The record-union., 1892-09-03
bits that refused to be caught by the m ost
enticinp Of trans

| hannlDal Aartln was houSe-DOy at the
white folks house." and one of his du-
| ties was TO bring the mail from the Post
| office III the little village q mile away.
The mail did not come in till about 6
O'Clock every evening, SO that by the time
Hannibal returned the family were usu-
ally assembled round the teatable discus
! sing the events of the day.
! Hannibal could never refrain from
| placing his ear or eye to the keyhole of
1 The dIning-roOm door, before knocking,
! to see If anything Of interest was going on
| within. He had never gained aught by
| this practice, save the humiliation OF be-
| ing caught at it by Arthur on several oc-
casions, still he never failed in the per-
! formance OF it. .All things come to him
who waits,'' and Hannibal 5 perseverance
/ was rewarded Al last.
/ The evening after the conYersaY on with
! Glumpy, after the last relay OF hot bis
/ cults had been brought IN. and tne sery-
amt had left the room, Arthur merriIy
/ described the setting of the trap 10
I the others. In the middle Of the story
! JENNIE suddenly stopped him by laying
her hand on his arm, and, as Arthur
| looked at her questioningly. she pointed
! 10 the door. Arthur understood, and
stepping quietly forward, opened il sud
! denly. Hannibal was standing bolt up
right, suspiciOusly near, but his round,
fat face was devoid Of any expression
! Whatever, and his eyes met Arthur's hon
estly, as he held out the mailbag. - do
not believe ne heard anything" said Ar
thur, as he closed the door. Hannibal
I waited till he was safely in the back
! porch, where he executed dance of tri-
umph under cover of the darkness.
CHAPTER II.
ck-a-doodle-doo"
Glumpy woke with a start and sat up,
rubbing her eyes. She looked round her
! IN y puzzled manner.
Il lowed es I'd git up when the roos-
| terS started CROWN" she muttered, but
! l disremember why"
The dawn was just beginning to creep
| into the loft where Glumpy slept with
| several younger brothers and sisters who
lay round her, on the floor, tangle Of
arms and legs in the dim, gray light.
AS Glumpy sat drowsily trying to make
| out IN the dark to which woOIly head
the sundry twisted limbs belonged, the
thought Of her rabbit trap and the reason
1or her wish to rise early woke in her
sleepy head.
She sprang to her feet, and taking her
shoes in her hand crept softly across the
floor. Shoes were the only garments Of
which Glumpy and her brothers and sis
ters diyested themselves at night, so no
time was wasted in dressing. She de-
scended the ladder leading from the loft
and stopped in the room below to put on
her shoes. 1t was a large, comfortable
room, with huge bed, in which the
father and mother of the family were
soundly repOsing. The fire was not yet
out in the great fireplace, and Glumpy
stopped over 1t TO warm herself, Tor she
was shiVering with cold and excitement.
She threw q bit of fat lightwood on the
red Goals glowing amid the soft, white
ashes, and Il hot golden flame leaped in
stantly upward, lighting the cabin with
q rich glow before which the dawn light
grew naler still. The flames played over
tlNA hi Il
still figures in the bed, and the tin dishes
scattered untidily about the room. They
/ threw strangely distorted shadows of the
chairs and tables, elOngadng and twitch-
ing the legs as though they were dancing
in wild eXultation. Glumpy glanced
fearfulIy round, fixing her round eyes
nervOusly on glaring picture, repre-
senting the wonders of Judgment Day,
which hung on the wall, and which had
possessed a kind of terrible fascination
for her all her life. The freight added
new and dreadful mysteries TO the wav-
ing blue and red robes and swollen
clouds ofthe picture, which caused GIum-
py's wool to curl more tightly with ter
rOr. Suddenly the 1ame sank palpitat-
ing into the ashes, and the room and fur
niture took on their usual commonplace
appearance in the bleak, gray light.
GIumpy gave a sigh OF relief and stole
on tiptoe to the door. EnvelOping her
self in a worn black shawl which hung
on peg, she slipped silently into the
open air. The weather was as yesterday,
dull and colorless. Glumpy looked TO-
ward the east
''rm Iater'n I laid off fur to be-" she
murmured. 81 guess it's nigh sunup.
Hannibal uu be comm arter his traps
soon, an l don't 'zac'Iy wanter meet him,
kase l promised l wouldn't go tell he
Wuz with me, so L reckon I'd bes' hurry"
Wrapping her arms in the shawl, she
80, fI,n sI,F h., l..
loosely shod feet gathering on the frosty
ground.
AS she approached a little clump of
pines on the side hill, her steps slack
ened. HannibaPs trap was in this thicket,
and 1t was possible he might be visiting
it. She drew near cautiously and peered
through the branches; darkness still
fingered under the shade Of the close
pines, but she could see that no one was
there. The form OF the rabbit trap showed
gray in the shadows, and Glumpy no.
ticed that the door was down. the bounce
ing pole and trigger both out of place
She caught her breath.
"B'Ieve he's got rabbit" she ex-
claimed passionately. AN it's mos SUIT
tin l won't have none. It's mean, real
meanw
The hastily pushed aside the bristIing
boughs and bent over the trap. Raising
il on end, she drew back the door and
looked in. 1t was too dark to see any
thing, but from it's weight Glumpy
was certain it was not empty. She put
her hand cautiously down into the dark
box.
"Pray the Lawd," she whispered, that
thar aim no ole 'possum nor poIecat in
hyah!"
No, the fur was of the soft, prickly
kind which belongs to a rabbit. She felt
about for the ears, and, seizing them
firmly, drew the unhappy little captive
into the light. 1t rolled it's large eyes ap-
pealingly and hung in her hands, limp
with terror, but pity was an unknown
sensationto Glunpy. She felt it's fat
sides enyiously.
Its great big ole iack-rabbit," she
muttered, and then stood silently look
ing at it.
"Ef Hannibal had foun' this hyah rab-
bit IN my trap" she remarked at length,
he'd have took it sure. An Pm jes'
} gwine to do the same. They's allus tellin'
me to do to others es they does to nae, an
Pm gwine to do it, too"
She drew off her black shawal with an
} air of determination and wrapped it Sc
curely around her prize.
Il dasen't Kill it." she thought, "kase
it's b0un' TO be alive when Hannibal
sees IT,"
She then reset the trap and scampered
OIL with her bundle. So absorbed was
she III her own thoughts that she was halt
way along the path by the creek side,
} and had nearly reached the persimmon
trees where her own trap was, before she
n0tlced tnat some one was already there.
Hannibal Martin was raising her trap ex-
actly as she had done his moment ago.
} IiastlIy creeping into the brush. where
t she had hidden her own trap the day be-
Iore, Glumpy kneit, hugging her strug-
Cling bundle to her breast and watching
Hannibal with ieyerish interest.
w hen Hannibal 1rayx- his hand