Oscar Micheaux - The Oscar Micheaux Omnibus

"Roses, roses, roses bring memory of you, dear,

Roses so sweet and endearing,

Roses with dew of the morn;

You were fresh for a day then you faded away.

Red roses bring memories of you."

The next moment I had taken the receiver from her hand, and called, "Hello, Rev. McCraline," "Hello, Rev. McCraline," in a savage tone. When he had answered, I continued in a more savage voice, "You ask my wife why she did not bring me to the house?"

"Yes," he answered. His voice had changed from the commanding tone, and now appeared a little solicitous. "Yes, why don't you come to the house?" I seemed to hear it as an insult. I did not seem to understand what he meant, although I understood the words clearly. They seemed, however, to say; "Come to the house, and I will take your wife, and then kick you into the street."

I answered, with anger burning my voice; "I don't want to come to your house, because the last time I was there, I was kicked out. Do you hear? Kicked out."

"Well, I did not do it." Now, I had looked for him to say that very thing. I felt sure that he had put Ethel up to the evil doing of a year before, and now claimed to know nothing about it, which was like him. It made me, already crazed with anger, more furious, and I screamed over the phone "I know you didn't, and I knew that was what you would say, but I know you left orders for it to be done."

"Where is Orlean?" he put in, his voice returning to authoritative tone.

"She is here with me," I yelled, and hung the receiver up viciously.

It was only then I realized that Mrs. Arling and Mrs. Hite had hold of each arm and had been shouting in my ears all this while, "Oscar, Mr. Devereaux, Oscar, don't! don't! don't!" and in the meantime fear seemed to have set my wife in a state of terror. She now turned on me, in tones that did not appear natural. The words I cannot, to this day, believe, but I had become calm and now plead with her, on my knees, and with tears; but her eyes saw me not, and her ears seemed deaf to entreaty. She raved like a crazy woman and declared she hated me. Of a sudden, some one rang the bell viciously, and Mrs. Arling commanded me to go up the stairs. I retreated against my will. She opened the door, and in walked the Reverend.

Orlean ran to him and fell into his arms and cried: "Papa, I do not know what I would do if it were not for you," and kissed him—she had not kissed me. After a pause, I went up to him. As I approached he turned and looked at me, with a dreadful sneer in his face, which seemed to say, "So I have caught you. Tried to steal a march on me, eh?" And the eyes, they were the same, the eyes of a pig, expressionless.

Feeling strange, but composed, I advanced to where he stood, laid my hands upon his shoulder, looked into his face and said slowly, "Rev. McCraline, don't take my wife"—paused, then went on, "why could you not leave us for a day. We were happy, not an hour ago." Here my stare must have burned, my look into his face was so intense, and he looked away, but without emotion. "And now I ask you, for the sake of humanity, and in justice to mankind, don't take my wife."

Not answering me, he said to my wife: "Do you want your papa?"

"Yes, yes," she said and leaned on him. Then she looked into his face and said: "He insulted you."

"Yes yes, dear," he answered. "He has done that right along, but you step outside and Papa will tend to him."

She still clung to him and said: "He has made you suffer."

He bowed his head, and feigned to suffer. I stood looking on mechanically. He repeated, "Run outside, dear," and he stood holding, the door open, then, realization seemed to come to her, she turned and threw herself into Mrs. Arling's arms, weakly, and broke into mournful sobs. Her father drew her gently from the embrace and with her face in her hands, and still sobbing, she passed out. He followed and through the open door I caught a glimpse of Clavis on the sidewalk below, the man who had written—not a year before, "I am going to be a brother, and help you."

The next moment the door closed softly behind them. That was the last time I saw my wife.

Table of Contents Table of Contents The Conquest THE CONQUEST Table of Contents The Story of a Negro Pioneer The Homesteader THE HOMESTEADER Table of Contents A NOVEL The Forged Note

A NOVEL

Table of Contents

Epoch The First

Chapter I. Agnes

Chapter II. The Homesteader

Chapter III. At the Sod House

Chapter IV. She Could Never be Anything to Him

Chapter V. When the Indians Shot the Town Up

Chapter VI. The Infidel, a Jew and a German

Chapter VII. The Day Before

Chapter VIII. An Enterprising Young Man

Chapter IX. "Christine, Christine!"

Chapter X. "You Have Never Been This Way Before"

Chapter XI. What Jean Baptiste Found in the Well

Chapter XII. Miss Stewart Receives a Caller

Chapter XIII. The Coming of the Railroad

Chapter XIV. The Administrating Angel

Chapter XV. Oh, My Jean!

Chapter XVI. Bill Prescott Proposes

Chapter XVII. Harvest Time and What Came with It

Epoch The Second

Chapter I. Regarding the Intermarriage of Races

Chapter II. Which?

Chapter III. Memories—N. JUstine McCarthy

Chapter IV. Orlean

Chapter V. A Proposal; A Proposition; A Certain Mrs. Pruitt—And a Letter

Chapter VI. The Prairie Fire

Chapter VII. Vanity

Chapter VIII. Married

Chapter IX. Orlean Receives a Letter and Advice

Chapter X. Eugene Crook

Chapter XI. Reverend McCarthy Pays a Visit

Chapter XII. Reverend McCarthy Decides to Set Baptiste Right, But—

Chapter XIII. The Wolf

Chapter XIV. The Contest

Chapter XV. Compromised

Chapter XVI. The Evil Genius

Chapter XVII. The Coward

Epoch The Third

Chapter I. Chicago—The Boomerang

Chapter II. The Great Question

Chapter III. Glavis Makes a Promise

Chapter IV. The Gambler's Story

Chapter V. The Preacher's Evil Influence

Chapter VI. More of the Preacher's Work

Chapter VII. A Great Astronomer

Chapter VIII. N. Justine McCarthy Preaches a Sermon

Chapter IX. What the People Were Saying

Chapter X. "Until Then"

Chapter XI. "It's the Wrong Number"

Chapter XII. Mrs. Pruitt Effects a Plan

Chapter XIII. Mrs. Merley

Chapter XIV. Oh, Merciful God, Close Thou Mine Eyes!

Chapter XV. "Love You—God, I Hate You!"

Chapter XVI. A Strange Dream

Epoch The Fourth

Chapter I. The Drought

Chapter II. The Foreclosure

Chapter III. Irene Grey

Chapter IV. What Might Have Been

Chapter V. "Tell Me Why You Didn't Answer the Last Letter I Wrote You"

Chapter VI. The Story

Chapter VII. Her Birthright "For a Mess of Pottage"

Chapter VIII. Action

Chapter IX. Gossip

Chapter X. A Discovery—And a Surprise

Chapter XI. The Bishop's Inquisition

Chapter XII. The Bishop Acts

Chapter XIII. Where the Weak Must be Strong

Chapter XIV. The Trial—The Lie—"As Guilty as Hell!"

Chapter XV. Grim Justice

Chapter XVI. A Friend

Chapter XVII. The Mystery

Chapter XVIII. Vengeance is Mine. I Will Repay

Chapter XIX. When the Truth Became Known

Chapter XX. As it was in the Beginning

Agnes, Whose Eyes Were Baffling

Jean Baptiste, The Homesteader

Jack Stewart, Agnes' Father

Augustus M. Barr, an Infidel

Isaac Syfe, a Jew

Peter Kaden, The Victim

N. Justine McCarthy, a Preacher

Orlean, his Daughter, Without the Courage of Her Convictions