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 V . - 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE WILMER COLLECTION 
 
 OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. 
 
/Y^ 
 
f^ 
 
A YEAE OF WEECK 
 
 21 Crue Qtoru 
 
 BY A VICTIM 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, FRAXKLIX SQUARE 
 
 1880 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 Stereotyped by Robert Clarke <£ Co. 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 This story is dedicated to my much esteemed partner. 
 General Eoderic Dhu Dobson. His estimate was slightly 
 incorrect, but there was yet a speculation in tne enterprise. 
 I secured a march in time, living in the one year not 
 less than ten ; at that rate a man of forty would have lived 
 four hundred years. Whether it was an advantage or not, 
 this book must say, I met the Southern people in a way 
 which but for the Dobson estimate had been impossible. 
 Then in Dobson himself! While not wishing to be under- 
 stood as meaning that the world is not full of good men, I 
 yet learned that there was one person — and that Dobson — 
 who, take him all in all, for desirable traits — the cap-sheaf 
 of which was fidelity to friendships — you 
 
 " shall not look upon his like again." 
 
 (iii) 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Promise, - - . - . . . 108,000.00 
 
 Eesult, -------- G,5G4.27 
 
 Deficit, 101,435.83 
 
 E. & O. E. 
 
 The above figures do not mean weights or measures, but 
 solid dollars and cents. Moreover, the account is correct, 
 PS any one can learn who will take the trouble to read 
 what fijUows. 
 
 Herein also are to be found the reasons why the wrecks 
 of that superb stream of immigration which flowed into 
 the South at the close of the war mostly drifted back to the 
 North within the year, leaving the stream dry. The situ- 
 ation the first year after the war is the key to the situa- 
 tion since then. This understood, the snail-like progress 
 of that section will no longer cause surprise ; and, whilst 
 the reader may say that, simply considering its own inter- 
 ests, the South could not have done worse, it is also charity 
 to remember that with her previous training she could not 
 well have done otherwise. If this story shall have the ef- 
 fect to inspire the good element in the South to assert itself 
 against the lawless, thus hastening the day of substantial 
 prosperity in a region of unparalled natural advantages, 
 it will have accomplished its mission. 
 
 (V) 
 
A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 dobson's cotton statement. 
 
 It was in December, 1865. General Dobson came into 
 our store, with a piece of white paper in his hand and a 
 slightly flushed ftice. 
 
 As ours was a drug-store, and Dobson a physician, I 
 supposed the paper was a prescription for me to fill, and 
 that his flushed face came from the haste he had made 
 from some chamber of dangerous sickness. I reached out 
 my hand for the supposed prescription, and at the same 
 time inquired : 
 
 "Liquid or solid? " 
 
 " JSTeither," said he, " but your fortune," still holding the 
 mysterious paper tightly in his hand. 
 
 " A short road to wealth," he finally added. 
 
 "Let me see what it is," I cried impatiently. 
 
 "Not so fast," he replied deliberately. "Let us retire 
 to the privacy of your counting-room and you shall know 
 
 all." 
 
 Our " counting-room " was the back room of the drug- 
 store. It was furnished, for seats, with an old arm-chair 
 and a three-legged stool. The General occupied the arm- 
 chair, while I perched upon the stool. With a near pros- 
 pect of a "fortune," I became, as is natural, generous, and 
 brought in a bottle of sherry. Two medicine glasses 
 serve'd as wine-glasses. The General was tautalizingly 
 Blow He poured out his wine, fully two ounces, and 
 
 (") 
 
8 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 toyed with it. This, I afterwards learned, was his woni 
 never to do any thing in a hurry. 
 
 " Harding," he said to me recently, " if you want to be 
 considered an important character, make people wait for 
 you." 
 
 Finally he handed me the paper so fraught with our fu- 
 ture destiny. It ran as follows : 
 
 " Character of land. 
 "Swamp, above overflow ; raises from a bale to a bale 
 and a half of cotton to the acre. 
 
 " Frice. 
 " Seventy-five dollars per acre, one-third cash in hand, 
 balance in one and two years, with interest at eight per 
 cent, per annum. 
 
 " Location^ name, and quantity of land. 
 "Situated on the Mississippi river; named Hebron; 
 contains 1,100 acres, more or less. 
 
 " Producing following cash results. 
 " 1,100 acres, at §75 per acre (900 under cultiva- 
 tion, 200 acres in wood), is $82,500 
 
 One-third cash in hand, is 827,500 
 
 One year's interest on same, at 8 per- 
 cent : 2,200 —829,700 
 
 56 mules (each mule cultivating 
 
 16 acres), at 8150 00 88,400 00 
 
 28 double plows, for breaking 
 
 land 10 00 280 00 
 
 40 single plows, for cultivating 
 
 land 8 00 320 00 
 
 40 sweeps, for cultivating land... 8 00 320 00 
 40 scrapers, for cultivating land. 8 00 320 00 
 40 harrows, for cultivating land. 8 00 320 00 
 56 harness, viz.: hames, bridle, 
 collar, trace-chains, and back- 
 bands 7 50 420 00 
 
dobson's cotton statement. 9 
 
 6i dozen hoes, at, per dozen $12 00 $80 00 
 
 2 wagons 1^0 00 240 00 
 
 Complete cost of outfit 610,700 00 
 
 One year's interest on same, at 8 per cent... 856 00 
 
 Outfit and interest $11,55G 00 
 
 " Expense, one year. 
 
 " GO freed men $10,800 00 
 
 20 freed women 2,400 00 
 
 25 freed children 1,500 00 
 
 91 barrels of pork (men, 4 pounds per week ; 
 women, 3 ; and children, 2—350 pounds a 
 
 week), at $30 per barrel 2,730 00 
 
 1,209 bushels of corn meal (men and women, 
 1 peck a week ; children, | peck), at 80 
 
 cents per bushel ^^"^ 20 
 
 598 gallons of molasses (men and women, 1 
 pint a week ; children, \ pint), at 80 cents 
 
 per gallon '^"^^ 40 
 
 4 barrels of salt, at $5 per barrel 20 00 
 
 2,240 bushels of corn, for mules (40 bushels 
 
 to each mule), at 75 cents per bushel 1,G80 00 
 
 56 tons of hay, for mules (1 ton to each mule) 1,9G0 00 
 Medicine, for men and beasts 375 00 
 
 $22,910 GO 
 An average of 8 month's interest on same, 
 
 at 8 per cent 1,221 89 
 
 Total expense of one year $24,132 49 
 
 " Receipts. 
 "900 acres, minimum estimate, 900 bales cot- 
 ton, at $120 per bale $108,000 00 
 
 1 
 
 * 
 
10 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 " Outlay recapitulated. 
 "First payment on land, and in- 
 terest , 829,700 00 
 
 Cost of outfit 11,556 00 
 
 Expense, one year 2^,132 49—865,388 49 
 
 Eeceipts, over all outlay... 843,611 51 
 
 " Analysis, showing practical results. 
 " Total cash outlay of 865,388 49, all returned at end of 
 first year; leaving a balance of cash on hand, being 
 receipts over all outlay 843,645 00 
 
 Crop of 2d year, 900 bales, at 8120 per bale. 8108,000 00 
 
 Second payment on land 827,500 00 
 
 Interest on same, 1 year, at 8 per 
 
 cent 2,200 00 
 
 Estimate for current expenses, 
 
 2d year 24,000 00—853,700 00 
 
 Cash profits on hand at end of 2d year... 854,300 00 
 
 Crop of 3d year, 900 bales, at 8120 per bale. 8108,000 00 
 Third and last payment on land. 827,500 00 
 Two years interest, at 8 percent. 4,400 00 
 Estimate for current expenses, 
 
 for 3d year 24,000 00—855,900 00 
 
 Cash profits at end of 3d year 852,100 00 
 
 "■ JRemarks. 
 
 " Thus, it will be seen, the entire cash outlay is returned at 
 the close of the first year, and a net profit of 843,600 51. 
 The second year, after making the second payment on the 
 land, there will be left 854,300; and the third year, 
 852,100. 
 
 " This plantation would have sold readily, before the 
 war, for 8125 an acre in gold ; and it is reasonable to pre- 
 dict that at the end of, say, the fourth year, it will be 
 
dobson's cotton statement. 11 
 
 marketable for at least SlOO an acre. If we should con- 
 clude to sell at that time we would have the follow! ncr sum 
 to divide : 
 
 Fourth crop clear, less 62-1,000 expenses in 
 
 working it, say 900 bales $7G,000 00 
 
 Eleven hundred acres of land, at 8100 per 
 
 acre $110,000 00 
 
 Mules, plows, and general outfit, worth, say... 7,500 00 
 
 6193,500 00 
 Which added to the 150,011 57 
 
 Previously divided, makes a total profit in 
 
 the handsome sum of 8343,511 57 
 
 The whole cash capital, 865,388 49, which includes inter- 
 est at 8 per cent., having been returned, at the end of the 
 first year, as bef(3re stated. 
 
 " The j^ield is placed at its minimum. Should the crop, 
 in any year, or each year, approach a maximum yield, the 
 profits would be correspondingly increased. At the same 
 time, the estimate of expenses is put at the maximum 
 figure, so that if there are any changes in the result each 
 year, it will be rather in favor of the profit side of the 
 statement than against it." 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 HOW dobson's statement impressed me. 
 
 Here was a fortune — at least a fortune on paper. 
 
 I scanned the statement again closely from beginning to 
 end ; went over Dobson's additions and subtractions, to see 
 that he had made no mistake — rather in hopes I might find 
 some blunders in what appeared to be his Gibralter of fig- 
 
12 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ures, which I could expose, so as to bring his beauti- 
 ful edifice tumbling before his eyes ; fearful at the same 
 time (such is human nature), that I might do so, and thus 
 break the charmed spell his figures had already Avoven 
 about me. 
 
 Failing to find any flaw in the results made by Dobson's 
 figures, I became childish, and commenced a criticism of 
 their shape, the formation of his letters, his punctuation, 
 etc. — as if finding these defective could alter the facts, 
 if Dobson had stated but facts, anymore than the value of 
 a white diamond could be changed by its setting, or the 
 flavor of a draught of old Ehenish wine could be changed by 
 its being quaffed from a tin cup, instead of a cut-glass gob- 
 let. But even here there was no flaw. Dobson writes a 
 beautiful feminine hand, and his figures are as gracefully 
 turned as the legs of a deer. No fault could be found in 
 the mechanical execution of the paper. Dobson had evi- 
 dently been an accountant at one time in his life, for there 
 were the red-ink, marks of" pounce," lines that could only 
 have been drawn by the aid of a rule, and it was folded 
 faultlessly. In short, Dobson's statement hadn't a flaw in 
 it. Considered simply as a statement, it was a grand suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Now, I did want to find "a short cut " to a fortune — 
 show me the human being who does not! — and this seemed 
 to be one. 
 
 In this mood, I raised my eyes from the statement and 
 met Dobson's looking at me inquiringly. He continued 
 looking at me for a full minute, then he took a sip of wine. 
 Finally, after a lapse of two minutes, during which not a 
 word was sj^oken, Dobson asked : 
 
 "Well, what do you think of the enterprise?" 
 
 "It looks well, but can you buy the plantation at the 
 price named ? " 
 
 Dobson drew from his pocket a letter, which he handed 
 to me, saying : " Eead for yourself" 
 
now dobson's statement impressed me. 13 
 
 The author was evidently an aged man, for he wrote a 
 tremulous hand. The letter ran as follows : 
 
 -, December G, 1865. 
 
 u Sir ._i ^vill sell you my Hebron plantation, situated on 
 the Mississippi river, containing 1,100 acres (900 acres un- 
 der cultivation, and 200 woods) for $75 per acre, one-third 
 cash, balance in one and two years, in equal payments, 
 which shall bear interest at the rate of eight per cent, per 
 annum. The Hebron plantation is well supplied with 
 cabins, has a steam gin-house, steam saw-mill, steam grist- 
 mill, blacksmith shop, and mule stable, all complete, and in 
 perfect condition. If you contemplate a purchase in the 
 South, should be pleased to see you here. 
 " Eespectfully, 
 
 " Jonathan Hampson. 
 
 " To General Dobson. 
 
 a p_ S.— Hebron place is free from overflow, and its yield 
 is a bale to a bale and a half an acre. J. H." 
 
 I handed the letter back to Dobson, convinced on the 
 question in point. 
 
 " Have you ever seen this plantation ? What is the con- 
 dition of public opinion in its locality? Do you consider 
 it safe for ^"orthern immigration to go there ?" I asked. 
 
 " I campaigned through that country during the war, 
 and then made up my mind if I came out of the service alive, 
 I would seek a location there ; and it is in order to carry 
 out this old determination that I have opened the above 
 correspondence. In answer to your last question, I believe 
 the Southern people to be thoroughly subdued. Then- 
 newspapers say they want Northern immigration and cap- 
 ital to settle among them, and I think they should be taken 
 at their word, until we have proof to the contrary. At any 
 rate," said General Dobson, a little proudly, " I assisted ni 
 conquering the rebellion ; by virtue of the sacrifice of the 
 
14 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 blood and treasure of this Nation, our flag floats over every 
 part of the late Confederacy." 
 
 " We went into that country once as warriors to conquer 
 a rebellion, and success crowned our efl'orts ; we will now 
 go as j)eaccful citizens with the plow and the pruning- 
 hook, and I believe success will again come to us. The 
 Southern country needs the regenerating influences of the 
 North. The same element that swept across the Alleghe- 
 nies, that felled the forests a long way in the direction of the 
 setting sun, that tunneled mountains, that bridged rivers, 
 that has spun a network of railroads throughout the coun- 
 trj^ — that same element is needed in the South. What it 
 has done, and is still doing, for the North, it can — now that 
 free labor when it goes there will not be brought in com- 
 petition with slave labor — do for the South. 
 
 " Coming down to our individual cases — we can not fail. 
 We'will not be satisfied with the almost primitive farming 
 utensils now in use in the South ; instead of the small plow 
 which turns a furrow only three to four inches in depth, we 
 will use a larger one that will give us a depth of eight to 
 ten inches. AYe will discard the heavy plantation hoe, 
 which is a load in itself to carry, and use the light steel 
 hoe, with which the laborer can strike five blows, and with 
 more execution each time, to every three with the present 
 one. We will use fertilizers on our lands, and in this way 
 increase the yield to two bales. We will also use labor- 
 saving machinery. Look at the cultivation of corn in the 
 bottom lands here : one farmer with his cultivator easily 
 manages forty acres ; with the same machinery, we can 
 easily cultivate twenty acres in cotton, and, in the course 
 of time, as the freedmen learn to handle these cultivators, 
 the quantity of land per man will be increased. 
 
 " I tell you, Harding, this is our ' tide,' and we must take 
 advantage of it. There is my adjutant, who comes out of 
 the service broken in health, poor fellow, and with but lit- 
 tle in pocket, but with a rich uncle who has promised to 
 
I BECOME ENTHUSIASTIC OVER IT. 15 
 
 help bim, and thinks the South just the place to mend both 
 his health and his purse. He will make a sixth owner if 
 we can get up the cnteri)rise, and his uncle will put the 
 money up for him any day. My uncle, Mr. Joseph Gale, 
 will put in a sixth, as much to help me as any thing, I 
 fancy, though he seems to regard the investment as I do. 
 I will take a third ; will you take the remaining third ? " I 
 gave Dobson my word that I would, if on visiting the 
 place it met my expectations. We arranged to take our 
 departure within a week, Adjutant Johnson and Mr. Gale 
 agreeing to take our report as their sufficient guarantee. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I BECOME ENTHUSIASTIC OVER IT. 
 
 And so Dobson left me a thorough and enthusiastic con- 
 vert to his scheme — left me repeating to myself : "8343,- 
 511.57 profit in four years; one-third of this is 3114,503.85, 
 which will belong to me ! " And then I took out my j^en- 
 cil and figured that this would be 828,G25.06 for each year, 
 or seventy-eight dollars, forty-two and two-thirds cents a 
 day ! 
 
 I thought of our drug-store, with its gross daily sales 
 amounting to less than S50, from which the stock had to 
 be kept up, the wages of a prescription clerk and an apoth- 
 ecary's boy paid, my partner's and my own daily household 
 expenses met — thought of how, to accomplish this, the 
 walls of our pill-shop claimed me from seven in the morn- 
 ing until nine in the evening, to say nothing of my alter- 
 nate morning and evening Sunday "watch " of four hours. 
 
 I remembered that Dobson, just before parting, had said 
 something about plodding my life away in the drug busi- 
 
IC A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 iiess. Dobson was right ; I was plodding my life away. 
 Only an hour before, it is true, our drug store had looked 
 very attractive to me. I had scoured the plate-glass 
 windows ray own self, so that they shone like mirrors ; I 
 had rubbed down the big show-bottles, with their colored 
 waters, until they glistened in the sunlight and caught 
 the eye of the passer; our soda-fountain I had polished 
 with whitening, as well as the rims of the show cases, so 
 that they had all the luster of a silver dollar fresh from the 
 mint. I had looked over our cash account and found that 
 we had a few hundred dollars in bank and no bills due for 
 over a week. I remember to have had a passing thought 
 that twenty years more in the drug business, as things 
 were running, would give me a fine competency. This 
 would make me a financial success at forty-nine. Seventy- 
 live thousand dollars was then my idea of a competency. 
 It was in this mood that Dobson had crossed my path. 
 
 What a revolution his statement had accomplished in 
 me ! What a puny, sickly thing our drug-store looked to 
 me now ! What ! twenty years to secure a competency of 
 seventy-five thousand dollars, when four years will give me 
 one hundred and fourteen thousand and five hundred dol- 
 lars ? As I felt at that moment I would have given away 
 my half-interest in the drug-store had any one asked me 
 for it. What! spend my time dealing out "salts and 
 senna" by the five cents' worth, when an opportunity was 
 off'ered me to have three dollars and a quarter hurled at 
 me every hour in the twenty-four, or a nickle a minute? 
 Perish the thought ! ' 
 
 It was in this mood that our apothecary's boy inquired 
 of me how much Epsom salts he should weigh out for a 
 dime. I replied, " A barrel." I was absolutely ashamed 
 of my business ; it looked worse than small to me ; it 
 looked mean ! 
 
 1 walked along the business thoroughfare on my way to 
 dinner that day, and felt, or imagined I felt, the air of the 
 
I BECOME ENTHUSIASTLC OVER IT. 17 
 
 cit}^ to be Stifling. Tiio free air of the country was what 
 I wanted — farm-life, that was the thing. No eighty-acre 
 Western farm either, with its daily drudgery of feeeding 
 pigs and poultry, of being your own stable and plow-boy, 
 and your own milk-man ; but I fancied the grand sweep 
 of an eleven-hundred-acre plantation, with a roll of labor- 
 ers running up in the hundreds; riding on a fine horse, 
 with a broad Panama hat, and a ringing spur, under a 
 Southern sky — that was the poetry of country life, so to 
 speak ; that was the country life I had in my mind, and it 
 was that life which was in store for me if Dobson's scheme 
 worked. 
 
 I looked into the shop-windows as I passed along and 
 saw the occupants busy with traffic. What a plodding life 
 they were leading, to be sure — wearing their existence 
 away in the dust and noise, and the narrow prison-house 
 of four walls — no " short cut " for them, because there was 
 no Dobson likely to cross their path, as mine had been 
 crossed ! No, indeed ; such visits as Dobson's seldom come 
 to men ! 
 
 I passed Mr. Cooper, the great banker, sunning himself 
 in his window. It reminded me of the spider on the out- 
 skirts of his net watching and waiting for j^rey, and I 
 thought what a poor reward he was getting for the use of 
 his money-bags — eight, or, at most, ten per cent. Why, 
 with an outlay of twenty-two thousand dollars, which was 
 to be returned to me within a year, I was to come out of 
 an enterprise at the end of four years the winner of one 
 hundred and fourteen thousand dollars! 
 
18 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 I SHARE THE DOBSON STATEMENT "WITH MY WIFE. 
 
 I MET my wife standing in the door, shading her eyes 
 from the sunlight with her kitchen apron, on the look-out 
 for me. 
 
 She had, with her own hands, prepared my favorite pud- 
 ding, which must be eaten as soon as it was drawn from 
 the oven, in order to strike it in its prime, and her coun- 
 tenance betrayed a little anxiety, fearing I might be late. 
 
 I ate my pudding that day, and whatever else was set 
 before me — at least I presume I did. But if my din- 
 ner had been saw-dust, it would have been all the same, so 
 far as the taste went. Man's capacity has its limit, and 
 mine had been exhausted, for the time being, over Dobson's 
 scheme. Dinner then was a mechanical operation. Doubt- 
 less a night's rest would restore me to my wonted equilib- 
 rium. If this did not, I was in a bad way. 
 
 I bethought myself of unbosoming my secret to mj^ 
 wife. It would be a relief to talk it over with some one 
 besides Dobson. She would have to know the whole sooner 
 or later, and woman's instincts are so keen, I reasoned. If 
 what appeared to be Dobson's wheat should after all be but 
 chaff, my wife might find it out and save me ere it was too 
 late. It is true, Dobson had said to me that the idea of 
 looking around while campaigning for a plantation origin- 
 ated with Mrs. Dobson. I knew Mrs. Dobson to be credited 
 with the keenest instinct, and it was, perhaps, presumjotion 
 to expect that my little wife could discover a flaw in a 
 scheme which Mrs. Dobson had originated, and whose de- 
 tails had undergone her critical inspection! !N"evertheless 
 it had before happened that great minds, such as Mrs. 
 
WE START ON OUR TOUR OF INSPECTION. 19 
 
 Dobson was always credited with, bad overlooked some 
 little minutiffl essential to the success of a measure ; it 
 ini£Cbt be so now. This tbing wbicb looked so substantial 
 migbt be only a bubble, which my wife would prick ; a 
 mere shadow, instead of substance, which she might dis- 
 cover and dispel. Not that I wished for this result ; on the 
 contrary, I would have been vexed at it. I wanted the 
 fairy Dobson castle, Mrs. Dobson architect, to stand as 
 adamant. 
 
 So, between the puffs of an after dinner cigar, I shared 
 the Dobson scheme with Mrs. Harding. 
 
 Dear, good soul, and ever faithful, after she had heard the 
 whole story, listening with wrapt attention, she answered : 
 
 " AYell, John, you must be the judge— our home here is 
 delightful, and it will be a little trying to leave our friends 
 and go so far away ; but if you think it for the best, let it 
 be so." 
 
 There was a slight quiver in her voice, and her hand 
 brushed a something from her eye; but it was only the 
 weakness of the instant, and from that moment the dear 
 little body entered heart and soul into the Dobson scheme. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WE START ON OUR TOUR OF INSPECTION, 
 
 Our arrangements for starting on our tour of in- 
 spection were complete on the last day of the year, and 
 New Year's day found us on our way to the depot, satchels 
 in hand. 
 
 It was a bitter cold day, that first of January, 1SG6, but 
 what cared we for that? In a few days we should be in 
 the South, busking in its sunshine and warmth. 
 
20 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 We passed numerous parties, acquaintances or friends ; 
 many of them starting out on their annual round of New- 
 Year calls. I remembered how, a year ago, I had made a 
 day of it. My wife had gently suggested the idea of post- 
 poning our dej)arture until the second of January, that 1 
 might enjoy it again. Perhaps it would be my last oppor- 
 tunity for many years, she said. 
 
 '' Does a day later matter ?" 
 
 '' JSTo, a day later does not matter, my dear ; but I am in 
 no mood for New-Year's calls," I answered, adding: 
 
 " T have entered upon the stern realities of life now, and 
 look upon NcAV-Year's calls and such like as frivolous." 
 
 Mrs. Harding had arranged, as was her habit, to " re- 
 ceive," and it was her whim that I should say my good-bye 
 to her in her little reception room, where the table was set 
 with coffee, sandwiches, scalloped oysters, and the usual 
 sweetmeats — a little ruse on her part, I rightly divined, 
 to give me a glimpse of this feature of the New- Year's 
 custom, when she found I could not be induced to take a 
 whole day's view of it. 
 
 As I look back upon it now, I feel how I utterly failed 
 to appreciate that moment. But the Dobson scheme wrapt 
 me as in a mantle ; it absorbed my every thought ; and so, 
 while my wife served me, oh ! so tenderly, picking out the 
 largest lumps of sugar for my coffee, selecting the choicest 
 tit-bits from each dish to tempt me ; now raising this cur- 
 tain, now lowering that, in order to im^^rove the lights 
 and shadows of her little paradise ; throwing the register 
 wide open, so that the heat came up in great puffs, giving 
 the room a glow of warmth which would be in strong con- 
 trast with the biting cold I would encounter as soon as I 
 crossed the threshold of our door; hovering near me, 
 fondly stroking my hair, and cautioning me, over and over 
 again, to be careful how I exposed myself in that Southern 
 country; — while she was showering upon me all these little 
 
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER — A GREAT FRIGHT. 21 
 
 tokens of wifely affection, I gulped my coffee, and bolted 
 what she set before me with a manner which plainly said : 
 " See here before you one of the pioneers from the Xorth, 
 taking his life in his hands, and joining that army of ad- 
 venturous men who are seeking a home in the South ; that 
 army which is to build that country anew, causing it to 
 bud and blossom as the rose ; that army full of courage, 
 strong in endurance, with money, brains, and with right 
 arms fully capable of becoming the executive officers of 
 that courage, endurance, money, and brains. Picture the 
 return of this army of pioneers — the return of this pioneer 
 in particular, after a four years' absence, with a bank ac- 
 count better by §114,500 ! Oh, yes, we will accept this 
 little tribute at the moment of our departure. Eemember, 
 however, we arc on a pinnacle, and from our lofty height 
 you can only expect us to look down upon you, perhaps to 
 give you an absent-minded smile ; but, as for entering into 
 your frivolities, impossible !" 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER — A GREAT FRIGHT. 
 
 At Cairo we found the steamer Mississippi, one of the 
 Atlantic Steamship Company's line, ready to push out for 
 her trip below within half an hour. 
 
 On our way to her from the depot we were besieged by 
 runners of rival boats, with a great outcry against her : 
 
 " She has tubular boilers, which are almost certain to ex- 
 plode before reaching New Orleans." '• Do you want to take 
 passage on such a boat, when a few hours' delay will give 
 
22 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 you boats with old-fashioned boilers, which are compara- 
 tively safe ?" " Better take your coffin with you," said one 
 persistent fellow, " if you go on that boat. Already five out 
 of fourteen of the tubular boiler boats, belonging to this line, 
 have exploded their boilers within a few months, and each 
 one of these explosions has been attended with fearful loss 
 of life and property." " Do you want to enter the jaws of 
 death ? If so, this boat is your opportunity." 
 
 This and similar talk filled our ears until we had actually 
 crossed the gang-plank and were on the boat itself. 
 
 We of course thought it all stuff, if, indeed, we thought 
 any thing about it at the time, except to feel annoyed at 
 the persistence of the fellows ; but after we had been out 
 an hour, something recalled the incident, and, on inquiry, 
 we learned that the runners had for once told the truth. 
 
 Then we remembered how but recently the wives of two 
 of our townsmen had met with watery graves while on 
 their return trip from visiting the husband of one of them, 
 who was then a cotton-planter near Helena, and how un- 
 usually sad the event was, in that neither of their bodies 
 could ever be found. The accident in which they were in- 
 volved had resulted in great loss of life, but of course these 
 two cases, being those of our own town's-people, had come 
 home to us, so to speak. I remembered how the almost 
 crazed husbands had the river dragged for miles above and 
 below the point where the accident occurred, and offered 
 large rewards for the recovery of the bodies, and I also re- 
 membered how, when we had visited our cemetery but 
 recently I had seen newly cut names on the family tomb of 
 each of the bereaved husbands, with the inscription : " Sa- 
 cred to the memory of , the victim of a steamboat 
 
 explosion on the Mississippi river, Dec, 1865." 
 
 On further inquiry, I learned that the ill-fated boat was 
 one of the same line we were traveling on, and, like it, had 
 tubular boilers ! 
 
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER — A GREAT FRIGHT. 23 
 
 Thus the noisy runners had but stated the truth to us, 
 which our Western stubbornness would not allow us to 
 heed! 
 
 But we had, with others, paid our passage money, and 
 were in for it. I scanned the face of the Captain closely. 
 There was no trace of apprehension in it. I looked around 
 among the passengers, particularly those who bore evidence 
 of bcinc: veterans in steamboat travel — some were chattini; 
 pleasantly, others were engaged in card-playing, many 
 patronizing the bar, all apparently at ease. Surely these 
 people must know the situation, and if the danger of an 
 explosion were indeed so great, they would not be so calm 
 and collected, I reasoned. 
 
 I tried also to comfort myself with the thought that 
 after all these explosions might not be the fault of the 
 tubular boilers, but the result of unaccountable circum- 
 stances ; or they might be attributed to careless captains 
 or heedless enc-ineers. 
 
 Our Captain, we were told, had been on the Mississippi 
 river twenty years, and never had an accident, and our 
 engineer was said to be A No. 1. Perhaps I was needlessly 
 alarmed. I would try and quiet myself But, as a meas- 
 ure of precaution, I would get a berth as far away from the 
 boiler as possible. The rear or front part of the boat 
 Avould put me in the outskirts of the danger, so to speak, 
 in case of explosion, and I would make a critical examina- 
 tion of the life-preserver in my room, to see that it was all 
 right, and have it where I could reach it instantly in the 
 event of danger, even at the dead hour of night. 
 
 But either because the boat was crowded, or the clerk 
 was stubborn, my state-room was directly over the boiler, 
 and the steam whistle pipe went up through it. In tem- 
 perature, it was about a hundred Fahrenheit. No amount 
 of expostulation would effect a change, so there was noth- 
 ing left but to submit. 
 
 An advertisement posted in my room gave this informa- 
 
24 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 tion : " The doors and shutters lift from their hinges, and 
 in case of wreck are to be taken off and used as floats." 
 
 But what use was life-preserver, or door, or shutter, in 
 case of explosion, to one directly over the boiler? Those 
 in the rear or front might live to make a struggle for the 
 shore with them, but as for me, explosion sealed my doom. 
 
 I felt ever so faintly, at that moment, like being back in 
 our drug-store, with no Dobson scheme to divert me, but 
 it was only the weakness of an instant, and I at once ujd- 
 braided myself for the thought. What had Dobson's 
 scheme to do with tubular boilers ? They were the inci- 
 dents of travel, and were just as likely to be encountered 
 on a journey of pleasure as one of business. 
 
 Thus reasoning, I dropped off to sleep. But I was not to 
 be allowed to get through the night without disturbance. 
 I was suddenly awakened by a fearful noise. Something 
 seemed to be screeching up through my state-room with 
 the force of a hundred horse-power. My first thought was 
 of an explosion, and as I listened an instant my ears were 
 filled with a terrific noise, as of rushing steam. Yes, it 
 was an explosion. My time had come. In a twinkle I 
 would be spinning in the air, perhaps torn to fragments. 
 I frantically clasped the door and my life-preserver, when 
 the whistle of the boat sounded hoarsely over my head, fol- 
 lowed immediately by the second and third. It was all 
 explained when I could gather my thoughts sufficiently to 
 remember that the steam whistle pipe passed up directly 
 through my room, as already noted. 
 
 If the clerk had laid a plot to give me a fright, he had 
 certainly succeeded, and to this day I do not hear of a 
 steamboat explosion without a shudder at the horror I ex- 
 perienced during the moment I have just attempted to 
 describe. 
 
 I had another fright, by what the Captain told me next 
 morning was the blowing out of the mud-drums by the aid 
 
TOPICS AND CHARACTERS BY THE WAY. 25 
 
 of steam. Any one hearing this noise for the first time 
 can not fail to be startled by it. 
 
 It seems my fears were not groundless, for two months 
 later this boat did actually explode its boilers, and the poor 
 Captain fell a victim to his first and last accident. 
 
 The company continued to lose their tubular boiler boats, 
 until at last, forced by an indignant public, and a convic- 
 tion that the fault was in the boilers, they had them taken 
 out, and old-fashioned ones put in their places. 
 
 This attempt to introduce tubular boilers in the muddy 
 waters of the Mississippi, which had resulted so disastrously 
 to human life and property, was then abandoned, let us 
 hope, forever. 
 
 CHAPTEE YII. 
 
 TOPICS AND CHARACTERS BY THE WAY. 
 
 The popular topic on the steamboat was plantation 
 labor. 
 
 '' Will the black people work, now they are free ?" 
 
 Most of the passengers were either Southerners or South- 
 ern sympathizers, and they, as well as the officers of the 
 boat, who were never slow to speak their minds — always, 
 we noticed, chiming in with the Southern view — loudly as- 
 serted there was no work in the negroes, except under the 
 overseer's lash. When we reached Memphis, and saw the 
 landing lined with them, warming themselves under the 
 grateful rays of a January sun, apparently without occu- 
 pation, the scene was pointed to as the complete verifica- 
 tion of this statement. 
 
 " Why do n't they go to the country, if there is any work 
 in them ?" said the skeptics. " There is a crying necessity 
 
26 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 for them on the plantations, with the promise of good 
 wages." 
 
 Some one in the crowd replied : " They 're waiting for 
 that mule and the forty acres of land the Yankee gover'- 
 ment has promised them." 
 
 The author of the remark was a person of swarthy hue, 
 bullet head, small round coal-black eye, thin lip, with the 
 faintest shadow of a mustache, spare in figure, and appar- 
 ently about thirty-five. He wore no vest, as if the better 
 to display a showy shirt-front, and his pantaloons were 
 held in place by a broad belt, which was fastened with a 
 gilt clasp, on which were the letters " 0. S. A." The 
 stranger was in the act of hitching up his jmntaloons, 
 which operation disclosed what looked very much like the 
 handle of a knife peeping above the belt's rim; and as he 
 turned around, an instant later, a gust of wind blew aside 
 the tails of his coat, disclosing a pair of huge pistols. 
 
 His feet were very small (he wore his pantaloons in his 
 boots, as if the better to display them). The heels of his 
 boots were as tiny as a woman's, and actually looked over- 
 loaded by the weight of the spurs which were fastened to 
 them. These spurs had ugly saw-teeth wheels, fully as 
 large as a silver dollar, and under them were miniature 
 bells, which jingled whenever he moved a foot. When he 
 was not hitching up his pantaloons, he was pulling at his 
 little farce of a mustache, as if trying to hurry it up. 
 
 He also had a way of glancing over his shoulder, and 
 when in this act his eye would sometimes betray fear, 
 sometime hatred, as if he either expected to be pursued or 
 had left behind him some deadly foe. Occasionally, when 
 casting these furtive glances behind, there would gleam 
 across his brigandish features an expression which looked 
 like a determination to go back and have it out with some 
 one, and then his hand would quickly find itself under his 
 coat, as if searching for something. This would always 
 be followed instantly by a pallor, as if this determination 
 
TOPICS AND CHARACTERS BY THE WAY. 27 
 
 involved great danger. Ho made the remark which at- 
 tracted my attention with a sneer, which had not left his 
 face when my eyes rested on him. 
 
 He was a new-comer, having taken passage at Memphis, 
 accompanied by a man who was in every way his striking 
 contrast. I had noticed the two while they were paying 
 their fare at the clerk's desk, and had instinctively ex- 
 claimed to Dobson, " David and Goliah !" 
 
 The " Goliah" was indeed a very large man, weighing 
 not a pound less than three of his companion. Every 
 thing about him was simply enormous. Looking at his 
 broadcloth coat, which was frock, had a very long tail, a 
 high collar (which had a rim of at least two inches of 
 grease on it), and flowing sleeves, one would have said it had 
 consumed but little less than a roll of cloth. If any thing 
 had been left, it had certainly been consumed in his pan- 
 taloons, which, like every thing else about him, had a baggy 
 appearance. His head was surmounted by a shock of hair, 
 which was allowed to grow long, and which could only be 
 kept under any sort of discipline by the most liberal use 
 of grease. When we first saw him he was evidently fresh 
 from the hands of the barber, and his locks had been 
 tucked under, and plastered down with water and grease, 
 until they formed a huge roll. 
 
 Every thing about his face was two sizes above the ordi- 
 nary, except his nose, which was three sizes. Starting out 
 from the skirt of his hair was a pale rim of red, which 
 gradually deepened, until centering in his enormous nose 
 it had all the color and seedy appearance of a dead-ripe 
 strawberry. His cheeks and double chin hung down in 
 flabby folds, and the barber's soap had brought out the 
 blotches on his face, giving it somewhat the appearance of 
 newly-polished mahogany. 
 
 Looking at him from the rear, one would involuntarily 
 think of a huge statue, which had in some way got down 
 from its pedestal. Looking at him from the fi*ont, one 
 
28 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 would exclaim : " What a living monument to intemper- 
 ance." 
 
 He was being greeted by the Captain, who gave him the 
 title of " General," with the most fulsome praise as to how 
 well he was looking, and with inquiry how long he had 
 been in Memphis, etc., when his companion gave expression 
 to the remark I have just quoted. 
 
 He slapped him on the shoulder — causing him to start 
 with a half frightened, half defiant air, as if his imaginary 
 enemy had come upon him, after all his watching, unex- 
 pectedly — and exclaimed, with a hoarse laugh : 
 
 " Good for you, Southland. From the experience we 've 
 had in Memphis, 'mong them niggers, tryin' to git 'em to 
 go home with us, and gitting nary a one, I reckon you 're 
 'bout right." 
 
 "No, sah, the Chinee's the man for us; a free nigger 
 is no possible 'count for nothin'. Ey 'n by, when the Yan- 
 kee government gits 'nough of their cussed freedom, we '11 
 have our niggers back ag'in ; till then I 'm goin' for the 
 Chinee." And on that sentiment, the " General " invited 
 all hands to take a drink. 
 
 CHAPTEK YIII. 
 
 DRAM DRINKING. 
 
 Hf- From what I had already seen, much drinking was the 
 ' custom of the country, and for any one to decline when 
 
 invited evoked at least a broad stare from the bystanders, 
 
 if it did not actually give offense. 
 
 The General, looking at me, said : " Come, sah," and so 
 
 I marched up with the rest to the bar, which was in the 
 
DRAM DRINKING. 29 
 
 front of the boat, on the side opposite the office, and, as on 
 all Mississippi river steamers, the most prominent feature. 
 
 The bar, like every thing else, pandered to the Southern 
 sentiment; — a large engraving of Eobert E. Lee was the 
 first object that met the eye in the back-ground. Directly 
 in front of this was arranged the row of bottles containing 
 the various liquors, and on each bottle was a highly-wrought 
 picture of some one of the Southern Generals in full uni- 
 form . 
 
 "■ Name your drinks," said " Goliah ; " and in the same 
 breath, looking at the bar-keeper, called out " whisky 
 toddy," at the same time drawing his hand across his 
 mouth, as if preparing that receptacle for the rich treat in 
 store for it. 
 
 You would have said the party were the veriest epicures, 
 from the different kinds of mixtures they ordered, and how 
 the bar-keeper remembered them all was a wonder. 
 
 Southland called for a " whisky straight ; " so, when the 
 bar-keeper looked at me, I repeated : 
 
 " Whisky straight." 
 
 But for the life of me, I did not know what a whisky 
 straight was, although I knew, of course, it must have 
 whisky in it. It was all a venture, however. My impulse 
 was, to order lemonade, but, remembering the season, and 
 fearing this might make the party stare worse than to de- 
 cline altogether, I said : 
 
 " Whisky straight." 
 
 Two empty glasses and two glasses half full of ice-water, 
 with a bottle, were set before the two patrons of whisky 
 straight. What to do with them I never could have told, 
 so I resolved to imitate, and when Southland poured out 
 a half tumblerful from the bottle, which I noticed bad on 
 it the likeness of Stonewall Jackson, I followed and poured 
 out half a glassful. 
 
 He raised his glass to his lips and swallowed its contents 
 as if it were nectar. I did the same with the utmost non- 
 
30 A TEAR or WRECK. 
 
 chalance, flattering myself I was coming off with credit ; 
 but, instead of nectar, to me it was rather liquid fire, and 
 I gasped for breath. 
 
 Southland deliberately took up his ice-water, and treated 
 himself to a couple of swallows ; I seized mine, and fran- 
 tically attempted to quench the fire raging within me with 
 its full contents. 
 
 Conscious that my strange conduct had attracted atten- 
 tion, and with the fire in me only half quenched, I under- 
 took to divert the same ; toying with the bottle, I inquired 
 of the bar-keeper : 
 
 " Is this Monongahela whisky ? " 
 
 He instantly assumed an indignant air, and replied : 
 
 " No, sah ; we do n't have any Yankee whisky on this 
 boat ! " 
 
 I had put my foot into it. While the bar-keeper was 
 yet fuming at what he called an insinuation that he should 
 have Yankee whisky in his bar — the bystanders manifestly 
 in sympathy with him — I was still toying with the bottle 
 which had furnished me the whisky straight, and which 
 the bar-keeper said, with a flourish, was good old Bourbon 
 from Kentucky. Judge my astonishment when I discov- 
 ered the imprint, " Pittsburgh Glass Company Manufac- 
 tory," not only on the bottle, but on the border of the pic- 
 ture of Stonewall Jackson itself. 
 
 I said nothing, remembering to have read of bar-room 
 scenes on the Mississippi river, but I was strongly inclined 
 to display my discovery for the discomfiture of the bar- 
 keeper, who, even if he was not selling " Yankee " whisky, 
 was selling whisky from " Yankee " bottles. 
 
 The taste or quality of the whisky, or both perhaps, had 
 disappointed me, and the quantity I took soon set my head 
 to whirling, until Dobson was fain to suggest, in view of 
 the fact of my having been disturbed in my rest the night 
 previous, I had better take a nap, which I did in my boots, 
 but not until I had dimly seen David and Goliah — or, to 
 
MORNING SCENES. 31 
 
 tell the truth in my condition, a dozen Davids and Goli- 
 ahs — visit the bar twice within eight minutesby the watch. 
 It was twenty-four hours before that first whisky straight 
 got out of my head, and I resolved, during that time, that 
 this one custom of the South, which I had then seen but a 
 glimpse of, but which I afterwards learned had slain more 
 than plague, pestilence, famine, and battle in that region, 
 should never claim me as its victim. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 MOENINQ SCENES. 
 
 The third day out from Cairo, found us below Helena, 
 and desiring to see as much of this new life as possible, I 
 was up betimes. 
 
 The passengers came out of their state-rooms, one after 
 another, and, with very few exceptions, went directly to 
 the bar and ordered a whisky cocktail. Some called it " a 
 morning nip," others " an eye-opener." '^ David and Go- 
 liah " tumbled out of the same state-room, and took as 
 nearly a bee-line to the bar as their habitual state of semi- 
 intoxication, and the shaking of the boat, would permit — 
 the former seeming, in his greed for drink, to be oblivious 
 for the moment of his imaginary foe in the rear, never once 
 looking over his shoulder, but still continuing to either 
 hitch up his pantaloons or tug at his mustache. 
 
 They ordered — "the usual." 
 
 But I noticed, however indefinite the order, the bar- 
 keeper seemed to understand it as all meaning the same 
 thing, and so it was, with the exception of a couple of 
 
32 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 " swell " looking chaps, who turned out to be three-card- 
 monte dealers, who ordered " soda cocktails." 
 
 It was a study to witness this morning's operation. 1 
 had seen, in my experience of country life in the North, 
 the sturdy farmers taking their long and invigorating 
 draughts of water fresh from the well, the first thing after 
 they were up in the morning ; that seemed perfectly natu- 
 ral ; I had myself enjoyed it with the keenest relish, 
 drinking from the gourd or tin-cup hung either at the well- 
 side, or over the bench just outside the kitchen door. But 
 here was a different scene. There was the silver cooler at 
 the head of the boat, there was the silver cup from which 
 to drink, but no one visited this fountain of health. In 
 this morning's hour, cooler and cup were simply show fig- 
 ures, if they were not indeed something to be shunned, 
 while the bar, with its poisonous drinks, was the one recog- 
 nized attraction. 
 
 The visitors to this shrine would go up in shoals. There 
 seemed to be a general understanding that it was not the 
 thing to drink alone. Once only during the morning was 
 this rule varied. 
 
 Some would take their cocktails much as a hungry dog 
 snatches at a bone, others would sip it daintily as if they 
 wished it might last forever. Sometimes the countenance 
 would light up as if the draught had infused new vigor, 
 and sometimes it would give the face the expression given 
 by a nauseous dose of medicine. But it always seemed to 
 have the effect of stiffening the back-bone. After the 
 drink, you would see the person either pull his vest down 
 or his pantaloons up, or shake his coat collar, or straighten 
 up, or make some little manuever which plainly said, 
 " now, I am all right." 
 
 While " David and Goliah's " cocktails were being mixed, 
 the latter said, as if indulging in reminiscence : 
 
 ''Well, Southland, times ar' n't as they used to be 'fo' the 
 
MORNING SCENES. 
 
 33 
 
 wa'. Then we used to drink champagne cocktails all the 
 way to New Orleans; now we have to put up with whisky 
 cocktails." 
 
 "Yes," replied Southland, swallowing his drink, " that's 
 what the nidicals of the No'th have done for us." 
 
 And then he glanced over his shoulder more fiercely 
 than ever, while his coal-black eyes almost emitted sparks 
 of fire, and his hand seemed determined to find that some- 
 thing under his coat. 
 
 " We ought to love this Yankee gover'ment, we had," 
 said he. 
 
 Again glancing over his shoulder, 1 noticed a changed 
 expression. " Never mind," he continued, -'Andy Johnson 
 is with us now. He 's gone back on the cussed vadicals, 
 and through him we '11 git all we lost by the wa'." 
 
 "I reckon you're 'bout right thar; Andy's showin' 
 them fellers up No'th a sure 'nuif Yankee trick. If he '11 
 take away that cussed nigger bureau, and the Yankee 
 troops at its back, we '11 show the nigger what freedom is." 
 " He '11 do it, sure," said Southland. " He says he 's a 
 Moses, and when Andy Johnson says a thing, he means it, 
 he does." 
 
 Now the breakfast bell sounded, and here we found a 
 feature of Southern steamboat travel that was commend- 
 able : the utter absence of any rushing, or pushing, or 
 scrambling for seats at the table. Not a passenger on the 
 boat was in a hurry to take his meal. It seemed to be un- 
 derstood that there was an abundance of every thing 
 cooked, and that plenty of time would be given to eat it. 
 Here was an example for steamboats and railroads else- 
 where, which they would do well to follow. We were as 
 free from annoyance as we should have been at some first- 
 class hotel or restaurant, where meals are served at all 
 hours, thus rendering any hurry or scramble unnecessary. 
 The steward's manner plaimly said to you, " gentlemen, 
 2* 
 
3-4 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 take your own time," and the waiters bad an easy gait and 
 an air which assured you that there was no lack of good 
 things behind, but that the late comers would, if possible, 
 be better served than the early ones. 
 
 . I placed my ticket beside my plate at the first meal I 
 took on the boat, but no one called for it, no one offered to 
 " punch " it, and so I stowed it away and have it yet as a 
 memento of that eventful journey. Indeed, there was an 
 utter absence of every thing which would have a tendency 
 to remind you that you were paying for what you got, a 
 complete absence of any surveillance, which rather made 
 you feel that you were a complimentary guest ; at least 
 you felt that whether you paid or not seemed to be a mat- 
 ter of perfect indifference to the officers of the boat. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " DAVID AND GOLIAH." 
 
 The steward was an inveterate gossip. He knew every- 
 body and his antecedents. 
 
 The big man we have nick-named '' Groliah " was Gen- 
 eral Parker, of Louisiana. He was an extensive planter, 
 and had, notwithstanding his siz^e, won his title of General 
 by active field service in the Confederate army. 
 
 He was an enormous drinker, and this he had been as 
 long as the steward could remember. Even before the 
 war he was one of the inveterates, but then drinking was 
 done in a more aristocratic style. In those days cham- 
 pagne was the rule, and it used to run, on the steamboats, 
 free as water. The steward had heard that General Parker 
 drank a barrel of whisky once since the war in sixty days. 
 
"DAVID AND GOLIAH." 35 
 
 He was drinking, at least half a gallon a day now ; so 
 this statement did not surprise me in the least. 
 
 " Is he married ?" 
 
 The steward looked cautiously around, to see if any one 
 was in hearing distance, and then replied in an undertone : 
 " No ; but he has quite a family of children by one of his 
 slave women." 
 
 I expressed great astonishment at this, but the steward 
 said, with a shrug of the shoulder : " You '11 have to get 
 used to that, if you live in the South." 
 
 Southland had been, for the most part, a guerrilla during 
 the war, though for a short time he had acted as conscript 
 oflScer. His record was appalling. 
 
 He had hunted conscrij^ts with bloodhounds, the same 
 class of dogs that had been used to bring back runaway 
 slaves ; and in the section of country where he had carried 
 on this inhuman practice he was known as " dog Southland.'' 
 
 It was in a region which had outwardly given its adhe- 
 sion to the Confederate government, but where, secretly, 
 Union sentiments were entertained by the people. They 
 had voted almost solidly against secession, and when the 
 war actually came on had been slow to volunteer. It was 
 from their class in the South that the rank and file of the 
 army was to come — that known as the " poor white trash," 
 which the steward explained to mean the non-slaveholding 
 laboring class. Here Southland had been put to work. 
 The people had their favorite hiding-places, and would 
 signal his coming, and fly to their retreats. So, when 
 Southland would ride up to a house and inquire for the 
 man, he was not at home. Then he would put his hounds 
 on the track of the absent one, and in this way he got 
 many recruits, some of them coming into camp torn and 
 bleeding. Once, while on his rounds, he was met by the 
 usual answer, " not at home, "-when, riding on a short dis- 
 tance, he found his dogs '-trailed" to the foot of a tree, 
 howling forth their bloodthirsty peals. Hiding in its 
 
36 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 branches he espied a boy. He deliberately raised his shot- 
 gun from the pommel of his saddle, and emptied the con- 
 tents of one barrel in the little fellow's head, and he fell a 
 corpse in the midst of the pack of hounds, which instantly 
 set upon him, tearing the flesh from his body. 
 
 Southland ordered the dogs off, and then told one of his 
 men to hand him " the little squirrel." 
 
 " You '11 never watch out for your daddy ag'in," said he, 
 as he raised his shot-gun, so that the man could throw the 
 mangled corpse over the pommel of his saddle. 
 
 " Now, I '11 take you home to your mammy." And then 
 he galloped off. Eeaching the front gate, he threw the ob- 
 ject of his passion over into the yard, saying to the mother, 
 who rushed to grasp her little one, mangled by the teeth 
 of the dogs almost beyond recognition, " There, take your 
 brat, and never try hiding your husband ag'in." 
 
 This was one of the numerous stories of horror which 
 the steward told me about this man. 
 
 Since the war he had shot a man in the back, a brave 
 Confederate army oflScer, and one in every way a gentle- 
 man, as he was going past him, without any more warning 
 than calling out to him, " Look out, there," and the next 
 instant firing — all over a dispute involving a few dollars ! 
 
 I no longer wondered that a man with such a record 
 should be constantly glancing over his shoulder. 
 
 There were others on the boat besides the steward who 
 seemed to be perfectly familiar with Southland's record, 
 and yet he was a hale fellow among them all. The worst 
 that was said of him was, " That dare devil ;" and in speak- 
 ing of one of his numerous murders, it was, " Poor fellow ; 
 he deserved a better fate." Kot a word in condemnation 
 of the murderer ! 
 
 Was this Southern society ? It certainly was Southern 
 steamboat society. 
 
 To say nothing of his crimes committed in the name of 
 the Confederacy, here was an acknowledged murderer run- 
 
AN UNPLEASANT DISCOVERY. 37 
 
 ninsr at larcre! From his manner it was evident that 
 the voice of nature, his conscience, was constantly crying 
 out against him, and yet he was allowed to associate with 
 honest and innocent men — his deeds, which his own con- 
 science were thus incessantly condemning, rather the sub- 
 ject of applause in the section of country where they had 
 been committed. And while his own heart was pronounc- 
 ing him "guilty," neither public opinion (at least as in- 
 dexed on the boat), nor court, nor jury, were rendering any 
 such verdict. This man was not merely suspected of these 
 crimes, which might justify a suspension of public opinion 
 until they had been proved, but he was known to have 
 committed them, and yet this Southern steamboat society 
 said to him: "Eat with us, drink with us, you, the mur- 
 derer — you, the slayer of men and children, and perhaps 
 of women — place yourself on a perfect equality with us." 
 
 CHAPTEB XI. 
 
 AN UNPLEASANT DISCOVERY. 
 
 "We were not long in finding out that we were by no 
 means the only persons on the boat seeking a location, 
 and it was said that both the rail and water conveyances 
 for the South were swarming with what Goliah termed 
 " Yankee adventurers," who, as he expressed it, " are com- 
 ing down South to buy our homes right out from under 
 us," which statement Southland confirmed, saying : 
 
 " That 's so, for a fact." 
 
 On our boat, among others, was a Mr. Johnson, from In- 
 diana, who had been engaged in the manufacture of en- 
 
38 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 gines for the Southern trade before the war, and had, he 
 said, a large amount of money outstanding. 
 
 He at first gave us to believe that he was making the 
 trip to try and collect some of this money, but finally ac- 
 knowledged that he intended stopping to look at one or 
 two plantations, with a view to purchase, and that he had 
 previously dispatched an agent, who was now on the ground 
 making the preliminary examination. 
 
 I then confided to him that we, too, were on our way 
 to look at a plantation, with a view to purchase, in the very 
 neighborhood he had mentioned, and told him the name of 
 the place. I noticed he gave a little start, and immedi- 
 ately pulled out a memorandum-book, which he consulted, 
 exclaiming : 
 
 *' One of the two plantations my agent writes about !" 
 
 Here, then, was likely to be competition. The purchase 
 of the Hebron plantation was not, after all, to be so easily 
 accomplished ! 
 
 It was by no means unlikely that it would slip from our 
 grasp. Johnson had his agent on the ground ; that was a 
 great advantage. He might, for aught we knew, be simply 
 going down to pay over the purchase-money, the purchase 
 itself having already been consummated by the agent. 
 From remarks which he dropj^ed, and from his general 
 manner, I was led to infer that he had the most amj)le 
 means, and he might want both places. 
 
 Fearing it to be so, I timidly asked him this question. 
 
 " No, indeed, I have no idea of that. If I buy at all, it 
 will be as a venture for some friends and myself, and the 
 agent now down there will take charge of the place. The 
 fact is, the purchase will be made, if made at all, as much 
 to put this agent in the way of making money as any thing. 
 He is a faithful man, and has been in our employ for a 
 long time. This is to be his reward." 
 
 All this was, however, simply an assurance that he in- 
 tended to purchase but one place. Suppose that " one " 
 
AN UNPLEASANT DISCOVERY. 39 
 
 should turn out to be the place we were now making a 
 journey to *' view," and, if we were so inclined, to possess- 
 Nothing could, of course, prevent us from "viewing" it, 
 but it would probably be as the property of another. 
 
 With an agent who was now " on the ground," Johnson 
 might, beyond a doubt, pluck the prize. 
 
 Then, too, notwithstanding his assurance that he had 
 no " idea " of purchasing both places, suppose this "agent," 
 who possessed the unbounded confidence of his master, 
 should, as was not unlikely, have some discretionary power, 
 and seeing the magnificent financial prospect, and fearing 
 to brook delay, should actually close the bargain for both 
 places, trusting to Johnson to ratify the same, and, from 
 his intimate knowledge of his employer, knowing that he 
 would be only too glad to do so — that, rather than blame 
 him for the purchase, he would blame him if he allowed the 
 bargain to slip from him. 
 
 So there was a poor show for a chance to test the "Dob- 
 son scheme," at least on that particular plantation. We 
 might, if Johnson's agent should only close for one of the 
 two places, take the other, even if that other was not the 
 one Dobson had chosen ; but of course Dobson's choice 
 was the cream of the neighborhood, and any thing else 
 would be number two. What a pity we had not started a 
 month earlier, — then we might have flanked Johnson, as he 
 was now likely to flank us. Well, we would see how it 
 ended. I might be borrowing trouble. And in this 
 mood I said good-night to Dobson, who assured me that 
 the morning would find us at our journey's end. 
 
 At last we are in the immediate neighborhood of our 
 Mecca. But neither the elements, the hour, nor my feel- 
 ings are auspicious of a favorable impression. 
 
 One of those dense fogs is settling down upon the coun- 
 try, and as I station myself upon the guards to watch for 
 the landing, it seems to penetrate every pore of my body. 
 The boat is constantly sounding its fog-whistle, and ever 
 
40 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 and anon the pilot's bells are heard conveying their mes- 
 sages to the engineer below, telling him to start this wheel, 
 to stop that one, now to slow down on both, now to let her 
 drift, etc. 
 
 The Captain stands at his post, shading his eyes with one 
 hand, peering into the distance as if he would break through 
 the mist, and holding on to the rope of his bell with the 
 other hand, ready to signal at an instant when he may dis- 
 cover danger ahead. 
 
 The effort to land a boat in a fog is in itself exciting, but 
 it is half an hour before day-break, and I feel dull and 
 sleepy ; and so, while the officers of the boat are all on 
 the alert, and I hear the sounding of the whistles, the 
 ringing of bells, and all the attendant commotion, I 
 shake myself closer under my wrappings, as if I would 
 shut out the scene ; I pull my collar over my ears, as if I 
 would close them from the sounds. 
 
 Is this the balmy South ? Why, this cold penetrates 
 my marrow, and then, while the boat is still struggling in 
 the fog, all shivering, I again enter the cabin to get a lit- 
 tle of its warmth before stej^j^ing on the shore. 
 
 There are Southland and Parker hanging over the bar, 
 guzzling, guzzling away at the fiery liquid. There are the 
 monte-dealers plying their vocation on a couple of Texas- 
 looking fellows, and there, too, is the inevitable poker- 
 party, each one of whose faces is in itself a study. 
 
 I pull my hat over my eyes to shut out the spectacle, 
 and then, as I have nothing else to look at, I look within, 
 and in my mood think of the home and friends I have left 
 behind. If I were there now this would have been my 
 weekly whist-party night. Should we ever find here, if this 
 were to be our home, any thing that could take the place 
 of those gatherings of choice acquaintances ? 
 
 To-morrow would be a meeting of our insurance direc- 
 tory. There would be a vacant chair in a board of which 
 I had been a member since its birth. Would those solid 
 
AN UNPLEASANT DISCOVERY. 41 
 
 men have a moment's thought of me, who had stood shoul- 
 der to shoulder with them until a little enterprise had be- 
 come a controling one in its line. Then, too, there was 
 our bank dividend, a notice of which I had seen in the 
 morning paper the day we left — "six per cent., semi- 
 annual, payable on and after January 5th " (yesterday). I 
 had been looking forward to be in the board of directory 
 of this bank at no distant day, I remembered. 
 
 There were some coupons, State and United States, due 
 the 1st of January, which in my absorption in the " Dob- 
 son scheme" I had neglected to cut off and place in 
 bank for collection. They, with my bank dividend, must 
 sleep until my return. Should we ever find another such 
 pastor as the one to whose ministrations we had long been 
 indebted ? Could we leave the old family physician ? 
 
 I had noticed, in the Memphis papers. New York quota- 
 tions, showing the sudden fall of quinine. Would my 
 partner take advantage of this, and lay in a supply? 
 And so my thoughts ran on until they drifted back to 
 Johnson's statement, which had so upset me, and which 
 was really at the bottom of my present slight tinge of dis- 
 gust. 
 
 Yes, if I were only certain that Johnson was not in our 
 way, I might be happy, despite the weather or the hour. 
 
 And then our boat struck something, and Dobson slap- 
 ped me on the shoulder, saying : 
 
 " Wake up, Harding, we are at the wharf" 
 
42 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 AT THE LANDING — FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 "VVe crossed the stage plank to the wharf-boat, by the light 
 of the steamboat torch, and were cordially greeted by a 
 wide-awake looking personage, lantern in hand, saying : 
 
 '^ Glad to see you, gents ; walk this way — right up stairs. 
 Plenty of room ; good accommodations. Take seats, gents, 
 by the fire. You, Pompey ! take the gen'men's kearpet 
 bags. Hurry up thar, nigger. Beds, gents, beds ? " 
 
 Ko, it was so near morning it was hardly worth our 
 while to go to bed ; with his j)ermission we would sit by 
 the fire. 
 
 ^' Certainly, gents, certainly. Pompey, make a rousin' 
 fire to keep the gen'men warm — lively, nigger! Breakfast 
 at seven, gents ; good, warm breakfast. Make yourself 
 perfectly at home, gents, perfectly at home. Lively times 
 for freight. Lots of new men coming into the country. 
 That's what we want : the more the merrier. Plenty o' 
 land here ; plenty o' niggers. Yankee capital, and Yankee 
 enterprise is all we want. Excuse me, gents. This is my 
 watch ; I must go and receive the freight." 
 
 And so our host bustled out, saying : *' You nigger ! don't 
 let the gen'men want for nothin'." 
 
 We made out the wharf-boat to be a dismantled steamboat, 
 and could see that the post-office occupied one corner of the 
 cabin. The host had spoken of " good accommodations," 
 '' beds," and " breakfast," so we inferred that it also was 
 serving the purpose of hotel. The host soon came bluster- 
 ing back. Did he know Jonathan Hampson, we asked. 
 
 He knew Gen. Jonathan Hampson, late of the Con- 
 federate Senate at Eichmond. 
 
AT THE LANDING — FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 43 
 
 We presumed he was the gentleman we wanted to see. 
 Was he at home ? 
 
 He had just returned from a two weeks' absence in New 
 Orleans, had come up in the night, and had gone to bed on 
 the boat. His '• boy " would be in for him about day light ; 
 he would bo up shortly. 
 
 Oh, I thought, Harapson has been absent for two 
 weeks ; Johnson's agent has not seen him then, and there 
 is an even chance for us. 
 
 I at once became light-hearted, and the " Dobson 
 scheme " again assumed its original mastery. 
 
 While I was yet enjoying the thought, a cabin door 
 opened and a fine-looking, silvery-haired old gentleman 
 stepped out. The host bustled up at once, exclaiming : 
 " Gents, this is^Gen. Hampson," and, looking at the new- 
 comers, he continued : 
 
 " General, here are some gen'men who have been inquir- 
 ing for you." 
 
 Dobson j)erformed the ceremony of introduction on our 
 part in his best style, and in turn Gen. Hampson intro- 
 duced our host as '• Capt. Tyler, late of the Confederate 
 army." 
 
 Dobson made an engagement for us to call on the Gen- 
 eral at nine that morning at his house, a mile distant. 
 
 " I would send for you, but have no means of convey- 
 ance whatever ; you will have to make your way out to 
 my residence as best you can. Once there, I will try and 
 mount you in some way for a trip to the Hebron planta- 
 tion." Then the General asked usif our journey down the 
 river had been pleasant. Was the weather cold when we 
 left the North ? A few such questions made up the sum 
 total of the conversation, which partook of the dullness of 
 the hour. 
 
 Day at last broke, and the General was off. As the host 
 showed him to the door, he said something to him in an 
 undertone, looking in our direction, and I caught the 
 
44 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 words " favorable impression," to which Capt. Tyler nod- 
 ded a reply, in turn looking at us. I judged it to be a 
 request to make our stay pleasant, and to do what he could 
 to give us a favorable impression of the country. 
 
 It was plain to be seen, by the great deference Capt. 
 Tyler showed the General, that he considered him an im- 
 portant personage, and as the morning wore on, and the 
 village loungers dropped in, apparently to take a morning 
 drink, there being a bar on board which they generally 
 patronized, the manner in which they all sj)oke of him 
 convinced us that he was in fact the chief man of the 
 neighborhood. Caj^t. Tyler was officious in introducing 
 us to the morning callers. It was quite evident that the 
 object of our journey was well understood. For aught I 
 could see we were welcome. I noticed the expression of 
 each new face as we were presented, and was unable to 
 see any thing that looked like hostility. We had expected 
 a cordial enough reception on the part of Gen. Hampson, 
 as we had a letter of introduction to him. He was orig- 
 inally from the iNTorth, and received his education there. 
 Drinking in the healthy Northern ideas with his schooling, 
 we had naturally expected to find a man with liberal views, 
 and with no particular prejudices. 
 
 If there was to be any hostility toward us, I thought it 
 would come from the native Southerners — those who had 
 never seen anything of the North, except what they might 
 have observed in a hurried trip through it, and judged of 
 it by this, and the sensation newspaper reports which they 
 read. Of course, wherever we found a man who had been 
 educated in the Xorth, as I knew Gen. Hampson had, 
 we would find a man of enlarged ideas and views. 
 
 True, I remembered to have heard it said, that the bit- 
 terest men in the South were those of Northern birth and 
 education ; but this did not stand to reason, and so I had 
 discarded the idea as unworthy of belief However, we 
 
AT THE LANDING — FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 45 
 
 would have a chance to prove this statement if we came 
 South to live. 
 
 Among many others, we were introduced to two gentle- 
 men who were born, educated and prepared for a profes- 
 sion — one for that of medicine and the other that of law — 
 in Boston. Another, whose birth-place was New York, 
 had drifted South after his maturity, and, by a lucky mar- 
 riage to the daughter of a rich planter, had become a 
 planter, and wealthy himself. 
 
 '' Keen as a brier," Tyler had whispered in my ear after 
 this introduction. 
 
 The doctor said, laughing : " I hope you won't think any 
 the worse of me on account of my birth-place. 1 have 
 long since been forgiven for that ! " 
 
 They had all lived in the South for over twenty years, 
 and I could see at a glance that they were the leaders in 
 their little circle. 
 
 If my theory was correct that a Northern education 
 made liberal minds, we had certainly struck a liberal 
 neighborhood, and at this, my first glance, I could see 
 nothing to the contrary. 
 
 Capt. Tyler overpowered us with attention, and when 
 the hour came for us to start out to meet our engagement 
 he detailed Pompey to show us the way. 
 
 The fog had lifted, and the sun was shining brightly, 
 and my spirits were buoyant at the thought that we were 
 shortly to look upon the Hebron plantation. 
 
 I laughed at the little scare which Johnson had given 
 me yesterday, and my gloomy thoughts of the early 
 morning. I had been a trifle home-sick, but the pleasant 
 people we had met, the charming morning and all — well — 
 this was the sunny South. So far I had seen no great 
 cause to turn back since I had put my hand to the plow. 
 
 Pompey led us by numerous hillocks in the levee which 
 he told us was where " De Union so'g'ers was buried " — 
 by a big camp, where hundreds of Irishmen were building 
 
46 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 a new levee, and so on until we came to a hedge-row of 
 rose-bushes, which he said was "Hambleton, where Gen. 
 Hampson lives," and told us to go "right ahead and you'll 
 come to de Gen'l's house, a-n-no mistake." We dropped 
 a piece of money in Pompey's palm, and, thanking him, 
 said we would make our way for the rest of the distance 
 without his help. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 HAMBLETON. 
 
 Hambleton had evidently been a beautiful place ; that we 
 could see as we traversed the broad avenue leading to the 
 house. But every thing had a neglected appearance. The 
 Bermuda grass had crept into the avenue itself, until almost 
 all trace of the road was obliterated. What a wilderness of 
 rose-bushes there was, look in whatever direction you might ; 
 but the grass had matted itself about their roots, and the 
 untrained branches had shot out, from 3'ear to year, and 
 coiled around each other, until they had sprawled all over 
 the ground, giving it and themselves the most untidy ap- 
 pearance possible. 
 
 Dobson pointed out to me the grand magnolia, with its 
 thick, glossy, green leaf; and there were, also, the less pre- 
 tentious members of the same family. The laurei mundi, 
 cape jessamine, oleander, and many other semi-trop- 
 ical trees showed themselves at every turn. There were 
 the spirea, flowering shrubs, crape myrtles, pomegranate, 
 althea, etc., all in the greatest profusion. There, too, was 
 the box-alder, the maple of the South ; the hackberry, the 
 counterpart of the beach-tree ; the sweet gum, closely re- 
 sembling the oak of the West; the live oak, so beautiful 
 
HAMBLETON. 47 
 
 always with its i^erpetual coat of green ; the china tree, 
 loaded with its cream-colored berries, which the robins were 
 at that moment gathering, as they hopped from bough to 
 bongh, and which, Dobson said, they would continue to eat 
 until some of the little gluttons would actually become 
 drunk, and in this condition flutter helplessly at your feet. 
 There Avere the pecan trees, of all sizes, from those tall and 
 powerful with age, to the little estray, which had only the 
 year before sprung out of the grass from the kernel of the 
 nut which some bird had dropped in its flight. There 
 were those first pledges of the spring-time, the narcissus, 
 the jonquil, the hyacinth, already in blossom, too, studding 
 the dead grass with their bright colors, and forming bor- 
 ders to Avalks which branched off" in every direction — now 
 to this summer-house ; now to that rustic seat under abroad, 
 spreading tree ; now to a long building, which we afterwards 
 learned had been set apart for billiards and bowling; and 
 now to a path which led down to the lake. Here and there 
 we could see evergreens of the pine and cedar families, but 
 what a dull hue they had, compared with the magnolia, the 
 live oak, etc. Over all, and around all, was that air of 
 neglect: shrub and tree, rank with growth for want of 
 the pruner; bulbs, blossoming singly, for lack of fresh 
 earth, and because the Bermuda roots were holdins" them 
 as in a death's grip. Every-where was an alarming growth 
 of wood, and bark, and fiber, of course at the expense of 
 the flower. Every-where nature was allowed to run riot, 
 and she had taken advantage of her opportunity, showing, 
 wherever the eye rested, the wonderful richness of the soil 
 in which she had to work. 
 
 The grass in the walk ; the matted coils of rose-bushes; 
 the bulbs with their single blossoms ; the massive gate-posts, 
 which stood like silent sentinels at the entrance, minus the 
 gate; the absence of any fence, save the overgrown hedge- 
 row of Cherokee rose and privet ; that tree actually covered, 
 BO that you could not distinguish its kind, by the enormous 
 
48 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 weight of the honeysuckle which has run up its sides to its 
 uttermost branches, and then dropped down and repeated 
 its growth over and over again, until it is almost a compact 
 ball of honej'suckle vine; that summer-house and billiard- 
 room, dingy for want of paint — all these told their story 
 of years of neglect. 
 
 There were also signs of the destroyer's hand ; here was 
 a clump of trees, badly barked, and the limbs were pulled 
 down, as if they had served as hitchings for horses — indeed, 
 there were marks of their hoofs to be seen underneath. 
 Soldiery had been at work in more places than one, you 
 saw, if you took a closer look as you passed along. The 
 grass was scarred in places, and there were signs of tents, 
 and here j'ou saw some broken glass, telling its story of 
 drink. But was it not a little wonderful that a Confed- 
 erate senator had got off with so little damage to his 
 grounds, especially in view of the fact that a very large 
 force of our army had been encamped in the immediate 
 neighborhood for months ? What was the secret of his es- 
 cape ? 
 
