The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-04-22

same time Mr. Harkless leaves Bris-
GOES. goin' west. 1t begins to rain.
He cuts across to the railroad to have
a sure footin' and strikin' for the
deepo for shelter-near place as any,
except Briscoe's, where he's said good
night already, and prob'ly don't wish
to go back, fear of givin' trouble or
keepin' 'em up. Anybody can under
stand that. He comes along and gets
to where we are precisely at the time
they do, them comm from town, him
strikin' for it. They run right into
each other That's what happened.
They recognized him and raised up
on him and let him have it. What they
done it with I don't know. We took
everything in that line off of 'em.
Prob'ly used railroad iron, and what
they done with him afterward we don't
know, but we will by night. They'll
sweat it out of 'em up at Rouen when
they get EN-"
81 reckon maybe some of us might
help" remarked Mr.. Watts refectively.
Jim Bardlock swore a violent oath.
That's the talkv' he shouted. EFF
amt the first man of this crowd to set
my foot in Roowun and first to beat in
that Jail door Pm not town marshal
of Plattville. county of Carlow, state
Of Indiana, and the Lord have mercy
on our souls!
Tom Martin looked at the brown
stain and quickly turned away. Then
he went back slowly to the village.
On the way he passed Warren Smith.
SIS it 500" asked the lawyer.
Martin answered with a dry throat.
He looked out over the sunlit fields
and swallowed once or twice. Yes,
it's so. There's good deal of it there.
Little more than boy he was" The
old fellow passed his seamy hand over
his eyes without concealment, Peter
amt very bright sometimes, it seems
to me-" he added brokenly; Overlook
Bodeffer and Fisbee and me, and all
of us old husks, and-and''-he gulp-
ed suddenly, then finished-"and act
the fool and take boy that's the best
we had. / wish the Almighty would
take Peter off the gate. He amt fit
fer it."
When the attorney reached the spot
where the crowd was thickest, way
was made for him. The old colored
man, Xenophon, approached at the
same time, leaning on a hickory stick
and bent very far over, one hand rest
ing on his hip as If to ease a rusty
Joint. The negro's age was an incentive
to fable. From his appearance he
might have known the prophets, and he
wore that hoary look of unearthly wis
dom which many decades of super
stitious experience sometimes give to
members of his race. His face, so tor
tured with wrinkles that it might have
been made of innumerable black
threads woven together, was a living
mask of the mystery Of his blood.
Harkless had once said that Uncle
Xenophon had visited heaven before
Swedenborg and hell before Dante. To
day as he slowly limped over the ties
his eyes were bright and dry under
the solemn lids, and, though his heavy
nostrils were unusually distended in
the effort for regular breathing, the
deeply puckered lips beneath them
were set firmly. He stopped and look
ed at the faces before him. When he
spoke his voice was gentle, and, though
the tremulousness Of age harped on the
vocal strings, it was rigidly controlled.
skin some kline gelmun," he asked.
''please t. be so good ez t. show de ole
main whuh de wife Caips is done
shoot Marse Hawkliss?"
Her. was where it happened, Uncle
Zen," answered Wiley, leading him for
ward. "Here is the STAIN"
Xenophon bent over the spot on the
sand, making little odd noises in his
throat. Then he painfully resumed
his former position. "Dass his BLOOD"
he said in the same gentle, quavering
tone. "Dass my bes' frien' whit lay
on de groun' whay yo' Stand, gelmun.
Dass whuh dey laid i'm, an dass whuh
he lie," the old negro continued. "Dey
shot i'm in &c fiel's. Dey amt shot i'm
heah. Yondeh dey druggen i'm. but
dis whuh he lie." He bent over again.
then knelt groanin2ly and placed his
hand on the stain. one would have
said. as a man might place his hand
over heart to see if it still beat He
was motionless. with the air of heark-
ening.
"Marse, honey, is you gomez" He
raised his voice as if calling. lis yo
gone, suh-marse?"
He looked up at the circle about him.
and then, still kneeling. not taking his
hand from the sand. seeming to wait
for sign to listen for voice. he said
"WhafO' yo gelmun think de good
Lawd summon Marse Hawkliss? Kase
he de mos fittes'? You know. dat man
TO lais,' stealin' lis wood. You know
whut he done t. de ole thief? TEX an
bull up big fab cen ole Zen shainty.
Say: Hep yo'se'f, an welcome. Reck-
on you hongry, too, ain you, Keno
phon? TEX an feed me, TEX an tex
keer o. me ev' since. All pump de bath
full in de mawn', mex is bed, pull de
weeds outn de front walk; daSS all.
He TEX me in. When All ask i'm aim
he 'fraid keep ole thief he say. jesse:
'Dass all my fault, Xenophon; ought
look you up long go; ought know long
go you be cole desc bald nights. Reck-
on Ah'm de thievenest one us two,
Xenophon, keepin' all dis wood stock
up when you got none he say, jesse.
TEX me in: say he lahk thief; pay me
sala'y; feed me. Dass de main whut
de Caps gone shot lais' night" He
raised his head sharply, and the
terry in his gloomy eyes intensified as
they opened wide and stared at the
sky unseeingly.
'Ah's bawn wild a cawl!" he exclaim-
ed loudly. His twisted frame was
braced to an extreme tension. "Ah's