Oxford Democrat., 1907-07-02

IG By STEPHEN CRANE. I
p Author sf Tho Red Badss Of ces'. {
4 ase." Etc.
2 Copyright, 1900, BY Wllidm Ho,pe Crane. \
| O-O-O-o-O-O-OO-O-O-
jrI BRYANTS place was ON the
SHORE OF the lake; and his gar.
den patch, shielded from the
- north by bold little promon.
tory and higher ridge inland, was ac'
counted the most successful and sur.
prising in all Whilomville township.
One afternoon 81 was working in the
garden patch when DR.. Trescott's man,
Peter Washington. came trudging slow
ly along the road. observing nature.
He scanned the white mans fine agri-
cultural results. Take your eye of
them there melons, you rascal" said
81 placidly.
The negro's face widened In grin
Of delight. "Well. Mist Bryant,
raikon | amt on'y make m'se'f cover
tous er-lookin' at dem we're mellums,
sure 'nough. Dey suhtainly is grand"
That's all right" responded ST. with
affected bitterness Of spirit. That's
all right. Just don't you admire 'em
too much. that's ALL"
Peter chuckled and chuckled. "Ma
Lode. Mist Bryant. y-y-you dom think
Pm gwine come prowlin' in dish yer
gawden"
mo, know you hain't," said 81,
with solemnity, 'b'cause II you did I'd
shoot you SO full Of holes you couldn't
tell yourself from a sponge"
"Um-no. sch. No. sch. l dom raik-
on you'll get chance at Pete, Mist Bry-
ant. No, sch. I'll take an run long
an rob er bank fore I'll come foolish
in round your gawden, Mist Bryant"
Bryant. gnarled and strong as an old
tree. leaned on his hoe and laughed a
Yankee laugh. His mouth remained
tightly closed. but the sinister lines
which ran from the sides Of his nose
to the meetings Of his lips developed
to form comic oval. and he emitted
series of grunts. while his eyes
cleaned merrily and his shoulders
shook. Pete. on the contrary. threw
back his head and guffawed thunder
ously. The effete joke in regard to an
American negro's fondness for water
melons was still an admirable pleas
antry to them. and this was not the
first time they had engaged in badi-
mage over It. In fact. this venerable
survival had formed between them a
friendship OF casual roadside quality.
Afterward Peter went on mp the
road. He continued to chuckle until
he was far away. He was going to
pay a visit to old Alex Williams, ne
gro who lived with large family in
hut clinging To the side Of a mountain.
The scattered colony OF negroes which
lowered near Whilomville was Of in
terestlng origin. being the result Of
some contrabands who had drlfted as
far north as Whilomyille during the
great civil war. The descendants OF
these Adventures were mainly con-
spicuous for their bewildering number
and the facility which they possessed
for adding even to this number. Speak
ing. for example. OF the Jacksons, one
couldn't hnrl stone into the hills
about Whilomville without having II
land on the roof of hut full of Jack
SONS.
The town reaped little in labor from
these curious suburbs. There were Il
few men who came in regularly to
work in gardens. to drive teams, to
care for horses, and there were few
women who came in to COOK OF 10
wash. These latter had usually drunk
en- husbands. In the main the colony
loafed in high spirits, and the indus
trious minority gained no direct honor
from their fellows, unless they spent
their earnings. on raiment, in which
case they were naturally treated with
distinction. On the whole, the hard
ships of these people We're the wind.
the rain, the snow and any other physI
ical difficulties which they could cu,I
vate. About twice year the lady phi
lanthropists Of Whilomville went up
against them and came away poorer In
goods but richer In complacence. After
one of these attacks the colony would
preserve a comic air Of rectilude for
two days, and then relapse again to
the genial responsibility Of a crew
Of monkeys.
Peter Washington was one Of the in
dustrious class who occupied position
Of distinction, for he surely spent his
money on personal decoration. On oc-
casion he could dress better than the
mayor Of Whilomville himself, or ut
least in more cOlors, which was the
main thing to the minds OF his ad-
mirers. His ideal had been the late
gallant Henry Johnson, whose con-
quests in Watermelon alley, as we'll as
In the hill shanties, had proved him the
equal II not the superior of any Pull
man car porter in the country. Per-
haps Peter had too much Virginia lazi-
ness and humor in him to be wholly
adequate successor to the fastidious
Henry Johnson, but, at any rate, he
admired his memory so attentively as
to be openly termed dude by envious
people.
On this afternoon he was going to
call on old Alex Williams because
Alexis eldest girl was just turned sew
enteen and, to Peters mind, was a tri-
umph Of beauty. He was not wearing
his best clothes, because on his last
visit Alexis half breed hound Susie had
taken occasion to forcefully extract q
quite large and valuable part Of the
visitors trousers. When Peter arrived
at the end of the rocky field which con-
tanned old Alexis shanty he stopped
and provided himself with several
large stones, weighing them carefully
in his hand. and finally continuing his
journey with three stones Of about
eight ounces each.
When lac was near the house three
gaunt hounds. Rover and Carlo and
Susie, came sweeping down upon him.
His impression was that they were
going to climb him as II he were a
tree, but at the critical moment they
swerved and went growing and snap
ping around him. their heads low. their
eyes malignant The afternoon caller
waited until Susie presented her side