Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-07-06
to take Collingeford to Maple House
for over Sunday.

UVVH==
Gerry Lansing was sitting alone in
the shade Of a bush, his knees gath
cred in his arms and his head bowed
down. Great quivering signs that
were almost SObs. were shaking his
strong body. In one terrific swirl
life had wrenched him from the moor
ings of generations, tossed him high
and dropped him, broken. Between
the moment when he had plunged
when he and the girl had stood on the
river bank and laughed together to see
the canoe, worked adrift by the eddy,
swirl out into the river and away,
cons had passed. In that laughing
moment he had stood primeval man in
a primeval world. With the drops of
water from the river he had f1icked
off the bonds it had taken centuries
to forge. And now his truant con-
science returned to stand dismayed.
The girl, dressed in a homespun
cotton robe belted at the waist, came
back down a half-hidden path, shyly
at first and then with awe to see
him weeping. She tossed him a cot
ton jumper and trousers and then drew
back and waited for him in the path.
He rose slowly to his feet, dressed and
followed the girl.
She led him along the path through
the brush and out into a little valley
made up of abandoned cane and rice
bottoms. In the center was a slight
elevation, too low to be called a hill,
and on it was an old plantation house,
white stucco once, now sadly weather
streaked, its tiles green black with the
moss of years.
She pointed to the house and then to
herself and smiled. He understood
the pantOmime and nodded. When
they reached the house a withered
and wrinkled little woman came out
to the arched veranda to meet them.
She looked Gerry over shrewdly and
then held out her hand. He shook
1t listlessly. They walked through a
long dividing hall On each side were
large rooms, empty, save one where
a big bed, a Wash-stand, and an old
bureau with widowed glass, were
grouped like an oasis in a desert They
reached the kitchen. 1t was evidently
the living room Of the house. A ham
mock cut off one corner. Chairs were
drawn up to rough, uncovered table
a stove was built into the masonry
and a cayernOus oven gaped from the
massive wall.
At the stove was an old negress,
making coffee with shaky deliberation.
On the floor sat an old darby clad
only from his waist down in such trou-
sers as Gerry was wearing, except
that they were soiled and tattered.
He looked up and fastened his eyes
on Gerry and then struggled to his
feet. Dim recollections of some by
gone white master brought a CLEAN
into his bleary eyes. He raised his
hand in the national gesture of child
to parent, slave to master. Blessing,
master, blessing" Gerry had learned
the meaning of the quaint custom.
God bless thee" he answered lin
badly jumbled Portuguese. The girl
and the wrinkled woman looked at
him, surprised, and then smiled al
each other as women smile at the first
steps OF a child.
They made him sit down at the
table and placed before him crisp
rusks of manioc flour and steaming
coffee whose splendid aroma tri
umphed over the sordidness of the
scene and through the nOstriIs reached
the palate with anticipatory touch
1t was sweetened with dark. pungent
strip and was served black in capa.
cious bowl, as though one could not
drink too deeply of the elixir of life
Gerry ate ravenNlsly and slipped the
coffee, at first sparingiy, then greedily
The old negress f1uttered nervously
about the stove, nursing its inadequate
fire of charcoal Her eyes We're bis
with wonder at the capacity of the
white master. The old negro had sunk
back to his seat on the floor. The two
white women stood and watched Ger
~. The more he ate the more they
urged
Gerry set down the empty bowl witt
a sigh. The rusks had been delicious
Before the coffee the name of nectar
dWtndled to impotency. It's elixir riot
ed in his veins. At the sigh the cir
had deftly rolled a cigarette In a BIT
of corn husk, scraped thin as paper
Now she slipped it into his fingers
The old negreSs picked up a live Goa
and passing it from shaky hand tc
shaky hand, deposited it on his plate
Gerry lit the cigarette. With the first
long contented Whit he smiled. The
smile brought stinging recollection.
With frown he threw away the ciga.
rette and rose from the table. 1.-The
brute Is fed and laughs" he said aloud
and strobe from the room. The girl
and the little wrfnkled woman looked
at each other in dtsmay. They seemed
to sense the unintelligible words The
old darky crawled across the floor and
possessed himself Of the cigarette.
Gerry went to seat himself on the
steps Of the yeranda. Before him
stretched the fallow valley, beyond il
cleaned the black line of the rushing
river. To the right were the ruins of a
sugar mill and stables. To the left