The Meeker herald., 1913-08-30
bowed biz whit. hs.d and covered hi
~wn. 18th ~ hand

doorway. Her black nagers nefvously
smoothed the crisp folds Of her white
apeon. and the SNOW turban that sur
mounted her dusky face shook trenu-
Bousiy.
Something In the old servants atti-
tuds- something in the frightened un-
certainty Of her round face-revealed
to the colonel and his wife the nature
Of Hessa's errand- It had come At
last-tbe nnal blow-the deseFtion Of
these tive faithful retainer
Come In. Hessa.~ said Mrs Par
tidge gently.
Hessa leaned for support against the
door Intel and rolled her dark eyes at
Colonel Partidss.
..Scuse ne, Marc Kunnei." she
said hurriedly, -but tomorrow am de
day when Mare Linkum pernounces
all niggers free and ekwilI-and-Noah
and me am goIn' norf!' She hid her
face in hsr apron. and there was Q
convulsive movement Of her fat shout
desa
"Do you want to 80. Hessar' asked
the colonel quietly.
1--WE gotta 90, ole marser' she wall
ed. ives free, an We gotta 90. Dey's
all goin' tomorer mohnin'."
VERY WELL Hessa- Wait q minute.
please
Colonel Partidge opened q drawer
in the mahogany desk and drew out
canvas bag. He emptied its contents
on the table. and Hessa's eyes snap
ped ct the pile Of gold pieces.
The colonel carefully counted the
gold into two piles and. gathering one
into heap. tossed It into the canvas
bag and knotted the string around It
''Hessa. here II sum Of money for
you and Noah. It Il half Of what !
have got. Take good care Of It. BE-
cause you will meet many dishonest
people who will try to take 1t away
from you. You have both been faith
full servants. Nay. you have been
friends to me and my family. Nay.
even more than that, Hessa-you have
been one Of us. II there IL anything
We can do. II there II anything you
want to make yo1 comfortable. let NJ
know. Come and bid rs soodby BE-
fore you TO-" The coIonei's voice
broke queerly.
Hessa was standing there staring
from master to mistress. The bag OF
gold pieces hung Imply from her hand.
She looked frightened. but some pur-
pose within impelied her to 60 on.
"I's mighty sorry. but ives gotta
30. rs cooked mp sight Of vittels,
Miss Catherine. Dey's 4 col ham an
TO- pies an big fruit cake. an Noah
he's toted all de wood inter de cellar
an filed all de wood boxes AMER
Hessa suddenly vanished. and pres
entity they heard the outer door Gloss
loudly.
They did not look at each othsf after
that. Tbs blow had fdllsn.
u n. Rran& cloek h, liz halI eAaDe1
ana . ana 10 and II. Ths coionel
sat with his eyes dxed on book, bat
not once during tho hours did the
turning Of leaf break the silence.
Mrs Partridge knitted increasingly.
only pausing to unrayel her work and
reknit the skipped stitches.
Just after midnight there was the
noisy rattle Of wagon wheels ON the
highway. accompanied BY negro voices
lifted In song ana excited chatter. 1t
was undoubtedly the freed negroes on
their way north. ana they were soins
to stop for Hessa ana Moan There
must nave Deem several Dox wagons
Ior tnere was z oin OF CONFUSION OUT
SIDE the Pan,dge gates Tnen there
came ioud taik from tne negro guar
.ers. ana tne coonei ano nn we
nsaIu ne.sA coa"al"s 'o1es ran
81 .ooSe tao tu.nu
Aer awnns Jug "ssons wei. aWay'
~ =" -. sour NJ. %M,a. s ~. ."e nos
,oeeeu n.e nau u".nu -. . aa soa"
.ess =. ene SA.
.sa... ~ a.t .S" . :. ."a....s,..
'n ..@s.. ~ y, . la sVe ~ ~. ...,e
.nich.,dr. Flor vo,ca +r.mb,.a :.
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