The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-08-30
FCHAPTER : XII.

!oeo:s7lsvHD.ll e:.:.
:; "And the iron?"
"They are not far from the begin
ning of the channel"
"very well. Now to the point.
Your Jumar men are skilled in the
working of iron and steel. Gould
they, do you think, by working stealth
iIy at night, build smelling shops,
forges and other works in the river
bed, and begin the manufacture OF
guns?"
The two Jumars looked at each
other in speechless amazement.
"The project is great one" said,
'sand dangerous. But the reward is
liberty. Will they do it?"
-. "They can try" said Gsru-Saak.
's"And will the people of Brompor-
rah work with us?" I asked.
1--WE are one people," replied Oso-
Bark.
"Then let US begin at once. Let it
become known that tomorrow night
the Jumar men are wanted at secret
meeting in the old river channel. We
must speak to them and see if we can
arouse them from the lethargy into
which they have fallen"
"It is well," said Oso-Bark. VI
will talk to them as used to talk to
them when they we're soldiers of Tai
mooch, and we were still nation. q. :.
zone other thing. Have your wives
get some of the women together and
make up lot of fancy trinkets. They
are handy with the needle. Tell them
to sew for liberty. Tell them I want
q pack full of useful things"
"For what?" asked Mr.. Avery.
? "I shall become o pedcler," re-
piled.
"Peddler!" echoed Mr.. Avery.
"Oolek, selling pin-cushions and
handkerchiefs! Absurd!"',4
''Not at all," replied. "As ped
dler I can 60, unsupported, over the
entire island, and can talk with every.
body. My friends the Mantchoo, will
not know whether I receive pay for
my goods or not"
"Crickmore, that American brain
of yours is fertile one. What will
you do next, I wonder?"
Ny wishes were carried out to the
letter. I visited some of the houses
in Galneor on the following day. All
the women were sewing industriously.
And that night, about eight O'Clock, a
stream of Jumars began pouring into
Mr.. Avery's house. 1t would have
puzzled an observer who was not in
the secretof the underground passage,
as to how that house held the hun
dreds of men who were filing into it.
None went out, yet the house did not
fill up. I feared that guard would
discover them, but they were wary
and chose their time wisely. When
the influx had stopped there were two
thousand able-bodied men in the river
channel.
Oso-Bark was the first to address
them. I cannot portray to you the
fire and fervor of his eloquence.
Translated into English, it may seem
tame-it certainly is tame as compared
with the peculiar idioms Of the lunar
tongue. There are words in Jumarese
for which no synonym can be found
In English. Hence the beauty Of Oso-
Bark's eloquence is sometimes lost in
translation, but what he said was in
substance as follows:
"Men of Jumar blood! Men of
Galneor! Men of Talmooch! Hear
what I have to say to you. For twenty
years we have bent our necks beneath
the yoke of foreign tyrant, who has
filed our hearts with grief, and our
oIce happy land with misery. Our
women sing no more at their work, as
they sang in the good days of our
prosperity. 1t is mary years since
the Joy of hearing the laughter of a
child has come to any of US. The
hand of Hen-Ko-Hi has been laid upon
us heavily and sore. But it is time to
rise. We have prayed for our deliverer
to come. We have prayed and watched
until our hearts were faint with dis
appointment and our eyes were
strained with watching. But he has
come. He who is to deliver US from
bondage lives even now among US.
He is not of the Jumar blood alone
He is not of the Kalek blood alone.
He is of all of us part. He tells US
that if we do his bidding, we shall be
led from the darkness of this slavery
into the dazzling light of freedom.
His hand shall strike at Hen-Ko-Hi, J.,
and the shackles that bind US shall
fall to the ground. Hear, then, what
our Oolek has to say to u.s."
The silence at the close of this speech
was profound. Not word-not even
a sigh broke the stiffness. Every eye
was turned on me. 1 felt that in that
moment Icy all my chances of success.
I hesitated. I did not know whether
to launch forth in eloquence, or
whether, in their peculiar mood, it
would net augment my power to be
brief and austere. BY happy intui-
tion I chose the latter.
Placing myself, clad in the gorgeous
uniform OF Cha Fong, where ell could
SEQ me, said:
"What Oso-Ba-k has said is true.
Il am come to free you from the tyraut's S
hand But I must have a nation of
workers-an army OF soldiers.
Every command must be obeyed.
Every wish of mire must be to you a
law. There is much to do, and the
time to begin is now. You will listen
to Garu-Saak, who will be my chief
officer. He will now tell you what is
before you