HIS NEED OF MIS' SIMONS

BY LUCY PRATT

ILLUSTRATIONS BY FREDERIC DORR STEELE

[Illustration]

"Jes look, Miss No'th! Looker w'at's comin' down de road!"

Miss North turned her head inquiringly, and Ezekiel continued to
comment enthusiastically.

"It's ole Arch'bal' Smiff," he declared, with lively appreciation,
though in the near distance Archibald failed to look as aged as
Ezekiel might have led one to expect. "Yas'm, 'tis; dat's ole
Arch'bal' Smiff. Now, w'at dey-all doin' 'im dat-a-way fer? Look, Miss
No'th! Dey's jes a-_chasin'_ 'im down de road!"

Miss North stopped a moment and glanced back at the rapidly
approaching Archibald.

"They are probably just chasing him for fun, aren't they?" she began
reassuringly.

"'Tain' no fun ter git w'ite men chasin' after yer dat-a-way,"
objected Ezekiel.

There were excited shouts from the passing, jostling runners, and
Archibald turned and cast a momentary exalted, half-dramatic smile on
Miss North.

"They are just in fun, you see. Come, Ezekiel, I want you to go on
with me, and bring back some books that I order; will you?"

"Yas'm--yas'm, I'll go on wid yer, Miss No'th; but look like ole w'ite
men's gwine ketch 'im, too, doan't it?"

"Catch him? No. Why should they want to catch him?"

"Cert'nly make me think 'bout de time dey-all come a-chasin' af' Jonah
w'en I'se ter Mis' Simons'. An' I reckon, ef 'tain' been fer Mis'
Simons, dey'd 'a' ketch 'im, too. But Mis' Simons she jes 'ntirely
dis'range dey plans."

"How did she do that?" questioned Miss North, suddenly interested.

"W'y, she jes _done_ it," explained Ezekiel, explicitly.

"I see; but--how? Did Jonah get into some--some trouble?"

"Ya'as, ma'am! An' he jes did!" assured Ezekiel dramatically; "but
Mis' Simons she jes completely dis'range de whul plan. W'y, yer see,
it wuz dat ve'y day de Cap'n went off ter de ho'se fair, an' lef' 'er
all 'lone wid jes me an' Sarah an' Marg'ret an'--an'--well, he _would_
'a' lef' 'er wid Jonah, too, but, yer see, Mis' Simons she foun' she's
'blige sen' Jonah on a r'al 'mportant erran'. 'Twuz 'long 'bout free
o'clock in de evenin', an' I wuz in de gyarden a-waterin' de yaller
lily-baid, an' Jonah he wuz a-hoein' on de li'l' paff where cut 'roun'
siden de baid, w'en Mis' Simons step up an' say, 'Jonah,' she say, 'I
want yer ter stop a-hoein' an' do a erran' fer me,' she say.

"'Yas'm,' Jonah answer 'er. Yer see, Jonah think a awful heap o' Mis'
Simons, a