Valentine Democrat., 1907-05-30

After Many Years
~~~~~~~~O~~

Now, Miss Jinney, you is alus a want
in story about dem tryin' times in
Ole Caroliney, an rs jes dom tole ye
all knowed ober and ober agin."
And our own colored cook, 'Tilda Jack
son, knocked the ashes out of her pipe
on the hearth of the kitchen range, which
to US children was a preliminary sign
that old 'Tilda held in reserve one of her
"reminiscences of her life on the Old Car
ter plantation, near the city of Charles
ton, and of the Civil War.
We children, my sister and 1, used
to love to steal down to her especial do
main in the cleaning, and tease for a
story Of that enchanted land of flowers,
and especially of those battles fought near
the Carter place, and of which the old
negress was an eye witness.
Reflling her pipe, and settling herself
In her easy chair, she continued:
Il jes' done recolmember one noah OBJ.
dem yarns, but it's erbout how my ole
missus KEEP Decoration Day all by her
lone self, an how she done put posies on
one grave fur fifteen long years afore
she found out who de poah young fella
was"
Here old "Tilda stopped and lighted
her pipe, puffed away with retrospective
glance at US two girls, as we crept closer
to this oracle in ebony, and, having stim-
ulated our curiosity, she continued:
"Wal, jes' a couple o days after dat
ere big fight at Charleston my ole man,
Lige Jackson, he was down back O. de
field a cuttin' bresh,> an all at once l
seen him drop the Ak an start fur de
house on run. An I was dat scarf 1
let de soap boil over, case was maxim
soap out u de yard, an was bound dat
4 snake had bit him, or he had got lick
wild de ax-fur Lige was de LATEST niggah
in de whole kentry, an l knowed some
thing had happened when l seen him git
such a move on to him. An shore
enough, when he came up, all out of breff,
I knowed it was time to git scarf, an
says he: ''iTldy, tell de missus dar's a
sojier lyin' down dar back. OBJ de fence,
by de run, an 1 reckon he is powful bad
hurt, case he's grownin' an done seem
to sense notin'.'
"Wal, my missus want berry ole in
dem days, but she was JUS done fading
lake a putty posey, along OBJ dat dread
full wah, expecting to heah dat de cunnel
was killed, an all de oder trouble erbout
de niggas gittin' free, wild de place half
woked an fust one army takin' rations
and den de oder till it pears like day
wasent much lef'. Wall, l jis pulled de
stick from under dat soap kittle an run
round to de front porch, whar missus
was sittin', an tole her what Lige seen.
She got right up an made Lige an ole
Minkey, de coachman, go and brung dat
pooh fellah to de house. She an me
fxin' up bed fur him while dey is gone.
"Byenby dey toats him in an LAYS
him IN it. He was outen his hade lake
an missus send right off fur doctor.
and be foun' he was shot in de side, de
ball goin' roun' by de spine, an he say
dat air pooh boy dun got he death blow. !
and de doctor reckon he was elder shot
while on picket duty or had dropped be- |
hind when he dun got hurt, while de army |
marched on an lef' him. Anyway. dar |
he was, an he doant know nobody ner !
nothing, an de doctor say he was par
Used, SO he couldent even move his pooh !
tongue.
Wall, missus an me nussed him till |
we both pretty nigh dun drop in our
tracks fur a week. Den at las he dun |
went home to glory, as de sun was set
tin' lake in a sea of fab.
But jis' afore he breaved his las he
kinda com'd to his senses, an KEEP q
lookin' at missus-an' he try'd so mighty
bard to speak an was dat distressed |
cese be couldn't, de big tears roll outen