the wind and the rain - 16. joe

by nick nelson

part 16 of ?

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joe was a serious child, who believed what he was told, who tried to accommodate people , and who was not inclined to fuss and fight and argue about anything. he was raised in the canebrake by mrs murphy lee, a conjure woman with many stories to tell about herself, some of which might have been greeted by skepticism or even mockery by those who considered themselves enlightened or sophisticated in the ways of the world. mrs murphy lee had a few ragged looking leather bound books which she read or consulted, especialy on rainy days. some of the books had pictures which joe liked to look at, but he did not understand the words. joe would have liked to learn to read, but he did not want to read so badly that he wanted to go to school. one rainy day joe asked mrs murphy lee if she would teach him to read. i ain’t got time for that, mrs murphy lee replied. do you know somebody who does? the school. i don’t want to go to school. mrs murphy lee considered this. try the library, she said. will somebody at the library teach me to read? i don’t know about that. they might give you some little book where you could teach yourself. that seemed to be the best answer he could get, so the next day that it did not rain, joe took to the highway and walked the ten miles into town. as the highway was mostly paved, ir was easy walking for joe, who spent long hours walking and scrambling through the swamp and the canebrake. next