Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-05-04
copyrighted 1890, by the Author

/ mind don It know the heart can It greive.
Come on, lets see them off. -
The little procession was just trotting
down into the bottom. The boys were
barely in time to see the last of them.
s'That's Mr.. Cobbs on the lame mule,
| ain It it? Say, thai mule can out jump
airy boss on the place, saidsa drawing
voice at CHS elbow; and the man called
Mitchell sat down beside the two boys.
Both of them turned on him eyes full
! of interest. "Oh, Mr.. Mitchell, - cried
Ally, eagerly, yet trying to be cautious,
"did you hear anything or lot of folks
| going to lynch old man Dawsey. last
night.
Mitchell whistled. "Well, now, even
the kids have got onto to it. Yes there
| ben considerable of crowd round thar,
las night. rid up thar myself hearin
thar was likely to be a row. But some
how the old man didn't been at home;
and MI. Cobbs he quieted them down all
right. Some folks sayd the old man got
warming, some way. Anyway, he'd lit
shuok and thar WASH It nary critter
about
f'Then they didn't do .nothin?'' said
/ Ally, his mind divided between relief
and certain disappointment. 'Of
course didn't want them to do any
thing, - he added, quickly.
! HWa al no, nothin was did. Looked
| like thar wasn't nothing to do. Some
! way he ID el jared ont all his stock. Did
hear he sole some of it almighty cheap
to Mist Cobbs and that mule he had,
they was sayin' had run off. Sam was
for burnin down the house, but Mist
| Cobbs, dissuaded 'em. He kin talk,
cayn't he? l don't guess airy mother
man cud of quieted them darkeys down
| like he done. An yet they say he's
plum agin niggers tew, doan' like t.
have 'em roun'.
ffThat's lie, - said Ally calmly.
"Why, understood he ben hRvin'
trouble with some of the niggers, Sim
mons an Hotchkiss and some others. "
''That was only 'cause they were so
trifiing ana let their pigs into his gar
den. -
''oh, that war it, war it?'' said
| Mitchell with the air of one convinced,
''toby shore. Wa-al, he's a mighty
nice man, Mist fCobbs is, and right
good Nder. Kinder funny he likes that
mule much better N boss, and4it lame,
! tew.''
SIT can tire out any <horse on the
plantation, for all its hip short, said
Ally, s'and IT'S terrible fast, too"
r'Shucksl He's fast, you say.
Reckon you sll don t let him stay in the
| bottom. Keep. him up in the stable.
Cobbs would hate terrible to have any
t'thing happen to him, I Judge.
Gwen, should say SO, Ally agreed
warmly; "Cobbs was out all night
| hunting him once, when he broke loose
from the barn and run off. -
| stVo1 Uo fau2'' said MitnhaI with
hatterIng interest.
''He didn t know anything about it till
the next day. He just naturally jumped
over the fence and lit out"
''Not that big picket fence? Well,
couldn t believe that less somebody saw
| it. -
''CObbs saw it himself; he was
there.''
"Anybody else?"
Ally resented the implication of the
question. He answered hotly: fCobbs'
word is good s dozen. He was there. -
sob, 1 amt meanin TO impugn Mr..
Cobbs word, - Mitchell FASTENED to say.
''I was just asking, that'e all. Does the
mule do such tricks muohl' He was now
addressing Cecil.
al don t know" Cecil answered. ssI
never heard of any of them before. he
must have done high jumping before
came.
t'It was the night before you came,"
said Ally. Than he laughed. IAN sorts
of things happened that night, kukluxes
! and everything
''To-by shere,'' said Mitchell, ''but
1 oaynt get over that big jump. That
fence must be rising of six feet. He's
mighty nimble mule. -
s'He ain so nimble as Mr.. Hender-
son, Aunt Valleys mule, said Ally.
''He's Mr.. Henderson IS BROTHER"
"Kinder queer name for mule, Mr..
Henderson,
s'They call him that 'cause he's SO
sharp-smart' man, papa said, and
he named him Mr.. Henderson,; his name
WIS Rubs Henderson, to start with. Why,
he is the sohemeisst fellow. Every place
he ever goes to and stops he knows ana
you take him by that place again, he'll
stop
f'Bad beast 20 ride If you r doing q
meanness, - said Mitchell.
Ally laughed, but Cecil was struck by
q new idea which made him very grave
and silent, and rather relieved when
Mitchell was called away to shoe some-
body's horse.
Then his new idea was given to Ally.
''Ally, that fellow was just pumping
usI'i
Ally whistled.
s'why would he want to pump u.s.
tsI don't know. But 1 am sure he
was. =
Such an answer from illogical Sally
would have met 8 prompt demand for
some reason; but Cecil, who lived North
and had crossed the ocean, ana knew
how to do examples in interest in the
arithmetic, was quite different person.
''Come to think OF it, he was kinder
insisting with those questions OF his,''
said Ally musingly.
.'Could he suspect Cobbs, by ohanoefs'
Ally's stoiid blue eyes kindled; his
light eyebrows met; he exploded at
once. s'Suspect Cobbsl well, he must
be fooll'