The Detroit times., 1913-11-01

I'VE just stopped for drink Of your
good water"
The old Negro nodded his head.
Good watah." he said In the gentle
quavering tones Of extreme age. "Yas,
Mars. Hep yo'sef. Come rom de
centah OBJ de yerf, dat watah. En-
dah's folks say de centah OF de yerf
10 all fab. Yo' reck'n dey's right.
Mars Chahmahs?"
Now. how the devil do you know
who | am, Anthony" The judge set
down his -cap- en-the weileurb. Il
haven't been by here for a year
The ebony head moved slowly from
side to side. "Ol Ant'ny don need
no eyes, he said. touching his hand
to his brow. He see ev'ything
heah."
The Judge beckoned to the others
and they trooped inside the paling
I've brought some other folks with
me, Anthony; can you tell who they
are?"
The sightless look wavered over
them and the white head shook
slowly. Don know young mars,
said the gentle voice. How many
yuddahs wild yo'? One. two? No,
don know young mistis, eidah.'
Il reckon you don't need any
eyes," Judge Chalmers laughed, as
he passed the sweet cold water to
the rest. "One of the young ladies
wants you to tell her fortune"
The old negro dropped his head,
wQvtnu hiu hu
Then his gaze lifted and the whiten-
ed eyeballs roved painfully about as
II in search Of something elusive. The
Judge beckoned to Betty Page, but
she shook her head with little grim
ace and drew back
You go, Shirley" she whispered,
and with a laughing glance at the 9TH
ers, Shirley came and sat down OH
the lowest step.
Mad Anthony put out wavering
hand and touched the young body.
His fingers strayed over the habit
and went up to the curling bronze
under the hat-brim Dis de III mis-
tis." he muttered, "ain' afeahd oh OIL
Antny. Dah's fah en- she ain
afeahd. en- dah's watah en- she ain
afeahd. Wondah whit All gwine tell
huh? Whut de coloh OBJ yo' hath,
.honey?"
Black put In Chilly Lusk. with
wink at the others. Black as a
crow"
Old AnthOny's hand fell back to
his knee Young mars laugh at
de oil man." he said, but he don
know. Dat de coloh dat buhn man
han's-de coloh OBJ gol'. en- eyes blue
liker er cat-bird's aig Dah's er man
gwine look In dem eyes, honey, en-
gwine make EN- cry en- cry" He
iaised his head sharply, his lids shut
tight. and swung his arm toward the
North. "Dah's whah he come f'om."
he said Zen heah"-his arm veered
and he pointed straight toward the
ragged hill behind them-"he stay"
Lusk laughed noiselessly Hes
pointing to Damory Court" he whis.
pered to Nancy Chalmers. the only
nninhabited place within ten miles.
That's as near as he often hits 1t,
fancy"
'Heah's whab he stay" repeated
the old man. Heap OBJ trouble wait
heah TO him too, honey.-heap oh
trouble. heah whah lii mistis fin
him." His voice dropped to a mono
tone, and he began to rock gently to
and fro as II he were grooming a lula
by. iii trouble en- greet trouble.
Fo' dah's fab en- she amt afeahd, EN-
dah's watah en- she ain afeahd. It's
de thing whut eat de ha'at outen de
breas-dat whut she afeahd off,
Come, Anthony" said Judge Chai-
mers. laying his hand on the old
mans shoulder. THAT much too
mournful Give her something nice
to top of with. at least
But Anthony paid no heed, con-
tinuing his rocking and his mutter-
ing. ur'et trouble. Dah's fab en-
she ain afeahd. en- dah's watah en-
she ain afeahd En- All sees yo'
gwine ter him. honey. All heah's de
co'ot-house clock a-strikin' in de night
--en you gwine. Dom wait, don wait.
Ii /. mistis, er de trouble-cioud gwine
kyah him erway rom you. When
de clock strike thuhteen-when de
clock strike thuhteen--"
The droning voice ceased. The
gaunt form became rigid. Then he
started and turned his eyes slowly
about him, q vague look of anxiety ON
his face. For >ment no one NOV
ed. When he spoke again 1t was
once more In his gentle quavering
voice.
''Watah! Vas, mars, good watah.
Hep yo.se'f."
/. Inc Judge set dollar bill on the
step and weighted II with a stone,
AZ the rest remounted. We'll, good
by. Anthony" he said. We're
nightly obliged" -
He sprang into the saddle and the
quartette cantered away. NV ex-
pertinent wssn't a great success, I'm
afraid. Shirley" he said ruefully.
"Oh, think 1t was splendid" cried
Nancy. DO you suppose he really be-
lieves those spooky things? de.
clare. at the time I almost did my
self. What an odd idea--'when the
clock strikes thirteen which, OF
course, II never does"
Don't mind, Shirley" bantered
Lusk. when you see all dem trou-
bles' coming, sound the alarm and
we'll fly In a body to your rescue
They led their horses out for a
pounding gallop which pulled down
suddenly at muffled shrek from
Betty Page, as her horse went into
the air At sight Of an automobile by
the roadside.
Now. whose under the canopy is
that?" exclaimed Lusk
IT'S stalled" said Shirley. Il
passed here this afternoon when the