The age-herald., 1897-08-01
SOME ALABAMA STORIES. BuShWhacker John Used Weap- OnS CarnaI and Spiritual. CASE OF LOVERS BLINDNESS A Peep Into the Plantation Negro Quarters-A Wake Without Funeral-Strange
 Superstition About
 Lightning.
CASE OF LOVERS BLINDNESS

Speaking Of thr gun-play in the eolored Baptist congress al: Montgomery that re-
 suited in the death, before ahe altar of
 the negro, P. H. Patterson, Alderman I. i F. Ashford said:
 That reminds me of the old fellow who i used t) rourif up the sinners of north Ala
 bama during tihe days of recontsruc ion. 1 Before the war, as simple Brother John-.
 son, he was noted far and wide for the
 energy he displayed when exhortirg the
 wicked to repentance; and when hA re l sponded to the call of his country and
 took up carnal weapons he fought as
 hard ats he had preached until at lhe sur
 render, his name had become so terrible
 Ho the enemy tha', he wss declared an out
 law and buishwhacker, and a price was ] put upon hts head.
 Now, the old man was nothing if not
 soldier and fighter; anil, as it was not i within the power of a single man so main- k tain secular war against an enemy, he
 resolved once more to take up the banner
 of the cross and march againrt tIhe bat
 talions of sim Cautiously at first he would
 come ou, of hiding ito meet with the hand
 full of friends that would timidly gather
 in some seques,ered cabin, under the cov-
 CT of darkness, to hear him tell of the | ] these meetings soon became known to
 those who sought for rhe price of his
 blood, and after one or two marrow es- ! --o-?,!tdhm hm hm hlm hm hm hm l1m
 cape from plots 10 entrap him, he became,
 through desperation or inspiration, rack- i less of results, and boldly announced that
 on a certain day Brother Bushwha cker l Johneon,' as he was now lovingly known, l vOIlId come Ol1iF Of tkp noOlIn iain nS and , so long ais his life wasspared, would trav-
 el from church to church through the ! Tennessee valley, preaching glad tidings l of grsat joy to all who cared to hear
 him. But few had sufficient aemerity to
 meet him in the broad light of day, and ! his firs- appointment and it was a mo- ment of impressive solemnity when the
 reverend gentleman marched into the l pulpit and, opi. ming his saddle-bagE took l the blessed Bible from one pocket and a l pair of navy revolvers from the others
 and, placing them side by side upon his
 desk, calmly began the service. whether though admiration for the
 sublime boldness of the man, or fear of
 his courage and defensive weapons, has
 never been known, but the fact remains
 that he was never molested, and no man l did more for the cause of the Mastor in
 that part of the moral vineyard than l Brother BushWack6r Johnson" through
 out the years that he expounded the gos- | pei, with his pistols side by side with l his Bible.
 l There is nothing half so sweet in life as | loves young dream, so the old song says, but there is a very young couple in one
 of our neighboring towns that found,
 for a bad half-hour the other day, that Dan Cupid is mad fellow at best and
 apt to pay his voteres off with scurry | trick when once they look and sigh and 1 incontinently rush into matrimony de-
 spite the adverse worldly wisdom of their | opposing elders.
 1 Like the gay Lorinzo and his pretty l Jessica, this youthful, loving pair stole
 away upon a moon-lit night and, in a | neighboring state, breathed the music of
 their honey vows before dull prosaic
 justice of the peace, who stumbled 1 through the unpoetic ritual of the code | without a thought of their triumphant 1 happiness or how, too soon, as one, they must return to face their irats slres. l Unlike the daughter of the wealthy Jew, 1 the bride had failed to gid herself with l ducats, and the groom believing swift 1 forgiveness was sure, had provided no.h- l ing against ar evil day. So when the mar | riage fee was paid, unthraft love was all 1 their riches.
 On reaching home the young man
 proudly carried his darling to his fathers l house. but found the eiaer coldly closed
 against them both. If girl tossed her l pretty head and said that papa" would 1 be glad to provide for Charley" and her
 self Alas! Papa was not in a. provid-
 ing vein that day, and turned them sadly
 into the street
 Again the pretty head was tossed and | carried with a queenly air as far as the | gate. Just then a canary, singing in l his cage suspended from the porch, burst
 wildly into song. It was'the brides own 1 bird, and had monopolized all the de-
 votion of her longing heart until she l gave 1t in to Charlie's keeping. This l reminder ofSher careless girlhood was | more than her wounded dignity could l withstand, and the defiant madam was 1 instantly transformed into a Niobe, all | tears. Charlie must needs humble him | self and go and beg the bird, or she nev- l CT, never could be happy. In answer to | this petition the old man took down the l cage and cast it watchfully at Charlie's | head, and, in the wreck that followed, | the bird escaped.
 Dan Cupid doubtless grinned to see | the sorry show his victims made as wan l dered down the street with nothing in the l world to call his own except the woeful | bride upon his arm, and the battered | bird cage that he carried in the other | hand.
 1 A heartless friend who met them,
 rushed to know if they expected to oc-
 cupy the cage, and were looking for vacant lot to put it on, but when he ] found how matters stood he provided for !, them a resting place, and interceded so nobly with the old folk. that all is now | forgiven and the strain of human hap- | piness once more glides smoothly on. -T have had some queer experience in