The Mt. Sterling advocate., 1914-09-16

~.
Azalea Adair.
Adalr there was no clew to the per-
sonality except the handwriting had
sent In some essays tlost art9 and
poems that had made the editors swear
approvingiy over their O'Clock lunch
con. So they had commissioned me to
round up said Adair and corner by
contract his or her output at cents n
word before some other publ her Of
fered her 10 or 20.
At o o'clock the next morning. after
my chicken llvers en- brochette (try
them IL you can find that hotell.
strayed out into the drizzle. which was
still on for an unlimited run. At the
FIRST corner came upon Uncle Caesar.
He was a stalwart negro. older than
the pyramids. with gray wool and n
face that reminded me of Brutus and
a second afterward of the late King
Cetewayo He wore the most remark
able coat that | ever had seen OF ex-
pect to see II reached to his ankles
and had once been a Confederate gray
In colors. But rain and sun and age
had so variegated Ii that Joseph's coat
beside 1t would have faded to a pale
monochrome.
Once 1t must have been the military
coat Of an officer. The cape of 1t had
vanished. but all adown its front it had
been frogged and tasseled magnificent
ly. But now the frogs and tassels
were gone. In their stead had been
patiently stitched q surmised by some
surviving BLACK mammy'D new frogs
made Of cunningly twisted common
hempen twine. This twine was frayed
and disheveled. Ii must have been
added to the coat as a substitute for
vanished splendors. with tasteless but
painstaking devotion. for 1t followed
faithfully the curves of the long miss
ing frogs. And to complete the comedy
and pathos of the garment all its but
tons were gone save one. The second
button fron the top alone remained.
The coat was fastened by other twine
strings tied through the buttonholes
and other holes rudely pierced in the
opposite side. There was never such n
weird garment so fantastically bedeck-
ed and Of so many notified hues. The
lone button was the size of a half dol
lar made of yellow horn and sewed on
with coarse twine.
This negro stood by carriage so old
that Ham himself might have started
a hack line with it after he left the ark
with the two animals hitched to It,
Ao I h, h.
door, drew out feather duster. waved
it without using it and said in deep
rumbling tones:
Step right in, sub; amt a speck of
dust in titus got back from a flu
neral, suh."
street" ! said and was about to step |
into the hack. But for an instant the |
thick. long, gorllalike arm of the old |
negro barred me. On his massive and |
saturniue face look of sudden sus- /
picion and enmity flashed for a mo. |
ment. Then. with quickly returning
conviction, lie asked bandishingly.
"What are you gwine there for, boss?'
What is that to your I asked, a lit
tie sharply:
"Nothin, sub. jus nothin'. Only it's
a lonesome kind of part Of town, and
few folks ever has business out there
Step right in. The seats is clean-jes
got back from Il funeral, sub"
A mile and half it must have been
to our journeys end. could hear
nothing but the fearful rattle of the
ancient hack over the uneven brick
paving: | could smell nothing but the
driZZle. now further Favored with coal
smoke and something like mixture
OF tar and oleander blossoms, All
could see through the streaming win.
dows were two rows of dim houses.
The city has an area Of ten square
miles, ls1 miles of streets, Of which 49,
miles are paved; a system of waterworks |
that cost s2,O00OOO, with seventy-seven
miles of mains.
Eight-sixty-one Jessamine street was
Il decayed mansion. Thirty yards back
from the street ii stood. Outmerged in
Il splendid grove of trees and untrim-
med shrubbery. \ row of box bushes
Overtlowed and almost hid the paling
fence from sight; the gate was kept
closed by Il rope moose that encrcled
the gate post and the first paling of
the gate. But when you got inside you
saw that Sill was a shell. shadow, a
ghost of former grandeur and excel.
fence. But in the story | have not yet
got inside.
When the hack had ceased from rat
ting and the weary quadrupeds came
to u rest | handed my jehu his 30 cents
with an additional quarter. feeling a
glow of conscious generosity as did
so. He refused it,
Its 81. suh." he said.
"HOw's that?" asked. Il plainly
heard you call out at the hotel. Fifty
cents TO any part of the town
Its 81. sub" he repeated obstinate
ly. Its long ways from the hotel"
lit is within the city limits and well
within them" ! argued. Don't think
that you have picked up II greenhOsn