Ole Mammy's Torment

n of sounds came from the little cabin across the road. It was a dilapidated negro cabin, with its roof awry and the weather-board

he direction of the uproar. A broad grin spread over his wrinkled black face as he heard

havin' a right sma't difference of opi

hn

rth across the open doorway, in a vain attempt to dodge the descending shingle, while a clatter of falling tinware fo

! Oh, Mammy, don't! You'se a-ki

it, as fast as his bare feet could carry him. The noise ended as suddenly as it had begun; so suddenly, indeed, that the silence

tions he had just overheard. John Jay, left in charge of the weekly washing, flapping on the line, had been unfa

een a boy, with the water tempting her to come and angle for its shining minnows; with the budding willows beckoning her, and the warm winds luring her on. But

at the chips flew wildly in all directions. He knew from the way that her broad feet slapped along the beaten path th

ry of her grievances. It was an old story to Uncle Billy, somewhat on the order of "The house that Jack built;" for, after telling John Jay's latest

, but this morning the only comfort he offered was an o

in the long run. 'Troubles is seasonin'. 'Simm

her head defiantly. "I 'low if the choice was left to the 'simmon or you eithah, brer Billy, you'd both take

' on the aidge of the tomb, almos', have to put up with that limb of a John Jay? If my poah Ell

o young an' onthinkin'. An' aftah all, it ain't what he does. It's mo' like what the white fol

axe began again, he ventured to poke out his woolly head until the whites of his eyes were visible. Sheba was trudging down the road with her bas

bare legs still smarted from the blows of the shingle, as he c

brother and sister to run and hide under the back-door step. There they cowered, with covered heads, until the danger was over. Old Sheba had ne

at Bud did seemed solemn. Even his smiles were slow-spreading and dignified. Some people called him Judge; but John

ith a turtle-like stretch of his little r

all gwin

It is never satisfied with the one in the hand. Older sight would have seen only a poor shanty set in a patch of weeds and briers, and a narrow path straggling down to the dust of the public road. But the outlook was satisfactory to John Jay. So was it to

hat came from the certainty that, no matter what he might do, punishment could not possi

wine do now?"

ne was tied, and drew himself slowly up. He did not reply until he had turn

huntin',

ke Ivy in the briah-patch

n, for his legs still smarted. Loosening the grip of his knees on the apple-bou

to wait until then, but with the remembrance of his last punishment still warm in mind an

n those tomato cans undah the ash-hoppah. Then we'll make us a mud ov

The prospect was

. They knew it was spread out under a newspaper on the rickety old table, but they had strict orders not to

y. "I see Aunt Susan goin' around t

y iron spoon, the din that filled the surrounding air was worse than any made by the noisiest gong ever beaten bef

pone of corn-bread. As head of the family, John Jay divided everything but the salt exactly into thirds, and wasted no time in ceremonies before beginning. As s

d and sleepy she would have obeyed. John Jay's word was law in his grandmother

while we're gone, won't I catch it, thou

doah," sug

some devilmint if she was she

seen some rusty tacks among the odds and ends. A loose brickbat stuck up suggestively from the sunken hearth. The idea had not much sooner popped into his head than the deed was done. Bending over breathlessly to make sure

arch of snakes. They whooped, they sang, they whistled. They rolled over and over each other, giggling as they wrestled, in the sheer delight of being alive on such a day. When they f

r on the floor lay a tattered picture-book, a big bottle half full of red shelled corn, and John Jay's most precious treasure, a toy watch that could be

le hunters shouldered their clubs, with a snake

a long procession of home-going cows. "Ain't it funny how soon sundown gets h

f them. "Land sakes! Ivy Hickman!" exclaimed John Jay,

about to shake a reply from her, when Bud exclaimed, in a frightened voice, "La

ng to the back of the house as fast as such a heavy load would allow, leaving Brer Tarrypin far in

called, "what yo

nswered. "I'se jus' taki

hty good in my basket fo' we all's suppah. H

d scarcely see over them, when he entered the poorly lighted little cabin. He stumbled over the bottle of corn and the picture-book. Maybe he would

riven into the puncheons. Ivy had grown tired of her bondage, and had tugged and twisted until she got away. The faithful tacks had held fast, but the pink

at his corn-cob pipe. As the smoke curled up he bent his head to listen, as he had done in the early morning. Th