The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-10


 like he knowed something about us. driver hailed two or three niggers fin the road that acted hathaway. It seemed like they was all awful polite to us. And yet they was different fin their poIiteness than they was to them Georgia folks, which is their natchera1 born bosses-acted more familiar, some how, as if they knowed we must be thinking about the same thing they was thinking about.
 About halfway to Bairdstown we stopped at a place to get a drink of water. Seemingly the white folks was away fur the day, and an old nigger come up and talked to our driver while Sam and us was at the well. seen them cutting their eyes at us, whilst they was unchecking the hosses to let them drink, too, and then hearn the one that belonged there say: 'sIs yo' suah dat hit air dem? ?'
 ''SuahH' says the driver. fsHow come yo' so all powerful suah about it2'
 The driver pertended the harness i needed some fixing, and they went around to the other side of the team i and tinkered with one of the traces, a-talking to each other. I hearn the old nigger say, kind of wondertzed:
 sIs dey a-gwine dar now ?" Sam he was pulling 8 bucket of water up out of the we'll fur us with a wind lass. The doctor says to him:
 'sSam, what does all this meang l Sam he pertends he don't know what the doctor is talking about. But pr. Kirby he finally pins him down. Sam i hemned and hawed considerable, mak- Ing up his mind whether he better lie to us or not Then, all of a sudden, he busted out into an awful fit of laugh ing and like to of fell in the we'll Seem f 9ngly he decided fur to tell us the truth. | From what Sam says then their bish- op has been holding revival meetings in Big Bethel, which is a nigger church right on the edge of Bairdstown, and niggers fur miles around has been con- ing night after night, and some of them whoopfng her up daytirnes too.
 What he has been prophesying, Sam says, is the coming of a Messiah fur the nigger race-a new Enshyah, he says, as will lead them from out'n their inequality and bring 'em up to white standards right on the spot.
 It seems the whites don't know yet jest what the bishops been a-preach- ing. But every nigger fur miles on
 
 and a-look1ng fur signs and omens, and has been fur two, three days now. This here half crazy bishop has got lem worked up to where they is ready to believe anything or do anything.
 So the night before when the word got out in Cottonville that we had some scheme to make the niggers white the niggers there took up with the idea that the doctor was mebby the fel1er the bishop had been proph- esyfng about, and for a sign and a omen and a miracle of his grace and powers was going out to Big Bethel to turn 'em white.
 News spreads among nfggers quicker than among whites. Since g o'clock The night before the news had spread Eur miles around that Bishop War ren's Messiah was on his way and was going fur to turn the bishop white to show his power and grace, and he had with him one he had turned part white, and that was Sam, and one he lad turned clear white, and that was me.
 That's what Sam says they are look Ing fur, dozens and scores and hum dreds of them niggers round about Sam he had lived in town i've or six years, and he looked down on all these here ignoramus country niggers. So he busts out laughing at first, and he perten6s like he don't take no stock in. any of it. Besides, he knowed well enough he wasn't spotted up by no Messiah, but it was the dope in the bottles done it. But as he told about them goings on Sam got mere and more interested and warmed up to it, and his voice went into a kind of a <jn Ia no himself.
 Eur my part, never hearn such lot of dern fooI5shness. in all my life. But the doctor, he says nothing at all. He listens to Sam ranting and rolling out big words and Faving and only frowns. He was mebby thinking how much orneffer this Messiah business would make the hull scheme.
 We got to Bairdstown early enough, but we didn't go to work there. We wasted all that day. They was some thing working in the doctors head he wasn't talking about. I supposed he was getting cold feet on tDe hull prop osition- Anyhow, he jest set around the little tavern in that place and done nothing all afternoon.
 The weather was fine, and we set out in front We hadn't set there more'n ! noticed by the blacks, not out open and aboveboard- But every now and then one or two or three would pass along down the street and lazy about and take a look at us. They pertended they wasn't noticing, but they was.
 Along toward dusk we takes walk. They was a good sized crick at the edge of that little place and on it an old fashioned worter mill. Above the mill a little piece was a bridge. We crossed it and walked along a road that followed the crick bank fur quite a spell.
 They was considerable woods stand ing along the crick, and around a turn