Tempest and Sunshine | Page 3

York people were,
comparatively speaking, inferior riders, and he conjectured why Mr.
Wilmot hesitated; so he said:
"Here, Jim, lead the horse up to the block for the gentleman"; then
turning to the bystanders, said, as if apologizing for Wilmot: "You
know it is so thickly settled in New York that they do not ride as much

as we do, and probably the young man has always been at school."
This was satisfactory to the white portion of the audience, but not to the
group of blacks, who were assembled at the corner of the house. They
thought it a shame not to be a good rider and when they saw the
awkward manner in which Mr. Wilmot finally mounted the horse and
the ludicrous face of Jim Crow as he sprang up behind him, they were,
as they afterward told Aunt Esther, "dreffully tickled and would have
larfed, sartin, if they hadn't knowed marster would have slapped their
jaws."
"And sarved you right," was the rejoinder of Aunt Esther.
But to return to Mr. Edson. As soon as Mr. Wilmot, Jim and Prince had
disappeared, he felt a return of his fears concerning the "confounded
Abolitionist." Thought he, "What a fool I was to let Prince and Jim
Crow, too, go off with that ar' chap! Thar's Prince, worth a hundred and
fifty, and Jim, at the least calculation, 'll fetch eight hundred. Well,
anyway, they can't get far on that dirt road, so if Jim isn't home by nine,
I'll go after 'em, that's so." Having settled the matter thus satisfactorily
in his own mind, he called for his horse and started for home.
Meantime Mr. Wilmot was slowly wending his way toward Mr.
Middleton's. It took but a short time for him to ascertain that the road
was fully equal to the description given of it by Mr. Edson. At times he
could scarcely keep his head, and he felt conscious, too, that the black
machine behind him was inwardly convulsed with laughter at his
awkward attempts to guide the horse in the best part of the road. At
length he ventured a remark:
"Jim, is this animal ugly?"
"Ugly! Lor' bless you, marster, is you blind? As handsome a creetur as
thar is in the country!"
Mr. Wilmot understood that he had used the word ugly in its wrong
sense, so he said:

"I do not mean to ask if the horse is ill-looking, but is he skittish?"
"If marster means by that will he throw him off, I don't think he will as
long as I'm on him, but sometimes he is a leetle contrary like. Reckon
marster ain't much used to ridin'."
By this time they had reached the gate spoken of by Mr. Edson. To Mr.
Wilmot's great surprise the horse walked tip to it and tried to open it
with his mouth! Mr. Wilmot was so much amused that he would not
suffer Jim to get down and open the gate, as he wished to see if the
horse could do it.
"Oh, yes, marster, he'll do it easy," said the negro; and sure enough, in a
moment the well-trained animal lifted the latch and pushed open the
gate! But it was a rickety old thing, and before Prince had got fairly
through it tumbled down, hitting his heels and causing him to jump
sideways, so as to leave Mr. Wilmot riding the gate and Jim Crow in
quiet possession of the saddle! With a great effort Jim forced down his
desire to scream and merely showed twenty-eight very large, white
teeth.
Springing from the horse he offered to assist Mr. Wilmot to mount
again, but he had no inclination to do so. He preferred walking the rest
of the way, he said, and as he could now easily find the house, Jim
could return home. This was not what Jim wanted. He had anticipated a
nice time in relating his adventures to Mr. Middleton's negroes, but as
Mr. Wilmot slipped a quarter into his hand, he felt consoled for the loss
of his "yarn"; so mounting Prince again, he gave his old palm leaf three
flourishes round his head, and with a loud whoop, started the horse
with a tremendous speed down the road and was soon out of sight,
leaving Mr. Wilmot to find his way alone through the wood. This he
found no difficulty in doing, for he soon came in sight of a house,
which he readily took for Mr. Middleton's.
It was a large, old-fashioned stone building, with one chimney fallen
down, as Mr. Edson had said, and its companion looked likely to
follow suit at the first high wind. The windows of the upper story were
two-thirds of them destitute of glass, but its place was supplied by

shingles,