The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-28

1t
Wen jump on, haul in your flag,
I'm bound for Canaan's ShO',
I'm bound for Canaans sho',
Oh! believer
I'm bound for Canaan's sho'."
iEN1AT the old mortar, which stood out
{ Ek4-s under the poplar tree near her cabin
E,&Ay door, Maum Dilcie was singing her
camp-meeting hymn and beating rice, the
heavy pestle in her strong arms moving IN
time with the refrain, sometimes coming
down with 4 more than ordinarily emphatic
thud, accordingly as she felt 'bound for
Canaan's shu'." She grew more and more
enthusiastic with the assurance. and every
now and then fairly shouted out the ooh!
believerw with convincing Zest.
! have often watched her, when she was
unconscious of my scrutiny. standing thus,
with her homespun skirts tucked up around
her dimiy defined waist, ner turbaned head
swaying to and fro with the measure, OBJ
livious to everything save her tune and her
work.
Maum Dilcie and her husband, Daddie
Kane, were the patriarchs of cur plantation.
Ever since things had first settled down
after Emancipation they had rented the same
piece of ground from their old white folks"
and being more thrifty and energetic than
most of their race, their well tended crop
and the neatly kept premises round their
humble dwelling were in marked contrast 10
the careless farming and not over clearly
homes of their colured neghbors. Being
better off in worldly goods than their fellow
laborers brought lis own penalty, however.
Maum Di!cie'S chickens were always being
borrowed TO supply some neighbours emer-
geney when company was eXpected-and
sometimes they were BORROWED without
her knowledge Her flatrons were ever in
demand 10 smooth the petticOats of all the
Quarter" when big meeting was near
at hand, and never was there wedding or
cake walk but she was expected to fur
nish generous supply OF eatables, while on
Sunday her house Was the regular rendez-
vouS for the deacons, elders, ministers and
prayer leaders of her church.
The old soul loved to cook, though. Seated
in state before the wide open fireplace, in
tile best chair the cabin afforded, l have
often witnessed the pleasure she took III
manipulating the various kettles. skilletS,
etc, which formed her stock of cooking uten-
sis l have seen her, with only the aid of
bent poker, swing pot OF dangerously hot
liquid high anu clear from crane ON one
side Of the deep fireplace to one which hung
on the other, and have admired the delicate
discrimination with which shS would in
crease or decrease the Supply of little glow
ing Goals on tie tSp Of and underneath the
dutch" oven in which her cake was cook
ing, turning it round and round as the bak-
ing progressed, III order that just the proper
degree Of heat should penetrate that chuice
and precious loaf. As children, it was al
ways delightful for US to gain permission TO
visit Maum DIcr, and the pleasure was
always new, no matter now often we went.
''N ny, how dye, honey? God bless that
fttrt ha }rta
she saw US coming, and there would always
be bit Of potato pOne or sweet cornbread,
which lasted ever So much nicer than any,
thing we We're accustomed to at home,
brought to light from the my seriOus depths
of a capaCiOus wooden cupboard which &C.
cupied one side of her cabin. Sometimes,
as great treat, Maum Dilcie would show
us her treasures which she kept in a wooden
box with leather straps on il in tie lnuer
room of her house. There were lkenrSSes
OF her dear young lady, Mistress Miranda"
to whom she had been maid when she was
In Georgia, and whose charms, IL her eyes,
were unrivaled, and Of Mistress Mranda's
baby girl, whom she had nursed until both
the mother and child were laid to sleep in
one grave. There was a precious hair
bracelet which her young lady" had given
her, and a queer old-time nightcap, which
"old Miss" mad bestowed, with lace ruffies
sticking out all round the front; there was
fat-lookIng deer on it-a pitcher whicn
leaked, and was utterly Use ess but which
was as a pearl Of great price in the eyes OF
its supplemented owner. Last of all, there
was the vCluminuus white dress of coarse
muslin with its lace-trimmel neckerchlef;
this was Maum Dilcie's wedding dress, and
she would smooth out its ample folds with
her fat, dark hands, and say, with an air of
pride, as she laid it in its accustomed place:
That will be all ready to bury Inc i'll when
the Master calls"
She was deyOut Christian, and it was a
terrible cross to her honest soul that her
children in their younger days would steal
She was always searching among their be-
longngs for the foreign articles, never fail
ing 10 return them whether they were of
much or little value, and she would say that
she could not account for the badness of her
offspring except that ringers would be mig
gers" Old Manner was very ignorant and
very snperstituous; she believed firmly in
Spirits" always insisting when sick that
the old hag had been ridin' her." though
just what sort of creature this mag" was
she seemed 10 have no very definite idea
only claiming that she was born with
''caul" and could see what was invisible to
less favored morals.
She had such poor memory, never being
able to recall from one year to the next
what event Easter cOmmemorated. and hav-
ing to be tOld each season the meaning of
the Christmas festival, that when, after a
visit to her old home in Georgia, whittier she
had gone TO "shake hands with her old
pappie once more fore he died" she ap-
peared with little brown boy whom she mad
brought home because there was no one to
take care or him, we were not surprised to
hear that she mad forgotten lin the day and
half 1t had taken 10 accomplish her jour
ney home) both the name and age of the
child, while we could not but admire the
" "a hpa w hot md
her to assume this additional care in her
ovpr-worked life. She said she had the
child's name marked down on piece of
paper among her things somewhere. This
piece of paper she afterward brought to our
house for us to tell her what was on it, but
we could not read the writing, ana, though
we looked all through the Old Testament
for name which might bear some resem-
blance to II, because the old Manner insisted
that the child was named tout the Bible"
we never could discover any that the writing
seemed to have been intended for, and.
few days later, we learned that the little
boy was to be called Philip.
lie was a remarkably pretty little
creature, apparently aDOut 3 years old, with
a smooth, yellow-brown skin, goud features,
and beautiful, innocent-looking brown eyes,
bright and intelligent; and he played SO
frequently with the little ones al our house,
and We had always thought so much of his
foster mother, that we took great interest
in him.
Maum Dicie's husband was cross old
man, who had never been very fond of his
own children or been very kind to them,
and the old Manners good heart very often
stood between Philip aud the beatiDgs
Daddie Kane would have administered to
him. As the boy grew older he became of
much use to the elderly couple. Sam, their
only son, resented his fathers stern treat
ment and wentoff to work elsewhere as soon
as he was g.-w1, to his mothers intense
distress. The oldest daughter was married,
the second dead, and the youngest, several
years older than Philip. nice, well-man-
nered girl, was the only child left to them.
Philip used to chop wood, bring water, noe
the cotton crop some, mind the young tur-
keys, feed the cow. pigs, etc, and was
quite a comfort to the kind-hearted old soul
who had befriended him, but he was only a
boy, with boys keen thirst for pleasure,
and sometimes he would get tired of work
and get to playing, or he would oyerstay his
time when sent to the store on errands, and
SO on. This Of course would provoke Daddie
kane,s wrath, and several times Philip was
punished for neglecting his tasks, even
Maum's Dilcie's interference not being suffi-
Gent to shield him.
One day, when Philip was about 10 wears