The Seaforth News, 1932-04-21, Page 6John Uri Lloyd
wean
(Continued from last week.)..
Mose was dressed in his hol'ida'y
garments, and, perhaps in order to
suppress our curiosity oat that ac-
count, he told us that he was return-
ing fromthe city. Once a year,
every September, Felix Moses, in a
new suit ofclothes, met in religious
ceremony with his own people in
Cindnmati, But, so far .as we knew,
until the next fall hedud not again
seek t'he house wherein his kinsmen
worshipped. On 'his returnfrom the
present trip he had sought our home;
end so un'usu'al 'was it Mr him to visit
a townsman except on business, as to
cause both my mother and myself
secretly to wonder. Divining our
thoughts, Mose soon enlightened and
likewise amazed us.
"Tomorrow night I shall start to
join the rebel army."
"You, Mose?" exclaimed mother.
"Yes, 0 have sold my horse and
wagon, collected my accounts, bought
a young horse and outfit, and six of
us start South to -morrow night."
"You are neither young nor a fight-
ing man and your people do not love
war ?"
"I am of the tribe of Judah. My
people love peace, but have taken part
in war since the beginning of his-
tory. Our wealth has contributed to
the maintenance of the cause of all
nations and our bones have whitened
the battlefields of every land, ancient
and modern."
"But this war is not of the Jews'
making,"
"We are at home in all countries,
and the Jew makes sacrifices for
the right as he sees it."
"Your people are mostly in favour
of the North; do any of your Jew
friends champion the South?"
"Old Man N:ord'man has a son in
each armyl who can say which son
is in the wnon'g?"
]Evidently the man had considered
the subject ,from every side. He rose
to depart held out his hand—and as
he did so, took from his coat pocket
a package and handed it to mother,
saying—"Your child has no 'longer a
father," .he said sadly. "I know that
you built great hopes on the money
that was to come to you by the will
of the Core Bug. But that ,is' lost.
S have no use for money now, I may
never return, and if I do I .can begin
anew. Use the money you find in this
package to educate the boy."
Some spot ,in every life is sacred;
neither pen no tongue should touch
the arcanum that lies in some of
these depths.
CHAPTER XXXIV
The Village ,Circle of Stringtawn.
A dear sunset ushered in the next
night, the evening that brought the
first frost of the season. Mist and
cloudwere brushed away .l by a wind
from the north, which left the air
sparkling and crisp. The voices of
green -winged singers " that for six
weeks had joyously chirped in tree
and shrub, and ,their relatives, the
katydids, that during the summer had
called and answered each other, were
hu'she'd. No rustling leaves, no cry
of insect, no motion of bush, broke
the still, crisp night. Great was this
contrastto the ah're'iking blast, the
banging shutters, the craking sign
and the beating sleet, that rang their
changes when our village circle had
met, ten months ego,:
The quiet air, .penetratingly oold,.
s'pokeOf fro,st and foretold that slivers
alf ince before morning would surely
'Form in the shallows' of exposed hoof -
tracks. For weeks the swallows had
been flocking in the m'eadolwis. Their
noisy chirps but the day before had
sounded in the ear of the passer-by.
IGlathering from their nesting places,
these glossy songsters during the
summer had collected into great
flocks. The tapsw of the dead trees
about' the meadow pond of Mr, Nord -
man were black with their glittering
]forms. Never before .had they seem-
ed so noisy. Bu't when next morning,.
'broke, the up's'tretched branches were
lyare, the field" was deserted, Buried'
y
,'in the cloud 'depths and out of sight
of man, they had risen lin the might'
and turned their eyes to the Souith,
As a rule, few stars could be seen
Of a summer evening through the
heavy laden atmosphere. - But now,
responsive to the crisp, transparent
night, nu'm'bers of tiny points sprang
into view and twinkled. The star-
'built sickle, which during the early
part of June crossed the meridian in
the evening's twilight, now ha'd sunk
below the western horizon. 'The Great
Dipper, wh'ich during the ,early sum-
mer evenings had balanced itself over
the meridlian's line, the bowl west,
the hatvdle east of it now, low in the
north, hung just above the e'artlh's.
edge. The milkmaid's path, which in
June had started from ,the northwest,
marked its way close to the eastern
horizon, to slope dawn and disap-
pear in the sou'thea'st, was now a
broad, white band overhead, extend-
ing across the sky from the north-
east to the southwest.
One by one the members of the
Circle "dropped" into place that
frosty Saturday evening, until, when
the lamps were lighted, most of the
invented nail kegs upon which the vil-
lagers seated themselves were occup-
ied. The clerk, Mr. Wagner, sat in
his mutilated' chair; Judge Elford
balanced himself upon his one -legged
seat, and 1Profes'sor Drake, bo'ok in
hand, sat on his bookcase high stool,
beneath the lamp.