 We approached the house from the left, and there, in plain 
 view, was one of those numerous " cut-offs " of the Missis- 
 sippi, which are called lakes. The grounds stretched on 
 bej'ond, looking just as attractive, as far as wo could see, 
 as those we had passed through. 
 
 It was a charming sight — the morning sun on the lake, 
 dew-drops shining on the dead grass, the lights and shad- 
 ows under the trees. In the rear stood a plain basement- 
 story frame country residence. 
 
 The house was manifestly not in keeping with the 
 grounds. I had expected a fine old English mansion of 
 massive stone, which would have completed the picture. I 
 did not then know the difficulty of getting building ma- 
 terial together here ; I did not know that anything be- 
 yond brick or wood for house-building was not to be found 
 in this portion of the Mississippi delta; that nature had 
 
THE UAMBLETON OCCUPANTS. 49 
 
 not left on its surface, or in its bowels, a stone as large as 
 a ■Nvalniit ; that in fact all her wonderous wealth had been 
 lavished on the soil, which had produced the enormous 
 growth scattered all about us — a soil which was just as 
 productive a hundred feet below as it was on the surface. 
 
 CHAPTEH Xiy. 
 
 THE HAMBLETON OCCUPANTS. 
 
 TVe were admitted to the Hambleton residence by a 
 negro man, who bore the marks of intelligence in his face, 
 and were told to follow him up stairs, where his " marsa " 
 then was. 
 
 General Hampson, now the host, greeted us with dignified 
 cordiality, and, turning to the negro, said : 
 
 '' This is James, who was the devoted servant of my 
 family during the war." 
 
 Just then a large, fine looking negro woman came into 
 the room with some glasses for the side-board. 
 
 " This," said the General, " is Sarah, who, with James, 
 remained here in charge of this property, buried our silver 
 and other valuables, when the Federal army came, and, 
 though threatened, refused to divulge their whereabouts, 
 thus saving them to us uninjured. These two, by their 
 tact and management, though my house was used as a hos- 
 pital, succeeded in saving us from any serious damage." 
 
 Here was a frank acknowledgment of valuable services 
 rendered. These two faithful negroes, then, had saved the 
 property from harm, and this was the explanation of its 
 good condition. 
 
50 A YEAR OF wreck:. 
 
 " Gentlemen, what do you say to a whisky-toddy before 
 riding, as a brace for the shaking-np before us? I will 
 have to mount you on mules. Before the war there was an 
 abundance of fine carriages and horses here ; now if there 
 is a buggy in the county I do n't know where it is." 
 
 Dobson did not seem to want to object to the toddy, and 
 I did not dare to ; in fact, the side-board looked very in- 
 viting, with its decanter and glasses, flanked by sugar- 
 bowl, a tumbler of spoons, and the water-pitcher, so I 
 marched up to it like the others. 
 
 A whisky-toddy is perhaps the same the world over. In 
 the South it is mixed as follows : A glass in your left hand, 
 and a spoon in your right, with which take two square 
 lumjDS of sugar and put in your glass ; leave the spoon in the 
 glass, holding its handle between the first and second fin- 
 gers, the glass being held between the thumb and two last 
 fingers. Lift the pitcher with the right hand, and, holding 
 the glass on a level with your eye, pour in enough water 
 to fairly cover the sugar ; set the pitcher down, and 
 take the spoon in your right hand again, and with its 
 bowl gradually crush the lumps of sugar as they become 
 saturated with water — this until no trace of the sugar is 
 left. Then comes the whisky, which is poured in the same 
 manner as the water. Grasp the spoon again with your 
 right hand, and lift the liquid up in its bowl, letting it 
 fall back until it is thoroughly mixed, which is evidenced 
 by a little bead forming around the edge of the glass. You 
 then transfer the glass fi-om the left hand to the right, 
 holding it as directed when pouring in the water and 
 whisky. Then comes the drinking. 
 
 While the toddy is being mixed some one should tell a 
 story. In this way attention is diverted now by this one 
 stopping to listen, now that one, so that all are not diving 
 into the sugar-bowl at once, or demanding the ^Ditcher or 
 decanter at the same instant. Dobson was a great success 
 in this line. He understood the whole thing to a nicety, 
 
THE HAMBLETON OCCUPANTS. 51 
 
 and led off at once with a charming little Potomac inci- 
 dent, which was exceedingly apropos^ as our host happened 
 to know both parties : 
 
 "A Bisliop was visiting the camp of our regiments in 
 the ninety-days' service, near Washington, and was a guest 
 of the General then in command. This General was very 
 fond of his whisky-toddy, but was afraid to indulge in it 
 in the presence of the Bishop ; but, finally, becoming very 
 thirsty, in a fit of desperation, he asked the reverend gentle- 
 man if he would not like a glass of tuscanuggy with him. 
 
 " ' What is tuscanuggy?' inquired the Bi'=hop, with his 
 deliberate tone of voice and distinct pronunciation. 
 
 "'Tuscanuggy? — why, tuscanuggy is a little sugar, 
 some water, and — and — a very little good old whisky — 
 just a drop, you know. Bishop, to warm it up ; a good 
 thing, Bishop, these damp nights,' blurted out the General, 
 as if astonished at his own presumption ; and then ho 
 looked into the Bishop's eye, anxiously, to see if his shot 
 had struck. 
 
 '* ' Well, General, if you think it a good thing, I will take 
 some tuscanuggy with you.' 
 
 " So the General, only too delighted, mixed it up, and 
 after it had been drunk inquired of the Bishop how ho 
 liked it. 
 
 " ' Your tuscanuggy is very good. General — very good.' " 
 
 There can be no mistake about the above recipe for 
 whisky- toddy. It was the result of twenty -years' practice 
 on the part of Hampson, and any one contemplating a lo- 
 cation in the South should study it carefully, and thus save 
 himself the mortification I experienced in not being posted 
 as to bow the thing was done. 
 
 I tingle with shame, even now, as I remember what fearful 
 blunders I made, pouring the water into the glass before the 
 sugar, then grasping at the lemonade sugar-crusher, when 
 I should have coaxed the sugar to melt with my spoon, and 
 getting my drink ready before Dobson had his two 
 
52 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 lumps of sugar in his glass. I was n't quite a boor, I 
 thought, but I showed myself to be the veriest one on this 
 occasion. 
 
 It was quite evident that Dobson's manner of handling 
 a whisky-toddy had completely captivated General Hamp- 
 son. 
 
 As for me, I belonged to the awkward squad. 
 
 James announced Mr. Johnson and his agent, and was 
 told to show them up. 
 
 Then followed whisky-toddy No. 2. 
 
 Mr. Johnson simply called to know at what time to- 
 morrow Gen. Hampson would be disengaged, and the hour 
 of ten was named. He was shown a beautifully executed 
 map of the plantation his agent had been looking at, and 
 told the price of it was $110,000, and then Mr. Johnson and 
 his agent took their departure. Nothing was said about 
 his having his eye on the place we were to look at, so 1 
 considered the coast clear for us. 
 
 Our outfit was ready, James said, and then Mrs. Hamp- 
 son coming in, we were presented to her, and received at 
 her hands an invitation to dinner that day. In answer to 
 our compliments bestowed upon their grounds, she re- 
 plied : 
 
 " Yes, it was pleasant before the war. I felt I could 
 look out upon a beautiful picture ; nothing was lacking 
 but the hills, and we used to imagine the forest which you 
 can see beyond the lake to be hills, and then the picture 
 was complete. In those days not even a blade of grass 
 wanted for attention. Now you can see the walks and 
 every thing are suffering for want of it." 
 
OUR JOURNEY TO THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 53 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 OUR JOURNEY TO THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 
 
 We found, on descending, a primitive outfit, to be sure. 
 There was one pretty fair-looking horse with accouter- 
 ments. This was Hampson's saddle animal, which he had 
 picked up in Mexico on his flight there after Lee's surren- 
 der, and which had brought him back home when word 
 was sent him that the United States' Government was not 
 injuring a hair on the head of a single Confederate leader. 
 This he proceeded to mount. Then there were the skele- 
 tons of a horse and a mule ; and such saddles ! Well, I 
 have seen thousands of them since : they are a peculiarity 
 of the South, and I am used to them now ; but at that 
 time they struck me as being exceedingly crude — no two 
 buckles of the same size or make, no two pieces of leather 
 of the same kind, stirrups of different patterns, saddle- 
 frames with the leather rotted away ; every scrap of leather 
 in the two outfits, and the frames themselves, were but 
 scraps, with great ugly cracks in them for want of a few 
 drops of oil at the proper time — this piece torn away and 
 fastened with a strip of deer hide, that piece secured with 
 a piece of tow-string, others held together by the aid of a 
 piece of whang-leather. Such was the general make-up of 
 the saddles. The saddle-blankets were gunny-sacks. The 
 mule had a piece of a blind-bridle, and the horse an 
 equally dilapidated piece of riding-bridle. There was but 
 one thing which could be said in favor of the sorry outfit : 
 horse, mule, saddles and bridles were all in keeping. 
 
 Was this the farm-life my fancy had pictured — the fine 
 horse, the ringing spur, etc? Never mind, if we came 
 here to live we should revolutionize all this I 
 
54 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Hampson said, " Take your choice, gentlemen ; " so, with 
 the best intention in the world, I insisted that Dobson 
 should mount the horse (it seems the poor thing had a sore 
 back, and he struggled mightily), which he did after much 
 effort. I had to hide my face in my handkerchief to save 
 me from an explosion at the ridiculous spectacle he pre- 
 sented. His dress was faultless, which brought out the 
 dilapidated condition of the horse to greater effect; and, in 
 turn, the horse's seedy appearance rendered Dobson's fine 
 feathers more conspicuous. The effort of mounting bad 
 thrown his black silk hat upon the back of his head, and 
 made him very red in the face ; then, too, one stirrup was 
 about three inches shorter than the other, giving him the 
 position assumed on a velocipede in motion, while both 
 face and hat looked very much as they naturally would 
 at the close of a tight race on that vehicle. The righting 
 of his hat was the work of an instant, though I fancied it 
 was done a little petulantly, and he soon regained his nat- 
 ural color ; but it took some time for James to " tinker " 
 the stirrups so that one leg should not be dangling while 
 the knee of the other showed itself over the j)ommel of the 
 saddle. 
 
 We finally got ourselves in motion, but Dobson's first 
 effort to put his beast out of a walk came very near bring- 
 ing it down on all-fours, and shot him forward upon the 
 horse's neck, again throwing his hat to the back of his 
 head, and again giving him a very red appearance in the 
 face. The animal was an inveterate stumbler, and as often 
 as he could be surprised into any thing beyond a walk, by 
 dint of spur and peach-limb, so often was he sure to pitch 
 Dobson to the front — once or twice so violently as to cause 
 the breaking of the rotten saddle-girth and rendering a halt 
 for repairs necessary. Dobson had evidently made a water- 
 haul, for beyond the discomfort of a hatchet-back, which 
 insisted on shoving itself up through the saddle, and a gait 
 which rendered the steady use of a peach -limb and my 
 
OUR JOURNEY TO THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 55 
 
 heels against the sides of my mule necessary to keep within 
 hearing distance of Hampson, I got along very well. 
 Hampson kept the lead and saw little or nothing of Dob- 
 son's discomfort, except when we halted to fix the saddle- 
 girths, which he said would have been very mortifying be- 
 fore the war. 
 
 Hampson pointed out every thing of interest as we rode 
 along. " Do you see the game on the lake ? There are 
 ducks and geese in abundance in the season, with the 
 woods full of every thing, from the bear down, though," he 
 said, as if qualifying this statement, '-you will have to go 
 back into the country eight or ten miles to find bear." 
 There were deer and turkey without number. There had 
 been no hunting since before the war, and game had ac- 
 cumulated, of course. AYere we fond of hunting woodcock ? 
 Here was our chance. He had noticed several along this 
 very road when he had visited the Hebron plantation just 
 before going to New Orleans— the first visit, by the way, 
 he had made to this place since before the war. 
 
 A covey of quail flew up before us. '• Oh ! yes, you will 
 find them wherever you go." 
 
 We passed between the stately gate-posts. 
 " Here was my porter's lodge, but there is no sign of 
 it now," he said, looking around inquiringly, adding that 
 '' it was probably destroyed by the soldiers." 
 
 " Do you see that Cherokee rose-hedge ? Have you ever 
 seen this rose in bloom? Though single, it is to me the 
 most beautiful of all roses." 
 
 " Yes, roses grow rank. This is their country. \Yhen 
 you see them in blossom here, you will have to acknowledge, 
 as I have been compelled to, that you never saw roses until 
 you saw them here. 
 
 '' Did you notice that enormous mass of rose-bushes just 
 before passing out of the gate-way ? What variety did you 
 think it was ? It is the chromatilla ! Perhaps there is 
 more chromatilla rose-bush there than is to be found, ail 
 
56 A YEAR or WRECK. 
 
 put together, in all the conservatories of the North," he 
 added. 
 
 "You can see," he said, " what a rich soil this is by the 
 enormous vegetable growth all around us. 
 
 " This country was as smooth and as clear-cut as a lawn 
 before the war. Now look at it — dead weed-stalks as high 
 as a house in places ; the ditches choked with bramble- 
 bushes ; young cotton-woods, willows, and sycamores grow- 
 ing every-where. "Where is there a country that would 
 produce such a growth in four years? It is not to be found 
 on the face of the earth. Things look desolate enough 
 compared with former times : the fences either rotted down 
 or destroyed, buildings needing paint or whitewash — noth- 
 ing tidy as before the war. There is one thing, however — 
 the land has had rest, and it will be safe to build on a big 
 crop." 
 
 This was encouraging ! 
 
 The robins and meadow-larks were flying up all about 
 us. " Yes, this is their season ; the robins will soon all 
 disappear, as the weather grows warm in the North, and 
 so will most of the larks." 
 
 We passed a stream which Hampson called a bayou, and 
 which he said had once been the bed of the Mississippi 
 river, when the lake on which he lived had been a part of 
 the river, and then he explained to us that the lakes in this 
 country were the results of enormous bends, which would 
 at length form peninsulas, and then in the course of time 
 the neck of land would be cut in two — all this by the con- 
 tinued caving of the bank, caused by the rapid current 
 against it, and the light, porous soil it has to work upon ; 
 then the mouths would gradually fill up with the deposit, 
 which would be forced into them by the current, and thus 
 the lake would be made. Several had been made since he 
 had come into the country. The cut-off which had made 
 the lake on which he lived, was, however, beyond the 
 
OUR JOURNEY TO THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 57 
 
 memory of the oldest inhabitants, but here was the bayou 
 which had once been one of its mouths. 
 
 As we rode along this stream, we started up ducks in 
 abundance, which flew up the stream and then down it, 
 quacking their alarm or defiance, and then splashing down 
 into the water again within gun-shot. 
 
 What gunning here was, to be sure, and how we should 
 enjoy it if we came here to live, I thought. 
 
 "Here is the Alhambra Plantation," (the property of 
 the man who had been introduced on the wharf-boat as 
 being keen as a brier). " That corner of his place we 
 are just passing once produced two bales and a half of cot- 
 ton to the acre," Hampson said, " and that big building in 
 the distance is the Hebron gin-house, and there are the 
 cabins for the negroes farther in the rear." " Where is the 
 residence?" 1 asked. It had none ! He had bought the 
 place intending to present it to a daughter as a marriage 
 gift. 
 
 " It was the custom to set the young people up in busi- 
 ness on their marriage," he explained. " Where one par- 
 ent presented the plantation, the other would stock it with 
 slaves, mules, etc. Don't you think this preferable to the 
 Northern habit of hoarding one's wealth until death, and 
 then having it divided by the terms of a long will among 
 one's children : some of whom have passed the period 
 when they needed help, having accumulated wealth of 
 their own, perhaps after a severe struggle which could 
 have been saved by the timely assistance which was really 
 their due — while others, not having the courage of their 
 more fortunate brothers, have been ruined in the effort, and 
 are therefore in no condition to enjoy it when it does come ? 
 It is to me a melancholy sight to witness, as I have in the 
 North, the hungry relatives of a rich man waiting for him 
 to die, so that his property may be distributed. All this 
 was avoided here, by this, to me, charming Southern cus- 
 tom." 
 
 3* 
 
58 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Eeturning to the subject of the Hebron place, he said he 
 would have built a residence as soon as his daughter 
 married^ but the war had come on, and that had put a stop 
 to every thing. With the exception of a residence, it was 
 a complete plantation. There was, however, the overseer's 
 cabin, which would make a snug little home, he said, until 
 some thing better could be built. And so we reached the 
 Hebron Plantation. 
 
 CHAPTER XYl. 
 
 THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 
 
 We visited the plantation quarters first. Quite a num- 
 ber of negroes of different age and sex were visible, peer- 
 ing around the corners of cabins, or thrusting their woolly 
 heads out of doors. Poultry in great abundance were 
 cackling, and an astonishing number of hungry-looking 
 dogs were lying around. A general air of idleness was 
 every-where observable. There was the blacksmith -shop, 
 as Hampson had written, and he called a negro, by the 
 name of Cato, to bring him the keys. Cato called Hamp- 
 son " marsa," which seemed to please him very much. 
 Now that the negroes were free, it evidently seemed a great 
 thing for them to still say " marsa " and " missus." When 
 the door of the blacksmith -shop swung open, bellows, anvil, 
 and hammers, all apparently quite complete, were dis- 
 played, and under the same roof was a carpenter's shop, of 
 which Hampson had not made mention. We were next 
 shown the store-house, where the provisions had been 
 kept. It had a very substantial lock, with iron bars at 
 the windows, giving it somewhat the appearance of a jail. 
 Then there was the plantation cook-house, with its enor- 
 
THE UEBRON PLANTATION. 59 
 
 mous bakc-oven, and its great iron kettles fastened in the 
 brick range, such as we had seen in the AVest for rendering 
 lard or boiling soap. Here the cooking for the whole 
 plantation had been done in bulk. The cooked food, 
 Hampson explained, was taken to the field for breakfast 
 and dinner ; for supper it was eaten in the quarters. 
 
 '' I never stinted my slaves ; whatever they could eat in 
 reason, they got. I always paid a great deal of attention 
 to a plantation garden, and fed my slaves abundantly with 
 vegetables, which, besides being wholesome, saved meat. 
 I allowed them to raise poultr}', and to do Avhat they 
 pleased with it, either to eat it or sell it, which gave them 
 what little spending money they needed. I have myself 
 bought the poultry and eggs from my own slaves." 
 
 This he said, looking at us, as if he thought it was some- 
 thing at w^hich we should be surprised. 
 
 " The suckling women were never crowded with work, 
 and great care was taken that they should not become over- 
 heated. Their young were left in charge of the old mam- 
 mies [superannuated negresses] in the quarters, who would 
 take them to the field at stated times to be suckled. Good 
 masters had covered spring-wagons for this purpose, and 
 it was pleasant to see how bappy both young and old were 
 while making these little journeys." 
 
 In answer to our question, he said the increase among 
 slaves was about forty per cent, annually — which w^e un- 
 derstood to mean forty per cent, of the women annually 
 had young. 
 
 " It required the constant care of the overseer," he said, 
 " to watch after these people to see that they took proper 
 care of themselves — that is, that they were cleanly in their 
 persons, and ate no unwholesome food. 
 
 "As to their work, it was all a mistake, the belief that 
 they were overtasked. It was only in the picking season 
 that they were really busy at all; four days in the week 
 would average their work for the balance of the year. 
 
60 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 During the picking season they did have to work hard — 
 is not your harvest laborious? — going to the field before 
 daylight many times, and working into the night ; but it 
 was at a season of the year when it was comparatively cool, 
 and the climate permitted hard work. The fact is," con- 
 tinued he, "a hand could make with great ease more cotton 
 than he could gather by the hardest work. Many planters 
 would bu}' a few extra hands every fall, as they came away 
 from their summering in Virginia or Iventuck}', to help 
 gather the crop. Bringing their laborers into the country 
 at this season, they were immediately of great use, and 
 would to some extent become acclimated before the hot 
 weather of the following year ; and yet, even with this 
 extra help, it was impossible to gather the entire crop. 
 Plowing commenced in January for the new crop, and 
 while the plows were running picking was still going on, 
 having commenced about the first of September, and thus 
 fields white with cotton were 'frequently plowed under." 
 (I thought to myself no cotton should ever be plowed un- 
 der on a plantation of mine.) " This only applies to the 
 swamp land ; on the hills, where the yield was only one- 
 third to one-half a bale, every thing was different. There 
 all transactions were on a small scale. I know nothing of 
 that country from actual experience." 
 
 In fact, I fancied Hampson turned up his nose, as if he 
 would indicate the insignificance of the hill country when 
 compared to the bottom-lands. 
 
 " Cotton," he said " was an absolutely certain crop before 
 the war. I never knew a year when we did not make more 
 than we could gather." 
 
 I asked him what he thought of the army-worm. 
 
 " They don't frighten me at all. They made their ap- 
 pearance two or three years before the war, at long inter- 
 vals, and since they have so recently visited the country, 
 they may not show themselves again for many years. I 
 think it is borrowing trouble to dread them. For myself, 
 
THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 61 
 
 I do n't give them a thought, unless some one refers to 
 them, as you have done." 
 
 We next visited the mule-shed. It liad a capaoit}^ for 
 not less than sixty head, with a stall and feed-trough for 
 each, and with ample room for storing hay and fodder over- 
 head. There was also a fine corn-crib close by, and a well, 
 which had a rude windlass arrangement for drawing water, 
 and a huge trough hollowed from a cypress-tree for the 
 stock to drink from. A box about the size and shape of a 
 wagon-bed, near by, with a brick chimney at its head, was 
 explained to be a fixture for steaming cotton-seed as food 
 for the stock, said to be nourishing. 
 
 Then we drifted down into the woods, and started up a 
 drove of long-horned animals, which Hampson told us were 
 " Texas cattle, which Dr. Hudson brought out from that 
 country with him after the war. These cattle are for sale," 
 he said " for beef. They were put into my winter pasture 
 while being disposed of They are bought mostly by the 
 levee contractors," he added, as he saw a look of incredu- 
 lity at his statement that they were ''beef" cattle. The 
 impression we had of them, with their sides not apparently 
 over six inches through, as they scampered off, was that 
 they must be all horn, hide, and bone; and our belief in 
 their being any thing fit to eat, though they might bo 
 palmed off on levee contractors, was not in the least 
 strengthened when, a couple of rods further on, we found 
 two of them bogged down in the hopeless mire of a 
 ditch, the veriest pictures of poverty, so far as flesh was 
 concerned. Hampson did n't even then call them poor, 
 but said they were weak from their long journey out from 
 Texas. 
 
 Was this a fair specimen of the cattle of the country? 
 I asked. 
 
 " Yes, the cattle here are for the most part Texas. The 
 fact is, before the war cotton and slaves were our only 
 staples, and no attention was paid to any thing else. Each 
 
62 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 planter would have a few joka of cattle, such as you have 
 just seen — of course they would be filled out better — to 
 haul saw-logs, etc., and a few milch-cows of the same 
 breed for home use. These cows would give a scant half- 
 gallon of milk a day ; but as for butter, no one ever thought 
 of making that, and, though hogs throve well here, only 
 now and then a planter made his own meat." 
 
 " But did no one ever attempt to introduce good milch- 
 cows here?" 1 asked. 
 
 " I have heard of here and there a sickly attempt to in- 
 troduce blooded cattle, but they seemed to require so much 
 care, it was soon abandoned. Texas cattle grew natural, just 
 as negroes, or cotton, or Bermuda grass. The cattle you've 
 just seen did 'nt look very trim to you, perhaps, but their 
 meat is really very fine." 
 
 I thoughttomyself, wait until we get down here — we would 
 have fine cattle, would bring them with us ; and if they 
 needed attention, which of course they would, wherever 
 they might be — did 'nt we slop our Ayrshire cow at home 
 morning and night, and stable her the same as our horses, 
 and did 'nt she pay us back with a bucket full of milk twice 
 a day, even in midwinter — why we would give it to them. 
 And as for our meat, we would onl}^ buy that the first year ; 
 after that, as I was a man, we would raise it. No ninety- 
 one barrels of pork coming down the river annually di- 
 rected to the Hebron plantation. We would knock that item 
 square out of the Dobson estimate, at the end of the first 
 year. 
 
 Hampson had spoken of his winter pasture. I asked, 
 what did he mean by that? I could see no live grass. 
 
 "Do you see the green cane all about you? The stock 
 feed on its leaves and tender shoots, and are very fond of 
 it. It will keep mules in good order without any corn. 
 You can see the cane-brake is of dense growth, which 
 afi'ords warm shelter for stock the coldest winter days we 
 have here. 
 
THE nAMBLTON OCCUPANTS. 63 
 
 '' Fine hiding-places for run-away negroes," he added, 
 apparently thinking aloud, and then quickly continued, as 
 if he would divert us and himself instantly from this 
 thought: " Glorious cover for wild game, too— you'd find 
 many a deer if j-ou 'd shake up that brake," looking over his 
 shoulder as we turned to retrace our steps. 
 
 We next " did " the gin-house, which was a three-story 
 building covering at least a quarter of an acre of ground, 
 and apparently in complete repair. Under its roof were 
 the saw and grist-mills, and the machinery for ginning and 
 baling cotton, all propelled by the same engine— Eich- 
 mond, Ya., make. They do manufacture something in the 
 South, I thought. Encouraged at this, I looked at the 
 gin-stands, but they were made somewhere in Massachu- 
 setts, and both the saw and grist-mills were marked Cin- 
 
 cinnti, Ohio. 
 
 Hampson expatiated upon the importance of the inven- 
 tion of the gin-stand, which he held to rank with that of 
 steam-engine and telegraph. What a task it was to get the 
 lint from off the seed when it was done by hand, and how 
 easy it was now, as the little circular saws, fastened in a 
 belt and with hooked teeth, pulled the lint away from the 
 seed, sending the fleecy staple through an air-chamber, up 
 into the lint-room, reminding you as it fell of the falling of 
 huge snow flakes. " The fruit of the cotton plant," said he, 
 " goes where the chaff from the wheat goes, and vice versa." 
 
 If there was a belt or bolt or any thing lacking, we could 
 not perceive it. To all appearance it was a perfectly com- 
 plete arrangement. It certainly looked as if all you had 
 to do, was to put fire in the furnace, and, whether you 
 wanted to grind meal, or saw lumber, or gin a bale of cot- 
 ton, you had only to put on the proper belt, and the thing 
 was at work. There were huge round tanks by the 
 side of the gin-house, and two or three cemented cisterns 
 under it, with troughs leading from the roof to catch 
 the rain-water, and should this supply ever become ex- 
 
64 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 bausted, there was a well hard by. There was an immense 
 sloping scaffold in front, to dry the cotton, when it was 
 brought in damp from the field. There was a large lantern 
 suspended by a rope arranged on a pully from the cone of 
 the roof in front, so that the night-work of putting the 
 dried cotton from the scaffold into the third story of the gin- 
 house, and the day's picking from the wagons upon the 
 scaffold for the next day's sunning, should be done without 
 any carrying about of lights, cotton being so inflammable. 
 
 "It was customary," Hampson said, " for the negroes to 
 pick as long as it was light enough for them to see, the 
 cotton being piled in wagons as it was picked — then all 
 hands to the gin-house. The lantern was lit, and the cot- 
 ton which had been sunning on the scaffold was gathered 
 up in baskets and carried up stairs. Then the freshly 
 picked cotton was taken from the wagons and scattered on 
 the scaffold. Sometimes this would take from nine until 
 ten o'clock. Bright moonlight nights, if there had been a 
 good deal of rain, and the cotton was open so as to be in 
 danger of being beaten by further rains, they would, after 
 taking supper, go back to the field ^nd pick ; but this 
 scaffold work was about all the night-work they did, and 
 this they would do chanting their strange tunes and sing- 
 ing plantation melodies. 
 
 " This gin-house," Hampson added, " cost me twenty -five 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 I asked him how it came to be so well preserved ? 
 
 " Cato, the negro who gave us the keys, and his brother 
 James remained at their post and guarded the property. 
 They were faithful servants to me," he continued, looking 
 around. " 1 was pleasantly disappointed to find my prop- 
 erty so well cared for." 
 
 Riding toward the upper line of the plantation we 
 came to a long building which Hampson told us was a 
 weather-shed. It was not inclosed, being simply a roof 
 with gutters under its eaves, which we could see led to 
 
THE IIAMBLETON OCCUPANTS. G5 
 
 cisterns. There were several of these sheds on the place, 
 he said, and in case of rain, the hands working in the 
 vicinity were huddled into tiiem, thus keeping them dry, 
 and saving the loss of time in going to and from the quar- 
 ters, besides furnishing a bountiful supply of healthy rain- 
 water for the hands to drink, at convenient localities on 
 the plantation. 
 
 We understood him to say he never allowed his slaves to 
 drink any thing but rain-water, that well-water, or as he 
 called it, "seepage " water, was very unwholesome. 
 
 We looked at the bank in front to see if we could dis- 
 cover any signs of caving. Poor fools ! We could see 
 none. (We didn't want to see any thing unfavorable.) 
 Hampson called a negro who was passing — as if he would 
 not ask us to take his own testimony as to what the bank 
 here had been doing many years back, or what it was 
 doing now. 
 
 lie asked the negro to whom he used to belong, and 
 how long he had been in the country. 
 
 "I used to 'long to Mr. Samson, an' hab libed here sence 
 de stars fell, when ebber dat was." 
 
 "Has there ever been any caving of the bank here," 
 Hampson asked a little sharply. 
 
 " Not as I can recomember." 
 
 " We have taken a bird's-eye view of the place now," 
 Hampson said, "and so we will start on our return to 
 Hambleton," which we finally reached. 
 
 Then followed whisky-toddy No. 3. I need hardly say 
 that I improved on my first morning effort. 
 
66 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTEE XYII. 
 
 DINNER AT HAMBLETOX, AND WHAT FOLLOWED. 
 
 Dinner was served immediately upon our return to Ham- 
 bleton,with claret, sherry, and a rum-punch for the climax, 
 after which we settled for a little business talk. 
 
 But what a condition I was in for a "business" talk, 
 after three whisky-toddies, claret, sherry, and arum-punch, 
 on virgin soil, so to speak — more liquor than I had con- 
 sumed in any year of my natural life before. There was 
 not a single piece of furniture in the room that was not 
 double its natural size, and the table stretched out, as did 
 the dining-room, till it seemed a quarter of a mile long. I 
 distinctly saw two Hampsons beaming at me at the head of 
 the table, and there was a pair of Dobsons, with faces red 
 as the neck of a turkey-gobbler. A thought of the Dobson 
 estimate spun across my spinning brain, with an extra 
 cypher added, so that the number was 9,000 bales, which I 
 almost saw ready piled up in front of the Hebron planta- 
 tion. While my thoughts were spinning around like a top, 
 and Dobson's ditto, I had a vague impression that Hampson 
 was only just wound up for business ; in other words, what 
 had set our brains reeling, had simply steadied Hampson's 
 nerves for the work before him. More than ever in our lives 
 before we needed our heads on our shoulders, and more than 
 ever before they went gipsyiiig. We were in no condition 
 even to trade jack-knives, and here was a trade to make in- 
 volving eighty-seven thousand five hundred dollars. Hamp- 
 son's statements, while we were going over the Hebron 
 plantation, of the easy manner in which cotton was made, 
 had almost intoxicated us, and then the liquor we drank 
 produced a sure-enough intoxication — altogether, instead 
 
DINNER AT IIAMBLETON, AND WHAT FOLLOWED. 67 
 
 of being in a condition to drive a close bargain, we were 
 fine subjects for a twenty-four hours' sleep, with hat and 
 boots on, wherever we might chance to fall. 
 
 I have an indistinct recollection of asking Hampson the 
 original conundrum as to whether the price he had named 
 was his lowest figure, to which he of course answered 
 "yes," plainly seeing that we were ready to take the plan- 
 tation at any figure ; and then he made us long for it all 
 the more by saying that his friends thought he was foolish 
 to sell it at all at this time. Lands would certainly go 
 higher in their opinion, and ho was inclined to agree with 
 them. '- Of course, one can not look into the future," he 
 added, "■ but every thing points to a big yield of cotton the 
 present year. I have never made less than seven hundred 
 and fifty bales on the Hebron plantation. It is, as you see, 
 magnificently equipped, and is safe from overflow." Not- 
 withstanding my addled brain, I was able to see that, 
 whether Hampson meant it or not, he seemed perfectly in- 
 difi'erent as to whether we took the place or not. 
 
 "I have offered it to you, and will of course hold to it, 
 but, if I had not already done that, I am not at this moment 
 prepared to say, as things look, whether I would name a 
 price. As for taking less, I could not entertain such a 
 thought for an instant." 
 
 The liquor in our brains relinquished its hold long 
 enough to enable us to make the sane answer — that we 
 would send him our decision in writing from the wharf- 
 boat. Of course our minds were already made up, but in 
 our sober moments we fancied we had concealed that fact 
 from Hampson, and this answer we thought would further 
 conceal it from him, knowing as he must that it was n res- 
 olution taken while we were not exactly steady on our feet 
 — just in that condition when we would be likely to say 
 precisely what was in our minds. Our answer, however, 
 did not stagger Hampson in the least, — he simply replied : 
 
68 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 "Take your own time, gentlemen," and so we bowed our- 
 selves out. 
 
 A few moments in the open air steadied our nerves and 
 cooled our brains. Dobson looked at me curiously and I 
 returned the look, saying: "Dobson, we have both been 
 drunk," and he replied, looking sheepishly, " A little tipsy." 
 Then we tried to gather up our thoughts, to see how far we 
 had committed ourselves, and just how foolish we had been 
 and then, just as many another man does who has fallen 
 into the same snare, we felt very cheap over it all, and 
 thought how Hampson might tell the- story of our discom- 
 forture to his friends, and how they would all laugh at it. 
 There was one consolation, however, — if Hampson had 
 started out to do it, which, of course, he had not, by plying 
 us with drink, he had not succeeded in getting us committed 
 to the purchase of the Hebron plantation. 
 
 In my eagerness in the morning, I had failed to notice the 
 village at the landing. Now, as we walked leisurely back, 
 I looked around for it. I had asked Pompey in the 
 morning, what was the population of the Lake, meaning 
 the village, and his answer was : 
 
 " Fishes." 
 
 Pompey was not much out of the way, so far as I could 
 see of any town (if I had seen it, as I did afterwards, 
 in the midst of overflow, I should have said he was per- 
 fectly correct). 
 
 The fact is, like all the river towns, except Memphis, 
 Yicksburg, Natchez, Baton -Eouge, and New Orleans, as we 
 learned later, it was simply a river landing, with a dozen 
 or so of houses, including the inevitable bar-rooms, a couple 
 of general assortment stores, and a drug-store — all needing 
 paint or whitewash. But the buildings, all told, did not 
 make any more show than those on the Hebi'on plantation 
 would if they had been huddled together. A two-story 
 building, used as one of the store-rooms, with a ragged hole 
 in its river front — the mark of a gun-boat shell — and a 
 
WE PURCHASED TOE HEBRON PLANTATION. 69 
 
 church edifice, with a tall spire, were the two prominent 
 features of the village. The population could not have 
 numbered over two hundred, and as for the people them- 
 selves, there were many shabby specimens among them. 
 
 I had yet to learn that a large part of the people congre- 
 gated in these river towns were of the objectionable classes 
 of society ; that gambling, drunkenness and crime were 
 here established institutions; that these places were, in 
 fact, so many stations on the river where the offscourings 
 of all countries swarmed ; where order, peace and good 
 morals were openly defied — and some times law itself; that 
 they always cursed the neighborhood for miles around 
 them by their baneful influence upon the youth, and upon 
 those of maturer years, to be found, alas, every-where, 
 who were without the power to successfully resist temp- 
 tation. 
 
 A sight, which absolutely thrilled me with horror, was the 
 village grave-yard, without the sign of a fence around it, 
 and a drove of hogs rooting among the graves ! It was 
 located where every body must either pass it daily, or if 
 they stepped out of their doors could not fail to see it, and 
 yet not a hand was lifted to save it from the ravages which 
 were being made upon it. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 WE PURCHASE THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 
 
 Back upon the wharf-boat, we proceeded to compare im- 
 pressions. This was a mere matter of form, however, for 
 my commitment to the Dobson scheme was, as a simple 
 fiict, if the truth must be told, the purchase of the Hebron 
 plantation, and in one sense, that is so far as I could make 
 
70 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 it SO, it was as much ours from that day as it would be 
 after the deed was drawn and the money paid over. We 
 were now going through the formalities, of which our 
 coming down to look at tbe place was one. Of course we 
 would not have been willing at the time to have acknowl- 
 edged so much — that would not have been business, — but 
 nevertheless it was true, and we knew it. 
 
 In short, we should have done quite as well, so far as 
 there was any display of judgment on our part after we 
 saw Hebron, to have simply replied to Hamj^son's commu- 
 nication that we would take the place, and then brought 
 our outfit with our purchase money, and gone immediately 
 to work, thus saving the expense of one journey and 
 getting started earlier in the season. 
 
 We employed no experts to look over the fields with us, 
 but simply swallowed every thing Hampson told us from 
 beginning to end; and, the fact is, in our mood, we would 
 have bought any thing that any man calling himself Hamp- 
 son might have pointed out to us as the Hebron plantation, 
 even if it had been the very place which a later comer 
 purchased, and, while making an examination of it, 
 asked the owner if it overflowed, when he was told to ex- 
 amine the trees and see if he could find any water-lines 
 on them. He peered around the roots and several inches 
 up the sides of the trees, and could see no marks, con- 
 cluded the place was safe, and purchased it, when, poor 
 fool, if he had looked fifteen feet up the sides of the trees, 
 he would have seen the marks of annual overflow very 
 distinctly ! 
 
 It is true, I remember to have reasoned, in the effort to 
 excuse myself for what I knew to be our unbusiness-like 
 course, — we are, as it were, in the enemy's country, and to 
 whom could we safely go ? What assurance had we that 
 any opinion we might purchase would not be the veriest 
 deception ? We had heard much of Southern honor, was 
 
WE PURCHASED THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 71 
 
 it not safer to trust to that? Yes, if any thing was safe, 
 that was. 
 
 Besides, Hampson did not really seem to want to sell the 
 place, which of itself was some assurance, on the principle 
 that an article which the possessor would like to keep is 
 safe to purchase. There had been no effort on his part to 
 deceive us, and then did we not remember that nearly every- 
 body to whom we had been introduced on the boat in the 
 morning had said something in praise of this plantation? 
 The host himself had been enthusiastic on the subject of 
 its good qualities. 
 
 "When all at home agreed so thoroughly, there should no 
 longer be any doubt in the mind of a stranger. Most of 
 these who had spoken so highly were planters themselves, 
 and what better recommendation could we have than the 
 favorable opinion of men in the same line of business ? 
 
 We knew perfectly well that the price was a good round 
 one, but if the future was what w^as predicted for it, it 
 would soon be cheap. It was certainly better economy to 
 buy the land outright, at seventy-five dollars an acre, than 
 to pay from ten to twenty-five dollars an acre rent for a 
 single year, as many of the new-comers were doing. 
 
 There could be no question about its being good land, 
 though it did not look very prepossessing with its enormous 
 vegetable growth all over it, but that told of a rich soil be- 
 neath. It was also on the highway of the Mississippi, in 
 the heart of the cotton region. It was not cheap land, be- 
 cause it was not in a cheap locality. It was in short to 
 plantations in general, what property on Broadway, New 
 York, was to New York itself; property there brought big 
 figures, but it never went begging for a purchaser. So it 
 was and would be with this class of plantation property. 
 
 Ilaving thus reasoned to ourselves that we should be 
 safe in making this purchase, we then wrote a formal 
 note to General Hampson, saying that we would take the 
 place on his terms, and Pompey was detailed to deliver it. 
 
72 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Thus the Dobson scheme was an accomplished fact. 
 What we should have done now, was to employ a la^vJ'er 
 to examine the title, and an engineer to measure the place. 
 But we did neither. So far as the title went, Hamj^son 
 himself was a lawyer, and there was no question but that 
 he could and would make us a good deed, we thought, and 
 then there recurred our feeling of distrust of the people in 
 whose midst we were about to locate. We fancied we had 
 already seen a something, — perhaps it was the universal 
 praise of the place we had just bargained for, looking as if 
 each man were acting as Hampson's agent ; perhaps it was 
 their habit of huddling together and talking in a low tone 
 of voice, looking at us, as if we were the topic ; and yet 
 just what it was, we could not have defined: — it made us 
 feel, however, that we were dealing with a close corpora- 
 tion, that what was the opinion of one, was the opinion of 
 all ; and if we were to be sold out, would it not be better 
 to be sold trusting to the honor of men than after we had 
 bought their opinions ? 
 
 We might pay five hundred dollars to an attorney to ex- 
 amine as to the title, or the same amount to an engineer 
 for measurement of the land ; but would not there still be 
 an uncertainty as to whether we were getting faithful ser- 
 vice ? So we decided to trust to the honor of the man we 
 had to deal with, to his assurance that his deed was a good 
 one, and that all the land was there it called for. 
 
 It was a hazardous experiment, but we could see no other 
 course open for us, and so we made our first payment of 
 twenty-seven thousand dollars, gave our notes for the bal- 
 ance, and took the deed. We felt a decided shock in this 
 operation (which consumed the better part of two days, 
 and at least six whisky-toddies) when Hampson told us it 
 was the custom of the country for the purchaser to pay for 
 the cost of making the deed, and then the notary, a broad- 
 shouldered, smiling personage, said the bill was three hun- 
 dred and seventy-five dollars — one hundred and fifty dol- 
 
WE PURCHASE THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 7o 
 
 lars of which was his fee, and two hundred and twenty-five 
 dollars for the " Yankee " government. 
 
 Ilere were three hundred and seventy-five dollars not in- 
 cluded in the Dobson estimate. It did not look reasonable 
 that we should pay this. It was Hampson's deed, not ours ; 
 but he assured us on his honor as a man that it was for us 
 to pay, and then appealed to the notary, who said there 
 was no question about it, so we reluctantly paid the 
 amount. 
 
 There being no residence on the place, what to do for a 
 house for our families to live in was a question. We could 
 not think of taking them into the overseer's cabin, even if 
 it was a " snug place." 
 
 In our dilemma, we consulted Captain Tyler. 
 
 He thought for a moment, and then asked us if we had 
 noticed on our way toHambleton a pleasant-looking house. 
 
 " Yes," we replied, " but that will be two miles away from 
 our business." 
 
 "Ah ! well, you will of course have an overseer ; your 
 duty will be that of general supervision, which you can 
 attend to as well at that distance as if you were on the 
 ground. This house will just suit you, I think, and is at 
 present unoccupied. It will need some repairs, no doubt. 
 I will try and see the owner, if you wish it." 
 
 We said we would thank him if he would do so, and the 
 next morning Tyler introduced us. 
 
 "Yes, I su2:)pose the house is for rent." 
 
 "At what price ?" 
 
 " Well, I will have to ask you," thinking for a moment, 
 "at the rate of from eight hundred to one thousand dollars 
 per annum, and will allow two hundred for repairs." 
 
 Notwithstanding this extortionate demand, we concluded 
 
 to take it, as all hands were of the opinion that this was 
 
 our only chance, and really wo were quite fortunate, they 
 
 all said with one voice, to be able to get it. It was ap- 
 
 4 
 
74 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 parently understood that we should rent this house, and 
 every energy was bent in that direction. 
 
 " Do you wish to draw up papers of lease?" 
 
 "No; my word is good as my bond," with a little fire 
 in his eye. 
 
 " We did not doubt that," we said, " and only suggested 
 it because it was considered the business course." 
 
 Tyler introduced us to a gentleman by the name of Dis- 
 tom — Colonel Distom he called him — who, he said, had 
 rai&ed a crop of cotton the year before in the neighborhood, 
 and who had just formed a partnership with a new-comer 
 to plant a large place in the rear of the Hebron plantation. 
 
 " You will want cotton-seed for planting," Tyler said, 
 ' and you have an abundance of good seed, have you not. 
 Colonel?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, I have plenty of it." 
 
 " Will you sell us our supply ?" 
 
 " To be sure, it is for sale." 
 
 "At what price ?" 
 
 "At the market-i^rice, whatever that is at the time you 
 want the seed." 
 
 "How much seed will it take to plant nine hundred 
 acres ?" 
 
 " Fifteen hundred bushels will be ample." 
 
 " AYill you engage to let us have that quantity ?" 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " We will consider it a contract, then, and will send our 
 wagons for the seed whenever we need it for planting, pay- 
 ing you for it then." 
 
 "That is all right." 
 
 " Shall we reduce our understanding to writing?" 
 
 " Oh, no ; my word is as good as my bond. You will cer- 
 tainly get the seed whenever you send for it." 
 
 We asked Tyler where we had best have our freight Ian ded , 
 at our plantation -landing, or at his wharf-boat? 
 
WE FORM A CO-PARTNERSntP AND SELECT OUR LABOR. 75 
 
 " Oil, at my wharf- boat, by all means. I will take good 
 care of it." 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 WE FORM A CO-PARTNERSHIP AND SELECT OUR LABOR. 
 
 On our return, we called Gale and Johnson together, and 
 made our report. 
 
 Gale, being a lawyer, it was arranged that he should 
 draw up the articles of partnership, which he did, having 
 them handsomely copied, and fastened with an abundance 
 of blue ribbon. Mechanically speaking, the document was 
 very handsome, and as an exhaustive article on partner- 
 ships complete. The amounts specified ran up into that 
 enchanting atmosphere of hundreds of thousands, making 
 it a luxurious affair. A national bank, or local fire insur- 
 ance company, alongside of it, would have to take a back- 
 seat. 
 
 Dobson and myself were to receive the same salary — 
 fifteen hundred dollars per annum ; Johnson's was to be a 
 thousand. 
 
 As I walked home with my copy of the articles of part- 
 nership, to show to Mrs. Harding, I felt again as 1 did 
 Avhcn, first made a party to the Dobson scheme, I had trav- 
 eled this same route. 
 
 Again I chanced to see Mr. Cooper in his bank window. 
 Our enterprise was now established, and the temptation 
 came over me to show him what we proposed to do. I did 
 so, and when he had gone over it all, and looked up at me 
 through his sagacious spectacles, I inquired : 
 
 " What do you think of it?" 
 
 '• Cut it in two in the middle, and divide that by half, 
 
76 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 and you '11 be nearer the mark," he answered curtly, though 
 pleasantly. 
 
 " Why so ?" I asked, a little nettled over his estimate. 
 
 " Just on the principle that these enterprises never do 
 any more than that, and seldom as much," he replied, with 
 great good common sense glowing in his expressive coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 " Well, there are exceptions to all rules," I said, spiritedly, 
 " and I defy any one to find a flaw in the Dobson estimate. 
 Wish us well, anyhow," 
 
 " Oh, I do that with all my heart." 
 
 Mr. Cooper's opinion was a wet blanket, and I felt mvry 
 I had called on him. I shook my head viciously as I passed 
 out of .his bank, thinking, '-I will show j'ou whether the 
 Dobson estimate is to be cut in two, and then halved. For 
 once, Mr. Cooper, you are simply mistaken." For a con- 
 siderable time afterward I held a grudge toward him. 
 
 We had discussed the subject of labor during our return 
 journey, and concluded as follows : 
 
 First. There were, as we had seen, quite a number of 
 negroes on the plantation, and although we had not talked 
 with them, we presumed we could get their services. 
 They were, no doubt, a portion of the former slaves of the 
 place, and were attached to it, and from their knowledge 
 of it, and cotton-planting, they would be very valuable to 
 US. Cato and James were among the number, they who had 
 saved Hampson's large interest from injury. AVhat better 
 recommendation could we have ? Undoubtedly these two 
 were choice hands, and being also, as Hampson said, lead- 
 ers, they would hardly be likely to have any but the same 
 class about them. We thought we could count with con- 
 fidence on engaging this lot of laborers. 
 
 Second. AVe determined to try some white labor. 
 
 Third. We would carry down with us a squad of 
 negroes. 
 
WE FORM A CO-PARTNERSniP AND SELECT OUR LxVBOR. 77 
 
 In order to have tliese go forward with oar outfit, we 
 posted a hand-bill immediately, containing such specifica- 
 tions as these : 
 
 " Wanted ! 
 
 " White and colored labor for a cotton-plantation. 
 
 •' Good wages will be paid. 
 
 " None but farm-hands need apply. 
 
 " Office at , for ten days." 
 
 Johnson was stationed as recruiting agent, and within 
 the ten days he selected, from not less than two hundred 
 applicants, twenty-five of each color, all of whom declared 
 themselves to be farmers. 
 
 The idea was to take the black people from that class 
 known as " contrabands," meaning the former slaves who 
 had drifted North during the war. These people, we rea- 
 soned, had found a climate illy suited to them, and compe- 
 tition for day-labor very great, and even if the best of 
 them managed to put away a little money, and but here 
 and there one could do that much, during the warm months, 
 it was all gone before spring, so that they would only bo 
 too glad of an opportunity to get back South. 
 
 There could certainly be no hazard in taking down this 
 class, who would be thoroughly cured of that nameless 
 longing for breathing the Northern air, and of that absurd 
 idea that in the country whence the "Yankees" came, no 
 labor was required. In short, we thought this Northern 
 discipline would in every way fit them the better to per- 
 form the labor devolving on them as free men. 
 
 The white labor was an experiment. A general agree- 
 ment was drawn up which each one as he was accepted 
 was required to sign, to the efi'ect that for the purpose of 
 raising a crop of cotton and corn on the Hebron plantation, 
 the undersigned engaged themselves for the year 1866, at 
 such wages as were customary in the neighborhood, one- 
 half in cash monthly, the balance at the end of the 3'ear, — 
 the weekly ration to be four pounds of pork, a peck of 
 
78 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 meal and a pint of molasses ; the whites to have six pounds 
 of flour in lieu of the meal, with a ration of coffee and 
 sugar, and either rice, hominy or potatoes. 
 
 A more ragged or hungrier-looking set than the black peo- 
 ple engaged would be difficult to find, and as the weather was 
 very cold, they appeared half frozen. It was a sorry sight. 
 But if they were, as they all asserted, cotton-hands, their 
 condition was rather in their favor, viewed as discipline. 
 Stepping from the fitful support of an occasional job, into 
 steady occupation, the very kind to which they had been 
 reared, would naturally make contented laborers of them. 
 Getting back to their country again would soon thaw them 
 out ; then their hunger would be appeased, and very 
 shortly their wages would enable them to shed their rags. 
 
 We felt that we had a prize in this lot of hands. True, 
 we had to take their simple statement that they were 
 cotton-hands. Being perfectly ignorant of the mode of 
 raising cotton, we could ask them no questions that would 
 settle their status in this respect. If they were impostors^ 
 it would only come out when they were put to the test on 
 the plantation. It was hazardous not to be satisfied on this 
 point, but every thing has its risk, and this was the risk in 
 the present case, because if they were cotton-hands there 
 could be nothing else against them, and with their rough 
 experience in the North, if negroes proved any sort of a suc- 
 cess as free cotton laborers, these would be 2:>ar excellence. 
 
 What mattered it if their skin had, from exposure and 
 poor food, assumed a dull, dingy hue ? What mattered it 
 if they persisted in hugging the fire, and pulling their rags 
 closer about them, showing but little life, and not a vein of 
 their wonted humor? A short time under their sunny 
 Southern sky would make them as much the Sambo as ever. 
 A few days in the cotton -field and regular rations of pork 
 and meal would put the shine of health to their skin, and 
 fill their mouths with the plantation melodies of old. 
 
 Yes, it was the cotton-field they were pining for — that 
 
AVE FORM A CO-PARTNERSHIP AND SELECT OUR LABOR, 70 
 
 would put them on their feet again. Were we not, then, 
 while serving ourselves so well, also acting a good part 
 toward the poor black people, in carrj'ing them back to a 
 congenial climate and occupation, from which they had, as 
 it were, strayed? Now that slavery was no more, these 
 people would, as a class, sooner or later, drift there. 
 
 We were simply piQn££u:s_i n the enter prise of star ting 
 this tide of im migration, which was just as essentail to the 
 prosperity of the Southern country as was capital itself 
 Slavery had been the only system of labor. That being 
 abolished rendered the creation of a system necessary. 
 The slaves themselves would form largclj^ the material for 
 this first effort. Just to the extent that they were a success 
 would the country itself be a success, and if thev were a 
 success — of which there was little or no doubt — every 
 one that could be induced to go there would be so much 
 wealth to the country. 
 
 Whichever way we might view it, then, we felt we were 
 making no mistake in taking the black people down with 
 us, although it was barely possible we might be deceived 
 in those we had selected, 
 
 Naturally, if black labor was just the thing for us, white 
 labor was not the thing. 
 
 There were arguments, however, in favor of white labor, 
 chief of which was that our boys in the army had cam- 
 paigned through the swamps of the South with a very 
 small percentage of sickness. If they could stand a sum- 
 mer's campaign there, or, for that matter, several summerr^, 
 could they not stand a summer in the cotton-field ? — and if 
 they were able to get through the season without sickness, 
 what could not be accomplished with industrious, stout- 
 hearted, intelligent Northern farmers ? 
 
 They would know nothing about cotton-raising, but it 
 was, perhaps, not ver}^ different from corn, or other prod- 
 ucts with which they were perfectly familiar, and they 
 would learn as the season progressed. 
 
80 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 If white labor should prove a success, the question of 
 labor was at once settled forever. It was at least worth a 
 trial. 
 
 We were a little shaky when we saw our lot of twenty- 
 five, though they all stoutly declared they were born 
 farmers. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 WE TAKE OUR DEPARTURE FOR THE HEBRON PLANTATION. 
 
 About this time, we received a letter from an individ- 
 ual in the South, soliciting the position of overseer. He 
 furnished good references, and offered to serve us for twelve 
 hundred dollars a year. 
 
 Tyler said we should want an overseer. I mentally re- 
 j)udiated the idea at the time, knowing that Dobson's state- 
 ment had not mentioned this want ; but neither had it 
 mentioned four thousand dollars in salaries to the members 
 of the firm who were to superintend the enterprise, nor a 
 thousand dollars or more for cotton-seed, nor a thousand 
 dollars for house-rent ; and now here was a chance to spend 
 twelve hundred dollars more. Altogether, I began to fear 
 that Dobson's statement was not infallible, but, then, what 
 were a few thousand dollars, he said, when I mildl}- hinted 
 my doubt, when the margin of profit was so great ? 
 
 So we called a meeting of the firm, and it was decided, 
 in view of our inexperience, etc., we had better have an 
 overseer. To save twelve hundred dollars, we might haz- 
 ard many thousands. At least for the first year, and in 
 view of our white labor project, we had better have the ex- 
 perience of a practical planter ; after that, we could do as 
 we pleased. Every thing depended on our making the 
 
WE TAKE OUR DEPARTURE FOR HEBRON PLANTATION. 81 
 
 right start. So the overseer was engaged, to report for 
 duty at a date named. 
 
 At the almost daily government auction sales of surplus 
 army equipments, in different parts of the countrj^ were of- 
 fered many articles included in our list of wants. A sale of 
 this kind at Lexington, Kentucky, came off just at the right 
 time, and so, thinking to make some cheap purchases, and 
 thus help out the Dobson estimate, which, it was plain to 
 be seen, was pulling down the wrong side of the scale, I 
 took a trip to Lexington, but, beyond having knocked 
 down to me the wreck of a wagon, a few incomplete sets of 
 harness, and trace-chains enough to stock half a dozen plan- 
 tations, I accomplished nothing — returning in great dis- 
 gust over my fool's errand. My only consolation was, that 
 I found numbers of parties who were going South as we 
 were, and who, like myself, had seized upon this oppor- 
 tunity to buy bargains, and bad shared my fate. 
 
 Our mules were, however, the result of a government 
 auction sale, though we purchased them second-hand, hav- 
 ing to pay the usual middle-man's profit. The rest of 
 our outfit we purchased in Cincinnati, with the exception 
 of a few "improved" plows, bought after much persuasion 
 at a home manufactory, and which were sold us at whole- 
 sale rates, as an inducement for our introducing them ; our 
 swingle-trees and double-trees, which a home blacksmith 
 insisted on making for us ; and our stock of medicines, 
 which came from our own drug-store. 
 
 Two afternoon freight-cars, for our mules, and a second- 
 class night-car, on the same day, for our hands, conveyed 
 our outfit to Cincinnati, just in time to strike the "May- 
 flower," bound for New Orleans and way-landings. I went 
 down to Cincinnati to see the enterprise off, though Adju- 
 tant Johnson was in immediate command, and would con- 
 tinue so, accompanying the expedition to the plantation, I 
 having to return for my family. 
 
 Dobson had left, immediately after the arrangement of 
 4* 
 
82 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 our partnership, to join bis wife, who was enjoying the 
 gayeties of the Washington season. They would follow on 
 later. It was arranged that on my arrival at Hebron I 
 should look around, and, whatever I discovered lacking, 1 
 should notify Dobson, when he would bring it down with 
 him. Until he heard from me, he was to remain at our 
 home, after his return from Washington. 
 
 After waving an adieu to the " Mayflower " as she pushed 
 out from the Cincinnati wharf with our valuable cargo 
 on board, getting my last glimpse of that little hero, Adju- 
 tant Johnson, I hurried back home, spoke hasty farewells 
 to the relatives and friends we were leaving behind, and 
 with my little family steamed away from a spot where we 
 had seen so many happy years. How I should have clung 
 to that parting hour if 1 could have read the future ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OUR VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 
 
 We avoided the tubular boilers this time at Cairo, wait- 
 ing a whole day for a boat with old-fashioned boilers, which 
 finally came along in the shape of the " Mary E. Forsythe." 
 
 Our trip down the river is one of the most agreeable 
 
 memories of our lives, and if that good old Captain 
 
 is yet living, and should chance to read these lines, I thank 
 him again for his kindness to us. 
 
 Among the passengers were Colonel Graham and his 
 charming wife, from Indiana, on their way to settle on a 
 plantation only a dozen miles below us. There was Colonel 
 Jordan, a brother-in-law of the Confederate Secretary of 
 War, and a sugar-planter from lower Louisiana, on his way 
 
OUR VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 83 
 
 home -with his fiiniily after their long stay in Virginia 
 during the rebellion. What a genial, whole-souled gentle- 
 man he proved to be ! And his motherless children — though 
 hardly motherless, because of the devotion of their father's 
 niece — what pattern children they were, with their Creole 
 cast of features ! 
 
 Here were a people with no drop of so-called North- 
 ern blood in their veins — they well knew we had no 
 drop of so-called Southern blood in ours ; and yet their 
 hearts were in their mouths, and they were overflowing 
 with kindly feeling for us. 
 
 Colonel and Mrs. Jacobs, of Mississippi, were also pas- 
 sengers. They, too, were native Southerners, and yet they 
 displayed not a jot of prejudice towards those of us from 
 the Xorth. 
 
 No more cordial reception could possibly have been 
 given than that accorded to us by these and other delight- 
 ful steamboat acquaintances — people of the South — on the 
 threshold, as it were, of our Southern experience. There 
 was not the least show of clannishness about them ; wo 
 danced, sang, played whist, visited the pilot-house, sat in 
 the Captain's room in the texas, vexed the clerk with our 
 questions, and took the breezes on the forecastle, together, 
 as if we were one family. 
 
 IIow like oil this cordial reception seemed to us, too, with 
 our recent wounds of separation from relatives and friends ! 
 Scarce had we bidden adieu to a circle which in the hour 
 of parting we felt could never be duplicated, when these 
 new associations were formed, commanding not only friend- 
 ship, but really stirring the fountain of affection. Scarcely 
 had we severed the old bonds, which held us as with 
 hooks of steel, when a silken cord was thrown around us, 
 and we felt almost guilty when we stopped a moment and 
 thought that the pangs of parting from the old life-long 
 associations were fiist resolving themselves into pleasant 
 
84 A YEAR or WRECK. 
 
 memories, ■while we were basking in the sunshine of this 
 new life. 
 
 Such was our experience on this voyage ; but it was the 
 hour of sunshine before the long, weary season of storm. 
 We were shortly to step upon an inhospitable shore, where 
 blows would be dealt at us from every direction ; the greet- 
 ing at our coming was to be but a continued insult — we 
 were to be looked upon either as a common enemy, or, at 
 best, simply tolerated. 
 
 At Memphis, the following letter from Adjutant Johnson 
 awaited us : 
 
 " On Board Steamer Mayflower, ) 
 " Memphis, January 24, 1866. ] 
 
 " My Dear Sir : — Just as the boat is about to push out, 
 I send off this line to let you know that we are so far on 
 our way with no serious occurrence. 
 
 '' The weather has been bright and cold. As a conse- 
 quence, the black people, as deck-passengers, have suffered 
 considerably. Three of them jumped me at Cairo, and I 
 find, on counting noses, that I 've only sixteen whites left. 
 It looks a little as if there was a trick out on the part of 
 the missing ones to get their fare paid down to Memphis. 
 However, they may come back yet. I gave them permis- 
 sion to go out and look at the town. Their time was up 
 ten minutes ago. 
 
 " These white fellows have given me a world of trouble. 
 Although I have them in the cabin, nothing is good enough 
 for them. Won't I make them work to pay for it when I 
 get them on the plantation ! — always, of course, if there is 
 any work in them. The fact is, I am a little shaky over 
 our selection of white '■ farmers.' I have been sick, but am 
 better now. Mules doing well. 
 
 " Yours, 
 
 " Johnson. 
 
 " P. S. — Two of the white men just reported, both tipsy. 
 
OUR VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 85 
 
 This leaves me seven short. Shall have Billy stand guard 
 at every landing, so as to lose no more. J." 
 
 "Billy " was Dobson's hostler in the army, and was go- 
 ing down to take charge of our mules. 
 
 I could see, from my steamboat experience, that travel 
 on the Mississii)pi river has two phases, viz., first, that 
 which belongs to the ladies' cabin, and, second, that 
 which belongs to the gentlemen's cabin. 
 
 The line of distinction between the two is marked. My 
 first experience was, as I have related, in the gentlemen's 
 cabin, where liquors of all kinds, mixed in every conceiv- 
 able way, abound, with card-playing, all imaginable games, 
 but chiefly poker, as the pastime, money passing freely 
 in these several games. There is to be seen a great 
 display of cleanly shaved faces, and profusely greased 
 hair, and highly polished boots, on the part of each new 
 passenger, as the second operation after getting on the 
 boat — the first operation being generally a drink at 
 the bar. This, as I had seen, was the general make-up 
 of the gentlemen's cabin. Two-thirds of the way up — 
 that is, backward — in the steamboat cabin, was a line 
 beyond which the men-passengers, unaccompanied by 
 ladies, were not allowed to go ; at the same time, how- 
 ever, it was considered quite the thing for lady-passengers, 
 accompanied by gentlemen or not, to visit any part of the 
 boat, especially the forecastle and pilot-house, to drink in 
 breaths of fresh air, and get a better view of the passing 
 scenery of the country. AYhen music was struck up for 
 dancing in the evening the men-passengers crowded up to 
 the line just mentioned, and quietly watched the scene. 
 Only occasionally the captain of the boat invited a male 
 passenger to cross over the line and participate in the 
 dance. There were not, indeed, any published rules re- 
 garding this dividing line, nor were the officers in the habit 
 of calling attention to it directly — its observance seemed 
 
86 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 to be the result of custom. The second phase of steam- 
 boat life, that which we were now enjoying in the ladies' 
 cabin, with piano-music, songs by lady passengers, card- 
 playing, the negro-band in the evening, with dancing, was 
 in every way charming, and as often as I looked down 
 this cabin, and saw the crowds of male loungers at their 
 various occupations and amusements, and remembered my 
 own experience, I could not do otherwise than pity them. 
 We were at dinner when our destination was signaled. 
 What a crowding there was out upon the guards to see us 
 off! While the boat was rounding to, we stood in the midst 
 of our circle of new-found friends, and our regrets at leav- 
 ing them were almost as keen as those we had recently 
 experienced when we had left behind us beloved relatives 
 and friendships of many years' growth. 
 
 Our baggage goes off, and with it a couple of bundles 
 which we do not recognize as ours. The Captain whispers 
 to Mrs. Harding, as if he would not let his right hand 
 know, etc.: 
 
 " A few beefsteaks, and a couple of loaves of bread for 
 you." 
 
 Thoughtful man ! If he could have seen how poor, sick 
 Adjutant Johnson enjoyed that fresh bread and the tender, 
 juicy beefsteak that evening for his supper, the first he had 
 tasted since leaving the Mayflower, he would have been 
 more than repaid ! 
 
 At last we are on the bank, and many handkerchiefs are 
 waving adieus from the steamboat. There the little Jor- 
 dans are throwing their farewell kisses to our two boys, 
 one of whom stands holding our little shepherd pujDpy, all 
 dripping from his first Mississippi bath, which he has just 
 received from falling off the stage-plank — clumsy fellow — 
 while attempting to make the shore, and from which he 
 has been rescued by one of the deck-hands. There stands 
 my wife, holding a little French clock, with its bronze, 
 figure of " Euth clasping her gleanings." There stands 
 
OUR VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 87 
 
 our year-and-a-hiilf old buby-boy, holding fast to his little 
 rocking-chair. There I myself stand with my hands full 
 of satchels and a bundle under each arm ; and so, while 
 the boat bears our friends away, there being no conveyance 
 to be had at the landing for either love or money, and 
 T^^ler's wharf-boat, with its squad of loungers, being any 
 thing but an attractive place for a family, we start off, on 
 foot, for our half-mile journey to our new home beyond the 
 freshly made levee. 
 
 The spring rains have set in, and such mud as only this 
 swamp-country can produce is the consequence. As wo 
 flounder along in it, I point out the big store with its 
 ghastly gun-shot wound, and then the neglected grave-yard 
 where the swine are still at work. 
 
 Still we flounder through the mud, but soon our little 
 toddler gives out. I stoop down and let him fasten himself 
 to my back, with one chubby arm about my neck, holding 
 fast to his chair with the other. Then the clock gets very 
 heavy in my wife's arms. It is all she can do to pull out 
 her little feet at each step as the black, putty-like mud 
 sucks them in. So, notwithstanding the bundles under my 
 arms, the satchels in my hands, and the baby on my back, 
 1 manage to make a shelf of my breast, with satchels and 
 bundles, on which, very reluctantly, seeing that I am 
 already weighted down, she deposits the clock. I laugh- 
 ingly ask her if she does n't think I make a lively mantle- 
 piece, and then we all trudge on. Great drops of sweat 
 stand on my face. Mrs. Harding wipes them away with 
 her handkerchief, which shows a trembling hand. She is 
 evidently very weak, but tells me not to mind her, she is 
 all right, and, as if to convince me, insists on resuming her 
 burden ; but no, I say, it is no load at all, and call it jolly 
 fun. Our boy trudges along behind, with Mike in his 
 arms, the shaggy fellow still moist from his bath. People 
 tumble out from the whisky-shops and gape at us as if we 
 were natural curiosities. Either dazed by their experience 
 
88 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 in these shops, or by our general make-up, they all stand 
 and stare, no one offering to lend us a helping hand. 
 
 Finally we come to the new levee, and there is our house 
 beyond. But the first step in the freshly thrown-up earth 
 Avarns us not to attempt to cross it. We look on either 
 side of it for a road-way, and see nothing but water on the 
 surface, with doubtless a worse mire underneath. 
 
 There is the piece of a cast-away wheeling-plank near, 
 and we all sink down on it well-nigh exhausted. Then I 
 mentally hold a council of war. There are other planks 
 about, and, relieved of my load, after a moment's rest 1 
 proceed to make a plank-way along the new levee with 
 these. At the foot of the levee is a cast-away wheel-bar- 
 row. I get it up on our road-way. Then I lift my wife 
 up and deposit her in it, and wheel her across, she declar- 
 ing it to be the most charming ride of her life, and wishing 
 our friends at home could only see us now. " Would n't 
 they laugh?" Then we wheel over the boys and the dog, 
 and finally the baggage — and this is a faithful account of 
 the wav we reached our new home from the landing. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 WE ARRIVE AT OUR NEW HOME— FIRST NIGHT's EXPERIENCE. 
 
 The house was of the architecture peculiar to the South 
 — one-story, the roof high in the center and descending on 
 all four sides, forming a cover for the immense gallery, or 
 porch. It was double, with a large hall running through 
 the center, and double -parlors on each side. Once, evi- 
 dently, it had been a home of some pretentions — the finish 
 of the wood-work, what was left of the mantle-pieces, with 
 
ME ARRIVE AT OUR NEW HOME, ETC. 89 
 
 many other marks about the premises indicated this. The 
 yard, with its shrubbery, its beautiful box-alder trees, and 
 here and there a broken piece of china, or mirror, bore 
 testimony to tlie fact that people had once lived here who 
 knew how to live. But what a wreck it presented now ! — 
 great doors, split from top to bottom as with an ax ; 
 scarcely an unbroken piece of glass remaining in the win- 
 dows ; not a door with an effective lock on it; all the 
 liearths torn out, leaving great gaping holes, large enough 
 to admit any one who might care to disturb our night's 
 sleep ! 
 
 Upon entering we discovered a black girl, scouring the 
 paint. She scanned us from head to foot and then asked : 
 
 " Is you de new folks? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 '• Lor', I's see'd many a Yankee so'g'er — hab cooked for 
 'em, but I nebber see'd a Yankee 'oman afore, an' dey tolc 
 me many a time Yankee 'omen had ho'ns," — then, as if 
 thinking aloud, "She looks "zackly like any of 'em, only 
 more delicate like." 
 
 On inquiring we found this to be the woman Adjutant 
 Johnson had procured to do the work about the house. 
 She told us her name was Jane. 
 
 Jane proved a character, and her quaint stories of plan- 
 tation life, incidents of the war, etc., furnished us many an 
 evening's entertainment. 
 
 Our first night's sojourn in our new home, thus open, 
 many of the doors entirely off their hinges, admitting the 
 straggling, half-starved dogs of the neighborhood, in search 
 of some thing to eat (even in the best room it was neces- 
 sary to hang blankets, where a door or window once was: 
 our own bed and our children's crib put up temporarily in 
 this room, and a few scattered pieces of furniture, which had 
 preceded us, giying a familiar air to the place, making us 
 feel that it was home, or that we must think so, at leastj — 
 
90 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 that first Bigbt, I say, is one that Avill be remembered by us 
 always. 
 
 Being very tired from our tramp to the house from the 
 landing, having no thoughts but those most pleasing from 
 our fresh steamboat experience of Southern people, know- 
 ing nothing, dreaming nothing of the bitterness which was 
 already felt toward us by our neighbors — after some hours 
 chat with Adjutant Johnson (who, hearing of our arrival, 
 had come from the Hebron plantation to Avelcome us) 
 — we retired and fell into a profound sleep. 
 
