The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1910-03-25

their hearts went together, like steel
to the magnet. Where Cage had
been and what he had been doing
during his months in the woods the
world will never know, but before
many hours Jake knew it all. Now.
if he was a great pot-bellied, fiat
headed negro, Cage was still a phi
losopher and Stoic.
"Marse Jake, I knows dat dey
gwine to whip me, dey is bleged to
do dat, case Use a runaway, but
IItwant you to get old Master to do de
iwhippen: case you see, he don't
know how to whip a niger. He
brings de strap straight down and
dat don't hurt much, but de over
seer, take care, he brings de strap
down wid a jerk and a twist and
dat fairly brings de marrow outen
de bones. Go get old marster to do
de whippen.
When the word got abroad
next morning that ''runaway
Cage" had come in, the news
spread like prairie fire. The young
negroes in the yard watched Cage
from a distance, with awe and Won
derment to see~ that good natured
individual, metamorphosed intb all
the hideous monsters their magma
ton could picture. The overseer
felt satisfied with himself at the
idea of soon having the satisfaction
Of paying off old scores with that
lazy, trihing runaway. The neigh
bors came in to lay complaints, for,
in, those days, all the chickens or
sheep stolen were generally laid at
the doors Of runaways. When any
thieving was done in the neighbor-
hood, every negro in the land was
seeing signs Of runaways.
Many charges were made against
Cage, but the goods were not found
on him and Major Baldwin would
not stand for the barbarous custom
Of "whipping a negro to make him
confess.' He told the overseer and
neighbors that he would attend to
Cages punishment himself for he
did not believe in his guilt and he
let it be understood no restraint
would be put upon the old life Of
Jake and Cage during the vacation
days.
So Cage went unwhipped Of JUS
tice as ne understood it, for he said,
a Runaway is bleged to be whipped. "
During their hunts and rambles,
Cage unfolded his life as a "runa-
way" to Marse Jake. It was like a
story written upon a scroll Of parch-
ment. and the more he told the more
was young Baldwin's heart fred at
the wild, exciting life Cage had led.
He told Of a den be had down on one
of the islands near where his grand
mother lived, she being cook in the
home of a collateral branch Of the
Baldwin, family; how he dug pota-
toes from the fields, plundered the
rabbit boxes and had them barbe-
cued every night; how he would
catch chickens on the roost and
laugh at people shooting when the
chichen squawked; how he fshed
and robbed old free Joe's set hooks.
He told of the monster fish he
caught in the Four acre pond, how
they bit in the barrado hole during
the night, and that fish jumped up in
the Broad-A2e and deep Eddy, as
big as gars and surgeons; that he
had found old Hog Isaac's fish bas-
ket and robbed it every morning,
Just before he would come down to
the river; that old Isaac would curse
the fish for not going into his bas-
ket, while Cage laughed in the
bushes; that he took old Joe's boat
down the river and hid it and there
it is yet; that whenever he heard the
yelping of dogs he made for the
river and his den in the island. All
these tales fred the heart of easy
going, pleasure loving Jake Bald
win and caused him to pine secretly
for the wild life Of a runaway. Cage
declared his intention to run away
again whenever Marse Jake went to
school again, "whip or no whlp.'
ITO Be Continued.)
YEARS COTTON CROP