'But in the shadow cast by the stove
pipe, Cupe shipped 'quietly early in
the evening, and stood in the corner.
Whenever the door ,opened he was
screened from sight, but his willing
hand closed the doo'r after each new-
comer. Down the aisle, before the
'counter, stretched the only vacant
strip of floor unbroken by stool, keg
or other obstacle. 'It was the reserv-
ed spot where stood the grocer's pat-
ron's while their packages of tea, su-
gar and other trifling purchases were
being .wrapAed. Recognis'in'g the bus-
iness right of the proprietor, the circle
invariably ,reserved this space for lois
convenience.
Suddenly when there was a pause
in the talk the quiet, frost•lbreeding
air brought Ito our ear the click of
metal striking agalinst stone. At the
sound all listened with raised head's,
Cupe softly turned the knob and op-
ened the door (slightly, lapping his
ear over the edge. They had not long
to wait, for soon the clatter of many:
hoofs beating th'e stones of String -
town pike came through the still :night
air. Only one word was spoken:
"Yankees." The grocer stepped to
where 1I sat, gnablbed the arm'oure'd
saddle, dragged it from beneath me
and thrust it hastily into art empty
salt barrel, which he invented and
rolled beside Cupe, after which act
he quickly lifted me to a seat on its
head. A pile Of bundled garments,
blankets, canteens, belts and other ac-
coutrements on. an •exposed shelf was
hastily seized in ,will'ing hands and
stuffed as un:cermoniously into the
empty nail -keg seats 'from wlhich each
'main arose., Qsd'ckl.y all the contra-
band articles were concealed and the
kegs again. inverted. Every man now
sat silent in 'his accustomed place.
Only the old negro h:ad been deliber-
ate; it was he who deftly concealed a
contribution from our Strtiagtown
girls, a package that conitai.ned a
satin banner stitched by loving fing-
ers, White groundwork in one corner
of that .folded flag was starred in blue
and the banner was embellished with
three broad stripes, a wihlite one
bounded by two red bars. The em-
blem had previously been wrapped in
rubber cloth, and 'Cupe thrust it oare-
fuily into a oap:acious pocket. As the
grocer handed the flag to the negro.
he remarked: "The Yankees'll not
search a nigger."
In a few moments the door open-
ed, and the Rod -Head' sought a side
pocket; the grocer stepped quickly to
the rear of the store, turned, and in
the gloom stood facing the door,
with a bright ohpect thrown across
his artnt,—am object that .glittered in.
the faint light.
THE SEAEORTFI NEWS.
"Hiatt" ' the wliispere'd; "el et es a
raid, Iva have work to do." And then
a double tap or rap was strop],; upon
the 'door, a lap that seems to be un-'
derstood by all for the grocer drop-
ped his gun and stc;p'oe,d back into
the light, and :each ]nand was with-
drawn from the pocket that hacl so
sudden'tly encased it. The door open-
ed, and six Stringtown County men,
two of whom were metnlbers of the
vil'lage 'condi, cas'te aitito the rooms, It
was evidenn't that this body olf men
'was expected by so'l'e, if not all, 'of
the members present, but the raid,
(for we knew fall well the unconcern
of the blue -coated soldier was as-
sumed) had aroused 51.114p -idol. Even,
Cape, as Shawn by his ,se'crelting. the
Confederate banner, was one 01 the
in'i'tiated," and even he accepted' that
the blue -coated sdldiers had ' slipped
ba'ek, for I' heand him mutter, "Dani
dat Red -Mead cuss'!`'
!The nail kegs were suddenly in-
verted, their concealed contents were
removed and parcelled out to re'spe'c-
tive owner's. The coats of the in-
truders were thrown open and the
new leather belts were hastily buck-
led around each waist, The grocer
produced seven pistols from an un-
seen receptacle, one for each of the
six -belted holsters, the seventh being
laid upon the counter. A'b'ianket roll
was then taken by each . man, who
quickly stepped tp his Morse and
,strapped the roll to the back of' the
Mexic'an saddle, and then returned to
the room; where, amid a series of
hand -shakings, in which all joined,
the ,bo'ate'd and newly armed men
prepared to make their last farewell
to Stringtown friends. 'B'u't the sad-
dle on which I sat, still hidden in. the
inverted barrel, lacked an owner, and
one pistol and belt lay unclaimed on
the counter. A whispered consulta-
tion was held by the adventurous vol-
unteers, who were ,preparing far a
perilous attempt to slip through the
'Federal fines into lie South to join
!the Confederate forces. iEviden'ly
these men exipected, a companion who
failed to appear, and far .whom
they were restlessly waiting.,
"Comrades, we may never meet
around the old stove again; let us
have a last song before 'we start,"
said one Of then. "Let it be to our
sweethearts, Captain."
