The Topeka state journal., 1897-10-22
HE LOVED THE NEGRO

ST hev thu mos passable sheepshaed
yuh evan tasted, said Uncle Reuben as
he smoothed the cloth and put down the
condiments. "Will yuh hev some?"
OF course when Uncle ReubeE, cook and
judge, says a thing of that kind you al
ways take whasg he prescribes. So 1 or
dered the sheepshead, and Uncle Reuben
went to the kitchen to prepare it. When
the fire was hot and the fish was cooking,
he came back to me in his old way and
sat down on the other side of the table.
'Doin uh pOwah Nv lynchin down thah
these days, he said.
Sweeping some of 'em Oh, Uncle Reu-
ben."
"Didn' 1 nevah tell yuh bout tha' time
they lynch Jene? Didn't nevah tell yuh
'bout tha'9 Oh, tina was uh time. Yuh
sec, Jene was thu meanes' niggah in west
Ten see. Evahbody say tina bout him.
He was too mean faw thu buZzads tub pick,
an tha's sho' bad. .Jene was one Nv us
tha' is, he was one NV thu fam ly, an
raised in thu house wiv thu othah good
niggahs, but .Jene was mean lax nobody I
knows.
Somehow, Miss Cha'ity think a whole
lot Nv .Jene, an she try all she kin tuh
make him good But .Tene is jus so nachul
bad he kahn be made good Miss Cha ity
she try an try an do all she kin, but Jene
kahn be saved. He des simply ain no
IA.
an bineby he gifts intuh a balm burnin
crowd. Yuh knows bout balm burners?
They's sho' bad folks. .Jene got mixed
wiv EN-, as I'm sayin, an thah was hahd
times faw uh niggah-
"Thah was des one thing tha' KEEP .Tene
FUN bein hung, an tha' was thu love what
Mistah Harry had faw him. Yuh see,
Jene took keer NV Mistah Harry and Mis-
tab Harry, bein uh gemmen, was pow
full fond Nv Jene. He save Jene's life
onct.
lone night all thu folks they's settin
out on thu front po'ch taIkin when uh lot
NV men they rid up tuh thu front gate an
ask faw Marse Tom Baxtah. Marse Tom
was settin wiv thu folks an not thinkin
nothin wrong, an Mistah Harry, whut
want mo- an 10 yeahs old, was settin by
Marse Tom. When thu gemmen rode up
tub thu big gate, Mistah Harry he got all
tub onct interested Marse Tom he 90
down tub thu big gate tub see thu gem
men, an Mistah Harry, bein small an not
much noticed, followed long aftah him.
When Marse Tom met thu gemmen, they
say they want Jene.
- 'Wha' faw, say NIarse Tom.
'Faw burnin uh bahn,' say thu gem
men.
:. 'Jene been burnin uh bahn9' say
Marse Tom.
IAN when thu gemmen they say yes
'Gemmen, 1 reckin yuh have tub take
him.
Little Mistah Harry he hearn tha' an
he slip away FUN thu crowd an he go rum
min todes thu house. He KEEP goin roun
tub whah thu niggahs live, an he see Jeae.
Soon as he see thu niggah he say, 'Jene,
they's done come faw yuh, yuh bettah run.
Take ma yellow pony an git outen thu
county.
"Jene he's so skeered he dom know
whut tub do, an fo' he kin git outen
sight. 'roun come Marse Tom.
He says, 'Jene, yuh been mighty good
tub Harry, an 1 want tub save yuh, but
youse uh bad niggah an evahbody knows
bout it Eff 1 save yuh fun thu mob, will
yuh do whut I say9'
''Uv cose Jene was willin tub do any
thin tub git away. So Marse Tom he 90
down tub see thu genmen at thu gate an
he say: 'Gemmen, Jene is up at thu house
Yuh kin git him ef yuh wants him Yuh
knows done raised .Jene in this fam 'ly,
an 1 kindah hate tub have him hung.
Now, eff I promise yuh tha' I will take
Jene outen thu county tuhnight an tha'
he won nevah come back no mo, will yuh
let him go?'
tWeIl thah was uh lot Nv talk, an bime-
by thu leadah he say: 'Mistah Tom, Wen
take yo word. Ef yuh Il move him intuh
ArkanSaw an promise thu county he II stay
thah, we'll let him off on yo' account
Marse Tom he Civ his word, what was lax
uh bond in tha' county, an thu mob they
rode away.
Putty soon Marse Tom he KUN down
tub thu stable and he say, Saddle up
Queen an Night Them's thu bes' two
'hosses we got in thu balm. When 1 git
'em saddled, he say, 'Whah S JeneP Evah-
body go lookin faw Jene. We kahn fin
him nowhah. Marse Tom he's sho wor-
ried, kase he done said he d move him out
en- thu county Thah was thu bosses sad
died an Marse Tom all ready, but thah
want no .Jene. We look an look an we
don fin him. Marse Tom is des ready tub
cuss when somebody say, 'Whah's Mistah
Har'y?
''Marse Tom he kindah think uh little
an then he walk intuh thu big house kim
dab slow, LAX he don wan tub go. Whut
yuh reckin? Marse Tom he went right
on tuh whah Mistah Harry bin sleepin
sence he was big 'nough tub sleep by his
sef an thah they was, Mistah Harry, white
an sweet uh lyin in bed wiz his arm roun
tha' wuthless niggah Jene, an Jene uh
snorin lax uh sick hOss.
Marse Tom he look at 'en lyin thah so
still, an then he kindah wipe his eyes an
he grab Jene by thu arm an pull him out
en- thu bed. 'Jene, he say, 'yuh mus
come wiv me- An he TUX Jene an he put
him on Night an he TUX him away.
1T was mighty late when Marse Tom
come back, an thu bosses was all covered
wiv sweat LAX they's bin uh long way.
Marse Tom didn' hev nothin tub say mo n
tuh keep thu hosses dry, an his face was
mighty white when he walk up todes thu
big house. All US niggahs is trenblin an
worryin kase we didn't know whut time
we mightn go intuh Arl1ansaw ourselves.
We don know bout tha, but anyhow we
don see .Jene no mo-.
Mex mawnin Mistah Harry he wake
up an take uh look 'roun, an he don see
no niggah He git outen thu bed an he
go lookin faw .Jene. He look down in thu
cabins and he look in thu balm. He look
all ovah thu place an he don see no Jene.
Then he TUX thu dinnah horn-.Tene could
allus heah uh dinner horn furthah than
h A Z.