Madisonville High School - Annual Yearbook (Madisonville, OH)

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the house ani all that wuz in it wuz mine. He told me dey did it icause Doctor Samis father wuz my father's master an' dey felt sorry 'cause I wuz so poor ani it'wuz jist a niggefs nature to steal, but now he hoped I would .be better. Well, I felt so bad ibout de stealini an so thankful $out their kindness dat I jist drapped down ifore de door an' cried. So you see how we came by this house. Is that you calling, my? You wants these lazy chilluns ter come an' git you some wood so's you kin git supper-of course dey kin! Right this minute! Well Fm gwine down ter de boat ez I hear her blowini ani git de paper ifore supper an' I wants ter be on time ter git some of dat chicken I smells a cookini. Judy, you tell mammy Brer Joe is comin' ternight ter supper an' when he begins ter eat chicken it is like tryin' to fill a bucket without water with one of dem things dats full of holes dat mammy has out dar in de kitchen he jest canit get enough. I wouldnit be siprised ef you hadn't orter ask my to save you the drum sticks, so you ani Willum kin at least git a smell of it, he is sich a powiful eater. Y es, I'm gwine to git de paper, mammy, right now an' make irangements ter go ter New Orleans With Cap- tain next week. Yes my Iise gwine ter bring lots of things home. Oh, fiddle, mammy, no one kin hear me yellin' ter you but you hold back supper till I git here. If Brer J oe comes tell him 'bout me going ter New Orleans ani maybe he,ll go too. Yes, yes, Iise gwine. The old man rose slowly from his comfortable chair, reached for his pipe and stalked from the room. FRANCES TALIAFERRO, '16. 65

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niver says dat I must pay for de coop, but jist asks me how I liked de chicken dinner. Where wuz I now, I kin hardly recollect, you chillun do 'sturb me so an' git me so flustrated its a wonder I ever tell you a story, an, When you do 'sturb me I jist naturally git interested in the thing you ask me about an' forgit about de thing I commenced on. Do you Imember where I wuz? When I wuz talkin' about runnin ! Oh, yes, I remember now. Well, when I heard dat stiff groan, I ran anl it; didn' take me any time ter reach dat office. Yes, der dey all sat, so I thought. Did I stop to knock? No sir-ree! I jist busted in dat door an' you orter have seen them jump. But I knowed no more for a long time afterwards, but when I came to der dey wuz sitting tround me. I thought my time had come ez I hadn't brought dat stiff an' I thought dat maybe dey wuz gwine ter 'speriment on me. Well, sir, I jist began ter pray anl beg Iem to wait a little while e2. I wuz sich a no-count, wicked nigger anI that ef I should die I would most certainly go ter torment, but ef dey would only waits 'till next time I would try an' be ready. You orter have heard them laugh. I oouldnlt speak another word fer I had heard dat doctors an' do people dey Isociate with wuz sich cruel pussons at those times, always laugh anl joke before they begins on a pusson, an, off I went again. When I come to the next time there sat your mammy anl she told me dat de young men had played a mighty good joke on me an' I deserved every bit of it for I wuz always sayin I wuant afraid of anything anI I orter have noticed Doctor Sam wuznlt dar when I started out, fer he wuz 64 up to most anything those days; an' I orter have knowed he wuz up to something, but she wuz right glad I had been skeered; now maybe I woulant boast so much. uShe told me the stiflI wuz Doctor Sam hisself anI When I gave him dat hike up, I jist nearly killed him, I hurt him so. Well, he thought he would have some fun with me, never thinking I would drap him or throw him over my head. He wuz in bed for nearly a month afterwards, fer you know it wuz some time 'fore they could git any sense out of me an' by dat time I reckon he wuz nearly frozen, it wuz so cold, anl he wuz unconscious when they found him. His head wuz hit so hardden too he wuz all tied up in sacks and ef he had wanted to he coulant hav gotten out. How did he grab me? Why, they had cut holes in de sack so's his arms wuz out; den dey put sacks on his arms and he coulant git 'em off an' he couldnlt walk for his feets were in sacks too. When he got well he said he wuz gwine ter git even wil me Idey all wuz in faco an? I wanted ter go lcross de river but your mammy said I had ter stay right dar anl face de music. So one night Mister Sheriff anl them young men knocked at my door. I heard 'em cominI an' I jest sat dar an' didn't move, not even when dey comed in. Mammy gave them chers anl' Mister Sheriff said, Now, Hen, are you going to behave yourself anI not go after any more stiffs er steal any move chickens? I told him I would go ter work, anl den dey told me I had ter bring your poor ole mammy anI come with them. Dey took us up a square er two 'till we comes to this here house; den Mister Sheriff gave me a big paper arr told me

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s'i- 9 THE QUESTION 9 aunts: NE Decoration Day, I went swimming with five other fellows in the Montgomery Creek. When we left home, the heavens were clear and it looked as if it was going to be a fine day for an early spring plunge. But alas! We were soon to find out that all is not gold that glitters. We reached the creek in safety and began to disrobe. Before we had iinished, the heavens suddenly became overcast with dark and threatening clouds and a danger- ous looking flash of lightning was followed by a deafening clap of thunder. It was evident that a terrific storm was brewing and, needless to say, we became extremely uneasy and apprehensive of the worst. But it was too late to go back to shelter, so we put our clothes under the roots of a large sycamore tree that stood on the bank of the creek, and plunged into the water. No sooner had we done so, when a terrific clap of thunder was followed by the rain, which came down in torrents. The creek rose with amazing rapidity and we, in the creek, were nearly swept off our feet. We had difficulty in gaining 66 the shore and no sooner had we done so than hailstones as large as walnuts began to descend upon us. Needless to state, when those stones began their work, I thought my end had surer come. After struggling about under the fire of those merciless hail'stones for about ten minutes, we gained the shelter of that friendly sycamore tree. We reached for our clothes but oh, horrors! the creek had done its work. All that remained of our wearing apparel was four undershirts and one pair of pants. We donned these and proceeded to make our way homeward over two miles -of public road. About half way home we passed a house in which lived a large family, and oh, shame! Strung along the fence were at least eight girls, who were snickering at us in a most embarassing manner. We put on a burst of speed and passed our tormenters, but the question in my mind has always been this: Why did we blush and not the girls? H. W. K., ,16.