The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1906-12-26

..o-r, the call came TIC
h I'm. mellowed
by distance, he raised his head a little
and chuckled, then resumed his work
which was the driving of large plug
merged in the water.
1000. Pomp. Massa gwine scorch
You if you amt hurry quick" came
the voice more sharply. He say you
! pgttin' trifiin' an no count"
/ The stone was poised for an instant,
/ then descended with two or three de-
liberate taps which completed the
work. Pomp examined the end of the
! log critically. The plug was driven in
| level with the rest of the wood, so
no sign that it had been tempered
with. Even Pomp seemed satisfied,
for he chuckled again and started
back in a leisurely way toward the
quarters.
AS he passed among the cabins ON
his way to the big house he met a
dozen or more stalwart young fell
lows. They grinned at sight Of Pomp.
$50 Tom done foun' your one of them
jeered. You better run long faster n
dat, for massa been 'quire for you a
plumb hour
dat show my 'portance," said Pomp
composedly. But you mistake bout
Tom tindin' me. He down there vet
an shoutin' hissef hose. l come roun'
bout way. so he ain see me. Exercise
good for Tom. an he aim dar' come
back till he find me- An, oh, say,
Nose. De backlog's ready. De top
jes' touch out de water. Dat show it
soak plumb smack all de way t'rou'.
Dat log burn two whole weeks shore"
Huh. Huh" scoffed several of the
hands. WHO ever hear backlog burn
over one week.
Plenty people gwine hear it dis
year." declared Pomp. You know we
hab holiday jes' long s de backlog
burn
Colonel Belknap was on his veranda
smoking when Pomp approached him,
can In hand
Hello, you black rascal. he said ex-
plosively. 80 you're here at last Why
didn't you come when Tom first called
you"
Call me?" innocently. 81 declar' l
ain seen Tom dis day. Where he call
me at?''
Everywhere, I imagine" dryly.
i've been hearing his voice yelling
your name for the last hour, and loud
enough to be heard two miles off.
Where have you been?"
"Workin' at the backlog, massa. You
know you tot -
Yes, told you six weeks ago that YOU
might get the backlog because though
you're trusty enough fellow in other
ways, you're a past master at Sinking
when it comes to work And through
all these six weeks you have made that
backlog bear the burden of your mis-
deeds. Even lazy boy ought to cut
log in half day"
"Its-it's in de cypress swamp now,
massa'
well, l sent Tom straight to the
swamp after you," looking at him keen
~. How did you miss him."
Reckon we both come tother way
bout, massa, an didn't see neither Of
u.s. Pomp answered frankly. But I
low l better hurry right back an find
dat Tom. He's such a scare body he
mout holler roun' in de swamp all night
an git lost an mebbe break his voice.
90 right now"
No, l think you'd better stay here.
Pomp," Colonel Belknap said blandly.
Now that I've caught you l shall
keep you. I'm going to lock you into
the harness room and keep you there
until the last buckle is cleaned and
polished. Once you get out of nv sight
l can't expect to see you again until
every string on your banjo is broken
and the last possum in the woods
caught"
Pomp showed his teeth; then his
face sobered. Don you beliebe dat,
massa," he said earnestly "Mebbe rs
light headed an quick heeled, but I
ain no runabout dat don car for his
own massa, de bes' in de worl'. Jes'
soon's dat backlog burns out rs gwine
be ready for work, an you amt need
call me-"
well, l hope you will, Pomp," more
kindly. Last Christmas the backlog
burned a week, only going out on the
seventh day. Even the greenest, most
cross grained log Of black oak wouldn't
be apt to burn that long behind a good
fire. 1t struck me the log might have
been soaking in water for some time.
Do you think your log will burn a
week, Pomp?"
"Why-er-yes, massa, I spects it |
WILL" Pomp confessed, "an'-an' mebbe
a little more. But you said las year
dat you liked it an 'j'yed it much as
we all"