The times., 1897-05-09


cease to wonder. They watched his every
movement, and always with increasing we
ana respect. He went about among them
freely, but familiarly He was not one of
them, and they knew it. lie was kind ani
considerate, especially where the women and
children were cdntefhed, but always re-
served, always fignified, always serious.
Yet he never lost his temper never frowned,
and was never known to utter an angry
word or make a gesture of irritation. He
had the remarkable gift OF patience, that
seemed TO be so highly developed IN some
animals II was Uncle Fountain who drew
the parallel between the patience displayed
by Aaron and that of the animals, and added
this, after turning the matter over in his
mind Mo speshually de creeturs what
kin see in de dark. !"
On rare occasions Aaron would go into
one of the cabins where the negroes were
enjoying them selves, and there would be q
mighty husthng arouDd.n tilatcabin untiihe
had the most comfortable chair or stool or
bench or tub turned Bottom side up. At
such times Ire would say Sing And
then, after some display OF sbyness- Randall
or Turin would strike into quaint plan'a-
tion melody, and carry itaiGng, and their
voices died way the powerful and thrilling
tenor of Susy s S am and Jenny S wayerinS
soprano would take up the refrain, all the
singers Joining in at he close. No matter
what melody was sung or " hat words were
employed the instinct and emotions of the
negroes gave to their performance the form
and essence OF true baliadry-the burden,
the refrain, the culminatoin and the fare
well, or, s the writers of pretty verse now
CALI it, the envoi
More than often on such occasions Aaron
would enter the negro cabin bearing the
Little Master iii his arms. And then The
negroes were better pleased, for the Little
Master somehow seemed to stand between
them and the awesome being they knew as
Aaron At such times the arms Of Zig Sal
ached to hold Little Crochet, the lad
seemed To be so pale and frail onces she
made bold to say to Aaron:
Il kin hol' i'm Of you tired
Il won't be tired of that till I'm dead"
responded Aaron.
Il know mighty well how dat is" re-
spondcd Big Sal, humbly. Il des wanted
ter hol' i'm. / has heit i'm
She wants TO hold you" said Aaron TO
the httle Master.
Whereupon Big Sal took the lad in her
arms, and when the rest began to sing she
swayed her strong body back andfor and
joined in the song with voice SO low and
soft and sweet that it seemed TO be the
undertone of melody itself; and the effect
of il was so soothing that when tire song
was ended the Little Master wasfastasleep
and smiling, and Big Sal leaned over him
.,,t,
q word or a look would have been neces-
sary to set her to weeping. Neither then
nor even afterwards did she know the rea-
son why OF seek TO discover it. Enough
for her that it was SO.
Something in her attitude told the rest of
the negroes that the Little Master was
asleep, and so. when they sang another
song they pitched their voices low-so low
that the melody seemed to come drifting
through the air and In at the door from far
away When 1t was ended nothing would
do but each negro must come forward on
tIptoe and take look at the Little Mas
ter, who was still asleep and sIhiling.
When Aaron rose TO go Big Sal was
somewhat embarrassed She didn't want
the Little Master awakened, and yet She
didn't know how he could be transferred
to Aaron's arms without arousiDg him.
But the Son of Ben All solved that prob
lem. He nodded to Big Sal and motioncd
toward the door, and she, carrying the
Little Master in her strong arms, went
out into the dark. Aaron paused at the
threshold, raised his right hand above bis
head, and followed Big Sal. This gest-
ure he always made by way of salutaIion
and farewell ON the threshold Of every door
he entereI or went out OF, whether the
room was fullof people or empty. Whether
1t was the door OF his masters house or OF
TimoleOn's stable, he paused and raised
his right hand.
The negroes noted it, and, simple as 1t
was, it served to deepen the mystery in
which Aaron seemed to be enveioped, and
among themselves they shook their heads
and whispered that ne must he 'cun-
jur" man.
But Aaron was not troubled by whisper
ings that never reached his ears, nor by
the strange imaginings OF the negroes.
He had other things to think Of one thing
in particular that seemed to him to be
most serious He could see that Little
Crotchett was gradually growing weaker
and weaker. 1t was sorre time before
and patient observation could have de
tec;ed 1t. We know that the trunks OF
trees slowly expand, but we do not see
the process going on.
Little Crotchett seemed to be gro win e
weaker day by day, aud yet the process was
so gradual that only the most careful OBJ
servatim could detect it. The burning of
the house was something of a shock la him.
He was not frightened by that event, and
never for moment lost his seIf-possession;
but the spectacle Of the fierce red flames
mounting high in the air, their red tongues
darting out and tapping about IN space,
and then, having found nothing to feed
on, curling back and devouring the house,
roaring and growing and swapping and
hissing-this spectacle was so unexpected
and so impossible in that place that the
energy that Little Crotchett lost in trying
to fit the awful aft air to his experience
never came back to him. He never lost the
feeling of numbness that came over him
as he saw the house disappear in smoke
and flame.
But it was weeks months after that
before Aaron made his discovery, a dis
coery that could only be confirmed by the
keeneSt and most patient watchfulneSs, For
Little Crotchett was never more cheerful.
And he was restless, too; always eager to
be going But Aaron soon saw that il he
lad went galioping about on the Gray Pony
as often a he did before he did not go SO
far Nor did he use his crutches SO freely
the crutches on which he had displayed such
marvellous nimbleness.
And so from day to day Aaron saw that