The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-02-26
NEGRO suprAsrrr1oy.

might be such things3lth had never n
doubt on the subjectgIiA lawyer friend
servant whom l well knew to the limits
of positive proof, whtnuthis subject came
under discussion. o tr
do You believe itD ghosts, Henry"
"B'lieve in 'em, sah2I What dye mean.
sah?" as if he could hot understand such
an absurd and unmeanihg question.
things?'' tissl
"Blieve it, sab? know thar he, sab,'
he replied, with a plying smile at the
questiOner's skepticisma.
did you ever see "a ghost yourself,
Henry?" tti,a-
"See 'em, sab? Yes, sab, many a
time"
When did you see one last?'
LAS night, sah."
"How did you see it?''
81 jes' look out in the night, and see
'em, sah."
what did they look like?"
Cant tell you, sab. Dey was ghostses."
did they look like dead men?'
mo, sab; dey was ghostses."
This negro was a simple-hearted trust
ing believer in Jesus rs his personal friend
and Savior. He had no special fear of
ghosts, nor of any evil powers in the world
of spirits, for he rested on Gods protec-
ton at all times. Yet he had no more
doubt as to the reality of ghosts than he
had as to the reality of dead men or liv-
ing men, or of God, or of the devil. The
fact that he could not describe or explain
their appearance was no more perplexing
to him than the inability of ''lineman"
on an electric road to describe or explain
electricity as n force in the universe. And
he was SO far a representative negro, in
slavery or out of it, as l saw that race in
war time.
With this imaginative and superstitious
mature the negro showed surprising credu-
lily as to many simple matter beyond
his sphere of actual sight or experience;
yet, again, he showed courage and charac-
ter. In our last year of army service in
Virginia, my terminate and l had two
'contraband" servants in common-the
one stalwart young negro named Greed,
very black, very quiet, saying little, show
ing little emotion, but very efficient and
faithful as bOdy-servant; the other, an
older man, named Columbus, who had
been trained as a Jockey" on the race
course, who took care of our horses.
Greed proved SO valuable body-servant
and was evidently so warmly attached to
us, that one day l suggested to him that
if we lived through the war he might go
North with rs and be our servant there
At this he showed signs of shrinking ter
ror which l could not account for, but
1 saw plainly that he did not relish the
thought of being at the North where his
friends, the Union soldiers, came from.
Therefore l questioned him on the subject
| "Why don't you want to go North,
| Creed" l asked.
"'Fraid O. Yanks. sah"
"Why are you afraid of Yanks?"
"Yanks up NOrf kill cOlored men. sab;
hang 'em, burn 'em, cut 'em up, sah."
| Such stories had been told him as
slave, in order to make him fear the North
and Northerners, and he, with others,
supposed that there [mpst be some truth
as their basis. He Implicitly trusted the
Union soldiers as Go1-sent deliverers, but
he was afraid of the negro-hating Yankee
abound abound in the North s He did not for a
moment seem to associate Union soldiers
with 'Yanks."
Old Columbus, hgiAay -haired. limping
negro, was well known as jockey in
the vicinity of RicAn9pd, and he fully Ill,
through the lines to Sut camp. the Rich
read to him this story from a paper We
had secured at the picket lines, sly
smile came over his. face as if he knew
more about the Yankeeg now than his old
masters: and he said THAT " fore long"
he would have his swjfe and son on our
side of the lines, ."by q little designin'."
A SOLDIERS SENSE OF DUTY.
In facing actual danger Greed showed
that lie was no coward. He never shirked
or wavered under fire. One day, in the
Petersburg trenches, our regiment occu-
pied the extreme picket front. The enc
my's lines were not more than stones
throw from ours at that point. Sharp
firing was going on at MONDAY. We who
We're in the trenches kept close under
cover just then. To show head above
the works was sure to bring a shot from
the enemy. Greed came in sight from the
camp at the rear, bringing our dinner
AS we saw him in traverse beyond, we
called out to him not to mount the bank
above it, as he would surely be fired at,
and we would wait for our dinner until its
bringing was safer.
Undaunted, Creed showed himself on
the crest of the Hill, conspicuous mark
for the sharp-shOOters. Bullets flew about
him, and spherical case shot bowled past
him. With measured strides he kept on,
swinging his dinner-pail. as if he had no
consciousness of impending danger, until
the shower of bullets was passed, and he
had reached the trench where we sat I'M
der cover. sr...
1--WE called to you to stop back out Of
the fire, Creed" we said.
might as well come on, sab, unless
bullet stop me. Use bringin' yer dinnah,
sab. If go down, sab, now's good times
ever"
He had the soldiers sense of duty, and
he would not shrink. He was afraid to
face unreal Yankee ghouls, of whom lie
had been told; he was not afraid to face
real 'sharpshOOters, whom he could see, in
his path of duty. Was that man q craven
coward? or was lie brave soldier?
He was, indeed, so well known through
out the regiment for his courage and will
ing helpfulness, that my tent-mate said
facetiOusly that the Chaplain was known
by his creed" in that regiment.
Old Columbus l noticed one evening in
the group gathered at our regimental
prayer-meeting. After the meeting l spoke
to him, and was pleased at the hearty
way in which he expressed his trust in
Jesus AS his Savior / asked him if he
had understood what / said in the meet
ing.
"Oh, yesw he replied, 81 know yer chat
I oarn't read nor write, but know yer
chat"
l had been speaking of Joseph in the
house of Potiphar in the Egyptian prison.
and in the palace of Pharaoh, protected
and cared for everywhere because he
trusted the Lord, and the lord was with
him. 1t was eyideI& that Columbus had
understood my ''chat
Its jes' SO whatVyOt tell bout Joseph.
Yer carn't go nowhar whar Jesus carn't
fin yer. Yer go down tS the bottom OBJ de
sea, an he fin yeaGIHr. He fin Jonah
dar. He fin Dan'l in de lions den
Wharebar yer is, d!i's JUS de place for
nr.