The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1913-11-19

| Hear, yo' GREENE Simms Whah
yo' gwine?"
Ain gwine nowhah. Abs done
been whah Abs gwine."
| "Yo' set down dat o'ange err Ah'll
smack yo bardaviously .ovah! Ef yo'
steals. what gwineter become OBJ yo'
soul?'
| Don know nuffln' bout NAH soul.
responded the ebony materfalist. But
All knows All got er body. cause All
buttons ct up e'yy day. en- All lakes
ct plump"
| "Yo' go back en- wuk 70 20 Quah-
tab yankin on dat ar ice-cream free
zah." decreed Aunt Daphne eXasper-
atedly, "er yo' don git er smell ter
night. Yo' heah dat"
| The threat proved efIicaci0us, for
Greenie muttering sullenly that she
"didn' nebbah feel no skylark in de
ebenin','' returned to her labons.
The Red Road, as Valiant's car
passed, was dotted with struggling
pedestrians: humble country folk
who trudged along the grassy foot
path with no sullen regard for the
swift cars and comfortable carriages
that left them behind; sturdy bare
footed children who called shrilly
after him, and happy-go-lucky Negro
youths clad in their best with Sunday
shoes dangling over their shoulders,
slouching regardlessly in the dust
all bound for the same Mecca, which
I presently rose before him. q gateway
OF painted canvas proclaiming the
field to which It opened Runnymede.
! This was a spacious level meadow
into which debouched the ravine ON
whose rim he had stood with Shirley
on that unforgettable day. But its
stake-and-ridered fence enclosed now
no mere stretch OF ill-kept sward.
Busy scythes, rollers and grass-cut-
tiers from the Country Club had
smoothed and shaven rectangle in
its center till 1t lay like a carpet Of
crushed green velvet, set In an ex-
panse Of nte-everlast1ng and pale bud
ding goldenrod.
| He halted his car at the end of
the field and snapped leash in the
bulldogs collar. II hate to do 1t, old
| man." he said apOlogetically to
Chum's reproachful look, but I've
got to. There are to be some stunts.
be convinced you're the maip~one Of
the contestants. which might cause
a mix.up. Never mind; I'll anchor
you where you wont miss anything"
With the excited dog tugging before
him. he threaded his way through
the press with keen exhilaration. This
was~not crowd like that OF city;
rather It resembled the old.homestead
day of some unbelievably populous
| family, at reunion with Its servants
and retainers. All its members knew
one another and the air was musical
with badinage. Now and then his
g10ved hand touched his cap at a
salutation. He was conscious of
swift bird-like glances from pretty
girls. Here was none of the rigid
| straight-ahead gaze or vacant stare
OF the city boulevard; the eyes that
looked at him. frankly curious and
'inquiring, we're full Of easy open com.
radeship. There was about both men
and women an air of being at the
same time more ceremonious and
more casual than those he had known.
Some OF the girls wore gowns and
hats that might that morning have
others we're habited In cheap ma
terials. But about the latter hung no
benumbing self.consciousness. All
bore themselves alike. And all
seemed to possess musical voices,
| graceful movements and sense OF
quiet dignity. He was beginning to
realize that there might really exist
straitened circumstances. even actual
poverty. which yet created no sort Of
social difference.
| Opposite the canvas-covered grand
! stand sat twelve small mushroom
tents, each with staff and tiny flag
Midway lines OF flaxen ropes stretch
| ed between rows of slender peeled
saplings from whose tops fioated
| fanged streamers OF vivid bunting. A
pavilion Of purple cloth, open at the
sides, awaited for the committee. and
near the center, Negro band was
disposed on camp-stoOls, the brass Of
the waiting instruments winking In
the sunlight. The stand was a con-
| fused glow of color. OF light gauzy
dresses, OF young girls In pastel mus
lins with flowers In their belts. pic.
turesQue hats and slender articulate
hands darling In vivacious gestures
| like white swallows--the gentry from
the big houses" About the square
babbled and palpitated the crowd Of
the farm-wagon and carry-all: and at
the lower end, jostling, laughing and
skylarking beyond the barrier, pic.
turesque block Of Negroes, picked out
by flashing white teeth, red bandan-
mas folded above wrinkled counte-
nances and garish knots of ribbon
Haunting above the pert yellow faces
Of younger mulatto race.
The light athletic figure, lowed BY
the white bulldog. drew many chances.
Valiants eyes, however, as they swept
the seats, were looking for but one,
and at first vainly. He felt a quick
pang Of disappointment. Perhaps
she would not come! Perhaps her
mother was still i'll. Perhaps-but
then suddenly his heart beat high.
for he saw her In the lower tier. with
group OF young people. He could
not have told what she wore, save
that 1t was Of soft Murillo blue with
n hat whose down-curved brim was
wound with shaded plume OF the
same tint. Her mother was not with
ker. She was not looking his way as
he passed--her arms at the moment
being held out in an adorable gesture
toward little child In a smiling ma
irons lap-and but a single glance
was vouchsafed to him before the
major seized upon him and bore him
| to the purDle payilion for ba MN.