Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1903-01-16


"You are a worthless niger, George"
"Yes, little mistiss."
"And your master and l will have to
go to the almshouse."
''Yes, little mistiss; spec yo' will"
Then what will become of you,
George"
go dar too"
"Do you think they would take in o
Niger? You are more likely to get OH
the chain gang"
'Te, he, he, little mistissp'
'What are you giggling about?"
"Dey amt no chain gang. We goes
on de fahm."
you have been there"
YES l got sent dar bout a yeah
ago"
George, have you been criminal|
His mistress looked at him with shrink
ing disgust.
'Spec l has" he returned glibly. II
been mos eberyt'ing-crap shooter,
buck dancer an de res, an crimnel,"
he added, with touch Of pride.
Mrs. Custis was paying no heed to
TIC HtSIO HuM. cut lOOhtd
out through the window at the mellow
sunlight of spring. A longing came
over her for her old home. She had en-
dured the long and cruel winter with
stoical patience, but the reluctant
spring made the sap Of yearning rise In
her veins. Suddenly she buried her
face in her handkerchief, and like a
faithful dog George began to whine:
''Dar, little mistiss; jes' yo' wait till
de udder side de cloud flummux over,
an yo'll see 'nough silver to mex a
braid pam"
"Oh, go away, you worthless niggerw
Mrs. Custis exclaimed, putting down
her handkerchief, and he jumped ex-
travagantly just for the delight Of hear
ing her sweet old laugh, like the ring
ing of pure thin silver.
But, George" Mrs. Custis resumed,
with renewed dignity "it is true that
your master and | are seriously think
Ing of seeking public assistance" Her
delicate cheek flushed at the admission;
but, seeing his look of childish horror,
she proceeded firmly:
'As simple as our living expenses are,
we cannot longer meet them, and we
must ask for help
She threw up her little figure and
proudly left the room, but she stumbled
on the threshold, and the negro, with
intuitive devotion, knew that her eyes
were blinded with tears.
He stared with dropped jaw at the
open door through which she had gone.
Then, with volatile grin, he jumped
to his feet and, performing skillful
clog dance, seized his disreputabe hat
and bolted from the house.
About a year before this Mr.. Custis
and his wife had drifted to the great
city of New York. They came from
Georgia, leaving their home desolate in
order to be- near their daughter, who
had married clever young artist. 1t
did not take the parents long to discov-
er that their son-in-law had difficulty In
supporting his little family, so they,
protesting grandly that they had an
ample income, moved to cheap little
fiat on the east side and in the fright
ful cloSeness of q few narrow rooms
began an existence that was slow tor
ture to their pride.
One day George Harries, one of the
most unregenerate negroes in all New
York, sidled up ON their front steps and
pulled the bell. A negro is not natu.
rally tramp, but he was idle and
thought he could bully something from
these forlorn old people.
Mrs. Custis opened the door and look.
ed her wrath at his presumption.
Does yo' hab any wuk fo' po' cul-
lud MANI" he drawled insolently.
mo; l don't want any niggers to
work for mer' she blazed out "Get off
my front steps!" She was preparing
to slam the front door when he jerked
off his filthy hat and burst out:
"Fo' de Lawd, l didn't know yo'
wuz south'n lady; deed didn't lit
tie mistiss. Kin yo' give po' niggah
a bite O. somethin' to eat, an I'll wuk
my fingahs to de bone; deed WILL"
And that was the beginning of a
strange household - George Harries
crap shooter, low comedian and natu-
raj singer and dancer, and these poor,
fine old southern people. And he was
as faithful as though he was their
slave-they as autocratic as though he
was theirs by right Of purchase.
So on this sunny afternoon in spring
he shufiied along the street. dipping In
to old haunts that had not known him
for a year. When he reached one Of
his former stands, he looked shrewdly
about for a policeman and, not seeing
one, began with great vigor and skill
what is known to the initiated as a
''buck dance" By the time he had
danced for five minutes the crowd was
so dense about the performer that 1t
took tall man to peep over the heads.
George paused in his dancing, took
off his hat and, singing In a musical
voice, coon, coon, coon," went around
collecting. This was all very well. but
policeman sauntered up. Finding the
attraction was live negro and not a
dead horse, he virtuously redistributed