 Sounds heard around the house as of jDcrsons walking 
 and talking in undertones, the firing of guns, and an occa- 
 sional human howl, wakened and excited me. I do not 
 think I had the feeling of fear, but certainly I grew nerv- 
 ous and wondered at these strange noises. I^or could I 
 again sleep, so, getting up, I went out upon the gallery and 
 there met Adjutant Johnson, also nervous and restless. 
 He told me that there was an average of one or two mur- 
 ders committed in the village every week. 
 
 "Didj^ou hear those guns? Perhaps they each sent a 
 soul to its long home." 
 
 There was no more going to sleep that night, but a long 
 visit with Johnson instead, and very early in the morning 
 I made m}" first purchase in the village, viz.: a pound of 
 nails and a hatchet, with which, and the stray planks scat- 
 tered about, I barricaded windows and doors, so that on 
 our second night there were two rooms in the house which 
 could not have been readily entered. 
 
 I asked the merchant of whom I bought the hatchet and 
 nails : 
 
 " AYhat was the disturbance last night ? " 
 
 " One of the Northern men who has recently settled here 
 brought in some negro labor from Vicksburg on a night 
 boat, and the mischievous boys in town got among them 
 and stampeded them." 
 
WE ARRIVE AT OUR NEW HOME, ETC. 91 
 
 " But there were gun-shots. What did the firing mean ? " 
 
 " One negro was shot in the affair, I believe." 
 
 " Have they been arrested ? " 
 
 " Who? the negroes?" 
 
 "No, the parties who perpetrated the outrage." 
 
 '• Oh, no ! these things are very common here ; boys will 
 be boj'S. For myself, I regret it very much — don't con- 
 sider it treating the new-comers just right ; but there seems 
 to be no remedy for it." 
 
 " But will there be no effort to arrest the murderer of 
 the negro? " 
 
 " Well, I reckon not. The county-seat is eighteen miles 
 back from the river. There are no officers of the law here 
 at all. Even if any one was disj^osed to bother himself 
 about having the parties arrested, the boys would worry 
 him so, he would be only too glad to give it up." 
 
 The merchant said " worry " with an emphasis and an ex- 
 pression, as if it meant volumes, and then his speech was 
 cautious, and delivered in an undertone. Evidently " the 
 boys " were a power, which the merchant did not care to 
 invoke against himself, and he seemed fearful of being 
 overheard by some one. 
 
 "This, then, it seems, is not the unfrequent mode of 
 welcoming immigration, and if any effort should be made 
 to put a stop to it, the boys would ' worry ' the party who 
 attempted it," I said. 
 
 " Yes, that is true." 
 
 "What a fearful condition of things this discloses!" I 
 exclaimed. " That a sentiment like this exists is bad 
 enough, but that the good element of society do not raise 
 a voice against it, as would seem from what you say, is ap- 
 palling. No opposition is its virtual indorsement, and 
 being thus indorsed, how it will grow, and what a blight 
 it will put on the community! And then I told the mer- 
 chant how tenderly emigration was cared for in the East 
 and West; how it was shielded by the powerful arm of 
 
92 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 the law, so that no harm could corae to it ; how that neither 
 in purse nor person, wherever this life-giving stream flowed, 
 was it allowed to suffer the loss of a penny or a single hair. 
 That is just what is wanted here," I continued, ''and yet, 
 by your own story, there is the very opposite of it. If 
 this is the custom in sections of country where labor is 
 comparatively abundant, how much more necessary is it 
 here, where really no labor system exists, and where there 
 is nothing but a crude mass of a recently enfranchised race 
 which has to be molded, as it were ; and upon their treat- 
 ment much will depend, as to whether they will become 
 instruments of good or evil. Being free, there is nothing 
 to compel them to remain in any particular section of the 
 country, and they will naturally seek locations where they 
 will be justly treated ; so that, aside from the right of the 
 thing, and viewed simply in the light of policy, violence to- 
 ward them is bad, because it will not only prevent others from 
 coming, but will drive those already here away. If they 
 should prove to be fair laborers, they will now be valuable 
 to the whole community, instead of, as formerly, when they 
 were slaves, only enriching the particular individual whose 
 property they were. If an emigrant from a foreign shore 
 adds a thousand dollars to the wealth of the country, as is the 
 estimate, he adds it to theparticular locality where he settles. 
 The abolition of slavery was, so to speak, so much black 
 immigration, and the black labor already here, as well as 
 that which will yet come, is worth, to the community, one 
 thousand dollars a head, so that the affair of last night, and 
 which you say is very common here, has not only de- 
 stroyed a human soul, but it has robbed the community of 
 that sum. It has done vastly more than this ; sooner or 
 later this state of affairs will be known abroad, which will 
 put an end to any further capital coming here, and even 
 those already here, the old settlers as well as the new- 
 comers, will find it next to impossible to get labor from 
 
WE ARRIVE AT OUR NEW HOME, ETC. 93 
 
 abroad. Are the black peo}ile so abundant liere that im- 
 migration can be thus treated ? " I asked. 
 
 " Oh, no, hibor is very scarce ; there is n't half enough 
 here." 
 
 " If this inhuman treatment is not i:)ut a stop to at once," 
 I exclaimed, " it will take chains to bring more labor here, 
 and it would be better for your people to put sign-boards 
 along your river-front, on which should be inscribed, in 
 large letters, which can be plainly seen from the decks of 
 the passing steamboats, ' No caj^ital or immigration wanted 
 here.' That's what this sort of treatment means, and it 
 is only a fair and honorable course, if it can not be stopped 
 at once, to publish it, so that if there are settlers here in 
 the future, they can 't say they came here without a warn- 
 ing. 
 
 " I speak with much feeling," I said ; " I have located 
 here, have invested money here, and expect to make this 
 my home. I am astounded to find the condition of things 
 which your statement discloses, and while it is not my 
 purpose to take any part in public affairs, whenever great 
 wrongs like this come to my notice, I must speak plainly 
 my sentiments to individuals. But you are an old settler, 
 and will you not take hold of this, will you not talk to other 
 good citizens? Certainly, if the good element will put its 
 heads together, this evil can be arrested before it has worked 
 incalculable harm to the community." 
 
 " Well, it is wrong, but I do n't believe the 'boys ' will 
 listen to any body. When they get on the rampage they 
 are so mischievous." 
 
 There was nothing in the merchant's manner to give me 
 much hope that m}^ words would be of avail. In fact, he 
 cautioned me in an undertone, and with evident fear in his 
 eye, against "pitching into the boys too lively," as it 
 would be just like the rascals to get after me ; but I, never- 
 theless, resolved to speak plainly on the subject as often 
 as the opportunity presented itself, else I myself would be- 
 
94 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ^ome a party to what was thrilling my soul with horror, 
 and to what I could plainly see would administer a destruc- 
 tive blow to the county. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 WE SUFFER FROM BAD ADVICE AND INEFFICIENT LABOR. 
 
 " You made a great mistake," said Adjutant Johnson, in 
 havino; our freio^ht landed at the wharf-boat. It should 
 have been left at our own landing." 
 
 *' Tyler advised it," I replied. "I didn't suppose he 
 would mislead us." 
 
 •' It certainly was a mistake. I could have handled and 
 stored away our entire outfit from our own landing in a 
 single day, and here I have been hauling with both teams 
 since our arrival, now twelve days, and the freight is n't 
 over one-quarter up. 
 
 "It is breaking down our team and discouraging the 
 men, as they are almost certain to bog down crossing the 
 slough in the rear of the new levee you had so much 
 trouble in getting over with your family last evening, 
 and they are frequently out until late in the night in con- 
 sequence of these detentions. Not only that, but our hay 
 and corn is being much damaged by having to unload and 
 load it up again in the slough. 
 
 " Our freight bill is twelve hundred and fifty dollars, and 
 Tyler has added three hundred and twelve dollars and a 
 half landing charges. Twenty-five per cent, added to the 
 freight bill is his profit." 
 
 " This is fearful. We will have to look out how we take 
 advice in the future." 
 
BAD ADVICE AND INEFFICIENT LABOR. 95 
 
 ** It is quite evident that we have not only been seriously 
 misled, but we have been badly fleeced," said Adjutant 
 Johnson. 
 
 Before we got this lot of freight up, I felt strongly 
 inclined to sue somebody for damages ; but ere that the 
 sad conviction was forcing itself upon me that there were 
 no courts open for our class ; that a new-comer had no 
 rights which any one respected ; that we were simply re- 
 garded as so many fat geese tied in the market, and every 
 passing Southerner was at liberty to pluck a feather from us. 
 Day after day we tugged through the mire to haul this 
 lot of freight away; night after night we worked to get 
 our teams out of the bogs of the slough ; great was the 
 strain upon the mules and the men — precious time lost, 
 too, because it was towards the latter end of the plow- 
 ing season, and yet we had not struck a furrow. 
 
 Not a day less than a month was thus consumed with 
 two four-mule teams and two men to each wagon in doino- 
 what, if we had been correctly advised, would have taken 
 but a single day ! 
 
 I calculate that this leaf in our experience cost us, in di 
 rect money, not less than fifteen hundred dollars, to say 
 nothing of the loss of time from the legitimate duties of 
 farming, the strain on our mules, and its demoralizing in- 
 fluence on the men, which were indirect losses, impossible 
 to correctly estimate— all to put the paltry sum of three 
 hundred and twelve dollars and a half into the pocket of 
 the wharf-boat owner ! 
 
 Adjutant Johnson said, with a howl : 
 '• This is encouraging immigration with a vengeance !" 
 1 asked Tyler where we had best have our freight landed, 
 and received his reply, " On the wharf-boat, by all means," 
 in the presence and hearing of a number of the wharf-boat 
 loungers, all of whom must have known he was misdirect- 
 ing us, and yet not one of them warned us of the fearful 
 trap. It could not be said, then, that the wharf-boat 
 
96 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 owner was alone responsible for this costly affair. The fact 
 is, he was less so than the bystanders, because my question 
 had excited his cupidity. If the freight could be landed 
 with him, there w^as the handsome profit ; but with the 
 bystanders there was no such incentive. 
 
 Nor could it be said, "This was not their business, but 
 simply a matter between Tj'ler and myself," for the reason 
 that any thing which would have a tendency to influence 
 the tide of immigration, then flowing into the country, un- 
 favorably, was the business of every citizen of the count}-. 
 If they saw as much as a straw thrown in its way, it was 
 their duty to see it promptly removed. 
 
 Stranger that I was, I had asked to be guided aright, 
 and the very best evidence that I had confidence, and was 
 willing to trust the people, was to be found in the fact that 
 I had so asked, and the bystanders, who had allowed us to 
 be so misguided, were just as guilty as would be those who 
 would allow a ticket agent in JS'ew York to sell an emi- 
 grant a passage to Philadelphia, by way of San Francisco, 
 without warning him of the swindle. 
 
 Neither at that time, when a word of warning from any 
 one of the bystanders, dropped in my ear, if he bad not 
 cared to speak openly, would have saved us this never-to- 
 be-forgotten experience, nor afterwards, when we were 
 toiling day after day and night after night, for a month, to 
 do the work of a single day, was there a word of sympathy 
 expressed for us, or a breath of condemnation against the 
 author of the affair, even though many of the citizens 
 passed the slough, and saw us frequently up to our knees 
 in the mud and water, with our wagons sunk to their 
 hubs, and mules and drivers floundering about in the mire, 
 besmeared with it, and wet from head to foot. 
 
 I asked Adjutant Johnson about the old hands we had 
 seen on the Hebron plantation — were they all there yet?" 
 
 "Only old Cato and his family !" 
 
 " What became of the rest ?" 
 
BAD ADVICE AND INEFFICIENT LABOR. 97 
 
 *' They mostly went to the Hambleton plantation, I un- 
 derstand." 
 
 From Cato I learned that the people in the neighborhood 
 had told them they would have to vacate the quarters to 
 make room for the new hands we would bring with us, so 
 they had reluctantly moved away. 
 
 " Powerful choice hands dey was, too," said Cato. "Dey 
 hated mightily to lebe do ole place, but dey done gone an' 
 made corntracs for de year." 
 
 AVell, here was a loss, to be sure. These hands were to 
 be our main reliance, our wheel-horses, so to speak. Wo 
 had counted on keeping them. What should we do? 
 Could we call them back ? No, they had, no doubt, as 
 Cato said, made contracts, and were beyond our reach. 
 
 The planters in the neighborhood might have thought 
 they were doing us a service by telling this labor to " va- 
 cate," but it certainly was not a service ; on the contrary, 
 I felt that they could not well have dealt us a severer blow. 
 
 We were to blame, perhaps, ourselves, in not seeing the 
 laborers immediately after our purchase, and making an 
 engagement with them for the year ; but we never dreamed 
 for a moment that any one would interfere with them. 
 Having bought the place, of course we would want labor 
 for it. What was really there was so much start, and what 
 more natural than to suppose we would want to retain it ? 
 
 A singular community this was, that would not open its 
 mouth to save us from landing our freight two miles away, 
 and which yet became oflScious in our absence to clear our 
 cabins of the labor in them ! 
 
 We had told no one we were going to bring labor with 
 us. In fact, our programme in this regard, had not been 
 mentioned on the wharf-boat at all, but had been decided 
 on after leaving there, so that for aught the people knew, 
 we would look for all our labor in the immediate vicinity, 
 
98 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 and yet it bad been given out as coming from us tbat we 
 sbould want our cabins — bence tbe exodus. 
 
 Of course we bad not tbe least claim in tbe world on 
 tbese people. Tbey were free and at liberty to make tbeir 
 contracts wben and wbere tbey cbose, but we bad found 
 tbem on tbe place, and tbe fact of tbeir being tbere. old 
 bands as tbey were, sbowed an attacbment to it on tbeir 
 part, and notbing could be more natural, tberefore, tban 
 for us to feel tbat tbey would want to stay. And it seems 
 tbey did want to stay, tbat tbey bad left reluctantly, and 
 but for tbe statements of our meddlesome neigbbors, tbey 
 would still be on tbe place and at our service. 
 
 It was a cruel disaj^pointment to feel tbat we bad lost 
 tbem, more so because Jobnson told us be was dubious 
 about tbe labor be bad brougbt down. 
 
 " Tbe wbites are a turbulent set, and tbe fact is," be said, 
 " I am satisfied tbere is n't a farmer among tbem ; tbrce of 
 tbem are painters, two printers, one professional bill-poster, 
 two tailors, and two sboemakers, and all a set of loafers. 
 Tbe overseer, Mr. Hunter, put tbem to cbopping up tbe 
 dead trees wbicb bad fallen in tbe fields, and tbe first day 
 be found tbem bugging tbe side of a log, witb a number of 
 greasy packs of cards, at play. Tbey declared tbat wood- 
 cbopping was barder work tban tbey cared to engage in, 
 told tbe overseer to give tbe negroes tbat kind of work, 
 and let tbem bave something easier; so be put tbem to 
 breaking down tbe tall weeds witb clubs, and raking tbem 
 up in beaps and burning tbem, tbus getting tbe land ready 
 for the plows. But tbey are tbe veriest eye-servants, and 
 wbat little work tbey do is sbabby. It is impossible to, 
 please tbem witb food, and twice tbey bave rebelled at tbe 
 table, and dashed wbat was set before tbem on tbe ground. 
 Tbey make tbe nigbt bideous witb tbeir noises, in tbe bar- 
 racks wbicb I 've bad arranged for tbem, and in tbe morn- 
 ing it is impossible to puncb tbem out before tbe sun is 
 an bour bigb. 
 
BAD ADVICE AND INEFFICIENT LABOR. 99 
 
 " Their influence on the blacks is demoralizing, as the 
 latter take their labor for the standard, and when I rebuke 
 them the}' retort that they are doing more than the white 
 folks." Such was a brief outline of the situation, as John- 
 son gave it. 
 
 With the negroes under this influence the thawing-out 
 process was sending to the surface all that was objectiona- 
 ble in their characters, and in their fondness for imitation 
 they seemed bent in outdoing the white squad in examples 
 of laziness and acts of lawlessness. Only three weeks ago 
 they were hungr}^ enough to gnaw a bone, tmd now, sim- 
 ply because "de white folks dashed out de grub," forsooth 
 out theirs went. 
 
 It soon became evident to us that the overseer was a fail- 
 ure. Either he was naturally lazy, or he caught the con- 
 tagion from his lazy surroundings, and Adjutant Johnson's 
 health fluctuated, so that he was forced to keep his room 
 most of the time. Thus, with an incompetent overseer and 
 an invalid assistant, my hands were full. 
 
 I immediately wrote to Dobson, stating the situation 
 minutely, and telling him to bring down twenty-five black 
 laborers, giving him distinctly the class of hands desired, 
 namely, '• contraband," and all farmers, and urging him to 
 put them to the severest test on this point, and to be in a 
 hurry. It would take at least twenty days for Dobson to 
 get here with this relief, even with the greatest expedition, 
 and my letter was so pressing I hardly thought he would 
 fail to make sj^eed, even though it was his wont never to 
 be in a hurry. 
 
 I did not doubt Dobson's ability to get the hands, as wo 
 had so recently dealt in the same market, and found it to be 
 overstocked ; but thinking we might i^rocure some relief 
 sooner, I dispatched Johnson to Yicksburg, to see what 
 could be done there in the way of procuring help. 
 
 It made ray heart bleed to see the poor sick boy start off 
 on this journey. Tie was now but a skeleton in flesh, and 
 
100 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ■what be wanted was the tenderest nursing ; that, in this 
 balmy Southern atmosj^here, would pull him through, if 
 any thing could, but here was our enterprise in a fair way 
 to be swamped for want of labor. With our worthless over- 
 seer, it was impossible for me to get away, and there was no 
 alternative but for Johnson to go. 
 
 His enfeebled condition seemed but to add fuel to his 
 ardor to do every thing which could be done in human 
 power to make our scheme a winning one. Eight nobly 
 bad he seconded my every effort. His heart and soul were 
 in the enterprise, and a hint on my part was all he needed 
 to start him off with as much speed and as light a mood as 
 he could possibly have shown if he had been a strong, 
 healthy man. 
 
 It was plain our overseer was doing us no good. He was 
 one of those frauds in the human form, to be found every- 
 where, who was always going to begin — one of your to- 
 morrow brothers. Day after day he would promise me 
 that the next should see our plows started, until my pa- 
 tience became exhausted. It was rapidly ai)proaching 
 March, and not a furrow had been turned. Only about 
 forty days remained to plow nine hundred acres. Our 
 situation was alarming. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXIV. 
 
 WE COMMENCE PLOWING. 
 
 After a restless night in thinking over our situation, I 
 rode up to the plantation early in the morning and de- 
 manded of the overseer that he at once start the plows, 
 but it was three in the afternoon before the thing was 
 
WE COMMENCE PLOWING. 101 
 
 finally accomplished ; and even then it would not have been 
 done but for "Billy," who, with the exception of old Clara, 
 the cook Johnson engaged after his arrival here, was 
 really the only one on the place whose heart seemed to be 
 at all in the work. But it was a sickly start at plowing. 
 The mules were in high metal from their long rest, and 
 there was but a single man in our black squad who was a 
 cotton hand, and but two who were farmers at all. These 
 two moved off without difiSculty ; but the rest ! Now they 
 had the plow down, now the plow had them down, their 
 mules plunged off on all sorts of tangents, hame-strings 
 flew right and left, three orfour jDlow-beams snapped square 
 in two, in what seemed to be the frantic effort of these nov- 
 ices to get down into China. Soon the mules became fret- 
 ted under their clumsy handling ; several of them tore 
 themselves out of the harness and scampered off until they 
 hid themselves in the tall weeds; others frothed at the 
 mouth, and under every piece of leather showed a broad 
 lather of sweat, their tails hugged their bodies so close that 
 you could not have gotten a shaving under them, and their 
 ears lay back viciously against their necks — now they were 
 dragging driver, plowman, and plow in headlong speed, 
 and now they refused to budge. There was no medium 
 with them, it was either the speed of the wind or a sudden 
 halt — this just as the plow spun on the surface or buried 
 itself to the hilt, so to speak, in the earth. Finally, 
 after three hours of this frantic tugging, and when men 
 and mules were worn down, I called a halt. I need 
 hardly say it was a sorry spectacle. With the exception 
 of the furrows plowed by the two farmers, the piece of 
 ground looked as if it might have been the arena of a bull- 
 fight, or the rooting-place of a drove of hogs. Four plows 
 out of sixteen were carried to the blacksmith shop for re- 
 pairs — one of them was so wrenched that the handles 
 and beam were in a straight line ; the half of a side of 
 lace-leather was consumed in renewing hame-strings ; 
 
102 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 there were three sore-shoiildered mules, all of them show- 
 ing huge welts from the lashings of the drivers ; three of 
 those home-made double-trees were snapped in two ; there 
 were four disabled devices and lap-rings ; and a wilted ap- 
 pearance generally of men and mules was, briefly told, the 
 spectacle. 
 
 But, such as it was, it was the commencement of the 
 plowing season, and that piece of an afternoon's work not 
 only toned down the mules, but it put the men in the most 
 docile mood possible. There was no murmuring that night 
 over the " grub," and no hideous noises in either quarters 
 or barracks. Billy told me, next morning, it was the 
 quietest night he had experienced. 
 
 Before I went home, I discharged the overseer, and put 
 Billy in immediate command, with instructions to have all 
 the damages of the afternoon repaired that night, so as to 
 be ready to commence plowing in earnest bright and early 
 in the morning. 
 
 It was after midnight when the blacksmith and carpen- 
 ter closed their shops, having gotten the damaged plows, 
 double-trees, etc., in trim again. All the livelong evening 
 the fire glowed in the furnace, the hammer sounded its 
 clear notes on the anvil, great volumes of sparks rose from 
 the chimney, and, keeping the blacksmith company, was 
 the sound of the carpenter's plane and hatchet. 
 
 Aunt Clara told me, next day : 
 
 " Las' night 'pear'd like ole times ; dat was jis de way 
 day use to do 'fo' de wa'." 
 
 I determined to set an example of industry — hoping thus 
 to infuse a little life into our excuse for labor — and the next 
 morning at daylight found me again at the plantation, my 
 voice sounding through the quarters for all hands to turn 
 out. To my pleasant surprise they were not long in re- 
 sponding to my call. Evidently their effort of yesterday 
 had tamed them ; then the discharge of the overseer, the 
 busy hum of industry the night previous, and my being so 
 
WE COMMENCE PLOWING. 103 
 
 promptly on the ground now, told them that I meant busi- 
 ness, and, if they wanted to please me, they must take a 
 livelier pace than had been their wont under the easy-going 
 Hunter. 
 
 I made them stand before me in military style; then I 
 took down their names and told them Billy would call the 
 roll at sunrise, and those who were not on hand to answer 
 the call would forfeit half a day's wages. When pay-day 
 came, which would be now shortly, I said, they would ex- 
 pect their pay promptly, but they must, in the mean- 
 time, give me prompt, willing, and faithful service. 
 
 While I was j^et at my lecture, Clara's breakfast-bell 
 rang. 
 
 The whites and blacks took their meals in separate rooms^ 
 and I joined the white squad. Clara had given them some 
 biscuit, boiled potatoes, fried pork, and a cup of coffee. The 
 blacks had corn-bread instead of biscuit, and no potatoes; 
 otherwise their fare was the same as the whites. I never 
 enjoyed a meal more in my life than I did this early morn- 
 ing breakfast. 
 
 I went to the field myself with the hands on this day, 
 and for weeks thereafter ; now taking the lead with the 
 plow gang, now assisting in logging, and now knocking 
 down the weeds before the plows, all the time performing 
 the duties and drudgery of a day -laborer — this until my 
 hands became horny and my face bronzed ; and when I 
 took my meals, which I generally did with the hands, how 
 I enjoyed the homely, wholesome food ; and these w^erethe 
 days when I proved that the sleep of the laboring-man is 
 sweet. 
 
104 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 INCIDENTS. 
 
 My two-mile ride, morning and evening, was the hardest 
 thing I had to bear. I had to get np very early, in order to 
 be at the plantation at sunrise. The two hours of sleep be- 
 fore the break of day are always the most refreshing. La- 
 boring-man that I now was, I needed this very much. But, 
 of course, to be on time at the plantation, I had to deprive 
 myself of it. I took many a little nap, however, while 
 riding up to the plantation. It is something wonderful 
 how much sleep one can actually get on horse-back, espec- 
 ially if he can give his horse the rein, letting him travel 
 over some frequented route. My horse had the route by 
 heart, so all I had to do was to let him follow his own di- 
 rection, and doze away until he brought me up with a 
 round turn at my office in the plantation quarters. 
 
 Whatever might have been, or might be in the future, 
 the experience of others, mine told me that I ought to be 
 on the ground night and day. We must get to living on the 
 plantation as soon as possible. True, 1 had rendered good 
 service many a night in being so near the new levee, when 
 our teams were wont to " bog down." But this unfortunate 
 and expensive experience would soon be over. It is true, 
 if we had not been living there this would have daily called 
 me to the neighborhood, so that as the thing had resulted, 
 it might be said we had perched on the bank of this slough 
 so that I might be at hand to assist by night in extricating 
 our teams from the mire. 
 
 As for the neighborhood itself, it had its chapter of inci- 
 dents, for both my wife and myself I will here gather up 
 some of these from our correspondence of those days. The 
 
INCIDENTS. 105 
 
 following is from a letter written by Mrs. Harding : 
 . '-After looking around among our j^ackages, I discovered 
 many articles left behind that we needed sadly", and many 
 utterly useless and ornamental things, which, on the other 
 hand, were much in our way. . You remember when I made 
 up our little parcel of ornaments, I thought they would come 
 in good part to adorn our new home ; but any thing be- 
 yond the bare necessities is sadly out of keeping here, and 
 I wish they were safely back in their old resting-places, 
 where they would fill your eyes with pleasure, instead of 
 calling up the memories of past days with us, which makes 
 us sad in the thought that they may never return. 
 
 "Our sick friend "—meaning Adjutant Johnson— 
 "thought if I would make him a cup of good home coffee, 
 it would be so refreshing, as he had been living on what- 
 ever he could pick up since his arrival. He said he was 
 actually getting homesick over the thought. Of course, as 
 soon as the desire was expressed, I made haste to gratify it, 
 but found, upon examination, that among the missing house- 
 hold utensils was our coffee-mill. Turning to Jane, I 
 asked : ' Why, how have you managed to grind our cof- 
 fee ?' ' Lor', missus,' she said, * us darkies has done lam 
 to 'trive since de wa', an' we nebber stops to think cf we 's 
 got any thing to do wid or no. I jist pounded de coffee in 
 a rag wid de hatchet, an' ax no questions.' I told her I 
 supposed that was the reason wo had had such poor coffee. 
 ' Step over to that house,' I said, ' and ask the lady who 
 lives there if she will be so kind as to loan us her mill for 
 a very few moments, and explain to her that ours is on 
 the way — was left by mistake — and that a sick gentle- 
 man wants some coffee.' ' Lor', missus,' Jane replied, 
 ' dat aint no Yankee lady.' ' AVell, Jane, what of that,' I 
 said, ' she will certainly have no objection to such a slight 
 request.' As Jane disappeared from the door, I heard her 
 muttering to herself, ' missus don't know dese folks down 
 here ; no Yankee 'bout dem,' etc. 
 5* 
 
106 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 " In a moment a violent outburst of angry words greeted 
 me, and stepping to the door to see from whence they came, 
 what was my consternation to witness the lady of the 
 house, standing in her door, which faced us, talking in the 
 most excited manner to Jane : " Go, back, you nigger,' she 
 
 screamed out, ' tell that d Yankee woman I have two 
 
 very nice coffee-mills, very nice ones, but not for her to 
 use.' Jane replied, ' I done tole her you was no Yankee.' 
 ' You did, ha ! well you told her right, you miserable black 
 nigger you ; and tell her now she had better watch the 
 cistern she makes her coffee from,' and then she gave utter- 
 ance to a demoniacal laugh — 'ha! ha! ha! arsenic is good 
 diet for Yankees ! ' 
 
 "All this I distinctly heard, and as she saw me standing 
 so near she seemed to talk at me rather than to poor Jane. 
 
 *' The next morning, as we had no matches, Jane, took 
 two chips and went over to ' tote ' a coal of fire, to 
 kindle her own kitchen -fire, thinking to meet no one but 
 Aunt Chloe, the venerable old n egress, who worked for 
 this our next-door neighbor. But the woman was on 
 hand, and greeted Jane with threats and abuses for 
 coming straight from those d Yankees into her pres- 
 ence, and expressed herself as sorry for the poor creature, 
 that she had not taken her advice, and kept away from us. 
 We were a pack of mud-sills, come down into this country 
 to rob and plunder from them what they had left from ' the 
 wa'.' ' Yes,' she said, ' I will let them have a coal of fire, but 
 it will be in the shape of a torch touched to the house some 
 dark night ; only ' (she said as if the thought had just struck 
 her, and as if to herself) ' that would be burning up in 
 part the property of one of we una, as, thank God, the 
 house do n't belong to they uns.' " 
 
 A few days after this, Mrs. Harding accompanied me 
 to the Hebron plantation on horseback. There were no 
 roads distinguishable, nor was there a fence for miles around 
 to mark any particular lot. We returned in the evening 
 
INCIDENTS. 107 
 
 by the same route wo had taken in the morning, and found 
 a note awaiting us, of the most insolent nature, from our 
 neighbor, sa3'ing that her door-yard liad never before been 
 used as a public road; probably we knew no better — she 
 supposed we did not — but we must desist from riding again 
 through her yard, or suffer the consequences ! 
 
 Was it any wonder that our almost daily experience made 
 us feel like drawing closer and closer within ourselves ? 
 
 But there was a change in the tide of affairs with this wo- 
 man. Somewhat later, she was led to exclaim, 'There 
 must be some good Yankees.' Her husband was seized 
 with a terrible attack of hemorrhage. The only practicing 
 physician in the country was called in, and upon his arrival 
 advised sending in for the Federal surgeon, referring to Dob- 
 son, saying " he '11 know just what is best to do." That great 
 assuager of passion and destroyer of prejudice, Impending 
 Death, spoke in the invalid's critical state ; so Dobson was 
 sent for, and upon his earnest solicitation I accompanied him. 
 The poor man seemed to be in almost a dying condition. 
 After a thorough examination into the case, Dobson pre- 
 scribed and also named the diet suitable. AYhen about to 
 take our leave, I offered my services as nurse, and said : 
 
 "If there is any thing among our fresh supplies that 
 would be acceptable to your sick husband, you must not hes- 
 itate to make known your wants. Whatever we have, 
 which he may crave, is at j^our disposal." 
 
 I was taken at my word, and frequent was the requisi- 
 tion made upon our time and larder. 
 
 About this period, I had an experience which, even as 
 I now think of it, notwithstanding the lapse of years, sends 
 my blood chilled to ni}^ heart. It was nearly ten o'clock, and 
 I was preparing to retire for the night. As was my habit, I 
 put my hand into my pocket for the wallet which contained 
 our money (about twelve hundred dollars in large bills) to 
 place it under the pillow. But it vv^as gone ! I quickly 
 searched all my pockets; repeating the operation several 
 
108 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 times, in the vain hope that I might yet find it in some 
 one of them. Then I turned them inside out, feeling for it 
 as if it were an atom, instead of the bulky thing it was in 
 fact ; but all to no purpose ; and finally I abandoned the 
 search. 
 
 " Our money is gone!" I exclaimed, in agony, to Mrs. 
 Harding. Then I tried to collect my thoughts. When had 
 1 last seen it ? As near as I could remember, I had taken 
 it outlast that morning at the village store to pay for some 
 shoes. It might be 1 had left it on the counter, if so, the 
 chances were, it having been so early in the morning, and 
 no customers in the store, the merchant had found it, and 
 put it away until 1 should call for it. The more I thought 
 of it the stronger the impression grew in my mind that 
 such was the case, until I felt there could be no doubt about 
 it, and so I said : " Shall I go over immediately and get it, 
 or shall I wait until morning ?" 
 
 Mrs. Harding answered : " Wait until morning, by all 
 means. I have heard gun-shots during the evening, and 
 loud outcries. There is no telling what disturbance you 
 might stumble upon. It is really not safe for you to go 
 over now." 
 
 But I felt I should not sleep if I went to bed until I had 
 found the money, or at least made a search for it. My 
 mind told me it was almost certain to be at the store. The 
 dilemma was uncomfortable. To venture out was dan- 
 gerous, while to remain would result in a sleepless night, 
 full of anxious suspense. 
 
 But the more I thought the matter over, the more I felt 
 it my duty to go ; and so I finally resolved to brave the 
 danger. If our lost treasure was where I thought it was, 
 I should soon have it in my possession; if it was not there, 
 I would at least know this. My belief had been so strong 
 that we were coming amongst friends when we came 
 South, that, beyond a couple of fowling-pieces, I had not a 
 weapon in our house. So J sallied forth without so mueli 
 
 V 
 
 7 
 
INCIDENTS. 109 
 
 as a pocket-knife about rae, Mrs. Ilarding continuing to 
 protest that I ought not to go. 
 
 I reached the store, without adventure. It was closed, 
 and the lights were out, indicating that all hands had re- 
 tired for the night. I rapped until some one showed a 
 head, looking down over the upper gallery. It was the 
 merchant himself. 1 made known my errand, and his re- 
 ply was : 
 
 "I have not seen your pocket-book at all." 
 
 So, with an apology for disturbing him at such an un- 
 seasonable hour, I started on my homeward journey with 
 a heavy heart. The sky was partly overcast with clouds, 
 through which the moon would break at intervals, bring- 
 ing out hitherto dark objects in bold relief During one 
 of these intervals, I noticed a crowd of men at a considera- 
 ble distance, near one of the whisky-shops, fruui the door 
 of which shot forth now a pale light, now a bright one, 
 just as the clouds in their movement either covered the 
 face of the moon or exposed it. 
 
 The crowd appeared to be swaying to and fro, as if 
 stirred by some unusual excitement, when suddenl}^ came 
 the sharp crack of a pistol, and a distinct cry of — 
 
 ''Oh! I'm murdered!" 
 
 Then followed a rapid scattering of the crowd, as if some 
 were pursued and others pursuers. The rush seemed to be 
 coming my way, so I walked with a livelier pace, thinking 
 that, being so far beyond them, I could gain our door-yard 
 before they could reach me. 
 
 Again came the crack of a pistol, and another cry of an- 
 guish, this time mucli nearer; and, as the moon came out 
 again from under a cloud, I could plainly see half a dozen 
 persons not ten rods in my rear, following me as fast as 
 they could run. 
 
 I was certainly pursued, perhaps mistaken for one of the 
 crowd which had broken up at the whisky-shops, perhaps 
 recognized %- " the mischievous boys." It was plainly not 
 
 ■4£ 
 
110 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 safe to let the crowd come up with me ; even if they had 
 no designs upon me, I might flxU a victim before, in their 
 headlong fury, and enraged with drink, they could discover 
 their mistake. It would be madness for me to stand and 
 undertake to defend myself, even if I had any weapons of 
 defense. Six enraged, half-drunken, armed men were al- 
 most like so many savage beasts. What could 1 — a single 
 unarmed man — although ever so prudent and sober, do 
 against such odds? 
 
 While these thoughts were flashing through my mind, 
 another pistol-shot came, and this time the ball sung past 
 my ear. 
 
 I was indeed pursued ! 
 
 Then came a race for life. I could almost feel the hot 
 breath of the pursuers on my blanched cheek. 
 
 1 had to make a little circuit, which — not being familiar 
 with the ground, while my pursuers evidently were famil- 
 iar with it — enabled them to execute a flank movement on 
 me, so that when I came to the new levee I could distinctly 
 hear their panting breaths close behind me. I struck into 
 the fresh, rain -saturated soil, only to sink nearly to my 
 knees at every stride. At this moment my fate seemed to 
 be sealed. What with running, with fright, and with the 
 effort to get through the mud, my strength was nearly 
 gone. Evidently I had not enough left to cross the levee. 
 So, putting forth what remained in me, I threw myself 
 down its steep side, a distance of eighteen feet, into the 
 water and mud below. The douse into the water had the 
 effect to revive me a little, and so I floundered along in it, 
 until I reached our door-yard, and finally our gallery, 
 where I sank down exhausted, and where Mrs. Harding 
 found me as pale as a ghost, and with my garments torn, 
 and covered from head to foot with mud and water. 
 
 I shall never forget the unearthly yell my pursuers sent 
 up, when my sudden disappearance down the side of the 
 levee baffled their pursuit ; and I shall never cease to feel 
 
INCIDENTS. Ill 
 
 thankful to that black cloud which shut in the face of the 
 moon just the instant before I took that headlong leap 
 down the levee's side, thus covering the earth with deep 
 darkness, all the more decided because of the bright moon- 
 light which had just preceded it, and thus shutting me 
 completely out of view. 
 
 A bath and stimulants revived me after a while, and my 
 thankfulness for my narrow escape for the moment com- 
 pletely overshadowed our loss. I had barely escaped, it is 
 true ; but still 1 had escaped without a scratch. It would 
 be a lesson to me for the future not to expose myself at 
 night. As for the loss of our money, 1 would try and not 
 have it occur again. It would take nearly my year's sal- 
 ary to return it to the Dobson enterprise. But it was 
 perhaps well spent, viewing it in the light of so much ex- 
 perience-money. There must be rigid economy in the 
 household to make good this large sum. The old clothes 
 would have to do for the present, and for a long stretch in 
 the future. There must be no purchase of bonnets or hats, 
 and fashion-plates must have the cold shoulder. There 
 would have to be some "shinning" done, and some little 
 bills would have to remain unpaid for a year, or until w^e 
 began realizing on our crops. 
 
 Thus reasoning, I lifted up the pillow to get my night- 
 shirt, when what should I behold but my lost pocket-book, 
 safe in its nightly resting-place ! So much of a habit had 
 this become, that I had deposited it there instinctively. 
 
 I never said any thing about this night's experience in 
 the village, and do not know whether I was recognized by 
 my pursuers, or whether I was mistaken for one of the 
 crowd from the drinking-shop. 
 
 I inquired of the merchant, when I visited his store two 
 days later, as to the affair, and was told that it was the 
 "mischievous boys on a rampage." 
 
 "Any body killed? " I asked. 
 
 " One negro killed, and two wounded," he answered. 
 
112 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 *• AYere there any arrests? " 
 
 "Of what use are arrests? The boys will have their 
 mischief." 
 
 And the merchant told but the truth. 
 
 The "boys " would and did have their mischief, even at 
 the expense of human life, and at the sacrifice of the best 
 interests of the country. If this state of affairs prevailed 
 throughout the South, I thought, it would see many dark 
 days before it could ever see brighter ones. This was evi- 
 dently to be the order of things in this locality, and we 
 had a long and wearisome journey before us. Our path- 
 way would lead, as it were, through the " valley of the 
 shadow of death." How many of us would live to see the 
 promised land beyond? 
 
 CHAPTEE XXYI. 
 
 dobson's arrival. 
 
 It was our fate to expect Dobson some time before he 
 came. This we could ill afford to do. The season was 
 creeping on apace, and there was a deal of work before us- 
 Our worst bramble-grown patches, the most tedious part 
 of our work, were as jet untouched. I had gotten things on 
 the plantation in tolerable shape only by a great effort, and 
 it was diflScult to keep them so. I had calculated on 
 being able to hold out until Dobson should be due, and 
 when that time came and no Dobson, my heart sank within 
 me. As each succeeding day passed, and he did not appear 
 with his reinforcements, our hirelings became impatient, 
 and showed further signs of demoralization. AYith the 
 uncertainty of river navigation, I had given him two oi 
 
 V 
 
DOBSON'S ARRIVAL. 113 
 
 three days' margin, but now nearly a week beyond the time 
 fixed had dragged its slow length along, and yet he was not 
 come. 
 
 Everj^ day, and, indeed, several times each day, great 
 steamboats would come puffing down the river, when I 
 would exclaim, " There at last is our help." Then I would 
 gallop out to the landing in high spirits, expecting the boat 
 to sto]), but" only to be disapj^ointed. 
 
 Finally, after a week of painful suspense, Dobsoii, with 
 his fiimily, arrived. But, beyond two hostlers for bis stud 
 of horses, which he brought with him, he had not a single 
 man ! 
 
 He arrived at night, remaining on the wharf-boat until 
 daylight, and came over to the house just as I was start- 
 ing off to the plantation. 
 
 In my eagerness, thinking he might possibly have over- 
 looked my instructions to have the labor landed on the 
 plantation, remembering how the '•' mischievous boys" were 
 in the habit of stampeding immigration lauded at the vil- 
 lage, and shuddering at the thought of the result to us if 
 ours should be dispersed in that way — with a vague fear, 
 too, in my heart, arising perhaps from this thought, per- 
 haps from some premonition of the almost stunning blow, 
 which the answer to my question was about to administer 
 — my first inquiry, after the customary greeting, was : 
 '• Where have 3'ou left the labor you brought down ? " 
 " I brought no labor," he replied. 
 " You brought no labor, did you say ? " 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Did you receive my letter ordering more hands? " 
 " No ; did you write me on that subject? " 
 " Yes, indeed ; I wrote you in full, ordering twenty-five 
 hands." 
 
 " Do we need help so badly?" he asked, anxiously. 
 "Need it? Failure stares us in the face unless we iret 
 it. Was there plenty of help at home ?" I asked. 
 
114 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 " For anght I know there was. I have two hostlers; I 
 can rub along with one, the other can go up to the planta- 
 tion and go to work." 
 
 " Send him along," I said, and turned away sick at heart. 
 Some one must go North and get the labor we had expected. 
 Who should it be ? I thought of Adjutant Johnson, and 
 went at once to see him. The poor fellow had evidently 
 experienced a rough night. He seemed so weak that a 
 puff of wind would blow him over. In his enfeebled con- 
 dition, I could hardly make up my mind to tell him of our 
 disappointment. But his quick preception read instantly, 
 from my tell-tale face, that something had gone awry. 
 
 " "What is the matter, Mr. Harding ? " he cried, instantly. 
 " You look as if you 'd lost your last friend." 
 
 " Not quite so bad as that, my dear fellow," I replied, 
 " as long as you 're with us," and then 1 told him how my 
 letter had miscarried, and it was a consolation to me to see 
 that his disappointment was not less than mine. I was 
 spending nearly fourteen hours out of the twenty-four on 
 the plantation, leading the field-labor and supervising 
 every thing that was done. It seemed to be utterly impos- 
 sible for me to get away. I had taken so much of the bur- 
 den of the plantation on my shoulders that I could not lay 
 it down until we had a reinforcement of labor. '' Xo, you 
 must remain," Johnson said, '"'and bear the load." It 
 would be at least fourteen days before we could expect re- 
 lief It was by no means certain that our present force 
 would not stampede in a body when they found Dobson 
 had not brought any reinforcements. 
 
 '• How would it do to write to Mr. Gale, and ask him to 
 employ some one to procure the labor and bring it down ? " 
 I asked. 
 
 Johnson replied instantly : " It won't do at all ! " And 
 then his brows knit for a moment, as if in deep thought. 
 Soon I could see his bosom heave, just as a person's wil 
 when about to volunteer a diflScult undertaking; then, as 
 
dobson's arrival. 115 
 
 if he had made up his mind to it, his eyes lit up, and ho 
 cxchiimed : 
 
 " Ko, there 's no use thinking of it, you can 't go ; there 's 
 nothing left but for me to go. I '11 get ready and start at 
 once, and with God's help," he said, raising his eyes rever- 
 ently, " I will bring you reinforcements within two 
 weeks ! " 
 
 So it was decided that I should remain at my post, try 
 and hold the labor together, and kee^) things running as 
 best I could, while Johnson, invalid as he was, should go 
 for the help. Ecluctantly, and with many misgivings, I as- 
 sented to his part of the programme. And then this brave 
 boy got up from his bed of sickness to make his prepara- 
 tions for a journey of three thousand miles, at a season of 
 the year w^hen the weather was inclement, knowing that 
 he would have to work hard to get his laborers together, 
 and then extend an unceasing watch over them on his way 
 down — all this, when he was really not able to ride two 
 miles in his saddle ! And all this he undertook without a 
 murmur. 
 
 It has occurred to me since that he must have known 
 this journey would be his death-blow; that undoubtedly, 
 while knitting his brow, as I have mentioned, he was re- 
 volving this very thought in his mind ; but, notwithstand- 
 ing the almost certain result to himself, he had determined 
 to accomplish this task, and then, if necessary, as its pen- 
 alty, lie down and die. In other words, to save a scheme 
 which was absorbing his heart and soul from utter and 
 complete failure, he would offer himself up as a sacrifice, 
 and before the breath should leave his body he would bring 
 us succor. 
 
 So he started on his journey, with courage shining in his 
 undimmed eye, but with a quaver in his voice, an ema- 
 ciated frame, and an unsteady step, showing how weak he 
 was in fiict. I thought of the candle in the socket when I 
 gave him my parting word, and as I rode up to the planta- 
 
116 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 tion that forenoon I forgot the hard task I had before me, 
 in my sympathy for him, and my heart was filled with 
 sadness. 
 
 It was a charming spring day — the meadow larks con- 
 stantly flying up before me, sending forth their note of 
 cheer; coveys of quail flushing up all about; and ducks 
 splashing and quacking in the slough water in front of the 
 levee along which my pathway lay. The willows fringing 
 the bank of the river were just putting on their green. 
 The atmosphere was fresh and bracing, the sun, with its 
 grateful rays, dispelling the last vestige of chill from the 
 air, and pausing just there, so that there should not bo 
 a breath of uncomfortable warmth, and making that 
 happy medium between heat and cold, so seldom exj^eri- 
 enced outside of the semi-tropical regions, but so common 
 here. The dewberry vines were dotting the fields with 
 their white blossoms ; patches of green cane were visible 
 in the distance, and there were freedmen at work in the 
 fields — some at the plow, others breaking down the enor- 
 mous weed-growths which encumbered the plantations, rak- 
 ing them up into huge piles and then burning them, the 
 huge volumes of fire and smoke shooting up into the air — 
 the negroes all the time singing their rude farm melodies. 
 Ordinarily, these sights and sounds would have filled mo 
 with pleasure, but in my present mood they jarred upon 
 my feelings. A funeral dirge was constantly sounding in 
 my ear ; the wan face and feeble frame, with the un- 
 healthy light in his eye, of my friend, who was now steam- 
 ing up the river, were photographed in my mind. As 
 often as I would try to make myself believe that his case 
 was not, after all, so bad, there would come up that quav- 
 ering voice, that unsteady'' step, that cold bony hand I had 
 grasped at parting, and that whole frame bearing every 
 mark of being thoroughly possessed by disease, with noth- 
 ing in his favor but his indomitable will and courage, 
 which had just started him on his Northern journey. Was 
 
dobson's arrival. 117 
 
 it not almost certain, having such will and determination, 
 that with long-continued, careful nursing, under these ge- 
 nial skies, health would again send its glow through his 
 frame? And was it not equally certain that these two 
 weeks of exposure would carry him to his grave? I felt it 
 to be so. Then had I not been guilty of his death in giv- 
 ing my consent to his making this trip ? 
 
 Keader, this is no fancy sketch. Every line on each 
 page of this book is true. My statements are simply those 
 of incidents in my experience as a cotton-planter. This 
 young man went into the army full of health. He left it, 
 as thousands left it, a victim of camp dj^sentery. Notwith- 
 standing his disease, he had remained in the service, and 
 was only mustered out at the close of the war. The fact 
 of his remaining in the service long after disease had 
 stricken him showed the metal in his composition. He had 
 a hard experience in getting our expedition down, and en- 
 countered rough treatment and fare until we had reached 
 Hebron. AYe had taken him into our family, and Mrs. 
 Harding was nursing him as tenderly as if he were our 
 own child. We felt him to be improving when his trip to 
 Yicksburg to procure labor was undertaken. That had 
 done him harm. He was just recovering from that, how^- 
 ever, and seemed to be gaining somewhat, that is, his par- 
 oxysms were less frequent and a little less violent, and in 
 his breast the light of hope burned brightly. I felt that he 
 could not die, and he seemed to think so, too, and spoke of 
 his early recovery with perfect confidence, laid his -plana 
 for the summer, and dwelt upon how much he was going 
 to help us when he got a little stronger. Now he was on 
 this long hard journey ! 
 
 Dobson's hostler had reached the plantation before me. 
 Billy had given him a plow, and put him to work with the 
 rest. It seems Dobson had not brought him all the way 
 from home, but had picked him up at Memphis, and that 
 he had been brought up in the cotton-field ; he was there- 
 
118 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 fore a valuable addition. He was one of those jolly, taking 
 negroes, and had told of Dobson's arrival without rein- 
 forcements in such a droll manner as to heal much of the 
 force of the general disappointment, although the hands 
 were more or less surly much of the time, notwithstanding 
 my report that I had dispatched Adjutant Johnson for re- 
 lief, which we might expect to get at the end of two weeks. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVII. 
 
 THE FIRST PAY-DAY, AND WHAT CAME OF IT. 
 
 As a means of breaking the disappointment of Dobson's 
 failure to our laborers, and bridging over, as it were, the 
 period until Johnson's reinforcement should arrive, we de- 
 cided to have a settlement, and to pay them their due, less 
 the half which was to be reserved until the end of the 
 year, according to the rules adopted by the Freedman's 
 Bureau, then in authority in the South. 
 
 When we decided on this plan, I informed the hands of it. 
 This had the effect, as we supposed it would, to put them in 
 good humor. It had been my intention, as previously 
 stated, not to settle with the white laborers until Dobson 
 brought us relief, and then to pay them off and discharge 
 them. 
 
 In engaging our force of laborers, we had contracted to 
 pay them whatever wages were customary in the country 
 where we were going. Eighteen dollars a month for first- 
 class field-hands we found to be the usual price. This- was 
 three dollars higher than Dobson's estimate called for, and 
 it would add eighteen hundred dollars to that estimate for 
 the year, thus giving it another black eye. But as often as 
 
THE FIRST PAY-DAY, AND WHAT CAME OF IT. 119 
 
 these extra items of expense came up, and they were com- 
 ing frequently, and from present indications would make a 
 good round sum in the aggregate, I would think of our 
 enormous profit at the end of the year. What did ten or 
 fifteen or even twenty thousand dollars, more or less, mat- 
 ter in an enterprise where there was to be a profit of three 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars in four years ? Besides, 
 there was no heljD for this extra item of expense. It was 
 the custom of the country. We had agreed to abide by 
 that; and even if we bad not so agreed, it would be un- 
 reasonable for us to expect to hold our labor at fifteen dol- 
 lars a month, when all our neighbors were paying eigh- 
 teen, or at least agreeing to pay eighteen, and jumping at 
 the chance. 
 
 A month's work meant twenty-six days, and we found it 
 to be the usual custom here to allow the laborers to take at 
 least half of Saturday as a holiday, so that, at best, they 
 worked but five and a half days out of seven. Some plant- 
 ers allowed the whole of Saturday as an extra inducement 
 to get labor. This Saturday holiday, it seems, was a relic 
 of slavery. During the cultivating season in the slave 
 times, there was always plenty of leisure, and during that 
 season it was customary for the slaves to have their Satur- 
 day holiday, when the women would do up their washing- 
 for the week, and the men would get passes to go to the 
 village and sell their " crap " of eggs and poultry, or to 
 visit their " took-up women " on the neighborhood planta- 
 tions, or would lie idle about their own quarters. 
 
 When the picking season set in the Saturday holiday 
 ceased. During this period, running from September fre- 
 quently into March, it was work from Monday morning 
 until Saturday night. But our hands, being up-country 
 people, and knowing nothing of this native custom, worked 
 all day Saturday, which made up in a small part for our 
 deficiency in numbers and quality. 
 
 The plan of reserving half the pay until the end of the 
 
120 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 year was the Government's, and was intended to accom- 
 plish a two-fold object, viz. : to secure the planter in the 
 possession of his labor until his crop was made and gath- 
 ered, and to prevent the freedraen from squandering all 
 their wages as they earned them. The theory was, that 
 each freedman, by this provision, would have a handsome 
 little sura laid b}', at the close of the year, and that this 
 was a part of the necessary education to make them a 
 thrifty people. 
 
 When Saturday came, our accounts were ready. We had 
 made up for each man a statement showing his wages to 
 date, then his purchases in the way of tobacco, shoes, cloth- 
 ing, etc. ; then the difference, which was the balance due 
 him. There was not a single man, either white or black, 
 who had not already traded over half his wages, so that 
 there was not really a cent of cash due them. We had 
 found them, as before stated, ragged, and having clothed 
 and shod them, they ought not in reason to have ex- 
 pected any thing. But they were a very unreasonable set, 
 and particularly the whites, who plead hard for the bal- 
 ance due them. 
 
 "Pay us all, just this month," Mr. Harding, they one 
 and all urged, -'we must have a little cash to buy us such 
 articles of necessity as you have n't got in your plantation 
 store." And then they looked longingly, and like hungry 
 persons, at the pile of greenbacks lying before me on my 
 desk. 
 
 There was really no excuse for us to reserve the money 
 due the whites until the end of the year, as they were not 
 under the protection or government of the Freedman's 
 Bureau, and as we did not intend to keep them a day after 
 we got black labor to supply their places. Our only pur- 
 pose, in the first place, in holding back any of their due, 
 was to prevent them from running away and leaving us in 
 the lurch. But there was nothing in their manner which 
 indicated any such design ; on the contrary, they talked as 
 
THE FIRST PAY-DAY, AND WHAT CAME OF IT. 121 
 
 if they intended to stay right along. So we paid them in 
 full. As for the blacks, we paid each one of them a por- 
 tion of what was due on their last half, and gave them a 
 Frecdman's Bureau ticket, bearing our signature, for the 
 balance. 
 
 That night our entire white force, with the exception of 
 two of the most worthless of the worthless batch, ran 
 away, and that was the last we ever saw of any one of 
 them. "We told the two left behind they might go with the 
 rest. Thus ingloriously ended our experiment in under- 
 taking to cultivate cotton with white labor. 
 
 Billy came down to the house Sunday morning to bring 
 lis the information about the white labor, evidently expect- 
 ing we should feel very bad over it. And it did annoy us, 
 but it was only because the rascals had outwitted us. 
 
 Billy said : "It is no loss at all. They have hindered 
 more than they have helped. Now I have nothing to do 
 but to look after the blacks, and I really believe we can 
 accomplish more labor with them alone, than we accom- 
 plished with both squads before. The whites have been 
 the chief cause of the demoralization among the blacks, 
 which has cost you so much trouble to arrest, and now 
 that the latter are free from that influence, I believe we will 
 get along splendidly." 
 
 As for Clara, when we saw her Monday, her black face 
 beamed with delight, and she was grinning from ear to 
 ear. 
 
 "I declar," said she, "it was a pow'ful riddance, dose 
 white folks runnin' away. I's been used to bossin' niggers 
 all my born days in der eatin', and kin git along wid dem 
 fust rate, but dis was de fust squad of white folks whose 
 eatin' I ebber 'tem'ted to boss, and dey has pestered me 
 mightily. I was done used-up wid mindin' dat dey should n't 
 dash out de grub, and no mistake. 
 
 " De lazy, triflin' kreters was aimin' to git away widout 
 G 
 
122 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 payin' ole Clara dere washin' Hioney, and ax'd me to wait til 
 Monday, dey hab no small change ; but dey did n't fool me, 
 1 got de las' cent dat was comin' to me, I bad nuff change 
 fur dere big bills, an' got my money fore de sun sot. Dere 
 runnin' away was your pay, Mr. Hardin', for your goodness 
 to 'em ; wheat bread ebery day in de week, and dried-apple 
 puddin' for Sunday, was more'n dey 'sarved. I hope dere 
 ain't many white folks up Norf 's low-down as dat crowd ; 
 dey was wuss dan a low-down triflin' nigger." 
 
 Upon examining their barracks, we found the runaways 
 had taken with them the blankets, which belonged to us, so 
 that we were out of pocket not less than fifty dollars on 
 this score. Billy spent the day getting their scattered 
 tools together (each hand was charged with his tools), find- 
 ing them all, save two axes and a hoe, in good condition. 
 The fact is, they had n't worked hard enough to hurt them 
 much. 
 
 Our blacks were relieved at the disappearance of the 
 whites. Trifling as most of them were, they seemed to 
 regard themselves as above the motley white crowd, and 
 " de wheat bread of de white folks, long side of dere hoe 
 cake," and many other little favors which the whites had, 
 and which they had not, was no longer there to " pester" 
 them. 
 
 Never was there a better evidence, in a small way, of 
 the truth of the "irrepressible conflict" than in this lit- 
 tle experience of ours. Never was there a more forcible 
 illustration of the utter fallacy or impossibility of success- 
 fully attempting to feed and lodge two men, who are grind- 
 ing the same grist, in different stalls, and on different diet, 
 simply because one is black and the other white. "What is 
 flesh for one must be flesh for the other, and where there is 
 equality in labor, perfect equality must run through the 
 whole government. 
 
 Even with the best material on either side to deal with 
 (and, indeed, the better the class of labor the more difficult it 
 
THE FIRST PAY-DAY, AND WHAT CAME OP IT. 123 
 
 would have been to make the distinction), our attempt to 
 put white and black laborers alongside of each other in 
 the field, and then to separate them in bed, board, and at 
 the i^ay-tablc, would have proved a failure. It was, per- 
 haps, just as well that we had furnished ourselves such 
 poor material with which to test this experiment — for we 
 had now tested it to our hearts' content, as well as to our 
 great annoyance, and at much expense ; it would have 
 been a pity to have spoiled a better class of labor in the 
 operation. 
 
 This was about the time those negro regiments were to 
 be mustered out at Vicksburg. Our diminished and now 
 diminutive force warned us that we must leave no stone 
 unturned to secure labor. I felt absolutely certain John- 
 son would succeed, but I might get a few hands by taking 
 a run down to Vicksburg, sooner than he could bring them. 
 Now, that Billy had only the blacks to deal with, I could 
 be spared ; besides, Dobson was here, and would assist in 
 looking after things in my absence. 
 
 I knew, now, just the kind of hands we wanted, and if I 
 went down myself, I might get some very choice ones. 
 There was no possible danger of our being overstocked 
 with labor, as the planters of the country were paying the 
 labor-brokers in Memphis, Vicksburg, and J^ew Orleans as 
 much as twenty -five dollars apiece for hands delivered on 
 the steamboat. If we should, through Johnson's and my 
 own efforts chance to get a surplus stock, our neighbors, we 
 knew, would be rejoiced to take them, paying us the ex- 
 pense incurred in getting them ; so I resolved to make a trip 
 to Vicksburg. 
 
124 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXYIIl. 
 
 STEAMBOAT AND VICKSBURG EXPERIENCES — LETTER WRIT- 
 TEN TO A NORTHERN FRIEND. 
 
 " The steamboat on which I took passage was full of peo- 
 ple, who, with scarcely an exception, were planters like my- 
 self in search of labor. Some of my fellow-passengers 
 were going as far as Virginia and the Carolinas ; in fact, 
 the whole upland country of the South is being scoured to 
 get labor to fill up the Mississij^pi delta. Those on our 
 steamer came from different j)oints on the river, and I soon 
 found from their conversation that we had plenty of com- 
 pany in our great need of more help. On board the 
 steamer, and at Vicksburg, this is the cry, and great 
 wrath is expressed at the disposition on the part of the 
 'lazy niggers,' as they are called, to crowd into the 
 cities, and refuse to go to work upon the plantations. 
 There is much loud talk that the Yankee government, 
 which freed them, should force them to go to the country; 
 and every one is urging the necessity of getting up neigh- 
 borhood combinations to control the j)rice of labor, which 
 shall also define the causes for which labor shall be dis- 
 missed (and when so dismissed no one is to be allowed to 
 employ it). Dismissal is to be a sort of Cain's mark, and 
 the theory is that, rather than be thus disgraced, the freed- 
 men will be willing to submit to any terms the planter may 
 be disposed to inflict. The Louisiana Legislature has already 
 virtually adopted the pass-system, which existed in slavery 
 times, by the enactment of a law which will have the effect 
 to prevent negroes from running from one plantation to 
 another, and it is hoped by the planters that every South- 
 ern State will make liaste to do likewise. 
 
>J 
 
 STEAMBOAT AND VICKSBURQ EXPERIENCES, ETC. 125 
 
 " I do n't bear of a single utterance that does not look 
 to a modified form of slavery. This intention is freely 
 stated. Tlie idea is, to pin each negro down to some par- 
 ticular locality, and to keep him there. All agree that 
 the attitude of the President is such as to warrant them in 
 the belief that the loss of their slaves is but temporary. 
 Every body seems to believe that he is leading a great 
 ground-swell in the North in their favor ; that through him 
 they are shortly to gain all they have lost by the conflict 
 of arms. 
 
 " The people say it will be difficult to get the negroes out 
 of the cities, and they will have to make large promises to 
 do it ; but, once they get them, they will bold them by 
 means of their rigid neighborhood rules, and legislative 
 enactments. Some say the negro owes them a living, and 
 they are boutid, with or without the President's help, 
 be shall discharge the debt ! With these, the idea of pay- 
 ing for labor is absurd. 
 
 "An old man said he never had paid ' nigger ' wages, and 
 he was too old to commence it now, especially in view of the 
 position of the President. No one seems to understand 
 how to treat free labor, nor do these people seem to care to 
 learn. They say the negro is free, by the letter of the law, 
 but in spirit, and in their hearts, and in fact, he is as much 
 the slave as ever. 
 
 "They say they are soliciting his labor, it is true, but it 
 is simply because a hated power, which they can not resist, 
 has made this step necessary for the time being. If prom- 
 ises will induce any of the ' lazy vagabonds ' to come away 
 with them, why there will be no lack of these, but once at 
 home they declare they will show them a thing or two ! 
 
 " I do not assert this to be the feeling of all the passen- 
 gers on the boat ; what I say is, that it is the public ex- 
 pression, and if there is a difference of opinion it is not as- 
 serted. 
 
 "Undoubtedly, judging from what I have heard on this 
 
126 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 trip, not only on the steamboat, but in the mouths of thou- 
 sands of planters, who are here after labor, the Southern 
 idea is, that the abolition of slaver^" is but temporary ; that 
 even now it is only a technical abolition, and through the 
 agency of the President, somehow or in some way, slavery 
 will be restored. Until then, they say they will have to 
 use the so-called free negro, and, in order to get him to go 
 home with them, and go to work, they must make wild 
 promises as to what they will do. 'Any thing to get him, 
 so as to keep the mill running until the slave millennium 
 comes again,' said a small, black-eyed, sallow-complexioned, 
 broad-hatted, small-booted Mississippi planter, with a huge 
 mustache, no vest, and spurs, to a crowd of a hundred 
 other planters, in the front of one of the Yicksburg hotels 
 — to which they all seemed to respond aflSrmatively. 
 
 " It would be a bold man now who would IfTnt at the idea 
 of renting land to negroes, or of their owning the mules, or 
 the farm implements, or of their being educated. Such a 
 person would only subject himself to personal violence. The 
 central, controlling idea is, to get the negro uj^on the plan- 
 tation ; once there, to place him as nearly in a condition 
 of slavery as is possible without incurring the interference 
 of what is hated here above all things, namely, the Freed- 
 man's Bureau, or Federal troops. 
 
 " There is not a sentiment expressed, which looks to a 
 frank acceptance of the labor situation, which the war has 
 forced upon this country ; not a syllable which shows a 
 disposition to take thefreedman, and mold and fashion him 
 into a faithful and efficient free laborer. 
 
 " The President's j)Osition, as it is understood here, is the 
 severest blow which could have been administered to the 
 South — severest, because it is encouraging them to in- 
 augurate a resistance to the Federal government, which 
 they would otherwise never have dreamed of, and which, 
 it requires no prophecy to say, future events will not justify. 
 
 " If at this time no encouragement were held out to the 
 
STEAMBOAT AND VICKSBURG EXPERIENCES, ETC. 127 
 
 Southern people beyond that which lies in a faithful dis- 
 charge of their duty as good citizens, the labor problem 
 would, in my judgment, have an easy solution. The 
 Southern people are unused to free labor, and they will at 
 best manage it bungingly; but when, added to their ig- 
 norance, is an utter absence of good intent, a generally ex- 
 pressed determination to institute a modified form of slavery, 
 which shall, as it were, bridge over the chasm between the 
 old slavery and that new form which is to be inaugurated 
 by the policy of the President, the case is a bad one in- 
 deed. The result of all this must be that which invariably 
 follows from the combination of ignorance of head and 
 badness of heart. 
 
 " Naturally, the negro will be distrustful of his former mas- 
 ter, just as that master, who has never seen the negro work 
 otherwise tharr under the lash, will be distrustful of his 
 value as a free laborer. It is thus an experiment on both 
 sides — on the side of the negro as to whether his new mas- 
 ter, who now simply owns his labor, will deal fairly by 
 him, paying him to the last penny, according to contract, 
 sheltering him from the weather, furnishing him medicine 
 when he is sick : in short, carrying out his lightest prom- 
 ise ; on the side of the planter, as to whether the negro 
 will, for all this, render faithful service. An experiment 
 which can not be successful, without mutual fidelity and 
 perfect good faith. Judging from the element with which 
 I am mingling, there seems to be an alarming absence of 
 these vital prerequisites. If the negroes, on their part, 
 are meditating one-half the badness of those who are seek- 
 ing their services, it is not difficult to foretell the disastrous 
 results that must follow. 
 
 " Of course, there is lamentable ignorance on both sides. 
 The boor of to-day can not become the dancing-master of 
 to-morrow. But if good intent were here, every thing else 
 would follow. Master and slave would be lost sight of in 
 the new and ennobling relation of employer and employed. 
 
128 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 The cloud of slavery would, in truth and in fact, be dis- 
 pelled by the bright sunshine of freedom, and peace and 
 prosperity would reign. But there is the complete absence 
 of good intent in the utterances of those with whom I am 
 surrounded. There is certainly mischief ahead. 
 
 "As yet, I have seen little or nothing of the recently en- 
 franchised negro, as those in our employ, with the ex- 
 ception of a woman by the name of Clara, and one or two 
 others, have alwaj^s been free, so I can make no analysis of 
 his feelings. But it is terrible to contemplate, that, per- 
 haps, while his late master is thus publicly expressing 
 the sentiments which meet my ear on every side, and of 
 which I have given you but the faintest outline, he, too, 
 may be plotting. But even if he is not, if there is no bad- 
 ness in his heart now, bad faith, on the part of the em- 
 ployer, will, in time, beget bad faith on the part of the 
 emj^loyed. 
 
 "You know the best-constructed machinery often works 
 clumsily at the start. So, in the new compact between the 
 late master and the late slave, for the cultivation of these 
 Southern lands, there will be short-comings. Naturally, 
 these short-comings will be on the side of the late slave, as 
 a result of his ignorance. It will be for the late master, 
 he being the intelligent member of the partnership, to note 
 these short-comings, and he should direct the best effort of 
 head and heart to their correction, seeing to it that no fail- 
 ure occurs on his side to injure the gossamer thread of con- 
 fidence which, at the first, binds his late chattel to him — by 
 patience and fair dealing, adding other strands, until, in 
 time, it grows to the strength of a cable-chain. 
 
 " Once having gained the confidence of thefreedmen, the 
 labor problem is virtually settled. As slaves, they proved 
 themselves successful cotton-raisers ; as freedmen, they 
 still possess this knowledge. There is the same skill in 
 handling the plow and hoe, in the drojojoing of the seed, in 
 the cultivation of the plant, as before. 
 
STEAMBOAT AND VICKSBURG EXPERIENCES, ETC. 129 
 
 " The only real difference is, that now the planter will 
 have to employ the skill which he formerly owned. The 
 obstacle in the way of this employment is, the natural 
 feeling of distrust, on the part of the freedman, as to 
 whether the planter will deal honestly with him, a feeling 
 which will be overcome only by actual experience. 
 
 " In the nature of things, so long as this distrust lurks in 
 the bosom of the freedman, he will not be the willing, 
 efficient worker which he would be with this feeling re- 
 moved. Thus, the planter has, as it were, his reputation 
 to make— until which time he will be under a cloud, and 
 working to disadvantage. 
 
 " This only applies to the former slave-owner. Those of 
 us here from the North will have the confidence of the freed- 
 men from the start. But, as an offset to this, we w^ll not 
 have the old planters' knowledge of cotton-raising, nor his 
 knowledge of negro character, so essential to its successful 
 handling. 
 
 " But I am very sorry to have to write you, knowing the 
 deep interest you take in passing events here, that there is 
 nothing in the scenes about me to give any hope that the 
 planters are studying out labor problems, other than those 
 which will place their late chattel in something like the old 
 bondage. 
 
 '• ' Our slaves have been wrested from us ! ' they loudly 
 cry. ' We have been robbed of our property by the Yan- 
 kee government ; the heel of the tyrant is upon our necks. 
 We have been foully wronged!' and so on for quantity. 
 All day long, during my stay in Yicksburg, and on my 
 return journey, I heard nothing but such expres.sions. 
 During my entire absence I did not hear an utterance that 
 indicated an acceptance of the labor situation. Nothing 
 that looked the least like an effort to take it and make the 
 best of it. 
 
 " This attitude toward their late slaves astonishes me, as 
 it will you, no doubt. They seem to hate them with a de- 
 
yj 
 
 130 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 gree second only to that of their hatred of the government. 
 Perhaps it is because the government has taken the negroes 
 under its protection in the Freedman's Eureau, and, therefore, 
 in striking these a blow, they will be striking that govern- 
 ment which is so odious to them in every way. They seem 
 to regard the negroes as personally responsible for their 
 freedom, and become enraged when they see one of them act 
 as if he felt himself to be free. Occasionally small squads of 
 negro soldiers lounged past the hotel, with their military 
 hats perched on their noses, in the most devil-may-care 
 manner. This always exasperated the planters ; but one 
 day a couple came by in civilian's dress, with their hats 
 perched on one side, when hands went in search of pistols, 
 faces became wrathful, and teeth were ground. I almost 
 looked for these two innocent causes of their anger to be 
 shot down. I am certain they made a narrow escape of it. 
 Again, they are filled with an ecstacy of delight if a for- 
 mer slave addresses one of them as ' marsa.' 
 
 '' The attitude of the President, as they understand it, 
 and as I have before written, gives them hope that this 
 freedom is but temporary, and that they will soon have 
 their slaves in their grasp again. So there is no disposi- 
 tion to deal with them as free laborers. 
 
 " In their eyes, the negroes are lazy, trifling, thieving, 
 and unfit to live a day without a master. But still they 
 must have them to cultivate their lands ; and how to get 
 them, and how to hold them — not as free laborers, but in a 
 modified form of slavery — is their constant study. 
 
