The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-08-23
II BLACK TWINS.

of other colorcd volunteers from Che same
n-eighborhood and left nanny to shift
for herself and the children. This she did
cheerfully, feeling that she was doing her
part toward the furthcrance Of the good
cause. She is a professional wash lady"
and docs your clothes up beautiful
white that ~rcjoicos your heart to behold
until it dawns upon you, not too gradual
", that to appearance has been sacrificed
quality, d fact that is forcibly brought
homo to you by the unexpected ease with
which a finger can be poked through your
linen in places not designed TO be vulner-
able.
The 5-year-old twins regarded the abb
sence OF their good natuFed daddy with
much sorrow, which lnainmy endeayored
TO quell by instilling in their infant
breasts a respect for patriotism and lib
erty.
Dem POI Cupans is q laborin in bond
age an yo' pa has gone down dab 20 hep
bust de yolk off dcy necks an sot en- free."
she cheerfully informed them.
Soon after her ole mans departure
Glory, the girl, came down with intermit-
tent fever. The other twin, Halleluiah,
grieved so that he could hardly eat, and
poor NANNY was at her wits end.
Giory's bed was pushed up against inc
of the windows In the little cabin, and tho
sill being only a couple of feet from the
ground HalleIuiah spent his time kneeling
down outside with his chin on his hands
staring disconsolately in at his other half,
who, for tho first time in their short lives,
seldom noticed his presence. Finally, after
much thought, a brilliant idea occurred to
him, and when nanny went to carry
home the white folks clothes'' he put it
to the test. The process which he fondly
believed to be curative in its tendency and
likely to allay fever and rouse" tho pa
tient was nothing more or less than a
Fourth of July celebration under the win
dow. To inquire too c~loselysinto the man.
ner in which HalIeluiah obtained his ma
terials would not be charitable, but by
means, occult or otherwise, he became pos
sessed Of a goodly supply Of frecrackers
and several roman candles. His apparent
success filed his heart with joy, for Glory
sat up and took a languid interest in the
f~recrackcrs and became much excited over
the candles, but his way Of handling them
caused her anxiety.
stDon' shoot 'eln straight up In de air
lax dat, g she told him in a frightened
voice. aYo' might hit do angels an den
wat yo' spec de heavenly hostes gwynedo
to yo'?"
Glory's temporary rouse was attend
ed with very bad results, and two days
later Halleluiah heard the doctor inform
his mother that the ssiittle girl" could not
live. He also heard nanny praying loud
that night in terms more earnest h de-
yout:
Lord, I done let my ole MAJ go of to
de wah an | amt got nothin lef' but de
chil'en, an / amt within to pat with dem.
Lord, I axes yo' to let ILL Glory stay heah
along or her ma. Wat yo' spec my ole
man gwyne say to me Of he m back an
don find dat lii gal waitin To- him? Lord,
yo' lone promise to answer de prayers OBJ
de faithful an I'm gwyne to hold yo' to
yo'r word, decd l is
Glory, however, sank very fast, and she
finally rebelled against assisting nanny
in her intercessions at the throne OF grace.
81 amt a-gwyne pray no mo-, NANNY,
cos / too tired, an / reckon de Lord jis
have to let ON to hissclf dat 1 done said it
ALL :
Halleluiah made a hasty trip to tho drug
store on tho corner and stood looking
w~istfully up at the proprietor with two
large tears coursing slowly down his little
black face.
ssIf you want medicine for Glory, " said
the man kindly, 'syou can have it without
giving mo any money. Is that what you
were crying about?"
stNo, SAIL Luz gwyne az yo' would 20
telingphone TO- me-"
Certainly = replied the kind hearted
druggist, with alacrity, supposing it to be
a message for the physician which the
child wanted to send. what shall l tele-
phonegn
ssJis telingphone up to de Lord an ak
him ct he gwyne send a angel 70 Glory
please take me long too, kasc we is twins,
we is, an | done amt able TO git erlong
'thout her"
In point of fact, he was not able to get
along without her, and, though the first
messenger overlooked him, q fact which
Halleluiah attributed to tho length of time
necessarily consumed by a telephone mes
sage in travelling such a distance, yet a
was not long in coming to sake
him, both metaphorically and really, to
Glory.
In her affection the preacher at mann
my's church attempted to comfort her. He
sat for long hours talking to her about
people and incidents in the Bible, ire
spcctive Of any especial application to her
own sorrow or anybody clsc's. He was
particularly fond of dwelling upon the
patriarchs of old, their mode Of life and
many wives. Nanny listened for awhile
with much disgust and finally expressed
the opinion that "dey must "a been a
mighty disorderly passed. OBJ folks"
This remark finished the patriarchs,
and they took up conyersationally other
characters in the good book not so open
to criticism. AT last one day the preacher
exasperated her beyond endurance. The
poor woman had been mourning her abb
sent "ole man, and wondering what she
should do if the Lord tool him as well as
the twins.
Comfort being the proper thing at this
point, the servant Of the Lord essayed to
administer it by remarking:
ssWell, sistah, it's mighty hard, mighty
hard, but yos mus submit to de chas'enin
OBJ God, an also remember dat even ef Kiah
is passed ON dah's plenty no willin an
ready to nave yo'. De good book say ct
at first yo' dom succeed try again"
But nanny only rose in her wrath and
turned tho good ma out Of the house.
She then went to her white folks to
consul them as to the feasibility of her
going to the war as nurse or Q
.Cos, she informed them, "l'ze gwine
anyway Of | has to walk, an when I comes
to q damp place / low III swim, OATS all
Marie Goldsmith West i'll Washington
Post.