The Topeka state journal., 1906-03-31
TIE EVENING STORY
The TraiI Of the Serpent.


YOU en- gottel keep my wurd Hep ]
little Laviny in, en- den hurry en- hoe
70 potaters, en- mabby III brung yo' /
some candy when comes back. Be
ef good boy en- min de chickens"
Little Lavinia sat proudly beside her |
mother and affably waved her hand
20 her brother as they drove of, cali
ing back consolingly, ssNeber min, |
zachy, I'll tells yo' all erbout hit"
zacheus stood where he had been
cloud of dust stirred up by ths5 old
horse His heart was full OF bitter
ness and his spirit rebelled at what
he thought a great injustice.
Hits dat ole preacher-man, dat |
whot hit is" he finally announced to
an ancient hen which was indus
triously scratching in the dust at his
feet. Nanny done bin so purticlar
sence he come-tallkin' erbout sparin'
de rod en- spilin' de chile-huecome /
he know whot good fer chilun, he
haint got none, en- mammy's done had
ten, countin dose whot is dade, en-
she neber had no trouble bringin' dem
up widout eny rod, ontu dis here
preacher-man come erlong en- puts de
notion inter her hade. Shucks, I amt
gwine ter hoe no potaters nohow. rs
gwine ter 60 fshin', dat whot I gwine
ter do"
zacheus straightway proceeded to !
dig the necessary bait, complaining to
AitAiSElL Hl1dlWu1lE. LAT ole RL6clEAltA-
man, he done make me tired; whot
dat he say las Sunday-de debl come
ter de Garding oh Edum in de form
OBJ er snake, en- eat er apple-huh,
low dat's plum rediclus. Whoeber
hurd tell OBJ er snake eatln apples
Huecome he know so much erbout de
debil? Eff he don know no more
erbout de debiI dan he do erbout
snakes, he got er heap ter learn
Fbery uder preacher we allS eber had
d4Tr7tf Of1 nrhn7rf q dHbi4 helm
er snake-he allus had horns en- er
tail en- wuz breathin' fire en- brlm-
stone, lake er sho' huff debil. Shucks,
'cose he neber know how de debil
look he haint seen him, lax Brudder
Barker did-all smokin' en- burnin
en- wild eF rade-hot pitchfo'k IN ms
han, en- er long fo'ked tail hangin'
'crost one arm-no sub, don, get
caught wild no ole snake story; noDudy
amt erfeared oh snakes.
His bait-can at length being nlleds
his thoughts turned to the food his
mother had prepared for supper, when
the minister would be the honoreo
guest ''I specs I needs sumphin' ter
lazy ole preacher-man Whot gwine De
here fer suppah. Is gWlne 20 eat
some OBJ dat chicken, I is. Didn't
holp to raise dat ole hen2 sho
gwine eat her laig-
have been seen sitting with his PACK
to the potato patch, in the shade OIL
sycamore tree a chicken leg IN one
hand in the other q square OF corn
bread. So much to his taste he found
these vfands. he did not notice a
movement in the corn field on his leIts
and was aroused from his med1t2tlons
by the wild skurrying of a number OF
chickens which were enjoying a ouse
bath at the edge of the field
sfWhoteber is de mattah wid dem
chickens, dey act SO crazy; reckon
hits er rat" As he arose to his ieet
a more violent trembling OF the corn
was followed by the appearance OF an
immense snake, that crawled slowly
toward him. With a yell the boy
darted behind the chicken house, ana
when safe IN its protecting shade com
menced negotiations with the new
conner. Although trembling with fear,
he made an effort to be exceedingly
Good mornin' Mistah Satan. I hopes
I sees yo' well?'' Receiving no an
swer and the approach continuing, he
cast wildly about In his mind for some
means of escape from the terrible fate
he felt was in store for him tSho' 'lys
distah Satan, Is pleased ter go via
yo' when yo' is ready, but specs yo' Is
mighty tired wid yo. long J0uEney' en-
hongry too, I reckon. haint got no
apples handy, but ef yoll go on inter
de chicken house yo'n I'm plenty OF
nice fat hens whotn be pleased to be
ct" As though understanding, the
huge snake crawled directly to the
door Of the hen house, and lifting his
sca1y head over the sill. looked about
for a moment before deciding to en-
ter.
AS a last resource zacheus be
thought him of prayer. Brother
Barker had found it effective at the
time of his visitation, and what saved |
the righteous then, might help the
wicked now.
Dropping to his knees and closing |
one eye. the other warily keeping tab |
on the movements of the snake. zack- /
Gus began:
"Oh deah Lord. done knows I is a |
wicked sinua-h, en- on'y fitten ter go
erlong wild 11istah Satan, but oh. deah |
Lord, eff yo'n on'y holp me outer dis /
here scrape I done promise yo' I'll hoe /
de potaters en- I won fish no mo on I
Sundays, cross my heart.-en III glib /
all de money Whot I bin sabin fer er /
gun, III glib hit all ter de preacher
man-oh Lord, deah Lord. please fer I
ter make de debiI go inter de chicken /
house,-yo jes' git him in de chicken +
house en- I'll ten ter de res Please
ter hurry deah Lord Gaze he's gittin'
esless,-thanky kinly deah Lord. /
thanky he's done gone in, en- I sho'
keep him dar. Amen"
With the courage of desperation
Zacheus ran around to the front of
the hen house and shut the door. ram
ming the staple firmly IN place. Oar
now, yo' ole debil. come after me, did
yo' F? Yo'u 5es' stay in dar twell I gifts
good en- ready ter lets 20 out En-
don yo' eat up eny oh dose settin
hens nedder. fer my NANNY set con-
siderable sto' by dose hens
Hearing nothing save the frightened
squawking of the hens. Zacheus re-
tired to q distance and sat down to
think the matter over. He was still
afraid. in spite Of his bold front, for he
know the henhouse was old and would
not stand much strain. Presently he
heard the sound of voices in the corn
field and soon two men appeared.
Hey. kid have you seen anything Of
a boa constructor about here?"
mo sub, but I done seen de debu,
en- cotched him. too. But I neber
seen no boy instructor"
well, that's strange. We traced
him clear through the corn neld-Why