The National tribune., 1900-04-19
ION, GOD, WHAT DAT? Is DAT DE Angel. GABRIEL"
re only men. We're Yankees and your

"Yankees-O, hub oh de good God,
gasped the old man, his eyes getting more
white in them than ever. "Whar in de
| libin' worP did yo' come fom?"
"Yes, yesi Yankees. Real, live Yankees,
and without horns, and we walked right
men. We want to have little talk with
you. Can you come over here?"
| AS the idea of who his visitors really
were filtered into the old mans mind, the
| look of bland benevolence and philosophic
introspection vanished from his broad
face, to be succeeded by one of deep shrewd-
| ness, even cunning.
Keep down dar. Don't show yo'selves. y
he whispered, "ontwell | done go ter de
udder end oh de fieP an cum back. De
next hand ter mes wufleSS house-niggeh
| dat yo' can't trust more'n yo' kin yaller
hound. Him powerful Gurus erbout ebery
| ting, too. Him no good, no way yo' kin
put hit, an he's lazier'n a mudturkle.
Wen / git ter de udder eend, I'll done let
| him go off fishin', a-prOmisin' ter do his
sheer. De udders is all right. I'll talk
| ter yo' wen | comes back. Git up dar,
| Jeems."
Them d be good parties to send for the
doctor, if the devil was SICK" remarked
Shorty, watching with impatience the
slow progress across the field. "Wisht |
l had as many dollars as they're lazy"
81 declare" said ST, "that old darky
looks more and more every minute like
Ben. Franklin done in charcoal. And
that look in his face, when he got over his
Mysteries that we d dropt down from the
sky, and begun to understand that we wuz
really meat and bone, showed that he's a
lot o. sense in that big gourd o his. He's
likely q preacher to some nigger congrega-
ton. and does their marrying, baptiZing and
burying. | knowed could trust him the
moment | set eyes on him. Wonder what
his name iS?"
benjamin Franklin" came back to their
side of the field more briskly than before.
as yo' dar?" he asked eagerly, as he
reached the end of his row and halted
handfuls of grass from the fence row to
hand him, and took the opportunity to look
over and see what manner of men he had
been conversing with.
"Yes; we're here, waitin' for you, uncle
What might your name be?"
"W'en | Wuz young dey uSeter call me
Strickland S Pete, ,tbut arter I'd got older, an
bin ordained ter preach de gospil, dey got
ter callin' me Strickland's Ben. Franklin,
reckon Gaze Ben Franklin wuz a great
Babtis' preacher way up Norf, somewhar,
warn't he? Massa Strickland 3 the gem
men belongs ter. SOyo' is rayly Yankees,
is yo'? Yo' done got de blue coze on,
same as dey tell about-same as de Bible
says dat shall be wore by de captains and
rulers. and desirable young men. ridin'
upon hosses. OATS what de prophet says
about de host dat shall come down upon de
land" He made another gathering of
grass to excuse his lingering about and
looking over the fence, while he studied ST
and Shorty with fascinated eyes. He
gave look back to see that his com panions
were no moro than halfway across the
field, and had stopped to refresh their souls
f'om. Air yo' spies sent out like Joshua's
men, 10 spy out de land foh de army OBJ de
Lawd and oh Freedom? Air dey comm
Jest behine yo?"
They're comm, but not just jit They'll
be along before the persimmons ripen,
We amt no spies, though. We're prison.
ers, just got away from Andersonvillc.
We're tryin' to git back to the Yankees
above Atlanty. We want you to tell us
the best way to take, and if you kin, where
we kin get some grub TO take along"
Ben Franklin pulled up some more
grass and took over to his mule apparently
to gain time to think over this startling
communication.
How many is dar OBJ yo'?" he asked,
coming back to the fence.
Eight" answered 81. "The rest are
back on the island.
.Den yo's de men dey's arter. Bent
Wheeler done come ter Massa Strickland
dis mOrnin', wild word fom Wash Stiggins.
Massa Strickland wuz out stirrn' up de
hands fer ter git ter Wllk. MaSSa Strick-
lands got ter be his own oberseer now,
sence dey done TUX away his oberseer ter
put him in de ahmy. AS MaSSa Strickland
haint got 20 niggers, dey won't low him
no oberseer, lack dey do de big plantation
men. He's only a pine-woods fahmer,
what haint no right ter an oberseer. He
had wills Tucker foh oberseer, who was
glad oh de Job, an done tuck hit for his
bod, SOS ter keep out OBJ de ahmy, but
de conscripters wouldn't low no six-nigger
fahmer ter hab no oberseer, so dey tuck
Wills away, Jest as we wuz putin i'll de
crap. couldn't heah all dat Bent Wheeler
| said foh | had ter purtend ter be busy
| hitchin' up, but gaddered dat dey'd done
| kotched Gabe Boneset, an strung him up,
an he'd offered if dey'd spar his life he'd
done tell dem Sumfin, an hit war dat
| dere wuz lot o men loose in de country
dat dey could kotch. Bent Wheeler he done
| tole Massa Strickland, fer Massa Stiggins,
| ter gedder up de neghborS, an watch de
country from tod the headwaters OBJ de
| TucsaWhatchee Crick, while he, Massa
Stiggins'd beat up from Hogcrawl Crick,
and kotch dem, or drive dem to ter Massa
Strickland. Massa Stiggins's got de
hounds out arter you"
That's pleasant information, Pm sure"
said ST. "Huntin' us down with dogs,
and from the rear, and headin' us off in
front with an aroused neighborhood,
armed with shotguns,. pitch-forks, axes,
grHbbin' hoes and scythes."
NO; dey haint got no pitch-fOrks an
scythes an tings. Massa Strickland