Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1910-01-13
child in terror.

child In terror.
Every man looked into the whitened
face of his neigh5or as his hand
sought his hip pocket. The little voice
cried within the closed house. One
ourly fellow set his shoulder to the
door, and sent it in, splintered. All
looked.
Before them was the back door.
shattered; in this jagged frame stood
a small black boy. He had chung to
the back of buggy on the way out.
and run to the rear of the house when
he saw the front door whole. Now
his hands covered his eyes, his pierre
ing voice filed their ears.
On the floor, by the cold hearth, lay
Foster Black, stone dead, marks of
fingers on his throat No sign of
struggle was in the room. He must
have fallen without defense, as Jerry
said. in the vision his knees wouldn't
hole him up"
The little black boy was comforted.
and the living men stood silent around
Foster, who lay in the long silence of
death.
Foster was known to have had good
crops. He always hid his money about
the house. Jerry was to be married
and wanted money for n house. as. in
deed, the poor. happy fellow had con-
hded to everyone he knew, in turn.
He had arrived In town in a pitiable
state some hours after the time he
had said the murder was done. Evil
IDENTIFY he had stayed in the woods to
make story to tell. Evidently he
had been tempted by the money.
Ugly murmurs arose. Passionate,
thick voices muttered the black guilt
around Fosters body lying cold on the
cold hearth.
Someone-it was never known who
said, Lynch himl" Their outraged
blood leaped in consent, but, lacking
a leader, they paused in a choked
quiet, full Of portent.
The little black boy spoke, He put
ten on he shoes sence"
How do you know that, Mark7"
they asked him with one voice.
He foot-ma'ks in de yad, outen
back"
The men pressed out of the broken
door. On the bare earth, still soft
enough from the previous days rain
to take a footprint. were the marks
of the bare feet Jerry had claimed
to hear "padpaddiRg around de house"
The youngest physician bent over
them. That foot was never Jerrys;
it's too short" he said.
Someone laughed incredulity. But
the sheriff said, "Wimberly has an ole
dog" and started forthwith for the
bloodhound
The old gaunt-eyed creature was
fetched in a wagon, and he'd in leash,
led up the path where so many feet
had trod and in to the sprawled body.
Very carefully he stalked and shifted,
and at the back step he threw up his
head in long howl. The scent lay
In the half-dry earth. With his nose
dropped once more to the foot-marks
the dog started.
The older men remained by the
body, the younger men followed.
The dog went over the hill, through
the peach orchard, down through the
standing fodder corn, and out across
SAS OCNNOL ACAO W Tie 6ukC Oh the
pine woods, where a little shack
stood, as though Withdrawing from
the field, ruinous and overgrown with
jack-beans hanging in thick clusters
Of purple flowers. There the dog
clamored at the door, furious in his
baffled rage. Four men held him.
The door was opened. Within, on
the floor, for the shack was empty,
grinning at them and driveling a lit
tie at the mouth, sat a red-bearded
man, very plainly mad.
The dog without yelled and strug-
gled, trying to reach his quarry; the
man paid no heed, but sat smiling and
picking at the edge of his coat.
When they took him to town, bound,
news had already come, by telegraph,
OF his escape from confinement in the
southern part of the state.
But Jerry was changed. Since he
had experienced a death-bed sending
all the earth and air were full of spir-
itual life