Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-06-06

William WAS seated again at his place
Il, the table, With a broad grin ON his
face.
lis it down. William." my grand
Yes. MIR. Haynes: thank the Lord. its
gone. Please pass m. the ham"
Tw" old ffddlcrs banq,eted at "a ban
auet. They %hanpueted all night long.
They kept up the banquet for Il week
'oselher after the original banquet Was
over: but they got separated one morn
ing and met in the aftcrnonn.
one of them said: Good morning.,
me said. Good evening"
l.. us morning and that's the sun. /
KNOW what 1 ann talking about"
no. sir: it's evening. and that's the
full moon. have. INVESTIGATED ,h.
question"
We'll" said the first. we'll no, have
amy fuss over it. Well leave il to the.
hrst gentleman we come across to settle
Wne,tier IT'S morning or evening""
Ihey locked arms and staggered
Gown the street together until they
came upon another gentleman hanging
on Il lamp post. One OF them apu,.n:,.hed
him and said:
Friend. we don't want to interiors
Ml'h your meditation. but this gentle
man says It's morning and that's the
sun. l say it's evening and that's Nh,
'uIl iio"fi. We desire 70 get Won to
Seltle the question"
The fellow stood and look cd az /; =.
rum minute and finally said:
>, Hehtiernen. you'll have to excuse me-.
~ Il stranger in this town."
non i"nS & wandered back to the.
scenes of my boyhood on my fathers
ui' laiil on the bank OF the river i'm the
".aul.lul and "f my native Tennessee.
mountains Strc >-An1 aa-.
the painless woods with my rit,s sn
my shoulder. sat on the old Familiar
loss amid the falling leaves of antun,n
ana heard the squirrels bark and shake.
.le Drahcies AS they jumped from tree
10 Tree. 1 heard the primitive song of
nv my poor-wllI and the drumming
or a pheasant and the boot of n Wis.,
""i way oNrr i'm Sleepy Hollow. /
heard the tinkling of bells ON the dis
AN Mills sweetly mingling with tn,
happy chorus of the song birds i'm their
evening Serenade.
All living creatures seemed to be
chanting Il hymn of praise tn their God
Just as they used to long ago.; and as /
90. lnere on thai familiar spot and lis
tehed To the weird. wild HARMONY. I
was rapt AS in a reverie.
VISION OF the happy past opened be-
a Inng u mae, ! thought I was a boy again
plantation and heard the old-timc
aarRles laugh and sing and play the
noble as they used to long ago. I
rlousnt 4 sat once more i'm old Uncle
rsu,us cabin and listened to the old
man $ stories again. I remembered the
s'pr. OF Uncle Rufus at prayer.
lhcle Rufus was i'm his cabin one
nlsht all alone. with barred and boltsd
""oI. praying at the top of his voice.
y Lord. send de good angels down
10 take pc ole Rufus home"
ABOUT that time some miscellaneous
boys who heard him, knocked loudly ON
the door outside. Uncle Rufus shot UNI
der the bed and shouted:
WHO'S dar?"
The angel of the Lord has come to
TAX po' old Rufus home"
.G'aWd bless o III, Marse Angel. that
niger don't live here now. he's done
gone"
remembered the story of Uncle Ru-
lus and the rabbit. Uncle Rufus was
proving around one night in slavery
days, and the "paterrollers" got after
! m He jumped the fence and went
across the field like a cyclone. He ran
over a rabbit and the two got badly
mixed; each trying to get away from
n other. Finally Uncle Rufus kicked
at the rabbit and shouted:
Narmlnt. eff you can't run. git out
NV the way and let somebody run whut
kin rum"
remembered the story of Uncle Ru-
rus the ghost. His young master
SAID to him one evening:
Uncle Rufus. don't YOU want to GO
up there In the dark hollow i'm that
old haunted church and see a ghost."
Go way I'm heah. chile! Don't
come aroun' me talkin' bout no
ghosts!"
But finally he persuaded him. and led
the trembling old "A into the dark
ana silent church n seated him on a
bench. One OF his young masters pals.
with a sheet wrapped around him.
gltded across the church floor, sat down
y Uncle Rufus, and said in a hoarse
and solemn voice:
Uncle Rufus. there are only two nf
us here!"
God bless you. there'll be only one
of us here in about two seconds"
And the old man shot out of the door
aid down the o a and over the hills
and through h woods until he had
run himself out of breath. He sat down
on a log in h woods to rest.
Another pal of his young master.
with a sheet wrapped around him. rose
up from behind the log. sat down by
Uncle Rufus and said:
Rufus. we had a terrible
race"
Yes. an bless God. we gwine ter
hab another one
n there was nothing but a little
cloud of dust way down tho valley.
will tell you a little story of Uncle
"Ephraham." He lived alone in his
cabin. as many OF the old time darkies
lived. and his 'possum dog lived with
him. One evening Uncle Ephraham
came home from his labors and took
his 'pOssum dog into the woods, and
soon caught n fine. large. fat postum.
He brought him home and dressed