 " One would suppose that their self-interest might tell 
 them that in order to retain this black labor, and make it 
 efficient, there must be fair dealing, and perhaps but for 
 the hopes excited in their bosoms by President Johnson, 
 they would so feel and act. But expecting great things 
 from him as they are, confident of them, they seem to feel 
 they can afford to drop a politic course, one that would ul- 
 timately lead them to prosperity, for one in strict accord 
 
A SECOND LETTER ON THE SITUATION. 131 
 
 with their bitter feelings — but one which, alas, will adminis- 
 ter a severe blow to this country. Expecting, as they all 
 confidently do at this time, that they will soon recover all 
 they have lost by the war, no one seems to care to hide his 
 feelings. Their hearts are, as it were, pinned to their 
 sleeves, and many of them sj^out around the hotel until they 
 froth at the mouth like mad." 
 
 CHAPTEPv XXIX. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A SECOND LETTER ON THE SITUATION. 
 
 *' I PRESUME the expressions of the people on the steam- 
 boat and in Yicksburg are similar to those heard every- 
 where in the South. In all this there is no acceptance of 
 the situation. In these utterances there is no voice which 
 says ' that which the war has decided is final, viz. : that 
 our slaves are forever free ; free, it is true, in spite of our 
 efforts to the contrary ; still none the less free. But we 
 have the same need for them to cultivate our lands which 
 we had for them as slaves ; and, now that they are free, 
 we will employ them and pay them just the wages we 
 agree to pay them. We will adopt as our motto — a fair 
 day's wages and a fair day's work. And, because free 
 labor is more desirable when the laborer can read and 
 write, we will encourage education. "We will also endeavor 
 to instill principles of thrift and all virtues, setting our 
 faces sternly against idleness, thieving, and the other vices.' 
 If the Southern people would only say this, and not only 
 say it, but act it, at this early day, when this new form of 
 labor lies in their hands a plastic mass, how much of suf- 
 fering for the future it would avert. What a mountain of 
 distrust between employer and employed would be re- 
 
132 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 moved, a mountain, soft and yielding, which would melt 
 away under the benign influences of fair dealing and kind 
 treatment, but which, in their absence, will become granite. 
 
 " It is, at the outstart of this negro labor, once slave, now 
 free, where cool heads and calm, sober judgment are re- 
 quired. All passion and prejudice should be buried before 
 approaching it. Ultimately, of course, it can not fail of 
 success, but much depends as to whether it shall be use- 
 ful in the near or in the remote future upon this, its first 
 full year's operation. 
 
 " Evidently, from the expressions all about me, as indi- 
 cated in my former letter, it is not to be managed by cool 
 heads. There is to be no sober judgment about it. Pas- 
 sion and prejudice are every-where apparent. Babes or 
 madmen would be equally fit to approach the solution 
 of this problem — a solution which is either to make this 
 country bud and blossom now, or to further impoverish it 
 — as those who are now storming through the cabin of this 
 steamboat, and are, it is to be presumed, since the same in- 
 fluences are at work every-where in this country, an index 
 of the South. It is sad to think that it is in the hands of 
 this class. It seems to me that one might as well expect 
 to find one's pocket-book after it has been lying under the 
 eyes of a gang of thieves, as to expect any good results for 
 labor so long as it is to be handled by this untaught, and 
 apparently unteachable, element. ]S"o, my dear friend, the 
 solution of the labor question of the South is in bad hands, 
 and I predict that it will take years of patient effort to 
 bring it out of the snarl into which this season will put it. 
 There will be much of suffering on both sides in the mean- 
 time. 
 
 " Oh, how much dross there is in the composition of the 
 late master, and perhaps as much, though of a different 
 character, in that of the late slave, which will have to be 
 melted out in the crucible of time. On the part of the late 
 master, it will only be those who finally accept the situa- 
 
A SECOND LETTER ON THE SITUATION. 133 
 
 tion, acknowledging frankly that the negro is a free man, 
 and treat him accordingly, who will achieve success. This 
 acknowledgment will bo the forerunner, as it were, of that 
 success, and how for those with whom I am mingling seem 
 from any such acknowledgment at this time ! 
 
 " Fortunately for the country, the fire now raging in the 
 Southern heart is not an unquenchable one. Sooner or 
 later it will exhaust itself. But, in the meantime, what a 
 destructive fire it is likely to be ! There will be no one in 
 this country who will not be scorched by it. It will, more- 
 over, stay the tide of immigration and capital now flowing 
 Southward, until these life-giving influences will turn away 
 from it with loathing and disgust. Of those already here 
 from the North, possessing capital, full of energy, and hav- 
 ing an honest ambition to assist in building up the coun- 
 try — with a laudable intent to enricli ourselves, but in so 
 doing to enrich the waste places — how many will be driven 
 away with broken or ruined fortunes, to tell the tale in the 
 North of how we were insulted, fleeced, and abused until 
 we could endure it no longer ; how few will have the cour- 
 age to remain until this raging, consuming fire shall have 
 spent itself. 
 
 " Of course, if the hatred which is every-where apparent 
 towards the negro and the Federal government should ex- 
 tend to us, it will know no bounds, and scores will be 
 driven away within the year, returning to the North, 
 whence they came, where, in their turn blinded by pas- 
 sion and prejudice, they will naturally picture the state of 
 affairs worse than it is. If the attack on us comes at all, 
 it will be with a vengeance. The Southern people never 
 do things half way. But all this is anticipating, and I 
 only started out to tell you of the present. ' Sufficient 
 unto the day,' etc. 
 
 " It is the insane hope inspired by President Johnson 
 which now furnishes fuel to that fire which sank down at 
 Appomattox into a smoldering heap. He it is who is fan- 
 
134 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ning those dying embers and causing the fire to blaze again 
 all over the South, reddening the sky with its unhealthy 
 glow — a fire which is to be quite as delusive as the first, 
 and this time disastrous to the future of the Southern 
 country as that first fire which blazed out of the Sumter 
 gun was disastrous to the Southern people, in taking from 
 them their slaves. But perhaps this second fire is only the 
 natural sequence of the first. 
 
 " Our constitution says ' all men are free and equal,' but 
 that was an untruth. That first fire made it a truth, but 
 only a truth in letter and in theory, judging from the utter- 
 ances of the peo2)le here. Let us hope that this second 
 fire will establish it as a glowing and glorious fact. But 
 before it is so established there will, I fear, be a going 
 down into the valley of the shadow of death on the part 
 of many of us here, and a long sojourn there. 
 
 " When the first fire burned down at the general surren- 
 der of the Confederate armies, all eyes, you know, were 
 turned to this Southern country. Notably, oflScers and 
 soldiers of our armies are making haste to find a home 
 here. The war opened this country to their inspection, 
 and during their campaigns some attractive spot was 
 marked which, should their lives be spared, would claim 
 them when the war was over. It is well known that these 
 are brave men and true, and generally the cream of the lo- 
 cality which they are leaving, and from which, since the 
 departure of a good citizen is always a loss, they can not 
 be easily spared. 
 
 " They had, as Dobson said, assisted in conquering the 
 rebellion, and they are coming now as soldiers of peace to 
 assist in building the country anew. 1 do not believe there 
 is one of them coming here from motives of political am- 
 bition. The fact is, there is no political field open to 
 Northern men here. The Southern people are in the quiet 
 possession of their government, and for aught any one can 
 now tell, are likely to remain so. 
 
A SECOND LETTER ON THE SITUATION. 135 
 
 " This immigration comprises men coming South simply 
 as farmers, on the strength of such statements as that 
 with which Dobson captivated nie (and which, you remem- 
 ber, almost persuaded j'ou to break up and come also), and 
 under the impression that they will be fairly treated in the 
 localities where they shall settle. No better class of im- 
 migrants ever blessed a country than this ; they are cour- 
 ageous, intelligent, full of activity, and utterly devoid of 
 any bitterness in their hearts towards the South, or they 
 would not think of locating here. They form also a most 
 desirable class of immigrants, because they come with 
 capital. 
 
 '^ Look at the list of names which at this moment occur 
 to me among those already here : Generals Frank Blair, 
 A. L. Lee, Francis J. Heron, Willard AYarner, W. B. 
 Woods, W. L. McMillen, J. H. Sypher; Colonels Bis- 
 sel, John Lynch, P. Jones Yorke ; Major Edmonds ; 
 Drs. Franklin, Barr, and Phel2:>s ; Captains Hiram E. 
 Steele, Whitney, Mathews, Gould, C. D. Benton, Ed. C. 
 Manning, J. C. Chittenden, L. B. Ehodes, James Andrews; 
 with WhitelawEeid, George C. Benham, J. O. Pierce, Samuel 
 Galloway, John S. and A. B. Harris, Thomas Gaff, Charles 
 Howe. Most of these you know either in person or by 
 reputation, and doubtless this little group is only a fair 
 sample of the many scattered all over the South. 
 
 " This immigration is, so to speak, a venture sent out 
 from the North ; the advance-guard of a host which is to 
 follow if these fare well. Its individual ventures are like 
 so many ships dispatched by the venturesome merchant to 
 some foreign shore, hitherto unknown to commerce, where 
 promises of profit are good — to be followed by large fleets 
 if these promises should be realized, or abandoned if they 
 should not be. 
 
 "It is the harm which the second fire I have mentioned 
 will do to these first ventures, resulting, as it naturally 
 will, in stopping the further flow of immigration and cap- 
 
136 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ital, which will be most disastrous to the future of the 
 country. The first fire, while it seemed to have impover- 
 ished the people by taking away their slaves, ought to 
 benefit the country by opening it up to settlement, and so 
 it will, but for this second fire, invoked by the South, 
 which, while it may eventually purify the peoj^le, fitting 
 them to receive and enjoy the blessings of a free labor 
 system at some future day, by burning away all the preju- 
 dices which have been engendered by a century of slavery, 
 and perhaps establishing for a distant time the foundation 
 for a broad and substantial prosperity for this country, so 
 rich in soil and climate : establishing it, not from any wise 
 management or good sense on the part of the people, but 
 from the very fact that the fires of passion, hatred, and 
 that spirit of rebellion against what is inevitable will have 
 burnt out, leaving reason and common sense to assume 
 their sway ; — while it will, perhaps, do all this, the imme- 
 diate efi'ect will be to prevent even the impulse to immi- 
 gration hither. Thus will be turned back a life-giving 
 stream, which is now flowing naturally into the country, 
 whose return must be invoked at some future day, when 
 the madness and insanity of the people shall have passed 
 away forever. 
 
 " It is perhaps too soon to form a correct opinion as to 
 how this stream of immigration and capital now flowing 
 into the country from the ]^orth is regarded by the South- 
 ern people. I do not, indeed, believe they have entirely 
 made up their minds about it yet, from what I see and 
 hear. We seem to be rather objects of curiosity, and we 
 are also distrusted. Our actions to them are strange and 
 peculiar. 
 
 " I mention the following stories told of us, which will 
 give you a better idea of how we are regarded than any 
 description I can write you : 
 
 "A Yankee new-comer, who had landed his outfit on a 
 wharf-boat, took off his coat and actually turned in with 
 
J 
 
 A SECOND LETTER ON TUE SITUATION. 137 
 
 the ' nii^gers ' and ' helped ' load liia freight into his, wag- 
 ons, rolling his boxes and barrels up the bank just as they 
 did. Then he straddled the lead-mule in one of the teams, 
 and drove off to his plantation, just like a ' nigger.' 
 
 "Another had been seen plowing at the head of his plow- 
 gang ! 
 
 "Another had been seen to drink water out of the same 
 gourd the ' niggers ' used ! 
 
 "It w^as mentioned that they all brought cookin' stoves, 
 wood-saws, and India-rubber over-shoes with them ! 
 
 "A blear-eyed, vicious-looking planter told how one of the 
 Yankees had started a Sunday-school among the ' niggers ' 
 on his plantation, which he seemed to consider an insult to 
 the South. Several had started day-schools, and it is not 
 an uncommon thing to see the Yankee planters actually 
 teaching the ' niggers ' at night themselves. This thing of 
 ' book-larnin' 'mong niggers ' is generally hooted at. Sev- 
 eral of the planters reckoned it would be a good thing to 
 get one of these Yankees for a ' pardner,' the ' niggers are 
 so fond of 'em.' ' We have the land,' they say, ' and know 
 how to make cotton ; the Yankees can furnish the nio-irers 
 and the money.' Almost every one knew of cases in his 
 neighborhood where these ' pardnerships ' had been started, 
 and it ' 'jDcared to be workin' well.' It seemed to be re- 
 garded as a great triumph to get a good trade out of the 
 ' Yankees.' The case was mentioned where one of them 
 had contracted to pay twenty-five dollars an acre rent for a 
 single year. And then some one told how Hampson had 
 sold a plantation to a G-eneral Dobson for seventy-five 
 dollars an acre — (I should have said before this that I 
 did n't know a soul on the boat, and if any one noticed me 
 at all, it was most probably to take me for a Southerner, 
 for my exposure had bronzed my features, so their conver- 
 sations were conducted without restraint) : these were re- 
 garded as splendid operations, and all were agreed that the 
 
138 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Yankees bad been ' salivated ' in these instances ' for a 
 fact,' and there was unmistakably much glee at the thought. 
 Ten to fifteen dollars an acre was said to be the usual price 
 the ' Yankees ' were paying as rent for their land, and they 
 were generally renting. There was only here and there 
 an instance where they had purchased. The general idea 
 is that the 'Yankees ' are strongly inclined to do a great 
 deal of work themselves, and there is much turning up of 
 the nose at this. It might do in their country, they said, 
 but it will never do down here among the ' niggers.' It 
 will be setting them a bad example. Evidently they re- 
 gard labor as degrading. 
 
 "Nearly every 'Yankee' has some new labor-saving 
 machinery, they say — now it is a prairie or sub-soil plow, 
 now it is a cotton-planter — something that will open the 
 place for the seed, as well as drop it and cover it : all done 
 by one man and one mule, thus accomplishing the work 
 formerly done by two mules and three men ; now it is a 
 cotton-cultivator, similar to that with which corn is culti- 
 vated in the West ; and now it is a steel-plow instead of 
 one of wrought-iron. They generally bring sewing-ma- 
 chines and hay-cutters, which last is considered a good joke 
 in view of the fact that roughness for teams is usually 
 corn-fodder. Great is the sport made over these innova- 
 tions on the old-time ways and the old-time instruments 
 used in cotton-raising. 
 
 " May be these ' Yankees ' can find something better than 
 the Calhoun plow, they say, or the old way of planting and 
 cultivating cotton, but they reckon not ; they reckon they 
 will get tired enough of these new-fangled instruments. 
 They reckon they knew pretty well how to raise cotton 
 ' 'fore the wa' ;' may be not, but from the crops they raised 
 they think they did, and they reckon the Yankees will 
 think so themselves 'fore the season is over. 
 
 " There is evidently a disposition to chuckle when they 
 
A SECOND LETTER ON THE SITUATION. 139 
 
 think they sec the ' Yankees ' making mistakes, and it 
 seems to be quite the thing to squeeze as much money 
 out of them as possible, without any thought as to whether 
 they are giving value in return. There is nothing said 
 about giving encouragement to the new-comer. There 
 is no discussion over immigration schemes. There does not 
 seem to be the least idea that this is a tide which they 
 should encourage, or that good results will come of it — 
 if there is any question about it, it is the question of letting 
 the ' Yankees ' come ! They are flocking down here, and 
 either buying or leasing Southern lands. It might or it 
 might not be a good thing to let them. Of course, when 
 they could be ' made ' to think as they did, it was all right. 
 But they found most of them would have ideas of their 
 own, which they might express, or, worse, they might seek 
 to enforce them upon communities where they were lo- 
 cated. Some might refuse to go into their projected com- 
 binations to control the ' niggers.' These refractory ones 
 must be ' forced ' into line. If this ' Yankee ' immigration 
 meant diversity of opinion, then it was a 'pest,' and 
 must be gotten rid of One sentiment, one thought, one 
 idea only could be tolerated. This had been the way ' 'fore 
 the wa',' and this must be the way now. It was only the 
 few leading men in each community that knew what was 
 best to do. This had been the rule in slavery times, and 
 this must still be the rule. 
 
 " It seems to be generally understood that the ' Yankees' 
 who are coming here would have to hate the government, 
 the ' nigger,' and the ' radical ' party, as much as they did, 
 in order to get along peaceably. That was always the 
 case, they said, when Yankees came down here ' 'fore the 
 wa',' and several instances were given where the new- 
 comers were doing so now, having declared that ' we uns ' 
 had done perfectly right in fighting, and that the Yankee 
 government had done very wrong in ' stopping us, and de- 
 stroying our property ;' and these were pronounced splendid 
 
140 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 fellows. If all the ' Yankee ' immigrants were like these, 
 there would be no trouble. 
 
 " To sum it all up, Ave are objects of curiosity — our com- 
 ing is a novelty. AVe will be first rate to ' tote' labor to 
 them, and furnish money. We all have plethoric pocket- 
 books, and whether we get value received for our money 
 or not is a matter of very little consequence to them, so 
 they get it. We are inclined to bowl ahead at a i^retty lively 
 pace, and to do a gooddeal of work ourselves. This will de- 
 moralize the ' niggers,' and is bad. But they can probably 
 'tolerate' this, if we will only have no opinions of our 
 own. generally speaking, and, above all, we must hate the 
 free ' nigger ' and the ' Yankee ' government. Such is the 
 substance of the coarse criticisms I hear on all sides. 
 
 " This hatred of the government is something awful, and 
 the constant din againstit is exceedingly annoying. I should 
 as soon spend my time in a boiler-foundry, or stand along- 
 side during minute-shooting, with a hundred-pound Parrot- 
 gun, as far as comfort is concerned. It seems to be a sub- 
 ject of which these people never tire. From morning till 
 night, and late into the night, whisky-drinking, card-play- 
 ing, and cursing the government are kept up. As often as 
 a joke is cracked, or what they consider to be a good thing 
 said, just so often every one is invited to take a drink; and 
 frequently, when coarse jokes and dull points are scarce, this 
 invitation goes around between times. Always before 
 breakfast and dinner comes the appetizer, in the shape of a 
 cock-tail, and on a moderate-sized steamboat like ours, 
 with perhaps two hundred passengers, enough ' night-caps ' 
 are taken to supply each room of the. largest hotel in the 
 country. I do n't know just what they get when they call 
 for a ' night-cap,' but from its appearance suppose it to 
 be the same as the before-breakfast and before-dinner 
 drink. 
 
 '- Wherever I went on the boat, and in Yicksburg, there 
 were still the same loose, loud-mouthed tirades against what 
 
V 
 
 A SECOND LETTER ON THE SITUATION. 141 
 
 they term ' radical ' rule in the country. If a Eip Yan 
 Winkle should suddenl}^ appear on the- scene, after his 
 years of sleep, he would suppose, from the constant utter- 
 ances, that he was among a peoi:)le who had always re- 
 garded the constitution of their country with veneration. 
 ' The constitution is being violated ! ' ' The constitution 
 is being trampled in the dust ! * ' Such conduct is uncon- 
 stitutional ! ' ' The radical tyrants of the North are disre- 
 garding the sacred principles of the constitution ! ' and so 
 on for quantity. 
 
 " How singular this all seems. You know, in jour sec- 
 tion of the country the few are politicians; but here, the 
 thing is reversed. Here is a country of farmers, and yet, 
 everyone of them is a politician ! They tell you just when, 
 and where, and how the government has violated its every 
 pledge. Kot being a Eip Yan Winkle, this sort of talk im- 
 presses me as a little singular, coming, as it does, from 
 a people just emerged from a bloody war, which they in- 
 augurated, the direct object of which was to overthrow 
 that constitution, and destroy that government. Don't 
 you agree with me, that it is in bad taste for those people to 
 vilify the government which has only so recently extended 
 to them the hand ,of pardon ? Instances are mentioned 
 where their leaders fled the country after the surrender, but 
 learning that the government was not arresting any body, 
 they had returned, and their property had been restored 
 to them, and yet, there is nothing said of magnanimity on 
 the part of the Nation. On the contrary, this sort of 
 thing is falling upon most unthankful soil. I verily be- 
 lieve this magnanimity is being mistaken for cowardice ; 
 in fact, they say ' we want our leaders among us, just as 
 we always had them, and the Yankee government had bet- 
 ter not put any thing in the way! ' 
 
 " Is n't it just possible that a little iron rule would be a 
 good thing down here now? just enough to compel strict 
 obedience to the acts of Congress, which to-day, it seems 
 
142 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 to me, is endeavoring to temper justice with mercy ; but its 
 measures are being thwarted by the unfortunate and unex- 
 pected attitude of the chief executive. 
 
 " A stranger here would suppose that there was n't the 
 least vestige of wrong clinging to the garments of these 
 people, that all of wrong was on the side of the Kation, 
 * which is now oppressing them,' as they say. They declare, 
 in specific language, that they ' are a greatly wronged and 
 much abused people.' A\^ell, it is, perhaps, charity to say 
 that they have shouted this story so loud and so continu- 
 ously, that they have actually come to believe it them- 
 selves ! 
 
 " They are certainly very much in earnest in their denun- 
 ciations of the 'Yankee' government. What a change this 
 is from the Appomattox feeling ! Said an acquaintance I 
 met in Yicksburg : ' When I traveled from the Ohio to 
 the Eio Grande last year, I thought this people the most 
 humble j^eople upon the face of the earth ; but judging 
 from their behavior now, that humbleness must have been 
 a good deal after the style of Uriah Heap. Then they 
 confessed themselves willing to do any thing and every 
 thing to appease the government, but now I find the great 
 majority but little less impudent than they were in the 
 winters of 1860 and 1861. TJjDon every street-corner, upon 
 steamboats, upon railroads, and in stage coaches, you hear 
 the expressions d — n Yankees, d — n the government, and 
 others similar. Coming from ISTew Orleans to this point 
 in the cabin, some one remarked that the captain of our 
 steamer had been in the Federal army. A man that I had 
 before taken to be a perfect gentleman, flushing up and 
 looking as near like the devil as I think it possible for a 
 human being to do, said : ' If I had known that, I would 
 have seen the d — n villian in h — 1 before I had taken nas- 
 sage on his steamer ! ' 'So would I ! ' 'So would I ! ' 
 came from all sides ; and, notwithstanding the vulgarity of 
 his language, this stranger immediately became a general 
 
A SECOND LETTER ON THE SITUATION. I4d 
 
 favorite among the ladies. ' Hatred to the government, its 
 supporters, and its flag is taught in its churches, Sunday- 
 schools, and colleges,' said he; ' mothers instil it into their 
 children so soon as they can tell what a blue coat and brass 
 buttons mean ! ' And indeed it seems so. 
 
 " Great enthusiasm was created on our steamboat over an 
 editorial from one of the Southern papers, which I man- 
 aged to copy as follows : 
 
 "'AH the Southern papers arc jubilant over the defeat 
 of the Freedman's Bureau bill. Since the morning of July 
 22, '61 — when news of the great Southern victory, achieved 
 b}^ Beauregard over McDowell, and the awful rout of the 
 Federal army on the plains of Manassas, was borne through 
 the South on the wings of the wind, as it were, carrying 
 joy and jubilation into every loyal Southern household, 
 gladdening every true Southern heart — there has been no 
 news received with so much rejoicing by the people of the 
 South, as that informing them that the President had 
 vetoed the Freedman's Bureau bill. This is the greatest 
 victory they have achieved during the war, greater than any 
 feats of arms of Stonewall Jackson or Eobert E. Lee, and 
 has given them more pleasure than had General Lee been 
 elected governor of Virginia. They have found an ally 
 in President Johnson worth more to them than the alliance 
 of France or England, and they now rejoice to see, even as 
 they saw foreshadowed at Manassas, the final triumph of 
 the Southern cause. The Kepublicans have been ignomin- 
 iously defeated and driven from the field, and nothing can 
 save them from total annihilation. All that is necessary 
 for the South to do, is to continue to hold up the Presi- 
 dent's hands. The stone which the builders rejected has 
 become the head of the corner, and Andrew Johnson is 
 enshrined in every loyal Southern heart. They will accept 
 no terms from the radicals. They ask for none and expect 
 none. The fanatics may roar and hiss, but their claws arc 
 cut, and their fangs are harmless. The watchword must 
 
144 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 henceforth be, " Johnson and victory ! " and, although the 
 odds are four to one against them, did they not carry 
 on a four-years' open war in the field successfully, against 
 still greater odds ? A fig for your Rei:)ublican Congress ! 
 We have a President with absolute powers, who can carry 
 on a government good enough for this section without the 
 assistance of Congress.' " 
 
 "It does not matter that the Congress which the Southern 
 people did n't care 'a fig ' for had already passed the Freed- 
 man's Bureau bill over the President's veto (though that 
 side of the picture will not likely be written up ; it is only 
 what the people should hear, according to the opinions of 
 the leaders, which they are allowed to hear), it is still a 
 glorious event, and this editorial had to be read over, slob- 
 bered over, and drank over scores of times, to squads of 
 delighted and enthusiastic listeners. 
 
 " It does not matter that such draughts as the above are 
 deadly poison to all the best interests of this country. It 
 is pleasant to the taste, and they quaff the cup to its dregs. 
 This is the food the Southern people are being fed on 
 at this time. These frothy utterances are victuals, drink, 
 clothing, warmth, and sunlight to them. Is it any wonder 
 they are growing belligerent in their feelings ? Is it any 
 wonder they are growing troublesome ? — that disorder and 
 outrages are increasing? I am not at all surj^rised at the 
 wide-spread alarm existing among the negroes in Yicks- 
 burg. Indeed, it is rather a matter of surprise that any of 
 them can be induced to go to the country with strangers, 
 in view of the dark and uncertain future before them. 
 
 " The enemies of the country have circulated the report 
 that government protection in the South is to be with- 
 drawn, by order of the President, and there are many 
 negroes, I understand, strongly inclined to leave the South- 
 ern States entirely. I do not doubt that many of them, 
 and that the most intelligent of them, will actually carry 
 
FURTHER ON THE SITUATION. 145 
 
 this threat into execution. Perhaps it would be better for 
 most of them to do it." 
 
 CHAPTEE XXX. 
 
 FURTHER ON THE SITUATION. 
 
 In reply to a letter written to me by a friend in the 
 North, referring to the effect of a speech made by Presi- 
 dent Andrew Johnson, at the "White-House, in AVashing- 
 ton, February 22, 1867 — a speech which gave great assur- 
 ance to the still rebellious element of the South, and which 
 my correspondent characterized as an ugly stone cast into 
 the National pond, creating a great splash — I wrote as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " It is this and other stones, which the same hand is cast- 
 ing into the National pool, which is giving new courage to 
 the disloyal element of this section, which will render it 
 necessary to fight the war over again, as it were, through 
 the building-up process which lies before us ; or, perhaps, 
 I might more properly say, the tearing-down process. The 
 building-up process may be in the distant future ; I should 
 say it is, from the outlook just now. We must have a 
 foundation before we can rear the superstructure, and 1 
 think that is yet to be laid. 
 
 " There is one reason which prevents the hearts of the 
 Southern people from being completely fired over the en- 
 couragement they are receiving from Washington, and, as 
 they firmly believe, from the reaction in the North in their 
 favor. That reason is, that they have already taken unto 
 themselves an idol. That idol is money. Yes, the greed 
 of mammon is now serving as a break-water to their rekin- 
 
J 
 
 146 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 died passion against the government. In the light of their 
 love of money, hatred to the government, beyond such 
 loud-mouthed utterances as you hear on Southern steam- 
 boats, in Southern cities, and, no doubt, generally through 
 the South, and which are, of course, very annoying to listen 
 to, is of small consequence. 
 
 " This first idol must be appeased, before the second 
 shall assume mastery ; and this first idol is to be satisfied 
 they think, through the production of cotton. A bounti- 
 ful harvest of money is to spring from this fleecy staple. 
 The same mania which is driving thousands of people and 
 millions of money here from the ]N"orth, is absorbing the 
 Southern people also. In the light of this mania, their 
 angry feeling against the government may be said to be 
 more a pastime than a steady purpose. It is also mellow- 
 ing the sentiment toward us new-comers. You know the 
 pursuit of money is always softening — it is its possession 
 which hardens one — because Ave are striving for a common 
 goal, one which is to be reached, if at all, by a journey 
 along a common road. There is a kindred interest, and, 
 therefore, a kindred feeling naturally springs up. This is 
 serving its purpose in breaking the force of the waves of 
 prejudice and passion against the negro and the new-comer, 
 keeping what would otherwise be uncontrollable within 
 such bounds as save us from present personal violence, be- 
 cause, however much they may rail against the negro, how- 
 ever much they may spout their unholy pur2:)0ses, they 
 know that he, by his labor, is to be the instrument in their 
 hands to gratify their avarice, if it is to be gratified. 
 
 " Land, Labor, and Lucre is what they want, and all 
 they want, say they, to realize their dream of wealth. 
 Land they have ; and while few will be able to get a full 
 supply of labor, there will be none who will not be success- 
 ful, either to a greater or less degree, in securing it. As for 
 lucre, most of the people have a little of that hoarded in 
 one way and another, but principally saved from the wreck 
 
FURTHER ON THE SITUATION. 147 
 
 of cotton-burning insanity, which you know raged in the 
 South during the war. Those who have not any money of 
 their own, can borrow all they want from New Orleans, — 
 as none were more promptly on the ground, after the sur- 
 render, than the Kew Orleans cotton-factors, largely rein- 
 forced with sums of money running up into the millions, — 
 and new firms, from the North, ready to loan to any impe- 
 cunious cotton-planter Avho may choose to apply. 
 
 " The production of cotton at present prices, is thought 
 to be immensely profitaWe. We are supposed to be inhab- 
 iting a second California, and colossal fortunes are in the 
 near future for all of ns. Statements like Dobson's are in 
 the hands of every cotton-votary, and quotations from them 
 fall upon your car from all quarters. This year is confi- 
 dently looked forward to as one which will realize a boun- 
 tiful harvest. The land has rested for the most part dur- 
 imr the w^ar, and has enriched itself in consequence. The 
 
 CD ' 
 
 enormous vegetable growth which annually rotted on the 
 ground, was so much fertilizing material. Thus enriched, 
 the yield can not be otherwise than large. 
 
 '' The dreaded army -worm made its visit last year, and, 
 judging from the past, is not likely to come again for sev- 
 eral years. So there is little or no danger from it. 
 
 " Aside from the love of money inherent in the human 
 breast, the Southern people feel desperately poor. They 
 say they want money for the actual necessities of life. 
 They think they have been impoverished by the war, and 
 that they must put forth a great effort to regain what they 
 call their former wealth. Do you know this boasted wealth 
 was the merest sham? That the monej^ they spent was 
 in many cases not theirs, but borrowed ? True, it was a 
 something, this unlimited credit of theirs, which gave them 
 all they wanted to spend, and this was wealth in their eyes, 
 even though it wag the wealth that came from killing the 
 goose, etc. The fact is, when the war came on, there was 
 scarcely a planter in the country free from debt, and per- 
 
148 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 baps a majority may be said to bavc been bopelessly in- 
 volved. Tbey bad tlie title to large quantities of land, and 
 on tbese lands were many slaves, but tbey were eitber 
 mortgaged for part payment for casb, or for tbe purpose 
 of borrowing money to buy more slaves, or to carr}'- on 
 tbeir reckless extravagances in living — tbeir gambling and 
 drinking debts, etc. So mucb was this the case that New 
 Orleans alone held twenty million dollars' worth of mort- 
 gages against the lands and slaves of the planters in the 
 Mississij^pi valley! What a singular law it was that 
 allowed them to mortgage their slaves, chattels, just 
 as they did their lands ! This volume of indebtedness, 
 instead of decreasing from year to j^ear, was annually on 
 the increase, so that it is perhaps true, as has been stated, 
 that the war simply precipitated the crisis which sooner or 
 later would surely have come. The above points I gath- 
 ered in Vicksburg from a foreign banker, who was the 
 power behind the throne — that is, he was one of those who 
 loaned the JS'ew Orleans cotton factors money to loan to the 
 planters, and knew perfectly well that whicb he affirmed. 
 He was a great sufferer from his financial operations in 
 the South ; said he had come over to see for himself just 
 how mucb he was injured by bis money investments here. 
 He told me the cotton factors in I^ew Orleans knew per- 
 fectly well that they owned the planters before the war ; 
 that they were in the habit of boasting of it at their pri- 
 vate club-dinners. Said he, the planters paid in one way 
 and another, twenty-five per cent, for the money they bor- 
 rowed, and there is no business in the world that will stand 
 such a tariff. Only think of it, be continued, one bale in 
 every four went for interest and commissions, and the 
 Southern peoj^le never realized that this sort of improvi- 
 dence was ruining them. They thought they were rich, 
 because whenever they drew a check on Xew Orleans it 
 was bonored, and never stopped to think whether they had 
 any money to their credit, and if you could get a glimpse 
 
FURTHER ON THE SITUATION. 149 
 
 at tho books of the cotton factors, and could see their cords 
 of notes, you would understand that only a very small 
 percentage of them ever did have any money to their 
 credit. There are but few men who would not ruin them- 
 selves financially in the course of time, if you give them 
 unlimited credit. That is what the people of this valley 
 had, and if there ever was a people traveling rapidly the 
 broad road to financial ruin, it was this people. In the 
 border slave states, the producers were piling up wealth by 
 annually selling off their surplus slaves and mules to the 
 planters in this country, and by this means, and by their 
 wasteful extravagance, the planters here were piling up 
 debts. Thus it was that while there existed a substantial 
 prosperity in the border states, in this country there was 
 only the outward semblance of wealth. True it is, he said, 
 you talk with the planters here in this strain, and they will 
 tell you that the debts of the Southern people were incur- 
 red for plantations, slaves, and mules, all of which were 
 legitimate investments, and that there was no one in the 
 country so much involved, but that three crop-years, with 
 prudence, would put him out of debt ; but right there, he 
 said, was the rub— the crop-years would come, but the pru- 
 dence never showed itself, and so it was that the strange 
 and unnatural spectacle presented itself, of a people with 
 unlimited means, and who were yet a parcel of bankrupts. 
 You know, he said, it is frequently the case that a mer- 
 chant, who may be doing a large and apparently profitable 
 business, is yet on the high road to bankruptcy. His 
 bankers are perfectly aware of it, but they say to them- 
 selves : ' This man can swim for one, two, or three years, 
 as the case may be. In the mean time, we can, his neces- 
 sities requiring it, loan him money at a high rate of inter- 
 est, and thus he is one of our most profitable customers.' 
 But when the banker sees that his man has gone to the 
 end of his string, he shuts down upon him, collects his 
 notes and the man is snuffed out financially. This was 
 
150 
 
 (#?,...„.. * 
 
 just tbe situation of the Southern people, and the foreign 
 capitalists, who were making handsome j^rofits out of their 
 money in Kew Orleans, knew it was only a question of 
 time when we would have to shut down, and so did the 
 cotton factors there, who were using our money in part, 
 and in j^art theirs. But the war coming on brought every 
 thing up with a round turn. 
 
 " I do not deny, this man said, that there were planters 
 in this country, whose manner of doing business was so 
 loose, and whose modes of life were so extravagant, and 
 who were so profligate in every way, that if the cotton 
 factors in New Orleans could have gotten their names off 
 their books, that is, could have gotten what this class owed 
 them, they would have been denied future credits. But 
 there was the trouble ; — these ' sick ' accounts were carried 
 from year to year, in the vain hope that bye-and-bye the 
 indebtedness would be lessened. If these names should 
 be stricken from the books, it would involve a total loss, 
 and, perhaps, by letting them have a few more thousands 
 the thousands already out could be collected. And so 
 these profligates went on from year to j^ear, getting deeper 
 and deej^er in debt, becoming more hopelessly involved, 
 and the factors paid their checks, which were daily pre- 
 sented, with wry faces. Of course, he said, these fellows 
 could be closed out, that is their lands and negroes sold, 
 but they were frequently the representative men of the 
 community where they lived ; they considered themselves 
 honorable, high-toned, and solvent, and would have been 
 highly indignant had summary steps been taken against 
 them. Perhaps personal difficulties would have resulted, 
 customers would have been lost in the neighborhood, so the 
 factors pocketed their feelings, with what they felt would 
 almost certainly be their losses, and said nothing. But if 
 these profligate planters could have read the feelings of 
 the factors frequently when they paid their checks, they 
 would not have been at all complimented by it. Why, sir. 
 
FURTHER ON THE SITUATION. 151 
 
 said be, warming with the subject, a single trip of a steam- 
 boat down the river, with its load of lower Mississippi 
 planters, frequently precipitated upon the factors of New 
 Orleans checks amounting to fifty thousand dollars for tbe 
 poker and champagne debts incurred while on board, and 
 a week of races at the Metaire course at New Orleans, has 
 been known to cause a disbursement of one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars by factors to pay the checks of planters 
 who had staked on the wrong horses — the great bulk of 
 which would be an advance on some future crop. I do n't be- 
 lieve there was another country in the world where money 
 was loaned in enormous sums, to pay poker, whisky, and 
 racing debts, as it was here; and the factors knew per- 
 fectly well, in most cases, for what purpose the money was 
 going — indeed, so open and above board was the thing con- 
 ducted, that I 've heard of cases where checks actually read 
 ' for poker,' ' champagne,' or ' wine,' or ' lost in betting on ' 
 such a horse — naming the one. What would a bank presi- 
 dent think, said he, up in the country you came from, to 
 have an application made to him for a loan to pay for a 
 game of poker, or a racing debt? — and yet these applica- 
 tions were daily thrown into the faces of the cotton factors 
 down here, through the checks of the planters, and duly 
 honored. 
 
 " The young bloods of the South always kept their own 
 exclusive bottles of brandy on ice in the bar-rooms — French 
 brandy, generally, at ten dollars a gallon. The planters 
 always settled their bills monthly. They never paid the 
 money, but gave a draft on their factors. Neither the 
 planters nor their families carried money about them — what 
 they wanted they ordered, and the bills were sent to their 
 factors. There was one family in Louisiana — several 
 brothers, their wives and children — that would sometimes 
 occupy a third of the St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans, 
 and their ordinary hotel bills would be $4,000 to $5,000 a 
 month. 
 
152 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 *' Some planters, more prudent than the rest, conceived 
 the idea of disposing of a portion of their land to the 
 new-comers, as Hampson did, using enough of the proceeds 
 to free that which they still held from debt, buying their 
 notes at greatly less than par, thus making up in discount 
 what they otherwise may be losing in the price of the land 
 so sold. But, as a general rule, strong in the belief of large 
 immediate crop profits, and a rapid advance in the land, 
 they are inclined to hold on to their acres, expecting to re- 
 lieve them from their load of indebtedness by means of such 
 crop profits. At this time, there is perhaps no plantation 
 eligibly located in the delta of the Mississippi but would 
 bring fifty dollars an acre. All places offered for sale are 
 eagerly purchased, and many are compelled to rent land who 
 would purchase if they could find plantations for sale. And 
 some are compelled to give up the idea of settling here be- 
 cause they can not find suitable places either for sale or rent. 
 In fact, there is not only a scramble for labor, but there is 
 a scramble for land. AVhen they are not storming at the 
 government, every body is talking of a bale to a bale and 
 a half to the acre, of land free from overflow, and old 
 planters are constantly telling what this place and that 
 place j)roduced every year before the war, in such an off- 
 hand way as to give the impression that nothing is easier. 
 The general idea seems to be that the margin of profit is 
 so great that there is not the least necessity to economize 
 in expenditures ; that ten to fifteen thousand dollars more 
 or less on a thousand-acre plantation is a matter of very 
 little consequence. 
 
 " This is not talk for the purpose of selling their land, 
 for land either sells or rents itself, but it is what the planters 
 feel and believe. Every one pooh-poohs at the idea of the 
 army -worm coming again for many years. The planting 
 and cultivating of cotton is declared to be a perfect play-spell. 
 It is only the picking-season when there is a press of work, 
 
FURTHER ON THE SITUATION. 153 
 
 and nobody in the valley of the Mississippi ever expects to 
 be able to pick out over three-quarters of his crop. In- 
 deed, the whole thing seems to be so easy of accomplish- 
 ment, and so simple, that there can be no such thing as 
 failure. 
 
 "About all that seems necessary to do in the eyes of the 
 new-comers, and for that matter the Southern people too, 
 is to fill our pockets with cotton-seed, then ride across a 
 thousand-acre plantation, when, presto, there will be a 
 bale to a bale and a half of cotton to the acre, in the fall, 
 ripe for the pickers ! 
 
 "During my first journey South, and during this trip 
 for labor, I have never found a man who has himself ever 
 heard of a man, or who has ever heard of a man who has 
 seen a man, wiio has not made a full crop of cotton, as 
 much or more than he can gather. 
 
 " The fact is, as Hampson told us, the planters either went 
 to Virginia or Kentucky for the summer, and so great were 
 their crops they were in the habit of buying and bringing 
 out a few hands in the fall each year to help pick them 
 out. 
 
 " How intoxicating this talk is, to be sure ! How safe it 
 makes our enterprise appear, and what a mountain of 
 profits it piles up ! Eeally, Dobson was too moderate in his 
 estimate, judging from the statements all about me — state- 
 ments made by old planters, who ought to know just what 
 they can do, because they know just what they have 
 done. 
 
 " In view of this prospective harvest of greenbacks, I 
 can stand with comparative complacency the constant 
 tirades which I hear against the government, and I actually 
 find myself making mental apologies for them. It is so in all 
 countries, I say to myself, where the opportunities for ac- 
 cumulating wealth rapidly is great. Look at California in 
 the early dav. Then the pistol and the bowie-knife were 
 
154 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 quite as common as they are here now. Go to any newly- 
 discovered country, and you will find quite as large a per- 
 centage of wild, vicious people as you will find on any of 
 the lower Mississippi steamboats, or at any of the lower 
 Mississippi landings. 
 
 " T^o, here is a new California, as it were, opened up, and 
 the people have a perfect right to be a drinking, gambling, 
 loafing, loud-mouthed, half-civilized, unchristian set. That 
 man who, as 1 write, is sitting with his legs over the back of a 
 chair, squirting tobacco-juice, drinking whisky-toddies every 
 ten minutes, picking his teeth with his huge pocket-knife, and 
 swearing like a Turk — that man has a perfect right to talk 
 aboutthechivalry of this Eldorado, for is he not one of them? 
 And the fifty others about him, who act and talk as he 
 does, hav n't they a perfect right, too, for are n't they of the 
 elect? And the inevitable crowd of loose-jointed young 
 men, middle-aged men, old men and boys, who swarm 
 in and out at every landing of the boat, have n't they a 
 right to hang over the bar like thirsty camels ? Have n't 
 they a right to look vicious, to talk vicious, to act vicious, 
 and to be 6trapj)ed down with pistols and bowie-knives, to 
 back this look and talk and action, if need be ? And those 
 half dozen fellows, steeped in debauch, throwing aAvay some 
 cotton-factor's money at the card-table — isn't that the es- 
 sence of enjoyment, according to their standard? 
 
 " The lecture-room, books, the society of cultivated 
 men and refined women, may be the thing in other por- 
 tions of this country — but down here, with all this odor 
 and damp of newness ? No. 
 
 " In the light of twenty -five cents a pound for cotton, 
 and a bale to a bale and a half an acre, these irregularities 
 are softened and toned down, as the prospect of near 
 wealth only will soften and tone down such irregulari- 
 ties. 
 
 " These are a people who are charmed by exteriors. 
 They insist on seeing on the walls that which is in their 
 
FURTHER ON THE SITUATION. 155 
 
 hearts, without any apparent thought as to whether such 
 display is either policy or good taste. Hence the pictures 
 of their Southern Generals, which greet the eye on every 
 side, in the cahins of these lower Mississippi river steam- 
 boats, at the hotels, all business places, all places of resort ; 
 and hence the names of Southern States, Southern Gener- 
 als, and leading Southern men painted on the side wheels 
 of their steamboats, for to this morbid taste steamboat 
 owners, many of whom are Western men, pander. Great 
 enthusiasm is just at this time expressed over the 
 steamer ' Eobert E. Lee,' now being built for the trade be- 
 tween Yicksburg and New Orleans, while on the other 
 hand a steamboat named 'Philip Sheridan,' which came 
 steaming down the river from St. Louis, the other day, en- 
 countered such a storm of wrath as to compel her owners 
 to put her in extreme Northern waters after her first trip. 
 
 " These people never seem to think that such pictures 
 and names may be unpleasant to new-comers, or to tourists. 
 Oh, no, they have no philosophy which tells of pleasure in 
 sacrifice. These pictures and names please and delight them, 
 they say. If new-comers and tourists don't enjoy them, 
 let them keep away. If this sort of thing keeps immigra- 
 tion away, let it stay. They declare they will feast their 
 eyes on these pictures even if death to the Southern coun- 
 tr}^ lurks behind the canvas. They will do this, while they 
 will not for a moment tolerate pictures of Federal Gener- 
 als in steamboat cabins, or names of Federal Generals on 
 the side-wheels of steamboats, or hardly from the lips of 
 individuals, other than in terms of derision. Indeed, that 
 would be a bold captain who should now come down the 
 river with such pictures in his cabin. 
 
 " Not only on steamboats and in hotels is this unwhole- 
 some taste gratified, but placarded on bulletin-boards, in 
 fence-corners, along curb-stones, in stores, in groceries and 
 in bar-rooms, are the faces of Southern Generals made 
 to illustrate every thing, from a bottle of bitters to a 
 
156 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 bar of common washing soap, and a close examination 
 shows that these articles are mostly manufactured in the 
 North ! 
 
 " There is ' Our Own Southern Bitters,' with a picture of 
 Stonewall Jackson on the front, profusely advertised in 
 Yicksburg, and for sale in the bar of the boat I came down 
 on. Who do you think makes it? It is made in Memphis 
 by a former townsman of mine, who came South shortly 
 after our troops occupied that place. I met him at Mem- 
 phis as we came down, and he told me, with a wink, what 
 he was up to. ' My picture suits the Southern people,' he 
 said ; ' any thing to make money, you know.' So that 
 articles not manufactured in the North are doubtless in al- 
 most every case manufactured by Northern men bent upon 
 supj^lying fuel to this Southern depravity, because in so 
 doing they make money. 
 
 " There is ' Eobert E. Lee ' every thing. In fact, a per- 
 son can go to house-keeping very cleverly with only 'Eob- 
 ert E.Lee' articles. Next in the list comes Stonewall 
 Jackson. What strikes me as a little singular, however, is 
 that there is not anywhere displayed a picture of Jeff. Davis, 
 either as advertisement or otherwise, nor have I in any 
 private place I have visited since coming here seen his pic- 
 ture. Whether he is so precious that it is considered j^ro- 
 fane to illustrate him, or whether he is not a particular 
 favorite, I can not say, but such is the fact. 
 
 " Fortunes are being made by this pandering to a South- 
 ern taste. No matter how worthless the article may be^ 
 call it after a Southern General, and adorn it with his pic- 
 ture, and what a sale it will have ! The coffers of North- 
 ern manufactories are being filled by means of this South- 
 ern folly. The very men whom these people would not 
 lift out of the mire to save their lives, or give a penny to, 
 to keep them from starving, are yet lifted into wealth and 
 enabled to live in luxury. Here is a hotel, in Yicksburg, 
 whose proprietor was in the Federal army, and every pulsa- 
 
FURTHER ON THE SITUATION. 157 
 
 tion of his heart is in that direction. Yet ho is a shrewd 
 fellow, and, being in trade, must please his customers, so 
 his hotel is profusely decorated with coarse pictures of 
 Southern Generals, which delight the eyes of his patrons. 
 Over his desk, where he makes up his cash, there looks 
 down upon him the face of Lee, and whichever way he 
 turns, either in office, diniDg-room, or parlor, some South- 
 ern General stares at him. Ho has done the thing up to 
 a turn, and is coining money in consequence. If his pa- 
 trons knew the deception he Avas practicing, they would 
 hang him to the first lamp-post. Go into his private room 
 where he sleeps, as I did, and there you '11 find over his 
 little secretary a fine steel-engraving of Lincoln, and on 
 the walls in different parts of the room are pictures of 
 Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. None but the initiated 
 are allowed to enter this room. AVhat a living deception 
 he is practicing, but it swells his bank account, and that 's 
 the cure-all. 
 
 "Just now there are springing up Southern life and 
 Southern fire insurance companies, whose principal merits 
 are a majority of true Southern men in the board of di- 
 rectory, and a Southern General for a figure-head as presi- 
 dent. 
 
 " But this is now the season of small things, and the 
 mania is confined to articles of food, of drink, and of home 
 consumption. These pictures, seen every-where, and the 
 articles and localities they advertise, entice the people to 
 expenditures of money, and to places which their means 
 do not justify and neither temperance nor good morals 
 permit. They serve only the purpose of enriching the fiiw, 
 and they,, chiefly men and communities to whom these 
 people are, in every respect, fi3reign in sympathy. The 
 whole thing is in bad taste. 
 
 " If there has to be this profusion of pictures, in view of 
 the immigration pouring into the country, it would be bet- 
 ter to vary them a little, showing here a Southern General, 
 
158 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 there a Federal G-eneral. But there is no mixing down here 
 now, it is the straight Confederate or nothing ! Indeed, a 
 pearl of the first water would go begging at a penny, if it 
 were wrapped in the photograph of a Federal General. 
 Well, these pictures please the Southern eye ; the North 
 has caught the idea, and is utilizing it to advertise its own 
 wares. It is the kind of medicine suited to the Southern 
 stomach, and is a prolific source of profit to Northern 
 doctors. And, after all, what can be more harmless than 
 G-enerals on paper, or their names on the side-wheels of 
 steamboats ? They look bright and gaudy in their newness. 
 Thus shows this second fire bright and glowing through- 
 out the South. But these pictures will pale and fade away 
 in time, and the steamboats will rot, just as will pale and 
 fade away this second fire, and then these foolish people 
 will see how, in pleasing their fancy, in gratifying what is 
 a coarse love, and not a refined sentiment which always 
 shuns display — seeking the cloister to breathe out its devo- 
 tion — they have enriched the North. Then they will cer- 
 tainly feel more chagrin than the new-comer or tourist now 
 feels annoyance at sight of these things, and that boy is per- 
 haps now born, who will see the day When a steamboat 
 named after a Federal General will ride the Mississippi 
 river, the admiration of all from St. Louis to the gulf, and 
 when the pictures of Federal Generals will, through all the 
 South, be regarded as fit companions for Generals of the 
 Bevolution." 
 
 It came out during the summer, that the steamer " Eobt. 
 E. Lee," mentioned in my letter, and over which the South- 
 ern people were so jubilant, was principally owned by Bos- 
 ton men, having been built with Boston capital. This news 
 created a great storm of indignation, and its captain, — a 
 whole-souled, courteous, big-hearted Southern gentleman, 
 who had come up by degrees from the lower deck to the 
 post of commander, honestly earning every stage of pro- 
 motion, and now the beau ideal of a thorough steamboat- 
 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS ON THE SITUATION. 159 
 
 man, beloved by all "who knew him, — had to publish a card 
 to his patrons, apologizing for the fact, and saying he had 
 now bought Boston out, and that the ''Lee,' was, in every 
 sense, as her name indicated, a Southern boat. And, there- 
 upon, the Southern breast became pacified, although for a 
 long time the captain was growled at for having gone to 
 Boston to borrow money to build his boat. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS ON THE SITUATION. 
 
 I SHALL here give the reader further extracts from let- 
 ters written during my labor-hunting experience at Yicks- 
 burg, these having been written while every thing was 
 fresh in my mind, are more apt to be substantially correct 
 than any thing I might now write, trusting only to my 
 recollection. 
 
 " What a despotic disposition there is in these people — 
 which prompts them to compel, if possible, all in their 
 midst, no matter what may have been their previous life 
 or training, to think exactly as they do. Instead of a feel- 
 ing of surprise or distrust at finding men fresh from the 
 North who sympathize with them, and who denounce as 
 they denounce, they seem rather to be 8urj)rised at not 
 finding it. 
 
 " They never appear for a moment to doubt the sin- 
 cerity of expressions in their favor, on the part of new- 
 comers. In fact they seem to be perfectly blind to the idea 
 that there can be any other mode of thought than theirs. 
 A Northern man who comes here, either as a visitor or to 
 
A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 live, is expected immediately to share the quarrels of the 
 South and to adopt its customs ; that is, among other 
 things, to drink whisky as often as the natives do, to take 
 a hand at poker, and, above all, to carry a pistol, under 
 penalty of being branded as a coward ! It never seems to 
 enter their minds to doubt the sincerity of the expressions 
 of a man who comes among them after his habits are 
 formed, and whose whole mode of life and action has been 
 the very 02:)posite of theirs, and yet, the next day after his 
 arrival, is found abusing that which they abuse, and bless- 
 ing that which they bless. Ko, the}^ never doubt such 
 a man ! He is reliable, trustworthy, and a good fel- 
 low. 
 
 " Nor does there seem to be any disposition shown to lay 
 aside any of their prejudices, except so far as the power of 
 the bayonet compels them. 'Here we stand,' they say, 
 ' and here we will continue to stand. If immigration from 
 the North wants to come to us, and will believe, act, and 
 talk as we do, it is all right. Let it come. We can help it 
 spend its money ; we can take advantage of the friendship 
 the black people feel for it in securing labor for us, and thus 
 drive a profitable bargain.' 
 
 " There is a sort of an idea that we who come here from 
 the North, must come because we are disgusted with that 
 country. They say a man does not leave the country he 
 was born and reared in, unless he has had enough of it, and 
 he does not go to a new country, unless he is willing to 
 adopt the habits of its people, as well as its customs and 
 mode of thought. They seem to have a notion that those 
 of us who were in the Federal army, were there because we 
 were, in some way, dragooned into it, and that we are now 
 here ready to sympathize with, and feel for them ; in short, 
 that we are so much plastic clay, ready to receive our im- 
 pressions from them. 
 
 " There is nothing in their conversation which implies 
 belief that there are two sides to a question. There are 
 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS ON THE SITUATION. 161 
 
 no two sides to their question. Whatever they do is right. 
 Whatever the North does, is wrong. Southern people are 
 all saints. Northern people are all sinners. The South is 
 the embodiment of honor and chivalry- — the North, of 
 meanness and depravity. Said one Massachusetts man 
 to another, both of whom had lived in the South for twenty 
 years : 
 
 " ' AVhy is it, that wo hate Yankees so much worse than 
 the native Southerners ? ' " 
 
 " ' I reckon it is because we know how mean and low- 
 down they are, from having been born among 'em,' he 
 replied. 
 
 " From this, it would seem that it is actually true, that 
 Northern men are the extremists. The old story the world 
 over — the convert, the zealot ! Perhaps the reason why 
 the Southern people now expect that those who come among 
 them, will immediately adopt their views is, that such was 
 the case before the war, not only so, as is seen by the above 
 question and answer, but those Northerners who settled in 
 the South, had gone beyond the native Southerners in their 
 zeal to demonstrate their devotion. 
 
 " It does not seem to occur to the Southern people that, 
 for years before the war, mainly those came South to live 
 who sympathized with the institution of slavery, or such as 
 had no fixed principles, and could take on the hue and sen- 
 timent of any community where they might chance to find 
 themselves ; that there were, also, other classes who came 
 here, such as the teachers, and preachers for the supposed 
 wealthy families, who frequently married into those fami- 
 lies, and thus became the same in sentiment as they were 
 in interest. They do not reflect that Northern men who 
 came here before the war, soon became slave-holders them- 
 selves, and thus holding a common property with the South- 
 ern people, they had a common interest with them ; but that 
 
162 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 there being no such common property now, there can be no 
 such common interest. The idea has not yet been even con- 
 ceived that there can or will be fraternization on any other 
 subject, or that there will be any necessity for it. No, 
 slavery — a modified form just now — is here to unite all 
 hearts, as in the olden time. 
 
 " The fact is, there is no reason about these people. It 
 is all impulse. Born, or living under a semi-tro2:)ical sun, 
 the blood runs warmly through their veins. What is in the 
 heart, is instantly in the Drain. The desire and the pos- 
 session must be simultaneous. There is no stopping to 
 reason whether or not the desire is feasible, or for the 
 common good, since for them reason does not exist. Once 
 the object in heart and brain, and there is the dash for it. 
 
 " Nowhere is there any evidence that the lessons of the 
 war have taught them wisdom. Its discipline seems only to 
 have lasted while the punishment lasted. They say they 
 only stopped because they were physically unable to con- 
 tinue the contest — not from any conviction that they were 
 in the wrong — and that, thanks to the President, the stop 
 is but temporary. Their experience in the crucible has 
 not taken out the dross. The fires are being rekindled 
 for the second conflict, and this time, they say, they will 
 come out victorious. 
 
 " Thus, you will see, the Southern people are still spoiled 
 children ; still reaching for the fruit that has been taken 
 from them, and because it was once theirs, and because 
 they still desire it, they are determined to possess it again. 
 And so, because they desire the new-comer to think and 
 act as they do, why, of course, it must be so, for the reason 
 that it always was so. 
 
 ^' There will, therefore, of necessity be antagonism be- 
 tween the two elements. First, because the new-comer is 
 satisfied with the results of the war — the Southerner is 
 not; second, for the reason that the former has no predju- 
 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS ON THE SITUATION. 163 
 
 dice about employing labor and paying it wages — the 
 Southerner has ; third, the new-comer will naturally be- 
 lieve in educating, in Christianizing and assisting the negro 
 to become a property-holder, while these ideas are exceed- 
 ingly odious to the Southerner. These antagonisms may 
 or may not be active, but they will be decided every-where. 
 No doubt what will do more than any thing else to soften 
 and, in time, to dispel them, will be for the South to real- 
 ize, to a moderate extent, its dream of wealth through 
 large crops and high prices of cotton. Money is the best 
 known lubricator ! On the contrary, a failure to realize 
 this dream will make the present hard times still harder, 
 and, such is human nature, the Southern people will nat- 
 urally seek an excuse for their failure in the short-comings 
 of free-labor, and in the teachings and influences of the 
 new-comer, and, therefore, the antagonisms just mentioned 
 will become more and more active and decided. 
 
 " But that is all in the future. Just now there is every- 
 where apparent an exaggerated idea that neither the re- 
 sults of the war, nor the new-comer, are to produce any 
 change in public sentiment here ; there must still be 
 the same despotism which was the natural result of slavery. 
 
 "It is a people with these sentiments which have to deal 
 with this crude mass of free-labor which the war has 
 thrown upon the country. This is now pliable in their 
 hands ; they are the architects and the builders who are to 
 take it and mold and fashion it into a thing of use and 
 beauty, or into an instrument of evil. 
 
 "It is this bone, muscle, sinew, and flesh, and this 
 feeble brain which is to be taught that its freedom is not 
 that of idleness, but that it is a freedom to work and to re- 
 ceive for its own use and disposition the fruits of such 
 work, each man to choose his own master, to whom shall 
 belong that portion of his time allotted to labor, as 
 completely and as solely as his body had been formerly 
 owned. It is also to be taught that freedom neither allows 
 
164 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Dor justities stealing or fighting, or vice of any kind ; and 
 that stealing does not simply mean taking another's prop- 
 erty, but that it means as well taking the time it has sold 
 to another and idling it away, as well as a failure to ren- 
 der eflScient labor, when it has the ability and capacity so 
 to do. It is to be taught that there is no personal wrong 
 which there is not a law to remedy, and that under no cir- 
 cumstance is it justifiable to take the law in its own hand, 
 and itself inflict the penalty. 
 
 " And, above all, the courts of the country are to be 
 freely oj^ened to it, to protect it in its rights, as well as to 
 prove to it that it has such rights. 
 
 " It is this labor, well skilled in farming — men and wo- 
 men in stature, but babes in the role of freemen — which, 
 in such hands, has for its task to test the experiment of 
 cotton-raising in the South. Alas that the artists do not 
 show more honesty of purpose — something of a determin- 
 ation to make the best of it ! How much of future suf- 
 fering a wise, prudent, and economical course this year 
 would save." 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXII. 
 
 IMPRESSIONS AND EXPERIENCES IN VICKSBURG. 
 
 I FOUND every thing in Yicksburg on the stir, at the 
 early muster-out of the several negro regiments — the ho- 
 tels were full of planters, in search of labor, and the com- 
 petition was lively enough. Lavish promises were being 
 made on all sides, and each j)lanter was commending his 
 own plantation in glowing terms to the apparently credu- 
 lous freedmen. 
 
 It was really true, that the great mass of negroes 
 
IMPRESSIONS AND EXPERIENCES IN VICKSBURG. 165 
 
 shortly to be mustered out, as well as those still remaining 
 in Vicksburg, either from the mustering-out of former reg- 
 iments, or from the small army of camp-followers, servants, 
 and others, were sincerely anxious to get into the country, 
 and the statement circulated that they were disjDOsed as a class 
 to swarm into the cities, and remain there, was not correct. 
 The officers of the colored regiments assured me that, with 
 an occasional exception, the men of their commands wanted 
 to leave Vicksburg as soon as they were mustered out, and 
 could find good homes ; and from the heads of the Freed- 
 mens' Bureau I learned that the same wish prevailed among 
 the black people generally, but that there was a wide- 
 spread feeling of distrust as to their treatment in the 
 country, which was the real secret of their hesitation ; and 
 but for this, they gave it as their opinion there would 
 not be negroes enough left in the city to meet its current 
 demand for day-laborers. 
 
 There Avas no diversity of opinion on this point, among 
 either army or government officers, or the class of men 
 who were in sympathy with the negroes, and to whom they 
 would express themselves freely. 
 
 A characteristic of the black people which struck me as 
 singular was that there did not seem to be any desire on 
 their part to return to the places they had left as slaves. 
 On the contrary, the desire with them was, to find a spot 
 where they could make themselves a home. It was just as if 
 the white soldiers, on being mustered out, had almost uni- 
 versally sought homes in different States from those in 
 which they had enlisted. It would seem from this that 
 the black people had not experienced any real home-feeling 
 in the localities where they had endured their servitude, 
 else they would now feel a disposition to return to them. 
 No, not one of them talked of going home ; their chief de- 
 sire seemed to be to find a home. Occasionally something 
 would be said about hunting up women they had lived with 
 before the war, and children which they had by these. 
 
166 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Tvhen they came to be well-located, but there was not much 
 of this. The predominant idea appeared to be, that their 
 release from slavery had cut them loose from all former as- 
 sociations ; that in their changed relations of freedmen, they 
 were, so to speak, born anew. Not that they reasoned this 
 thing out at all, but this was the practical working of it. 
 
 In many cases, the ^' took-up women," called wives, 
 doubtless became camp-followers, — cooking, washing, and 
 so-forth, for the soldiers, — and-in this way held on to the men 
 who had taken them up. With all the colored regiments 
 there was about an equal number of women to the men. 
 Most of them had each either a child or children. All 
 lived with men, on the '• took-up " principle, with but an 
 occasional exception. Doubtless it was this very system of 
 unlicensed association which had much to do with eradi- 
 cating the home feeling which they must otherwise have 
 experienced. If they had left wives or children behind, 
 they would long to return to them ; but either their '-took- 
 up " women had followed the regiment, or new women 
 were " taken -up " with, wherever the regiment spent any 
 time, and so, when the war was over, these frequent changes 
 had blotted out every feeling of a domestic attachment to the 
 places which had known them as slaves, leaving each negro 
 free to take his latest favorite (if the first had not clung to 
 him during his camp-life), with what children he might 
 have by her, and find a home. 
 
 The military marriages had evidently done but little in 
 the way of remedying the " taking-up " process. The cus- 
 toms of a lifetime could not be removed, even by the strong 
 arm of the military during the rough experience of camp- 
 life. The morals of an army are never improved during 
 war, and so the negroes, who had been educated as slaves 
 to a system called marriage, but which was in fact only a 
 system of propagation, had with little or no restraint from 
 their officers, allowed their strong animal propensities to 
 run riot with them, and every new bivouac was the scene 
 
IMPRESSIONS AND EXPERIENCES IN VICKSBURQ. 167 
 
 of fresh license ; all thought of a home in the past was ob- 
 literated, with all desire to seek for it now that they were 
 free to do so. 
 
 The cvery-day negro life, which I saw about mo, was not 
 Buch as I had read of in Northern books, or had heard 
 loudly asserted to be true by Southern men. Here they 
 were herding together like a flock of sheep. Even broad 
 daylight was scarcely any restraint to the gratification of 
 their desires, but when night came on it was fearful. Men, 
 women, and children were piled along in promiscuous rows 
 in their hovels and in their camps. The picture can not be 
 painted too black; it would all be tame in sight of the 
 reality. Men were on\y restrained by fear of personal vi- 
 olence from trespassing on the ground temporarily occupied 
 by another, and women b}^ the fear of having their eyes 
 scratched out by jealous sisters. This fear of joersonal vio- 
 lence, on cither side, was the only break-water to the tide 
 of vice, which was sweeping through the haunts and dwel- 
 ling-places of the blacks. Was this one of the results of 
 the war ? Said a thoughtful man in Yicksburg to me when 
 I questioned him : 
 
 " The restraint of the master, in order to procure a rapid 
 increase in the number of slaves, is gone. The legal re- 
 straint of husband and wife is not here, has never been 
 here, because marriage did not exist among the slaves of 
 the South. Sometimes a sort of a farce was practiced, 
 which squinted that way, but it was no marriage in fact. 
 No more was virtue or chastity taught them." 
 
 Was it any wonder, then, herded together as 'they were, 
 in view of this previous education, that they continued its 
 practices — the only difference being that what had once 
 been confined, to accomplish a rapid increase, was now pro- 
 miscuous ? If the glimpses I was getting of the black peo- 
 ple were correct pictures then had the Northern writers 
 on the subject scribbled much foolishness, and the Southern 
 people practiced deception — Northern writers, first, in de- 
 
168 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 scribing the pangs incident to the separation of families as 
 being terrible, and the home feeling surrounding the 
 negro cabin as very strong; the Southern people, in stat- 
 ing that the blacks were only allowed to live together 
 when married, and that they were taught to be virtuous. 
 
 If the pangs attendant upon separation were indeed 
 so great, why, now that these negro men were free to go 
 where they chose, did they not return to the women and 
 children they had left behind? Why, if the home feel- 
 ing was 60 great, did they not make a home there whence 
 they came ? Alas, I fear that it was simply because neither 
 the pang nor the home feeling existed. The " tak- 
 ing-up " process, called marriage, made a home for the sep- 
 arated ones, wherever they might be located, within a 
 week after their sej^aration, and the old " wife " or '- hus- 
 band " was at once forgotten in the new. 
 
 These statements will be humiliating to the extremes of 
 the North and the vSouth, and I make them with hesita- 
 tion. But I find them justified by my observation, and 
 therefore I write them down. It is not the ideal negro nor 
 the ideal Southerner that I am dealing with. I am dealing 
 with the negro classes as I found them in every-day life — in 
 their working dress ; the negro with the odor of the planta- 
 tion on him, just as servitude made him, with all his ways 
 and ideas and customs, his short-comings, his vices, and his 
 virtues. And so with the Southerner, and the new-comer 
 also. "Whatever of good or of bad I found in them, is to 
 be freely and fairly shown, remembering, as I do, that the 
 plant follows the kernel, and whatever there is of defect, 
 or to be praised, is but the legitimate fruit of the plant. 
 
 What I have observed of the negro and the Southerner 
 I have not hesitated to speak. If it is not altogether com- 
 plimentary, neither is the picture of my own class. The 
 former may improve, and so may we. We are, in this year 
 of grace 1866, but babes in the development of the agri- 
 cultural resources of the South, under the new order of 
 
JOURNEY BACK TO HEBRON PLANTATION, ETC. 169 
 
 things — all of us — each class in its way. The negro is a 
 distrustful, suspicious babe, with the vaguest idea as to the 
 true meaning of freedom. The Southerner is a vicious, re- 
 bellious babe ; and the IS'orthcrn new-comer is a very ig- 
 norant babe. But wo all have to draw our nourishment 
 from the same breast; we are all traveling the same road ; 
 our goal is a common one, and, in time, we may come to be 
 the best of friends, though we are looking askance at each 
 other now. The weal or woe of this Southern country is 
 in our hands. If the good shall predominate, it will bo 
 well ; if not so, we shall be largely the sufferers. Our bed 
 will be one of roses or of thorns, just as we elect. If our 
 short-comings be the result of ignorance, we shall be 
 pitied; if of bad intent, we shall be blamed. But, in 
 either case, ours will be the suffering. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIII. 
 
 MY RETURN TO THE HEBRON PLANTATION WITH LABOR, 
 AND WHAT CAME OF IT. 
 
 Upon comparing notes, I found that the Colonel of one 
 of the negro regiments had rented the plantation next 
 above us on the river, and that he was going to take his 
 labor from among the discharged soldiers of his command, 
 lie thought he could, without doubt or trouble, take up all 
 the labor we sjiould want, with his own ; and thus our 
 great necessity seemed to be supplied. Previous to the 
 muster-out, he had purchased his mules and his general 
 outfit, and got them all together, so that on the day follow- 
 ing the muster-out he was ready to leave for his new home. 
 8 
 
170 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 The Colonel wanted about forty hands, and we needed 
 about thirty-five, making seventy-five in all. But when 
 the hour of departure came, only about sixty reported, in- 
 cluding women. There were about thirty-five men and 
 twenty-five women, with perhaps from twelve to fifteen 
 children. At least twenty others promised to follow a day 
 or two after. 
 
 We made a pretty sight when we left Yicksburg with 
 our large cargo of freedmen. It was said to be the choicest 
 lot of laborers which had left that port during the season. 
 There was not an indifferent one among them, if appear- 
 ances and their record in the army were to be relied on. 
 The men assisted in getting the Colonel's mules down to 
 the boat — a wild, unbroken lot — and handled them as if 
 they were used to it. So eager did they seem to be to get 
 to work, that some of them picked out the particular mules 
 they were going to plow with, and when the plows them- 
 selves came down, they inspected and handled them in such 
 a way as to denote undoubted skill. The plows were of the 
 Calhoun pattern, and were therefore orthodox. The Colo- 
 nel's hobby w^as deep plowing, and so he had procured a 
 couj)le of sub-soil.plows, which the negroes declared to be of 
 " no sort of recount." They did not appear to be in the least 
 troubled at the lateness of the season. "We'll ebberlast- 
 in'ly far up de groun', when we gits into it," said they, 
 one and all, and their enthusiasm to "get into it" was un- 
 bounded. " I 's been soljerin* for more 'n three years, but 
 I reckon I haven't forgot how to handle de plow," ex- 
 claimed a thick-lipped fellow. At the question of his 
 knowledge of plowing, another answered, with a snort, 
 " Kin de duck swim ? " 
 
 It was highly refreshing to see so much zeal for farm- 
 labor, and it made me feel that if we had these hands for 
 the Hebron plantation, our task in the future would be easy. 
 But we should get a portion of them, and in a few days 
 the rest would come along, and then we should have 
 
JOURNEY BACK TO HEBRON PLANTATION, ETC. 171 
 
 enough. It certainly looked as if our labor struggle was 
 over. 
 
