Silas X. Floyd's Short Stories for Colored People Both Old and Young: Entertaining, Uplifting, InterestingFloyd, Silas Xavier
General
Silas X. Floyd's Short Stories for Colored People Both Old and Young: Entertaining, Uplifting, Interesting
Floyd, Silas Xavier
African Americans -- Fiction; African Americans -- Juvenile fiction; Didactic fiction; Short stories, American
It was then that Uncle Mose looked around for the first time. As he did
so he exclaimed:
“Yas; an’ f’um dis out dah won’t be but one!” And with that he jumped
through the window, taking a part of the sash with him.
The judges had been waiting in the open air near the house, so as to
watch the proceedings. They called to the fleeing Uncle Mose, as he
passed them, and ordered him to stop. They said that they were all there
and would protect him. But Uncle Mose, as he kept on running, hallooed
back:
“I’ll see y’all later!”
He ran at the top of his speed for more than a mile, for he was well
nigh scared to death. By-and-by, from sheer exhaustion, he was compelled
to stop for a little rest. He was wet with perspiration from head to
foot, and his clothes were as limp as a wet dishrag. But the poor old
man had no sooner seated himself on a stone by the roadside than up
jumps the ghost and sits down beside him once more.
“Huh!” said the ghost. “You seem to have made pretty good time tonight.”
“Yas,” said Uncle Mose; “but what I hase done ain’t nothin’ to what I’se
gwinter do!” And up he jumped and lit out once more.
He had not gone far on his second trip before an old rabbit ran out of
the bushes and took out down the road ahead of him. Uncle Mose hallooed
at the rabbit and said:
“Git out uv de way, rabbit, an’ let somebody run what kin run!”
On and on the poor old man, almost scared to death, ran and ran. Perhaps
he would have been running until now but for a very unfortunate
accident. About five miles from the Widow Smith’s house he came in
contact with the limb of a weeping willow tree that hung across the
road. The poor old fellow, already tired out, was knocked speechless and
senseless. Toward the break of day the judges, who had followed him,
found him lying on the ground doubled up near the tree. Dim
consciousness was slowly returning when they picked him up. They rubbed
him, and walked him around for a little while, and soon he was able to
move himself.
The first thing Uncle Mose said was:
“Tell Noah not to min’ ’bout dem watermillions. I stayed in dat house
des ez long ez I could keep my conscience quiet. My ole mammy allus tole
me dat hit wuz a sin an’ a shame to bet, an’ now I b’lieves hit!”
And to this day, boys and girls, if you want to see a really mad man,
you just ask Uncle Mose if he ever saw a ghost.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF HAPPY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE SUNNY SOUTH.]
GOOD CHEER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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