',When !the song was ended, it was
thought unwise 'to linger, 'but just as
they were about to depart, the onan
they were expecting entered. The
newcomer was Mose the Jew. His
face was wreathed 'wi'th smiles, those
eternal smiles, and a familiar chuckle
he was wont :to make waken pleased
greeted the assembly as he lifted the
saddle and carried it from the room.
Returning, he proceeded to belt and
arm himself as the others had done,
"The flag—the flag," said the club-
footed cavalier, "we must •not forget
the flag." Old .Cupe stepped for-
ward—nlat to the man who spoke, but
to Mose, to Whom :he handed the
rubber -bound parcel, 'Then he turn-
ed and addressed the leader: "Be'tta•h
you go out de Mt. Carmel pike an'
cut 'roue' 'de :county :co"ht'li'ouse 'an'
git back ter de :Stringtown pike by de
souf road. Steer cl'ar ab de pond ob
,Ia'se uN,ordenan,"
','Yes," interrupted another, "a
squad Of (Union cavalry is camping in
the pond -field."
"VVe know it," was the reply "Mose
followed them beyond the Campbell-
its ChurChean!d has just returned."
In single file .they left the room,
Mose bringing up the rear, to my a-
mazement ,accompan'ied by my Chum,
the grocer's boy, , who as he passed
handed me the lcey to his box of pap-
ers. "Take them," said 'he, "take
then. (Come with you, 'Saintly, pic-
tures, short -hand notes, all; if I get
hack .from the war, 'I,11 want 't'hem, if
not—" He 'faltered, teens sprang to
bis eyes, .he held out his hand, which
1 grasped, 'Then he turned and ran
front the room. The occupants of the
circle crowded close upon 'th'e retreat-
ing 'fortes,.and soon the storeroom'
was deserted. 'The squad of rebels
unhitched their horses quietly mount-
ed .therm—the grocer's boy springing
up behind ,the 1Jew—and then they
turned South. iWrthout another word
this group of resolute men and the
chitin of lily childhood, whom I never
saw again, started in a brisk trot nip
the Stringtown pike, 7And it recall
now that after the sound o'f the.
horses' 'hoofs diedaway in the dis-
tance, ,we :whlo lingered outside the
grocery caught 'the' strain of a song
front afar that seemed almost like ani
echo, The musical •vo'i•ce of the rebel
captain' came floa'ti'ng to our ears,
bearing a .couplet alt the ode he had
sung in praise of the (Southern girl,
'but the love song soon ilie'd ,away, .as
did the tramp of the 'horses, The
bareheaded watchers stood a moment
in . the night air, then ,re-entered the
grocery, the 'broken circle formed
again, and: each magi sat silent, gaz-
ing at The stove,
Then occurred a curious thing.
The Red -II -leaded Bay 'of Northman
had returned, and, unperceived by me
at :le'ast, bad entered -the roost with
the others, but apparently without an
abject, and., ' after ,glancing about, he
•
•
quietly started out again, As he pas-
sed, Crops,reaching down from 'his
stalioi near the door, caught him by
the ear and held'hi'm (fast, whispering
a,few w'onds'ea ire did so.
Turning to those ab'outt the stove,
the negro asked iJudge Diford, "An'
hab you nuflfitt' fo' suet t' say it'
Cupe?
"De signs ahtu 'ful'fillin' demsel's
monstrous fa'," the negro mnmlbledo.
"Yo' won't fergilt' t' count de money
in de 'de'sk pan' :read de papalts 'befo' :die
'Oo'ht, if yocasiot 'quires "
"I have ,promised to do so," re-
plied the judge.
;Turning ,to 'I'Ii•; Wagner, Cupe ask-
ed, "An' did yo'. read de writin' ,I lel
yo' las' night?"
"I did."
"An' ca'!nt yo', say nuiffin t' Cupe?"
"Not now, .0uatid.i1
With •a troubled look, old iCu-pe,
leading the Red-IHe,aded .Bloy by the
ear, left 'the grocery and passed mit
into the starlight.'
'CHAPTER XXXV'I.
"Dinah,. Cnpe Mus' Leave De Cabin."
The time consumed by Cupe and
his prisoner in reaching the cabin was
not sufficient to permit them to leis-
urely wal'lc that distance. They must
have run par,t of the 'way, for in a
very short time the calbin door was
'thrown open, and !h'ol'ding the boy
]firmly the negro entered the 'room.
"Brung the de fox 'trap ant' ..chain,
an' de chicken -(hou's'e lack, an' a s'tra'p,
de debbil am t' pay."