 There were a good many planters at the landing to see 
 us off, and they looked at our magnificent force with un- 
 mistakable jealousy. There was no necessity of watching 
 these splendid fellows — they meant " business." N'o labor- 
 broker or labor-jumper need try to tamper with them; 
 and that class of persons evidently felt it, for they hung 
 around on the outskirts of our crowd, and did not dare to 
 mix with them. 
 
 Several of the men had been the orderly-sergeants of 
 their companies, and others of them had held some non- 
 commissioned office ; so there was much calling of ser- 
 geant so-and-so and corporal so-and-so, in their excitement 
 evidently forgetting that they were no longer in the army. 
 There was one little fellow they called Sergeant Watson, 
 who appeared greatly in demand. He was not over five 
 feet in height, small of bone, and spare in flesh, perhaps 
 weighing one hundred and twenty pounds. He had an 
 active eye, and a laugh which could be distinctly heard for 
 two squares. He was full of fun and humor, and kept 
 whatever crowd he was in constantly stirred with his 
 drollery. His figure and aj^pearauce were any thing but 
 prepossessing, but his manner was winning, and he was 
 evidently very bright. It seems he had been sold from 
 North Carolina into Mississippi, and had been taught 
 black-smithing by his last master. During the marches 
 of the regiment, he found a beautiful quadroon woman, 
 whom he fell passionately in love with, and, notwithstand- 
 ing his ungainly and diminutive figure, he won her con- 
 sent to follow the command to Vicksburg, where they were 
 married by some army chaplain, under the auspices of the 
 Freedmen's Bureau. 
 
 Jimmy had his wife with him, and he was evidently very 
 fond of her ; and well he might be, for she was, indeed, a 
 most beautiful woman. Her figure was commanding, and 
 
172 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 her face would have claimed attention anywhere. The 
 white blood in her veins j^redominated so strongly that 
 the pink showed clearly on her cheek. Her eyes were 
 large and coal-black, and were fringed with lashes equally 
 black, and of the most luxuriant growth, as was her long, 
 wavy black hair, which was plaited in folds, and hung 
 down her back fully two feet. Her mouth was large, and 
 when her red, pouting lips were opened in laughter, they 
 exposed rows of teeth of dazzling whiteness ; and she had 
 dimples in her cheeks, such as are seen frequently in baby- 
 hood and childhood, but seldom in maturity. Her general 
 appearance bespoke a rich, ripe tropical growth. When I 
 first saw her she wore a pink callico dress, so arranged that 
 the sleeve afforded glimpses of the most finely rounded 
 arm ; and there was the small delicate hand, with taper 
 wrist and fingers ; while from under her dress peej^ed a foot 
 so diminutive it must have challenged admiration, even 
 if the fair shape above had not been there. There was 
 no superabundance of clothing about her, so her sim- 
 ple pink gown wrapped her closely, bringing out her per- 
 fectly rounded form. She was as straight as an arrow; 
 and her lovely head sat proudly upon her equally lovely 
 shoulders. There was no apparent consciousness, on her 
 part, of her dazzling beauty — it was simply the expres- 
 sion of perfect j)hysical health, and ripe animal growth, 
 which made her appear so majestic. And what a lightness 
 and elasticity of step she showed as she sprang on the 
 boat, aided by her active, wiry, gallant little husband. 
 Mary, for that was her name, mixed and mingled, with 
 perfect freedom, with the negroes of the party, taking 
 her place on the lower deck with the common herd. The 
 ebony faces about her brought out her marvelous loveli- 
 ness in a still more striking contrast, while the simplicity 
 and modesty of her manner, the frequent smile, occasional 
 merry, not boisterous, laugh at some witticism on the part 
 of her Jimmy, the perfect unconsciousness of her great 
 
JOURNEY BACK TO HEBRON PLANTATION, ETC. 173 
 
 wealth of beauty, the gracefulness of her very position, 
 all told unmistakably that there was gentle blood in her 
 veins. She undoubtedly belonged to the class of slaves 
 known as house servants, and had been not only the prop- 
 erty, but actually the child, of some planter, under whose 
 roof the bleaching out process had been carried on until 
 here was a magnificently well-developed woman with only 
 a small portion of African blood in her veins. The aboli- 
 tion of slavery had doubtless nipped in the bud what 
 would have been either a forced or voluntary career, on her 
 part, by placing her in the arms of a husband instead of 
 the embrace of some owner. She did not appear to feel 
 the least out of place with her rude surroundings, although 
 she looked so. There were no longing glances toward the 
 upper guard of the steamboat, where the white folks stood 
 eyeing her beauty. She seemed to be perfectly satisfied 
 where she was, and apparently unconscious that she was 
 the particular object of gaze. But I noticed, as her Jimmy 
 brought their " plunder" on board, there was a neat black- 
 walnut bedstead, a clean mattress, and a bundle out of 
 which peeped bed-clothes unmistakably clean. There was 
 undoubted neatness in these which corresponded with that 
 seen in her pretty pink dress, her carefully plaited hair, 
 and her well-shod feet. There was a distinction, after all, 
 between her and the common herd ; a delicate, but decided 
 distinction, in these little belongings, as well as in her per- 
 son. She was the acknowledged queen, although mingling 
 freely with her subjects. 
 
 Strange freaks had been played among these hitherto 
 slaves. There, for example, walked a tall, straight fellow, 
 with a copper-colored face, piercing black eye, high cheek- 
 bones, long, straight hair — all unmistakable signs of the 
 Indian — and so strongly marked that you naturally ex- 
 jDCcted to hear the " war-whoop." There were the arms, the 
 sweeping legs, the long stride, and the restlessness of man- 
 ner, which fully confirmed one in the belief that the father of 
 
174 A YEAR or WRECK. 
 
 this man must have been a full-blooded Indian — perhaps 
 some chief of his tribe, from the dignity about the fellow, 
 and his capacity to command. As the Colonel told me, he 
 was one of his orderly-sergeants, and a splendid executive 
 oflScer. But there was the unmistakable negro in his face, too. 
 
 And there stood another with a dark-brown face, but 
 with so much of the German in it, and his whole square- 
 set frame, that you at once thought of cork-opera, and won- 
 dered how soon he would take his negro paint oflP, and end 
 his disguise. But no — he was a genuine negro. He looked 
 like a veritable Bug Gargle, however, with his square-set 
 features and frame. 
 
 Some one of the party called loudly for Sergeant Hart, 
 and he came sputtering to the front, with an undoubted 
 French accent, sidling walk and small figure. He sput- 
 tered his broken French-English out so rapidly that you 
 could scarcely catch a word he said. There was abundance 
 of fun in that little half-negro, half-French hide. 
 
 Only about fifty per cent, of these negroes were of a 
 simon-pure black material. The rest were badly mixed, and 
 yet they were all slaves, and never saw the cold side of 
 Mason and Dixon's line ! 
 
 Long after night had set in, I wandered down upon the 
 lower deck, and there the black people were scattered all 
 about— now on bags of grain, now on bales of hay, and 
 now on the rough deck, with only a stick of cord-wood for 
 a pillow, all wrapped in slumber. The stars shone bright 
 in the heavens, glistening on many an up-turned face, as 
 the steamer took its way around the bends of the river. 
 The paddle-wheels pounded the water in a monotonous 
 measure, which sounded a lullaby to these quiet sleepers, 
 and, save here and there a Avar-worn, or camp-worn army- 
 blanket for a covering, night was their only mantle. In 
 the early evening, thus grouped about, they had chanted 
 their rude melodies, which were so many cradle-songs to 
 these grown up babes, for they had apparently fallen where 
 
JOURNEY BACK TO HEBRON PLANTATION, ETC. 175 
 
 slumber overtook them. There was no separation of sexes 
 or of families. There had been song or camp-story, then 
 drowsiness, and then sleep — and here they lay, all shades 
 and hues, telling the story of the century of mixing, in 
 such language as could not be misinterpreted. 
 
 And yet they were not all there. I missed Jimmy and 
 his beautiful Mary. They were no where to be seen. 
 When I went up stairs again, as I was promenading on the 
 outside of the cabin, I found them. There were two chairs 
 drawn together, and here was JMary fast asleep on her hus- 
 band's shoulder ! — his ungainly black hand, one finger of 
 which was adorned with a huge brass ring, holding tightly 
 her taper-fingers, as if he thought her all but an angel 
 that might fly away from him in sleep, and would thus 
 hold her fast. His coarse soldier-overcoat covered h&r 
 bosom, as if he would conceal its heaving from the vulgai 
 gaze, and his faded uniform pillowed her head, setting off 
 its beauty as the rustic frame sets off the picture. When 
 the shades of night had fallen, this uncouth negro man, as 
 if fearing harm to his wife, had found this quiet nest for 
 her, and there he sat, his bright eyes glancing in every 
 direction, and only occasionally nodding throngh all its 
 watches, while she slumbered in his arms. Here again her 
 distinction showed itself. Colored passengers on the up- 
 per-guards, were in violation of all rule, so this pair had 
 taken their position by stealth, but as no one complained 
 of them they were allowed to remain, and they would re- 
 turn to their companions below at daybreak. Money at this 
 time would not buy negroes a place on the upper deck, un- 
 less they appeared there as maids or body-servants. The 
 rest were banished to the regions below, with the mules, 
 the cattle, and the freight. And yet, from the shades 
 among those on that lower deck, there had been a more in- 
 timate association between the whites and blacks than 
 merely of treading a common floor ! 
 
 In course of time we reached the village wharf-boat, but 
 
176 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 the stopping-place for the Colonel's expedition was three 
 miles above, and, remembering our fearful and expensive 
 experience of having our outfit landed there, and how the 
 " mischievous boys " sometimes stampeded the labor of 
 the new-comers, it was arranged that our negroes also 
 should get off at the Colonel's landing. 
 
 After breakfast I rode up to the Colonel's place. I found 
 him, his outfit and laborers still on the bank at the landing, 
 and there was great commotion over the reception they 
 had met. It seems that the man who owned the plantation 
 — or rather, who held the title to it, for it was mortgaged be- 
 yond its value — had not yet returned from his flight to 
 Texas; that he had two agents, one at Yicksburg and one 
 at the village landing ; that, while the Yicksburg agent 
 had rented the plantation to Col. Cray (this was the Colo- 
 nel's name) the village agent had rented it to Col. Byron, 
 an old resident of the county, who had already taken pos- 
 session, and was at work with a half-dozen hands breaking 
 up the ground. Both would-be tenants had written leases, 
 but Col. Byron was in possession, and declared his inten- 
 tion of remaining at all hazards, while Col. Gray was de- 
 manding the place with equal warmth. 
 
 The two agents would have to be consulted, and there was 
 much j)arley ahead, so the Colonel concluded, if the hands 
 wished to do so, they could go down and work for us, until 
 the question was decided, if we would pay, feed, and lodge 
 them, which we were only too glad to agree to. They 
 were all eager to get to work, and so, after they had cooked 
 and eaten their breakfast on the river bank, all declared 
 their readiness to start off to the Hebron plantation. The 
 Colonel detained half a dozen to look after the mules and 
 watch his property, Jimmy and Mary being among the 
 number. 
 
 When I arrived at his camp, Mary was preparing the 
 morning meal for the Colonel. Jimmy had gotten a few 
 bricks together, on which the fire was built. A couple of 
 
JOURNEY BACK TO HEBRON PLANTATION, ETC. 177 
 
 crotched sticks, driven into the ground, with a pole across 
 them, served as a crane, where the pot was hung to boil the 
 coffee. A skillet, with a cover to it, sitting on a bed of 
 coals, and its top covered with coals, was the bake-oven, 
 out of which Mary soon took some splendid-looking hot bis- 
 cuit, while in another skillet, without a cover, the pork was 
 being fried, and in still another, a pone of hoe-cake was 
 just taking on its coat of brown. Jimmy had improvised 
 a table near by, in the shape of the Colonel's camp-chest, on 
 which Mary proceeded to set tin plates, and a tin cup for 
 coffee, with pewter spoons, iron knives and forks, tin pep- 
 per-box, and salt-celler. After the Colonel had eaten, the 
 table was again set, and Mary and Jimmy took their morn- 
 ing meal, Jimmy devouring the corn pone, leaving the 
 flour biscuit for Mary. 
 
 While the breakfast was being cooked, the smoke seemed 
 very fond of Mary, and on whichever side of the fire she 
 would go, it followed her, filling her black eyes until they 
 ran tears. Her sleeves were rolled up, and her dress 
 looped, so as to get around easily, and thus, at her morning 
 task, she looked, if any thing, more charming than the 
 night before. Jimmy hung around her, ready to assist, 
 apparently happy to be near her. When the fire burned 
 low, he would get down on all fours and blow it into a 
 blaze again, and as fast as the wood burned out, he sup- 
 plied new sticks, hunting about on the river bank for them. 
 Was a bucket of water wanted ? Jimmy was off to the river 
 for it, so that Mary was simply the executive officer of the 
 morning meal, as Jimmy performed all the drudgery. 
 
 " Dat darkey is pow'ful choice of his nigger," said the 
 negro of the German features, " he'll spile her wid his pet- 
 tin'." But Mary seemed to appreciate her devoted hus- 
 band, and was constantly showing him some little token of 
 affection. She certainly looked as if she was born to 
 " spile " in the way Jimmy was trying it. There was un- 
 questionably good Carolina blood running in the veins of 
 
178 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 this bleached specimen of the negro race, because right 
 here he was reversing the negro characteristic, which 
 makes the woman the dray-horse, and adopting the Anglo- 
 Saxon habit, which makes her rather the pet. This blood 
 may have been put into Jimmy's veins illegitimately — and 
 it was, of course — but here was the legitimate inheritance 
 of some polite Carolina planter bestowing itself upon one 
 who had enough white blood in her veins to fully appre- 
 ciate it ; and it was the result of such white grafts upon these 
 negro stalks, which so attracted us. It was like finding 
 the notes of the mocking-bird issuing from the throat of 
 a crow. In other words, and in plain English, it was not 
 the negro blood in the veins of Jimmy and Mary which 
 was informing the story I have just written about them, but 
 it was the white blood; and yet, Jimmy told me that both 
 his own and Mary's mother were as " black as de ace ob 
 spades," and he told me further who his own and Mary's 
 fathers were ; one was a prominent Carolina planter, and 
 the other was an extensive Mississippi planter, and both 
 of them had been in Congress, and were noted politicians, 
 intense in their hatred to abolitionists and believers in 
 negro equality. 
 
 ^' Dey didn't preach what dey practiced," said Jimmy, 
 with one of his hearty laughs when he told me about it. 
 
 I took the larger portion of the new hands down into the 
 bramble-patches, and what a scattering we made of them ! 
 It was plain to be seen that these men and women had 
 worked in brier and cane-brakes before. What great 
 heaps they piled up, and the bon-fires we made that first 
 day were pleasant to look upon. We scared away rabbits, 
 coveys of quails, and opened land to sunlight, and made it 
 ready for the plow, which had not been so exposed, or in a 
 condition to plow, for years. And all day long the planta- 
 tion resounded with rude negro melodies. 
 
 Scarcely had I reached our cabins in the morning with 
 our n^w force, when the square-built negro stepped out from 
 
JOURNEY BACK TO HEBRON PLANTATION, ETC. 179 
 
 the crowd and said he would like to lead the " plow-gang." 
 " I's used to dc bizness," said he ; " de niggers on dis 
 place hab done pow'ful loose plowin', I seed as we come'd 
 along, an I'd like to shoAV you what a cotton furrow is, if 
 you please, sah." 
 
 I told him to detail a number of his party for plowmen, 
 and gave Billy orders to put the same number of old hands, 
 who had been doing the " loose " plowing, into the trash- 
 gang, so as to give each one of those detailed a team, which 
 he proceeded to do. The long-armed, Indian-looking 
 negro, said he would like to " lead de trash-gang, an make 
 de briers and brambles sick ; " and so, after the square- 
 built, German negro, whose name was Wash., had selected 
 what he wanted for plowmen, we turned over the rest to 
 lieub., the Indian negro. 
 
 Billy was wild with delight at our prospect, and Clara 
 said : 
 
 '' It 'pears as ef Eeb times is come back agin, an dis 
 crowd '11 work de free niggers down to de bone, in jes two 
 days." 
 
 And indeed, the work did now go forward rapidly. The 
 wire edge was on, and such clearings as they made, and 
 such plowing as they did, put completely to shame our pre- 
 vious shabby work. For the first time, we really had help, 
 and yet I felt it to be only temporary relief, — perhaps at 
 most only for a week, as by that time the Colonel would 
 doubtless get the place, as it soon became known that the 
 village agent was not really so much of an agent after all. 
 He had no positive instructions to rent the place, had only 
 acted on the ground of having been the owner's attorney 
 before the war, while the Yicksburg agent had written in- 
 structions to rent it. But the man in possession, although 
 without legal right, had nine points on his side, and then 
 he was a Southener, which knocked the beam in his favor. 
 The Yicksburg agent made a show of anger at the treat- 
 ment which his lease had met, while the village lawyer be- 
 
180 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 came really enraged, insisting that Lis client should re- 
 main on the place, and so Colonel Gray reluctantly con- 
 cluded to give up the fight, although at one time ho 
 decided to take the place by force of arms, and actually 
 organized his men for that j^urpose. This cruel disap- 
 pointment left Colonel Gray's labor and outfit on his 
 hands. 
 
 The sequel of this story was, that Byron did not make 
 any crop and could not pay his rent, and the owner of the 
 place undertook to make Colonel Gray legally responsible 
 for his contract with the Yicksburg agent, and to collect the 
 rent from him. 
 
 Colonel Gray thought seriously of moving his force to a 
 plantation in another part of the country which he said he 
 had the refusal of. If any part of the force he had brought 
 should go away with him we were satisfied they would 
 all go, which would of course leave us in the lurch, and, it 
 being so late in the season, we should certainly have to 
 give up our planting enterprise. So, in order to get his 
 labor, we entered into negotiations with him which ended 
 as follows : We took his outfit, costing thirty-five hundred 
 dollars, off his hands, paying him the cash for it ; con- 
 tracted to give him all the2:)rofits which should be made on 
 fifty acres of our Hebron plantation ; to allow him to fit 
 up and run our saw-mill, at joint expense— we to advance 
 the money for the same — the profits to be shared equally : 
 we to make no charge for the trees; we to work his 
 fifty acres j List as we worked our own, all in common ; 
 also to pay him at the rate of fifteen hundred dollars 
 a year to act as a sort of assistant manager, and to 
 give him a sixty-days' leave of absence to go home and 
 visit his family, during which time he was to be under 
 
 pay. 
 
 This seemed like a hard bargain for us, but his laborers 
 we must have ; and the idea was that their Colonel would 
 be able to get all the work out of them which was in them. 
 
JOURNEY BACK TO HEBRON PLANTATION, ETC. 181 
 
 It was sometime before wo could get him to agree to enter- 
 tain a proposition from us, so fully was he wedded to the 
 idea of i)lanting himself. But when, finally, after much per- 
 suasion, he agreed to do so, it was clearly to be seen, by his 
 manner, that he fully realized the fortune he had in his labor, 
 and made up his mind to work this mine for all there was in 
 it, and so he drove us from one valuable provision in his 
 favor to another, until we were almost crazed when we 
 thought what would be the result of it all. Of course here 
 was, at best, an enormous increase in the Dobson estimate 
 of expense for the year, and here were the revenues of fifty 
 acres to be taken from the credit side of the account. 
 These last blows to the Dobson statement placed it beyond 
 recognition. But there was no turning back, and so we 
 tried to console ourselves with the idea that his outfit had 
 been bought cheap for cash. The mules, the principal 
 item of expense, we knew to be particularly cheap, because 
 we had helped the Colonel purchase them inYicksburg; 
 the provisions we should need for our current use ; we thus 
 hoped to get rid of the outfit part of our bargain without a 
 great loss. As for the saw-mill, we had great expectations 
 from it, although no profits from this source had been con- 
 sidered in the Dobson estimate. It seemed, to want but 
 little in the way of repairs, and there were our two hundred 
 acres of woodland, with its valuable timber, which Hamp- 
 son had dwelt upon. Perhaps, with reasonable manage- 
 ment, the sawing would give us back the profits on the 
 fifty acres which were to go to Colonel Gray, as well as 
 help to make up some of the other items of unexpected ex- 
 pense which had weekly confronted us. It might be that 
 Dobson had not said any thing about the profits from the 
 saw-mill in his estimate, because he knew there would, of 
 necessity, be unexpected items of expense which the " lag- 
 ?H'<7^e " of the saw-mill would make good. Colonel Gray 
 was an old lumberman, and while just now he seemed to 
 have by far the best of us in the trade, j^erhaps the utiliz* 
 
182 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ing of his former experience would open up to us an un- 
 expected source of profit, and our more than liberal con- 
 cessions to bim migbt 3'et put money in our pockets. It 
 was so like buman nature while the prospects for cotton 
 profits were dwindling, to reach out for something else to 
 bang hope upon, even though it was that uncertain pro- 
 duct, a saw-mill ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIY. 
 
 ADJUTANT JOHNSON RETURNS WITH REINFORCEMENTS. 
 
 One afternoon, while yet in the midst of the task of or- 
 ganizing the feeding and the division into squads of our 
 new force, the hoarse whistle of a steamboat sounded for 
 our landing, and when I galloped down to the river bank, 
 I found Adjutant Johnson disembarking with a crowd of 
 some twenty negroes and two white men. 
 
 " I am here at last," be said, with an attempt at spright- 
 liness, as I greeted bim; but there were the quavering 
 voice, the staggering gait, and the sunken eye, still more 
 apparent than when 1 had so reluctantly said good-bye to 
 bim, and his wan appearance shocked me beyond measure. 
 Disease had indeed been busily at work on his feeble frame 
 during bis long and toilsome journey. 
 
 As if noticing my painful expression of face, and divin- 
 ing the cause to be himself, he continued : 
 
 " Only a little banged up by the journey; I'll be all 
 right after a night's rest." 
 
 And then be introduced me to the two white men ; one 
 was an engineer I bad sent for, and the other " is to act as 
 my assistant until I get stronger," said the invalid. 
 
 "Better get him onto a bed as soon as we can," whis- 
 
JOHNSON RETURNS WITH REINFORCEMENTS. 183 
 
 pered the assistant in ray ear. " He has had a succes- 
 sion of bad turns since we commenced our journey, and is 
 really very low. I begged him not to dress, but he insisted 
 upon doing so, saying he did n't want to be taken off the 
 steamboat on a litter like an invalid — he wanted to look 
 upon the plantation so dear to him, standing on his legs 
 like a man, and not with his face to the sky ; and he was 
 particularly anxious to see the twinkle of your eyes, Mr. 
 Harding, when they should rest on his reinforcement." 
 
 It was very difficult to induce him to take my horse and 
 ride to the quarters ; and, indeed he at first refused posi- 
 tively to do so, declaring that he could " walk as well as 
 any one" (it was three-quarters of a mile !) It was only 
 when I resorted to a little deception, telling him I wanted 
 to walk alongside of his assistant, and get the home news — 
 would he oblige me by riding my horse — that I gained his 
 consent; and then I lifted him upon the horse, and when 
 we reached the quarters he dropped from the saddle into my 
 arms, so exhausted that he almost went into a swoon. We 
 carried him to the house and placed him on the bed, where 
 he lay for several hours without opening his eyes, and 
 with only the faintest thread of a pulse. 
 
 He had made the long journey ; had brought us rein- 
 forcements ; the excitement was over — this was the re- 
 action. When you consider what this invalid had accom- 
 plished, you could not but exclaim " Here lies a hero !" 
 
 AYe gave him in charge of " Ole Clara," and thencefor- 
 ward, until he bade adieu to "Hebron" she was his constant 
 nurse ; and no babe was ever cared for with greater tender- 
 ness. Of course our invalid rallied. The nature of the 
 disease was one of " ups and downs." He wrestled manfully 
 with Death, and sometimes it looked, ever so faintly, as if 
 he were going to get the best of him ; but it was only the 
 flicker of the candle in the socket, at each recurrence 
 burning feebler. So great was his will that he was not 
 yet " bed-bound." Sometimes, when I reached the plan- 
 
184 A YEAR OF 'WRECK. 
 
 tation in the morning, I would find him dressed and sit- 
 ting in his rocking-chair, with Clara hovering near him, 
 and once or twice I actually found him leaning on his 
 cane, staggering about the yard almost like a drunken 
 man, and when I remonstrated with him he would reply : 
 " I must take exercise in order to regain my strength ; I am 
 no possible account to any one now. I want to hurry and 
 get better !" On the part of Clara, there grew up the af- 
 fection of mother for child. The good old soul had never 
 experienced the sj^ring of maternal affection quickening into 
 life through a child of her own, and now it burst forth 
 with all the power of a long pent-up stream. It was the 
 old story of the barren woman yearning, during many 
 years, for " bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh," and 
 not finding it; but having, instead, the flood-gates of her 
 maternal affection at last opened by a key in the hand of 
 some chance waif, onl}-, in her state of ignorance, it seemed 
 rather the affection of the bear for the cub. Yes, indeed, 
 Clara would have torn flesh, scratched out eyes, if any one 
 had dared approach her ^' chile " other than in the gentlest 
 manner. 
 
 " Dis chile is as dear to me as the apple o' my eye ; he 
 'longs to hebben, an' if ole Clara holes on to the hem o' 
 his garment hell pull her smack into the presence o' Je- 
 sus. One night, when Clara was praying on the gallery, 
 an' askin' Jesus to 'store her chile to helf, de angel o' the 
 Lo'd 'peared to her and said : ' Clara ! dat's your chile ; Je- 
 sus gibs him to you — take him Clara. He 's one of the 
 Lo'd's 'n'inted !' " 
 
 Some one asked her how the angel looked. " Jes like a 
 white man; and did n't 'pear to hab the leas' preducZiSS 
 agin me on 'count o' my black skin." 
 
 There were two articles of diet quite essential to the in- 
 valid, namely : fresh meat and milk. It did not seem pos- 
 sible to get either ; but love was in the heart of old Clara, 
 that love which is ever fruitful in resource, the love of the 
 
JOHNSON RETURNS WITH REINFORCEMENTS. 185 
 
 mother for the child. Clara, with her own hands, built a 
 quail-trap, and placed it on the edge of a cane-brake. 
 She was rewarded, on going to her trap the following 
 morning, by finding eight nice, plump quails as prisoners. 
 When she brought them into the quarters, her black face 
 was beaming with delight ; she cried, in a loud voice : 
 
 " De Lo'd has 'warded ole Clara." 
 
 This was the commencement ; and always, after that, 
 she kejDt something fresh on hand — now a meadow-lark, 
 now a squirrel, now a duck, and occasionally a slice of 
 venison, which she would either beg or buy fi'om "the 
 boys," as they brought them in from their evening or Sat- 
 urday afternoon hunt — this when her invalid would tire 
 of quail, which were always to be had for the snaring. 
 
 " Dar was a fellow-s'a'vant back on de plantation 'bout 
 eight miles from here — de plantation I use to 'long to — 
 wid some goats. If I could get out dar I might get one 
 of um wid a kid, which ud gib my chile 'bundance o' 
 milk." 
 
 So the old soul trudged off bright and early one morn- 
 ing, on foot and alone, and the evening of the same day she 
 came back, leading a she-goat, with its kid in her arms, say- 
 ing, " I gist borried it." And so the two essentials were 
 supplied, and under this generous diet her " chile " seemed 
 to thrive. 
 
 Fifteen of the negroes Adjutant Johnson had brought 
 were assigned to the different squads, which left us a surplus 
 of five. We told our village merchant we had some surplus 
 hands, and asked him to spread the news among the plant- 
 ers needing help, which he did, and within twenty -four 
 hours we had a dozen aj^plicants for them. We let one 
 man have them all, he promising " gladly " to reimburse 
 us for our outlay, which he never did, though we dunned 
 him repeatedly. 
 
186 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXY. 
 
 DE BERRY LARGE. 
 
 One morning, after things had commenced running along 
 smoothly under our new force, I invited Mrs. Harding and 
 the children to join me in a ride to the plantation, with a 
 triple view of showing off our new labor, giving my family 
 an airing, and arranging for a Sabbath-school on the fol- 
 lowing Sunday. 
 
 We all crowded into one little single-seated buggy — one 
 of the boys between us, and one on a cushioned stool at 
 our feet — and drove off in high glee, taking care not to 
 trespass on our neighbor's yard, so as to bring down her 
 wrath for the second time. 
 
 It was a charming morning, and as we drove up the levee 
 birds filled the air with their varied notes. Conspicuous 
 among these was the French mocking-bird. What a world 
 of loveliness is concentrated in this bird ! In grace and 
 beauty it is to birds what the deer is to beasts, but one is 
 lost when he attempts to find a comparison for its music. 
 They were flying all about us, at least half a dozen, at once 
 flying and singing. They seemed to be intoxicated with 
 joy, as they flapped along lazily in the air, now shutting 
 their wings, until they almost dropped to the ground, and 
 then lifting themselves up again, by a few long swoops, trac- 
 ing a succession of curved lines. They could do nothing 
 that did not seem beautiful, and, when it was their mood 
 to cease their flight, using at once their long sweej^ing 
 tail and wings, so as to let themselves down lightly ; then 
 throwing the former up over their backs, and with a most 
 bewitching turn of the head looking at you, as if to say : 
 "How do you like that?" — all the time continuing their 
 
"DE BERRY-LARGE." 187 
 
 song, showing that singing is with them involuntary. In 
 their sober slate-colors, with their lithe little bodies, how 
 they surpass every thing else of the bird species, however 
 gay its plumage ! If all could see the mocking-bird in its 
 natural state, it would no longer be imprisoned — the doors 
 of cages would be thrown open, and this bird of haj^pi- 
 ness and song would be allowed to fly out and away into 
 congenial latitudes. 
 
 Sing on, sweet bird ! My love for you was love at first 
 sight, but how much more I grew to love you as I knew 
 you better in the years which followed ! You have cheered 
 me in my waking midnight hours by the song from your nest 
 in the vine under my window. You come back to us in the 
 spring-time, after the briefest absence, to sing the old songs 
 again, during all the spring, summer, and autumn seasons. 
 You trust me by rearing your young where my hands could 
 reach them without the aid of ladder. You have been my 
 companion in the long summer months, when the dog-star 
 reigned, and companionship, if it was of human kind, had 
 fled to the Xorth— if it was bird or beast, had sought the 
 densest shade. Then you would show yourself, scarcely 
 moving in the air, hardly flapping you wings, lazily, now 
 perching on the chimney -tops, or uttermost pinnacle of the 
 roof, now on a bush, now in the roadway, panting under 
 the noon -day sun, but never hiding from it — breathing 
 out your songs through the pug's of heat, and ever the 
 very picture of happiness. These birds seem the veriest 
 salamanders, and save for their panting breath, which has 
 something of the human in it, as has every thing they do, 
 one would suppose they shed sun and heat as their feathers 
 do rain. While full of industry, they are yet birds of 
 pleasure. In their nest-building, in seeking food for their 
 young, in their flight, in rest, and in song, there is an air 
 of luxury and nobility about them — it touches every thing 
 they do. Their true home is in the South, and j^et they 
 are no respecters of persons ! And we loved them for that> 
 
188 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 for it was something to find even a bird in this country, in 
 those days, which was not prejudiced against the new- 
 comer ! 
 
 When we finally reached the j^lantation there was much 
 staring in the quarters, among the " aunties," at " de Yan- 
 kee wife." 
 
 ^' Jes like odder 'omen, for all de world," said one. 
 
 I seated Mrs. Harding in the store-room, and one after 
 another of the " aunties " dropped in to call ujDon her. 
 Clara acted as hostess, and introduced each one. On the 
 part of each " aunty " there would be the hand-shake, 
 and, accompanying it, a courtesy, such as one sees dropped 
 by school -girls when coming upon the stage to read a com- 
 position. This was their invariable habit. How did they 
 come by it ? 
 
 One, aunt Martha, a mulatto woman, with soft, creamy 
 skin, was introduced. 
 
 Mrs. Harding noticed some blotches on her face, and, her 
 countenance beaming with kindly solicitude, asked her 
 what they meant. 
 
 " Dey say I's got de berry -large," she replied, as if it were 
 the most natural thing in the world to have, and one at 
 which no one should be surj)rised or alarmed. 
 
 I heard her reply, and looked around, and there, sure 
 enough, was a well-developed case of small-pox, and my 
 wife had been shaking hands with it — and there she stood 
 aghast, as she contemplated the full extent of her expos- 
 ure. I took her and the children away from the planta- 
 tion as fast as wheels could carry us, with the full con- 
 viction that we had a long siege of this fearful contagion 
 before us. 
 
 Aunt Martha was down with a raging fever the follow- 
 ing day, and so Dobson had a cabin fixed up in the quar- 
 ters, just across the road from the ofl&ce, and at about three 
 rods distance, as a small-pox hospital, and here, for over two 
 months, we had an average of from one to eight cases, with 
 
now CONTRACTS WERE KEPT. 189 
 
 some five deaths during its prevalence,' among which was 
 that of the white engineer Adjutant Johnson had brought 
 with him. 
 
 The small-pox was a legacy of Yicksburg and soldier 
 life, and had been brought up by our new force. Before it 
 had run its course, fully one-third of these were marked by 
 it, and before the epidemic was over I became a thorough 
 adept in the treatment of small-pox. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYL 
 
 HOW CONTRACTS WERE KEPT. 
 
 About the middle of April we began to think about get- 
 ting our cotton-seed upon the plantation, ready for plant- 
 ing. We should have to haul it some four miles, over a 
 very bad road, which would take at least three days. 
 Accordingly, I addressed a note to the gentleman with 
 whom we had previously contracted, asking him to deliver 
 the seed to the bearer, and placed the same in the hands of 
 Billy, who started off with our two teams. 
 
 The teams returned in about three hours, the wagons 
 empty, with a message from the gentleman that he had no 
 seed for us ! 
 
 I sent Billy back with another note, recalling our pur- 
 chase of seed on the wharf-boat, thinking it possible he 
 might have forgotten it, and with a view of refreshing his 
 memory ; but Billy again returned with the same answer. 
 
 The next day I met the man in the village, and asked 
 him what it all meant. He said he had been disappointed 
 in his seed, and was sorry to have to break his contract. 
 I mildly suggested that, as he had contracted to furnish 
 
190 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 US all the cotton-seed we might need for planting, without 
 any proviso, it was his duty to do so. He replied, in sub- 
 stance, that was not the way Southern people did business ; 
 when they made contracts they were in the habit of carry- 
 ing them out, if perfectly convenient — it was not perfectly 
 convenient for him, and this must be the end of it. And 
 then he rode off with the air of a man who had rather 
 done a favor, than one who had just broken a contract, 
 which would involve us in untold expense. 
 
 Here was a perfectly clear case of breach of contract, 
 but it was also just as clear that we should have to swal- 
 low it ; and so we set to work immediately scouring the 
 country for cotton-seed, visiting, among other places, Mem- 
 phis and Yicksburg, but finding every-where the desirable, 
 healthy seed already purchased, so that we had to take 
 what was left, and for some of this poor, half-rotten stuff 
 we had to pay a dollar and a half a bushel. 
 
 This failure to get what we had purchased cost us from a 
 thousand to fifteen hundred dollars, to say nothing of the 
 loss of crop by having to plant poor seed. 
 
 While we were yet seeking far and wide for seed, smart- 
 ing under the consequences of the broken contract, and 
 fearing that much of that which we were purchasing would 
 never germinate plants at all, while but little of it would 
 produce any thing but sickly stalks ; fearing that we were 
 in a measure ruined, but feeling ourselves to be powerless 
 to secure legal redress — in the midst of all this, a bill was 
 presented to us for rent of the house we were living in, 
 made out at the rate of a thousand dollars a year, when, 
 according to our understanding, the outside price was eight 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 I pocketed the bill and rode over to the office of the at- 
 torney who had sent it with a view of exjDlaining to him 
 my understanding, viz.: that the rent was to be at the rate 
 of a thousand dollars a year (the owner had said eight 
 hundred to a thousand, and I had decided that he would 
 
COTTON PLANTING. 191 
 
 charge tho outside figure)— two hundred to be allowed for 
 repairs ; claiming, moreover, that I had already spent a 
 hundred and fifty dollars of this latter amount, while there 
 was much yet to do. 
 
 I found the owner of the house at the office of his attor- 
 ney. He insisted that he had said a thousand dollars a 
 year rent, and that he would allow us to put on two hun- 
 dred dollars' worth of repairs ! 
 
 I simply said in reply : '' I have stated the contract cor- 
 rectly, but let it go ; I will pay the bill. I have never had 
 a law-suit, and don't propose to begin now. It is only an- 
 other charge to our experience account, which," I added, 
 not a little bitterly, " is already a very large one in our 
 new home. We are being welcomed with a vengeance." 
 
 ^ The owner's " understanding " was so preposterous, and 
 his attorney saw so clearly that I perfectly understood wo 
 were being fleeced, that he said : 
 
 " Gentlemen, in view of this unfortunate misunderstand- 
 ing, I would suggest that you split the difference in dis- 
 pute, and make the rent nine hundred dollars." I thanked 
 the lawyer for so much relief, paid the account, and de- 
 parted, a wiser, a poorer, and, if possible, a more intensely 
 disgusted man. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXYII. 
 
 COTTON PLANTING. 
 
 There are eras in all enterprises, as in the lives of all in- 
 dividuals. In a railroad enterprise, it is the first or last 
 rail that is spiked down by the president and directors, in 
 the presence of an assembled company, and with much 
 ceremony. In that of a public building, it is the laying of 
 
192 A YEAR OF -WRECK. 
 
 the corner-stone, which calls together a vast assemblage, 
 with music, guns, speech-making, and a silver trowe" 
 in the gloved hand of the " master mason." In that of the 
 steamshij), it is when the keel is laid, and again when the 
 vessel glides for the first time into the water. The plant- 
 ing of the cotton-seed might well be regarded as a cor- 
 responding era in our Southern plantation enterprise. 
 Eut to me, as the reader may readily believe, after the 
 long series of obstacles and discouragements of one kind 
 or another recorded in these chapters, its approach was 
 not calculated to suggest occasion for any great display 
 of enthusiasm. It was Mrs. Dobson, who had seen only 
 the rosy side of plantation life, and was therefore filled 
 with its poetry, to whom it occurred that the dropping of 
 the first cotton-seed into the ground should be accompa- 
 nied with befitting ceremony. 
 
 I do not know that the thing was suggested in so many 
 Words, but the generaHclea seemed to be that, if possible, 
 a band of music and a gun would be proper on the oc- 
 casion — that the music should strike up and the gun should 
 boom simultaneously with the casting of the first seed. 
 Music and a gun, however, were of course out of the ques- 
 tion; and, as I had long since had all the poetry of plan- 
 tation life pressed out of me, under my trying ordeal of 
 getting labor, organizing it, etc., was it any wonder that I 
 had neither any ambition nor heart for display ? But 
 there was a melancholy pleasure in knowing that at least 
 one of our party could still enjoy that which was to plant- 
 ing what the last spike in the last rail, or the laying of the 
 corner-stone, were to the enterprises associated with them. 
 It was arranged therefore, that we should all ride up to 
 the plantation in our buggies, and that precisely at half- 
 past one, on the afternoon of April the twentieth, Mrs. 
 Dobson should drop the first seed. 
 
 The moment came, and Uncle "Wash had every thing 
 ready ; but an hour passed by without the Dobsous makiog 
 
COTTON CULTIVATION. 193 
 
 their appearance. Our whole force was organized as a 
 planting squad. They could plant ten acres every hour. 
 The season was very late — we should have been through 
 planting a week ago. Hands and mules became impatient 
 at the delay, and finally Uncle Wash, said, "I declaar 1 
 can 't wait nary nodder minute ; ef dis crap is gwine to be 
 planted, we 'd better git at it, and not wait any longer for 
 foolish doin's." 
 
 So I told him to push ahead, and Aunt Martha — she 
 of "de berry large" — instead of Mrs. Dobson, '- drapped 
 de fust seed." 
 
 Uncle "Wash, had about five acres planted when the 
 Dobsons arrived. For once, at least, Dobson had made 
 l)eople wait for him too long, and disappointed his wife in 
 consequence. I felt sorry for her, as she had evidently set 
 her heart upon commemorating this era in our history as 
 cotton-planters. 
 
 A week later, Hebron was all planted, and, before the 
 last seed was in the ground, our first afternoon's planting 
 had S2:)routed, and was showing itself, just peeping through 
 the surface of the ground — a green band on top of the 
 cotton-bed, about three inches wide, and as thick as " do 
 haar on de dog's back," to use Uncle Wash.'s expression. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYIII. 
 
 COTTON CULTIVATION. 
 
 When the cotton-plant first shows itself, it has two 
 round leaves, varying from the size of a nickel to that of a 
 half dollar, according to the richness of the soil, with 
 9 
 
194 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 a stem like the dandelion's, and about the tiiickness of a 
 rye-straw. When it has reached a healthy growth, it is 
 " hip-high," and from that to a height which will hide a man 
 on horse-back, in shape, it is not unlike the althea shrub, 
 and their blossoms are also similar. A " stand '"' of cotton 
 is not less than a hundred little plants to every one which 
 will finally be left to make the last " stand " on which the 
 crop is grown, the ninety-nine being cut away in the va- 
 rious early processes of cultivation, or destroyed by the ex- 
 cessive rains flooding the country and thus drowning them 
 out, or by hailstorms cutting them to pieces, or by unexpect- 
 edly late frosts, or by their rusting at the trunk and then 
 rotting away, or by their being eaten by lice — these insects, 
 as well as the rust, being the product of cold rains ; and it 
 is to guard against these contingencies that the seed is de- 
 posited so thickly, in order that when this little, delicate, 
 sickly plant shall have encountered any or all of its ene- 
 mies, the mortality can not be so great but that there will 
 be at least stalks enough alive to make the required final 
 " stand " of a single one, from fourteen to twenty-four inches 
 apart. Of course, if the little plant does not encounter all 
 or any of the above-named enemies, as many of the ex- 
 cess as are left standing are finally taken out by the 
 plow and hoe, in process of cultivating. The manner of 
 cultivating cotton is briefly as follows : First, a furrow 
 thrown away from the cotton (the rows are from four to 
 six feet apart), by means of a single cultivating plow — this 
 is called "barring;" second, a plow-like instrument, 
 called a *' scraper," follows on either side of the cotton- 
 row, throwing the earth away from it, skimming along the 
 surface, thus scraping away weeds and cotton-plants, leav- 
 ing only a narrow strip of cotton, from an inch to an inch 
 and a half wide — this is called "scraping," and is an aid to 
 the hoe, doing at least two-thirds of its work ; third, then 
 comes the "hoe-gang," "bunching" the cotton — that is, 
 cutting away all the plants, excepting a bunch of from 
 
COTTON CULTIVATION. 195 
 
 three to five stalks in a place, each bunch from fourteen to 
 twenty-four inches apart ; fourth, the plow again is used, 
 this time throwing the earth towards the cotton — this is 
 called "dirting," and ever after the earth is thrown in the 
 same direction. The hoes again follow the plows, this time 
 cutting away all the stalks save one — this is called bring- 
 ing cotton to a "final stand." By the successive throwing 
 of furrows toward thecotton, the earth is banked up on either 
 side of it, so that the rows are in shape and size not unlike 
 sweet-potato beds. By this means the moisture is retained 
 in the ground, so that the cotton continues to grow through 
 the long season of drought which it has invariably to en- 
 counter. During the excessive rains, earlier in the season, 
 a furrow of earth is sometimes thrown away from the cot- 
 ton, so as to check its growth, thereby'' forcing it to produce 
 more fruit. After the first working, which should be com- 
 menced as soon as the cotton is well out of the ground, the 
 crop should be worked over with the plow and hoe every 
 ten days, in order to keep the weeds down. 
 
 The theory among cotton-planters is that for the first 
 two months the root of the cotton is forming, and that the 
 stalk does not begin to grow until the root has pushed 
 its way down to a depth where it has found hard soil, 
 from the moisture of which it can furnish sustenance to 
 the plant during the coming heat and drouth. Whether 
 this is so or not, I can not say, but it is very certain that, 
 during this time, it is a very feeble, sickly-looking j)lant, 
 sometimes with the leaf all eaten ofl^, and with nothing but 
 the faintest show of a bud in the center, to tell you the 
 plant is still alive. This apparent sickness continues 
 through all the cold and wet season ; but, through it all, 
 there is but one thing for the planter to do — that is, to cul- 
 tivate thoroughly, keeping the ground well stirred around 
 the plants — and by-and-by the warm days will come, and 
 then these plants, only two inches high, will grow a foot each 
 week, and a fair crop is certain, worm or no worm. On 
 
196 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 the contrary, if the cotton-plant is not free from weeds, 
 with soft earth about it, and thus in a favorable condition, 
 when this growing* time comes, there is no hope for a crop, 
 and the very best thing for the planter to do, is to plow it 
 up, and raise a crop of sweet-j)otatoes instead. 
 
 The three great enemies to cotton are weeds, water, and 
 worms. The remedy for the first is thoroui^h cultivation : 
 for the second, drainage — add to these two early planting, 
 and you can invariably make a crop of cotton, as much or 
 more than you can gather, before the worm can hurt you. 
 On a plantation so conducted, the worm is a positive ser- 
 vice, since he eats off the leaves, and thus exposes the 
 cotton-bolls, which have already matured two-thirds of 
 the way up the stalk (and some of which, but for this, 
 would rot from the continued moisture under the dense 
 leaf-shade), to sunlight and daylight — only cutting off the 
 half-grown bolls at the top of the stalk, most of which the 
 coming frost would never allow to ripen, and which, if it 
 should, you would never have time to gather, as the crop 
 already made will keep you picking from September to 
 February. 
 
 I have only to add to the above, in order to give the 
 reader a thorough understanding of the growth of cotton, 
 that it begins to blossom as soon as it begins to grow ; that 
 it sends out its limbs just above the surface of the ground, 
 where the blossoms first appear, and it continues to grow 
 and put forth limbs and to blossom, until either the worm 
 or the frost kills it. A cotton-boll is ripe forty-five days 
 after the blossoming, and from the time cotton begins to 
 ripen the crop makes at the rate of a bale a day to each 
 one hundred acres. 
 
 The first cotton-bolls to mature are, of course, those on 
 the lower limbs; second, those on the middle limbs ; and, 
 last, those on the top limbs — hence the terms "bottom," 
 "middle," and "top" crops; and it is this "top crop" 
 which the worm destroys, leaving the " middle " and " bot- 
 
COTTON CULTIVATION. 197 
 
 torn " crops intact, which means at least a bale to the acre — 
 this, of course, where the cultivation, drainage, and early 
 planting have been what they ought to have been ; there- 
 fore, when you read that the worm has destroyed the crop, 
 this probably means that it has simply destro3^ed what 
 would have been a "top crop," had it been allowed to 
 make. In former times, when there was no worm to eat 
 off the leaves, the " bottom crop " frequently rotted during 
 the rainy season in August, so that the planter had to rely 
 on his " middle " and " top " crops. Under the worm dis- 
 pensation, this "bottom crop" — much the most valuable 
 of the three, both in yield and staple — (next in value 
 comes the "middle crop," and lastly the "top crop"), is 
 secured. 
 
 The period when the planter seems to be more at leisure 
 than at any other during the entire year, is that imme- 
 diately after planting, while he is waiting for the cotton to 
 get of sufficient size to commence cultivation. Fatal de- 
 lusion ! That is the most critical time in the whole 
 season. These are golden moments which fix your status 
 during the coming months — as to whether your work is to 
 drive j^ou, or you to drive your work. While the plow and 
 hoe are idle, the weeds and grass are not idle. True, they 
 are just peeping out of the ground now — are no larger 
 than the cotton-plant ; but what a week will do in the life 
 of a weed, in this rich soil, with frequent showers to help 
 it along ! Just now, the cultivating plow can turn them 
 under from end to end of the rows — a week hence they 
 will be choking it every six feet, wearing out the " hoe- 
 gang," whose only task should be drawing the mellow 
 earth around the cotton-stalks, and not chojDping down 
 weeds from three inches to two feet high. The simple les- 
 son in this paragraph cost the South millions of dollars in 
 the year 1866. 
 
 That the new-comers should fall into this pit is not a 
 matter of surprise. The surprise is that the old planters 
 
198 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 were equally the victims. Filled with the idea that the 
 land had "rested," and was therefore enriched — never for 
 a moment reflecting that their work for the first year or 
 two would be the redemption of a weed-patch, and not the 
 easy cultivation of lands under subjection — the old planter 
 made the same mistake made by the new-comer. 
 
 Perhaps our own case would not have been quite so bad, 
 but, about the time Uncle Wash '^ declaared " our cotton was 
 large enough to commence cultivation, rains set in, which 
 continued with more or less frequency for two weeks. The 
 waters filled up the sloughs in the rear of the cultivated 
 lands, and then backed up into the ditches, overflowing -the 
 low places. During all this time, the weeds grew apace. 
 There were half days or days in the intervals of the storm, 
 when our hands could have worked at cultivating the 
 ridges, and between showers all the time. What a ser- 
 vice they might have rendered to the half-drowned cotton- 
 plants, by opening choked-up ditches, and thus helping 
 the water to run off! This was what they had to do in 
 the days of slavery, but now " dey was free, and dey 
 wouldn't work in de mud an' de water for nobody." I 
 tried to reason with them by telling them the cotton-plants 
 were sick ; that the hoeing of a single row, even, on a 
 ridge of land, would be so much relief to them ; that tak- 
 ing the "trash" out of the ditches was a religious duty. 
 What would they think of a doctor who should refuse to 
 visit them when they were sick, because it had been 
 stormy, and he did n't want to go out in the mud and 
 water ? They were the doctors to the sick cotton-plants, 
 and, when called upon, they didn't want to go out and as- 
 sist in relieving them, I said; and, in this way, we got 
 some few scraps of unwilling service. But here, mani- 
 festly, was a serious hitch in cotton-raising under the new 
 dispensation. What was necessary to be done in the days of 
 slavery, was equally necessary now — more so, because of 
 the weed-ridden condition of the plantation, and the 
 
SMALL-POX, RAIN, ETC. 199 
 
 choked-iip ditches ; and just to the extent that the hibor 
 fell short of the old requirements, should we now fail. 
 And so, because we did not begin to cultivate our cotton 
 the very day after we had finished planting the last of it, 
 and because our laborers were unwilling to work in the 
 wet and mud, as they had done in the old times, our crop 
 was in the grass. Of course, we did not despair of getting 
 it clear. No one told us that it was a hopeless task, be- 
 cause all were in the same boat, and no one was willing to 
 acknowledge what must have been apparent to any im^Dar- 
 tial observer, who had had previous exj^erience in cotton- 
 raising. Then, too, it was just possible, if the weather 
 cleared and the season was late, and no army worm came, 
 that we could do something with our crop, even yet. An 
 t' if" and two " ands " were the threads on which the suc- 
 cess of our scheme hung. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 SMALL-POX — RAIN — NEGRO ECCENTRICITIES — ADJUTANT 
 JOHNSON AND THE DEPARTURE. 
 
 The small-pox was spreading every-where. General 
 Dobson's body-servant had nursed a case of it in the North, 
 and within a couple of weeks he was taken down with the 
 disease. The following week, Mrs. Harding's cook sent 
 her little girl in to tell me, "she is ailing like; will you 
 please, sir, come out, an' see what is de matter wid her." 
 I went out, and found her rolled up, head and all, in a 
 blanket, and I was obliged to punch Jane well, before we 
 could induce her to uncover her head. That told the story, 
 for there were the unmistakable small-pox blotches, and 
 
200 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 there sat her two little unvaccinated raulatto children on 
 the floor beside her, munching stale hoe-cake. Jane had 
 been " de mistus of an oberseer, and dese were the chilun" 
 she " done had by him " — one was five and the other three 
 years old, a girl and a boy, and they were bright little 
 things. Our children played with them every day on the 
 gallery, or, when the weather permitted, in the yard. 
 The servants' quarters, where they staid, were several rods 
 from the house, and Dobson gave it as his opinion that 
 there was very little danger of any of us taking the dis- 
 ease, if the children could be kept separate ; so we ban- 
 ished Jane's to the servants' quarters, and quarantined our 
 own in the front part of the house. This was only a tem- 
 porary arrangement, for we at once resolved that the only 
 safe thing to do was to send our families North ; but ife 
 would take a few days to pack up every thing and close 
 up the house, since we were going to the plantation to live 
 as soon as our families went away. The day after Jane was 
 taken down, Mrs. Dobson's cook was smitten with the dis- 
 ease; and in the evening 7ier" chile," a half-grown girl, 
 was likewise smitten. Dobson's body-servant had by this 
 time so far recovered that he was able to act as general 
 nurse, and as fast as the cases came he took them in charge. 
 
 Fortunately for all of us, our house and yard servant 
 had already had the small-pox, so he was turned in as 
 cook, proving a fine success in that dej^artment. 
 
 On the evening of the third day after the outbreak of 
 the disease, I came in from the plantation, when, riding 
 up to the rear gallery, what should I see but Jane's girl 
 and our eldest boy playing together ! " Here is a case of 
 varioloid, to a certainty," I exclaimed. The little rascal 
 had escaped the watchful eye of his mother, and thought- 
 lessly hunted up his mulatto playmate, who was no doubt 
 only too happy to be released from her quarantine. 
 
 Many anxious days followed, under the painful appre- 
 hension that his exposure had been such as to make it cer- 
 
SMALL-POX, RAIN, ETC. 201 
 
 tain that he would have the Tarioloid. These were dark 
 days in more ways than one. They were literally dark, 
 for the rain was falling at frequent intervals, and there was 
 mud and water every-where ; our families were living in 
 the atmosphere of small-pox, and this fearful contagion 
 might prostrate any one or all of us at any time. I had 
 
 not minded it so long as it was confined to the plantation 
 
 in fact I had daily visited it there for some time, minister- 
 ing to it, but now that it was at our own door the case was 
 diiferent, and made me tremble with fear when I thought 
 of the exposure of my wife and little ones. There they 
 were— prisoners, as it were, in the midst of the pestilence— 
 for there was no door in this region then which was not 
 doubly barred and bolted against us, and they must needs 
 wait here until our arrangements were made to place them 
 on a steamboat and send them away. Our laborers were 
 very much demoralized from the long rest during the rainy 
 weather ; every day some one or more of them were get- 
 ting drunk, and woman-whijoping was a frequent occur- 
 rence. I was often called on to quell these women and 
 whisky disturbances. The moral atmosphere was awful- 
 one day a woman would be cohabiting with one man, the 
 next she would have another, " caze she done had a fuss 
 wid him an' quit him." There were desperately jealous 
 men and women among them, and they were constantly 
 keeping up a " 'sturbance in de quarta." The best fighters 
 among them were the women, not only with tongue, but 
 with fist and teeth. There were quiet ones — Jimmy and 
 his beautiful Mary, Uncle Wash and his coal-black wife, 
 with Clara and others. 
 
 Yery objectionable traits of character came to the sur- 
 face during this trying ordeal of the rainy season. Car- 
 rying out our idea of raising our own pork the second 
 year, one of the first things I did on reaching JEebron was 
 to purchase a half dozen hogs with their litters. These 
 pigs had grown to good size now, and every few days we 
 9* 
 
202 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 would miss one of them. They were undoubtedly killed at 
 night in the quarters, and eaten by our own hands. The 
 guilty parties must have been generally known, and yet I 
 could not ferret them out. Our heads of squads — which 
 we had so confidently counted upon to unearth mischief — 
 seemed no wiser than the rest ; and even Uncle Wash, 
 who had gained so large a share of our confidence, 
 " could n't, for de life o' him, 'magin' who did it." In my 
 distress, I mentioned the thing to a neighbor. He replied, 
 with a loud laugh : 
 
 " There is n't a nigger in your quarters who does n't 
 know about it — they are all in it ; but you '11 never catch 
 one of them telling on another ; they call that going back 
 on their color." 
 
 Was this true ? It was hard to feel that while we were 
 feeding them so generously, they should be stealing our 
 hogs, which we could not afford to kill and eat ourselves, 
 because we wanted to fatten them in the winter. If our 
 neighbor was correct in his theory, here was the whole 
 plantation banded against us for the jDurpose of stealing ; 
 and this thought made me feel, more than ever, that we 
 were in the country of our enemies. 
 
 Another trait had developed itself, which was particu- 
 larly annoying just now, since it was the main obstacle in 
 getting our labor out during the intervals of rain. The 
 poorest hands were taken as a standard by the good ones. 
 For instance, if the laborers were' late getting out in the 
 morning, and I would speak to them about it, their com- 
 mon reply was: "We's out jist as soon as" so-and-so 
 (mentioning the most indifferent man in the squad) ; "we 
 do n't wants to be de fust one in de field." And when the 
 weather would clear, and we would urge them out, their 
 reply would be: "We's ready to go out ef" so-and-so 
 " will go ; but we do n't want to be de onlyest ones to go 
 to de field." The heads, therefore, made their attacks upon 
 the drones, knowing full well that when they went out at 
 
SMALL-POX, RAIN, ETC. 203 
 
 work the rest would follow. The practical effect of all this 
 was to make the lazy ones the ringleaders, and they, and 
 not the industrious ones, made the standard of work. It 
 seemed so much easier to drop to the level of the lazy ones 
 than to drag them up to the height of the industrious ones. 
 It was in vain to reason with them, as they would always 
 say : " We ought n't to be found fault wid long as we 's 
 ready to go to work when de rest do." " Ef de rest 'd 
 work half de night, we 's ready." " Our name 's work." 
 " Work never skeer'd us, but we do n't wants to be at it 
 when de rest aint dar," one after another would exclaim. 
 
 Another singular trait was their perfect indifference to 
 their sick. There was a severe case of pneumonia. I 
 tried in vain to get the patient cared for, and for sheer 
 want of attention he died. Then the case was different ; 
 the whole plantation stopped work, and turned out to 
 " sing and pray him into hebben," the ceremonies contin- 
 uing for twenty-four hours. 
 
 Every thing was now ready for the departure of our 
 families — they were to start Monday morning ; and so on 
 Sunday afternoon we all rode up to the plantation to give 
 the servants who were going away an opportunity to say 
 good-bye. The condition of Adjutant Johnson was worse. 
 It had been evident to me for some time that he was grad- 
 ually failing, notwithstanding the careful nursing of Clara. 
 I called Dobson's attention to him, and asked him if he 
 did not think he ought to be taken home to his parents. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 At my urgent solicitation he took upon himself the task 
 of telling Johnson so, and then old Clara packed his trunk, 
 dropping tears into it along with his shirts and collars, 
 while Billy prepared a conveyance ; then we made a chair 
 with our hands, and the invalid, no heavier than a ten-year 
 old boy, sat in it, with an arm over each of our shoulders, 
 and we carried him and placed him in the wagon, and 
 Billy drove off with him amidst the tears and prayers of 
 
204 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 his faithful old nurse, who might never see him again on 
 earth, for this time it looked as if he were surely going 
 home to die. 
 
 Clara's last wailing exclamation was : " Be good to Je- 
 sus, chile ; old Clara will meet yer in hebben." 
 
 We rode behind the wagon which was conveying our 
 invalid away, and when the negroes in the quarters learned 
 what was going on, which they did from Clara's lamenta- 
 tions, they insisted upon stopping it and bidding him 
 good-bye. The patience shown by him in his suffering 
 had won their hearts completely, and many and hearty 
 were the "God bress yous" spoken, and many were the 
 old shoes thrown after him, " jes fer luck," as the wagon 
 again moved on. 
 
 On the way out of the plantation the wagon stopped 
 again, and Billy got down and pulled up some of the 
 largest cotton-plants, and handed them to the invalid. 
 The latter, no doubt, requested him to stoj) and pluck 
 them as a memento of the plantation, which had at once 
 been a source of joy and sorrow, of comfort and pain to 
 him, and for whose success he had suffered and periled so 
 much. 
 
 It was sudden, the suggestion of his going away, and at 
 first he had shown all the self-will and petulance of one 
 stricken with disease. " I wont stir a step," he exclaimed. 
 " It is a plot to get me out of the way." And then this 
 little spirt of temper having thoroughly exhausted him, 
 he sank back, saying : 
 
 " I will do whatever you think best. The fact is, I 'm of 
 no account here — perhaps I had better go JSTorth during 
 the summer and get some strength for the labors of the 
 picking season in the fall." 
 
 When we reached our house, we carried him up on the 
 gallery, as we had carried him from his room in the 
 quarters, he holding on to his cotton-plants until we depos- 
 ited him in a chair ; then he asked Mi's. Harding to please 
 
SMALL-POX, RAIN, ETC. 205 
 
 put them into some water, saying : " I love these plants ; 
 there are many ducats at the end of them. How I should 
 like to stay here all summer with you, Mr. Harding, and 
 watch them grow, but no matter ; I '11 be back in the fall 
 to lend you a helping hand. 1 've rather been in your way, 
 60 far, sir, but I '11 make it good to you this fall." Then ho 
 added, as if thinking aloud : " How impatient I shall be 
 to get back." 
 
 Early on Monday morning, the wagons came down and 
 every thing in the line of edibles, with most of the furni- 
 ture, was sent up to the plantation on them. The steam- 
 boat was expected along at ten in the morning; so the 
 trunks were sent to the wharf-boat, and the buggies brought 
 around to the front door to take our families and the in- 
 valid over to the landing as soon as we should see the 
 smoke of the boat coming up the river. 
 
 It was arranged that the small-pox cases should be 
 moved at once to the plantation hospital, and, should 
 Jane recover, she was to be our cook. The French negro 
 George, who had been cooking since Jane's sickness, was 
 to accompany Mrs. Harding and the children home, and 
 then, returning, act as my body servant. Dobson was to 
 accompany the family party North as generalissimo. 
 
 Before ten o'clock we were all on the front gallery- -the 
 ladies bonneted and shawled — ready to push over to the 
 wharf-boat at the first sign of a steamboat. 
 
 Under all the circumstances, the separation was a sad 
 one : small-pox on the plantation, and small-pox at our 
 very door; stormy weather; laborers demoralized and 
 showing very objectionable traits of character ; cotton in 
 the grass ; our prospective home in the overseer's cabin ; 
 Adjutant Johnson about to start on, perhaps, his last jour- 
 ney, and, added to these, a thorough consciousness on my 
 part that we were living in a community where we had 
 neither friends nor well-wishers, unless the black peoj)lo 
 were such. 
 
206 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Twelve o'clock came, and no boat in sight. Our party 
 were getting very impatient, and the invalid looked more 
 than ever hollow-eyed, from having sat up so long. The 
 beds were sent away and there was nothing but the travel- 
 ing-shawls for him to lie down upon — a hard bed indeed 
 for a sick man. The children were hungry, but there was 
 not so much as a crust of bread in the house for them. The 
 fact is, we had vacated the house, and were just staying on 
 the gallery until the boat came. At one o'clock we dis- 
 patched G-eorge over to the landing for tidings, it being 
 now three hours overdue. AVe had yet to learn the lesson 
 which every one living on the Mississippi river must learn 
 sooner or later, viz., when a boat is due at a particular 
 hour, it means that it is due any time within twenty-four 
 hours after ; and that the only safe way is not to expect it 
 until it is actually at the landing. George came back with 
 the message : 
 
 " Boat past due, sa ; dey spect her ebery momint." 
 
 Notwithstanding there was no sign of smoke below, and 
 it would take an hour for her to reach the landing after its 
 first appearance, this message was encouragement ; it was 
 at least something to be again assured that the boat was 
 expected. 
 
 Two o'clock, three o'clock, come and go. but no boat, 
 and all of us are half-starved. A bed has been improvised 
 from shawls and wrapj^ings, where our invalid lies rest- 
 ively. In the morning he had said something about the 
 juicy beef-steak, the cup of coffee with cow's milk, the 
 light bread, and the soft-boiled egg he was going to have 
 as soon as he got on the boat, and it had made the mouths 
 of the rest of the part}" water, for we had all been stran- 
 gers to fresh meat, or milk, or eggs, or light bread, for a 
 long time. 
 
 The situation was getting serious, and finally Dobson 
 and I sallied out and scoured the town for something to 
 eat. We came back, after an hour's search, with a couple 
 
LETTER FROM MRS. HARDING. 207 
 
 of boxes of sardines, some crackers, and two bottles of En- 
 glish stout, and our party devoured every thing saving the 
 cstout-bottles and the sardine boxes, but it was sorry food 
 for our invalid, and, after he had swallowed a cracker, he 
 turned his face, weary and wan, to the wall, as if worn out 
 with fatigue, but with no bed on which to rest himself — 
 hungry, but with nothing within reach he could eat. 
 
 Finally, at nine o'clock in the night, the long-exj^ected 
 boat sounded for the wharf — then, after the hurry to the 
 landing, the hurry to get upon the boat, the hurried good- 
 bye, the last hurried look, and the last hurried hand-press- 
 ure from the invalid, my family was steaming up the 
 river, and I was left alone. 
 
 CHAPTEB XL. 
 
 LETTER FROM MRS. HARDING. 
 
 " On the way to Memphis. 
 " You can not think how sad I felt to move away on the 
 'Dan Able,' and leave you behind in that horrible place — 
 in the midst of negro small-pox, and among uncivil neigh- 
 bors. I can not enjoy any thing on this beautiful boat, so sad 
 are my remembrances of the past few days, and you there to 
 endure all by yourself, on and on indefinitely. Oh ! will au- 
 tumn ever come — or shall we ever see each other again ? I 
 reproach myself constantly for ever consenting to let you go 
 there. Why could not our picture have been drawn more 
 correctly? AYhat shall I tell our friends in the North, 
 when they ask me how we like our Southern home? You 
 may depend upon it, John, I shall not divulge every thing 
 — they shall not know how great is our failure, until we 
 
208 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 are compelled to confess. I shall stretch my conscience 
 considerably in the coming months, and picture that ' tomb ' 
 we just left as a charming Southern villa. If your life 
 can only be spared to put us up a cabin, ever so humble, on 
 the plantation, where the necessity of passing our neigh- 
 bors' doors may be avoided, then we will come to you and 
 bear all with you. But I fear you '11 never see poor Adju- 
 tant Johnson again ; he was very weary, more so than he 
 would acknowledge, last night, and as a consequence is 
 very low to-day ; had a restless night, and, as George ex- 
 presses it, ' got pow'ful down in de night; tot he'd done 
 an' die, two or free times.' If we get him home it is all 
 we can do. I have given George to him, for he requires 
 constant attention, and I am able to take care of our boys 
 myself. 
 
 " Memphis. 
 " We reached here before day this morning, and what 
 do you think ? — Adjutant Johnson is up, dressed and 
 sitting out on the guards of the boat ! It did not seem, 
 when I retired last night, that he could live until morn- 
 ing. I had the porter make a cot-bed by his state- 
 room door, and watch his every want during the night. 
 Poor fellow ! he dreads the night so, and seems to dislike 
 to be left alone. I wonder if he knows how more than 
 frail he is ; I some times think he does, and then, almost 
 before I can think, he will be, as I found him this morning, 
 sitting up, grand as any well man. The boat lies here un- 
 til to-morrow morning, so I '11 write you as things occur 
 during the day, and mail my letter this evening. . . . 
 It is ten o'clock a. m.; every body is preparing to walk up 
 into the city, but I dare not leave Adjutant J., so I have 
 let George take the little boys out for an airing, and we 
 two are sitting in the ladies' cabin. I have fixed him with 
 pillows on a sofa, and he is sleeping sweetly while I am 
 writing. Two nice, stylish-looking young ladies are very 
 sympathetic ; have asked mo a great many questions con- 
 
LETTERS FROM MRS. HARDING, ETC. 209 
 
 cerning ' the sick gentleman,' and have deposited a bas- 
 ket of nice oranges on the table by my side for him. He 
 has just awakened, and I have presented the fruit ; he seems 
 so much pleased, and remarked : ' How very kind every 
 body is to me. You are so good, Mrs. Harding, to stay 
 here all day because you fear I shall be lonely. I have 
 some thing I would like you to do for me. I do so much 
 want a Magnolia-bud, and a Cape-gesamine.' I have 
 agreed to run out and try and find some for him, when 
 George comes back. . . . Four o'clock p. m. I have 
 just returned from my search, away down Main street. I 
 found some buds, and delighted was I, too; but when I 
 came on board, George met me and said : 'Adjutant dre'ful 
 bad agin ; he is done an' gone to bed.' I hurried to his 
 room and found him prostrate. He smiled as I handed 
 him the flowers and said: '1 love them so much, and I 
 wanted to take them home.' I must wind up my letter, 
 dear John, for indeed I am frightened. How I hope Dr. 
 and Mrs. Dobson will come back soon, for I am afraid to be 
 alone. I shall write you a line to mail from above. Keep 
 up your poor, taxed spirits, and let me go back to you 
 soon as possible. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 LETTERS FROM MRS. HARDING — DEATH OF ADJUTANT JOHNSON. 
 
 ''En route — Still on hoard ' Dan Able' 
 
 " It is my desire to mail you one more letter from the 
 
 boat, so I begin this one, and if it is disconnected and 
 
 crazy, please attribute the fact to my great anxiety for 
 
 poor, dear Adjutant J. Such patience, such cheerfulness, 
 
210 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 and such submission can only live in the breast of such a 
 man ; surely God is with him. George called me in the 
 dead of the night to come quick. I went almost immedi- 
 ately to his state-room and found him rigid and cold. I 
 sent for Dr. Dobson, and to the kitchen of the boat for a 
 mustard -draught, and bottles filled with hot water. The 
 Adjutant's sufferings were intense, but Dr. D. soon admin- 
 istered the needed remedy, and sleep came to his relief. 
 This mornin«:he seems still under the influence of the Doc- 
 tor's medicine, and as he lies sleeping he looks like death. 
 " That pleasant Southerner who called on us once, and 
 was so charming, who lives on the Lake near Mr. Jonathan 
 Hampson — Capt. Hurd — came on board at his plantation 
 some fifty miles above us. We find him delightful com- 
 pany. He quite consoles me about you ; says you will 
 have a much more endurable summer than I anticipate for 
 you; that you will enjoy the fruits of that country and 
 the fishing, while life on the plantation will be much more 
 pleasant than in the house near the village. Oh ! how I 
 wish I could think so. I have no recollection of you there 
 that is very cheering, but I do hope for brighter days on 
 Hebron. The Adjutant is awake, and I must hasten to 
 him, and so will mail this, and write you upon our arrival 
 at our old home." 
 
