The morning times., 1897-02-07

1t was not such an easy matter to reach
the plow-hands. The fields were wide
and the furrows were louG on that planta-
tion, and some Of the mules were nimber
than the others, and some of the hands
were quicker So that it rarely happened
that they all came abre asst down the fur
rows. But what difference did that make?
Let them come one by one, or two by two,
or twenty abreast, it was all the same
when the Little Master wassin sight. 1t
was hats off and 'howdy," with Gee,
Beckl" and "Haw. Bhody!" and ''Whar
you been little Marstcr, dat we amt
seed yo' sencc day TO yistiddy?" And so
until they had all saIuted the child on the
Gray Pony.
And WHY did Susie's Sam hang back aud
want to turn his mule around before he had
finished the furrow? 1t was easy to see.
Susys sam, though he was the most expert
plowman in the gang, had only one good
hand, the othsr being a mere stump, andhe
disliked 10 be singled out from the rest
on that account. But it was useless for
him to hang back. Little Crotchett always
called for Susys sam.
Sometimes Sam would say that his mule
was frisky and wouldn't stand. But the
out in the bushes'' and then Susy's Sam
would have a long resting spell that did
him ood, and there would be nobody to
complain. And so it was with the rest.
Whoever was sick or tired was sure to
catch the Little Masters eye. How did
he know? Well, don't ask too many ques
tons about that You might ask how the
Gray Pony knew the poison vines and
- I-,,., ,rt.ir,r
without knowing where the knowledge
came from.
But it was not only the plow hands and
the hoe hands that Little Crotchett knew
al out At the close of summer there We're
the cotton pickers and the reapers to be
looked after In fact, this was Little
Crotchctt busiest time, for many OF the
negro children were set to picking cotton,
and the lad felt called on to look after
these N ore carefully than he looked after
the grown hands. Many time he had half
dozen holding the Gray Pony at once
This made the old negroes shake their
heads and say that the Little Master was
spelling the children, but YOU may be sure
that they thought none the less of him
on that account.
And then there were the reapers, the men
who cut the oats and the wheat, and the
binders that followed after. at the head
of the reapers was Randall, tall, black and
powerful. 1t was fun to see the blade of
his cradle flashing in the sun and hear 1T
swing with a swish through the golden
grain. He led the reaperS always by many
yards, but when he was making the pace
too hot for them he lad way of stopping
| to sharpen his scythe and starting up a
song, which spread from mouth to mouth,
unit! it could be heard for miles. Aaron,
hiding in the wilGwoods, could hear it, and
at such times he would turn to one Of his
| companions the White Pig or Rambler, or
| that gay joker, the Fox Squirrel and say:
That's Randall's song. He sees the Little
| Master coming"
The White Pig would grunt, and Rambler
| would say he'd rather hear horn; but the
| Fox Squirrel would chatter like mad, and
| declare that he lost one of his ears by sit
| ting on limb and singing when he saw a
| man coming.
| But the reapcrs knew nothing about the
| experience Of the Fox Squirrel, and Sc
| they went on singing whenever Randall
gave the word And little Crotchett was
| glad to hear them for he used to sit or
| the Gray Pony and listen, sometimes feel
| ing happy, and at other times lonely
| indeed 1t may have been the quaint
melody that gave him lonely feeling, o
] it may have been his sympathy for those
| who suffer the pains of disease or the
/ pangs of trouble The negroes used to
| watch him as they sang and worked, ant
| say in the pauses:
| Little Marster mighty funny"
That was the word-''funny ye
| it had deeper meaning for the negroes
! than the white people ever gave it
| Funny! When the lad leaned his palt
! cheek on the frail hand and allowed hi
thoughts twere they thoughts or fleetint
aspirations or momentary longings?) tt
follow the swift, sweet echoes OF the song
For the echoes had a thousand DiInhl
feet, and with these they fled away
away-away beyond the river and it
bordering hills, for the echoes had twans
ling wings, like those Of turtle dove
and on these they lifted tn emselye'