Diollaih obeyed; 'Dupe's voice ,e-
vinced; his, suppressed' excitement,
'Forcing the 'captive into a rus'ti'c
chair, they (bound him securely; a
long strap was wrapped about both,the chair and the body of the boy,
and 'l'oc'ked by a 'Padlock to two stap-
les that for Some ether purpose had
been previoulsly driven into a 'log' be-
hind him, 'Thus the 'boy salt with this
back against the wall; his arms 'were
strapped tightly to his side, but his
head, forearms end han'd's were free.
Cupe drew the table close to his
bound victim's knees; the boy's
hands could easily move a'b'out its
surface. iA large pan of water con-
taining a dipper was Placed an the
table, a liberal supply of provision's
was thrust alongside it, and after this
had been done.tCupe said: "Yo' am
likely t' want for comp'ny befo' long,
yo' Sas't 'Kahl -tuck scrub, an' yo' may
git hungry 'befo' 'de ,comp'ny calls.
Dah am grub t' eat alt' wa'tah t' drink
a11' while yo' wait, yo' kin tell yoah
story t' yoah ma'se de debbil." The
boy's eyes gleamed with hatred, but
Ilse made no reply.
•Them the negro turned to Dinah.
;For once hismethod of addressing
her exhibited less of :the ruler and
more ofthe companion. The affection
that had ever been a part of his true
self, -but •which was generally masked
by gruffness, naw crept to the sur -
dace. IHe took 'her handy led her to
the fireplace and seated her in a lo'w
corn -shuck Chair on one side of the
hearth, himself taking a similar chair
oppos'i'te.
"Honey," he said slowly and ten-
derly, " de min' ob yoah husban' am
runnin' back t'-night—bock t' de days
o'b de tang ago. IDiih hab •be'n joy an'
sarrah for de heaht, wa'm an' cold for
de flesh, Dinah, 'twixt de night you
lel' yoah home on Grassy Creek an'
now. Min' you de ole time, Dinah—
min' you de time when .Cupe came
ridin' dat fust Satu'hday alight t' de
cabin. doah?"
"I min' de time, Cupe."
"Yo' lsvah, a beauty o'1> 'a wench,
Dinah, yo' wah de fl'owah ob de lan.'
Alt' well do Cupe min' dat night, too.
!Belo' he staht fo' de trip dat Statnh-
day a'tttah•noon he :star' befo' ole
e'a'se an' say: 'D'a'n am a monstrous
pri'tty gearl on Grassy Greek.' An'
ole ma'se say: 'De fa'dah away de
bettah; et ant well she ant no desalt
clan \Grassy Creek.' An' Cupe ax
may he •borrah ole ,Prince? an' nta'se
culls an'; dantnt de wench ,on Grassy
Creek, but Cupe cloan say 'nuffin'; an'.
when mase step ''Cupe jest star' st?1l,
for while de ma'se cuss an.' sw'ar' he
dean say de'w.otd no.
" "What for yo' stan'n'-dah fo'?' ax
ma'se,
" 'Fo' de loan ab 'ole ,Prince 't' ride
t' Grassy Creek.'
" 'Yo'.kin go," say ma'sey "hit min'
you am back Iby loaf o'clock Monday
mahn'tt.' An' as Cupestahtt' t'ank
hint for de kindness, .ma'se say: ''Stet
yoah mou'f,' lAn' den Cupe ax:
'What 'bout de pat -a -role?"
"An.' 1 a'se, Ile take a papah out Oh
his pocket ant' write de pass, an' say:
'De pat-'a-role'il gib yoah brack back
a wa'ntin' of yo' ain't home by foah
,o'clock 'Monday nttaha'ii "
"Mur' ''yno'; Dinah .dat Saturday
night?"
'Dinah 'bowed her head,
"An' ttuin' yo' Now supple Cupe wah
den, Dinah?"
-Again she nodded.
" Yoah cabin 'wah down in de
d1i'ollah jes back ob yoah ma'se''s
house, Dinah, an' .as Cape ride tip' t'
de doah, you step t' de sill --it wait a
monstrous' good sign, Dinah. Yoah
wah 'stan'n' lit de yard befoah de cloa'h.
all' Cape pull up de lfo''se an' look
down an' say a sof' word, an' yo',
sniffle. up in his face. An' Carpe .jes
smile tip in de his face, .•IA11' Clips jes
git down pan' stick de switc'It she bold
in his Iialn' in de sof' earf ' keerless
hike— a fool anigger who din in hrl>
ain't got no sense- alt' he take de
bag ,ob cohni off Prinice an' stain' it
'side yoah doah an,' 'lead Prince t' de
stable.
"Mho' yo' dat •li