Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-04-11
DOCTOR BOB.
How He Freed Aunt Tempe from
the "Kunjer."

the "Kunjer."
Unc' Primus' wife, Priscilla, who ken
the dairy on Tom in-Luck Plantation, die,
about midsummer, in the twelfth year afte
Mawse Tom and Mis- Mamie were married
and settled on a place of their own. Sh,
left, among other valuabes, a POWERED
pitcher that was the cause of quarrel be
tween Unc' Primus and his sister-in-law
Aunt Tempe
Aunt Priscy had left no children, bu
Unc' Primus had a niece to whom he wished
TO present the Powered pitcher, while Mon
Rhody declared that Aunt Priscy had willed
that particular pitcher to her nearest Of kin
Aunt Tempe.
Backed by Nom Rhody, Aunt Tempe go,
possession of the pitcher, but in the strug.
gle the spout was broken of, and this small
fragment Unc' Primus pocketed, vowing
vengeance.
Hits a 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 a
rabbits left hind-foot for Aunt Tempe to
wear in her bosom.
Thus panoplied, Aunt Tempe defied Unc'
l. s.
took a second wife, professed himself at
peace with all the world, and made over to
Aunt Tempe whatever possessions of her
deceased sister he had not already bestowed
upon his niece.
dat 'ceitful Primusl" said Nom Rhody:
and when, on a 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 a
robust cheerful woman, brisk and tidy. and
frolicsome as kitten with Mis- Nannie's
children. That Aunt Tempe should be i'll
was incomprehensible, and so strangely I'LL
She mad no fever, she complained of no
misery anywhere; she simply stopped in
the midst of cutting out the plantation
clothing. and announced with solemnity
that ''somethin' ur mother wuz wrong"
As Nom Rhody stated it:
''Of Friday by noon,
'Cordin' ter change OBJ de moon.
Sis Tempe her wuk wuz DONE"
Nom Rhody had gift at oracular jingles
that procured her great esteem on the plan
tation. 1t was not hidden from the negroes
that this old nurse, who had 'sraisedn Mawse
Tom was deep in the lore Of the evil one and
all his wOrks-not to do them, but to give
warning thereof; for Nom Rhody was a sis
ter in the church that stood in the sandy
bottom beside the creek, shouting and
fasting member, a leader in "prah-meetin's.
as one called to wage perpetual warfare.
so she said, against Satan and his imps. and
Nom Rhody held that Friday was the DEVILS
own day.
'Hukkom know datf' said she. DE is
signs a-plenty. Doan' ev'ybody see jay-buds
is skaase o. Fridays, long o. totin' sticks
ter men de fiahs below! When you see mis-
chance happen o. dat day, debbil got a han,
in dat job by me ms o. mis- ministers, sho'ly
mon perticklar effen moon changes"
When it was suggested that the doctor
should be sent for, Nom Rhody shook her
head and said: No white mans doctor top |
side o. de yeth cou!dn' do SIS Tempe no |
good" |
MON Rhody did not hesitate to express
this opinion to Mawse Tom himself. seeing |
that she had raised" him. But Mawse Tom |
would not listen to such nonsense, he said. |
and as Aunt Tempe had now been living IN |
some days without improvement, Christie
pher Columbus was dispatched for the fam
lily physician, who felt Aunt Temples pulse
and looked at her tongue, and asked if she
had any pain.
Aunt Tempe said: mo; only a general
gin-out" The doctor thought at first that
she was playing 'possum, " but day by day
she grew worse, until at last it was indispu-
table that she was very i'll She could not
move, except to turn her poor head upon her
pillow, and roll hereyes beseechingly. The
power OF speech was gone.
II done told Mawse Tom he gwan fling
away his money on white mans doctorp'
grumbled Nom Rhody.- aEu now l tell vom.
Mis- Mamie, honey, Sis Tempe is done gin
up ter die, douten Doctor Bob is sent fur.n
Doctor Bob should have borne some out
Iandlsh, tongue-twisting name, for he was a
native African, but time out of mind he
mad been known as Doctor Bob, healer of
the "kunjered," and the negroes far and
near regarded him with sentiment border
ing on veneration. He was a slave on old
Major Wheaten's place over in the next
county, but his master never hesitated to
allow him to lay down the hoe whenever
there came summons from victim of the
.kunjer"
Indeed, DR.. Bob's fees were liberal of
Yet to the loss of his labor in the cotton
row, Tor, between the major and doctor, the
charges amounted to fifty dollars, more or
80 "o0NSI oHAp4oyeu DocJOr BOO |
had the trouble Of hauling him and his
paraphernalia back and forth. There was
not very much of Doctor Bob, is is true, but
here was a great deal of the paraphernalia.
Mawse Tom grumbled much at paying such
price for humbuggery and superstition,
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 ungratihe6. and little Nan, and
Roy and Susys and even baby Tom, began
low to clamor for Doctor Bob; therefore,
'hough Mawse Tom had often declared that
Doctor Bob should never set foot on his
SANITATION. he was sent for.
Had Doctor Bob refused to come the ne
Iroes Of Tom-in-Luck would have felt them