Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-06-21
77bs Soutbsrp Episode,
by Ella Giles,
~ GOD mawnin,' Missy"

the direction of the salt
marshes, But the voice had caused
pretty Miss Carroll Knapp, us she
sauntered along In the southern sun
shine, to drop her HverieS, slightly
turn her head and look into the sable
face Of an old negro. He sat by an
open window mending conspicuously
ragged shoe,
Good mawnin', Missy, mawnin',"
"Oh, good morning." she responded
brightly, With nod she would then
have passed on, but for her ever-wake.
full sense of the comical and her keen
appreciation Of the picturesque,
The ancient darkey had such a droll
attitude and expression; the diminu.
tive shop was 50 unexpected a feature
of her new surroundings; the glimpse
of the interior was SO inviting; the
sign suspended over his head was SO
funny, that she paused as If irresisti,
bly, impelled, and suddenly gave vent
to little burst of half.suppresSed
laughter. The whole scene and the
central figure impressed the girl as not
only mirth-provoking but unusually
interesting.
She WAS walking on very shaky
old bridge ut Cedar Keys, Fla. The
very small shoe shop built on Il level
with 1t, and standing ON stills over
the marsh, from which the tide was
then slowly ebbing, looked as II Il
strong breeze from the Gulf OF Mexico
tone only few degrees more power.
full than that Which, was sportively
playing with her blonde bangs and
seal brown ostrich tips and the ends
of her long feather boa) would quite
demoliSh 1t.
The explosion of glee was heard by
the negro, and echoed titteringly by
him from the depths of his own sepul
chral throat. "Humph," he chuckled
grinning from ear to ear, 81 muses.
you, don't l, honey"
We'll, yes" she answered frankly.
This is such funny little place"
Its Il heap funnier yit inside Of
yeah! Jes step in de do, an look be,
hind dis yeah petition"
Thank you she said leaning for.
ward and glancing through the aper.
ture which he called IA door OF rather
do"
"Oh jis step in" he urged.
She hesitated moment, thinking of
the safety of her pocket.book and
other valuables, and then of the large
percentage of black criminals In ex.
cess Of white In the Florida convict
camps. She was a young lady who
read the newspapers a great deal. and,
though naturally full of the spirit of
adventure, the trend of current events
as shown by narrowing head lines,
caused an abnormal predispos'tlon to
dread Of the horrible.
But there was nothing at all alarm
ing in the tableau presented by the
old darkey sitting In the full glare of
the yellow sunshine, Il torn and
weather-beaten shoe In one hand, u
needle in the other, a rough cedar tn.
BILE covered with various implements
in front of him, shelf of vagabond
boots, and other nondescript objects
that Florida Cracker feet had con.
torted into grotesque shapes, and
whose bullying outlines were dimly Wis
IDLE In the receding background.
"Jes' step In, Missy, an see my
pictchu studio. l take u heap oh pride
in my awt exhibition"
With semi-timid glances, and step.
ping across the shaky floor with a
queer sensat ton Of self-inhicted terror
while calling herself foolish girl To
be SO reckless, Miss Carroll Knapp
peered into the place dignifled by the
term art studio. The first thing that
met her eye was bed. 1t took w
nearly all of the space In the immacu.
lately clean and snug little room. The
bed was covered with patchwork
calico quilt in red and green and vel
low stars and half moons, put together
with white cotton. Stitiiy starched
pillow shams, braided with red In a
lily-of- the-yalley pattern Of startling
proportions, were prominent objects
A white cat-the plumpest and clean
est cat she ever saw--was lying In
the middle Of the bed, sleeping In vir'
gin sweetness, with one pretty front
paw caressing Its ear, and the other
curled up gracefully, so as to preserve
the contour Of soft white ball.
"Oh, what lovely cat!" she ex.
claimed.
Dat cat dab? Sho' tole dat cat To
keep out'n my studio. He amt nc
business dab"
"Oh, she Is q beautiful catr' said
Miss Carroll. II never saw such a
handsome creaturev'
"Oh, de cat he's well nun In has
place. But he amt no kind Of use In
my studio. It's the pictchus ] want
you to see, Missy. Jis sot dem big
blue eyes of yowan onto de wall"
There was not spot az large IA a
10 cent piece left uncovered. SOAP
boxes, theater and show advertising
cards, trashy illustrated papers and
aImanacs had furnished an endless
variety OF heads for the IorTait gal.
lery. From the medley looked forth
one clear-cut and almost redeemin2
face. that Of Booth, which had con.