 " In our own sweet home again, May, 1866. 
 "Oh, John, could you but see our lovely home as I see it 
 this morning, I think my happiness would be complete. 
 Our boys are like a pair of fawns ; they are so delighted 
 to be where they can jump and kick about with freedom, 
 fearing nothing and enjoying every thing. As in contrast 
 with that tomb by the village, it seems Paradise indeed. 
 Talk of the sunny South ! why, John, I have seen more 
 sunshine from my standpoint, since our arrival here last 
 evening, than I saw during all my stay in that sunny clime 
 where 'perpetual bloom,' 'kind hospitality,' and any 
 
LETTERS FROM MRS. HARDING, ETC. 211 
 
 amount of manly ' chivalry' are reported, and have been 
 so from time immemorial, as the prevailing peculiarities of 
 that country, and which, in our short stay there, we have 
 found so wanting. Could you but sell back to Jonathan 
 Hampson his Hebron, and be content to come back here 
 and ' let well enough alone,' think how we could enjoy our- 
 selves again here among friends reliable in every sense. 
 But I must turn from my bright, lovely picture of an im- 
 possibility to one sad, so sad — that of our dying friend, 
 Adjutant Johnson. If he is living this morning I shall be 
 greatly surprised. Poor sufferer! It took us all to keep 
 life in him until we could put him tenderly into the arms 
 of his brother at our depot. His family were most of them 
 there to meet him, but they did not expect to see him in so 
 low a condition, and the expressions of anguish on their 
 faces will haunt me. His brother carried him in his arms 
 to their family carriage, oh, so tenderly, and laid him 
 on pillows his sisters had thoughtfully brought for his 
 comfort. I have sent G-eorge to inquire for him and offer 
 my services, and 1 dread his return, through fear of a sad 
 report. 
 
 " I did not tell you what happened to me when I went 
 up into Memphis to get those flowers for our dear sick 
 friend. Captain Hurd kindly offered to escort me. The 
 boys also went with us. As we passed the clerk's desk, I 
 noticed two or three horrid-looking men in close proxim- 
 ity, glancing at him with eyes on fire ; then we all dis- 
 tinctly heard one of them say: 'D — d Yankee — we'll 
 show him,' etc., and, as we stepped down the stairs, on the 
 front of the boat, we noticed they were following us ; and as 
 the Captain preceded me on the gang-plank with our little 
 boy, I looked back just in time to see one of the men take 
 a pistol from his pocket, when, as he was about to fire to- 
 ward us, a gentleman stepped up behind him, threw his 
 arm holding the weapon into the air, and its contents 
 flashed above our heads. A scufSe ensued between them, 
 
212 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 and the companion of the one who had fired the shot 
 shouted at us, ' that 's intended to hit the man who 
 dances attendance upon a set o' Yanks.' I asked the Cap- 
 tain, who stood enraged and flushed with mortification, 
 what it all meant, and his chagrined reply was : ' In- 
 deed, Mrs. Harding, they are not worth minding. I hoped 
 you had not noticed them.' On our way up into town, 
 he told me the parties were people from our county, 
 planters and neighbors of his ; that they had been drink- 
 ing, and were not accountable for what they did. It was 
 very generous in him to think so, but all the same I 
 thought it showed what was in their hearts. It was a very 
 narrow escape for me, for the reason that, being between 
 the two parties and thus shielding Captain Hurd, I should 
 very likely have received the contents of the pistol. 1 
 do n't doubt, John, that those horrid Southerners were go- 
 ing to murder that nice man simply because he was show- 
 ing himself the gentleman to a l!^orthern family. There 
 were two women on board the ' Dan Able,' who ' Yankeed ' 
 me all the way up to Louisville. I can not call them ladies, 
 for their actions did not denote that they were ladies. As 
 I passed by them in the cabin, one of them groaned at me, 
 and hissed ' Yankee,' and her companion said, ' Look at 
 her big feet,' and they both drew their dresses away from 
 me, as if afraid of contamination. Can you wonder at my 
 horror of your being in that atmosphere ? . . . George 
 has just returned, John, and I can scarcely pen his news. 
 Our gentle, patient, cheerful Adjutant Johnson is no more. 
 Quietly, peacefully, without a murmur, he breathed his 
 last, full of conciousness, before daylight this morning, and 
 G-eorge says, " De Cap'n lays dere jes like he was done 
 gone to sleep ; an his mudder tel me he nebber let 'em 
 put de 'nolias and flowers you done get for him in Mem- 
 phis away from him at all ; an' dere dey is right by his 
 side, now he is done dead.' Peace to his dear ashes." 
 
NEGRO PECULIARITIES. 213 
 
 CflAPTEPt XLll. 
 
 NEGRO PECULIARITIES. 
 
 So FAR as the statistics prove any thing in this respect, 
 no larger percentage of free negroes are thieves than is 
 found among white people. The tendency of slavery, how- 
 ever, v^as to educate a race of petty thieves. Punishment 
 for theft committed by a slave was corporal, not that 
 which the citizen receives at the hands of the law. Take 
 any class of people the world over, and let theft be punish- 
 able simply by lashes laid on the back, and where are the 
 bolts and bars that would keep your property in safety? 
 
 The instinct of the slave said : " My master owes me a 
 living ; he denies me many things which it is pleasant 
 to have — sometimes, though not often, to the extent of suf- 
 ficient food ; what my appetite craves, or what I may really 
 need, of his, and can get without his knowledge, I will 
 take. If he catches me, I shall be punished, but there 
 isn't much danger of that, as Sambo, Cnf^y, Cloe, Dinah, 
 and all the rest will never tell on me. Each has taken 
 things in the same manner and, therefore, all are interested 
 in hiding the act." 
 
 This thieving extended only to food, the killing of hogs 
 or beef cuttle, or the robbing of hen-roosts, very rarely 
 to the breaking open of meat-houses, and never to burg- 
 lary in the houses where the " white folks " lived. Durins- 
 our long residence among them, there never has been a 
 night when they could not have come into our house, by 
 simply turning the knob of any one of a half-dozen 
 doors, and yet we have never been disturbed. Our sense 
 of security is so great, that we frequently sleep all night 
 w^ith our doors and windows open — this we did, too, when 
 
214 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 they continued to kill our hogs and rob our hen-roosts, until 
 we became discouraged and ceased to keep these animals 
 and fowls. We bought a drove of cattle during the first 
 autumn, which we had to sell out to them finally, in self- 
 defense — only keeping two milch cows, and one of these 
 was " 'stroyed " before sirring ! 
 
 It was hard to have our cattle butchered in this way, 
 when we were feeding our laborers so bountifully, and they 
 '' declaared it was none ob de Hebron niggers who did it, 
 but de thieving, half-starved niggers on de plantation be- 
 low." But all the time there was a something about their 
 manner of denial — it was boisterous for one thing — 
 which made us feel that our own negroes were as deep in 
 the mire as their neighbors. 
 
 An apologist for the negro might here remark : " Their 
 master fed them on salt meat alone ; the human system de- 
 mands a portion of fresh meat, and, failing to furnish this, 
 they simply took it. just as the horse gnaws at his feed- 
 trough, when his hard-hearted master denies him the salt 
 which his system craves. Of course, this meat-thieving 
 propensity, being bred in the bone, as one of the fruits of 
 slavery, could not be uprooted in a day. In the meantime, 
 those of us employing this recently enfranchised race, must 
 necessarily be the sufferers." 
 
 In striking contrast to the universal prevalence of petty 
 food-thieves, was the entire absence of negro beggars. There 
 were really no beggars among the black people of the South. 
 To beg, is a lesson in the march of civilization they have 
 yet to learn ! TThat they have not, and can not buy or 
 steal, they go without. 
 
 Their crude idea of marriage was both melancholy and 
 amusing. I have seen negro men marry negro women who 
 had lived in open concubinage with a half-dozen men in 
 as many months. I have seen negro boys not yet twenty, 
 working for from ten to fifteen dollars a month, marry 
 negro women of fifty and upwards, some of them grand- 
 
NEGRO PECULIARITIES. 215 
 
 mothers, with houses full of children, the thought never 
 entering their heads that such marriages were unnatural, 
 or the question how they were to support such broods. 
 But after all, this is not so much a matter of surprise, when 
 we remember that their food and clothes had always been 
 furnished them, and as slaves, such incongruous "takings- 
 up " had been frequent. Then it did not matter whether 
 the woman a man lived with had one or ten children, — the 
 master fed and clothed them all, and the more children, the 
 happier he was ; and now that they were free, what was 
 more natural than for them to marry, just as they had pre- 
 viously " taken-up " — not yet realizing that their freedom 
 imposed on them the task of feeding and clothing them- 
 selves : certainly not dreaming of the toil and sweat nec- 
 essary to accomplish that task. 
 
 They seemed to think that marriage gave the wife the 
 power to reclaim her runaway husband, and vice versa, just 
 as their masters had reclaimed them, when they ran away. 
 The men had the impression that marrying a woman gave 
 them a kind of ownership in her, and that they could flog 
 her at will. 
 
 The feeling of "poverty," in the sense of a lack of crea- 
 ture comforts, was yet unknown to them; food and cloth- 
 ing had come to them in a steady and never-failing stream 
 while they were slaves, and of money they had lio actual 
 need. What they had longed for, and what they had 
 offered up their rude prayers for, was freedom. This had 
 absorbed all the avarice and covetousness of their natures. 
 Wanting freedom, they felt themselves to be indeed pov- 
 erty-stricken, and when the wealth of freedom was placed 
 in their hands, they felt themselves to be rich, and what 
 more natural than that they should only come to realize by 
 degrees that this freedom involved the necessity of earning 
 a support ? It would only be when this was found to be a 
 difficult task that the feeling of poverty in its usual sense 
 would be realized by them. Then boys of twenty would 
 
216 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 not be found marrying women twice or thrice their own 
 age, with great broods of children, and men even, would 
 hesitate before marrying women already thus incumbered. 
 
 As for what we call virtue, how could there be any, when 
 during the century of slavery the master had used every ef- 
 fort to so mate his chattels as to secure rapid increase ? Ee- 
 straint there had been, because it accomplished this, not 
 because it tended to morality. The blacks, as slaves, had 
 no moral sense which required a negro woman should 
 be stoned, or even spurned, because this increase came to 
 her outside of wedlock, for there had been no wedlock 
 among them. Indeed, that negro woman who had held an 
 immoral relation to some white man was rather looked 
 upon as a prize by the more ambitious negroes. I have 
 been told by such a negro, with a swelling bosom and spark- 
 ling eye, indicating that he considered it something of 
 which to bo j^roud, that his woman had sustained this 
 relation to a prominent white man of the neighborhood. 
 
 Slavery made the negro a living deception. In the pres- 
 ence of master or overseer he always wore a mask. In 
 this respect he was a finished diplomat. Address him, and 
 his smiling lips and eyes would say, " yes, sah," while per- 
 haps his heart and brain would be constantly answering, 
 " no, sah." If master or overseer came in wrath, accusing 
 him of killing his hogs or cattle, he would solemnly " de- 
 clar 'fore God " he was innocent, and even if you should 
 find the meat in his house, he would still " declar it had 
 done been put dar by some of de lazy, triflen niggers to 
 git him into trouble," and then he would call on his dusky 
 wife to testify to his innocence, which testimony was 
 always at hand, ready made, and so strenuous and ap- 
 parently sincere were these denials, that you began to 
 think there might have been a plot against him, and that, 
 after all, the man has been wrongfully accused. Push the 
 matter a little further, however, and the mask was drop- 
 
NEGRO EXPERIENCES. 217 
 
 ped — there stood before you the injured, innocent man, a 
 thief, by hivS own confession. 
 
 How many thousands of masters, during the late war, 
 were deceived by the constant assertion of their slaves, that 
 they " did n't want freedom," to be undeceived whenever 
 the Union army passed their neighborhood, when even the 
 lame, the halt, and the blind flocked into the camp, to se- 
 cure the freedom w^hich they had so long prayed for. 
 
 The " lazy nigger " is a term which the average South- 
 erner rolls like a sweet morsel under his tongue. You hear 
 itconstantly sounded in the hotels, on steamboats, — in short, 
 every-where throughout the South ; and yet, in the very 
 nature of things, this reproach can not be just. What ! the 
 negro lazy, when slavery had inured him to toil ! Men 
 are industrious or lazy from habit. Of tropical origin, a 
 negro has not the enterprise which colder climates engen- 
 der, but you must look elsewhere to find a lazy people. 
 The slave knew nothing but work ; from the diminutive 
 pickaninny to the hoary-headed " uncle," it was work, work. 
 Whatever else there maybe laid at his door, certainly it is 
 not laziness. 
 
 Finally, the negro in the South is pretty much what 
 slavery made him. He is its human product, and it is, 
 to sa}^ the least, bad taste on the part of his late masters, 
 60 constantly to be finding fault with him. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 NEGRO EXPERIENCES. 
 
 An army recuiting station was presently established in 
 our neighborhood, and the negroes went crazy over it. 
 10 
 
218 A TEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Within twenty-four hours six of our hands had enlisted, 
 and more were inclined to follow their example. A regi- 
 ment might have been recruited in a week. 
 
 We explained to our laborers that these recruits were 
 wanted for the regular army — not for volunteer service, such 
 as they had experienced ; told them of the severity of dis- 
 cipline among regulars ; that they would not be allowed to 
 take their women with them ; and how they would be sent 
 out to the far West to fight Indians — of the fearful snow 
 storms in that region, and so on. 
 
 These statements seemed to dampen their ardor, but it 
 was plain to be seen that many of them were restive to get 
 on their soldier clothes again, and go back to camp-life, even 
 at the risk of all we had described. Then, too, with the 
 negro's natural distrust of statements by white men, they 
 did not believe more than a quarter of our story. A gen- 
 eral stampede was imminent. In our dilemma, we appealed 
 to the agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, who gave notice 
 that no one under contract would be allowed to enlist, and 
 60 the recruiting ofiScer's occupation was gone, and he soon 
 folded his tents and dejDarted. It was really pleasant, for 
 once, not to hear " tatto " and ''reveille," for as often 
 as they were sounded our laborers became uneasy. Evi- 
 dently, camp-life had more charms for them than planta- 
 tion-life. 
 
 One moonlight night, about midnight, before we went 
 to the plantation to live, Dobson and myself were return- 
 ing from the wharf -boat, where we had gone to deposit a 
 letter, when whom should we encounter — with a bundle 
 suspended from a stick over his shoulder, looking just as 
 we had seen pictures at the head of advertisements for 
 runaway slaves — but one of our own laborers, running 
 away ! We arrested him, and took him into one of the 
 back rooms of our house, and with one of those trace- 
 chains I bought at the government sale in Kentucky we 
 fastened him to the floor. Our wives heard the clanking 
 
NEGRO EXPERIENCES. 219 
 
 of the chains with fear and trembling, not knowing what 
 new danger had crossed our palhwaj^ ; and the strange 
 sounds, together with our mysterious whisperings, excited 
 their most painful apprehensions. Their nerves had al- 
 ready been strung to their utmost tension by an incident 
 earlier in the evening. A wounded man was brought to 
 the house for Dobson's surgical oflSces. He was quietly 
 conveyed to the room of Adjutant Johnson, when imme- 
 diate demands for cloths to make bandages, warm water, 
 etc., had followed, with the usual whisperings in the hall, 
 the walking on tip-toe, the ghost-like silence which broods 
 over a house when a calamity is supposed to have crossed 
 its threshold, all heightened and intensified by the fact that 
 we were living in the midst of constant danger. This had 
 been almost too much for our wives, and now, before they 
 had recovered from this first shock, came the second. It 
 was a night of horror, and the dawn found eyes which had 
 refused to close in sleep red and swollen, and haggard 
 faces. 
 
 The next morning we carried our runaway to the planta- 
 tion, and exhibited him as a striking proof of our unceas- 
 ing vigilance, and as a solemn warning to others who might 
 be contemplating a similar step. We also reported his case 
 to the agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, who fined him fif- 
 teen dollars for the benefit of the schools of the county. 
 (It would have taken something more effective than a 
 search-warrant to have found a school-house.) But, not- 
 withstanding the warning, a week later another negro, be- 
 coming jealous of his " 'oman," ran away in a passion. 
 We could get no trace of him, and finally gave him up as 
 lost. A month later, however, we heard of a man answer- 
 ing his description, some six miles below on the river, 
 working at a saw-mill. Procuring an order for him from 
 the agent of the Freedman's Bureau, we sent Billy to make 
 the capture, which he did in gallant style, returning in the 
 evening with his trophy, and bearing an insulting message 
 
220 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 from the saw-mill man to the Yankee new-comers, asking, 
 if they wanted their runaway, why they did not come for 
 him themselves, and meet with the warm reception which 
 he always had ready for their class. 
 
 Some time afterwards, Dobson, meeting a man of the 
 same name, and being introduced, inquired if he was "the 
 saw-mill man." The man answered no, the saw-mill man 
 was his uncle, but he was responsible for any thing the 
 saw-mill man might do' or saj^. This answer was made 
 with a flushed face and a flashing eye, indicating great an- 
 ger, and was intended to convey to Dobson the idea that 
 he stood ready to take up the saw-mill man's quarrel, if he 
 had one. Thereupon, Dobson, understanding such to be 
 his intimation, struck him with his glove. A fight was im- 
 minent on the spot, but friends interfered, and bloodshed 
 was spared for the time being. 
 
 Dobson came home, confidently expecting a challenge, 
 and, after deliberation, decided to accept it. 
 
 " I am living in a country where the code of honor is in 
 vogue, and although I abominate the practice of dueling, 
 yet I am in Eome and must do as Rome does," said he, and 
 then set to work oiling up a couple of ugly-looking navy 
 sixes, showing plainly that he meant just what he said. 
 
 Eut the challenge never came, and nothing further was 
 ever heard of the afi"air. But Dobson gained considerable 
 eclat among those of the neighborhood who were constantly 
 boasting that they recognized the code of honor, and talk- 
 ing of affairs between gentlemen. He had felt the insult- 
 ing message sent us by the saw-mill man, and when he 
 supposed he was being introduced to him, he spoke with a 
 sneer the words "saw-mill man," intending to insult him — 
 that, too, when the latter was surrounded by his friends, 
 some half dozen or more, while there were only two in the 
 party Dobson could count on as friends. 
 
 It was really our first open difficulty based on sectional 
 feelin*t>s, and Dobson sent his man to the wall. 
 
NEGRO EXPERIENCES. 221 
 
 Following close upon the heels of this second capture, 
 three of our laborers were missing one morning. We 
 traced them to a point where they had crossed the Missis- 
 sippi. We then procured an order for them from the agent 
 of the Freedman's Bureau, had ourselves ferried across the 
 river, and found our runaways chopping cord-wood. By 
 virtue of our order, which, being of national authority, 
 was not limited by State lines, we took into custody in one 
 State the fugitives from another, recrossed the river, and 
 returned with them to the plantation in triumph. The 
 agent of the Bureau imposed a fine on them of twenty-five 
 dollars apiece for school purposes in the county. 
 
 One Sunday there was a very severe and brutal case of 
 woman-whipping. We sent for the parties and they came 
 to our office, reeking with blood. It was the inevitable 
 story of adultery. A\"e started Billy to town with the cul- 
 prit, with orders to take him to the Freedmen's Bureau for 
 investigation and p)unishment. Billy rode with a pistol in 
 his hand and the offender went on foot before him, but be- 
 fore he had got out of the quarters a consj)iracy was or- 
 ganized among some of the negroes, who boldly marched 
 out and took the prisoner away from him. Billy came back 
 crest-fallen. 
 
 The situation looked serious. Here was a manifest attempt 
 to excite a riot ; but it was best not to act hastily. After 
 deliberation, we decided to report the whole case to the 
 agent of the Freedmen's Bureau the followinir mornino- 
 — in the mean time we would not say a word on the 
 subject. This was a wise course to pursue, for the rea- 
 son that it was different from what the rioters had ex- 
 pected, and our perfect unconcern alarmed them. The 
 next morning the ring-leaders were all arrested by order 
 of the Freedmens' Bureau, and after investigation the 
 agent read the riot act to them, administered a severe lec- 
 ture, and fined them twenty -five dollars apiece. 
 
 Thus we plodded on, such being our difficulties in the 
 
222 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 discipline of our force of labor. Manifestly, more than one 
 year must pass before these babes in the role of freedom 
 would become effective free-laborers. So long deprived of 
 their freedom, and having now the crudest ideas of its true 
 meaning, they were mistaking discipline for an attempt to 
 rob them of their priceless treasure. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 ANTAGONISM BETWEEN SOLDIERS AND '• STAY-AT-HOMES " — 
 THE NEW-COMER THE VICTIM. 
 
 The statement is often made that the soldiers of either 
 army, as a class, having done their fighting during the war, 
 when it was over had no bitterness of heart, but acquiesced 
 in the result frankly and freely, and that those who were 
 talking so loud, and uttering such extreme sentiments on 
 either side, after peace was declared, were those who had 
 never been in the army — the " stay-at-homes," as they were 
 called. Question a Federal or Confederate soldier or officer 
 on the subject, and he would be almost certain to tell you 
 that he had seen quite enough fighting. Question one of 
 the "stay-at-homes," and he would be almost certain to 
 grumble at the results of the war, and want more of it. 
 
 The correctness of this statement was forcibly illustrated 
 by two citizens of our county. The soldier's name was 
 Chapman — Capt. Chapman. His record in the Confed- 
 erate army was unexceptionable. Entering its service at 
 the outbreak of the war as a private, he went up through 
 the different grades of promotion, for bravery on the battle- 
 field and fidelity to every duty in camp, until at the close 
 of the war he held a Captain's commission. He was taken 
 
SOLDIERS AND STAY-AT-IIOMES, ETC. 223 
 
 prisoner in battle and conveyed to Johnson's Island, in Lake 
 Erie, where for months he was confined, until he made his 
 escape one cold winter's night on the ice, in the midst of 
 a blinding snow-storm. His experiences in getting back 
 into the Confederate lines after his escape, poorly clad as he 
 was, encountering for the first time in his life the rigors 
 of a Northern winter, in the country of his enemies, were 
 rough in the extreme, and his escape from detection — his 
 manner, his Southern dialect, and his dress, all making 
 him a marked man — was a marvel. His service dated 
 from the first battle of Manassas until Lee's surrender, and 
 he participated in most of the numberless hard-fought 
 battles between AVashington and Eichmond. When he re- 
 turned home, after the muster-out, there was not a blot on 
 his record ; on the contrary, his army career was filled with 
 deeds of courage and devotion to the Confederate cause. 
 
 So brave and constant in his services to the South, if any 
 one had earned the right to speak for his section, Captain 
 Chapman was certainly that one. And he did speak, not 
 joyously, but soberly and as a war-worn veteran, though 
 still a youth in years, should have spoken. 
 
 " The war is over," said he, " and I accept the result." 
 And he spoke so frankly and with so much candor that he 
 was intrusted with the position of agent for the Freedmen's 
 Bureau in the county. He was selected to fill this delicate 
 and onerous position by a Federal army officer who visited 
 the locality — and who, like Captain Chapman, had been 
 through the war, which had taken all the bitterness out of 
 him. When he found this late Confederate officer thus 
 accepting the situation, he conferred upon him this Fed- 
 eral appointment. It was the trust of the late soldier of 
 the victorious army in the soldier of the vanquished 
 army. And it was practical reconstruction. 
 
 What should have been more acceptable to the i:>eoplo 
 here than to have the rej^resentative of the freedmen taken 
 from their midst, in the person of one of their own brave, 
 
224 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 devoted officers ? And yet the "stay-at-homes " howled at 
 him, turned up their noses at him, and made him feel very 
 uncomfortable; and the "stay-at-homes" in the ]N'orth 
 would have condemned the Federal officer, if they had been 
 informed of this appointment. There were brave Confed- 
 erate officers and soldiers, like Captain Chapman, who 
 could see no harm in his accepting this position, but the 
 '•' stay-at-homes " were the noisy ones, and at this time the 
 noisy ones made the public sentiment. To have under- 
 taken to controvert them would be charged against the 
 person attempting it as " going back on the South." 
 
 And so, Avhile Captain Chapman had courageously stood 
 before the shot and shell of the Federal armies on at least 
 fifty battle-fields, and while other Confederate officers and 
 soldiers in our neighborhood had done likewise, neither he 
 nor they had the courage to face this loudly expressed sen- 
 timent, by a public expression to the contrary; and, as a 
 result, he quietly dropped out of this position, where, true 
 to the Southern people as he was, and true to the best 
 interests of the negro as he would have been, he might 
 have rendered such faithful and satisfactory service ; and a 
 stranger was brought into the county to do the work in- 
 stead. Was it not the loud-mouthed " stay-at-homes " 
 who were responsible for the importation of this first car- 
 pet-bagger ? 
 
 Captain Chapman was one of the very few who openly 
 welcomed us to the county. He called on us promptly and 
 without ceremony, and seemed to take solid comfort in 
 the companionship of General Dobson, the two recalling 
 stories of camp-life by the hour. He made a dinner party 
 for us, to which he invited three or four of his own army 
 friends who accepted ; and this we had reciprocated, so 
 that a pleasant companionship was growing about us. 
 
 In the meantime, the " stay-at-homes " were holding 
 caucuses over what was going on, and they finally deter- 
 mined that it would not do to fraternize with the new- 
 
SOLDIERS, STAY-AT-HOMES, ETC. 225 
 
 comers in that way, and again Captain Chapman was sin- 
 gled out as the man who had first committed the overt act. 
 True, they said, General Hampson had promptly called on 
 our wives, with a red rose in his button -hole, but that was 
 simply a state call, and on the same principle that men 
 personally antagonistic to each other frequently have offi- 
 cial intercourse ; — as he had sold us our plantation, he must 
 go through the forms of an official welcome, Avhich was all 
 he intended in the simple call he had made. It would do, 
 where Southern men either sold or rented to, or went into 
 "pardnership " with the new-comers, for them to make an 
 official show of friendliness, and the Southern merchants 
 would have to be officially friendly to our class in order to 
 get our trade ; Southern doctors and lawyers might be al- 
 lowed to take our practice and be on professional terms 
 with us ; but no true Southerner would be allowed to ac- 
 cept any position under the " Yankee government," under 
 penalty of being excommunicated from Southern society, 
 and branded as an enemy of the South. ^Not that the 
 " stay-at-homes " said all this in so many words, though 
 most of it they did say, but it was a code which they 
 lived up to, with a fidelity not second to their hatred of 
 the class it was aimed at. 
 
 Captain Chapman was a lawyer, and there were other 
 lawyers, who had been brave Confederate officers, who 
 secretly did not sympathize with this sentiment, nor act 
 upon it, such as Captains Falconer, De Bar and "Whitely, 
 though none of them opposed it openly, and in this way 
 all gave it an indorsement. The '' stay-at-homes " raised 
 the red flag, with the cry of " going back on the South," 
 and, with the despotism of public sentiment still ruling 
 them, every Southern man had to appear to come into 
 camp, and our little band of new-comers were left on the 
 outside, to be raided and foraged upon, and made targets, 
 but never to be allowed companionship. We were made 
 
 to understand, by the public manner toward us, that it was 
 10* 
 
226 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 a great concession for a Southerner to be seen talking with 
 us in an apparently friendly way. Occasionally we would 
 be met in a secluded spot on the levee, as we were riding 
 along, by some one of the small class who, as we fancied, 
 chafed a little under the restraint of this public sentiment 
 against us, but, before speaking to us, we could observe 
 him cast a furtive glance up and down the levee to see if 
 any one was coming. Seeing no one, he would stop and 
 chat jDleasantly ; but if any body was in sight, he would 
 pass on. Sometimes there was a friendly remark drojoped 
 in our ears in a half-frightened manner as we passed through 
 the village, and sometimes there was only a friendly nod or 
 look, but in every case w^henever we were treated as we 
 had been treated at home, it was, as a general rule, done 
 by stealth. It was as if we were so many criminals, of 
 whose acquaintance one should be ashamed. As for any 
 one calling upon us, or taking up the cudgels for us, that 
 was out of the question. 
 
 Not only the Southern ladies refused to call on our 
 wives, but when they chanced to meet us or them on the 
 public roadway, they would drop their veils, and turn 
 their faces away ; and if, by some chance, we got a glimpse 
 of their features, tbe expression was any thing but compli- 
 mentary to us. In passing us, along the levee, these 
 Southern women would draw up their riding habits, as if 
 in fear of contamination should Northern and Southern 
 riding skirts come in contact. 
 
 It was said that Captain Chapman, with his Confederate 
 army friends, who had dined with us, was sharply criti- 
 cized by the women — who were, one and all, along with 
 the mischievous boys (the mischievous boys having been, 
 for the most part, " stay-at-homes ") the staunch allies of 
 the "stay-at-home" element — for having any thing to do 
 with the hated Yankees, and some went even so far as to cut 
 his acquaintance in consequence. Captain Chapman was full 
 
SOLDIERS, STAY-AT-IIOMES, ETC. 227 
 
 of mettle, and though seeming to acquiesce, illy brooked 
 this treatment. 
 
 The "stay-at-home" leader was Captain Tyler of the 
 wharf-boat. lie had, it seems, been a Confederate guer- 
 rilla, except for a brief period, when he was a conscript 
 oflScer. He had never even seen a battle. This man was all 
 the more dangerous, because he had an outward show of 
 liberality. But some of his most lucrative patrons were 
 new-comers, and the code allowed him to appear officially 
 liberal. A coldness grew up between Tyler and Chapman, 
 and, one day, when the latter went down to the wharf-boat, 
 in his official capacity as lawyer, to collect five dollars from 
 Tyler, Tyler disputed the claim. Hot words ensued; the 
 lie was given, and Chapman, who was unarmed, was told 
 to go off and j^repare himself He liad got half way up 
 the bank, from the wharf-boat, on his way to do this, when 
 Tyler, who stepped out on the guards, pistol in hand, called 
 out to him, " Look out, there !" and then instantly fired, the 
 ball entering the heart of Chapman, who fell a corpse. 
 And thus tragically ended the career of this brave Confed- 
 erate officer, who so frankly accepted the situation, and 
 who was able to see far enough into the future to know 
 that immigration here should be treated as it is treated 
 elsewhere, and that such treatment was for the best interest 
 of the South. 
 
 Was not this young man a martyr to the cause? For 
 four years he braved the shock of battle, to assist in 
 making the South an independent Confederacy, and now 
 he lay there, in his blood, indirectly a victim to a senti- 
 ment which had only the desire to make his section part 
 and parcel of a prosperous nation. Because he was not 
 willing to regard the new-comers as public enemies or con- 
 victs : to treat them as if they were gold mines, and 
 therefore to be drilled into with iron pikes, blasted with 
 gunpowder, and ground in quartz mills ; or shun them as 
 if they were bearers of pestilence — a quarrel over the joaltry 
 
228 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 sum of five dollars must end his career. This was a sol- 
 emn warning to all who contemplated accepting the situa- 
 tion, that they should not do so. 
 
 Tyler was arrested, bailed (only think of bail for cold- 
 blooded murder !), and, finally acquitted. A hundred times 
 have I heard that it was said of this victim: "It served 
 him right, for having any thing to do with the Yankee 
 new-comers." 
 
 Just about this time another most touching incident oc- 
 curred. I had. shortly after our arrival, employed a plas- 
 terer to repair a cistern at our home near the village, and 
 to plaster some of the cracked and broken walls. He was 
 an Irishman, and had all the blarney of his race at his 
 tongue's end. 
 
 '' It is a sin and a shame," said he to Mrs. Harding, as he 
 was working away at the walls, "that none of the ladies 
 of the counthry calls on ye ; for the loikes of ye I niver 
 saw this side of the ould country." Again, he said, " Ye's 
 must be so lonesome sure, with none o' the people of 
 the counthry callin' on ye's, and yit ye's ivery bit as good 
 as the bist of 'em. And yer husband is a good mon, sure, 
 and wourks so hard — he is a good citizen, and that he is, 
 intirely." And he would plaster and blarney away, when- 
 ever Mrs. Harding would pass through the room where 
 he was at work. " Xiver mind, me good lady," he ex- 
 claimed another day, "I'll bring Mrs. Birch an' me 
 daaters to call" on ye next Sunday. It's too bad intirely 
 for the loikes of ye to be pinin' for the wants of conjanial 
 society when I can give it to ye. Nather Mrs. Birch nor 
 me daaters are proud, and we 'd niver be ashamed to call 
 on the loikes of ye, aven though none of the rist of the la- 
 dies of the counthry come to see ye." 
 
 Mrs. Harding thought his talk all blarney; but not 
 so, for the next Sunday all came, in their sun-bonnets, 
 check aprons, calico dresses, and with their hearts in their 
 mouths. Mr. Birch marshaled the party. It was none of 
 
SOLDIERS, STAY-AT-HOMES, ETC. 229 
 
 yoiii* fashionable calls of three minutes, but a good, solid 
 hour's sitting, with a world of heart and good intentions in 
 it, and with plenty of Irish talk, not necessary to repeat 
 here. Mrs. Harding passed around the doughnuts, apples, 
 and wine with a will. Not that she was really pining for so- 
 ciety — but it was something at which to be gratified, that 
 there was one family, at least, even though it was simply that 
 of a plasterer, who did not shun us as if we were mad dogs. 
 It was a tribute, on the part of this kind-hearted Irish- 
 man and his kind-hearted family, to what they conceived 
 to be our loneliness. And there was daring in it, too, be- 
 cause this man had to draw his support from these fiery 
 and prejudiced Southerners, and when himself and family 
 came and called on Mrs. Harding, that beautiful Sun- 
 day, they virtually arrayed the sentiment of the country 
 against them. It was as if they had taken sides with the 
 new-comers. And shortly after that, whether it resulted 
 from this call or not I can not say, the sister of the wharf- 
 boatman, Tyler, who was a teacher, was said to have 
 whipped one of the Misses Birch, who was one of her pu- 
 pils, unmercifully. Her brothers, a pair of courageous 
 boys, took exception to it, and boldly went to the wharf- 
 boat, to face Captain Tyler, who had taken up his sister's 
 quarrel, if he was not its instigator. 
 
 In the melee which followed, Tyler got a discharge of 
 buckshot in his groin, from a gun in the hands of one of 
 the Birches, from which he narrowly escaped with his life, 
 and which left him a cripple for the rest of his days. 
 
 Need I say that this Sunday call touched a chord in our 
 feelings which has never ceased to vibrate, as often as we 
 think of it. And while speaking of this Irish j^lasterer 
 and his family, I wish to bear tribute to the fact that the 
 entire Irish element, a considerable one in our little village 
 — most of whom dated their residence here from before the 
 war, and were brave soldiers in the Confederate army — al- 
 
230 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ways treated us well, and they showed more courage in 
 braving the public sentiment we are describing than any 
 other class. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLV. 
 
 LIEUTENANT BLAIR, U. S. A. 
 
 One morning, shortly after our arrival, while we were at 
 breakfast, the unusual sound of a knock was heard at our 
 front door, and George came back with the still more un- 
 usual announcement that a white " gen'man " wanted to 
 see Mr. Harding, but said, " Tell him 1 'm in no hurry ; to 
 finish his breakfast at his leisure, and if convenient for him 
 to see me afterward, I will be glad." 
 
 With this announcement, George laid at my plate a 
 neatly engraved card, which bore in JRoman letters the 
 name of " Lieutenant Blair, U. S. A." ]S'ot willing to let 
 a representative of the army wait on me a moment, 1 
 at once went to my office sitting-room, into which George 
 had shown him, to welcome the stranger under our roof, 
 and to invite him to join us at our morning meal, as the 
 hour was so early I felt all but certain he had not yet 
 taken breakfast. 
 
 A young man rose from his seat, and stepped forward to 
 meet me, saying : " I suppose I have the pleasure of ad- 
 dressing John Harding ?" 
 
 I replied : " Yes. Will you not join us at breakfast?" 
 
 " Thank you, sir," he said, '• I will be glad to do so. I 
 got off at the wharf-boat in the night, and have been sitting 
 there ever since, waiting for daylight to come ; and though 
 Tyler urged me to stay for breakfast, I declined, as I felt 
 quite certain of a welcome here, and thought more than 
 likelv I should stumble on you at your morning meal, when 
 
LIEUTENANT BLAIR. U. S. A. 231 
 
 I intended to make bold and invite myself — if it did not 
 occur to you to do so," he added, laughing, — "but it did 
 occur, and I am quite ready to join you at once." 
 
 And so we went out to the breakfast room, where, after 
 introduction to Mrs. Harding and Adjutant Johnson, Lieu- 
 tenant Blair was placed in the seat of honor. 
 
 The new-comer was in figure spare — his weight being 
 about one hundred and twenty pounds — and six feet in 
 height. His eyes were his striking feature ; sometimes 
 they were grey, sometimes hazel, and then they would ap- 
 pear dark enough to be called black, but whichever hue 
 they assumed, their language was almost as readily under- 
 stood as his uttered words : fidelity, sincerity, enthusiasm, 
 honesty, and true goodness were mirrored in them, with 
 perhaps a preponderance of enthusiasm. All his features 
 were good. The rims of his ears, even, stood well out from 
 his head, as if bent on catching the slightest sound, and his 
 nose came sharply to a point, as if it were made to force 
 its owner through the world, while the nostrils ever and 
 anon distended, as if on the scent for the main chance. The 
 veins showed themselves on the back of his hands, as 
 large as good-sized cording — across his temples also, where 
 they were delicate threads; and in both cases very blue ; 
 and over his pure, white forehead, they were strongly de- 
 fined. There were good, stout, sinewy chords running 
 down the back of his neck, which was slender and long, 
 and the way he carried his head showed that there was 
 no lack of communication between that and his heart. 
 Applying these horse-tests to him, there was shown to 
 be gentle blood in his veins. He bore his part in the con- 
 versation in that easy, off-hand manner, which camp and 
 army experience gives one, and at the same time, shut out 
 from woman kind, as the soldier is, with something of 
 bashfulness resulting from that fact, — as he told me after- 
 ward, that he had seen absolutely nothing of female so- 
 ciety in his four years of army-life, and the very sight 
 
232 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 of a woman made him tremble. Altogether he was a " tak- 
 ing " fellow. 
 
 Breakfast over, and back in my office sitting-room, he 
 opened his satchel, and took from it a bundle of news- 
 papers, which he handed me, saying, " There are some 
 New York and New Orleans papers. I thought it would n't 
 come amiss to bring them off the steamboat for you ; I 
 fancy you do n't get the newspapers every day, and no per- 
 son but one like you, who has always been used to them, 
 knows what it is to be deprived of them." 
 
 I thanked him for his thoughtfulness, and handed him a 
 cigar. 
 
 '• I am obliged to you, sir," he said ; " I never smoked a 
 cigar, or chewed a quid of tobacco, or drank a drop of any 
 kind of liquor in my life, except medicinally." And then 
 he told me his story. 
 
 " I am from New Jersey ; my mother and two sisters are 
 all who are left of a family of seven in the old home there. 
 When the war came on, I was a student at Yale, twenty 
 vears of age ; my future, the ministry. Young as I was, I 
 could not see my country in danger without assisting in 
 its rescue; and so I went into the army as a private, and 
 was only mustered out the other day in New Orleans, with 
 the rank of first Lieutenant. Towards the close of the 
 war, I was on the staff of Gen. Jarvis, in whose brigade 
 was a negro regiment, which was recruited in the South — 
 and from among the late slaves. That regiment was mus- 
 tered out at the same time I was, which brings me to the 
 subject nearest my heart, Mr. Harding. 1 am in love with 
 this country, and am fully determined to be a cotton- 
 planter. In the way of money I have about three hundred 
 and fifty dollars, saved in the army, which is, of course, 
 too little to enable me to rent and stock a whole plantation. 
 All I can hope to do this year, is to get some sort of a 
 foot-hold. I have dedicated my life to this pursuit, and do 
 not intend to allow any obstacle to turn me aside. I have 
 
LIEUTENANT BLAIR, U. S. A. 233 
 
 secured from the negro regiment which was mustered out 
 when I was, some forty choice hands, who are now on the 
 sugar-coast waiting for me to find a location, when I am to 
 go and fetch them. I have walked part of the way from 
 New Orleans, the better to see the country. I thought 
 may be you might need more laborers than you have, and in 
 consideration of my bringing mine, and putting them on 
 your plantation, you would find it to your interest to em- 
 ploy me as assistant manager, besides renting me fifty 
 acres which I could cultivate with four or five of the hands 
 from my force of forty, using my three hundred and fifty 
 dollars and the salary you might be willing to pay me to 
 help make my crop — you to advance whatever sum 1 might 
 be short, taking your pay out of the cotton I would raise." 
 
 I told him we were just then short of laborers, but that I 
 had written Gen. Dobson, my partner, to bring us more; 
 these I expected shortly to receive, when we would have 
 a full supply, otherwise I should be glad to make some ar- 
 rangement with him. 
 
 Our guest was much disappointed at my reply ; but he 
 said, courageously, and with enthusiasm shooting from his 
 eyes, '* I shall expect to meet many obstacles, but I am 
 firml}- resolved to meet them with fortitude, and to over- 
 come them. I know I shall succeed," he continued, as if 
 thinking aloud ; " I have been out the best part of a month 
 now, and without finding an opening ; but I shall find one 
 if I persevere, and persevere I will, for sooner than sur- 
 render this passion of mine," he said with a glow, "I will 
 hire myself out as a day-laborer on some plantation, and 
 so start from the lowest round. I am willin<r to irive five 
 years of my life, if necessary, to get a foot-hold here — yes, 
 twenty years," he added, as if taking a second thought. 
 " My mother and sisters, whom I haven't seen since enter- 
 ing the service, now nearly four years, implore me to come 
 
234 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 home, but their letters do not move mo in the least from the 
 accomplishment of my purpose." 
 
 " Are you so fond of money," I inquired, "that you are 
 ready to hazard and endure so much?" 
 
 " Of course," he replied, " money is the main thing, 
 though it is not all: here is work that is to be done in 
 bringing up thefreedmen to a standard of usefulness, help- 
 ing them to find the right road in their journey as free 
 men, and the development of this country under the new 
 dis2)ensation. I feel that the work of the war is only half 
 done, and as if I should n't be blessed if I leave this coun- 
 try now. 1 firmly believe there is no part of the country 
 where there is such a future for young men as this. I 
 have my own fortune to make, and right here I intend to 
 make it." 
 
 Never have I seen such enthusiasm as this young man 
 evinced, unless in the case of Adjutant Johnson, though in 
 this instance there was the closely-knit, sinewy frame, with 
 no disease gnawing, canker-like, at the vitals. So far as 
 health went, he seemed to be able to encounter all the fu- 
 ture might have in store for him, in this rough country. In 
 looking at this young hero as he sat there all on fire with 
 his subject, it made me hope that there would be no such 
 word as fail in his case. 
 
 I urged him to sj^end a day or two with us, but he de- 
 clined with thanks, saying : " There is no time to be lost; 
 the season is advancing, and I must get located some where. 
 I have been out so long now that I fear my laborers will get 
 uneasy at not hearing from me. Can you recommend me 
 to any planter here, where I would be likely to make an 
 arrangement like the one I have just j)roposed to you? 1 
 like the first glance at your county very much," and he was 
 pleased to add, " I should like to plant myself near you." 
 
 " ]N'o," I said, " I know of no place ; the fact is, I am kept 
 so close at my work that I know absolutel}' nothing of our 
 neighbors' wants, but every body is needing labor, and I 
 
LIEUTENANT BLAIR, U. S. A. 235 
 
 should think you might get a foot-hold, by virtue of the 
 labor you say you control, almost any where." He replied, 
 after a few moments thought : " I will go on up the river 
 a little further, and then, if I can not find any place, I will 
 cross over and so follow on down on the other side." 
 
 I offered to loan him a mule to ride a few miles on his 
 way, but he said he would much prefer to walk, and so, 
 after a " good morning," and a promise to write after he 
 got settled, with his satchel on a cotton-wood stick slung 
 over his shoulder, he trudged off, as many another poor 
 young man had trudged along who afterward came to 
 be a millionaire. I must have looked a little sadly at him 
 as he started to move off with his long soldier stride — tell- 
 ing its story of years of experience in marching, for he 
 called out : 
 
 " Do not fear for me, Mr. Harding ; there is no such word 
 as fail in my composition. 1 came out of the war right- 
 side up, and, God blessing me," he said, reverently, " I 
 shall 2)rosper now," and so he passed out of sight. Surely 
 there was good material here, I thought, that could go into 
 the army at twenty, and come out of it at the end of four 
 years without having smoked a cigar, taken a quid of 
 tobacco, or a dram of liquor. It is the boys, who, going 
 out into the world, can withstand temptation, as he has 
 withstood it, in the trying ordeal of army experience, who 
 make the successful men. Judging from the glimpse I had 
 of him, I should say, that what would be temptation to 
 many boys and young men, was no temptation to him. 
 When I offered him a cigar, he told of his record in such a 
 way as to plainly indicate that his principles were fixed in 
 these resj)ects, and he wanted me to understand this to be 
 so at the outset of our acquaintance, so that never in the 
 future, if we were to be thrown together, would I be called 
 upon to extend to him a similar invitation. 
 
 It was more than a week before I could get Lieut. Blair 
 out of my mind. As for Mrs. Harding, the children, and 
 
236 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Adjutant Johnson, they could never stop talking about the 
 great enthusiasm of this yourig man, with only three hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars in money, and a party of freedmen 
 waiting down on the sugar-coast for him to find them a 
 home — he expecting to thrive through them, and they 
 through him. But the cares of our plantation in time 
 drove the episode out of my thoughts. It was all revived, 
 however, during my Yicksburg trip for labor, for whom 
 should I find at the hotel but Lieut. Blair ? He was over- 
 joyed at meeting me. 
 
 He said : " I went a considerable way up the river, and 
 there got a freed man to ferry me across in a skiff, and came 
 down the river again, finally returning here, and so making 
 the journey on foot." 
 
 I noticed him closely as he was telling me this, to see if 
 I could not discover that his ardor had cooled ; but no, there 
 was not the slightest abatement. As if divining my look, 
 he exclaimed : " 'Never fear ; I shall succeed. I am now 
 negotiating with several planters here, who want me to 
 come to them with my labor, and who offer me a fine 
 chance. But I would so much like to get into your neigh- 
 borhood. AV^hat I am afraid of is, not knowing the plant- 
 ers or being able to have them vouched for" I may make a 
 bad selection. Will you not advise me on this subject?" 
 
 Among the army of planters there in search of labor, was 
 a representative from General Hampson's Hambleton plan- 
 tation, in the person of the owner of the house we were 
 living in. It seems that General Hampson's wealth was, 
 like that of most people here, fictitious ; that while he 
 held the title to Hebron and Hambleton, as well as one or 
 two other places, none of them were paid for in full ; that 
 the Hebron plantation was largely, involved, but he had 
 cleared our title to it, by the use of part of our notes,which 
 his creditors took in lieu of his, netting him a handsome 
 profit in the way of discount ; that he had satisfied the 
 creditors against Hambleton by agreeing to divide it equally, 
 
LIEUTENANT BLAIR, U. S. A. 237 
 
 setting off to tliom one half. Our village landlord repre- 
 sented the estate to Avliioh this was to go, and came to pro- 
 cure labor for it. The actual division of Hambleton had 
 not yet taken place, so that General Hampson was yet in 
 immediate command, with an old-time overseer under him. 
 
 Barber, the Hambleton representative, was having no 
 luck at Yicksburg in securing labor, and was likely to have 
 to return without any recruits. He was not able to get 
 down among the negroes like many of the other planters. 
 His manner was rather that of the bank president, who 
 knows he has customers for every dollar he has to loan, 
 and that they will come to him and ask him for it, and so 
 never solicits, when it should have been that of the book- 
 peddler or the life-insurance agent, who knows that he must 
 w^ork, talk, and solicit a great deal to secure customers. 
 
 It occurred to me that Lieutenant Blair might make a 
 satisfactory arrangement with the Hambleton owners, and I 
 suggested as much to him. 
 
 " Just what I should like to do ! " he cried, " then I can 
 be in your splendid country and near you. Will you not 
 introduce me to Mr. Barber ? " 
 
 "Certainly," I replied, and that afternoon I brought them 
 together. Barber thought there was no sort of question 
 but that General Hampson would be only too delighted to 
 make an arrangement with Lieutenant Blair similar to the 
 one be proposed to make with us, which Blair, at my re- 
 quest, repeated to Barber, and the latter importuned him to 
 proceed with him by the first steamboat to Hambleton, and 
 close the bargain, so that he might hurry away and fetch 
 his labor — all of which was in due time consummated; and 
 so Lieutenant Blair was located on the Hambleton planta- 
 tion in a room in the overseer's cabin, and though the roof 
 which covered him, and the walls that shut him in, were 
 the rudest, he was yet very happy, in the thought that after 
 his long wandering, he was at last apparently so satisfac- 
 torily situated. Ho furnished bis own little room com- 
 
238 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 fortably from his slender purse, and was allowed to pur- 
 chase such articles of food not furnished for the overseer's 
 table as his appetite demanded. The terms of his contract 
 did not require this outlay by him, as by it he was to be 
 bedded and boarded by the plantation, but there was some- 
 thing said about the outlay being refunded to him in the 
 fall ; and so, not at all particular or exacting, or expecting 
 any sharj^ dealing, he did not complain. 
 
 " I want a comfortable bed," he said, " and wholesome 
 food, and I don't mind a little extra outlay to procure 
 them, as these are my only luxuries." It seemed like a rare 
 chance for our new-found friend, and I felt glad over the 
 thought that I had been able to serve him in a small way, 
 and he was very grateful to me. The overseer was an ex- 
 perienced planter, and under him Blair could learn all the 
 details of the cotton-field, and thus become a practical 
 planter, which was precisely what he was seeking for. His 
 zeal to assist the overseer, was only equal to his enthusi- 
 asm for his new calling, so that he was up early and late, 
 and always in the field where the negroes were at work. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLVI. 
 
 OUR HOME IN THE OVERSEER's CABIN. 
 
 After saying good-bye to our party on the steamer 
 "Dan Able," I mounted my horse, and, in company with 
 Billy and the conveyances which took our families to the 
 wharf-boat, hurried away from the landing. I knew it to 
 be unsafe to be out at such an unseasonable hour, but 
 the delay of the boat made it unavoidable. The lights 
 were streaming from the open doors of the saloons, which 
 
OUR nOME IN THE OVERSEER'S CABIN. 239 
 
 were all well filled witb parties drinking and playing cards, 
 no doubt for the most part " the mischievous boys," yet 
 none of them appeared to be on the " rampage," perhaps 
 because it was so early in the evening, and so we went 
 through the village unmolested. We took the levee road, 
 passing by our dark and deserted home, which looked 
 dreary enough with the gloom of night about it. 
 
 Wishing to be alone with my sad thoughts, I put ray 
 horse into a slow gallop, left the rest of our party in the 
 rear, and so caught up with the steamboat, which was car- 
 rying my treasures up the river so fast, and kept up with 
 her, until I turned in at our plantation gate; or, rather, to 
 be perfectly accurate, I followed her half a mile further up 
 the river, with the desperate feeling that I could not let 
 -her pass out of my sight, or be left behind here, in the 
 midst of this contagion and unfriendly sentiment. But 
 my panting horse warned me that I had gone far enough, 
 and so, with a heavy heart, I turned back. There, out on 
 the water, was the object of my present passion, moving 
 steadily and with majesty up the river, looking, with its 
 myriad of lights, just like a city in the distance at night. 
 
 I suffered the reins to drop on the neck of my tired an- 
 imal, resolved to keep my dreary watch there until the 
 boat swept around the bend, and so passed out of sight. 
 Just then the coal-heavers threw wide open the furnace- 
 doors, to replenish them. At first the throats thus ex- 
 posed looked like molten masses of fire, shining from the 
 front of the boat, and out upon the water, but the next in- 
 stant, as the fireman stirred up the furnaces, great billow- 
 ing flames streamed out, and I involuntarily exclaimed, 
 " The boat is on fire !" But, of course, it was nothing of 
 the kind — only the blaze from the furnaces. Then sparks 
 and smoke rolled out from the chimneys in two great coils, 
 the sparks veiled in the smoke looking like stars overcast 
 by fast-flying clouds. The volume of sparks went twink- 
 ling in a long, bright band far behind the boat, hanging 
 
240 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 low over it and the water, because of the raiu -saturated 
 atmosphere of the region. 
 
 After the boat had passed a mile away, I sat there brood- 
 ing on my horse and remembered the story Mrs. Harding 
 had once told me, of a cousin in the West, who was so 
 homesick for his parents, then visiting in Vermont, that he 
 got out on the fence one evening, and called for them at 
 the top of his voice. I could now sympathize with the 
 boy as heartil}" as I had often laughed at him, for here was 
 I, a strong man, and I could hardly resist the temptation 
 to call to the boat to come back and take me away from 
 this desolate country forever — take me back to my pill- 
 shop, where no Dobson should tempt me again ; to my pill- 
 shop, where, instead of sherry, I would have aqua-fortis, 
 as a welcome for all bearers of Dobson estimates. ^ 
 
 Two miles off, the puffing of the steamer was no longer 
 lieard ; there were no sparks flying from the chimneys, and 
 instead of the steady movement of a distinct steamboat, 
 full of life, all that could be seen were the lights, away off 
 on the water — carried along with an uncertain motion. 
 One instant they would appear stationary-, the next they 
 would dart ahead. Finally, that which, with this stop-and- 
 go motion, no longer seemed a steamboat, but a specter, 
 was gradually jerked out of sight, around the bend of the 
 river above. 
 
 I went slowly back until I was brought up at the overseer's 
 cabin, when our prospective home there became, for me, a 
 reality. The overseer's cabin was a building eighteen feet 
 by thirty-two, single story, with an eight foot gallery run- 
 ning down one side, a double chimney in the center of the 
 building, and a board partition extending on either side 
 of it, thus making two rooms, of equal size, about six- 
 teen feet square. One room served as our plantation 
 store, office, etc., the other was prepared for Dobson and 
 myself It was at once our sleeping, sitting, and dining- 
 room ; in short, it was all the room we had. Old Clara 
 
OUR HOME IN THE OVERSEER's CABIN. 241 
 
 and tho beautiful Mary, who was to servo as our cook until 
 Jane's recovery, bad fitted up tbe room for our reception. 
 It is astonishing bow many things can be stowed in a sin- 
 gle room : — there were two double beds in opposite corners ; 
 a wardrobe in another corner ; a writing-desk in the re- 
 maining corner ; our trunks, two of them; a bureau; a wash- 
 stand ; a table in the center, for all purjooses, which, fortun- 
 ately for our space, was an extension one, capable of seat- 
 ing for a meal fourteen persons, or contracted for but four ; 
 then there were two common chairs, and two rocking- 
 chairs — these and a lounge made up the principal items of 
 furniture, etc., on the floor of the room. 
 
 The dogs howled fearfully the first night. I got up 
 several times and went to the door to try and quiet them, 
 and I felt the discomforts of the jam in wdiich I had taken 
 up ray abode, through the rappings I got on my shins while 
 floundering about in the dark — which showed black and 
 blue marks the next day. The shoulder of the chimney, 
 on which the throat rested, served as a mantle-piece, where 
 was placed our little French clock, with two coal-oil lamps. 
 The outfit for house-keeping was quite complete. I have 
 already enumerated a portion of the articles ; those which 
 I have not named, could have been seen hanging around 
 on the walls, which were profusely covered with them — 
 coats, sauce-pans, hats, tin-cups, saddle and bridle, and a 
 medley of incongruous articles, too numerous to mention. 
 We did, however, have a second room, in the shape of a 
 little space boarded in on one corner of the gallery, where 
 our cooking stove was mounted. This " shed " served the 
 purpose of china-closet, pantry, store-room, and kitchen. 
 Manifestly, our outfit was too extensive for our dwelling. 
 We could have done quite well, and had plenty of room, 
 with a simple camp outfit, or with such an outfit as in the 
 primitive days early settlers in the West began life with ; 
 but here we had too much mahogany, too many append- 
 11 
 
242 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ages of fashion. The dressing of our room was not at all 
 in keeping with the room itself, though if we had been 
 called upon to part with any single article, we could not 
 have made a choice, so necessary did they all seem. 
 
 In the romantic stage of our plantation experience, I 
 would, doubtless, have called it snug and cosy, but the 
 romance was now worn off, and I felt desperately blue at 
 being left thus alone, so I had something to say to Billy 
 about the whole thing being a perfect clutter, and how this 
 was a pig-pen existence. I stumbled about among the fur- 
 niture at my first morning toilet, and when some article 
 got in my way, as happened constantly", I kicked out 
 at it viciously, as though it had feeling. If I had allowed 
 myself, I could easily have felt a fearful disgust — indeed, 
 I felt the disgust already, but endeavored not to acknowl- 
 edge it. 
 
 Only across the yard, not three rods away, was the cabin 
 used as a hospital, where there were four small-pox cases, 
 and I was their only doctor. It takes more philosophy 
 than I possessed, in the mood I was then in, to consider 
 the atmosj)here of small-pox cheerful. But I made a pow- 
 erful effort to look on the bright side of the situation, or 
 to look where I thought it should be (the fact is, there was 
 no bright side), and thus I regained some sort of equilib- 
 rium. It would never do to break down, now that I was 
 left alone with the pestilence, and this weight of duty upon 
 me. 
 
 Billy came in to say that " two of the small-pox patients 
 were out of their head last night, and got away from the 
 hospital, and the nurse chased them for over an hour, 
 finally catching them at the gin-house. They are now back 
 in the hospital with a raging fever on them, and want at- 
 tention badly." It was not half a minute's walk to the hos- 
 pital, and so, while my breakfast was preparing, I went 
 over to see what could be done for the runaway patients. 
 They were full-blooded negroes, and their faces were 
 
OUR HOME IN THE OVERSEER'S CABIN. 243 
 
 blotched and swollen to such an extent, that each made me 
 think of a dead-ripe bhackberiy, with here and there the 
 skin broken, showing the seed, and a little bead of red 
 juice. There they lay, burning with fever, and crazy as 
 loons. There did not appear to be a chance for them, but 
 I gave our sufferers the benefit of my best druggist know- 
 ledge, and left them, wnth a severe reprimand to the nurse 
 for letting them get aw^ay. 
 
 When I returned from m}^ visit to the hospital, I found 
 Clara building a fire in our fire-place, and Mary standing 
 over her with a troubled expression on her beautiful face, 
 which was disfigured by several spots of smut. There were 
 vessels of half-cooked food standing about on the hearth, 
 and my glance in the kitchen as I came along, so far as 1 
 could see through the cloud of smoke, showed that there 
 was not a lid on the stove, and that the smoke and blaze 
 were pouring out from every hole. 
 
 " What in the world is the matter ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 Clara looked up from blowing the fire, with her wet eyes, 
 and replied, " Mr. Harding, dat iron trick in dar is no sort 
 o' 'count for a nigger's cooking in dis country; it may do 
 up Norf — but it '11 nebber do down heer. Mary an' me is 
 bin tryin' to git de grub ready for ye for de las' half hour, 
 an' it has pintedly don' smoked our eyes out." 
 
 "Have you never cooked on a stove?" 
 
 Both replied, " We 's nebber seed dat kind o' trick 
 afore." 
 
 Both Mary's beautiful hands, and Clara's horny ones, 
 showed numerous blisters. Seeing us look at their hands 
 Clara said, holding up hers : 
 
 " We done got dese blisters tryin' to stop up de pesky 
 holes in dat trick. Cookin' on de fire-place 's easy nuff, 
 any chile kin larn dat ; de fire-place jes speaks for itself, it 
 alius stands wide open," she continued, eyeing it with evi- 
 dent admiration, " and says, 'jes prepaar fire in me, and 
 
244 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 put on de pots an' skillets Avid de truck in um, tm' I '11 do 
 de res.' " Looking toward the kitchen from which the 
 smoke was streaming, and rubbing her eyes as if in recol- 
 lection of the dose they had just received, she said, with 
 marked disgust, " dat iron fixin' out dar '11 nebber do for 
 de likes o' us niggers, we 's too done sot in our ways pint- 
 edly." 
 
 Mary said, looking at her blistered hands with her red 
 e^^es, on the lashes of which shone moisture from their re- 
 cent weeping, "1 mout learn in time, sir, ef some one 'ud 
 show me, but I'd rether cook out in the yard, ef you have 
 no objections, until 1 do learn." Her fresh, clean dress 
 and neatly ruffled bib-apron were all smutted up, as was 
 Clara's gown, and they both showed distinct marks of bav- 
 ins: had a tussle " wid dat iron trick," as Clara called the 
 stove. 
 
 '•It never rains but it pours," so here was an extra duty 
 before me, and one not at all congenial or in my line— that 
 of teaching the cook how to use the stove. The first dis- 
 covery made, when the smoke cleared away enough to 
 let us into the kitchen, was that the lids of the stove were 
 not unpacked ; Mary built the fire in it with the lids wide 
 open, and tried to stop them up by piling sticks of wood 
 over them; then, without knowing that each kettle had its 
 appropriate hole, she got the large kettles on the small 
 holes, and vice versa. In her distress, she had called in 
 Clara to help her out, but Clara was no wiser than she, so 
 they gave the stove up and moved into our bed-room. 
 
 It was a wonder they did not burn the cabin down in 
 their morning's bungling. I gave them permission to go 
 on and finish the breakfast in the fire-i^lace, and so for the 
 first meal our single room performed the additional office 
 of kitchen ; but, like every thing else, it had its capacity, 
 and as there was not space enough left after the storing of 
 the furniture for two cooks and myself, at one time, I 
 
LISS AND SAM. 245 
 
 went into the store while the meal was being prepared, 
 after which Clara vacated and left rae room to return and 
 eat it. 
 
 CHAPTER XLYIII. 
 
 LISS AND SAM. 
 
 One morning, after breakfast, I was sitting at my desk, 
 writing up my books, and smoking a cigar, when I heard 
 a knock at the store door. I called out, " Come in." 
 
 The door slowly opened, and the face of a negro man 
 wearing the saddest expression imaginable, and with his 
 woolly head wrapped with a fiery-striped bandana hand- 
 kerchief, peered in. 
 
 "Did yer say, come in ?" he drawled out. " Yes," I an- 
 swered, " come in, and shut the door after you." Slowly 
 my order was obeyed — then my caller dropped a faded and 
 torn army cap on the floor at his side, caught at what 
 would have been his forelock of wool, if the handkerchief 
 had not hid it, pulled his head slightly forward, and at the 
 same instant scraped back with his right brogan, and 
 drawled out deliberately : 
 
 " I wish ye good mornin', sah." 
 
 I recognized him as one of our Yicksburg negroes. 
 " What is your name ? " 
 
 "Sam." 
 
 "Are you sick, or what 's the matter ? You look as if 
 you had n't a friend in the world." 
 
 " I 's not what yer mout say so much sick wid my body 
 as I am torn up in my mind. I 's pow'fully riled dar. Yer 
 see, I tuck up wid Liss, when we corned from Yicksburg. 
 Liss an' me got 'long right pertly till de udder night, when 
 
246 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 all of a sudden she seemed sot agin me. I come to see yer 
 dis mornin', to see ef yer hadn't some truck I could give her, 
 so 's to sot her back in her lub to me agin, or cf yer had n't 
 dat, ef yer would'nt jes force her back to do de fa'r thing 
 by me," an' stop her runnin' through de quarters nights." 
 
 " Where is Liss ? " I asked. 
 
 " She 's out in de fiel' 'twork." 
 
 " "Well, you bring her up here this evening at seven 
 o'clock, and we '11 see what can be done. I do n't happen to 
 have any ' truck ' about me that you could give her to 
 bring her back, but we '11 see what a little talk will do." 
 
 At seven in the evening Sam and Liss came around, 
 Sam repeating his operations of the morning in the knock- 
 ing and bowing line ; but Liss stood up without a look or 
 word of recognition, which led me to believe that she was 
 not a willing party to the interview now on hand. 
 
 Liss was a wild-looking wench ; she had a dare-devil 
 flash of the eye, and every mark of being perfectly un- 
 tamed ; like a child's, her under lip stuck out a half an inch, 
 and there seemed any quantity of pout in her. She looked 
 at me viciously, out of the corners of her eyes, just as an 
 angry horse will look when about to send his heels against 
 the dash-board. I could not think of any thing but a 
 high-mettled animal when I saw her. She was well fed, 
 her face was glossy, and her whole person was glowing 
 with health and high spirits. I almost expected her to 
 kick out and squeal like a vicious mare. 
 
 Sam was as solemn as an owl. '• Liss," said he, " dis is 
 Mr. Harding. I aint arter takin' any unfa'r advantage of 
 ye, so I wants yer to tell yer own side of de story, an' I '11 
 tell mine, an' we'll let him 'cide twixt us." 
 
 I looked at Liss, but the only answer on her part was a 
 sullen shake of the skirt of her frock, and a quarter of an 
 inch more pout on her lip. 
 
 " Go ahead, Liss," Sam said. 
 
 " I 's got nuffin to say," was all Sam could get out of her. 
 
LISS AND SAM. 247 
 
 I urged her to tell lier story, but to no purpose; so I 
 said: ''Sam, tell us your side of the case." And Sam 
 squared around delibcratel}" for the work before him. He 
 held out his left hand before him, shaping it like a cup, as 
 if the whole story was in its hollow ; then ho hooked the 
 first finger of his right hand, and put it in this hollow, as 
 if to pull out the facts as they occurred to him. Thus pre- 
 pared, with his head on one side, and all the manner of a 
 person bent on being scrupulously exact as to fixcts, he 
 commenced : 
 
 " Dis is Friday, yisterday was Fursday, an' de day afore 
 was Tschuesday ; — yes, dat 's right," he said, hesitatingly, 
 and as if in a little doubt as to whether the fore-finger of 
 his right hand had hooked out the right day from the hol- 
 low of his left hand ; but, finally, deciding that it had done 
 so, he continued, " Yes, it war Tschuesday night — Lisa 
 an' me war sittin' on de steps ob our gallery, when, jis as a 
 husband 'II do sometimes, I put my arm around her waist, 
 an' she tole me to take it away, and so I tuck it away ; but 
 after awhile I puts it back agin, an' she tole me to take it 
 away agin, so I tucked it away agin. By 'n by I puts 
 it back agin, an' she tole me to take it away agin. This 
 made me stubborn like, and I luff it dar ; she tole me ef I 
 did n't take it away, she'd knock it away, an' I luff it dar 
 to see ef she 'uld — an', shore nuff, she knocked it away, an' 
 dat night she wouldn't get into bed, but slept on de floor, 
 an' ebber since she's kep away from me, an's been sleepin' 
 out o' nights anywhar." 
 
 Sam dropped his right-hand finger, and let his left hand 
 fall at his side, thus indicating that he had nothing more 
 to say. 
 
 I looked at Liss and asked : " Is all this true ? " 
 She grunted out some monosyllable, which might have 
 been a " yes," or it might have been an exclamation of 
 surprise at Sam's story, and then shoved out her lij^s an- 
 other quarter of an inch, and stood there with her knuck- 
 
248 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 les resting on her hips, her feet sprawled out far enough to 
 let a spring lamb pass between them, without rubbing, 
 stomach and breast thrown well to the front, head back, 
 nostrils and eyes shooting and breathing defiance, her ears 
 close to her head just like a stubborn mule's. I waited a 
 moment for Liss to continue, but she had done. It was n't 
 Liss's words which told the thoughts within her; her per- 
 son and manner told them distinctly enough ; — there was no 
 tamed colt here, and manifestly the slow-going, deliberate 
 Sam had no business to be hitched up along side of her, 
 any more than a poky dray-horse by the side of a brisk, 
 jumping, balking, fiery mustang pony. 
 
 I considered a moment what advice I had best give; 
 knowing pretty well that the untamed wench at my side 
 would not heed me in the least, but feeling that I must 
 make an effort for Sam's sake, as my sympathy rested with 
 him, although I could not help admiring his "tuck-up" 
 woman, who was now kicking in the traces and looking 
 defiance. Meanwhile, I said : 
 
 '*' Sam, if you have done anj' thing to Liss, which you 
 ought not, are you sorry for it and willing to ask her for- 
 giveness?" 
 
 "Yes, sah." 
 
 " Will yoLi do so now ? " 
 
 "Yes, sah." 
 
 "Well, go ahead." 
 
 " Liss, ef I's done de wrong part by ye, I axes yer par- 
 don, an' ef ye leave dat low-down nigger ye's runnin' arter, 
 an' come back to me, I'll 'low ye to take de whole ob Sat- 
 urday to do yer washin' in." 
 
 Sam said this with more life than I had supposed there 
 was in him, and then he looked anxiously and inquiringly 
 at Liss, to see whether she was softened. 
 
 " Liss," I said, "' if you have done any thing you ought 
 not to have done, are you sorry for it, and are j^ou willing 
 to ask Sam's forgiveness now ? " 
 
LISS AND SAM. 249 
 
 "No!" she screamed out, as if this was too much for 
 her pent-up feelings, " Sam's a lazy, low-down, triflin' nig- 
 ger, an' I 'il scratch his eyes plum out, if he comes pesterin* 
 me any more. I don't 'long to him ; we was nebbcr mar- 
 ried oul ob de book, and den for him to be talkin' so 'bout 
 de 'spectable nigger I's gwyne to tuck up wid ! " 
 
 Liss's last sentence explained the whole thing ; she was 
 tired of Sam, and was going to a new man. 
 
 Turning to Sam, I said: "I can do nothing for you; 
 Liss is not willing to go back to you, and I would n't have 
 any thing more to do with her. You have forgiven her, 
 but she wont forgive you, and she may be sorry for it, 
 some day. That's all," I said, ''you may go now." 
 
 The next day Liss was taken down with small-pox. It 
 was melancholy to see Sam frequently standing at the door 
 of the hospital between working hours, and talking to sick 
 Liss. He had never had the small-pox, and could not sum- 
 mon up enough courage to go in where she was ; but there 
 he would stand, on the outside, talking with her, often tak- 
 ing her over such luxuries as sardines, cove oysters, crack- 
 ers, etc., which he would hand to the nurse at the door. Dur- 
 ing all this time the new lover, for whom Liss had discarded 
 Sam, never came near her, and when she got up from her 
 attack, her face was so disfigured that he would not look 
 at her, and by that time Sam had taken up with another 
 woman, and so the much-coveted Liss was left alone. 
 11* 
 
250 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTEK XLYIII. 
 
 JIMMY WATSON AND THE SMALL-POX. 
 
 As SOON as we closed our bargain with Colonel Gray, we 
 had his outfit moved down to Hebron, which relieved the 
 hands on watch at the plantation above, among whom, as 
 we have said, was Jimmy "Watson. We put Jimmy at once 
 in charge of our blacksmith-shop, where he was proving 
 himself as serviceable as he was small and homely. We 
 soon found him to be thoroughly trusty, prompt, a compe- 
 tent workman, and in no sense an eye-servant. Wherever 
 he was, there was sunshine, and his loud, merry laugh was 
 perfectly contagious. He was respected by all the laborers 
 on the plantation, and his influence was the very best. Ho 
 had a decided disgust for the short-comings of the race of 
 which his fraction of negro blood made him as much part 
 and parcel as if there had been no mixture in his veins. Many 
 were the good,wholesome lectures he would earnestly deliver 
 when he thought his people needed them. He understood 
 the meaning of freedom in its broadest and fullest sense, as 
 applied to his race, and he prized it as he did his wife. 
 
