The Colored citizen., 1894-10-15
A PERSIMM0N.

Of Blum's little samson player on the
wall.
Why don't you eat it, asked Polly;
The idea of internally absorbing the
beautiful had q strange charm. IL wa
very large psrsimmon, but | ate II aii'
and then / went 10 bed.
From a ceiling that crawled and erin
kled watched a cherry colored mandarin
/ swing slowly down onto my bed. from
the spot frum which be dropped came an
other and another, all no longer tnah
pea pod and as dry. Solemnly the! squsH
ted on my chest and lifted their haily
arms, in which were twisted rods WIN
carvcn, grinning faces -.
Crash They broke into shrlll' oi''
cordant song, beating, beating beatlng on
my ribs. One, near the apex Of my heart,
would not keep time, and that was worse
than all How the blows hurt, and now
their curlcd up knees sank deep into my
feshl The words Of the song seemed 10
leap forth like little cubes and hop over
L,y skin, burning as they rolled. The pain
was unendurahle drew a great gasp OF
agony and was free. They were gone.
A long vista Of grayness resolved itself
into a strange perspective. was seated
in a fragile jinrikisha, but instead of the
lusty runner, blue skirted and handy leg
ged, between the shafts was monstrous
horse, tall to heaven, with stridings that
deyoured the road. A voice, warning
portentous, sounded in my ears:
BE thou careful, o careless one, for
thou hast that in charge that Is precious. l"
looked down, and beside me crouched
q bit of a brown baby, naked and unafraid,
whose knob Of hair, tied in tiny brush,
painted hieroglyphics In the air with every
leap Of the lurching vehicle.
BY some swift intuition l knew thas
this prancing, gigantic horse was the pride
Of the mikados stables, and the brown
baby the hope Of the empire, and that ac-
cident TO either meant a punishment to ht
the crime. / looked ahead. The white
slopes Of Fusiyama, the sacred mountain,
lay before US, up which none may pass
alive On either side our way impene-
trabIe pines, In whose dark branches goo-
lins sat and glimaced horribly. On we
rushed. The great fore feet Of the horse
struck the slope of the forbidden hill. A
sudden shock ran through all his body. l
stood alone in the road. On the side, his
blood dyeing the scanty sod, lay the horse,
q deep hole in his quivering side, while In
my arms the child lay leaden, gasping.
Crowds of other people gathered about
US and looked upon me ominously, silently.
XIII this wretched creature in mercy, +"
I begged. They stood unmoyed, silent,
still, while the horse eazed at me in more
than human anguish. Clasping the child,
I hurried away, falling, stumbling, cry
ing aloud for help in vain.
Suddenly stood in q vast room. AL
about its sides were ladders of bamboo,
fragile and hung by slender threads. In
the corners, overhead and swinging corpse
like, were bundles, shapeless, unspeaka-
BILE. The air was filled with q sickening
odor as Of mingled decay and strange
spices, pungent and sweet. Slowly the
swinging bundles took form, and beneath
appeared the outline of a body in a dim
and bewildering individuality, ludicrous
and horrible.
Again voice cried-a voice OF authori-
ty not TO be gainsaid-''Search" Again
/ knew that somewhere in this formless
immensity the little brown baby was hid,
still alive, and could but find him ere
too late might save our souls alive from
u
longer the heir of the house Of San, but
mine, my own, that had lived and loved
and lain on my breast, and whose life /
would die million deaths TO save, whose
agony would brave the gods TO assuage.
How tossed the dreadful bundles aboutl
How l tore them open ruthlesSly, only TO
see a sunken eye or gaping mouth! How
/ clung to the spiderlike ladders and leaped
across chasmlike spaces. At last, among
heap Of squalid rags, in n corner where
snakes writhed and ran, little foot peep
ed out. Ii moved. Ii was warm. tore
away the cloths as dog tears at the earth
that covers his quarry and snatched the
child TO my heart. On his bare breast gap
ed a wide wound, its edges already purple
and receding, and as looked saw the IA
tai flush spread up and up. Water! Oh,
IL there were only water! l saw dull
pool at my feet, and, STOPPING, dashed the
icy drops upon the wound. In vain. One
chance remained-to call hack the fleeing
| soul by name in desperate entreaty. Sure
| ly my baby would listen. The word died
on my lips, for the child on my heart
changed again as would have spoken,
and what knew i Of the name Of the mi
kado's heiri Let me think. / must think
Did not some one Of that cruel crowd that
stared and grinned speak it, strive; l
| gran; cry aloud. The heavy air sends
back my cries hollowly, and as choke
into silence i see the lids flutter and fall.
The hope Of the empire has gone all too
soon TO the sacred shades Of Fusiyama.
and j, j alone, must answer.
Alone In the silence and darkness Of a
cell could put out my hand and feel
that the wall was made Of some rough wo-
ven grass, about which clung penetrat-
ing odor. In this grass could hear the
movement Of millions Of minute insects.
knew not Of what detested shape and
kind began to pass my hands over these
walls in know not what barren hope OF
escape. Carefully crept on and on, meas.
uring, comparing, testing. Then / went
back and began again. Ny hands kept
slipping OF strangely into space. The
cell bad no Surprisingly dimension.
Alas ! was no simple onlooker at some
splendid revel of primeval nature. AL
that was in this stupendous scheme was
me, sentient, suffering soul.
The helpless, tortured ego was a part Of
the whole II froze on those cold, pierc-
Ing peaks, baked on those plains Of arid
sand, was tossed in that human sea was
1 blown on thoSsa rffuu.a-rnrnS uri,I- Ar