The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-02-03

I him. The two now returned IN TRIUMPH
to the gold seekers.
] Old Juba seized the feathers. NOW,
cried he, "w'ile bun desc yer fedder you
| all kin tex it by tun to pray. Each mar
pray 20 long as a fodder bun, wen 1T bur
out dat pusson mus cen. Many prayer;
is a great discouragement tub ebil sperits
an so is bu'nt fedders."
Silas Chief Grand Lambkin was first
called on, and in some trepidation he be
gan to pray and his feather to burn. "Oh
] Laud. we beseech thee tub perfect us frun
desc yer ebil sperits, we OATS found dishel
great treasure, so dat eff we amt sole al
we had to buy it, leaseways Yves lief al
Marse Sam Rodgers cotton a-wastin' in do
| fiel' tell we fine"-
"Stop, sub" said old Jubs: "yo' fodder
dun out Mex one"
Israel, one of the Chosen Sons of Iden.
| tity, began: "Oh, Laud, we baig oh thee
| help agin desc ebil sperits; let us not waste
! our time liker we waste Marse Sans cot
| ton OATS a-sheddin' ober de groun' lieker
ontimely snow
"Yo' fodder dun bun," said old Juba
"annuder one try"
BY the time the ROSTERS tail had been
consumed some fifteen or twenty most
fiourishing prayers had been nipped in the
bud. Some Of the feathers being longer
than others Of course affected the length OF
the prayers which all were anxious to
make; so it fell to the lot of Eli, the last
man, to speak only while the last and
shortest feather burned. In great excite
ment he began. ooh, Laudyi Laudyl" he
cried, as his feather began to fZ, "Lau-u-
dyr'
"Dey, it dun bum" broke in old Juba.
"Chuhp muttered Eli, crestfallen; 81
nebber had no shown. Dat leetle tail
fodder wunt with talkin' bout Tain't
nuttin' but pen fodder nohow."
at SMELL" said Juba, IAN mex sperits
swink."
In case these fragmentary petitions were
not successful old Juba supplemented
them by muttering divers lamentations
against evil spirits, uttered in words of his
own invention.
The evening ceremonies being now over,
the negroes commenced digging, and made
the dirt fly. No sooner was one man eX-
hausted than another took his place from
the ranks of the anxious bystanders. As
they got deeper they rugged up a bucket
aud sweep and lifted the earth with great
speed. While they dug old Juba continued
the fight against evil spirits by borrowing
Bible from Silas, which no set on pile
of old horseshoes, after opening it and
laying a white stone across a page, and he
pretended to read in a muttering voice as
they dug
Silas led the diggers; ne had been seized
with thirst for gold, and every time he
threw out a shovelful of dirt he looked
L. e. 81 %aJ
his lead the Chosen Sons of Identity did
mighty deeds of valor. AS he worked his
imagination took fire, and
''Inny goule yit, Silas?" asked an out
slider, anxiously.
Not yit," said Silas, 'but terrectly hit'll
begin tub shine. ] lows at least tub git a
bushel, an when does, de cotton fieP III
know me no mo- l gwinter buy Marse
Sam fas' boss an buggy an dribe roun'
same iker l wuz wife. I'll draw de reins
ober FLYNN Bess an say, Git up, subj"
At the mere idea of this grandeur Silas
burst into joyous laughter, and without
thinking he spat, for he was a great to-
bacco chewer Old Juba looked up from
the Bible he was pretending to read.
"Dey now! you gone an spit Wha' you
spit fun? Spittin' is a great encourage
ment to ebil sperits-git outer dat hole,
sub, an git way frum huh"
Silas sorrowfully arose and retired crest
fallen, and another man, with an empty
mouth, took his place.
AS Silas retired from the scene he made
a vague effort to establish his present so
ciai status. Il wuz a man who 'peared tub
be himself, an not anudder pusson." He
shook his head, he failed to recognize him
self and he went over that statement. Il
wuZ a man who 'peared tub be himself,
an not anudder pusson; dat knows fur a
fac" Here he met his wife, who had been
the witness of his disgrace.
You used tub be de lamkin! But now
you's kin OBJ muffin"
Overwhelmed by this cutting remark,
Silas skunk away.
Old Juba now formulated new set of
rules and regulations under which they
were to act. They were not to speak while
at work. not within a certain distance OF
the excavation, neither should they chew
tobacco. They were to work night and
day, nor could they stop work during the
time allotted them, lest it cause the evil
spirits to overpower the good spirits under
whose guidance he acted. These evil spir-
its had it in their power to remove the
gold at any time they might gain the as
cendancy.
All of this information the negroes i'm
plicitly believed, and day after day the
work went on. After digging some ten
feet the gold seekers struck bed of rock,
and now their progress was slow, but they
stuck to it, nor could any one persuade
them that it was impossible for buried
gold to be hid in solid rock.
de sperits tell us Dig" said they, and
dig they would, while the fast opening cot
ton shed and wasted. 1t seemed to the ex-
aSperated planters more than they could
stand.
The weather was hot and sultry, storms
had been frequent in the vicinity, and they
lived in constant dread that their time
would come next and their crops be ruin
ed. a cyclone also had visited the adjoin-
ing county and blown people and houses
about in a lively manner. The terrible re
ports of its havoc had set the negroes wild.
Those who were not interested in the gold
digging were full of terror of the cyclone,
and wished to stop work and go to digging
cyclone pits-that i, the wicked ones were
the more pious insisted that it would be
resisting the will of the Lord.
Chief among these was Aunt Bina. Mrs.
Rodgers nurse. This godly woman main
tanned the extreme sinfulness of taking
any precautions against the commissions
Of nature, as they were instruments of the
Lords vengeance, and should be so re
ceived.
While the negroes thus wasted their
time and their employers crops the plant
ers fumed and tretted As for sam
Rodgers, ne used more ugly language than
he had in a twelvemoEth, cousigning the
diggers of pits and gold TO uncomfortable
localities. He was moreover much pro
voked by the disfiuration of his pet game
cock, and he attacked Silas and his son