Water Valley progress., 1903-07-04

IL
Almost at his feet lay the body of his
wife. There were finger marks at the
throat. He knew! ah, God, he knew!
But he made no further outcry.
His face twitched convulsively and
his eyes grewdry and staring, but his
step was firm and his hand steady as
he took down shotgun from its rack
on the kitchen wall. With painful
deliberation he opened the gun and
examined the cartridges, and then,
as the blood surged back and suffused
his white set face he. threw the
weapon to the floor. He wanted no
gun. No! He must grasp that devil
by the throat and kill him slowly-as
she had been Killed. eAy, he would
thrust him down on the hard, dry,
pitiless earth, pound his upturned face
till the quivering flesh should open
and lgapeiand bleed, rend the life
piece by piece from the shapeless
mass, sand listen and laugh at its,
moaning. ann s, ,,a;
He shook with a spasm Of fury, a
dry, snarling cry burst from his lips,
and rushing from the house he
seized a rough stone and started to
find the man. Then sense of his
helplessness came, and of his loss;
and, falling face downward in the
roadside, grass, he prayed that he.
might die. ,a gaaNp
III.
It was almost sunset. The yard
and orchard were filed with men.
All were heavily armed, and a stern,
unearthly quiet prevailed. A half
dozen of beyond middle age, some
grizzled by exposure to sun and rain,
some whitened by long service at
desk or counter, conferred together
and now and then gave directions.
Small squads came and went.almost
on tiptoe The doer of the deed was
known. The hounds, brought from
the county, prison on thegnoon train,
were, slowly tracking him through
the, dense ,swamps along. the river,
The sheriff had come and gone, for.
what could he do? The people from
whom he derived his authority had
taken the power back into their own.
hands. Not asman would DO his bid
ding. aa anen sSsii aliR bas a4ta|
But few negroes werepresent, and
these old and well known. Between
the races, who until this time had
worked contentedly side by side,
there, was now deep distrust. They
looked at each other askance; there
were few words. Not that the ne
groes would shield the offender.
Among themselves they were out
spoken in their condemnation of. the
deed. But they knew the white man.
When his women are touched he is as
dangerous as "a ioness robbed f.her
whelps-he smites first and justifes
afterwards - therefore they kept
away from him. A ''''
In one corner Of the YARD, however,
a gray-haired negro preacher was
trying to talk to some Of the men,
but they turned from him as they
had already turned from the clergy
man of their own race--an old man
who had baptized their children and
buried their dead for a generation
past. Seeing that no one would
listen, the old negro turned away
with downcast and hopeless eyes.
Then with a trembling hand he lifted
from his head hisrusty and battered
black silk hat-the emblem of his
calling and his office-and knelt
down humbly in the trodden dust,
The white preacher saw him there
and was touched. He forgot that the
man was black-he saw only an old
man pleading with his God. Very
quietly he came and knelt down be-
side him. Surely God would hear.
But when they arose the crowd was
streaming away toward the river.
"Silas, said the white man, "let us
follow; there will be trouble yonder." /"