The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1909-11-12

pect the merry lips Of the same wee
person of such an unheard Of thing
as smiling. And this she. was doing
now. The pensive eyes saw all the
gruesome things that would have
terrified any other child, but which
only amused her, and the dlmpllne
lips knew of the funny. rolling eyes
! Of Black Jane as she told, in hushed
tones, Of all the grotesquelV lnplsh
gnomes that inhabit another plane,
and sometimes insinuate themselves
into this world riding on The petals OF
ill-fated flowers as they come out OF
the earth.
The whip-poor-wills called to each
other in sweet, plaintive note, and
the dragon flies sported across the
bosom of rejecting waters and
darted like a flash, in among the
shadows.
Little MISSES eyes were dreaming
this summer afternoon, but her poppy
crafts were bringing her dreams from
far-away lands, as she tossed IN fe-
yerish delirium. Faithful Black Jane
| sat by the bedside, keeping the air
cool with big palm-leaf fan, frolA
time to time grooming soothing words
of endearment, and sympathetic as
surances that faint gwin' be long,
now, honey, fore yer is gwin' git up
| an go lake yer usen ter, an all dis
ole feber hits er gwin' flaps hits ole
urgly wings an fly way from NAM
my's chile. Jest er lit lie vile, sweet
erbuss, an yer's gwin' be all right. -
And then as the long lashes would
droop over the shining eyes, with a
savage shake Of her turbaned head,
Black Jane would hish, 'wat l tole
'em erbout havin' all dem useless
things hangin' roun' ober de 'hous.
Dey jest orter chop dat crazy vine
often de piazza, an Wen hit blooias,
oh, Lordy!" and she raised her hands
over her head as if to ward off some
blow. Little Missie was sleeping
now, and Black Jane -crept to the
window to peer cautiously around
the corner Of the house. What she
saw to make her mouth fly open, and
her eyes roll back, twas difficult to
ascertain, for anyone else, had he
looked from the same window, would
only have seen a big, full bud push
ing its head up from amongst the
fat leaves on the moon-fower vine,
just waiting for first beam of moon
light to WOO it from its green house,
when it would shake its ten;le:, round
white face, and live its life IN one
glorious, fragrant, mo'1'steepsd
night.
Little Missie s illness was a long
period of burning fever, with mo-
ments Of consciousness, and at these
times she would open her pretty
eyes and ask if her fairy-aowers had
come down from the skies, because
it seemed that the moon-fower
vine reached that high 10 her, and
she had always said the fairies would
send her beautiful white flowers
from the skies. And when they
would tell her that no flowers had
come, she would shut her eyes with
tired sigh and slip off again to the
land of Nowhere.
The crisis was at hand now and
Missie would leave the bedside only
for her meals; not even to rest, and
Black Jane was not allowed in the
room for fear that her presence
might disturb the little patient. In
their solicitude for the recovery Of
Little Missie no one noted the en-
trance Of the moon-fower vine
through window that was always
kept open. But there it was, simply
loaded down with buds that, in their
bursting, would transform the vine
into trailing drapery Of white. Black
Jane could not he induce3 to even
look in the direction of the pillar
which held the swaying vine, and
which was now nearly covered with
the big, round flowers that shone in
the moonlight like some gigantic
monsters eyes.
"Dey amt no good to foller ater
dem urgly things. Ole Death kinder
hang round dat vine, and jest 60
right on up an set on de bosom OF
SOM poo pusson,' she was heard to
mutter over and over to herself dur
ing the illness of Little Missie. And
the firm belief she had IL her super
.-;.;o,, 1ofocto1 +ha oT hoy nporOpS OF