The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-08-31
THE BLACK TWINS.


eiQhborhood and left nanny to shift
for herself and the children. This she did
cheerfully, feeling that she was doing her
mart toward the furtherance Of the good
cause. She is professional 'wash lady,"
and does your clothes up O beautiful snow
white that rejoices your heart to behold
until it dawns upon you, not too gradual
" that to appearance has been sacrificed
quality. fact that Is foroibly brought
home to you by the unexpected ease with
which a finger can be poked through your
linen in places not designed to be 7ulner.
able.
The 5-year-old twins regarded the alb
sence of their good natured daddy with
much sorrow, which nanny endeavored
to quen by Installing in their infant
breasts a respect for patriotism and lib
6Dem po' Cupans is a laborin in bond
age an yo' De has gone down dab to hep
bust de yolk of dey 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 one
of the windows in the little cabin, and the
sill being only a couple Of feet from the
ground HaIleluiah spent his time kneeling
down outside with his chin on his hands
staring disconsoIately in at his other half
who, for the first time in their short lives
seldom noticed his presence. Finally, after
much thought, 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 Grouse" the pa
tient was nothing more or less than
Fourth of July celebration under the win
dow To inquire too closely into the man
ner in which Halleluiah obtained his ma
terials would not be charitable, but BY
means, occult or otherwise he became pos
sessed of a goodly supply of firecrackers
and several roman candles. His apparent
success filed his heart with joy, for Glory
sat up and took languid interest in the
f1recrackers and became much excited over
the candles, but his way Of handling them
caused her anxiety.
s'Don' shoot 'e1n straight up in de air
lax dat she told him in a frightened
voice. "Yo' might hit de angels an den
wat yo' spec de heavenly hostes gwyne do
to yo'P'
Glory's temporary "rouse'' was attend
ed with very bad results, and two days
later Halleluiah heard the doctor inform
his mother that the ''littIe grip could not
live He also heard NANNY praying aloud
that night in terms more earnest than de-
vout:
"Lord, done let my ole man go off to
de wah an amt got nothin lef' but de
chill 'en, an I ain t willin to pat with dem.
Lord, I axes yo' to let III Glory stay heah
along er her ma. Wat yo' spec my ole
man gwyne say to me eff he come back an
don find dat liz gal waitin TO- him? LoEd,
yo' done promise to answer de prayers OBJ
de faithful an I'm gwyne to hold yo' to
yO'r word, deed I 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 l. reckon de Lord jis
have to let on to hisself dat I done said it
all"
Halleluiah made hasty trip to the drug
store on the corner and stood looking
wistfully up at the proprietor with two
large tears coursing slowly down his little
black face.
eff you want medicine for Glory said
the man kindly, ''you can have it without
giving me any money. Is that what you
were crying aboutP''
''NO, sahI w gwyne ak yo' would 20
telingphOne TO- me-"
Certainly replied the kind hearted
druggist. with alacTity, supposing it to be
a message for the physician which the
child wanted to send. What shall I tele-
phone?"
him eff he gwyne send a angel TO- Glory
please take me long too, kase 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, a fact which
Halleluiah attributed to the length of time
necessarily consumed by telephone mes
sage in travelling such a distance, yet
summons was not long in coming to take
him, both metaphorically and really, to
Glory.
In her affection the preacher at mann
mys church attempted to comfort her. He
sat for long hours talking to her about
people and incidents in the Bible, ire
spective of any especial application to her
own sorrow or anybody else'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
mighty disorderly passed. OBJ folks"
This remark finished the patriarchs,
and they took up conversatiOnally 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 alb
sent ''ole man. and wondering what she
should do if the Lord took, 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:
well, sistah, it mighty hard, mighty
hard, but yo' mus submit to de chas' enin
oh God, an also remember dat even Of KIah
is passed on dah's plenty mo- wilhn an
ready to have yo'. De good book say Of
at first yo' dom succeed try again -
But nanny only rose in her wrath and
turned the good man 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 cook.
"Cos, ," she informed them, "I'ze gwine
anyway eff I has to walk, an when comes