San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-05-05

But didn't you jis say you wouldn't
run frum Gauda"
well, don't, only from the cyclone"
well, amt dat agin his will tub stroy
you by cyclone?'
IF twas his will to destroy me by a
| Cyclone it would overtake me before I
could reach the pit, and if it was his will
that should escape I'd get there ahead of
the cyclone"
XII Marse Samuel dat ent de way tub
| talk. 1t mus be eder right ur wrong tub
| jump in de pit. Now, blebe it's wrong"
| "Then ia keep out, said Mr.. Rodgers.
| Yes, sub, OATS jist what Use gwinter.
| do, de Laud beiu' my helper. Use gwinter
stan right up an say, Yer. Laud, yer's
| me, suh.'
In the meantime the crowd of negroes
| about the. gold pit were in state of great
excitement, which was artfully dashed to
| fury by Silas, anxious to recover his in1a.
ence. Old julia seemed dazed. All he
could do was to remark time and again:
"Sumbaudy spit! Sumbaudy spitp
"Huccum de obil sperits obertu'n us so
wen Juba had de Bible?" queried Israel.
"FIe trow way de Bible" said Silas con-
temptuously. See way de .ebil sperit
stom, 'em?" and he pointed to the marks
| had accidentally trodden on the book
"Ef he hadn't hab trowed way de Bible
no ebil sperit could hab got de COLE, urged
Silas. "All OBJ you hab had yo' wuk fun
nuttin', sides losin' yo' dollar a day pickin'
Marse Sans cotton. You's bin yer & week,
| an you'S got nuttin' tub show fuh it, but
disher big hole in de groune, an annudder
| in yo' pockets"
This artful speech reused the crowd to
fury. Propositions to hang Juba by the
more excited, or to beat him by the milder
men, were freely expressed Old Juba
made but one defense.
"Sumbaudy spit!' he muttered. Sum
| baudy spitn'
As the day went on, the near approach
| of Sunday and the fact that there was no
weeks wages TO buy supplies, caused them
\ to wax hOtte- and hotter. The Chosen
| Sons of Identity formed themselves into a
band Of regulators, and each armed with a
| hickory, they seized upon Juba, and were
| about to give him an unmerciful beating
| a. As''-inS n:---n---.- a,
| when a sound, an awful sound, snote upon
| their ears.
"'Tis de ebil speritsI" yelled Juba.
The sound came nearer. The trees began
| to wave and bend, then to crash, as they
| were uprOoted and hurled to the earth.
"A cyclone! cycloner' screamed Silas,
| and leaped into the pit, followed by the
| others.
Mr.. Rodgers and his family were still
sauntering down the road, and Aunt Bina
was still declaring tau SIC would never
run from the Lord, when that sound smote
upon their ears ia, an awful sight ap-
peared to their eyes; for away across the
| great cotton field could be seen strange
\ looking sight-a gigantic inverted cone,
| whether of aggregated dust or descending
| clouds the beholders had no time to decide.
| 1t approached with fearful velocity, and
with an awful sound that terrified the
boldest AS it passed everything fell prone
| to earth; trees, fences, houses disappeared.
1t seemed death incarnate; the fell destroy
er visible
"My God! it's cyclonep' cried Rodgers,
appalled,. run for the gold diggers' pitt
Run, Laura! Don't faintm as his wife
| staggered. Run, Bina, runw
| But Aunt Bina needed no urging. Throw
| ing the fat baby to her shoulder she darted
| ahead of Rogers and his wife, and flew like
| the wind
Not fer myself, Laud," she screamed as
she ran, mot fer myself; l ent arunnin'
| frum you, but It's disher chile, Mars Sans
baby, Use 'sponsible fer!'
Indifferent to the crowd in the pit, Rod
| gers hurled himself and his wife in. Aunt
| Bina was already there; she had lit on the
| back of Silas. The next second, with its
fearful whrrings and meanings, the cy-
clone swept by. The three sweetgums
| were uprooted and fell across the pit, shut
| ting them securely in.
In five minutes the strange storm had
swept by and all was calm and still save
| for a shower of rain.
But in the improvised cyclone pit hub
| bub reigned; groans, cries, prayers rent the
air till Mr.. Rodgers commanded silence.
| They were packed like sardines in box,
| so that they could not move. 1t seemed
strange that they could make so much
noise.
After some consultation Israel, who was
| tall and slim, mounted the back of Silas,
who was very broad, and after many strug-
| giles and failures managed to scramble out
| between the branches of the trees Find
ing an ak hard by he chopped a hole among
the limbs, through which they all finally
succeeded in escaping after rude ladder
had been improvised for them to ascend on.
While these preparations were going on
the imprisoned crowd INDUCED in some
lively passages. Silas could not refrain
from INVITING Aunt Bina by asking how
she came there in the pit.
81 cum YER" said she boldly, ''kase l
bleegter fetch Marse Sans baby. You
think l gwnter low Marse Sans baby tub /
be knocked tub pieces?"
81 thought you wuz one dat wouldn't 4
run frum Gaud, an yer you cum plud-de-
junk in disher hole. Please Gaud, ef l !
hadn't scrouged tub one side you'd hab
knocked my head off"
SsN-o,, t,inL ,yyvinter tex de 'sDOnsibility |