Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-11-16
ON TH|'E z::Ao EXPRESS

As the 1;40 train began To pull away
] from the Alexandria station an old,
! white haired negro hurried across the
platform and swung himself On the real
} car.
Here is seat, uncle" called a Young
J man. You look tired
The negro shuEiied forward eagerly
Yes, sab. Tank yo. sab" he said
gratefully as be sank down. "l'ze plumb
. beat. Done walk mons'rous long way
dis yer mawnin. Yo' sec.' as the young
his pocket, "MIrse Henery an me lib
. over in Prince George comfy, an larst
week MarSe Henery he UP an die. Dat
J lef' me by myself.
Il see, ard you are going south To look
for work.
NO. sab: goin back hoine-son back
to ole Georgy. amt been dar in mos
! thutty year. he went on slowly: mot
sense de Linkum men took we all's mig
gers. Dar was whole passle oh 'em, but
dey all done bruk away. Den de sheriff
sol de plantation an dar want nutten
lef' we all but de- norf. We's 'becged ter
hab money ter lib
And you stuck to Marse Henery?''
The old negro looked at him in sur
prise.
"Ob co'se." he answered simply. "I'ze
De body saiiieGi. an Marsa Henery
cou,in't git Irng 'tEou, me. He's a
gen nTeu.an IN pended on bain TUX car
ub. Bat l'5r 'hlcraed ter be way in de
daytime cas,, II" 81 carpenter an alters
hut plenty wuk.
..u-l,.t ii NarS.s tIcn.r.- ,lo -
"Marsc Hcusr:.' indignantly. why,
he's gen leman. | tells 20. He amt do
nutten He amt nebber learn do t'ings
Ike common w'itr folks. He hab niggers
for dat
"You don't mean that you have sup
ported him ever since the war;
| The old negro drew himself UP with un-
conscious dignity.
- goin talk like dat. amt got
nutten mo- tersplain.'
Il hcs your pardon said the young
man hastily. please 90 on
The black face relaxed.
"Yo' amt known Marsc Henery." COM
riseratinclr. so yo' don't nn'stnn. Oh
CO So | wrl, for him. He car Tor me Eefo'
dc wah didn' he? What niger good for
but wuk. ike know
\ boy came through tic-car with Il bas
ket of sandwiches. The young man
| bought two and handed then, to his com
| panion. The old negros eyes glistened
Tank yo'. massa, Tank We. Sahi' he
said gratefully. II didn' hab uo break
faS'. an moneys too scasc ter bry t'ings
on de road. l war 'lowin ter fill up after
done reach Gco!e.y."-
\ few niinute; later there was slight
| rinple through the car. The conductor
| had entered and was calling for tickets.
The young man produced his and held
il in readiness The negro fumbied anx-
icusly through several pockets and finally
remembered that be had pinned his TO his
hat lining
''Done tux ebery cent could scrapc up
ter buy dat" he said triumphantly ms he
produced IT, But ,las all right ! kin
wuk, an fo'ks don't need money wen
dey's home Moneys for trabbiin.''
In the seat behind them was a shabbily
dressed woman whose face had an anx-
ious, frightened expression Crowded on
the seat ln.Side her were several handles.
and in her ;,rnis was white faced. big
eyed baby When the conductor touched
her shoulder. she stagted une;,sily
'Tickct. please
A rod flush of shame spread over the
woman's face. tI.en it disappeared. leav-
ing her white and logged.
Il haven't any.
''Very we'll II you get off at the next
station. it will save us the trouble of put
ting you off, and he turned to the oppo-
site seat-S
The womans eyes grew big with terror
as she sprang til, and caught him hy the
arm.
Don't do that. sir. For Gods sake
don't put ME off, she implored hoarSe-
ly. I've got to go. My husband has
written for Inc to come. He's-he's .dy-
ingr And a great sob rose to her white
lips, but was resolutely choked back
L tried to raise money" lowering her
voice so the other passengers could not
hear. "but ! couldn't. We sold every
thing we had 80 he could go south, as
the doctor ordered. And now he's-he's
oh, my God! my God.''
She turned from him and sank weakly
into her seat. The conductor shook his
head
'I'm sorry, madam" he said kindly.
"but we nave only one rule. You must
pay or get off. can't risk breaking
the rules Ticket. please
The old negro rose slowly to his feet.
"Izc feared yo.ll hab ter put ME off.
too, boss he said humbly. "It's mon
s'rous hard wuk for pore Niger ike me
ter raise money for ticket
"OT at the next stationr' broke in