A BROKEN SABBATH. 



W. C. BAKER. 



Bright and early Sunday morning our 

 camp was astir, for lo! 2 mighty hunters 

 had stalked up to the camp fire the even- 

 ing before, bearing between them the 

 pride of the Savannah river swamps, a 20- 

 pound gobbler. Whereupon the camp 

 had agreed that, in spite of difficulties, 

 this prize must be shipped to the folks at 

 home, in order to show them we were not 

 mere camp fire hunters; hence the early 

 activity. 



A four hours' run down the river took 

 us to Bluff Landing. It was necessary to 

 disembark there and carry the gobbler 

 over land to the village of Villette, where 

 we hoped to find an express office. The 

 royal bird was accordingly slung to a 

 pole borne on the shoulders of Abe, the 

 cook, and myself. An hour later we 

 marched into Villette, hung our burden in 

 a tree and looked around for someone to 

 interrogate. The only human being in 

 sight was an old negro,, from whom we 

 extracted the information that there was 



no express office, but that Mr. D , the 



station agent, sometimes attended to ex- 

 press business. 



"Where is Mr. D ?" we asked. 



"He done gone away; but Mr. B , 



what keeps de store, he gen'ally 'tend to 

 de station for him." 



"Where is Mr. B then?" 



"He done gone away, too, but I reckon 

 he mought be back 'bout sundown." 



Further questioning brought forth noth- 

 ing satisfactory; and indeed after a look 

 about the place we concluded that all the 

 inhabitants thereof had "done gone away." 

 It was either tote the bird back to camp 

 or endure a long wait with the chance of 

 being finally disappointed. 



We chose the latter alternative and re- 

 signedly sat down on the railroad track. 

 The only living things in sight except the 

 old darkey were a drove of hogs and a 

 tame duck, that wandered about the streets 

 at will. Occasionally the baying of a dog 

 was borne to us on the still air. So far 

 away and so mellow did it seem that it 

 only enhanced the drowsy quiet; but it 

 was the restless spirit of that same dog 

 which caused 6 men to break the Sabbath. 



Presently there appeared riding toward 

 us a white man, who, the old darkey in- 

 formed us, was called the Doctah. I was 

 eager to fire a volley of questions at him, 

 but the grand air with which he handed 

 his rein to the negro made me hesitate, 

 and I asked him only for the time of day. 

 He answered politely, then folded his 

 arms and stood gazing with great dignity 

 at nothing. I accordingly drew mysel^ 



up and looked as dignified as was possible 

 in a soiled flannel shirt and a beard of a 

 week's growth. 



At that important moment there ap- 

 peared an element of disturbance; 2 swag- 

 gering youths, one carrying an old car- 

 bine. They beat on packing cases, scat- 

 tered the drove of hogs and chased the 

 meandering duck under the store as they 

 approached. After they had inspected our 

 turkey they walked up and suspiciously 

 eyed us. I answered their questions as to 

 his capture straightforwardly, however, 

 and they passed on, "to see what that 

 there houn' is runnin'." 



I then perceived that the dog before 

 mentioned was trailing in a bit of open 

 woods that lay directly behind the station. 

 Encouraged by the yells of the young 

 men, the dog soon started a cottontail, 

 and then pandemonium broke loose. Half 

 a dozen more dogs appeared from no- 

 where and dashed after the game. Abe, 

 a church member and a Sunday school 

 teacher, lit out with a whoop for the scene 

 of action, followed at a slower pace by the 

 old darkey. I glanced at the Doctor. 

 That personage slowly mounted the high 

 platform of the station and stood survey- 

 ing with calm indifference the riotous 

 scene. I was determined not to be out- 

 done in the indifference line, so I again 

 folded my arms and assumed my most 

 dignified air. At that moment the flying 

 rabbit burst into view. 



"Yer! yer! yer 'e goes!" yelled the 

 Doctor, and with a wild leap from the 

 platform he grabbed a brick and ran after 

 the chase. I was surprised and grieved, 

 but stifled my emotions and mounted the 

 platform to take the place he had vacated. 

 With smiling condescension I watched my 

 more excitable fellow men chase a poor 

 little rabbit on Sunday. I saw the Doctor 

 hurl his brick with terrific force, and then, 

 alas for me! the hunted animal broke 

 cover and made straight for the station. 

 I gazed at him a second in a kind of 

 stupor, then made a leap that eclipsed 

 the Doctor's, landed in the road in the 

 attitude of a crack short stop, and en- 

 deavored to stop the rabbit as I would a 

 hot grounder. 



Abe told me afterward that the animal 

 ran right over my shoulder. All I can tell 

 is that the next instant I was sprawling in 

 the dust, clutching wildly at the atmos- 

 phere, while Brer Rabbit, having exe- 

 cuted a right .face, was bounding down 

 the road with the whole hunt close upon 

 him. 



I scrambled to my feet, rushed after, and 



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