The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-21
PLANTATION PAGEANTS.
roEI CHANDLER HARRIS,

l.
What IL Led to.
If the children were not willing to say
.,at Mr.. Bobs was a smarter man than
,or,r they we're, at any rate, willing to
os-,,r thai he had given them something
:. talk about Drusilla, however, refused
=, admit that there was any merit in
that.
..Ff dat OF white man'll gr me sum-
.ir, darn wipe all dat out'n my min an
make me fergit bout him an his bubble,
TN cav anvwhar dat he de smartest man
IN de worr, but whar is dey any smart
,sss in skeerin' chillun outn der growth?
~ is now, des so you'll see me when
I'm seventy year OF. Eff gittin' skeerd
,r;n stunt folks, den I'm dun stunted,
an sunted bad"
.,favbe we were dreaming" Sweetest
erssn suggested when Drusilla made this
remark.
onresm nothin'," Drusilla retorted
.r1o1r hin folks stan fat-footed in de
traod onen daylight, an have 'zactly de
saToa dream? Nobody amt never see no
orsetnr like dat, in no dream, kaze et dey
6i5 folks'ud set up an hire SOMEBODY
4sr ter keep UNI wake. You all do mighty
-, Wuz YOU too skeered ter look at
de- creetur? Here's what w des skeeru
'nougb ter look at it good. lou call DAT
dreamln. does your
r,o truth is. the whole affair has been
en- unusual so unexpected and unique
hat II took its place in Sweetest Susan's
mind as well as in Buster Johns as a
sort If walking dream. But Drusilla had
cen what she had seen, and, to use her
ou,n expression, she had looked at 1t
mighty hard
buster John and Sweetest Susan were
very shv in telling their experiences IN
the hubble to their elders. Ihey hao
been laughed at on other occasions When
giving hints as to what they had seen IN
tba country next door the world, and that
fact made them somewhat doubtful ana
tirnd. As for Drusilla, she had in the ne
pvoes an audience ready TO welcome any
statement no matter how wonderful
Words we're unable to convey to their
minds a real comprehension of what Dru-
sula had seen, but they knew it was
something awful, and from that time for
ward they and all the negroes for miles
around. regarding Mr.. Robs and his sister
as coniurers in active practice. In way,
this notoriety helped Mr.. Bobs for no ne
gro refused to work for him when re-
ouesed. But no negro would remain near
his house at night This, however, did
not grieve him 10 any great extent.
In the South, December is usually mark
cd by very fair weather, the mornings cool
and crisp and the afternoons warm and
balmy enough 10 invite the hooking birds
TO sing The December following Sher-
mans march to the sea was no exception,
and as the holiday season drew near, Bus
ter John and Sweetest Susan heard hints
IN h. affa hnF nTraa al
fathers knsmen and friends intended TO
assemble a the Abercrombie place and in
dulge in an old-fashioned fox hunt. II
might be thought that all the able bodied
men Of the region were fighting; but war
is never so exacting that IL sweeps every
body into the ranks, and there were many
men exempted from CONSUMPTION either by
their occupation or by their age.
The news of the fox hunt was not par
ticularly interesting to Sweetest Susan,
but Buster John was stirred by it. He
wondered why it was that he should be
too young to go fox hunting; and the
more he thought about it, the stronger
grew the conviction that youth is hard
snip invented to punish children. His
views in that respect underwent a great
change some years later, but at that par
tcular time he was quite sure that youth
was something that had to be endured,
only because there was no help for it.
Ills mind was full of fox hunt, and he
sought Information on the matter when
ever it was to be found. Old Fountain
was an authority on the subject, so Bus
ter John was told, and the youngster lost
no time in questioning the negro.
Uncle Fountain" he said on the first
occasion that presented itself: "they say
there's going to be a big fox hunt here
Christmas week"
y hear um sesso" replied Fountain.
Wen, let UNI hunt eff dey will; done had
my day at dat, l speck. Dey use ter hunt
lum here a right smart; an when dey got
IN De notion, nobody couldn't do nothin'
ier UNI but Fountain. 'Twuz Fountain
mere ana Fountain dar, twel some ere
ue quality, new ter de place. would up an
aA et all de niggers on de plantation is
name FoIntain. Yes-yes, suh-I see my
se now havin' de mommock made fer
ue dogs corn meal steyed thick, wild a
nan lul er cracklin's flung in; an den
oe mex mornin', TO day, de cry would
ue Ter Fountain; an nothin' mus do, but
FOUNTAIN mus straddle a mule-op Puss,
ue pacin mue-an' so long wild UNI. I
nag Inns in dem days, an lungs, eff you'll
eene'e me- Yes-yes, suh-I wuz soople
all night"
OATS So" said Big SAL lifting her sad
iate ana looking at the children.
member one time" Fountain contin-
eu, dat l went long fer ter look after
" H,ue Marster-" he paused and be-
SUI TO pick at a patched pace on his
&c a,ee' ana Big Sal drew a long breath
VOW Oar wuz a chap fer your he ex-
Sia5"ed enthusiastically. "Dey say he
t.' eu haze he wuz puny; but don't you
nee il. he died kaze his heart an head
wv "u@ too big Dey tuck in all dat he yever
80 err heard er drempt bout. No hui
b '" De a could so thoo life wild kinder
", . an heart; it's agin' natur."
D@' de Lords trufl" cried Big Sal
me children knew, OF course, that the
sS.e'eh.e was to little Crochet, dead long
@@so ana so they sat silent and though
les-yes, suh-I member de time des
w. wen es eff 'twuz ystiddy. maybe better.
pul out we did, bout light; an 70.
t,a@.,H' mile up jumped a gray-de reds
'r come In den-an' here dey had IL
~, an round, same ez chasin' a rab-
te. "uz ter take keer er de little Mars
ill., put bless 70 souli he amt gi rue
I oil. ..t.s