Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-28
ny11mo'io( Azon1 s'''i~-By Alma and Paul Ellerbe

the eerie din. he dropped like waiting eagle
straight for his prey: : 4, ~. .s
"An' de Devil say ter me: whar's dat back
shder?" +e
Tap. tap. tap insisted the cane. steady and
sharp. r. -
woodie moved farther from his mother, for
elbow room. -
Tiny beads Of sweat broke out on Diapers
face, but he didn't swerve. ''Whar's de man
dat laid his lgion down?'"
"Gawd gimme strength" Woodie prayed
.":'He amt 50 dark de Devil say. AN he
amt so Mght'" -. -. i =" -;
/, ',Woodie cooked the old pistol In his pocket
He's middle-sized,' de Devil say, an he's
got er limp" ~ 4. 80 ~.
woodie leaned forward to shoot but Miss
jimmy was on her feet. =
She had risen casually, as II to smooth the
folds Of her shawl that lay over the back Of her
chair, but the straight thrust Of her keen blue.
eyes seeking the preachers made the air be-
tween them crackle with Nfe <.l4
Draper drew himself up to the, fun Of his
enormous height. He was as superb and a.
sincere as great coiled snake He thrust out
= his jaw and frowned: his eyes hghtened in the
way they had, and the essential spirit within
him met Miss Jnny's steadily. -; = -. -:
THE whole church held It's breath. There
was moment Of intense silence, through
which the call Of the fiycatcher famed its law
way, and then an inward and spiritual some-
thing behind the frail old countenance broke
something behind the big, glistening black face,
with its PROV OF nose, Its curling lips and
heavy jowl and restless, predatory eyes-broke
1t with snap that might have been audible,
SO definite It was. 49,. i
Draper raised his hand and lowered Il:
opened his mouth and closed it again; drew
forth the polka-dotted handkerchief and mop-
ped the perspiration from his face.
And then Miss jimmy sat down. and he found
that he could speak.
But whatever 1t was that had snapped in him
had snapped, too in his people An uneasy
sense OF shame lay over them. There wasn't
one who didn't know Tampa Simmons as he
knew his own hearthstone; not one whom the
dead man hadn't helped and comforted when
he could; who didn't believe in him rs no
human being had ever believed in Draper. The
tide of feeling flowed away from the preacher;
ebbsd faster and faster with his every word.
He couldn't tell what was stopping him. He
was like bird trying to fly through the pane
OF a window. Because he could not see it,
he thought there was nothing there, and bat
tered himself to pieces against the realest thing
IN all that country, going down at last before
~AS ~oAASAS60WOAS q UrdtCu ulaU, 1dDUeTlOR
meaningless sentences out of which one fact
only stood up; that the soul of Tampa Simmons
went to heaven. where Miss jimmy Pickens
wanted 1t to 60.
And in the midst of the debacle q strange
thing happened Softly, spontaneously with.
out leader, the people began to sing: Done
got overt" they sang:
Done got over!
Had hard time;
Had to work so long:
But done got over,
Done got over,
Done got over at lastl"
The deep. DID, patient, humble melody fen
upon them like the spirit Of Christ, and they
bowed their heads and sank to their knees
and most Of them wept.
And that night Woodrow Woodson Simmons
the son OF Tampa Bay Florida Simmons. who
was the son OF Wisdom, q chattel without sun.
name belonging to the Pickens estate: who was
the son OF Zebulon, likewise q slave: who was
the son OF naked savage Of the Kongo junsie
walked alone through his native woods Ike 4
murderer reprieved, with heart too big for his
breast; and, throwing the old pistol far out into
the swamp. caught the sound OF the MYRIAD
Feet OF his people stumbling painfully along the
way his father had Travelled, out of the land
OF ignorance and out Of the house OF fear. and
swore that some spark Of his fathers spirit
should march In him at the head of that army
until he died.
tCopyrisht, ls7s.)