 He was accustomed to say that " half the niggers do n't 
 'zarve their freedom, the way they 're gwyne on. I do n't 
 sec what" such-and-such a negro, naming him, "was ever 
 born for. He's a disgrace to his race." He kept his 
 blacksmith-shop in splendid shape, never allowed his work 
 to drive him, and there was no haggling about the number 
 of hours he was to labor — if necessary for him to work un- 
 til midnight, or all day Saturday, or at any time out of 
 hours, either in the shop or out of it, I had but to say the 
 word, and he could turn off abundance of work. He was 
 not one of that somewhat numerous class of workmen who 
 
JIMMY WATSON AND THE SMALL-POX. 251 
 
 are always commencing their jobs — he never had any thing 
 to say about what ho was " going to do." When a job was 
 called for it was pretty certain to be ready; and he only 
 sj^oke of that which he had already accomplished. He 
 w^as practical and had a graft of executive ability, which it 
 was delightful to discover in the midst of so much which 
 was its very opposite. In him was material for some high 
 executive officer; — ho could carry out a programme 
 promptly and thoroughly, and his ideas about the manage- 
 ment of a plantation, and the way to farm, seemed to me 
 good. We had yet to test him on these points, but he said 
 he was as good an engineer as he was blacksmith, and 
 could do far better farming than any we were having done. 
 
 As may be readily supposed, Jimmy gave us great pleas- 
 ure. Here was certainly one instance where the white 
 graft on a negro stock had produced a splendid cross. 
 Honesty, capacity, industry', education and humor were all 
 shut uj) in this little fellow. One might say that every 
 thing about him was white but his skin, and then add that 
 it was more than half white, too. 
 
 Jimmy had one fault, however, personal to himself — his 
 inordinate extravagance. He was the best customer the 
 Hebron store had, and kept his wages traded out as close 
 as he kept the mixture of hair and wool on his head crop- 
 ped. In the case of his hair, you could seethe skin on any 
 part of his head ; and in the case of his pocket, there never 
 was a ten cent piece in it. Not a night passed that he did 
 not carry home some article of luxurj^ for his Mary. But 
 kings and princes have lavished fortunes on far less beau- 
 tiful women than Jimmy was now lavishing his daily earn- 
 ings on, and after all, his spend-thrift course may not have 
 been so much a characteristic as it was a desire to devote 
 every penny of his earnings to this Southern beauty of 
 his, but for whom he might have been the veriest niggard. 
 
 Jimmy gained great eclat on the plantation by the mere 
 fact of having such a beautiful woman for a wife, though 
 
252 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 with his bright, intelligent eyes, merry laugh, and striking 
 characteristics, he would soon have won his way as a 
 leader, even without her at his side. Another trait in 
 Jimmy's character was his assurance. We wanted a chim- 
 ney rebuilt, for one of the cabins, that had fallen down. 
 He said that he could do it, and he did build it, but at the 
 cost of eight barrels of lime, when, as we afterwards dis- 
 covered, one would have been sufficient. This, however, 
 added only thirty-five dollars to the Dobson estimate, and 
 it was looked upon as a matter of small consequence. We 
 used to laugh at it as a good joke. 
 
 Jimmy was ray right-hand man every Saturday evening 
 when I distributed rations — now measuring molasses, now 
 cutting up rounds of pork, diving into the meat-tub, deal- 
 ing out handsful of salt, cracking jokes, and keeping every 
 body in good humor with bis merry laughter. When he 
 was not blacksmithing, or caressing Mary, he was pretty 
 sure to be hunting for deer, and many were the deer ho 
 brought in, as w^ell as other game. 1 had bought a Spencer 
 rifle, thinking to do some hunting, but Jimmy was not long 
 in trading me out of it, for what he said was a silver watch, 
 but which turned out to be galvanized, and did not under- 
 stand the first lesson of time-keeping. 
 
 The next victim to small-pox after Liss was Jimmy. He 
 was ailing for several days before I found out what was the 
 matter with him. His hammer, which had been wont to 
 ring out on the anvil early and late, and with all the vigor 
 there was in his wonderfully vigorous little body, grew fee- 
 ble and less frequent in its stroke, until finally, when I went 
 across to his shop one morning, there were a few incipient 
 pimples on his forehead ; and when I told him what ailed 
 bim, he let his hammer fall at the side of his anvil, and his 
 pale mulatto complexion, which was already suffused with 
 the fever then running through his veins, grew paler. The 
 expression on his face was that frequently seen in the faces of 
 soldiers when about to make a dangerous charge, or in those 
 
JIMMY WATSON AND THE SMALL-POX. 253 
 
 of persons about to undergo a critical surgical operation. 
 There was the evident nerving of himself for the task be- 
 fore him, when he fully realized its nature. The pallor 
 was almost instantly followed by the decision to endure the 
 stroke courageously. 
 
 "I don't mind it," he finally said, deliberately, as if he 
 was still revolving the painful discovery in his thoughts, 
 " for me, but ef Mary should git it, it would kill me. Can't 
 3'ou give her something, Mr. Harding, that will keep it 
 from her?" 
 
 "Has she been vaccinated?" I asked. 
 
 "Yes; I done had her vaccinated in Yicksburg, and it 
 tuck on both arms, an' the doctor done kep the scab for 
 his use, case he said Mary was sich a healthy subject." 
 
 " Then there is n't much danger for her, but you must 
 go into the hospital immediately, and Mary will have to 
 keep away from you all the time while you are sick." 
 
 " I '11 go anywhar, or do anything, ef only Mary kin be 
 spared ; it would kill me plum dead to see her smooth skin 
 all pock-marked." 
 
 And then he looked at me very earnestly, as if his last 
 sentence had called up some unpleasant thought, which it 
 had, for he said, with a troubled expression : 
 
 " But, Mr. Harding, I 'm to be pock-marked. I 'm none 
 o' the han'somest now — what ef I live to git out of the hos- 
 pital, with my face all blotches, as it will be, like Sambo 
 Jinkins's, who 's jist come out, and Mary should be sot 
 airiu me, and should n't love me ?" 
 
 It was melancholy to sec the painful expression on his 
 face at this thought. He seemed to grow five years older 
 all in a moment, and his knees knocked against each other, 
 while his whole frame shook as if with ague. 
 
 "I would rather die with the small-j^ox den to hev this 
 to happen." 
 
 I told him to console himself with the thought of what 
 he had just said ; that he was none of the handsomest 
 
254 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 now, and that if Mary had been after a pretty man, she 
 would never have j^icked him up. ''A few blotches on your 
 face," I said, " will make no difference with Mary's love." 
 He was such a fountain of mirth, my suggestion that he 
 could not become much uglier than he was now, called 
 forth his merry laugh, though not very loud or hearty. 
 
 Jimmy then gave some directions to his assistant, who was 
 a very good blacksmith himself, and would now have to 
 take charge of the shop, about the work on hand, and 
 about keeping every thing in order, and locking up care- 
 fully at night, when, after taking a lingering look all around 
 the shop, with the tell-tale thought on his features, that per- 
 haps he was never to see the place again, he said : 
 
 " 1 '11 go, now, to the hospital and get into bed, for I feel 
 a pow'ful misery in my bones. On my way I '11 say good- 
 bye to Mary." So, with his hands clasj^ed over his fevered 
 foi'ehead, he crossed into the yard of the quarters, walked 
 up to his cabin door, and called "Mary!" She came out 
 on the gallery at once, when he cried out to her, his face 
 expressing alarm : 
 
 " Do n't come a-nigh me, Mary ; you must n't tech me, 
 for I'se got the small-pox, and I 'mgwyne over to the hos- 
 pital to be nussed. Take good care of yourself, and keep 
 away from me, and don't forget how Jimmy used to look, 
 becaze when you see me agin I '11 be ugly." 
 
 Mary wrung her hands, and Avept bitterly, crying out, 
 *' It do n't make no difference how ugly you is ; I 'longs 
 to you, and will never 'long to nobody else;" then, with 
 faces indicative of true agony, they separated, bidding 
 each other good-bye, and looking back at each other until 
 he disappeared in the hospital. There was no thought of 
 self with him, except so far as his loathsome disease might 
 influence or change the feelings of Mary toward him ; and 
 when she assured him, as she had just done, that she would 
 be true to him, he was at once relieved. I followed him 
 
JIMMY WATSON AND THE SMALL-POX. 255 
 
 into the hospital, and found him undressing with the ut- 
 most coolness and courage. 
 
 Jimmy had a most violent attack, and was delirious at 
 times. One night, in his half frenzy, he got up, and had 
 gone as far as the door, with the wild intention of rushing 
 out and running away; but he had just reason enough 
 left, with his good common sense, to think, "Now, if I do 
 this it will kill me ;" and so he dragged himself, as it were, 
 forcibly, back into bed and covered himself up, and asked 
 the nurse, who was awakened by the noise, to strap him 
 down, for fear he would have another paroxysm and not 
 be able to control himself. He was as tractable as a babe, 
 and never failed to take his medicine, and have my least 
 order carried out. In this way he stood guard over him- 
 self, and would not allow the nurse to neglect him in the 
 slightest degree. 
 
 " May be ef I take good keer of myself I wont be much 
 marked, and then wont Mary be pleased !" At this thought, 
 in his enfeebled condition, he would give vent to the faint- 
 est thread of a laugh. He would not allow a breath of 
 fresh air to strike him, and so, by his great prudence, he 
 pulled through. 
 
 Mary was constantly cooking for him such delicacies as 
 she could secure, and sending them to him. She never 
 asked to visit him, nor did she seem anxious about him, as 
 I expected she would. The fact is, nature had been so lav- 
 ish in her physical charms, that it had played the common 
 freak, and neglected those of the mind. She was rather of 
 the sluggish or sleepy disposition — in this respect showing 
 strongly the negro cross in her. In order to be interested 
 she had to see the object ; she could not hold its image in 
 her mind. While Jimmy was at her cabin door, and she 
 was bidding him good-bye, she showed considerable feel- 
 ing; but when he was shut in by the hospital walls, she 
 did not seem concerned about him. But whether this was 
 a result of heartlessness or childishness, or deception, or 
 
256 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 something of each, when Jimmy, at last a convalescent, 
 put his head out of the door, then tottered forth upon the 
 gallery, and Mary saw him, there was all the animation of 
 their separation renewed. 
 
 " Why, dere 's Jimmy," she exclaimed, and then her face 
 was suffused with pleasure; "1 kin hardly wait for the 
 time to come for him to cross over." When he finally 
 came, a few days later, with his gait unsteady from weak- 
 ness, toward her, and looked anxiously into her face, to see 
 whether she was shocked at the sight of his scarred and 
 disfigured features, Mary said to him, "Jimmy, you 's jcs 
 the same to me 's you was afore." Jimmy's eyes lit up 
 with joy. It was a touching sight. They fell into each 
 others arms, and tears of ha2)piness dropped from their 
 eyes. 
 
 Jimmy felt it to be a critical moment for him ; he hesi- 
 tated a day or two, before he could get courage enough to 
 go across. He got an old piece of a looking-glass in some 
 way, and when I made my visits to the hospital, I would 
 catch him eying himself in it, as if trying to make up his 
 mind how much of a fright he was ; then, again, he would 
 creep out upon the gallery, and Mary would come out upon 
 hers, and they would talk to each other, his faint voice be- 
 ing hardly strong enough to carry itself across to Mary's 
 gallery. 
 
 " I want to get Mary sort o' used to me," he said, " afore 
 I go over, so 's not to shock her so bad when she sees me 
 clost." 
 
 But, when the meeting came, Mary did not appear in the 
 least shocked, for there she was, in all her loveliness, in 
 Jimmy's arms, clinging to the unsightly little fellow as the 
 ivy clings to the scorched and riven tree, rubbing her hand 
 over his rough face, and looking into his bright eyes, 
 which were the only feature unchanged — they were more 
 brilliant that ever — and showing every mark of wifely 
 affection. 
 
JIMMY WATSON AND THE SMALL-POX. 257 
 
 Jimmy's hammer soon began to strike again feebly, and 
 it was some time before it gained its wonted vigor. 
 
 Next, after Jimmy, the small-pox attacked the white 
 man Adjutant Johnson had brought down as engineer. 
 lie had not been very select in the company he kept at 
 night, and so fell a victim. I had a room prepared for 
 him in the gin-house, put a competent nurse in charge 
 of him, and gave him the best care I could; but he was 
 a loose-jointed, indolent man, without any power of re- 
 sistance in his composition, so there was no struggle for 
 life on his part, and without appearing to be very sick, he 
 shortly died. 
 
 The inmates of our small-pox hospital averaged about 
 five during the siege of the disease, which had its run 
 through the plantation, attacking some mildly, and others 
 with great virulence, the deaths being eight, including 
 two who escaped from the nurse, as already related, and 
 who died the second day following. 
 
 As often as a death occurred, all hands insisted on stop- 
 ping work until the corpse was buried. Mrs. Harding's 
 cook, Jane, recovered, but both her children died. As was 
 IH'eviously arranged, when Jane recovered she took her 
 place as our cook. She was now childless, and seemed to 
 be restless about some thing, was very inefficient, and fin- 
 ally I had to dismiss her. The old overseer, whose mistress 
 she had been, was in the neighborhood, having just re- 
 turned from Texas. The " grape-vine telegraph," as it was 
 called, informed Jane of the fact, and she wanted to get 
 back to him, which was the cause of her unrest. As soon 
 as I dismissed her, she went back to him, ostensibly as 
 cook. 
 
 I should gladly have put Clara into her place, but she 
 said, ''I's done burnt myself out over de fire, an' cookin' 
 makes me dizzy like. I 'd rether work in de fiel'." And 
 80, in my distress, Jimmy let Mary come back to me as my 
 
!i58 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 cook, until I could get some one else. As he was so careful 
 of her, he did not wish to have her work out permanently. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 A CHAPTER OF HORRORS. 
 
 Hebron was rapidly assuming the atmosphere of a hos- 
 pital. Shortly after the departure of our families, the rains 
 ceased, the skies cleared, and the sun shone out with torrid 
 fervor. The waters in the ditches and bayous — choked up 
 as they were, and no longer fed — soon became sour stag- 
 nant pools, with a coating of green scum, the vapors from 
 w^hich filled the air with that something poj^ularly called 
 " malaria." The river dropped within its banks, and left 
 the slough in front of the levee — made by the barrow-pits 
 from which the dirt was taken to build the levee — a long, 
 narrow, slimy pond. It was overshadowed by knotted, 
 gnarly willows, hackberries, water-oaks, and straight cot- 
 ton-woods, which in turn were festooned from root to 
 branch with enormous vine-growths, such as the trumpet- 
 creeper, wild-grape, American ivy, and poison oak, mak- 
 ing in all a tangled, sun-proof mass. Clumps of palmetto 
 and swamp grasses, with blades broad as a Mexican dag- 
 ger, shot up out of the water, rendering the slough swamp- 
 like in the extreme. When it was fed by the rains and the 
 back-water from the Mississippi, ducks had been fond of 
 the place, but now they flew away from the sour, filthy 
 pool, and in their stead came swarms of moccasin snakes, 
 which delighted to coil themselves up on the limbs of bushes 
 growing out of the water, in bunches sometimes as large 
 as a peck basket, from their perches hissing defiance at 
 
A CHAPTER OP HORRORS. 259 
 
 •» 
 
 passing objects, whether of human or brute kind, or wrig- 
 gling along through the green scum on the surface of the 
 water. There were also to be seen, these hot, sunny days, 
 schools of turtles on projecting logs and limbs. Occasion- 
 ally an alligator was seen thrusting his nose through the 
 green up against a log, or the more venturesome smaller 
 ones on the top of logs, with belated alligator-gars, as long 
 as a man, buffiilo-fish and cat as large as a ten-year-old boy, 
 which came into the slough in the back-water of the Mis- 
 sissippi to spawn, and did not get away when the back- 
 water ran out — now either frightened at their imprison- 
 ment, or gasping for the want of air in this dead-water, 
 flopping up out of it, parting the scum and making great 
 splashes as if bowlders were here and there thrown into the 
 slough. Little lizards of all hues were to be seen running 
 up and down the sides of the trees, or peering through the 
 vine-growth on bushes and logs. And there was a profu- 
 sion of insect life swarming under this density of shade. 
 Then, there was the weed-growth rotting in the ditches ; 
 the recently turned-up earth exposing decayed vegetable 
 matter— the opening up of fields with the green mold of 
 years upon them: all filling the air with most unpleasant 
 smells, which were passing through the lungs, and gorging 
 the liver with bile. When the vapor began to rise at the 
 dusk of evening, the odor was snakey. 
 
 Hitherto I had not understood why this country should 
 be called " a swamp," but it was clear enough now. It did 
 not take long, breathing this atmosphere, before chills and 
 fever showed themselves. Here was another malady added 
 to the small-pox. This was the season of year when, in 
 slave-times, planters left the country with their families, 
 entrusting the management of their plantations to the 
 overseers. 
 
 Wo might have escaped with a comparatively light in- 
 tliction if we could have controlled the situation as the 
 overseers had been able to do ; but, try as we might, the 
 
260 A YEAR OF WRE^K, 
 
 habits of our laborers were simply fearful. The single 
 men ostensibly sle^t in the barrack which we had built for 
 our white laborers; but the fact was, they slept around 
 anywhere, now in this cabin, now in that — wherever 
 drowsiness overtook them they dropped asleep. Frequently 
 it was on the gallery, where the heavy dews would satu- 
 rate their clothing, and all night long they would breathe 
 in the sickening odors with which the air Avas filled. 
 
 Then they insisted on spearing the gar, buffalo, and cat- 
 fish in the slough, with their horrid, snaky odor, and then 
 eating them. They ate muskrats, minks, coons, opossums 
 — in short, every thing they could kill, except snakes. 
 This was done by stealth. We would find their skins in 
 the neighborhood of the quarters. It seemed a second 
 nature in the negroes to eat these outlandish things, and it 
 was impossible to j^revent them entirely, although wo 
 might and did restrain them. 
 
 When we caught a negro in the dusk of evening, or just 
 at break of day, bringing up an alligator-gar from the 
 slough, hooked by the gills upon his spear-pole, and thrown 
 over his shoulder, with the tail dragging on the ground, he 
 would declare he did not intend to eat it, but wanted the 
 hide to tan for shoe-leather ; if it were a buffalo or cat-fish, 
 he would make an excuse that he wanted to get the fat 
 out of it, or that there was a bone in it he wanted to tie 
 around his neck, which some one had told him would drive 
 away sickness. In the same way we would catch them 
 bringing in some one of the filthy animals above men- 
 tioned, which they always had some ready use for, at their 
 tongue's end, other than eating it ; but eat it they would, 
 proof of which was, that persons so caught were generally 
 taken down sick a day or two afterwards. 
 
 Peach trees had sprung up all over the plantation during 
 the war. They were loaded with fruit ; and as fast as the 
 peaches showed the slightest pink the negroes would pull 
 them and gorge themselves. They did not seem to have 
 
A CHAPTER OF HORRORS. 261 
 
 the least thought of waiting for them to get ripe. It was 
 not a question as to who were tlie guilty ones — they were 
 all guilty. Then, there were a few apple-trees in our begin- 
 ning of an orchard, and also a couple of pear-trees, the fruits 
 of which they picked by stealth and ate when they were as 
 hard as bullets. We never had a ripe peach, or apple, or 
 pear during the year, and yet there was, all told, a yield 
 of perhaps a thousand bushels. There were watermelon 
 vines scattered through the cotton, yet not a melon was 
 allowed to ripen or get much over half its groAvth. Their 
 green seeds and rinds, with pieces of green core, were to be 
 seen every day at the heads of the cotton rows, showing 
 that the negroes had been at other work than that of hoe- 
 ing and plowing cotton. 
 
 In consequence of all this, every day the percentage of 
 sickness was on the increase. There was not a niijht that 
 I was not up with one or more cases of cholera-morbus. 
 This class of sickness was added to the small-pox and 
 chills. Whether my year s experience would make me a 
 creditable planter remained to be seen ; but there was 
 not much doubt that it Avould make me a fair practical 
 physician in the special line of sickness I had to deal with. 
 The item of " medicine and medical attendance free," 
 which had looked so harmless in our contracts, was turning 
 out to be a heavy expense, and an onerous tax upon ray 
 tired time. The negroes were perfect in their own estima- 
 tion. I could never get them to acknowledge a fault ; and 
 notwithstanding there was the evidence of their guilt right 
 before them, they would declare they never had eaten a 
 green peach or a green melon, but that it was working in 
 the hot sun, or the salt pork, or sour meal, or something 
 else than the thing itself, which made them sick. My task 
 seemed to be a hopeless one until I could work them up to 
 an acknowledgment of the causes which made them sick, 
 and this seemed, as a general rule, an impossibility. Billy 
 had an old horn which he brought out of the army, and 
 
2G2 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 un which he had learned, among other things, to blow the 
 sick call — so, every morning, he would get out on the gal- 
 lery, and sound that which the soldiers used to interpret as, 
 " Quinine ! quinine ! and take it in double doses — and take 
 it in double doses." But that did not answer here; — in 
 my daily round through the quarters, I would frequently 
 find some negro, who had apparently hid himself away, 
 with a burning fever on him, and, as would be the invari- 
 able answer, " Wid such a mis'rj^ in my bones." 
 
 My greatest trouble was to get the sick properly nursed. 
 Perhaps this was because these negroes never had the service 
 to perform before, since, when they were slaves, their mas- 
 ters had it done for them. Then, too, when a slave died, 
 there was no funeral ceremony; now the funerals were 
 ponderous aifairs, the whole plantation seeming like Sun- 
 day, until the body was in the ground, which was not gen- 
 erally until after two days had passed. 
 
 The crude idea of the negroes seemed to be that they 
 could pray their dead into heaven, no matter what their 
 previous life had been. So, when a patient was pro- 
 nounced hopeless, or when death had actually occurred, he 
 was immediately taken charge of by the aunties and un- 
 cles who were, as it was called, " 'ligious." In the death- 
 room, where the corpse would be laid out, and, before 
 death, while the rattle was in the throat, rude prayers in- 
 terspersed with singing and exhortations were commenced, 
 which were kept uj) and increased, as their feelings were 
 worked up to fever-heat, with little or no interruption un- 
 til the time for burial came, when the party would form in 
 procession behind the wagon, bare-headed, and, singing, 
 follow the dead from the cabin to the grave. With the 
 manual labor attending the funeral, such as making the 
 coffin, digging the grave and preparing the wagon to carry 
 the corpse to the grave, the religious negroes would have 
 nothing to do. Their task was the saving of the soul — the 
 rest we had to hire others to perform. The " sinners," 
 
A CUAPTER OF HORRORS. 2G3 
 
 as they were called, generally formed in the rear of the 
 " 'ninted," and marched to the grave-3-ard. But while the 
 funeral ceremonies, at the cabin, were performed, they 
 lounged, slept, hunted, speared fish, visited adjoining 
 plantations, and caroused. 
 
 Gradually the negroes of the neighborhood — who, at 
 first, brought together from all parts of the country, were 
 strangers — became acquainted with each other. As a con- 
 sequence, these funeral occasions sometimes extended to 
 adjoining plantations — that is, our people helped to bury 
 the dead of other places, and vice versa, which of course 
 increased the number of holidays, and made the hospital 
 asi^ect still more striking. 
 
 These frequent rests were exceedingly demoralizing. Af- 
 ter a night's ceremonies over some dead body the partici- 
 pants were illy fitted for the labor of the ensuing day. 
 Scarcely did we get a little tone to our help when either a 
 death would occur, or the Saturday holiday, and then 
 there must be the struggle to tone up again. There were 
 instances where a death would take place Wednesday 
 night, the religious exercises would follow on Thursday and 
 Thursday night, and the funeral on Friday — thus making 
 two days of rest. Then we would try to get a day's 
 work on Saturday, but it was "in de contrac'" — no work 
 on Saturday ; and so, as often as we tried it, we had to 
 give it up, and thus it was that four solid days in seven 
 were spent outside of the field. 
 
 Some of the deaths might have been avoided with 
 only a small percentage of the attention in nursing which 
 was given to their funerals afterward. I strove hard to work 
 up an efficient corps of nurses, but met with no sort of 
 success, our heads of squads proving as great failures as 
 the rank and file; and so, from mere necessity, I turned 
 one side of our store-room into a hospital, and when I 
 found a critical case I had it moved there, where, adjoining 
 
264 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 our own sleeping-i*oom as it was, I could give it my per- 
 sonal attention. 
 
 The funerals of the small-pox victims were not so cere- 
 moDious as those of the negroes who died of other diseases; 
 there was no takiug charge of the corpse until it was 
 i:)laced in the coffin. But then the exercises commenced 
 with a vim, and were all the more boisterous because of 
 the shortness of time in which to expend their fervor and 
 pray away the sins of the dead. And a small-pox funeral 
 always meant one day out of the field. 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 BUZZARDS AND INSECTS, ETC. 
 
 There was a tall, dead tree, with its far-reacliing, crooked 
 limbs still intact, in the midst of the slough in front of 
 the levee, which served as a roosting-place by night and a 
 perch by day for a flock of turkey-buzzards. So fond of 
 any thing in the shape of death, they selected this dead 
 tree for a home instead of a living one, whose leaves would 
 have afforded them both shade and shelter. From this 
 perch they spied their food in the slougii below them, 
 and in the country round about, either dropping down 
 upon it, or flying oft' after it, whether it were a dead snake, 
 a fish, a dog, a Texas steer, or that apparently to them most 
 delicate of all dishes, a dead mule. Whatever it might be, 
 from the largest animal down to the tiniest bird, or reptile, 
 would be picked clean within twenty-four hours after its 
 death. No matter in what out-of-the-way place, however 
 hid by tangled growth, nothing ever escaped them. I 
 frequently found them in the depths of our woods, or in 
 
BUZZARDS AND INSECTS, ETC. 265 
 
 the midst of our ciinc-brakc, -while I rode in search of a 
 stray mule, burrowing in the side of a dead rabbit, or a 
 squirrel, or a deer, or pulling away at a snake. Seeing 
 them on their roost one would say, " What lazy birds they 
 are," for there they would sit until the sun was well up, 
 each spreading out its wings and tail to dry, looking like 
 a stuffed eagle in a museum, or reminding one of a filthy 
 tramp, sitting on the edge of a stream, waiting for the sun 
 to dry the dew off his rags before taking up his march 
 again. And yet they performed their work with a fidelity 
 which, if imitated by our laborers, would have given our 
 plantation a very different appearance. Their task was 
 also executed noiselessly. They only flapped their wings 
 when alighting or leaving their perch or feast. The rest 
 of their journey was made by sailing through the air 
 Avith extended, but motionless wings. Never a sound came 
 from their ungainly beaks, nor were they grudging toward 
 each other, but would work together over the common prey 
 with the utmost harmony and good feeling; — frequently 
 one party of buzzards, finding another already at their 
 meal, with all the space occupied, would quietly take up 
 their perch in the neighborhood, waiting for the first 
 ones to gorge themselves, flutter up and sail away : some- 
 times coming and going singly, in which case, as fast as 
 a vacant space would be made at the feast it would be 
 occupied by a waiting bird. Thus there was never any 
 wrangling over the meal, and, save the motion of the wings 
 of those coming and going, all was quiet as the grave. 
 
 Nothing ever disturbed their feast except the hungry 
 dogs, to which they would give way. While we knew that 
 these scavengers only did us good, it was yet melancholy to 
 see them every-where, now sailing along low down, and 
 now but a speck in the air from their great height, or else 
 deliberately at their work, with that quiet which surrounds 
 
 the dead, and with a faithfulness and a thorouc-hncss un- 
 12 
 
266 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 equaled. Where there was a mortality among the lower 
 animals great enough to require so many busy beaks and 
 claws, there would, of necessity, be great sickness and 
 mortality among human kind. I often wondered whether 
 these feasters on the dead ever died themselves. I never 
 saw one of them dead, as I frequently saw other birds ; 
 nor could I ever discover any signs of nesting or of young 
 among them. They all had the slow movements of age, 
 seeming, in their faded black garb, with wrinkled heads 
 and necks, superannuated, if such a thing were possible 
 with them. The buzzard was one bird the negroes never 
 shot. They had a superstition among them that when 
 buzzards reached a given age they turned into black cats. 
 
 What a country we found this for insect life ! Seeming 
 to partake of the wealth of soil here, which doubled and 
 quadrupled the size of every thing, whether a weed, a blade 
 of grass, a stalk of cotton, a shrub or tree — all varieties of 
 insects grew and flourished. Take a particular species of 
 bug, fly, moth, or other insect, and it was larger than, and 
 there were a hundred of them here to every one of those 
 outside of this swamp region. During the day the heat 
 of the sun drove them into the weeds and brambles and 
 swamps for shade, but when night came on, they swarmed 
 out from their hiding-places, and filled the air with their 
 singing, buzzing, hissing and screaming sounds. 
 
 A lamp-light in our bed-room was a general invitation 
 for every thing with wings or legs to come in, and come 
 they did in all sizes and shapes, striking the exposed parts 
 of my body, getting into my ears, nose, and eyes, crawling 
 up my pantaloons — in short, searching out and passing 
 over every part of my body. First and foremost in num- 
 bers, as well as annoyance, were the musquitoes — the little 
 striped-legged fellows by day and the large, vicious ones 
 by night. There was no such a thing as wearing slippers, 
 because these pests would blister my ankles — so I had to 
 swelter in high shoes. Frequently they came in such 
 
BUZZARDS AND INSECTS, ETC. 267 
 
 swarms as to drive me under the bar before bed-time, and 
 about the only comfort I experienced this year was when I 
 was thus shut away from them, hearing them sing, and by 
 the aid of the lamp, seeing them beat themselves against 
 the bar, as if enraged at being thus defeated in their attack 
 on me. At dusk they were worse than at any other time. 
 Then a smoke was absolutely necessar3^ So I had an iron 
 bucket made, which every evening at that hour was filled 
 with chips, fired, and placed so that the breeze would blow 
 the smoke on our gallery, and into our store and bed-room. 
 
 Then there were millers of every conceivable shape, size, 
 and hue, and in such numbers as almost to put our light 
 out at night, fluttering over and into it, scorching their 
 wings, but still keeping up the attack until the flame of 
 the lamp would transform them into mere bugs, when they 
 would go hopping about, like wounded soldiers, on our 
 table. I could have furnished a pint of millers, more or 
 less singed, almost any night. One evening the " zip bugs " 
 got so bad we had to shut down the window and close the 
 door. Then we turned in and captured those in the room, 
 and they filled a half-gallon measure. 
 
 There was a little fly about the size of a flax seed, which 
 was particularly annoying, because it w^ould flit against our 
 lamp and leave little specks of fuz on it, until it would have 
 a coating all over, so that after having a very bright light 
 we would have a very dull one. This insect I could have 
 furnished by the pint. J3eing so small the mortality in 
 numbers was great. They banked themselves up, as it were, 
 around the base of our lamp, dead, after whipp)ing the coat- 
 ing off their wings and bodies against its side. 
 
 It was astonishing how destructive an agent a single 
 coal-oil lamp was to this insect life. I never knew our 
 lamp to beguile a mosquito, however. What they came 
 for was our blood, and they knew well enough that the 
 journey to seek it did not lie through that little light on 
 our table. But, lift our bar a moment, and how they would 
 
268 A TEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 swarm under it ! — and if there chanced to come in it a hole 
 the size of a pea, it seemed as if all the musquitoes in the 
 neighborhood would know of it in a very short time. 
 
 Then there were beetles, crickets, katydids, tree-toads ; 
 and every pond and slough was filled with frogs, from the 
 over-grown bull-frog, with his hoarse "blonk," to the pip- 
 ing baby ones — all of which aided in making the nights 
 hideous indeed. 
 
 There were swarming lizards, swarming moccasin snakes ; 
 droves of turtles, alligators, turkey-buzzards, owls ; swarms 
 of flies by day, and musquitoes, millers, and innumer- 
 able bugs and insects by night. Add to these small-pox, 
 chills and fever, cholcra-morbus ; days that were red-hot ; 
 a region so foul and filthy with its stagnant pools and de- 
 caying matter that all the disinfectants in the country, 
 poured into it or scattered over it, would not have purified 
 it; with a diet which made a man who cared anything 
 about what he ate, or was at all fond of wholesome food, 
 go hungry; not a drop of milk to drink, not a pound of 
 ice — nothing but ham, cofi'ee, saleratus buscuit, hoe-cake, 
 and bean soud ! 
 
 CHAPTEK LI. 
 
 CONDITION OF OUR CROP. 
 
 How fared our cotton during this season of miasma? 
 Very much as fares a weed-ridden garden which Its owner 
 undertakes to redeem, and begins by giving it the shallow- 
 est of plowing, plants it with indiiferent or defective seed, 
 and then lets the weeds get a good start of the plants, 
 which come out of their shallow beds feeble, because of 
 the feeble germ. Our plowing had been shallow, our seed 
 
CONDITION OF OUR CROP. 269 
 
 defective ; aud we had been forced — having untaught labor 
 and being ourselves untaught — to let the weeds and grass 
 get a start of the young and feeble cotton-plant, doubly 
 feeble now because of its germ, and the hard bed it had to 
 rest in. 
 
 Then, when the rains came, the malarial season set in 
 with ever}'- thing favorable to the j^romotion of disease. 
 
 When an army is smitten with sickness, its commander 
 closes the campaign, goes into quarters, and addresses him- 
 self to the task of getting his soldiers well — his camp for 
 the time being becomes a hospital. AYhen a community of 
 people finds a pestilence in its midst, business is suspended 
 and every body either flees away, or assists to nurse the 
 sick, or waits with bated breath until the epidemic is over. 
 We were having just such experiences, but our task was in 
 no shape to be postponed. We had to flounder along with 
 it, but it was sorry progress we were making. 
 
 The motto of the cotton-plant is, " Give me room accord- 
 ing to my strength." That was just what we were not 
 doing. Drive a board down on one side of a cotton-plant, 
 and that side will grow up without a limb on it. Put it 
 down on the other side, and there will be no limbs there; 
 put boards around the four sides, and there will not be a 
 limb on the entire stalk — nothing but the shoot from the 
 top, which will continue to grow during the season. 
 
 It is the limbs from the ground up which bear the cot- 
 ton, and it is absolutely necessary that there should be a 
 space left around each stalk, so that the limbs can com- 
 mence to shoot out from the ground as the stalk grows up. 
 Our cotton was in the grass, and it was this grass and the 
 weeds which were, so to speak, planked around each cot- 
 ton stalk. These, therefore, were forced to grow up like 
 so many willow withes. Until the weeds were taken away 
 by the hoe and plow our cotton-plants could not even be- 
 gin their preparation for fruit, by beginning to put forth 
 limbs. As long as the plants were in their straight-jackets, 
 
270 A TEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 they would run to height ; whatever height they reached 
 before being released from this confinement of weeds, there 
 would be no limbs, and so no fruit from the ground up- 
 ward. A stalk growing to a height of two feet, and un- 
 able to send out limbs as it grows, by reason of being sur- 
 rounded by weeds and grass, will be entirely fruitless, as 
 well as limbless, for that distance. As I have elsewhere ex- 
 plained, it is these ground-limbs which bear the first and 
 best crop, because this is the first to blossom, it ripens in 
 the shade, and the boll does not open prematurely. It is 
 to cotton what blackberries that ripen on the under side of 
 the bush in the shade are to the ordinary blackberries which 
 ripen on top of the bush in the sun. The first blossoms, 
 having the whole season in which to mature, produce cot- 
 ton of a longer staple, and therefore more valuable. Hence 
 it is that this first picking, this bottom crop, being the first 
 to open, always commands the best price. 
 
 By reason of our cotton being in grass, this bottom 
 crop was lost to us. The order of yield being, first, the 
 bottom crop; second, the middle ; and third, the top croj:), 
 and our bottom crop being lost, it followed that a third of 
 our crop was gone. It was the best third, too, because of 
 the length of staple. The bottom limbs being the first to 
 begin growing, and growing and fruiting during the whole 
 season, they would be longer and so have more fruit on 
 them than the later comers, the middle limbs, and far more 
 than the still later comers, the top limbs, which, by rea- 
 son of such lateness and the contingency of the worm, were 
 of uncertain yield. 
 
 These points being considered, perhaps we should be 
 more nearly correct to say that the loss of our bottom crop 
 meant the loss of half our crop. It certainly meant this 
 unless the season were very favorable — that is, unless the 
 frost were late in coming and there should be no worm. 
 
 Then it was a shock to the plant not to be allowed to 
 put out its lower limbs. ♦ It was violating the natural 
 
CONDITION OF OUR CROP. 271 
 
 course of its growth. When we got the weeds and grass 
 away, there would be no lower limbs to shade and keep 
 the ground moist and cool around the roots. One who 
 knows any thing about agriculture will readily understand 
 the damaging effect to the cotton-plant which its choking 
 up by weeds and grass would have, as well as the difficulty 
 in cultivating it. Plow and hoe a row of corn which has 
 neither weeds nor grass, but is worked simply to keep the 
 ground stirred and mellow around the growing plant, then 
 plow and hoe a row that is choked with weeds and grass — 
 what a difference there is ! A dozen rows of the former 
 can be worked with ease, while one of the latter is gone 
 through with infinite strain to both laborer and mule. 
 
 Grass and weeds, like every thing else, grew rank in 
 this wonderful soil ; but, at this time, running riot as they 
 had done during the war, they had substantially taken 
 possession of the country. In justice to the cotton-plant, 
 the ground should have been stirred and hoed so frequently 
 that neither weed nor grass would be permitted to show 
 itself. Our whole plantation should have been cultivated 
 three times a month, while at the rate we were going wo 
 could not get over our fields oftener than once a month. 
 The plant was not receiving anything like justice at our 
 hands. It had its season for putting out its lower limbs, 
 but the treatment we were giving it would not allow it to 
 do this. The limbs come out with the buds at the top, and 
 if they are not allowed to come then, they never come aft- 
 erwards. There would be no shooting of limbs from the 
 sides of the stalk after the weeds and grass were hoed 
 away. If the limbs were allowed an equal start, they 
 would frequently run out as fast as the stalk ran up, never 
 stopping until the space of from four to six feet between 
 the rows, and the interval of from twelve to twenty-four 
 inches between the plants in their resj:)ective rows, were 
 passed over and the limbs locked together in a full and 
 healthy growth. 
 
272 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 The labor of getting our crop free from grass and weeds 
 was further injuring it. The croj)-grass having wrapped 
 itself around the plant, in pulling it away from the root 
 of the cotton the plant itself would be loosened to such an 
 extent that it would frequently wilt as if transplanted, and 
 as fast as we worked our fields over they would take on a 
 more decided hue of yellow. 
 
 Even the mere working of a field, where there are no 
 weeds to destroy — simply to keep the ground stirred and 
 to put fresh mellow earth to the plant — checks its growth 
 for the time being. How much more was this the case 
 with our sick cotton-plants, which we had to search for, 
 and then pull the weeds and grass away ! It was a tedious 
 02:ieration : first, to find the plant ; second, to cut the weeds 
 and grass away from it; third, to find a little fresh earth 
 to put around it. Our thirty to forty hoe-hands, divided 
 into their three squads, made very small clearings in the 
 weed and grass-patches from day to day. Striking out 
 wildly and carelessly with their hoes, the negroes fre- 
 quently cut down stalks of cotton which were needed to 
 make the required stand, and as often in pulling away 
 tufts of crop-grass the cotton-plant would come with it. 
 We began cultivating with a pretty fair stand of cotton — 
 that is, the plants were thick enough ; but every time our 
 hoes struck the ground the necessary stalks were cut up 
 or pulled up as they pulled the grass back. After a field 
 was gone over, therefore, there would be frequent ugly 
 gaps in the cotton. 
 
 It was pitiful to see the fields before they were hoed out ; 
 but it was more pitiful to see them afterwards. The cotton 
 was small of leaf and stalk, wilted, and yellow, with no 
 bottom leaves on it. What little loose earth was visible 
 was in great clods, like the bowlders in a JS"ew England 
 field. An ugly broad band of grass and weeds was in the 
 middle of the cotton rows, leaving only a little strip of 
 earth between it and the plants. The plants themselves 
 
CONDITION OF OUR CROP. 273 
 
 were so weak they could scarcely stand alone. The whole 
 scene was as perfect a picture of despair as it is possible to 
 conceive; but the consoling word was passing around, 
 " AYe've seen sicker crops than these come out; — only get 
 your cotton out of the grass, and with a late season and 
 no worm, even without the bottom crop, there is a chance 
 for a bale to the acre." There was the usual reasoning, 
 moreover, that a late spring means a late fall. The village 
 merchant said : 
 
 " 1 would n't be at all surprised if we did n't have frost 
 until December, and cotton makes until frost here." 
 
 No one expected the worm, or at least such was the talk. 
 Instances were cited, by every one to whom I spoke, of how 
 the worm had come in former times and then disappeared. 
 And so the thing went on, everybody breathing hope into 
 one another, whilst the plantations were pictures of pov- 
 erty. 
 
 We had here and there a few acres of cotton which was 
 good enough. JN"ear the plantation quarters was a field 
 which Cato and James had cultivated during the war. 
 This gave ns no trouble, growing splendidly— a beautiful 
 sight — blossoming and boiling from the ground. This 
 field was not weed-ridden, and, if we had known it, it was 
 the key to our whole trouble. But, instead of attributing 
 it to the proper cause, we set it down as being better land 
 and under better cultivation. We had plowed it more 
 thoroughly, but the fact is, we had plowed it well because 
 it was already in a good state of cultivation from the work 
 of previous years. 
 
 There were some sand ridges on the place on which 
 there was very pretty cotton, and the bramble patches 
 were turning out fairly, simply because weeds and grass 
 do not grow on sandy land or in bramble patches. This 
 lesson we learned later in our cotton experience. 
 
 But all our good patches together would not have meas- 
 ured fifty acres, and, except the bramble patches, these 
 12* 
 
274 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 were really the poorest land we bad on the place, and 
 the most uncertain for cotton — for, later in the season, 
 when the ground would become parched with heat and 
 drouth, the cotton on this sandy land would burn up, be- 
 fore it could possibly make over half a crop ; while the 
 cotton on the heavy black land, which looked so utterly 
 hopeless now, would be in its glory, never burning out or 
 dying, but continuing to make cotton until the frost came. 
 
 This black land, which was now giving us so much 
 trouble — because we could not get our plows into it, the 
 weeds and grass grew so fast on it, and where consequently 
 the cotton would not grow — is called buck-shot land. It 
 should be plowed in the early spring or late winter — Jan- 
 uary, February, or March — when the rains are pouring 
 down and the ground is full of rain and seepage water 
 from the Mississippi, so that it runs in the furrows. This 
 is the only time when the j)low can be driven into it — that 
 is, when thus saturated with water. The ground breaks 
 up in great cakes, which harden when the rains cease like 
 lumps of lime, but when another rain comes on, these melt 
 down into round particles the size of buck-shot, as lime 
 slackens when water is poured over it, only of course there 
 is no steam or heat. 
 
 If, this first year, we had plowed our black land, when 
 thus saturated with rain, we could have gone to a good 
 depth, burying the weed and grass-seeds, so that they 
 would not have come out of the ground simultaneously 
 with our cotton. And what a magnificent bed this would 
 have given for our young cotton ! 
 
 This buck-shot land may be cultivated, and is mellow 
 just the depth it is plowed in the spring; so, if plowed wet, 
 there is deep, and consequently thorough, cultivation, and 
 inevitably good cotton ; while, if plowed when dry, it is 
 shallow, and shallow cultivation follows, with a poor crop,' 
 inevitably. We have undertaken to plow this buck-shot 
 land when dry, using two yoke of oxen and a sub-soil 
 
GENERAL DOBSON'S RETURN. 275 
 
 plow ; the latter we broke all to pieces, and we left the 
 oxen with their tongues lolling out from exhaustion, with- 
 out reaching the depth which it was perfectly easy to reach 
 with a small j^air of mules and an ordinary-sized plow, 
 when the same ground was saturated with water. 
 
 It was the lack of knowledge of this simple fact that 
 cost the new-comers this year many thousand bales of cot- 
 ton. If the planter who reads this page has a tough piece 
 of buck-shot land, which he does not know how to handle, 
 let him try the above plan, and, my word for it, he will not 
 exchange it, after seeing the result, for the same quantity 
 of land on another part of his place. This buck-shot 
 land, in the season of plowing, unless saturated with water, 
 reminds one of putty ; and when it dries out in summer, it 
 is like dried putty, save that which the plows have turned 
 up in the spring and the rains have slackened, thus ren- 
 dering it mellow as an ash-heap. 
 
 CHAPTEK LIL 
 
 GENERAL DOBSON's RETURN. 
 
 General Dobson returned about the 15th of June, land- 
 ing at Hebron. "With him came my servant George. The 
 boat also put off an iron -hooped barrel and a very large, 
 stylish-looking and stylishly marked box. 
 
 Dobson said they were to go up to the store with his 
 luggage. On the way up from the landing he informed 
 me that the barrel contained beer, which he had purchased 
 in Memphis as he came along. 
 
 " I thought it would be a good idea," he explained, '-to 
 give our negroes a Fourth of July celebration, and I bought 
 
276 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 the beer for the occasion. It will give them something to 
 look forward to, and maybe they will work better. In 
 slaver}^ times the cultivation season was over by the Fourth 
 of July. Are we likely to get our crop in shape so soon?" 
 
 " 'No, we are desperately bad off." 
 
 " Let us then tell the laborers that we will give them a 
 feast if they will get us out of the grass by that time. Be- 
 sides, as their teachers, 1 think it but i-ight to start them 
 off in the habit of celebrating the INTation's independence. 
 You can read the Declaration, and I will deliver the ora- 
 tion. If this prospect of a holiday stimulates them to 
 work better, as I think it will, we shall thus be combining 
 profit with duty. What do you think of the idea?" he 
 asked, after pausing long enough for me to reply, and I 
 foiling to do so. 
 
 " Well, it is pretty much all exj)eriment," I said. " This 
 is the year of experiments. We may hit upon some plan, 
 after a while, that will stimulate our laborers to work as 
 they ought to. The plan you suggest may be a good one ; 
 but, to be frank, I have n't much more patriotism left in 
 me than the soldiers had towards the end of the war, and, 
 instead of reading the Declaration of Indej)endence, I feel 
 more like reading the riot act. Besides, I do n't know 
 that the negroes have much reason to be jubilant over the 
 Fourth of July. It was n't that day that gave them their 
 independence. The anniversary of the EmancijDation 
 Proclamation is their Fourth of July." 
 
 "I don't doubt it is all very vexatious. Still I think 
 the negroes ^hould be educated to celebrate all national 
 holidays." 
 
 Just then the wagon passed us on its way up from the 
 landing, the mysterious box peering up above the barrel 
 of beer and the General's luggage. 
 
 ''What have you there ?" I inquired. 
 
 " You know you gave me an order for a few brier-root 
 pipes," Dobson answered, looking at me and coloring up. 
 
GENERAL DOBSON'S RETURN. 277 
 
 " Well, I went into a tobacco store in Cincinnati, and they 
 showed me different kinds. I took half a dozen, a dozen, 
 and so on, of each variety— including some very pretty 
 meerschaums with bishops' and dogs' heads, and eagles' 
 claws holding plain bowls. I also selected a quantity of 
 silk tobacco-pouches and meerschaum cigar-holders with 
 amber mouth-pieces. I did n't think I had bought so 
 much, but when they handed me the bill it amounted to 
 three hundred and sixty-five dollars. That is what is in 
 tliat box ! I felt like sinking into the floor when I saw 
 what the bill figured up, but 1 had agreed to take the arti- 
 cles, and I would n't have let the merchant know how I 
 was sold for the amount of the bill ! 
 
 " Fortunately for me, I had on my person that money 
 you ordered your partner in the drug-store to send to you 
 by me. So I told him to receipt the bill, and I paid him 
 out of it. You can just credit yourself with the amount 
 on our company books, and charge the same to merchan- 
 dise," he added, as he saw me looking at him not a little 
 ruefully. " That reminds me," he said, " the barrel of beer 
 cost thirty-five dollars, and I also used your money to pay 
 for that, which you will want credit for, and which, I 
 think, should be charged to expenses, should it not?" 
 
 *' Yes, I think it should, unless you are a mind to con- 
 sider it a permanent investment ; and in that case it should 
 be charged to the plantation," I said, with a ghastly at- 
 tempt to bo facetious. 
 
 The plantation was proving such a sieve for money, that 
 we were growing to be none too flush. I had a particular 
 place for the sum my partner in the drug-store was send- 
 ing me by Dobson, and here were four hundred dollars out 
 of six hundred he had for me trundling along up to 
 the plantation store in the shape of a box of pipes and a 
 barrel of beer ! Think of it — meerschaum pipes, meer- 
 schaum cigar-holders with amber tips, and silk tobacco- 
 
278 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 pouches, for an exclusively negro trade, in a plantation 
 store ! 
 
 " I am sure I do n't know what we shall ever do with 
 that quantity of pipes," I said. " This is a great smoking 
 community, I know, but no one ever trades at our store, 
 except our own hands. I doubt, however, if the whole 
 county traded with us, judging from the size of your box, 
 and the amount of your bill, whether they could exhaust 
 the supply." 
 
 "It is a very unfortunate purchase, but what could I do 
 after I had bought them, but pay for them ? I never could 
 have spunked*up courage enough to tell the merchant how 
 badly I was fooled. So I did the other thing, which was 
 to take them as if I really wanted them. But it does n't 
 matter much," he added, shortly after, as if he had been 
 revolving the thing over in his mind ; " even if we do n't 
 sell a pipe — and of course we shall sell some, because you 
 said the negroes called for them — three bales of cotton 
 this fall will pay for this experience of mine." 
 
 '' I only hope it will teach you the lesson," I said a lit- 
 tle snappishly, " never again to buy, for the plantation, 
 what you see, but to buy only that which we want : first, 
 having a written list before entering a place to purchase, 
 and then only getting that which your list calls for." 
 
 '• I think it will be a lesson to me for the future," he said, 
 laughing ; " I do n't believe I would ever buy another such 
 a box of pipes, or any thing else in the same way." 
 
 " We shall hardly need to buy any more pipes," I re- 
 plied, determining in my own mind to make the best of it, 
 " if we should continue the Hebron enterprise for fifty 
 years ! But what possessed you to get cigar-holders ? You 
 know we have no cigars to sell." 
 
 " That is so, but I never thought of it." Then he turned 
 instantly, and, looking at me very earnestly, said : 
 
 " Mr. Harding, I will esteem it as a favor if you will 
 keep this pipe experience to yourself To say nothing of 
 
GENERAL DOBSON's RETURN. 279 
 
 the quantity of the purchase, it wasn't just the thing to 
 buy meerschaums and silk pouches ! There is a hat for 
 vou, now, if we ever get into civilization again together, 
 if you '11 keep mum on this subject." 
 
 I promised that it should not go out of the family, only 
 I must be allowed to laugh over it as much as I wanted to, 
 and to say " pipes " to him if he ever got obstreperous. 
 
 " Certainly," he answered. 
 
 That night Dobson opened the pipes, but he could only 
 display a small portion of them. There were enough to 
 liave filled up all the shelves of our store. They really 
 made the shelves look cheerful. It was right jolly to see 
 the laughing Dutch faces as frontispieces on the pipes. 
 Birds' beaks, grinning monkeys' faces, and an endless va- 
 riety of caricatures of men's faces, as well as those of birds 
 and animals, made the collection quite a novelty. It was, 
 in one sense, a show, and the negroes never got tired of 
 hanging over tlie counter, and feasting their eyes on tho 
 display. It got noised about in the neighborhood, and ne- 
 groes from adjoining plantations came to see the sight, but 
 without a cent in their pockets to buy. 
 
 AYe sold, during the season, perhaps fifty dollars' worth* 
 The rest we shipped to an auction store up in St. Louis, 
 and they netted us seventeen dollars and a half. 
 
 Dobson's pipe experience then, cost ns three hundred 
 dollars. The barrel of beer cost thirty-five dollars. Nei- 
 ther of these items was included in the original Dobson 
 estimate. Indeed, in the light of practical results, as tho 
 reader will already have seen, Dobson's estimate was no 
 longer recognizable. I told him as much after our first 
 dinner together, of bean soup, black coffee, and hoe-cake, 
 and when we had squared out for a smoke and a talk. 
 
 Just as I was about dropping off to sleep, the first night 
 after Dobson's return, I was aroused by a jar upon our 
 cabin-floor, which was followed by a succession of noises, 
 
280 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 like the moving of chairs, tables, etc. Then there was a 
 howl, and Dobson called out : 
 
 "Say, Mr. Harding, can you tell me where the matches 
 are? I want to strike a light. The mosquitos have got 
 under my bar. I have barked my shins in this clutter, 
 and the mosquitos are swarming on my bare limbs. I 
 would as soon be standing in a nest of hornets." 
 
 I hurried to Dobson's rescue. Used to the room as I was, 
 I found the match-box instantly, and struck a light, which 
 revealed him wedged in between a couple of pieces of fur- 
 niture, and striking out wildly at the mosquitos. Dobson 
 had three exposed points — face, hands, and ankles — and 
 there was a mosquito for every pore of his body. 
 
 I lighted a candle, and told him to jump into bed with 
 it, which he did, welts and all. For once Dobson was in 
 a hurr}^. Notwithstanding I skipped around the room 
 pretty lively, the mosquitos no sooner found their first 
 s victim caged away from them, than they went for me. So 
 I hastened under my bar. Then I called out to Dobson to 
 hold the candle close up to the mosquito, wherever he found 
 one under his bar, and he would fly into it. This he pro- 
 ceeded to do, scratching the bitten places on his limbs and 
 face meanwhile. By the aid of the candle he destroyed 
 fifty-seven. I then instructed him to put his candle on the 
 chair by his bedside, and then to tuck his bar in carefully 
 all around. When he had done this, he said : 
 
 "What next?" 
 
 " Blow your candle out, through the meshes." — And 
 thus was Dobson safely housed for the night. 
 
WE PILL OURSELVES WITH TALK. 281 
 
 CUAPTER Lin. 
 
 WE FILL OURSELVES WITH TALK. 
 
 The sick-call is not, as a general thing, an agreeable 
 sound, but the morning after Dobson's arrival, I heard it 
 with a feeling almost akin to pleasure. While it told its 
 sad story of the presence of suffering, it was no longer a 
 command for me to administer to this suffering. Dobson 
 was now at the helm of our sick craft, with all his finished 
 skill and great experience, and my service as a physician 
 was at an end. During my practice I had, with only my 
 knowledge as a druggist to guide me, given quinine, blue- 
 mass, opium, castor-oil and cholera-mixture, without any 
 intelligent analysis of the disorder in any case. But now 
 only the proper medicines would be administered, after a 
 careful examination. There would also be added that con- 
 fidence in the treatment which a physician always inspires, 
 almost as efficacious as his medicine. 
 
 I felt as if I had been relieved of more than half my 
 load. My attention, which had hitherto been divided be- 
 tween the field and hospital — much the larger half being 
 given to the hospital — could now be concentrated on the 
 former. The responsibility which I felt on account of the 
 sick people had been very great, and my suspense terrible. 
 To be relieved, and released, was a great comfort to me. I 
 formally turned the cases over to Dobson the evening of 
 his arrival. 
 
 On the morning following I had taken my early coffee, 
 leaving Dobson at his morning nap, and when Billy 
 sounded the sick-call 1 had been in the field with the hoe- 
 
282 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 gangs, spurring them up, for more than two hours, and by 
 the time our breakfast-horn sounded, shortly afterwards, 
 we had opened up a good many rows of cotton to air and 
 sunlight. 
 
 Whether Dobson's coming had revived my spirits, so 
 that 1 saw differently, or whether it was so in fact, it cer- 
 tainly seemed the hoe-gangs made better strokes, and 
 moved at a livelier pace than had been their wont. I told 
 them at once about the barrel of beer, and the Fourth of 
 July, which may have spurred them up, as Dobson thought 
 it would. It certainly drew large promises out c^ them. 
 Every thing appeared brighter this morning, and I went 
 back to my breakfast in a glow. 
 
 Dobson, as if by instinct, was in the heated-term in-door 
 costume of the country — shirt, drawers, socks and slippers 
 — engaged in mixing powders for the sick, and giving 
 elaborate directions. He was evidently very much in earn- 
 est. G-eorge's arrival was the signal for Mary's retirement 
 from the cooking department of our mess. She had only 
 held on, out of the abundance of her own and Jimmy's 
 kindness, unwilling to see me perish for want of something 
 to eat, and indeed I felt very grateful to them. On the 
 other hand, George seemed to be delighted to get back into 
 my personal service, and told Mary she could go at once. 
 
 Dobson and I sat down on this first morning to George's 
 first effort in the way of breakfast ; or, rather, being hungry, 
 I sat down and began eating at once, while he came in 
 when I was nearly half through. If I had not been so 
 hungry, or if I had been a little patient, this would have been 
 an opportunity for him to keep me waiting. I will here 
 remark that during this entire season, Dobson and myself 
 never sat down to a meal together. He was always at least 
 five minutes late. It soon came to be regarded by both 
 of us as a recognized custom — nothing was said, or appar- 
 ently thought of it, on either side. As a result, however, 
 my meal was always hot, while his was frequently cold. 
 
WE FILL OURSELVES WITH TALK. 283 
 
 There was ix happy compromise in this feature of our do- 
 mestic intercourse, which otherwise might have occasioned 
 unpleasant scenes : I did not ask Dobson to be prompt at 
 the meal ; he did not ask me to observe tlie ceremony of 
 waiting for him; and so we got along together without a 
 
 " Did you tell our people about our proposition to observe 
 the Fourth? " Dobson inquired upon taking his seat at the 
 table, and while spreading his napkin over his knees. 
 
 " "Yes, sir ; I told them about it the first thing this morn- 
 ing." 
 
 " What do they say ? " 
 
 " They say they will 'get the cotton out of grass, sure.' 
 They certainly have been putting in good work this morn- 
 ing." 
 
 "Mr. Harding, I observed you -came in from the field 
 without an umbrella. Are you not in the habit of carry- 
 ing one when you go out in the hot sun ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; I never carry one. I think it would be setting 
 a bad example to our laborers. If they can work all day 
 in the hot sun, I think we should be able to ride out in it. 
 Besides, I think this thing of getting sick, is pretty much 
 a matter of will. I am determined to be well, ergo, I am 
 well. There is not a hand on the place has undergone the 
 exposure I have, and yet I have not been sick an hour. If 
 they would stop eating filthy fish, green fruit, and exercise 
 their will as I do, I do n't believe there would be a sick 
 man in our quarters to-day. There was that white en- 
 gineer Johnson brought ; he had a mild attack of small-pox. 
 There was no sort of will in the fellow, and the breath 
 just naturally left his body. Jimmy Watson had a dread- 
 ful attack of the same disease, but his will pulled him 
 through. Half the deaths on the place are the result of a 
 lack of will. No, you don't catch me under an umbrella, 
 it is well enough for women to shade themselves, but it was 
 never intended that a man should allow a piece of cloth to 
 
284 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 get between his face and the sun. That would be a pretty 
 spectacle, would it not, to see a farmer hiding himself un- 
 der a cotton umbrella ? " 
 
 "And yet, most planters here ride out under an um- 
 brella." 
 
 *'I know they do, but it is, nevertheless, an effeminate 
 habit, and I, for one, am going to do what I can by my ex- 
 ample to break it up. If they would throw away their 
 umbrellas, stop drinking whisky, and practice their will, 
 they need have no fear of sickness." 
 
 "Well, that is a novel idea, to be sure; but, notwith- 
 standing 3'our practice of will, I fear you are considerably 
 the worse for wear ; and I do n't believe it would take any 
 too much to put you on your back," said Dobson, laughing 
 good naturedly, as he scrutinized my face. 
 
 " I^ot a bit of it; I may be thin — I know I am tliat — 
 but my exposure has simply hardened me. 1 am down to 
 fighting trim now, and am just sickness-proof." 
 
 "Yery pretty theories, Mr. Harding, but we shall see 
 how they work out." 
 
 "Yes, you will see ; I am perfectly willing to stand, or 
 fall, by the test of time. But, by the way, you remember 
 our friend in the rear, Major Layton? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " We rode down to the village together the other day to 
 get our mails. AVhile I went in to get them the Major re- 
 mained on the outside. But, a moment later, he came 
 rushing in with a flushed face, and a cut over his left eye, 
 saying: ' A party of young fellows came by where I was 
 standing; one of them struck me as you see, and the rest 
 laughed, crying out, 'Hit him again ; he's got no friends 
 here.' I came in for fear of further harm.' 
 
 "I asked the Major who the parties were. He said, 
 'Some of the young bloods of the town.' Was there 
 no one by to admonish them as to their course ? ' Yes, 
 Tyler was there. He scolded them, and appeared very 
 
WE FILL OURSELVES WITH TALK. 285 
 
 mad, but, as I turned to come in, I caught him giving them 
 a sly wink, as much as to say that his scolding was all for 
 effect, and tell them to go ahead.' We left town shortly 
 after, and, though not further molested, we were looked at 
 by many scowling faces." 
 
 "That is a pretty way to treat a new-comer, is it not? 
 But the same thing is going on all over the South. Of 
 course not the tenth part will ever be known, but enough 
 is leaking out in the North to make our friends very nerv- 
 ous about us. Every one I met had something to say 
 about the horrible murders he had read about, of men more 
 or less prominent in the localities from which they came, 
 and who had come to this country as we have. ' Do you 
 feel safe down there ? ' was the common question." 
 
 " Well, in one sense we are not safe," I said. " To be^in 
 with, human life is held of but little more value than 
 mere animal life. Look at the murders committed in the 
 village since we have been here. They would number 
 more than all those committed in a Northern State for five 
 years. The village is full of men who are known to be 
 murderers, and they have the whip-handle. They are 
 fi-eely admitted into what is called ' society,' and they make 
 the sentiment. Give a gang of murderers, anywhere, full 
 sway, and what a community it is! If our village is an 
 index of the country, the South is to-day ruled by thieves 
 and murderers — not that they are on the bench, or wear 
 the robe, but they make the sentiment. These classes are 
 very jealous of their domain, and when they see any one 
 going quietly along, and minding his own business, tem- 
 perate, moral, and law-abiding, they know at once that he 
 is their opposite. How easy it is to send a bullet through 
 the bead of such a person ! I have no doubt there are 
 plenty of old settlers here who perfectly abhor this state 
 of affairs. But you could never learn this by any thing 
 they say, or by their looks. The feeling is hid away in the 
 secret recesses of their hearts, because they know full well 
 
286 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 if they should raise their voices it would be the signal for 
 their slaughter. It was only the other week that one of 
 this class said to me in response to some hot words of mine 
 on the subject: 'Do you see my gray hairs? It is the 
 knowledge of, and being eye-witness to, inhuman murders 
 here, by the dozen, and the further knowledge of the fact 
 that there is no sentiment of suflScient courage to raise its 
 voice against them, that has put these gray hairs in my 
 head. I know people that are just as much oj^posed to 
 this state of affairs as I am, and yet not a word ever passes 
 our lips on the subject. We hardly dare think, for fear 
 our faces will tell the story, much less speak. I have my 
 gin-house, home, family, and my own life — if I were to 
 say a word, my property would be destroyed, ray family 
 made homeless, and I would be murdered. Therefore my 
 lips are sealed.* And then he looked around with a half- 
 frightened air to see if there was a possibility that any 
 any body had overheard him. I saw him again a few days 
 later, and he told me, with a frightened look, we must not 
 be seen talking together. ' I have been spotted,' he said, 
 ' because we were seen talking earnestly together the other 
 day.' 
 
 "First, then, there is the general sentiment, created by 
 the lawless, and acquiesced in by all ; then there is the sec- 
 tional feeling against us, strong as the love of life, and bit- 
 ter as a family feud. Seeing us quietly at our task, how 
 easy it is for the thieves and murderers to raise the cry of 
 'Yankees,' 'Our enemies,' in the light of which all classes 
 find a common cause against us. I do n't believe murder- 
 ers have much love of country about them, but these make 
 the guard of the fields they love to roam in. Keenly on 
 the alert, none will see sooner than they the material of 
 which this Northern immigration is composed. If it means 
 law and order, they will of course want none of it, and, 
 by the array of sectional spirit, no true Southerner will 
 take sides with us. Thus, the feeling of distrust toward 
 
WE FILL OURSELVES WITH TALK. 287 
 
 US will soon pass into that of hatred, if it has not already- 
 done so. 
 
 "I have never hesitated to speak against this murderous, 
 lawless element, because I felt that to live here, and not 
 do so, would be its indorsement. This is just where I 
 blame the good clement of the Southern people; if they 
 would take sides against murder and lawlessness, these 
 criminals would either be punished or seek new pastures. 
 And we shall never have a healthy state of affairs until 
 such is the cai5e. 'Going back on the South,' is a potent 
 lash, that whips everybody into line. When a murder 
 occurs, all that is necessary to be known is that the victim 
 was a stranger, and that the murderer was a 'true South- 
 erner,' as is the stereotyped expression. Of course, now 
 and then, with this frequency of murder, a ' true Southerner' 
 is bit. Then there is great expression of grief." 
 
 "Barring this cheapness of life, do you think we are safe 
 here?" 
 
 "No, sir; I don't. I think, sparcely settled as this 
 neighborhood is by whites, there are a hundred people all 
 around us, burning to pull triggers on us ; and, if we were 
 to be shot down, the buzzards would have to care for us, 
 for the reason that, however much the good element might 
 wish to do so, they would not dare to give us a decent burial. 
 I don't believe there is a drop of love for us — on the con- 
 trary, it is all gall and wormwood. Of course the soldiers 
 at the village are some protection to us. If they' were not 
 here our position would indeed be critical ; and the people 
 here have an idea that the President is about to take them 
 away. Do you think that likely?" 
 
 "It looks a little that way. Andy Johnson has cer- 
 tainly gone over, body and soul, to the opposition. But, 
 Mr. Harding, you have spoken frequently of 'the good 
 element.' Does not an element cease to be good, when it 
 becomes a shield to crime and wrong-doing? " 
 
 "That is certainly the doctrine up in God's country; 
 
288 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 but, then, there have been no hundred years of slavery up 
 there, shutting out raUroads, muzzling the press, prevent- 
 ing immigration, except such as was brought in the holds 
 of slave-traders, or that which drifted here, and could put 
 on the sentiment of a locality as you do your coat. The 
 South has been barred effectually to all enterprises, and to 
 all sentiments but one, that of slavery. You may talk of 
 your despotisms of the old world, but there never was any 
 thing like this. Only think of the cotton burned here dur- 
 ing the war by order. Was there ever any thing more 
 unreasonable, or more suicidal? And yet see how the 
 edict was obeyed. ' The North is taking away our slaves,' 
 was the cry put in their mouths, and yet here was a real, 
 tangible treasure, worth more than all their slaves, which 
 they were burning up themselves, without a public mur- 
 mur, because it was the sentiment of the South to do so." 
 
 "But that was considered patriotism ! " 
 
 "It was none the less despotism. "While our armies 
 were filled with alacrity, how much of the crops of the 
 North would have been destroyed by a similar order to that 
 which caused the cotton to be burned in the South ? Not 
 a grain. There is no patriotism in the North which would 
 submit to herding with cut-throats. How long did it take 
 the good element in California, and in other portions of the 
 West, to organize their vigilance committees? It was the 
 work of a few hours ; and it accomplished that, in as short 
 a time, which would otherwise have been the work of a 
 generation. The remedy of the vigilance committee had, 
 in addition to its promptness, the recommendation of thor- 
 oughness, because in removing the lawless, it also destroyed 
 their influence. It is the influence of the lawless here that 
 is quite as damaging as their acts, and if you are to wait 
 for them to die natural deaths, this influence will continue 
 to extend. There is a certain percentage, in all communi- 
 ties, of those naturally lawless, or, rather, who have not the 
 power to withstand lawlessness; and they join and adhere 
 
WE FILL OURSELVES WITH TALK. 289 
 
 to the bad clement as naturally as barnacles form on the 
 bottom of ships. We are cutting down the weeds in our 
 fields to destroy their influence on the cotton. Apply the 
 same remedy to the bad element here, and the vigilance 
 committee will have done its work." 
 
 " Then you would be in favor of a vigilance committee 
 here?" 
 
 " In the absence of the law, yes, if it were feasible. But 
 if we were to suggest it, the lawless would raise the cry, 
 'It is an attack on the South.' A sectional quarrel would 
 be the result ; we should grace the halters intended for the 
 guilty; and, under this sectional pretext, the murderers 
 would walk forth so many heroes. So I do n't think we 
 shall care to undertake it, and thus the thing will have 
 to wear out." 
 
 ''It may wear us out in the meantime," Dobson said, 
 with a sober face. 
 
 "Yes, the rebellion is only half-fought through. There 
 are no armies in the field, but there are j)lenty of bush- 
 whackers. It is when your enemy takes to the woods that 
 the contest is tedious. It is no longer an attack directly 
 on the government, because the South is now again under 
 the government, but it is an attack upon its policy, all 
 the more insidious for that fact. It is when the sinner, un- 
 der the cloak of religion, gets into the church, that he can 
 do the most harm. True, slavery no longer exists, as the 
 rallying-point for the South. The slaves are free, and this 
 mine of wealth is no longer here to be guarded. By the 
 way, there is one point on which I can sympathize with the 
 late slave-holder. Take any man in the North, and let him 
 have a hundred notes for a thousand dollars apiece, secured 
 by a mortgage— would he not feel like ripping out an oath 
 against a party who, by some maneuver, should render these 
 notes valueless ? Each slave was like one of these notes." 
 
 " But I rather think the South was its own worst enemy, 
 13 
 
290 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 in that her people brought on the war, which resulted in 
 the loss of what you say is equivalent to so many notes for 
 a given amount." 
 
 " Yes, that is true, but it is human nature to attribute 
 one's financial losses to every thing but one's own fault. 
 The Southern people, in their sense of perfection, could 
 not be made to feel themselves their own executioners. 
 Their slaves, standing in the light of so many bank-notes 
 of value, were taken from them by the government. 
 They fought to keep them. How, then, could they be 
 charged with their loss ? Such would be their mode of 
 reasoning. The money view is, however, only one aspect 
 — the other is that slavery had stood in the way of prog- 
 ress to this country, and the true victory of the war is 
 that it no longer stands there. The overthrow of slavery, 
 rightly viewed, is like that additional expense, frequently 
 incurred, to make a great paying enterprise a success, and 
 for the lack of which it would be a failure. So long as 
 slavery existed the South was essentially a failure, as com- 
 pared with other portions of this country. It was abso- 
 lutely necessary that the slave-holders should contribute 
 their slave capital to make it a success." 
 
