The Lambertville record., 1926-09-16

The Antioch African Baptist Church, South, was II
the throes of revival Nightly the glad shouts of the
| saved sweIled to heaven in happy chorus And the
singing of congregation helping the sinners
"come through" provided sweet harmony that drew
hundreds of white motorists who parked their cars
about the church yard to enjoy the old spirituals
| "Judas wuz a bad man,
| Ez everybody knows;
! Fer betrayed is Master
Ter buy hisse'f cloes.
The "tune hister," or music leader lined out the
above and the congregation took it up with VIM
energy sweeping into the chorus with great uncton
| "Doan be vain, doan be greedy
Taint gwine git yo nowhere;
Fer de Lawd takes kere o de needy,
An heps 'em up de golden stair
"An't hit de truf?" shouted young Sister Virgins.
"Evah since b1onged ter de chech All done had me
plenty good coes Cause de rich white ladies trustees
me- an gives me lots o. purity dresses
This was literally true, for Lindy Virgins the
in the community and her services were
always in demand among prosperous families of the
city And whenever she made dress she was
usually given old in addition to her regular pay
Indy had good fgger, and in the standards OF
negro pulchrtude she considered beauty. Her
deft fingers could make most any dress so that
it looked like million dollars when she wore it.
Tige Brown, the natty young mulatto who never
worked always appeared arrayed like the lilies of
the field had long been smtten with Lindy But Lndy
spurned him. 1t was generally known that i1ge was a
gambler whose methods were not always on the square,
and Lindy's religious convictions prevented her from
receiving Tige's advances although secretly she had
fulsome admiration for her chocoatecolored lover
Tige had finally decided that his best means of ap-
proach would be thru church connections. Accordingly
he had been regular attendant during the present re-
vival services And when Lndy shouted her fervent
declaration that her church connections had proven
profitable, Tige decided it the psychological mo-
ment for him to come through" He stood up cover
ed his face with his hands and began to sway back
and forth Heart rendng broke thru his hands in
mufed rumbles of anguish. But all the while he was
slyly watching Lindy thru his partly opened fingers
"Tige Browns comm th'u" shouted ardent
sister. Whereupon Lindy turned and gazed at him
agape. As Tige she was watching him he
started stumbling bindly toward the altar with his
hands still before his face and groanng dismay That
too much for Lindy-she hurried to his side and
guided him "ter de moanahs bench where he dropped
to his knees with Lindy beside him.
"Jes th'ow yosef de Lawd, Tige," she plead
ed "Jes th'ow yosef de Lawd an Ell hep yo
thu But Tige only continued to and rock back
and forth Lndy patted him encouragingly the back
whereupon Tige seemed to break down and Sob
But directly behind them an ebony little pickaninny
was ehacting a comedy as old the hills. He had
seen that Tiges left foot closely pressed against
Lindys right they knelt. Perhaps it was some
subconscous impulse, prompted by the fact that Tige
craved greatly to be "tied" to Indy that moved him
to tie shoe strings together hard and fast 1t
| tcklish work. but he finally accomplished it.
| As Tge began his apparant weeping he threw out
his left arm and enclosed Lindy's shapely form "oh
sistah. Sisah!" he walled Hep dis wandern' niger
ter fin de way!' And then if to stem the flow OF
| his tears he pulled gaudy handkerchief from his
breast pocket.
But with the handkerchief Tige unconsciousy pulled
"stage gag" that proved his ruin A specially shuf
fled deck of cards cascaded the floor when caught
by the handkerchief and Lindy choked off sentence
as she viewed with dated eyes this "sackerlge o dc
house o. Gawd!"
"Whut yo' mean by comm up de altar o. de
Lawd wild dem signs O. de debb in yo pocket?" she
demanded in indignant tones she jerked his arm
from around her.
"Now, Honey gimme chance, will yo'! How'd All
| know dat All gonna git de sperit wen All comes
chech?" Then he started to struggle to his feet but
the shoe strings held nobly, and he fell sprawing
jerking Lndy's right foot after him in grotesque pose
| that disgraced her completely
| BY that time the church in uproar Doc
| Bloom the venerable old pastor paving his way
thru the jam that closed in to the fun He didn't like
Tige Brown anyway, and this exhibition affected him
like striking match to powder. He caught Tges coat
| in a powerful grip and tried to yank him to his feet
But the shoe strings held, and Linds leg erked out
at such perilous angle that her attractive was
| ripped from the hem to her hips
''Dey feets is tied tergedder!' shrieked excited
| sister, and then gale of laughter went up.
That the final straw for Doc. "Cut de stringsl
he roared in stentoran ones but he didn't release his
grip on Tges coat collar. jack knife quickly appear
ed and the taut strings severed in ffy. In
other fy Doc had cleared the way with his powerful
left and with his right he dragged Tige ignomin
ously to the door where he sent him sprawling.
! And he thru the motion of busting off his
hands he called after Tge in stentorian tones, "Ahs
got full house hyah, an de cards yo hos amt gonna
do yo' no good eff yo calls ergin.'