The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1901-11-21

charges l0dged aR1n us. i knOwed
I hadn't done nuthin' yo' an Marse
John couldn't get me outen, so ]
wusn't bothered, but dat gal Cindy
wus ash-colored wild feardness. Wuss.
er an all on her, her beau, Jere
was er standin' on de side NV de coht
er takin' up his time wild Narciss
an dey bof looked mighty pleasin'
wild de turn fairs had tuck.
"Not rej'ice? Didn't she rej'ice
over Pearl beatin' me outen de
preacher? An doan de good Book
say 'er eye fer er eye? Yo' sholy
amt er gwine ter 'spute de book
chile. What dat, 'er toof fer er toof !?
Well, dat gal nebber will member
gittin' one Nv my ole snags--book er
no book, so dar!
"Mars' Hal Read he called de coht
to order, an wush you'd heard de
tale dat deputy toll. All de white
folks wus holdin' dey bref in
'mazement an 'gratulatin' him in dey
minis on gittin' out wild his life, much
less wild eight pris'ners. I looked up
an cotched de deputy's eye while de
room wus still as deaf an den givcd
mighty groan, an all de white
folks busted out laughin'. Mars Hal
Read he laughed er little, too, den he
frowned an hollered for silence in
de cont. While dey wus er pullin'
dat skeered Cindy to de stan Marse
John marked ter me: Judy, you be.
have yerself, er I'll let yer git outen
dis trouble de bes' way you can, yo'
hear me?'
"'Yo' know Miss sallie better'n to
let her ole nanny 60 to de pen,
nuther to de farm said, 'yo' CANT
skeer me, Marss john
"Den Cindy she sailed in to tell de
coht how hit her on sudden frum
benin an knocked all her teef outen
her haid, an checked her an kicked
her, an called her outen her name.
wus jes' er risin' to 'spute some
pints wild her when Marse John he
souses me down in de cheer SO hard
los my bref an didn't git to, but
when my time coined to testerfy to
de light an de truf, I sho' got back
at dat oman. owned up to hittin'
Cindy, an 'spressed willin'ness to
do lakwise to her er emmy sinner
oman at emmy time er place as would
poke fun at er Lord what hilt piller
Nv fire all night in his han to tighten
de 'Gipshioned chillun to bed by an
I 'spounded de Scriptures to dem till
Mars Hal Read he said: Fine yohself
to answerin' questions axed yo', an
doan fergit de spect due de coht an
de 'casion.'
can say: 'Whut yo' mean, Mars
Hal?' an he say: 7 means whut I
say an I say: Whose dismembren
to 'spect yoh ole coht?'
"At dat dey all laughs, even Mars
John smile er little, an den he bows
like er gran lord to de cont, as Mars
Hal calls hisself, an said as how I
didn't hab no mo- sense dan de law
lowed, an dat I meant no harm; dat
he's knowed me all his life an dat
wusn't nothin' wusser dan er 'ligious
fernatic, dat I'd been faithful serv.
ent in gre't things an small things,
an dat my hair wus silvered ober wild
de SHOWS Nv sixty-odd winters. I
broke in on Mars John dar, Miss Sallie,
fer could see he was stretchin' de
truf long way to save me, but wus
Altered yo'd be mad wild bof Nv us
bout it so I said:
"'Mars John, yo' know de snow
nebber had nuthin' to do wild turnin'
my ha'r white, Miss Sallie nebber let
me be 'sposed to de col; it war de
trubble I had wild dem four trifiin'
husban's Nv mine. AS fer KNOWN me
all your life. don't de coht know dat?
Don't I know Mars Hal members jes'
arter de wah when times wus hard an
grub wus sca'ce an yo' chillun didn't
hab jam only on Sundays, dat he
coined ober to weuns house an Helped
yo' to steal de berries wus fixin' to
cook up inter jelly? I'd larruped
yo' good, but yo' didn't hab on but one
guarment, an hated to. so jes'
bumped your haids togedder, an I
bumped 'em good an hard, too
"Mars Hal KEEP gittin' redder an
but it didn't keep me from
tellin' bof NV 'em I knowed dey wus
growed up an mah'd, an had mean
chllluns Nv dey own. Iwus all de
same to me il dey wus er gittin' bal,
an one er square an tother a law
yer, wusn't er gwine ter let 'em bull
doze me, an wild dat Mars John slam
me down in de chear ag'in, an de coht
beat on de table an dismisted all de
pris'ners but me an Cindy. De crowds
KEEP up such hoorawin' I couldn't
hear what dey done to pore Cindy,
but seed Mars John pay out ten dol
lars an six bits for me, but he could.
MT keep 'em from putin me in Jail
three days. ! doan special keer fer
dat now as de trusty war very gree
able widder man. His time'll be out
soon an spec he'll wanter work fer
Mars John. I toe him yo' all war
good white folks. Dar's dat bell. I
mus go an dish up de dinner. know
yo's obleeged to be satisfied I amt
done nothin' now"
In 1910 05 pounds out of every 100