The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-08-07
THROUGH THE VALLEY OF raz
SHADOW

L lear no eFll5 Iny rod and Thy STAFF
shall comfort me"
Feebly tOttering beneath the crpol
weight of Times down-pressing hand
a diminutive old negress shambIad
along Bay street, struggling with q
bundle Of laundry the size of which
made her appear all the more dimin-
utive- Her eyes wandered searching
y from face to face, portraying the
longing Of heart that felt the need
Of friendship and the light of kindly
recognition from the eyes of the bur-
rying passerby
Finally the weight of the huge bun-
die became too much for the old ne
gress, and she pumped it down along.
side the writer, and seated herself
thereon. when All stahted ont
she mumbled, dat washin' was
mighty heavy, but now All b1ieyes
ii weighs thousand pounds. Hit sut-
tenly am time dat dis niger was
through carryin' clothes TO de white
folks, but ef hard times don't en- soon
Alb reckon dey'l be a bundle oh buds
on de hearse dat amt been sent home
when dey take me ter de graveyard
and puts me under de grass: an dat
wont be long, nuther."
Mighty hot weather to be carving
around such a bundle, isn't it. aunt
ie?" the writer asked.
"Hit shO am, chile" was the reply.
AN when All sees dem street cyars
whizzin' ter Riverside Park, an me
haFin' ter walk along de streets. hit
shO' do git hotter an hotter. Hit
makes me want ter ride on one OBJ
dem ottermobubbles, but An am sho'
scairt oh dem things
The old woman was silent for a
time. nothing being heard above the
roar of the street except her labored
breathing. But finally, after gazing
steadily at the writer for a time, she
asked: white folks. amt yo' FUN
Georgy?" Yes. nanny" / replied.
'bUt 1t has been a long, long time
since. as a boy. [ meandered and
dreamed along the old red hills I've
been thinking of going back to stay
for years, but somehow I get restless
when I go back and break out into
the world again"
EFF dis niger ebeT gifts back ter
de ole plantation she sighed, "dey
49, - NJ rro,blo oho,,+ No S+o,-;ns
dsr. An reckon de plantation hain't
whut hit wuz. though, an de only way
fer me ter git back is ter dream at
night or wait till gifts ter de home
above, which All 'spects looks jes lax
Georgy when de cotton fields am
white.
The established bond Of fellow
feeling" gave the wrinkled, weakened
relic Of older days a foundation for
touching" me for 10 cents, and the
last I saw of her she, bundle and all,
was aboard a car. and bound for Riv-
erside Park ''Gawd bless yer, hon
: ey," she murmured before leaving.
dis ole Niger am on de journey, an
she'll soon be dar. Ah'n suttenly be
glad when de time comes. too, cause
when All thinks about dat verse in
de Bible about de valley OBJ the shadT
der OBJ death An amt scairt ter go"
The blindly trusting faith of that ig-
norant old woman took me back
through the years to childhood, bring
ing me tender memories Of the day
when I first heard that verse, which
has comforted thousands ia the last
hour. and of one who passed serenely
into the unknown with the words OF
the verse on her lips And ] envy the
old negres for the faith that will light
her way when she enters the valley
of the shadow" as it did for another
of like kind who had gone on before,
was a very little boy then, and
had reached that indescribably grand
and important era in life which comes
when a boy dons his first pair OF
trousers. My! but I was king that
day. and had no humber or staunch-
er subject than old black nanny
who insisted on taking "mah chile
TO "mah church" with her. The church
was an old log cabin, located near a
spring at the foot of a foliage-cover-
ed mountain. and the preacher was a
deep-voiced negro. who, after taxing
the above beautiful verse as his text
proceeded to preach Of birthstone hell
fire and a few more things that MADE
waves of fear dance up and down my
youthful spinal column like lightning
playing on a lightning rod-that Is
if lightning was ever known to strike
one of these wonderful instruments Oh
protection.