctor
should be sent for, Nom Rhody shook her
aead and said: mo white mans doctor top
'ide o. de yeth cou!dn' do Sis Tempe no
rood"
MON Rhody did not hesitate to express
his opinion to Mawse Tom himself, seeing
that she had ''raised' him. But Mawse Tom
would not listen to such nonsense, he said.
md as Aunt Tempe had now been lying iii
some days without improvement, Christie.
oher Columbus was dispatched for the fam
ly physician, who felt Aunt Temples pulse
md looked at her tongue, and asked if she
lad any pain.
Aunt Tempe said: mo; only general
.in-out." The doctor thought at first that
she was ''playing 'possum,' but day by day
Ihe grew worse, until at last it was indispu-
able that she was very i'll She could not
move, except to turn her poor head upon her
pillow, and roll her eyes beseechingly. The
power OF speech was gone.
Il done told Mawse Tom he gwen fling
way his money on white mans doctor!''
,rumbled Nom Rhody. 'En now tell yo,s,
Mis- Mamie, honey, Sis Tempe is done gin
Up ter die, douten Doctor Bob is sent fur"
Doctor Bob should have borne some out
andish, tongue-twisting name. for he was a
native African, but time out of mind he
lad been known as Doctor Bob healer of
The ''kunjered," and the negroes far and
aear regarded him with sentiment border.
;ng on generation. He was slave On old
Major Wheaten's place over in the next
county, but his master never hesitated to
hlow him to lay down the hoe whenever
here came summons from q victim of the
'kunjer."
Indeed, DR.. Bob's fees were q liberal Of
vet to the loss Of his labor in the cotton
Tow, for, between the major and doctor, the
'harges amounted to fifty dollars, more or
ess, and whoever employed Doctor Bob
rad the trouble of hauling him and his
oaraphernalia back and forth. There was
lot very much of Doctor Bob, is is true, but
here was great deal Of the paraphernalia.
Mawse Tom grumbled much at paying such
sprice for humbuggery and superstition,
Especially as both he and Doctor Henly had
decided that Aunt Temples case was hope
ess; but old Mis- and Mis- Mamie said that
'hey could not see Aunt Tempe die with
my wish Unparalleled, and little Nan, and
Roy and Susy, and even baby Tom, began
aow to clamor for Doctor Bob; therefore,
though Mawse Tom had often declared that
Doctor Bob should never set foot on his
plantation, he was sent for.
Had Doctor Bob refused to come, the ne
yroes of Tom-in- Luck would have felt them
'elves doomed by wholesale to the powers
II darkness; but Doctor Bob had never
been known to refuse. It was, as the ne
vroes say, "a half-hour by sum-" when the
lx-c&rt that had been sent for him was
'een toiling up the hill beyond tho peach
orchard. and, by Mawse Toms indulgence,
The negroes stopped work and assembled to
receive the illustrious doctor-all except
Unc' Primus. Primus was mauling rails in
The woods, and he went on mauling rails.
But he was not missed from the company
that crowded around the big gate, as the
Sart approached. Little Miss Nan and Roy
and Susy were mounted on the topmost red
bar, and Nom Rhody was there with baby
Tom in her arms; score of little pickar
@aH|ss sWarmed over tho 1epee-Fa!lA and