Omaha daily bee., 1896-03-01
THE OMAHA DAILY BEE SUNDAY, MARoH l. 1896

a strong, meiodtous voice with which 10 sim
| the song--advoice that could be heard from
one end OF the plantation to the other. Blu
| however long or however loud he nigh
call. the old SOW and her thirteen pigs KEEP
| close to the swamp
Day after day the hog feeder called: da,
| after day he expected them to come: AM
| day after day they failed to come. Atte
| SO long time he went to hunt them. Th
old SOW he found. but the pigs were missing
Some said the foxes and wildcats had caugh
the young ones, and some said they had gon
| wild In the swamp. But wnen the negroes
| planted their watermelon and goober patche
they soon found out that not all Of tn
! pigs had been caught.
Then great effort was made to catcl
them. SomeS were run down and caugh
with dogs, and some were shot but one o
the most mischievous Of all was never cagght
He kept out of the way of the guns ant
he ripped open and killed all the dogs tha
came within reach of him. He was fleet O
foot and cunning He never came out Of tn,
| canebrake except at night, and he was 81
white and swift that the negroes came &
be afraid of him. They said to themselves
that pig that could fool the white people
and outrun a pack of foxhounds must be
something more than a common pig.
Consequently, when they were going
through the fields at dead of night and
heard the White Pig crunchng COOLERS. OF
chewing sugar cane, or smacking his mouth
<,
slipped away as fast as they could and left
him to the enjoyment Of his feast. This
went on until the White Pig grew to be
strong and dangerous His tusks, or tushes,
as the negroes called them, were long and
sharp. He could kill as many dogs as could
be piled upon him. When a catch dog was
sent after him he had a great trick of run
ming until the dog came close enough and
then wheeling and ripping the pursuer's hide
open.
1t came to pass that the sport Of hunting
the White Pig grew too dangerous to be in
dulged in, 80 he was left to roam in the
swamps and canebrakes with no one to mo-
lest. 1t happened. too that as soon as he
was left alone, the White Pig ceased to mo-
lest the watermelons, sugar canes. sweet
potatoes, COOLERS. and other truck, which the
negroes were allowed to raise in order to
make themselves a little pocket money. For
a long time this was the wonder of the plan
taton, and yet none of the patches planted
by the negroes were torn UP and destroyed.
Then, as everybody got used to this state of
things, 1t ceased to be astonishing, and was
no longer talked of. And some of the negroes
even forgot that the White Pig was still at
large. ready and willing to kill and cripple
tho biggest pack of dogs that could be sent
against him. p
This. then, was the White Pig that Aaron
said he would have to show the children.
Many and many time they had been told
not to go too far from the house fer fear the
White Pig would catch them. They had beer
taught to regard the White Pig. as the Boo
ger-Bear Of the plantation and they as well
as the negroes stood greatly in awe Of him.
the more so as they had never seen him. 1t
is no wonder, therefore, that they looked at
one another with some astonshment when
Aaron told them that he would have to take
them to the two-mile place and show them
the White Pig.
81 speck he's tired Of foolin long wild us"
,aid Drusilla, by way of explanation, can l
lon't blame him much, kase you all been |
,-fcllerin' after him an a ding-dongin at |
lim twel he done plum wo' ont"
"You tool" exclaimed Buster John.
mot melS protested Drusilla. mo. sub!
amt beenea dipg-dongin' after Unk A'on; l
zen a-folierin' after you all, an dat what
iistiss tol' me ter do. Eff don't do it, she'll
make me tote water fer nanny ter wash de
loze wild, an L know mighty well I don't
want ter do dat"
But Aaron, as it turned out, was not joking
t all. So,l one pleasant morning, when he
aw them playing in the spring lot, he gave
hem to understand that the time had come
or them to make the acquaintance Of the
White Pig and Buster John said he was
ute ready, but Sweetest Susan looked at
rusilla and hesitated a little Drusilla
olSed at Sweetest Susan and hesitated a
BOD DEAL In fact, she drew back.
Now. 1 toll you what" she said, "you all |
in go on out dar in de swamp an e me /
.ay here, an'rden when you come back YOU {
in set down an tell me all bout it,
"But mamma said you were to go with us $
herever we went Sweetest Susan re-
inded her. II
dat what she say" replied Druslla, "yit
10 amt tell me ter go wild you out dar whar $
It ar viii hog is, which he done cripple +
,ss an kilt yardful er dogs Unk A'on kin i
Ike keer er you lots better dan what l kim" l
Come on" said Buster John to Sweetest i
lsan. Let her stay if she wants to-" t
yes" remarked Aaron, "she's big enough e
go to the field now. We need her there t
ght now" h
This didn't suit Drus.la at all, so she ran v
ward the others laughing. S
''I wuz des fooln'," she said 81 des wanted t
r see what you all gwlne ter do. You may "
It need me, but I'm gwine anyhow, an ef de h
hte Pig git me, you'll halter answer to Mis- S
is fer it, t
Aaron hitched mule to the plantation cart, t.
d in this rig they made their way to the two t.
lie place. They logged along the little-used S
ad the journey being enlivened by some of h
e queer songs that Aaron was in the habit Il
singing when he was in good humor They
INT nearly to the river-the Oconee-and
en- Aaron turned cut Of the plantation road 6,
d drove straight through the woods and |,
shes until they came in sight of big cane "
AXE. Here he stopped, took the mule from h
2 cart and fastened him with a strong p
!
,ble the grass and bushes. Then he lifted cl
,eetest Susan to his broad shoulders, took sc
ster John by the hand, and went toward ST
canebrake. He went on until he came to W
damp ground near the edge of the swamp. to
letting a dry pace-a little, knoll higher at
IN the rest--AarOn stationed the children
re, and then went to the verge of the W
lebrake. Here he paused placed his two SO
nds to his mouth, and gave utterance to a tn
,uliar call or cry. 1t sounded as if he were st
ing to say, "Goof-goof-goof!" but had or
othered the noise with his hands. 1t was Al
d enough to be heard considerable In
tance however for after he had repeated IA
call three times there was a reply from m
farther side OF the swamp, and presently Gi
children heard a rushing, crashing sound Ia Ia
ong the canes. WI WI
weetest Susan crept little closer to Buster w
N, and Druslla snuggled up to Sweetest 10
an. The children were not frightened, but ia Ia
v were filled with unknown anticipations ~ ~
" knew not what to expect next The -,
shng noise In the canes seemed to come n,
rer, and then 1t suddenly stopped If it In
the White Pig, he was listening.
TO be Continued) -
-
IMPIETlES.
he editor of the Melbourne (AustralIa)
ctator Is Rev, .Lorimer Fison, a Methodist