The Baltimore County union, the Towson news., 1909-12-04
A Primitive Fight With Satan,
written for The Union-News.)


1t was late afternoon and near the
close of beautiful November day
one of those rare days which occur
sometimes between late summer and
early fall-when | crossed sedge
field thickly studded with briers and
jimson weed, in a secluded bit of
rough, hilly country down in old Vir-
ginia near what is generally termed
in that section as the Cross Roads.
There was tinge Of frost in the air as
the sun slowly sank in the west like a
great golden orange behind a bank of
slaty-colored clouds. hadhad long,
weary tramp through scrub pine,
"beggar lice, = milk-weed and sumach,
and | was about as tired as my two
dogs which followed at my heels and
which had nosed out every covert and
thicket in search of birds. A short trip
across an abandoned field, and over
gentle rise lay the old farm house at
which I had put up for a weeks
shooting. AS | was about to crawl
from the top rail of an old-time worm
fence upon which / had perched for a
brief spell to rest my weary limbs I
saw an odd figure approaching from a
bend in the road, full view of which
had been partly screered by clump
of naked alders. 1t proved to be an
old colored man, who was moving in
an aimless fashion, and as his feet
moved forward in shutting gait they
raised from the sandy road cloud of
powdery dust. He was about the
time in life when the proverbial dar-
key gives his ageas mos er hun'red. "
His face was covered with gray, kim
ky beard, and between his lips he
held a short-stemmed corn-cob pipe,
much colored by long usage. A short
distance in his wake followed di-
minutive little chap, probably the old
mans great -grandchild. The sorrows
and perplexities of nearly hundred
years lay between the couple.
"Evenin', Boss" said the old fell
low with wide flourish Of battered,
rimless hat. His voice was drawling
and childlike in its modulations.
"How-do," / replied, as the old pa
triarch came ito a full halt. He seemed
to have gotten up for a special occas-
ion. Seeing an opportunity to learn
little local history of the place and
knowing the reputed fondness of
some of the colored folks for dealing
out this bit of information, I asked
uncle" where he might be going at
that time in the evening.
why, whar you all been Twin,
Captain? Hain't yer heerd o de big
times we all's been havin' at Sim non
Swamp Mefodis' Church? Yes-sir-
rec bob-ree /! 'Tain't nothin' been
like hit in desc parts since Cindy and
I tux up housekeeping. En- cou'se
we done hit regulates like quality
folks. Yes-sir-ree bob-ree |"
/ at once saw that the old man was
preparing for a long and elaborate
explanation. He had a peculiar
fashion of interjecting between his
words low "uh .huh," as if he ex-
pected his audience to sanction his
utterances of "yes-sir-ree bob-ree r.
which he accompanied with a know
ing sideways shake of his head.
When I asked for some informa-
ton on the subject of the wonderful
doings of which you all's' were in
total ignorance, the old fellow said,
with a gleam of satisfaction in his
wrinkled face:
well, hits erbout de big contracted
meetin' we all's been havin', an
l mought as well mosey right erlong.
Dey's been pow w'ful 'vival in desc
yere parts, an you all mus sho'ly Nv
heerd Nv it.''
When / told him l was a stranger
in these parts and had not heard of
the meeting it caused the old man to
look up with quizzical air.
well, we'll now dat jes' bects
buck! Deed hit do. Yes-sir-ree
bob-ree Some OBJ 'em do allow hit
am sham battle wild some OBJ dem
converts, do dey had mons'rus time
er gittin' thro'. Deed some on 'em
say dat dem was hard cases wat
'fesses 'ligin' an dey'll be done gone
frum de chu 'ch QuicE'rn molly-cotton
kin git erway frum yer on de jump.
But de Lawd knows, an l spec he
won't tell. Yes-sir-ree bob-ree
"Ef you all wants ter heah er pow
full sermon. ies' come ter de meetin'
ternight. Br'er Andronicus Spencer
II hev de boys footin' it ternight,
sho's yo's bawn!"
Where is the church ?" inquired.
had often heard of the exclamatious
fervor of the colcred folks and wished
to verify the statements as to the ac-
curacy Of reports.
See whar dem 'simmon trees hud-
die tergether over in de grove? Well,
hits right dar."
AS followed the direction indicat-
ed by the old mans finger l saw, a
short distance away, light-blue curl
of smoke rising straight above the
tops of the tall persimmon trees,
which, when it reached the upper air,
spread out in fan-shape and foated
off and finally dissolved into filmy
cloud. From the branches of the
trees clusters of topaz globes were
suspended, which had been ripening
in the mellow November sunshine,
end only awaited the nipping frosts
to bring them to perfection and
ell IL 81 r;oh collar, nlrinn NTH r,i1lnrr