Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-29

sames II he'd been shot, an den ran of
| howlin', an looked at dat ar rabbit. an
| his eyes was CLOWN like two Goals of fab ;
| but dey wasn't eyes, dey was red jewels
| dat de rabbit had stole from somebody he
| don like. An all of er student he drapped
| into de groun'.''
''Fiddlesticks, He ran into his burrow,"
said Phil.
Hope to die eff dat rabbit ant ghost"
| insisted the narrator solemnly. Dem eyes
pevah blong to nothin' on earth. Dey WIZ
| fine stun eyes. Eff yo, Phil, or yo', Gowah,
| evan dun hut a rabbit yo'd betteh look out
| eff he don't git yo' jewelry. Yo'd betteh
i hide it safe or give 1t to ole Nose to keep
| fob yo'-I knows a cham to spread on it
! what no rabbit kin evan git ovah.'
We'll, L haven't any jewelry," Phil said
With a careless laugh
AN you. notwithstanding over and
| listening intently for his reply.
Moo" answered Cover in low volce,s
! moving uneasily under the negroes piercing
gaze.
| Nose leaned back with a sigh of disap-
| pointment; all his efforts to make the boy
acknowledge the possession of ruby and
| disclose its hiding place had been unsuc-
Cessful He sat thinking for long time. At
| last he raised his head:
Down in Car'liry whar l used TO live
my ole mastah had i've daughtehs. han'some
| gals as yo evan see. De orest un had five
rings on her fingers and dey all had white
| stuns in EN-.
DE second I'm had five green rings, de
mex un had five red uns. an t'other gals
| didn't have none, an dey wuz aPays teasin
| dey pap to buy 'em some-but dey wanted
| red stun rings-an' dey pap said, Nor
| couldn't ford dem two youngsters rings
| One night dem two gals went to bed
| a-cryfn kase dey pap wouldn't buy EN-
any. Long bout u er clock de door flew
| open wild an awful wind an bot gals dun
| set up in bed.
What's dat?' whispered Miss soph-
| roma.
g dun no. said Miss Becky, an bof gals
put dey haids undeh de kivehs. But de wind
| blew till it blew de kivehs off dey halds
De gals kept dey eyes shet, but the wind
blew dem open. an dey saw a big white
| ghostes standin' by de bed. with red eyes
! glarin' at dem. But dey wuz too scaled to
cry, an de ghostes began to talk:
| g Little gals want red stun rings, but dey
| Is awful onlucky, though eff yo' is brave
nun TO pick out my eyes wo' will have dem.
| finah'n Miss Emeline's. Eff yo' can't pick
| out my eyes yo' nevah kin have any rings
| tall
well, Miss Becky she ruddah spunky, an
| she said, 'Sophronia, Use bounter hey a
bettah ring dan Emeline's; it's all only
| chance, an yo' got to pick outn one eye,
| an I'll do tothah.' Dey all got ready an
Miss Becky she seq, One, two, three an
| dey bof grab TO an eye apiece den dey bof
| fell back in bed ayellin',' for dem eyes wuz
| redhot Goals an de ghostes laugh till he
shook de house an seq as he flew out'n de
| wfHdah, Red stun's awful onlucky, an any
| body what has one, an don't give it to an
| ole niggah wifi rheumatic is boun' to have
| tribble.'"
Certain that his tale would have the de-
sired effect, Nose ceased and fixed his eyes
upon Cover until the boy fairly trembled
Gyp also heard this wonderful story but
there was no element of fear In her bosom
AS it progressed she thought of many
things. Before it was fairly finished the
ruffied skirt of her white frock was drawn
over her black hair and her face leaving
only two small apertures. She always car
ried matches with her and lighting one of
these IS quietly possible she applied 4
| to the end of dry twig. When this was
burning brightly she lit another twig and
allowed it to burn also. Distinguishing the
flames she thrust the two glowing ends
through the places that she had prepared
for them in the dress, where they shone
like the brilliant eyes of some nocturnal
animal, and locked truly ghostly in her
white face.
Nose still sat glazing at Cover when
Gyp tapped lightly to attract attention. Fits
sprang up, making great noise: his mas
ter gave a backward glance and his loud
cry echoed that of the boys as, wild with
terror at the ghostly face pressed against
the window pane, they flew out of the back
door, while Gyp sat on the front steps
shaking with laughter.
But her mirth was ill-timed, for while
! Nose and Cover fled down the hill, the for
| mer in the direction of the barn, the latter
| toward home, Phil recovered his senses and
ran around the house where he discovered
! her.
| What do you mean?' he demanded, shak-
| ing her vigorously, although he did not
| know that it was Gyp.
"Oh, OH! cried she, surprised in her