FullReads

“Jedge,” he said, drawing a pace or two nearer his employer, “did you ever hear tell of a pale-yaller party w’ich calls hisse’f Doct’ J. Talbott Duvall dat come yere a few weeks ago?”

“Ah, hah!” said the judge as though satisfied of the correctness of a prior conclusion. “I thought possibly my mind might be on the right track. Yes, I’ve heard of him and I’ve seen him. Whut of him?”

“Jedge, I trusts you won’t tell nobody else whut I’m tellin’ you, but dat’s sho’ de one dat’s at the bottom of the whole mess. He’s the one dat’s plantin’ the pizen. Me, I ain’t had no truck wid him myse’f, but dat ain’t sayin’ I don’t know whut he’s doin’, case I do. He calls hisse’f a organizer.”

“Ah, hah! And whut is he organizin’?”

“Trouble, jedge. Dat’s whut–trouble fur a lot of folks. Jedge, fo’ we goes any further lemme ast you a coupler questions, please, suh. Is it true dat over dere in some of dem Youropean countries black folks is jes’ the same ez white folks, ef not more so?”

Choosing his words, the old man elucidated his understanding of the social order as it prevailed in certain geographical divisions and subdivisions of the continent of Europe.

“Yas, suh, thanky, suh,” said Jeff when the judge had finished. “I reckin mebbe one main trouble over dere is, jedge, dat dem folks ain’t been raised de way you an’ me is.”

“Jeff,” said the judge, “I’m inclined to think probably you’re right.”

“Yas, suh. Now den, jedge, here’s one mo’ thing. Is it true dat in all dem furrin countries–Russia an’ Germany an’ Bombay an’ all–dat the po’ people, w’ite or black or whutever dey color is, is fixin’ to rise up in they might an’ tek the money an’ de gover’mint an’ de fine houses an’ the cream of ever’thing away frum dem dat’s had it all ‘long?”

Again the judge expounded at length, touching both upon upheavals abroad and on discords nearer home. Next it was Jeff’s turn to make disclosures having a purely local application and he made them. Listening intently, Judge Priest puckered his bald brow into furrows of perplexity.

“Jeff,” he said finally, “I’m much obliged to you fur tellin’ me all this. It backs up what I’d sort of figgered out all by myself. The whole world appears to be engaged in standin’ on its esteemed head at this writin’. I reckin when old Mister Kaiser turned loose the war he didn’t stop to think that mebbe the war was only one of a whole crop of evils he wuz lettin’ out of his box of tricks. Or mebbe he didn’t care–bein’ the kind of a person he wuz. And I’m prone to believe also that when the Germans stopped fightin’ us with guns they begun fightin’ us with other weapons almost as dangersome to our peace of mind and future well-bein’. Different parts of this country are in quite a swivet–agitators preachin’ bad doctrine–some of ’em drawin’ pay from secret enemies across the sea fur preachin’ it, too, I figger–and a lot of highly disagreeable disturbances croppin’ up here and there. But I was hopin’ that mebbe our little corner of the world wouldn’t be pestered. But now it looks ez ef we weren’t goin’ to escape our share of the trouble.”

“Jedge,” asked Jeff, “ain’t they some way dis Duvall pusson could be fetched up in cote? I suttinly would admire to see dat yaller man wearin’ a striped suit of clothes.”

“Well, Jeff,” said the judge, “I doubt either the legality or the propriety of such a step, ef you get what I mean. From whut you tell me I don’t see where he’s really broken any laws. He’s got a right to come here and organize his societies and lodges and things so long as he don’t actually come out in the open and preach violence. He’s got a perfect right under the law to organize this here new drill company you speak about. I sometimes think that ef all the young men in this country had been required to do a little more drillin’ in years gone by we’d be feelin’ somewhat safer to-day. Anyway, it’s a mighty great mistake sometimes to make a martyr out of a rascal. Puttin’ him in jail, unless you’re absolutely certain that a jail is where he properly belongs, gives him a chance to raise the cry of persecution and gives his followers an excuse to cut loose and smash up things. You git my drift, don’t you?”