St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1906-03-31
his father. AS he searched here and

the great welts raised upon his back
Missed after him as he passed:
|. Come you here to gloat over the
suffering you have brought upon, us;
Over there is your father? See what
they are doing to him!"
Moses turned and looked in the d.
rection indicated, not needing the
cruel implication contained in the
speakers first words, so eager was he
to find his father There, on the op
posite side of the pit where, four OF
i've men were engaged in digging Out
the clayey soil he saw an old man over
whom the overseer was standing, and
as the latter, with loud-mouthed abuse
and threatening, waved his whip in
the air, the bent form of the aged man
sought frantically to hasten his ef
forts. Moses checked the mad i'm.
pulse to seize the man, and fastening
before him, he cried, with choking
voice:
Let him 30. will take his place.
See, | can do more than he"
Back, you ingrate. You traitor to
Egypt's favor and bounty" the over
seer shouted. Your only way back
to the kings favor is to take. my
place Here. take this"-holdings out
the whip be held in his hand-"and
this is the way to use it," he contin-
ued, swinging the lash through the
air and bringing 1t down with such
force upon the bare back of Amram
that the thongs cut out strips Of
flesh wherever they fell
The old man sank to the ground
with moan. For one instant the
eyes Of Moses rested upon the with
ing form, and then all the pent-up
passion of the years over the suffer-
ings and wrongs Of his people burst
forth. Like maddened beast of the
forest brought to bay and fighting for
its young, he sprang at the throat Of
the Egyptian and bore him to the
ground. The latter was a big,
brawny man, and his great frame
struggled and twisted for the mas
terry. His muscles knit in mighty
convulsive effort to tear Moses hands
from their deadly grip. His fingers,
like the talons Of hawk, sank deep
into the flesh of Moses arms and tore
therefrom strips of bloody skin, but
underneath the muscles were like
bands of steel, against which even
those powerful hands were but as
bending reeds. Ever tighter and
tighter, like the unyielding grip of
a wise, Moses fingers pressed into
the throat of the Egyptian until the
latter's face grew purple WITH the
venous blood that the stified lungs
tried in vain to purify, and his wild
" staring eyes bulged out and hung
over the livid cheeks. OF what avail
that giant strength; that fierce, des-
perate, agonized struggle for life,
before that greater strength born of
a righteous Indignation, and that
more intense passion which flames
forth at last from wrt.ngs long en-
dured. Feebler and feehler grew the
struggles of the Egyptian The
face grew black The protruding eyes
grew CLASSY and sightleys, and as tha
mans hands fell lifeless and limp
from Moses arms, the latter arose
and looked about him aYprehensively.
The man who had first spoken to him
rs he entered the pit was standing
looking on with an expression Of
terror and exultation, but the
other laborers had left the place with
their loads of clay before the strug-
gle had begun and had not yet re.
turned. for the struggle was brief.
: Motioning to the man to cone to
his help, they were soon busy digging
a deep recess in the yielding sands
in the side of the pit, where they
placed the body of the dead Egyptian
and again filed in the soil to the face
Of the side of the pit. Then without
speaking a word Moses lifted the
limp form of his father upon his back
and returned home. He laid the old
man tenderly upon the rude bunk
and while Miriam and her mother
sought to restore him to conscious
ness he quickly and briefly told them
his story. So absorbed was he in
the telling of it and SO excited were
The women in listening that they did
1ot realize the possibility that Amram
might be dead until they had worked
over the inert form for some time.
But the over-exertion Of the morning,
he excitement and the shock OF the
cruel blow had proved too much for
the feeble strength Of the old man, and
he had not rallied from the uncon-
,ciousness into which he sank after
he blow fell.
That night under the silent stars
he sorrowing family laid the poor
form OF their loved one be-
heath the soil of Goshen, and Moses
home with a new purpose
Using within him. Out of the expert
snce of the day there came 4 call to |
,ervice, and over his dead he pledged |
himself to be faithful. He had trained |
ind led the armies of Egypt to vic
DRY. Why could he not organize and |
drill his brethren for the time when
Tod should call them out?
Filled with this new thought he |
vent forth the next day. He would |
ret better acquainted with his peo-
pie; he would quietly study the sit
lation and plan how to carry out his
purpose. While thus engaged his at
ention was drawn to two OF the He
rev laborers who were struggling |
lercely together for the possession Of /
certain choice bit of soil more |
lasily worked than the rest, and learn
ng who had first discovered the