The times., 1890-12-26

told no one; what he meant to do with
these accumulated small earnings Of
moro than fifteen years-amounting now
to quite respectable sum--he himself
did not know; but having no wife nor
shild, nor any kindred whom he cared 10
honor with gifts, the greatest satisfaction
he could find in his money was to count
it over. This ceremony he performed by
an ingenious process of his own inven-
ton, that did away with the necessity of
abstracting the coin when once it was
deposited; each deposit being made in
sums of S. securely tied in a bit Of asna-
burg, the whole amount could be pretty
accurately reckoned by touch, the ac-
count being kept upon tally stick. which
cold Gilbert always carried with him.
When he had fingered his wealth to
his satisfaction, Gilbert carefully read
justed the platter over the tin broken
pot lid, raked the leaves over the spot,
and skillfully heaped up the brush.
sole nigger gittin' stiff, tubbe sho'w
he said, rising with grunt. "Time I
wuz fixin' up mother bottle o white ash
box en- whisky. git de box en- Missile
virey gimme de whisky. Hit ain too
late for sassyfac, nuther. Little Missy
alters honin' after sassyfac tea. gwan
tote her bundle o. sassyfac ter de gret
house dis night, seein' wuz 'bleged ter
spite her bout dem Furnivals."
Old Gilbert took his way home by a
roundabout route, through an old field
known as the berry patch, where elder
bushes and sassafras saplings grew rank
in the fence corners, hedged round by
little thickets of the odorous horse mint.
Here the old man set to work; down
on his knees, by the aid of his ready
jack knife, he was deftly extracting the
roots whose rich aroma diffused itself
around. when his trained ear caught the
sound of steps approaching.
"Wha' dat?" he whispered to himself,
with palpitating heart, lifting his head
to listen. Rabbit"
A yellow cur, with cropped ears and
barely three inches of tail, jumped upon
a log on the other side of the fence, ut
tering short, sharp bark.
Old Gilbert peered over the fence to-
right and left of him, along the bride
path that skirted the field.
"Whey you come fun, you ondemand-
ed beas' critter?" he said, scornfully ey-
ing the cur, which he recognized as the
property of "dem Furnivals."
The dog answered with yelp, jumped
off the log and ran across the bride path
into the woods, but presently returned at
the heels of lank, sandy haired, sallow
youth, clad in faded jeans.
Old Gilbert's heart knocked at his ribs
as he thought of his treasure in the hol-
low of the wood; but "manners" de-
manded that some greeting should be
given, and policy dictated a certain OBJ
sequiousness Of tone, but the old negro
bade the youth "Good morning" with
bow very many degrees removed from
the respect he would have accorded to
quality"
The lad responded with sullen reluc-
tance.
"Whicherway is you comm fum?' old
Gilbert asked, insinuatingly.
81 dunno ez hits any O. yo' business
was the surly answer. 81 amt no furer
from home then you, en- 1 amt nigger.
I'm a-huntin' of hawg, en- eff you amt
tolled hit ter yo' pen, you ole prowler,
maybe you're fur gittin' onter hits
tracks"
Old Gilbert's heart waxed hot. That
he should be accused by this "po' white
trash" of tollinG away a lean and scrubby
old hog!
"De Lor' -a-mighty!r he exclaimed,
with sort of persuasive indignation.
"Doan' you en- yo' folks know what l
have got hawgs ev'y blessed year fat
TENN cawntinual? l cuores my own
bacon, en- is been doin' dat same, year
in, year out, gwan on fo' you wuz bawn.
is s'prised at ye!'
"Wall," drawled the boy, measurably
subdued by this reminder of fact with
which he was well acquainted, 81
s'picioned as ye're alters roun' these
woods
"Mef" interrupted old Gilbert, with an
uneasy thought of his buried treasure;
then, recovering himself, II amt often
ow LAM" he said, with significance.
"Look a-here!" shouted the boy, ad-
vancing menacingly, while the cur growl-
ed and showed his teeth.
EN- l b'longs ter Kernel Jasper
Thorne," continued old Gilbert, with in
fated superiority. Use u gemman's
nigger, is"
II doan know ez that's anythin' to
me-" said Jesse Furnival, with sullen
abatement of his wrath. "But, come,
now amt you seen nothin' of ow ole
white SOW in yo' comin's en- goins2 /
amt inquirin' what ye air up toe."
Old Gilbert had dropped on his knees
again and was tugging at the sassafras
roots. "Tse comm en- going on my own
proper arrants, he grumbled. "My own
ers deselves doan hop me ter count bout
dat. Howsomedever, did see q lean ole |
white SOW cz come along"
"Whicherway?"
The eagerness of the inquiry was as
fuel to the flame of old Gilbert's suspi- |
cions. "Side of de bride path, followin'
de woods" he said, avoiding all refer |
ence to the route by which he had come.
'''Spect she was gwan ter de branch.
Whyn't you keep her penned? De ain