Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-03-03

been made of innumerable blaci
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 tiei
his eyes were bright and dry under
the solemn lids, and, though his heavy
nostrils were unusually distcnded ir
the effort for regular breathing, tn,
deeply pnckcrcd lips beneath then
were set firmly. He stopped and look
ed at the faces before him. When b,
spoke his voice was gentle, and, though
the tremulousness Of age Ia epcd on tn.
vocal strings It was rigidlv controlled
kin some kline gcgmur." Re asked
please T. he 70 good az t. show de ole
main whuh lie wife Caips 10 done
shoot Marse HawklissT"
Here was where +. happened Uncle
Zen answered Wiley, leading him for.
ward. Here is tie stain"
Ncnophon hert over the spot on the
sand. making little Odd noises in his
throat. Then he painfully resumed
his forlaer position. 'Dass his blood
he said in 81 came gentle, quavcrina
tone "Dns, Ey baS' frien' whit lay
on dc groun' whay 90 Stand. gelmun.
Dass whuh G'y laid lin. an dass whuh
he lie" the old negro continued. "Dcy
shot ''m in dc falls. Dcy amt shot i'm
hcah. Iondch dcy druggcn i'm, bu!
dis whuh he lie" lie bent over again,
then knclt groaningly and placed his
hand on the stain, one would have
said, as n man might place his hand
over heart to see IL it still beat. He
was motoncss, with the air OF heark
cning.
Marsc, honey, is you gomez He
gone, suh-marsc."
He look, ID up at the circle about him,
and then. still knecling, 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? Knse
he de mos iittes! You know. dat man
he ketch me in de cole night. wiptuh
TO lais. stealth Is wood. You know
whit he done t. de ole thief? TEX an
bull up big tiah cen ole Zen shainty.
Say: Hep yo'se'f, an welcome. Reck-
on you hongry, TOO, ain you. Memo.
phon| TEX an feed me. TEX an TEX
kecr O me ev since. All pump de bath
full in de mewn'. mex is bed. pull de
weeds outn de front walk; dass all.
He tex me in. When All ask i'm ain
he 'frad keep ole thief he say. jesse:
'Dass all my fault, Xcnophon; ought
look you up long go; ought know long
go you he 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 lahll thief: pay me
sala'y: feed me. Dass de main whut
de Caps gone shot lais' night" He
raised his head sharply. and the mys-
terry in his gloomy eyes intensified as
they opened wide and stared at the
sky unseeingly.
Abs Dawn wild n cawl." he exclaim.
ed loudly. His twisted frame was
braced to an extreme tension. "Ah's
Dawn wild a cawl, De blood anssuh.'
at wasn't the White Caps. Uncle
Xenophon," said Warren Smith. laying
his hand on the old mans shoulder.
Xenophon rose to his feet IL
stretched 'ong, bony arm straight tc
the west, where the Crossroads lay
CT ri; Il sil Al
spoke:
DE men whut shot Marse Hawk
Hiss lies yondeh. hidln FUN de light o
day. An him he swervcd his whole
rigid body till the arm pointed north
west-"he lies yondeh You won fine
i'm heah. Dey fought i'm in de lel's
an dey drugger i'm heah. Dis whul
.dey lay i'm down. Abs Dawn wild 9
cnwl.'
There were EXPLANATIONS from The
listeners, for Xcnophon spoke as one
having authority. Suddenly he turned
and pointed his outstretched hand full
at Judge Briscoe.
AN dass de MAN." he cried; "das;
de main kin tell yo' All speak d,
trufc.'
Before Briscoe answered, Eph Watt:
looked at him kecnly and then turned
to Lige Willetts and whispered: &c
On your horse. ride in and ring tho
courthouse bell like fury. 10 as
say"
Tears stood in the judges eyes. II
is So" he said solemnly. "IIe speak!
the truth. didn't mean to tell it to
day. but somehow He paused
The hounds" he cried They dc
serve it. My daughter saw them cross
ing the fields in the night-saw then
climb the fence. big crowd of them
She and the Indy who Is visiting II,
saw thcm-saw them plainly. Thu
lady saw them several times clear n.
day by the flashes Of lightning. The
scoundrels were coming this way. They
must have been dragging him with
them then. lie couldn't have had 4
show for his life among them. DC
what You like. Maybe they've got hin
at the Crossroads. If there's chanc,
of it, dead or alive, bring him back"
A voice rang out above the clamol
that followed the judges speech.
Bring him back! God could. may
be, but he won't Who's trnvelin' m!
way? l 20 west" Hartley Bowldel
had ridden his sorrel right up the EN-
bankment, and tho horse stood between
the rails.
There was an angry roar from the
crowd. The prosecutor pleaded ant