The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1897-12-22
HELPED THE BRAKEMAN TO LIFT
THE LIMP FORM

THE LIMP FORM.
them coming, for they were sitting on
their horses, still as statues, when the
old woodburner came creeping round
q curve, her links and chains rafting
like dray on cobblestones.
"Halt!" cried the leader, and the en-
gineer hooked her over.
"What do you want?" demanded the
conductor.
"What have you got?" asked the
bushman.
The negro fireman must have seen
the humor of the mans reply, for he
poked his head round the corner of the
cab and laughed laugh that seemed
to come from the very bottom Of his
bare feet.
"Fo' de Lawd, dat am funny" said
the negro, wiping his eyes.
Nothing that you can have" said
the conductor back at the bushman.
Immediately the negro opened his
mouth and began to ripple again, but
this time the flow of his mirth was
broken by the sound of muskets. Bang!
bang! went the guns of the marauders,
and the negro, changing his laugh to
a cry of pain, fell upon the deck and
begged the brakeman to shoot him.
"I's done killed. Fo' de Lawd, rs
shot plumb frew de hat"
"Then die, you crazy niger" shout
ed the brakeman; think I'm going to
waste load on you?"
When the conductor and the brake
man had emptied their guns at the
gang, the engineer opened the throttle
and backed away with the bullets rat
Ting on his front end and smashing
the glass in the cab windows.
Upon arriving at Shady Rill they
found that only the tip of One of the
negro's fingers had been shot away,
and when the engineer had bathed the
finger in black oil, bound it up with
a rag, and kicked the negro three or
four times, the fellow was able to take
his place at the furnace door.
The conductor instructed the oper-
iator to report what had taken place to
the army officer in charge of the rail
way, and then went over to the Shady
Rill plantation to warn the women
there of the coming of the bushwhack-
ers. He had been over once or twice
for supplies, which were given, if not
grudgingly, reluctantly, for how were
these poor women, whose fathers and
husbands and brothers were down
there where the steady, monotonous
booming of cannon spoke of danger and
death, to smile upon the people of the
north? These men were come into the
country, the women were able to per-
suade themselves, to take the property
of the people and lay country waste; so
now, when the conductor lifted his hat
in the presence of the venerable dame
and her proud daughter, the women
drew themselves up and looked down
upon him from the veranda.
"If they ah no'the'n soldiers, reckon
they can't more'n kill us, and if they all
southe'n soldiers they ah southe'n gem
tlemen. so we might bettah take ouah
chances with them than with you all,
who ah not soldiers at ALL"
"Neither are these soldiers; they arc
bushwhackers and murderers. Come, I
beg Of you, let me help you to escape"
At that moment the sound of musket-
ry was heard from down behind theor-
chard, and moment later an old
white-haired wench came falling round
the house, rolled up the veranda steps
and threw herself at the feet of her
young mistress.
"Fo' de Lawd, honey" she howled,
"de wood fai'ly full o Yankees. I
fought dey dun been our folks, case dee
dun hab on blue clos, but mint dat
fool Jim poke his head obeh de fence
mn shout: Git out dis yeah o'chad,
dee all bang loose at him, an 70 the
'Lnwd, dey dun talk he heat out an eat
10 right TO my ole eyes"
A negro can alwayshe depended upon