The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1895-11-21

ness fairly beamed from her counte-
nance.
81 bin a liar so long 80 long
So long, SO long:
bin a liar so long
she chanted in a weird, pathetic voice,
and every person in the congregation
who was able to lift his or her voice
chanted the refrain at the end Of every
three lines:
"'Gin me a little time ter pray
Every one was in motion. Some
swayed their bodies backward and for
ward, some shuffled their feet in time
to the music, and the very happy ones
clapped their hands and shouted:
Glory, my LawdH This kept up for
hours. Several PROSTATE forms were
carried out, and a number were left in
the church, where they lay until next
day. When got tired and went away
that night the little preacher, utterly
worn out, had curled herself up in
splint-bottom chair, and was enjoying
the sleep of innocent childhood. l
could hardly sleep that night for think
ing about that meeting. l tell you,
boys, was impressed"
Il always thought you were above
such superstition, SQUIRE" remarked
some one, as the squire stopped to refill
his pipe.
"Well anyway, went back the next
night resumed the squire, land for
the first time got a good view of the
little preacher. She is perfect child
in looks and ways. Her complexion is
about the color of an old mustard
| ground ginger cake, her teeth white
and even, the whites of her large,
mournful eyes prominent, and she
doesn't weigh more than sixty or seven
| ty pounds. There were lot Of white
| people in the congregation, but she
| took no notice of them. Curiosity
| prompted me to go to listen to her, but
| interest held me there. She spoke
| right out in the most earnest way, as
| if her only thought was preaching the
| Gospel Her delivery and gestures
were easy. and, in fact what she said
and the way she said it beat nine
| tenths of the preachers-especiall
| these evangelists-wh or black.
She opened service with very good
prayer, and read, or rather recited, q
| chapter from the Bible, which did not
! bear on the sermon in the least. Her
one thought seems to be to prepare for
| the Great Beyond, which she desig-
mates as way over yonder.' She talks
about the hereafter In most pathetic
way, and | remember Oh that particu-
lar night her text was: Business in
| Heaven
"Tll meet you there, sinner she
said. for l got business with Capt
Jesus. l must tend to it. l must 60
where partin' is no mo-. got to put
on a long white robe, a starry crown,
silver slippers, and sit at my Masters
feet. FL meet you over yonder, way
over yonder, for we all got to cross
Jordan stream dry shod and go over
yonder Ill meet you there. sad
hearted mothers. I'll meet you there,
wicked fathers. I'm going to get In
side those pelrly gates. Are you? Are
You? Sinner, you must get right
Learn it now. Now is the time Way
over yonder may be too late for you.
and SO on Night after night went,
and each time she had new sermon,
each one containing sad strain.
'She made a pathetic figure, always
clad in deepest black without the
! slightest touch of color, that children
love SO WELL or the faintest suggestion
of an ornament. When occasion de.
manded she rebuked thoughtless per-
sons for bad behavior in few clear
cut, kind sentences, and went right on
with her sermon. If the Gospel grind
ers would only learn that it isn't these
staggering truths, which cannot be
grasped by the average mind, but a
doctrine of simple, earnest faith that
arouses people to better living But
they never will, Now it was the sim
cerity Of the little niger, and the
earnestness of her followers, that i'm
pressed me, and, while can't say that
she converted me, she certainly set me
off doing certain things.
Il wanted to give her something, and
couldn't make up my mind what to
buy her. She reads poorly, and can
scarcely write at all, but somehow
she didn't seem like child that would
care for toys. Finally, in a sort OF
desperation, settled on large wax
. doll with highly colored cheeks and a
mass of yellow hair. If you could
have seen her antics Of delight when
she found that it was all her own. She
clasped it to her as if she would never
let it 60 and then she told me that she
used always to preach sermons to her
dolls, and that the people who over.
heard her persuaded her to preach to
people, which was the very thing she
had always longed to do.
Every body agrees that she is won.
der, and | tell you she is. Many white
people think her inspired, and the
blacks believe that she is sent directly
from God as a warning, and that the
judgment day is coming soon. don't
know, because I've never thought a
great deal about such things. But
do think she is entirely different from
any little child that I've ever seen, and
l shall never. never forget her, with
her solemn ways and her unceasing
warnings about what we must do and
must not do If we want to meet each
other when we get home, way owe,