 '' That is another one of your theories, Mr. Harding. 
 How much talk do you think you would have to expend 
 before convincing one of these old slave-holders that slavery 
 was a curse to the South, and that its removal would now 
 cause it to prosper ? Besides, as a matter of fact, the slaves 
 are not a loss to the South. They are here still, only in 
 another shape." 
 
 " I tried it, not long since, with one of them, and his 
 answer was, ' Look at your fields. Do you call that pros- 
 perity ? I do n't.' I could not say a word. Yes, you are 
 of course right in saying the slaves are here still, but in 
 a commercial sense they are lost. But we are spending a 
 good deal of time in talk over our breakfast." 
 
 " Well, we must have something for our table, and as 
 we hav n't much to eat, we can fill up with talk." 
 
MR. IIARDING's sickness, ETC. 291 
 
 CHAPTEE LIV. 
 
 MR. UARDING'S sickness AND UMBRELLA THEORIES EX- 
 PLODED — COOL WATER DISCOVERED. 
 
 Notwithstanding Dobson's medical skill and close per- 
 sonal attention, there was no diminution in the number of 
 our sick, while there was an alarming increase in the num- 
 ber of fatal cases. At one time we had three men dying 
 in the hospital. It was a fearful experience. All night 
 long adjoining our bed-room were the fevered moaning, the 
 mad laugh, and, finally, the death-rattle— and then the 
 lifeless forms of men who, but three days before, were 
 among our active workers. Such fatality was demoraliz- 
 ing to all of us. Dobson's treatment was powerless to ar- 
 rest what seemed to be ordinary ague, until it had passed 
 into a low form of fever, attacking the brain, after which 
 it was certainly fatal. 
 
 He finally decided to administer larger doses of 
 quinine. Accordingly, for nearly two weeks, Dobson 
 used at the rate of an ounce a day. When a case of 
 chills was reported, he would fill the patient up, giving 
 him thirty grains, in eight-grain doses, two hours apart, 
 commencing as soon as the fever was over, and there 
 would be no second chill. The third day the patient 
 would be at work again. Then, on the seventh, four- 
 teenth, and twenty-first days, he would again give thirty 
 grains in the same way, thus generally preventing a re- 
 currence. Dobson was in ecstacy over the hapj^y effect of 
 increased doses of quinine. The whole plantation had to 
 be rationed with it regularly before breakfast, and it was 
 seriously meditated to put it in the food along with the 
 salt! 
 
292 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 We soon reached the conclasion, arrived at by all swamp 
 planters, that we could no more do without quinine than 
 without meat or meal. Dobson said : 
 
 " You ought to take it, Mr. Harding, as steady diet." 
 
 " Where 's the use of taking medicine, when one is 
 well?" I asked. 
 
 " It is the ounce of prevention in your case, and the 
 very best thing you can do is to get your system under 
 its influence at once. If you will only look in the glass? 
 you will see how yellow you are." 
 
 " Oh, my dear fellow, that is only a healthy tan, and 
 comes of my not riding around under an umbrella. Don't 
 you see how splendidly my will and umbrella theories are 
 working?" 
 
 " Time enough to boast of that when the malarial sea- 
 son is over — you are not out of the woods yet. It's a long 
 time before frost, and we '11 have no healthy atmosphere 
 until then. If you escape sickness, it will be miraculous." 
 
 Dobson's sjDeech was prophetic, and this was my last day 
 of boasting — the following one saw me down with a chill, 
 my " will " and '' umbrella " theories completely upset. 
 
 Dobson could not resist laughing at me between doses. 
 Self-confident, I braved the elements, and the chill struck 
 me a little before noon, while sitting on my horse, watch- 
 ing a squad of our hoe-hands. The sun would have easily 
 pulled the thermometer up to 110°. First, I had a sense 
 of heaviness, then came the chill, and there, in the torrid 
 heat, I felt colder and more miserable than I had ever be- 
 fore felt in my life. Every bone in my body was aching, 
 and my head throbbed. 
 
 "Mr. Harding, you 's got a chill!" exclaimed Uncle 
 Wash, " you'd better git to de quarters ! " 
 
 It was half a mile there, and before I reached them my 
 body became as heavy as lead. It seemed as if invisible 
 forces were pulling my joints asunder, I tumbled off my 
 
MR. Harding's sickness, etc. 293 
 
 horse, and went all shivering to bed, where Dobson soon 
 found mc. 
 
 " Behold the result of will ! " he said, as be uncovered my 
 head to get a look. 
 
 " Make as much fun of me as you wish, General ; I de- 
 serve it all for going out in a sun hot enough to roast an 
 egg. I have defied fate, and here I am si^rawling on the 
 bed as my recompense. But can't you get me some cool 
 water?" George did the best he could, but such water! 
 It was tepid ! 
 
 "Better hab some tea— dat 'ir make you sweat," said 
 Georere. 
 
 'to 
 
 Well, some tea, then— any thing would be better than 
 such horrid water." 
 
 If it had only been iced tea ! But that was not possible ; 
 cream and lump sugar would have been the next best thing, 
 but they were equally out of the question. So it was a cup 
 of hot tea, sweetened with common, brown sugar— this to 
 quench a raging thirst ! 
 
 Nothing is done by halves here, so I had enough chill in 
 that first paroxysm to have answered for a whole neighbor- 
 hood anywhere else. But if the chill was severe, what of 
 the fever, with nothing but tepid water to slake my thirst, 
 and in an atmosphere so intensely hot as to threaten spon- 
 taneous combustion ? There was thus a double fever for 
 me. 
 
 I lost my mind for the afternoon, and Dobson said I did 
 enough farming in my insanity, if it could have been made 
 practical on the plantation, to have realized his estimate. 
 By nine o'clock at night the fever passed, reason resumed 
 mastery, and what was left of me, from the day's siege, was 
 ready for Dobson's quinine treatment. Two days follow- 
 ing I was again in the saddle, this time under an umbrella ! 
 Alas ! how our theories are shattered when put to the test. 
 Thereafter my predisposition was as strong for the um- 
 brella as had hitherto been my prejudice against it. But 1 
 
.f 
 
 294 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 still held to my " will " theory. There was thus a com- 
 promise, not a surrender. 
 
 Although performing my daily rounds, it soon became 
 evident that my first chill had racked my system. Not- 
 withstanding the shade of my umbrella, I wilted under the 
 intense heat, as had not been my experience previously 
 when exposed to the sun. My appetite was gone. I turned 
 from our bean-soup with loathing, and yet there were ab- 
 solutely no delicacies to be had. It was beans, salt meat 
 and meal — so I crowded it down simply to sustain life. 
 
 An intense craving for milk came over me, to gratify 
 which, my faithful George scoured the country for several 
 days. He finally came back about ten. o'clock in the morn- 
 ing of the third day, with a bottle of it, but when he poured 
 out a glass for me to drink, I found it sour — and yet, he 
 said it was fresh from the cows. Four miles' ride, in the 
 hot sun, had done the work for it. We suffered most for 
 drinking-water, and it was becoming a serious question 
 whether we should not be forced to incur the expense of 
 ice. The cry of our sick was for cold water, and my own 
 thirst, in my recent attack, was fresh in my mind. 
 
 While still debating the question of ice, I happened over 
 at the gin-house one day, when prowling around under it, 
 I came upon one of the cement cisterns. Looking down 
 into it, I could dimly see in the darkness the glistening of 
 water ; my thoughts were running on cool water, and at 
 the very moment I was exceedingly thirsty. It occurred 
 to me that there, in that cistern, so thoroughly shaded, I 
 might find what I so much desired. Searching about I 
 found an old can. It was my habit to carry a ball of twine 
 in my pocket, when going to the field, to mend broken 
 harness, etc. This served as a line, and I at once had a 
 can full of this water at my thirsty lips. It was all my 
 most eager hopes could have fancied it. It was cool, de- 
 lightfully cool ! I did not stop in my greed to examine it. 
 
MR. Harding's sickness, etc. 295 
 
 until I bad quenched my thirst. Then I looked into the 
 can and found the water to be as clear as crystal. 
 
 If I bad been insured a full realization of the Dobson 
 scheme, I could not have been happier than I was at that 
 moment. I thought of our sick in the quarters, and how 
 grateful it would be to their fevered lips ; and then, after 
 taking a third draught, I hurried off to give them the ben- 
 efit of my discovery. 
 
 " I have found it ! I have found it! " I cried to Dobson, 
 as I rode up to our cabin, and saw him sitting on the gallery 
 fighting the stripped-legged mosquitoes. 
 
 Dobson was in his shirt, drawers, and slippers, which 
 gave the mosquitoes a fine range for operation. His going 
 out upon the gallery, so clad, was a challenge to them, which 
 they had not been slow to accept. 
 
 " Found what ? " Dobson asked, between slaps, and with 
 his usual deliberation. 
 
 " Found a well of cool water," I replied, dismounting. 
 
 "No?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed, cool water ; I have just had my fill of it." 
 
 "Mr. Harding, you are crazy j where is this wonderful 
 well?" 
 
 Then I told him what 1 have just related of my dis- 
 covery, first dispatching George on my horse with a rope 
 and bucket to fetch us a supply. 
 
 This water was a most grateful gift to us all, and Dob- 
 son said it was an important adjunct to the speedy re- 
 covery of our sick. " It is also an exceedingly important 
 addition to our comfort, and will make us more content 
 with our lot," I added. 
 
 But a disappointment awaited us. We soon found the 
 water in our newly-discovered cistern to be hard, and, 
 upon examination, remarked several cracks in the cement, 
 showing that we were drinking " seejiage water !" Thus 
 the clear, cool water, which was so delightful to us, was, 
 after all, unwholesome, and must be abandoned. The 
 
296 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 morning after this unpleasant discovery, George filled our 
 glasses at breakfast with a muddy-looking liquid. 
 
 " Where on earth did you get this water ?" I asked. 
 
 '' Out ob de Massij), sah." 
 
 I took a swallow of it, and found it pleasantly cool. 
 
 " Why, I did n't know the Mississippi river water was 
 cool like this," I said, looking at George. 
 
 " Dat come from de bottom ob de ribber, sah," said George, 
 roguishly. 
 
 " Out of the bottom of the river — how is that?" 
 
 " I jes went down to the ribber, last night, Avid a jug, 
 an' den sink de jug in de bottom ob de ribber all night, 
 an' lef it da', an' this is the 'suit." 
 
 "George, you're a noble boy — you have found a way 
 to give us cool, wholesome drinking water." 
 
 " Tank you sah," said George, grinning from ear to ear, 
 " I 's glad you 's pleased." 
 
 " Yes, George, it is a fine service you have done us," 
 Dobson said, after testing the water ; " but instead of filling 
 your jug with the muddy river water, fill it with our 
 clear rain water, and cool that off"." 
 
 •' Certainly, sah." 
 
 So we had moderately cool drinking water after this, 
 but it occasionally ha2:ipened that we sent over to the gin- 
 bouse for a bucketful of that delightfully cool water, even 
 though it was " seepage " and unwholesome. 
 
NEGRO CnURCHES. 297 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 NEGRO CHURCHES. 
 
 Stimulated, doubtless, by the weekly funeral services, 
 there sprang up in our plantation-quarters, frequent re- 
 ligious meetings, running through the evenings of the 
 week, bearing a slight resemblance to prayer-meetings, 
 and culminating on Sunday with what was intended to be 
 a grand preaching exercise. The prayer-meetings were 
 usually plantation affairs, while the Sunday service em- 
 braced the neighborhood. 
 
 The " preachers " were generally of home talent— being 
 the plantation laborers ; and our own force soon developed 
 a iDrolific crop. To their shame, be it said, they were not 
 always, nor generally, our most reliable laborers. Several 
 of these preachers had certificates, as crude as were their 
 sermons, from some one signing himself as so-and-so, 
 '•bishop," or "presiding elder," indicating that there was 
 a religious organization among the black people of the 
 South, with headquarters at Yicksburg, New Orleans, and 
 elsewhere. It was doubtless the result of the missionary 
 work under the wing of our army. 
 
 While it was at once apparent that this church wor- 
 ship was of the crudest sort, it was yet religion to the 
 black people, so to encourage it we set apart a cabin as 
 a church, where our own people and those from other 
 plantations, so inclined, could assemble at their pleasure to 
 go through exercises Avhich, with more civilized people, 
 would almost be termed blasphemous. 
 
 These meetings had the features of an Indian war dance. 
 Seeing them for the first time the exclamation would be, 
 "What sacrilege ! "—and yet, upon closer observation, it 
 1:3* 
 
298 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 was to be seen that there was a vein of religion running 
 through the service which education, experience, and time 
 would soften and sober into proper church worship. It 
 was scarcely less crude than our attempt to work the ne- 
 groes as free laborers, or than their notions of their duties 
 and responsibilities as free citizens. It was the ABC 
 period that we were passing through, viewed in whatever 
 aspect. 
 
 The following specimens, taken at the time from our 
 plantation meetings, will give the reader an idea of their 
 character. Here is a sermon, with the interruptions just 
 as they occurred : 
 
 ''' Brethering, I will make onto you a few scatterin' 
 'marks dis mornin' " — [voice from the congregation, "Oh, 
 3^e8,"J — " 'bout how de Lo'd came into dis wo'ld fur to seek 
 an' fin' dat w'at wus los' " — [another voice, '• Yes,brudder"J 
 — " an' how I wa' comin' long de ro'ds dis mornin' " — 
 — ['^ True, Lo'd "] — " dah wur two sinnahs sittin' in de do' 
 ob de house" — [''Yes, Lo'd, dat 's so " — groan] — "dey 
 wur a talkin' 'bout de bressed Lo'd" — [" Yes, Jesus "] — 
 dat de devine speret come to dera " — [-• Dat 's all so, brud- 
 der,"] — "in dere dreams by night "—[" Yes, Lo'd "]— (at 
 this stage the negro women became so excited that they 
 commenced stamping their feet, accompanied by a swaying 
 of their bodies and a humming sound proceeding from their 
 closed lips ; this was continued during most of the service, 
 only increasing as the excitement increased) — ■• an' revealed 
 onto dem" — [" Bres me, Lo"d,"] — " dat dey would be tree 
 da'kdays " — [" Lo'd, sabe my soul "] — " when all dat did n't 
 sarve de Lo'd would be dammed to die " — [" Lo'd, deliber 
 me"]. — "He will smite dem" [striking the desk with his 
 fist] "to de yearth. Sinnahs, come, do come an' be saved, 
 or you'll be dammed." 
 
 Here an awful scream was heard, followed by a shout 
 from a " sister," who had been taken with what they term 
 the " power." "I lubs de Lo'd," she cried; "oh, Jesus, 
 
NEGRO CnURCUES. 299 
 
 sabo me ! oh ! oh ! oh ! " and so on for sometime, smitinc: 
 the air with her fists — during which time she was held up 
 by two "sisters," until overcome by excitement she fell 
 back in their arms exhausted. 
 
 A brother sprang up and gave out a line, and the excite- 
 ment increased as they all sang, the brothers one line, the 
 sisters the next : 
 
 Broihers. " I seed one upon a tree." 
 
 Sisters. " Gone to meet my sistahs in de mornin'." 
 
 Broihers. " I seed him an' he seed me." 
 
 Sisters. " Gone to meet my sistahs in de mornin'." 
 
 Brothers. " I lub him as I see him dere." 
 
 Sisters. " Gone to meet my sistahs in de mornin'." 
 
 Brother's. '' Wid his pretty face an' shiney ha'r." 
 
 Siste7's. " Gone to meet," etc. 
 
 While the singing proceeded the preacher walked up and 
 down the platform, greatly excited. 
 
 " Come, oh, you sinnahs, to de Lo'd," he cried. 
 
 " I's come," some one screamed in reply. 
 
 "He opens his pow'ful arras to you ; kin you refuse?" 
 yelled out the preacher. 
 
 " I's jumped squar' into dem," an excited sister replies, 
 with a great leap. 
 
 This was the climax. The whole church was in an up- 
 roar — some shouting, some exhorting, others giving out 
 hymns. There were three of what they called their 
 " deckons " (deacons) standing under the pul2)it — each 
 lining off hymns at the same time — and so absorbed were 
 they that they didn't appear to notice that no one joined 
 them in their singing. In the meantime what they termed 
 the "sinnahs " were grouped in the rear of the church, or 
 just outside the door. Those on the inside indulged in 
 more or less laughter and loud talk, while those on the 
 outside were so noisy as to seriously annoy the worshipers. 
 An officer was stationed at the door to enforce quiet ; when 
 the outsiders would become especially boisterous, he would 
 
300 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 eing out to them : " De Lo'd won't Bress you — beah me ! " 
 The sinners would shout in reply, " Yes, brudder, dat 's so." 
 At which the door-keeper would roll his eyes and groan, 
 only to reappear and to be freshly shocked at each fresh 
 outbreak. 
 
 There was another officer moving around inside, who 
 told me his duty was, " To keep down de sinnahs inside." 
 He, more discreet than the one who looked after the out- 
 siders with such poor results, was provided with a largo 
 club, knotty at the end, with which he rapped the noisy 
 ones over the shins into silence. " You '11 be pow'ful burnt 
 some day — better listen to de preacher an' be sabed," he 
 would frequently add. This officer wore red stripes down 
 the legs of his pantaloons, and strutted around like a pea- 
 cock. 
 
 There was still another officer, whose duty was to water 
 the congregation at stated intervals. For this purpose a 
 gourd and bucket were furnished, and the water was passed 
 around from seat to seat. 
 
 On one occasion a f)reacher came up from New Orleans, 
 which was the signal for an immense Sunday attendance — 
 the grape-vine telegraph being put to work to " n orate " 
 his arrival. He was a wise-looking negro, and could read 
 hesitatingly. Announcing the text he called upon " Deckon 
 'Nias " to respond to it, after which came " Deckon Eoss." 
 The latter was very tedious in his remarks, which occupied 
 an hour — failing to rouse the congregation in the least. 
 The New Orleans minister then rose to close the sermon. 
 He said : 
 
 "De 'marks ob Brudder 'Nias were berry good. Dey 
 teched de pint 'zackly — I highly 'proves ob dera. It is jis 
 de kind ob preachin' dat'll make de sinnahs groan and de 
 Christians shout. All you dat is 'appy wid de Lord will 
 'joice at de sound ob his words, an' de mis'able sinnahs '11 
 shake when dey hears de awful sound. Brudder Eoss war 
 sleepy in his 'marks — not fo'cible, like Brudder 'Nias," (at 
 
NEGRO CIIURCUES. 301 
 
 which compliment '' Brudder 'Nias" was heard to clear his 
 throat — while "Brudder Eoss " looked Ycry much crest- 
 fiillen). " Brudder Eoss had better read his Bible mo'." 
 
 Then '^ Beckon Gus " rose and said: "Let us sing." 
 Pointing his long, bony fingers out toward the door, where 
 the " sinnahs" were huddled, he started up, and was joined 
 by the congregation : 
 
 " You see dem chil'ens, yonder? 
 You tink dey doin' well ; 
 But when you comes to fin' out, 
 ChiFens, dey 's liangin' ober hell. 
 
 Chorus.—" Dey 's hangin' ober hell, 
 
 Dey 's hangin' ober hell, 
 But when you comes to fin' out, 
 Chil'ens, dey's hangin' ober hell." 
 
 While they were yet singing, thunder was heard, where- 
 upon some of the sisters from adjoining plantations pro- 
 ceeded to say good-bye to the Hebron sisters. This move- 
 ment^bade fair to close the meeting, and it seemed to worry 
 the Xew Orleans preacher. He called out : 
 
 " Sistahs, thunder was made by de Lo'd you worships, an' 
 heah you is runnin' way from it— be not afraid ; ef your 
 faith is in God, stay."— But it was a stampede, and the 
 meeting ended without any attempt at a doxology. 
 
 At another time, in the midst of a great excitement, 
 " Sister Eeah" undertook the conversion of "Aaron," who 
 had the reputation of being a great sinner. She got her 
 arms around his neck, and commenced exhorting. 
 
 " O, Brudder Aaron, come to de Lo'd,"— kissing him,— 
 "be converted,"— another kiss; "come into delblds'ob 
 Jesus— he will bress you,"— kisses. 
 
 " Yes, sistah." 
 
 " You wus made fo' de Lo'd, an' not fo' de debih" 
 " Bat's so, my sistah." 
 
302 » A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 " Erudder Aaron, pray." 
 
 " I can't, Sistah Eeah." 
 
 ''Try." 
 
 "Ihab tried." 
 
 Then " Sister Eeah " rushed up to the pulpit, and jumping 
 up and down, clapping her hands, she exclaimed : " Jesus, 
 come to Brudder Aaron ; make him one ob de flock," and 
 then the " i:)Ower " struck her, and she was seized by two 
 " sisters," — who held her down — she all the time throwing 
 out her arms wildly, beseeching for " Brudder Aaron," un- 
 til she became speechless, and was carried off in a swoon. 
 Whereupon one of the deacons started up : 
 
 " Did n' your conscience nebber tell you, 
 Did n' your conscience nebber tell you, 
 Did n' your conscience nebber tell you, 
 To go in de valley an' pray ? " . 
 
 A " sister " answered back : 
 
 " Oh, no, I aint ashamed, 
 Oh, no, I aint ashamed, 
 Oh, no, I aint ashamed, 
 To go in de valley an' pray." 
 
 I asked Aunt Clara (one of the most active of the " sis- 
 ters ") "what is the denomination of your church ? " 
 
 She looked at me with an expression of pity for my 
 ignorance, heaved a sigh, and answered : 
 
 " We's de ha'd-headed Baptis', chile ; yes, we's ha'd fo' 
 de Lo'd." 
 
 One day I was standing in the church door, when all of 
 a sudden the excitement sprang np — some shouting, some 
 singing, some praying. The outburst was unexpected to 
 me, and seemed ludicrous, and I smiled, when Clara, who, it 
 seems, had been watching me closely, detected me smiling. 
 She came over to me at once. 
 
 '' In de day ob judgment, when Gabriel blows his mighty 
 
NEGRO CnURCHES. 303 
 
 ho'n, calliii' both de jest and de onjcst to 'dcmption, den 
 
 you'll want what you is now laughin' at — heah me! " 
 " What do you mean, Aunt Clara ?" 
 I means all dis shoutin' an' singin'. It'll take it all to 
 
 rush you into hcbbcn." 
 
 " I wont smile any more then, Clara." 
 
 •'Well, honey, I hopes you'll 'member dat promise." 
 
 The following hymn, and what was called the " doxol- 
 
 lum," closed this meeting : 
 
 Brothers. "When Israel was in Egyp's land — " 
 
 Sisiers. " Let my people go." 
 
 Brothers. " So hard oppressed they could n't stand — " 
 
 Sisters. " Let my people go." 
 
 Chorics. " Then go down, Moses, 
 
 Away down to Egyp's land ; 
 
 Tell Xing Pharaoh 
 
 To let my people go," 
 
 They occasionally had what they called " 'zamination 
 meetins " — devoted to the giving of their experiences. " Br. 
 'Lias " gave his as follows : " Brudders an' sistahs, when I 
 was alayin' in my bed by night de speret ob de Lo'd came, 
 an' stannin by my bed-side I seed a dream. On de udder side 
 ob Jording dah was de angel ob de Lo'd, and he beckoned 
 to me. Says he, ' Come, come, oh, come, 'Lias, come,' an' 
 my head was all bedizzy like, and I begin to tremble ; an' 
 I kep' on lookin' dah, 'til de scene was broked into, an' on 
 his fiery throne sat de Lo'd, and he says, ' Come, come, oh, 
 come, 'Lias, an' be one of my redempted sperets ;' an' den I 
 begin to beliebc " — [" Ugh," one exclaimed]. — " Do Lo'd was 
 too strong " — ["He is so," exclaimed another] — " an' de deb- 
 bil begin to go out ob me " — [" Did so"] — " an' de Lo'd 
 crawled in, an' oh, I was so happy wid de Lo'd " — [" I 
 knows it "]. — Befo' I was de awfullest sinnah eber was, but 
 now, by de grace ob de Lo'd, I 's redempted new — bo'n 
 nfrm — hab de speret in me, an' is hai:>py." Then '' Br. 
 
304 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 'Lias " received the congratuLitions of the congregation 
 — each one shaking his hand. 
 
 A white face was a restraint to them. I have looked in 
 upon them when their service was at fever-heat — the 
 preacher fairly raving with excitement, the congregation 
 singing, shouting, praying, dancing ; when the preacher 
 would happen to glance toward the door and espy me, it 
 would cool him instantly, and in the shortest space the 
 church would be quiet — all life gone out of it. 
 
 The Sabbath -school, under my management, was a fail- 
 ure. It was too tame an affair to suit their fiery feelings. 
 Evidently our sober Sabbath-school service was quite as 
 strange to them as was their religious service to me. It 
 was not " church " to them unless they could " wallow wid 
 Jesus," unobserved by a white face. Even the presence of 
 the Xew Orleans preacher, with his shining black suit, 
 well-combed hair, reading the Bible, was a restraint, and 
 was the reason why '■ Br. Boss " did not wake the church 
 up, as was his wont. What they luxui'iated in was their 
 own home talent. 
 
 ISTothing excited the negroes so much in their meetings 
 as when their speakers would weave in reminiscences of 
 their bondage. There was one of their number — Uncle 
 Harrison, as we called him — who used to delight in this, 
 and who was a man of considerable force. The following 
 is one of his efforts : 
 
 " De wages ob sin is death. Dat 's God's saying. Many 
 ob you hab felt dat death 's coming-on out on de old plan- 
 tation. When you felt it coming on den you wanted to go 
 to Christ. But de driver's cry was heard, ' Gro to work.' 
 But you did n't care for him, nor de whip, nor de fetters, 
 ef de hebbenly life could only come into your soul. In 
 some dark place you would go an'd pray — an' de darker 
 de better — ef de Lord would come just dat once ; and 
 when he come you run to de cotton-field and worked all 
 day, and did n't care for de lashes on de bare back which 
 
NEGRO CnURCHES. 305 
 
 you received because you stayed so long in prayer. What 
 joy den followed ! ' Take all I bab,' you said, ' but give 
 me dis new life.' It was dis dat propped you up in dem 
 black days ob bondage. When de hebbenly gift was yours 
 you fear'd no harm. De old master might swear, and de 
 old driver might flog — but dere was peace and joy 
 within." 
 
 As may be imagined this stirred up his congregation 
 wonderfully. He was frequently interrupted by devout 
 exclamations, shouting, and bursts of religious frenzv 
 from his hearers. So much so, that it was with difficulty I 
 could take down his words as I stood concealed under the 
 window. 
 
 Here is a sermon which I noted down upon another oc- 
 casion : 
 
 " Good many times we spent de long night in praar, an' 
 as de little stars stoj^ped dar twinkle, and de day-break 
 come, we crep' into de fiel' to work all day wid de plow and 
 de hoe, an' eat de old bacon an' corn. But de soul had rest, 
 an' libbed on honey an' de honey-comb. But, God bress 
 you, chill'en, dem days am passed an' gone ; de God ob 
 Moses hab taken off de fetters, and soul an' body am free. 
 I hab walked dis road myself wid dese yer feet, and at de 
 broke ob day heard de whip crack, de bell ring, an' de 
 driver's call, an' when I rolled out ob my little crib felt 
 dat I would die dat day. But Jesus talked wid me, an' 
 said, ' Go out once mo', an' I will be wid you.' " 
 
 Here is another specimen : 
 
 "De debil toke President Linkum up into a high 
 mountain, an' showed him all the powers he would gib 
 him ef he 'de on'y fall down an' worship him. But de 
 kind ole man, de sabior ob dis people, on'y winked at de 
 tempter, an' said, ' I can 't see it.' But when de debil kep' 
 on a-temptin', an' 'gan to quote de texes ob de constution 
 ober to mislead him, den de President riz up full height, an' 
 
306 A TEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 put him- fru de manuel : ' Tree x^aces to de raar. Eight 
 'bout face — march/ an' de debil went on de double-quick." 
 
 CHAPTEE LYI. 
 
 COMFORTS AND DISCOMFORTS. 
 
 My " will " theory was shortly to be put to a severe test. 
 The seventh day after my first chill I took thirty grains of 
 quinine, and so escaped the second paroxysm. Then, ab- 
 sorbed with my duties, I grew careless, and when the four- 
 teen days came around, neglected the medicine, which re- 
 sulted in my having the second chill — both chill and fever 
 being more protracted than the first ; the latter so much 
 so that I could not get myself sufficiently under the influ- 
 ence of quinine to prevent my chill coming on again the 
 next day. During both days I vomited profusely; the 
 heat seemed excessive ; my diet was the rudest — if, indeed, 
 any thing would have tempted me — and I seemed rapidly 
 approaching the state of a confirmed invalid. 
 
 The only thing I actually enjoyed was George's jug of 
 cooled rain-water. He was a willing soul, devotedly at- 
 tached to me, and all hours of the day and night saw him 
 hastening to and from the river, so as to keep me always 
 supplied with the freshest draughts of water. I had only 
 to look into a glass to see that I was but the ghost of my 
 former self What I had boasted of to Dobson as being 
 but " healthy tan," was a good deal more than skin-deep 
 — it was, in fact, the result of a system gorged with bile, 
 and there was really but very little tan about it. Dobson 
 was worried at my condition. 
 
 " There is no special danger of fatal results," he said. 
 " The fear is that your chills will become chronic. Satur- 
 ated, as your system now is, with malaria, any trifling ex- 
 
COMFORTS AND DISCOMFORTS. 307 
 
 posure, such as sitting in a draught, night air, the heat of 
 the sun, is liable to throw you into a chill. Each addi- 
 tional chill renders you still more liable to others. By-and- 
 by quinine will lose its effect, after which the remedies are 
 arsenic, frost, a change of climate, and, above all, time." 
 
 " Ah, General, that is the dark side of the picture. The 
 bright side is — I will come out stronger on the ' will,' and 
 BO pull through ; of course, in the meantime taking good 
 care of myself With a condition favorable to chills, I maj^ 
 occasionally have one, now that they have got a start with 
 me, but I am bound they shall be few and far between." 
 
 " Well, there is nothing like being hopeful, Mr. Harding 
 — which you certainly are. You may not have another 
 chill, but you are likely to have many — 1 hope for the 
 former case, but fear the latter." 
 
 If some features of the weather were not conducive to 
 health, they were to comfort. Notwithstanding the heat 
 of the day, the nights were always cool. This was said to 
 be the result of breezes from off the G-ulf of Mexico — 
 though, indeed, these breezes fortunately were not confined 
 to the season of night ; except for an hour or so before sun- 
 rise until seven in the morning, and again for about the 
 same time before and after sun-set, they were unceasing. 
 These continuous breezes served to break the rays of the 
 sun, thus greatly mitigating their force. I have said these 
 breezes were unceasing except during the hours stated ; 
 and this was a wise dispensation of Providence, as but for 
 them, while people might exist here, it would be impossi- 
 ble to endure the labor necessary to produce a crop — not 
 that there was such a high degree of heat; it was the long 
 continuance of the heated term, from May until October, 
 which was said to be so enervating. During the hottest 
 portion of the season I noted the thermometer every day 
 for a period of three weeks, and at meridian it ranged from 
 88° to 90° — while at nine o'clock in the evening of the 
 the same days it was down to 75° and 70°. At the same 
 
308 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 period the thermometer was ranging in Cincinnati from 
 95° to 98°, with intensely hot nights. Thus, while our 
 friends in the Korth were panting for a breath of cool 
 night air, we slept under about the same coverings we had 
 found necessary before the hot weather set in. Protected 
 from mosquitoes and all other insects under our bars, with 
 such a temperature as I have described, after the labors and 
 vexations of the day — and when not disturbed by our sick 
 — our sleep was sweet, and we woke in the morning 
 thoroughly refreshed. For comfort and health we changed 
 our clothes three times each day : in the early morning 
 wearing woolen, in the heat of the day as little clothing as 
 possible, and in the evening again woolen. The peculiarity 
 of the heat was that it was not depressing — there was no 
 gasping for breath. It was a heat that produced profuse 
 perspiration while sitting in one's room in the shade. 
 Even with the most violent exercise, during the hottest 
 weather in the North, one has often a dry skin. I well re- 
 membered the suffocating sensations of that pent-up heat. 
 Here, without an effort, the perspiration would ooze from 
 every pore in my body, setting me all in a glow. 
 
 With doors and windows wide open, as was the custom, 
 the incessant breezes swept through our cabin, making 
 weights necessary to prevent our papers from being blown 
 about. Never was there the slightest need to go in search 
 of a breeze ; out of doors one was always fanning you. 
 Look across the fields, and there would be the ceaseless 
 flutter of leaf on tree and bush and cotton-stalk ; open a 
 window or door, and there it was on the outside, ready to 
 enter — in the middle of the day with a more or less heated 
 breath, at night deliciously cool. 
 
 Before morning the breeze came laden with moisture — 
 the falling dew— amounting almost to a slight shower : 
 enough, at any rate, to dampen the dust in the road, and 
 cause vegetation to glisten with drops of water, as if it 
 had been sprinkled with a watering-pot, and to look up 
 
COMFORTS AND DISCOMFORTS. 309 
 
 full of renewed life. This served to explain why vegeta- 
 tion could exist, as it frequently had to for a considerable 
 time here, without a drop of rain. Each nightly dew-fall 
 was itself a shower. Cotton, I may here remark, does not 
 draw its moisture in this way — its long straight tap-root 
 burrowing into the ground is the tube through which it 
 comes ; and yet even cotton — this sun-plant, as it has been 
 called — plainly derived new vigor from this nightly bath, 
 which gave it courage and strength to look the sun square 
 in the face from its risinc; to its settins:. 
 
 There was then, as I have noted, a daily change in the 
 thermometer from 90° at noon to 70° at midnig-ht — a 
 change almost as regular as clock-work. It was thus a steam- 
 bath, followed by its opposite. Great care was necessary 
 to save the system from the shock incident to such changes ; 
 hence the woolen clothing, mornings and evenings, with fire 
 on the hearth, and the absence of clothes during the heat 
 of the day. Such extremes could not be wholesome, and 
 were doubtless a fruitful cause of sickness. 
 
 Laying aside all prejudice, we had to acknowledge that, 
 with proper surroundings, this was not the most unpleasant 
 country in the world. Our experience of it was not a fair 
 test. Here we were in the overseer's cabin, or rather in a 
 small section of it — because the cabin was at once store- 
 room, hospital, office, and living-room. AYe had not a cow 
 to give us milk ; no garden ; no poultry ; no sheep from 
 which we could draw an occasional mutton or spring lamb ; 
 no calves for veal — only some staggering, scrawny Texas 
 beeves ; nothing else to eat but the provisions of our 
 store-room, Avhich had traveled all the way from Cincin- 
 nati. 
 
 What sort of farming was this of ours, any how ? Of 
 course our cabin discomforts were unavoidable, until we 
 could build a house to live in. True, we had made an ef- 
 fort toward a garden, but that it was a complete failure 
 Avas not for the reason that all kinds of garden vegetables 
 
310 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 did not grow luxuriously here, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, but because we had taken a little piece from our 
 great weed-2)atch of a plantation, and, with no more prep- 
 aration than should have been given to ground that was 
 under a high state of cultivation, had expected a good 
 garden. 
 
 Sheej) and milch cows could be had for the money in 
 either the Cincinnati or St. Louis markets. Every steam- 
 boat from the up-country — all of them jDassing our door, 
 of course — brought down coops upon coops of poultry. 
 Cows and sheep and poultry throve here — as what did not ? 
 But all these required money for their purchase, with care 
 and proper treatment afterward. 
 
 Our bayous were full of turtles — soft-shells, many of 
 them, too. There they lay in great numbers, all day long, 
 sunning themselves on the logs. There was a very simple 
 way to catch them. Take a shoe-box, bore a hole in each 
 upper corner of one side; run a rope through each hole ; 
 tie stones — or rather old iron or bricks, since we have no 
 stones — to the ends of the rope ; put weights enough in 
 the box to sink it, and then sink it on the outer side of a 
 log on which the turtles congregate ; throw the ropes, 
 with the weights attached, over the side of the log towards 
 you — thus the box is held close up to the log, under the 
 water, and of course invisible. Then go away and let the 
 turtles come up on the log to sun themselves — after 
 which all you have to do is to pass along the banks of the 
 bayou, scare the turtles, and they droj:) off the log on the 
 opposite side into your box, and you have them caged — 
 half a dozen at a time. In this way we might have had 
 turtle-soup to alternate with the bean-soup of which we 
 were so tired, to say nothing of turtle-steak. The woods, 
 moreover, were full of game, to be had for the hunting. 
 
 Thus it was not because the soil would not produce, or 
 that the climate was not congenial, that we were suffering 
 for lack of fresh vegetables and meats ; and it was not the 
 
COMFORTS AND DISCOMFORTS. 311 
 
 fault of the country itself, but rather the fault of its con- 
 dition and of our own shortcomings. 
 
 The fact is, all our energies were bent in the direction 
 of cotton. We had started under great disadvantages, the 
 principal of which was our own ignorance of the business ; 
 we had encountered obstacles at every turn ; our cotton 
 was still in the grass— our work was driving us ; we had 
 not a moment of time to secure such of the creature com- 
 forts as were within our grasp. To catch up with our 
 work was our all-absorbing struggle— to make our grand 
 weed-patch a productive cotton plantation in the year 1860 
 was our constant aim. 
 
 With a comfortable house on the Hebron plantation, hav- 
 ing broad galleries surrounding it to catch the breezes, and 
 upon w^iich to swing a hammock ; with garden and poultry, 
 with wild game, and such other comforts as the country was 
 capable of i)roducing or supporting ; with our continuous 
 breezes and cool nights, bringing gloriously refreshing 
 sleep ;— with all these, we used to say that we thought we 
 should not greatly mind the insects, or the miasma, or our 
 inhospitable surroundings; and with a good cotton pros- 
 pect in view, our feelings toward the country would be all 
 that we had fondly imagined they should be. 
 
 While on the subject of comforts and discomforts I will 
 mention that one of the former, after a day of heat and its 
 accompanying perspiration, was a bath, with water from 
 our cistern. The attendant discomfort was the mosquitoes, 
 swarming at the bed-time hour — the time for the bath. 
 George would first bring in the bath-tub, with its water. 
 In order to do this, he had to move some of our chairs 
 temporarily out upon the gallery, and then, that I might 
 take my bath in any sort of peace, he had to fight away the 
 hungry mosquitoes with a feather duster. Notwithstanding 
 he was zealous and active, it was impossible for him to at 
 once protect all the exposed parts. Still more difficult was 
 it during the wiping process, with my body entirely ex- 
 
312 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 posed. As a result, my bath was a battle, at Avhich I had 
 to confess myself a good deal worsted. The water cooled 
 off and freshened me — but I would be fretted, my body 
 smarting in many parts, and my blood inflamed with the 
 bites. I had, as a consequence, to abandon the evening 
 bath, and bathe in the morning, while the mosquitoes were 
 napping, instead. But this evidently worried George, since 
 he knew the evening bath was a great luxury to me. He 
 hammered and worked away, at odd spells, for a day or two, 
 on a funny-looking frame, which he was making up of 
 barrel-hoops. Then he asked me for a mosquito-bar,which 
 he rigged over the frame. He pretended that he was fix- 
 ing a screen for himself to sleep under. But when bed- 
 time came, he commenced moving some chairs out on the 
 gallery — then he brought the bath-tub in — then the frame, 
 which fitted nicely over the bath-tub — when it was all plain : 
 my devoted servant had contrived this plan, which would 
 enable me to resume my nightly bath, shielded from the 
 mosquitoes. It was a complete success, and, thus securely 
 housed, I could bathe at leisure — rather enjoying the snarl 
 of the mosquitoes as they beat themselves against my cage. 
 But more than half the pleasure was to see George's de- 
 light, at having fixed me up so nicely, and, at the same 
 time, completely outwitted our common enemy, the mos- 
 quito. He danced about on the gallery the first night, 
 talking to the swarming insects: 
 
 '•' I jes double dar you to go in dar now an' bite de boss. 
 Dis nigger is jes de chile to spile your pesterin' people while 
 dey's takin' a wash. Don't come around heah agin, caze 
 you wont git nary nudder bite off de boss or de General 
 dis year." 
 
 To make it perfectly fair General Dobson and myself 
 used to draw straws to decide who should take the first bath. 
 
WATER, MULES, MAKING LOVE. 313 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 WATER — MULES — MAKING LOVE. 
 
 The Fourth of July was near at hand, and yet very 
 much of our cotton was still choked with grass. It 
 would be long after the anniversary of Independence Day 
 before our crop would be clean, though, all the same, we 
 should have to celebrate it, and drink our barrel of beer. 
 Our laborers were doing their best, considering the funerals 
 and sickness, but, matted as our fields were with Bermuda, 
 crop grasses, and weed-growths, it was tedious and toilsome 
 work, and, after all, there was so little accomplished ! 
 Laborers and teams would come in from the field at night 
 worn out with pulling and tugging at the plow and hoe. 
 There was little singing of plantation melodies as the 
 lines of hands came straggling in from the fields, after the 
 day's work, because the battle with the weeds had taken 
 all the music out of them. Each plow-hand mounted his 
 or her tired mule for a ride in from the field, and then, sin- 
 gle-file, they all w^ent crawling off to the mule stable, the 
 very picture of a worn-out cavalcade. Before quitting- 
 time at night the mules would become "poky" in the fur- 
 row from the day's tough pulling. The men and women 
 would have to shout themselves hoarse, and ply whip and 
 plow-line to keep them moving at all. Once in a while one 
 would give out entirely and stand in his tracks, ears lying 
 back on his head, tail between his legs, taking whip, plow- 
 line and imprecation from his driver, with an occasional 
 kick of the hind legs when the lash-string stung particu- 
 larly sharp, but never moving until the traces were un- 
 hooked, and he was taken to the ditch-bank for a little rest, 
 14 
 
314 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Tvhen his ears would go up, and his tail would come out 
 from between his hind legs, as much as to say, " I have 
 conquered ; now I will quit my stubbornness.'' 
 
 It was no uncommon thing for men to grow so heated 
 that they would shed one after another of their garments, 
 until finally they would only have left on them hat, shirt, 
 and shoes, and then such a one would usually start up some 
 outlandish melody, making the air ring with music, at once 
 the picture of the veritable Sambo. 
 
 The women usually had a string about them, and when 
 they went to the field they would tie up their clothes 
 around their hips so as to expose themselves to their 
 knees. It was not an uncommon vanity for them to wear 
 stockings with gay stripes, and with the pretty ones, thus 
 rigged for work, it was decidedly a picturesque spectacle. 
 Once in the quarters, the string was untied, and the clothes 
 were allowed to drop. 
 
 There was one feature about the negroes' consumption 
 of water that was novel. Particular about the kind they 
 drank, they were indifferent as to its temperature. If it was 
 rain or river water, it was all right. These were children 
 of nature, and here also was proof that the use of cold 
 water is a cultivated taste. With their bodies heated by 
 their toil, they could not have drank cold water of the 
 same quantity without a serious shock to their systems. 
 The temperature of the water they did drink produced no 
 such shock. A certain flow of perspiration was necessary 
 for health — this could only be secured through copious 
 draughts of water of such temperature as would not shock 
 the system, and thus check the perspiration. Uncle Wash 
 said : 
 
 " Ef you puts cor water in a he't-up biler, it is mighty 
 apt to bust. A darkey, when he 's at work, dese hot 
 days, is jes like a he't-up biler, an' ef you do n't want to 
 'stroy him keep de col' water away. We has to hab de 
 
WATER, MULES, MAKING LOVE. 315 
 
 sweat, jes as do biler has to hab de steam ; hit takes he't- 
 up water to make hit." 
 
 While the plowing of land for cotton requires two mules, 
 its cultivation requires but a single one. A particular 
 mule was allotted to each one of our plow-hands. There is 
 a certain congeniality between a negro and a mule — they 
 soon learn each other's ways. It was common for each 
 hand to speak of the mule with which it was his task to 
 work as his own, and in many cases they became inordi- 
 nately fond of their mules, treating them far better than 
 they did themselves. 
 
 Mane and tail were kept well roached, and the animal was 
 always thoroughly groomed ; and, although the stock-yard 
 man had charge of the feeding and watering, they would 
 insist on themselves seeing that their " kreeter " was 
 watered and fed, frequently standing guard at the feed- 
 trougli, when hungry themselves, to see that no other 
 " pesky " mule got the " grub " allotted to their own. 'No 
 animal responds so promptly to proper attention as a mule, 
 and consequently this devotion gave those who jn-actieed 
 it sleek, fat animals. Proudly would such careful ones sit 
 upon their mules as they rode to and from the field. Let 
 some child or tired auntie ask to get up behind and ride 
 to the quarters, and there would be the prompt, angry re- 
 sponse : 
 
 " No, sa', yu can 't ride on dis yer mule ; he aint gwyne 
 to tote nary 'nudder soul but dis chile, plum pintedly." 
 
 " Unk Bob, please, sa', le'm me ride on ole Pete's back 
 a'hind you." 
 
 " 'No^Y, Sis Sal, you knows mighty well dis mule wont 
 carry double." 
 
 The fact was, Uncle Bob could not say no squarely, so 
 tender-hearted was be. Loving his mule as he did, he fre- 
 quently got out of such requests to double up, by teaching 
 him to kick up violently with the second person on his 
 
316 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 back, and so was enabled truthfully to give the answer 
 above. 
 
 But " Sister Sal " did not believe it — so she said : 
 
 " Git out, TJnk Bob, you knows dey aint a word of truf 
 in dat, — ole Pete wont carry double ! Go long now, Unk 
 Bob, wid yer story-tellin'." 
 
 "■ Well, come on, Sis' Sal, and try him." 
 
 Pete stood perfectly quiet until tired " Sister Sal " got 
 firmly in her seat, and was just about to put her arms around 
 Uncle Bob's waist, so as to hold on, when, at a signal 
 which he understood, from his master, he reared up be- 
 hind, shied off suddenly to the left, and there lay " Sister 
 Sal " sprawling in the dust. 
 
 " Dar now, Sis' Sal, I recken you '11 belieb unk Bob nex' 
 time." 
 
 " Mules is jes like white folks, you can't place any 'j^en- 
 dance in 'em," Sal muttered, as she picked herself out of 
 the dust, amid the jeers and laughter of the hoe-gang. 
 
 Nobody ever asked uncle Bob to ride on behind him 
 after that. 
 
 Some of the men were more careful of their mules than 
 they were of their wives, and more careful of themselves 
 than either, for they would mount them at night and ride 
 off to the quarters, leaving their tired wives to follow be- 
 hind on foot, though there was here and there a negro with 
 gallantry enough to take on behind him his weary spouse, 
 and thus save her sometimes a mile's walk. 
 
 Aunt Milly, the wife of Uncle "Wash, who was one of the 
 plow-hands, always looked out for him and saw that he 
 got a ride in, only, as it was her mule, " de ole man," as 
 she called him, had to get on behind. 
 
 " Sit up dar, Milly ; sit up dar," I once heard Uncle 
 Wash exclaim. " I declar' dis mule is so short dere aint 
 room for two on her back." Aunt Milly's mule was 
 "short-coupled, pony-built," and Wash said what was 
 true, but her mistress was prompt to resent any insinua- 
 
WATER, MULES, MAKING LOVE. 317 
 
 tion against her beast, even though it came from her hus- 
 band. 
 
 * 
 
 " Git out dar, ole man," she replied, '' dis mule's done 
 pulled fru de 'JMudah an' crap-grass, so her back 's all 
 d rawed up. Spec a mule to be humpin' from sun-up to 
 sun-down," she added with disdain, " an' den hab a long 
 back. De wunder is dat dis mule's got any back 't all — ef 
 da 's much mo' of dis so't of pullin' de mule's back 'Jl be 
 pulled into her shoulders or rump." 
 
 "Shut up dar, Milly; I didn't mean no 'suit to yo' 
 mule." 
 
 There were a number of the women who were in the 
 market — thatis, they had neither married nor j)ermanently 
 " took-up " with any of the men. There was constant 
 love-making between them and negro men in like condi- 
 tion. These women were more highly favored than their 
 married sisters, for they could always get, for the asking, a 
 ride home from the field up behind some of their fellows, 
 and frequently the invitation was extended to them. It 
 furnished a double opportunity — for rest and for love 
 making. 
 
 The hoe-gang furnished another opportunity for love 
 making. The lovers would have adjoining rows ; some- 
 times it was the man, sometimes it was the woman, who 
 w^as the most expeditious with the hoe — in either case the 
 one would help the other out. I have seen negro men so 
 anxious to show their devotion, that they would hoe half 
 the rows of the objects of their affection in addition to their 
 own. Uncle "Wash had a keen eye for this sort of thing, 
 and would soon detect it. 
 
 '■ Hurry up da, gal ; fotch up dat row Hbely, now, nig- 
 ger. Git off dat nigger's row, 'Lias, an' luff her do her 
 own hoein'. Jis stop dat lub-doin, now, heah me ! " would 
 ring out from Wash. 
 
 In the days of slavery, a very large percentage of the 
 women almost constantly had nursing children. Such was 
 
318 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 not the case now. During the entire year, there was but 
 one nursing babe on the Hebron plantation, and it was 
 brought to the place with the Yicksburg force, so there 
 was not a birth to chronicle ; and yet, with our force, in 
 old times, there would have been at least twenty-five. 
 
 With no increase, and with such a fearful mortality in 
 our force — if our plantation was an index to the general 
 situation, as it was, no doubt — it seemed that the i)resent 
 generation of negroes would be the end of the race as a 
 power in this country, and that such would be the fact was 
 the opinion of many earnest thinkers among those who 
 had an opportunity to judge. 
 
 There being, then, no children, the nursing feature, 
 which General Hampson had dwelt on at such length when 
 he showed us Hebron, was entirely absent. 
 
 CHAPTER LYIII. 
 
 GRIEVANCES. 
 
 As these pages have already shown, our reception was 
 the opposite of what it ought to have been. There was 
 the deception which Captain Tyler, the wharf-boat-man, 
 had practiced on us with respect to the landing of our 
 freight ; the luring away of the Hebron negroes, during 
 our absence to procure our outfit ; the fiailure of Colonel 
 Ditston to keep his contract to furnish us our seed for 
 j^lanting ; the overcharge on the part of our landlord of 
 two hundred dollars rent for his house ; the response of 
 Mrs. Harding's neighbors when Jane was sent over to 
 borrow a coffee-mill and a coal of fire ; the droj^ping down 
 
^ 
 
 GRIEVANCES. 319 
 
 of veils, turning away of fiices, and pulling up of skirts, 
 when passing us ; the insulting message which the saw- 
 mill man had sent us ; the blow which had been adminis- 
 tered to Percy Layton ; the long, black chapter of mur- 
 ders by the " mischievous boys" of the village ; the stam- 
 peding of negro immigration — and so on for quantity. 
 
 Long since had the solemn conviction forced itself upon 
 us, that there was scarcely any sign of a sentiment in our 
 favor. The crushing fact stood out in our pathway, that 
 we were as much in the enemy's country as were our sol- 
 diers during the war — the difference being that we were 
 here unprotected and almost alone, while our soldiers had 
 the army with them. The battles were over, it was true, 
 but, instead of white-winged peace, bushwhacking was the 
 order. 
 
 Month after month of this weary year rolled by, and 
 each succeeding one saw the feeling against us more bitter, 
 more intense. President Johnson's policy was daily in- 
 creasing the fire in the Southern heart. First, it was not 
 so much expressed in their words as in their looks. Then 
 came feeble utterances against the Xorth and JS'orthern 
 people. Louder and louder grew these utterances. Hu- 
 man blood began again to redden Southern soil, and it was 
 generally loyal human blood. 
 
 The time came when our neighbors seemed to think that 
 every one must take sides. Accordingly, one morning, while 
 assisting to make some repairs on our grist-mill, a man 
 rode up, whom I recognized as a resident of the village. As 
 he dismounted, his short, sacque coat-tail flew up, and 
 there, exposed to full view, was a huge navy revolver. He 
 introduced the object of his visit softly, but at once, 
 saying : 
 
 " I was riding by, and thought I would stop and see how 
 you stand on the political questions of the day. Do you 
 indorse Andy Johnson's policy?" I replied, "We came 
 here for purposes of farming, not with an}^ intention to 
 
320 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 participate in politics — in fact, with a fixed determination 
 not to do so. General Dobson had a profession, and I was 
 in business, where we came from. ]S"either of us were pol- 
 iticians there. "We have shown our friendly feeling to- 
 ward the South by the purchase of this plantation and 
 coming here to live. In the IS'orth the few are politicians 
 — a great many of the j)eople take scarcely enough inter- 
 est in politics to vote unless there is some special issue at 
 stake." 
 
 " That's just what's the matter here now. There is a 
 a special issue. The South lost in the war. Andy John- 
 son 's come to our rescue. We 've all got to take sides for 
 or agin the policy. We must know who our friends are. 
 and who are our enemies." 
 
 "You must excuse me, sir. I can 't express an opinion 
 on the limited information before me. Since coming here 
 I have seen or read but few papers, and do not feel at all 
 posted. The fact is, I have been so absorbed in the plan- 
 tation that I feel I scarcely know any thing else, and, 
 if you are to judge by the sorry outlook, you will say that 
 I don't know very much of this." The latter was added 
 laughingly, and with a view of changing the subject. But 
 as well try to change the current of the Mississippi. My 
 visitor might have been diverted by an invitation to take 
 a drink, but I had nothing except the cool water under the 
 gin. I offered him this, and he drank it, heating it up 
 first, however, from the contents of a flask, which he drew 
 from his coat-pocket. Then he rode off, with an ugly look 
 on his face, which boded mischief to us. 
 
 A few days later we received a file of papers from the 
 North, containing accounts of horrible murders, in the 
 South, of new-comers like ourselves. Just across the river 
 from us a late Federal general had been fatally shot, while sit. 
 ting in his door at night, cooling off after the heat and labor 
 of the day. Some distance above us three Northern men 
 were working a plantation together. One morning, before 
 
GRIEVANCES. 321 
 
 day, while all were asleep, four men. disguised by black- 
 ing their faces, and other means, broke into their house, 
 woke the gentlemen, demanding their money and arms. 
 They being entirely helpless, their arms were given up, 
 and a trunk, containing about three thousand dollars, was 
 pointed oat. The robbers immediately forced it, secured 
 the prize, and then proceeded to rifle the men's pockets, 
 and pick up whatever valuables they could find. Two of 
 them left the house, and with another party of ruffians en- 
 tered the stable, and wantonly killed the animals therein. 
 The negro laborers were awakened by the firing, and most 
 of them having served in the army, and having retained 
 their arms, started for the stable. The robbers fired on 
 them and killed five ; the remaining negroes returned the 
 fire, and retreated to their quarters. The band then set 
 fire to the stable, which, with the cotton-gin, was destroyed. 
 The murderers then moved in a body to the woods. In 
 the morning, after burying the murdered negroes, the 
 planters, with their hands, followed the assassins ; but sat- 
 isfied, by the number of their tracks, that they could not 
 cope with so many, they soon returned to the plantation. 
 
 In Georgia a negro was fastened to a stake, faggots were 
 piled around him, and he was roasted to death. 
 
 Even in the enlightened city of New Orleans, a young 
 lawyer, from the North, was notified to leave, shortly after 
 his location there, simply because he had the courage to 
 express what were called Northern sentiments. 
 
 From these, and other instances given, it was plain to be 
 seen that the '•' mischievous boys " were at work in more 
 places than one in the South. The same mail which 
 brought this file of papers also brought letters from friends 
 expressing apprehension for our personal safety. We 
 laughed at their fears, as we read their letters ; still they 
 must have impressed us. 
 
 The following morning I was at the blacksmith-shop, 
 superintending some repairs, when, chancing to look down 
 14* 
 
322 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 the front road, I espied about half a mile off a party of 
 horsemen comins: directly toward us, and travelino- at a 
 rapid gait. As a gust of wind blew the cloud of dust 
 away, which partially enveloped them, I made out at least 
 a dozen in the party. 
 
 The first thoutcht I had was of the numerous murders 
 of new-comers in the South, and then came the further 
 thought that this was to be an attack upon us. Our time 
 had come at last. The apprehensions expressed in the let- 
 ters, which we had laughed at, were well grounded. With- 
 out saying a word to either the blacksmith or carpenter, I 
 walked across the road, and at once entered our cabin. 
 Dobson had just gotten up, and, in his slippers and night- 
 shirt, was shaving himself. 
 
 " G-eneral," I said, " there is a party of horsemen com- 
 ing up the road. It looks suspicious. May be they are 
 friends, but you know we never receive any white friends, 
 and I fear they are not. Do n't you think we had best 
 prepare ourselves for a possible attack ?" 
 
 '■' Yes, I think so," he rej^lied deliberately ; then he 
 walked deliberately to the door, looking down the road, 
 and came back — not quite so deliberately, though not in 
 the least flurried. 
 
 " They have chosen a time," he said, " when our people 
 are all in the field ; so that we are left, in a measure, de- 
 fenseless. But if they are enemies we will do the best we 
 can." 
 
 While saying this, the blood in his face began to disap- 
 pear at the roots of his hair, deliberately passing down his 
 face, and under his collar. 
 
 Notwithstanding the excitement, this deliberate disap- 
 pearance of Dobson's blood struck me, and I exclaimed : 
 
 " It 's in the blood !" 
 
 " What 's in the blood ?" he asked. 
 
 " If you could have seen the pallor coming over your 
 face, you would understand — that your deliberate ways are 
 
GRIEVANCES. 323 
 
 natural, and that it is in your blood never to be in a 
 hurry." 
 
 AVe both laughed as heartily over this as we could be 
 expected to do under the circumstances of our danger. 
 
 While the General's face was pallid, it showed no signs 
 of fear. Ilis Henry rifle stood in the corner of the room 
 in its cover, and while taking out a pair of pistols from his 
 trunk, he coolly said : 
 
 " George, take the cover off that gun." 
 
 Sixteen loads in the Henry rifle, two sixshooters, two der- 
 ringers, and a double-barreled shot-gun, comprised our 
 arms. 
 
 I brought in from the store-room a bag of buck-shot, a 
 canister of powder, and a supply of caps. Dobson took 
 from his trunk a quantity of cartridges. We then barred 
 all the doors, but one, and all the windows. The latter 
 had tight board shutters, on hinges, fastening inside with 
 a hook. 
 
 Scarcely were our arrangements completed before we 
 could hear the clatter of the horses' hoofs in the road. 
 Then a sudden bringing-up at the gate followed. 
 
 Yes, it was a call on us, — whether for good or evil, we 
 should shortly see. Only a few steps intervened between 
 the gate and cabin. We could distinctly hear the clanking 
 of horses' bits, and .the creaking of the saddle-leathers. The 
 blacksmith's hammer had ceased its blows. 
 
 Except the visit of a friendly overseer from a neighbor- 
 ing plantation, the recent call at the gin-house, and oc- 
 casional calls from new-comers, this was the first we had 
 been honored with. My having failed to satisfy the gin- 
 house visitor might be the cause of the present visit. I 
 could not imagine to what else it should be attributed. 
 There was certainly a revolution in the country if it was 
 friendly. I looked at Dobson, inquiringly, and he said : 
 
 <' Mischief" 
 
 A knock at the door of our store-room followed. 
 
324 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 George was stationed to answer it. 
 
 We heard him open it and ask : " What is it, sah ? " 
 
 We could not make out the answer, but directly he came 
 into our room to say it was a party of men after a run- 
 away negro, who wanted to know if there was any such 
 on Hebron. 
 
 I went to the door at once, invited them into the store, 
 and so great was my relief that I wasted a quart of whisky 
 on the party, and ere long they started off in search of 
 their negro with a whoop and a yell. As they rode off 
 George said : " Dat 's jes de way dey used to hunt niggas 
 in reb times, 'cept dey didn't hab dogs wid 'em." 
 
 This was our first alarm, and, although a false one, served 
 to show the nervous condition we were in. A month 
 later we had the second, which, although not presenting as 
 serious an aspect, at the beginning, as the first, made up 
 for this lack at the close. It was when the news came of 
 the overthrow of a constitutional convention in ^ew Or- 
 leans, accompanied by several murders of members. Un- 
 der orders from the President, the troops did not inter- 
 fere to arrest bloodshed. This led the Southern people to 
 believe that they could do as they pleased. 
 
 A party of the " mischievous boys " gained possession 
 of copies of New Orleans papers, with glowing accounts 
 of the bloody affair. Weighed down with pistols, and 
 more or less filled with rum, they came to Hebron whooping 
 and yelling like so many demons. They came into our 
 store screaming, "Victory! victory! we're going to git 
 back all we lost by the war. Here it is, read it ! " And 
 then they rudely shoved the New Orleans papers at us for 
 perusal. 
 
 " Oh ! Andy is our friend, he is. He sustains our courts 
 in ISTew Orleans. We 've been reinforcing hell with radi- 
 cals down thar, and the troops are pertecting us." 
 
 "We've got every thing our own way now," said an- 
 
GRIEVANCES. 325 
 
 other of the part}', " and we 're goin' to make it hot for the 
 radical 2)arty." 
 
 " It certainly looks that way," I said, after glancing over 
 the head-lines. " I see the President stands by the courts 
 in New Orleans." 
 
 Dobson added: "It is all so mixed, I can't get the 
 straight of it." 
 
 "jSTot at all, General ; not in the least, sa' — it 's our own 
 people ag'inst the radicals ; so long 's the radicals had the 
 President, there was no show for us ; but he is with us now 
 — so good-by, radicals." 
 
 " You 'd better believe there 's hell in a hand-basket for 
 the d — d cowardly radical party." 
 
 " Yes, and every man 's got to take sides," said the prin- 
 cipal spokesman. 
 
 '' That 's so, that 's so," they all responded. 
 
 "No toting water on both shoulders," cried the ring- 
 leader. " Not a bit of it." " Every body 's got to speak 
 out in meetin'," was the general response. 
 
 Evidently there was an attempt to force us to commit 
 ourselves. The men were armed, excited by liquor, and 
 frenzied by what they regarded their great victory. They 
 showed their revolvers freely, and strutted around the 
 store as if they had taken possession. The outlook was 
 
 ugly- 
 
 To quiet them Dobson said : " You know, gentlemen, we 
 are comparative strangers here — not acquainted with the 
 affairs of the South. We have never been politicians, and 
 have no intention of becoming so now." 
 
 " That 's just what we brought up these papers for," an- 
 swered the leader — " so 's to post you. As for bein' politi- 
 cians, this's the South's fight, and every body in the 
 South 's got to take an interest, or git out." There was the 
 expression of the hyena in our visitors' faces at this threat. 
 " I showed the news to Col. Tupper, and he said ; ' Damn 
 'em ; it's good enough for 'em — they 'd no use bein' radi- 
 
326 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 cals.' Do you know Tapper, General ? He 's a splendid 
 fellow." 
 
 " Yes, he is," they all shouted. 
 
 Tupper was a new-comer, from somewhere in the ^orth, 
 and, doubtless, had adopted the principles of the neighbor- 
 hood he chanced to be in ; or, it may be, in this case, the 
 party had over-persuaded him. 
 
 The General said he had heard of him, but had never 
 met him. By dint of diplomacy and whisky, we were 
 finally rid of our unwelcome visitors, without putting our- 
 selves on the record as in sympathy with them — but we 
 made several close shaves ! There was a constant display 
 of teeth and claws, and coarse language on their part — 
 enough to last us for the rest of our lives. It is more than 
 likely that the extra half-gallon of whisky we got into 
 them saved us. 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 WE CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF JULY. 
 
 Between the levee and the river on the lower end of 
 Hebron was a piece of wood-land, well set in Bermuda 
 grass, with little undergrowth, and, although untouched by 
 the hand of man, having a park-like appearance. It was 
 on the very edge of the Mississippi, which, at the season 
 of highest flood, lacked a few inches of covering it, thus 
 annually constituting it a little island, upon which steam- 
 boats landed, depositing plantation freight, which would 
 then be taken in skiff's, or flatboats, and carried across the 
 slough to the levee beyond, and there loaded into wagons. 
 
 The Mississippi being on a ridge, the bank is always the 
 highest land, but this spot was particularly elevated. Our 
 
WE CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF JULY. 327 
 
 Diulcs were turned out, Saturday afternoons and Sundays, 
 to graze on the levee, and they used to delight in this grove, 
 where they fed off the luxurious growth of the Bermuda 
 grass, and, when filled, stood in the shade where, swept as 
 it alwa^'s was by the breezes from off the river, they found 
 the coolest spot on the place. There was no need to mow 
 it, because the mules always kept it cropt short, thus mak- 
 ing a very presentable lawn. The trees w^ere festooned 
 with the wonderful vine-growth peculiar to this region; 
 mocking-birds flew in and out, filling the ear with their 
 music, while red-birds, and an endless variety of the feath- 
 ery tribe captivated the eye with beauty. Once I saw a 
 deer standing in this natural park, dripping with water, 
 having swam across the Mississippi, to elude some hunter 
 and his hounds. His broad antlers, erect head, and dis- 
 tended nostrils were only visible for a moment, and then 
 he shot out through the trees, over the levee, across the 
 plantation, and so into the woods again. 
 
 In this park we decided to hold our Fourth of July cel- 
 ebration. Accordingly, the day before that date, we de- 
 tailed a couple of men to build tables, and arrange for the 
 feast. Dobson thought there was no need of erecting a 
 platform for the orator, saying : 
 
 " I will stand in the lumber wagon, which we can have 
 hauled down and properly placed for the occasion." 
 
 Kature had been so lavish toward the spot selected, that 
 there was little to be done, beyond the placing of the tables. 
 The green-sward for seats, and an abundance of shade 
 were already at hand. As may be supposed, we had no 
 solicitude regarding the place of our festival. It was the 
 feast itself that worried us — and not the drink, for we had 
 the barrel of beer — but the necessary victuals. Flour, 
 brown sugar, and molasses we had in the store-room. We 
 had, also, some shoulder-bacon, which was considered nicer 
 than salt pork. 
 
 Faithful Aunt Clara and the beautiful Mary were de- 
 
328 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 tailed as cooks. They baked up two-thirds of a barrel of 
 flour, fifty pounds of sugar, five gallons of molasses, into 
 sweet-cake, and a third of a barrel of flour into short-cake, 
 which, with a dozen shoulders of meat, boiled and cut up, 
 constituted the principal part of the bill-of-fare. When 
 we came to review our scanty feast, however, we sent to 
 the village and bought half a box of lemons, to make lem- 
 onade for the women, thinking they might not all enjoy 
 the beer. We also emptied the shelves of our store of sar- 
 dines and cove oysters, thus adding to the variety and at- 
 tractiveness of the jn-oposed feast. With these final ad- 
 ditions, our resources for the occasion were exhausted. 
 
 A certain feeling of sadness crept over me the evening 
 preceding the Fourth, as Dobson and myself went over the 
 slender bill-of-fare, which was all that was possible for ns to 
 offer our people — not so much that we had not the money to 
 pay for a more attractive one, as because it was not to be had 
 for the money. What a dinner to be considered a feast : — • 
 Ginger-cake, short-cake, shoulder-meat, lemonade, beer, a 
 few sardines, and cove oysters ! 
 
 Of course this was the material view — from the senti- 
 mental point of view it was all different. Here were the 
 late slaves about to celebrate a national holida}'. Their 
 joy should be not in food, but in freedom. Hitherto, 
 under the law, they had had no more interest in the Fourth 
 of July than the mules on the plantations. jS'ow they were, 
 in the eyes of the law, human beings, their freedom secured. 
 As slaves the feast had been everything ; as freedmen the 
 privilege to celebrate the day should be every thing. 
 Whether the negroes could appreciate the difference, how- 
 ever, was questionable — though, doubtless, more for the 
 stomach and less for the privilege, would have best suited 
 most of them. 
 
 That they all enjoyed it, in anticipation, though not un- 
 derstanding its meaning, was unquestionable. The cooks 
 worked with a will, and the estimation in which they 
 
WE CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OP JULY. 329 
 
 seemed to hold the food they were preparing, was the only 
 thing that really kept us at all in heart. 
 
 " What 's dis day you all wants de darkies to celebrate?" 
 Aunt Clara asked me, as we passed by the cabin, where she 
 and Mary were baking. 
 
 " It 's Independence Day, Aunt Clara." 
 '• Well, honey, de darkies ou't to 'commodate you, caze 
 dcy had to place 'pendence in do white folks ob de ^orf, 
 who done sot 'em free." 
 
 Aunt Clara thought she understood it, and she used to 
 explain to the inquiring ones that it was " 'pendence day, 
 and we darkies hab to celebrate it, caze ob de 'pendence 
 we put in de white folks up JSTorf who freed us." 
 
 Jimmy Watson came nearer the mark — he said, " It was 
 de day as made us a] I free." 
 
 " Sho, nigger," replied a bullet-headed fellow, " I do n't 
 know much, but I know better 'en dat ; de Fo'th of July 
 neber sot dis darky free, caze I was free de berry day I 
 j'ined de Yankee sojers, an' dat was de sebenth of March. 
 De Fo'th of July my freedom day!" he continued, as if in 
 disgust. " Dat 's all you know, nigger. De Fo'th of July 
 is somethin', but it aint dat; better read your catechism, 
 Jim, 'fore you tries to show what de Fo'th of July is. 
 Aunt Clara got de straight of it ; she done got it from Mr. 
 Harding hisself " 
 
 " Dat 's so, sho'," said another. 
 
 "Jim 's projecking wid us ; he knows better," said still 
 another. " Nigger ! you better quit you projecking." 
 
 *' Well, I may be wrong, but, howsomever, de Gin'al's 
 gwine to 'splain it to us, an' den we '11 know wedder Jim 's 
 wrong," was his generous reply, given with one of his 
 hearty laughs. 
 
 " link Wash, what does de Fo'th of July mean any 
 how? I hears so many stories 'bout it dat I dunno what 
 
330 A YEAR OF "WRECK. 
 
 to belieb. Ellis says it was de day Linkum was bo'n, and 
 de ca'penter, it 's \Yashin'ton buth-day." 
 
 " 'T aint nuffen ob de kind — it means time to hab de 
 crap clean," said AVash, with a snarl, an' ef j'ou darkies 
 bad on'y half worked, de crap 'd been clean by dat time. 
 Ob co'se dat 's what it means. Did n't de Gin'al fbch down 
 a bar'l a beer to be drunk on de Fo'th, when de crap 'd be 
 clean ? You niggahs 'd better stir lively, and git it clean, 
 too, caze ef you do n't de Gin'al's gwine to pos'pone de 
 Fo'th till ye does." 
 
 " Go 'long dah, Unk Wash, do n' you know de Gin'al 
 can 't pos'pone the Fo'th of July ?" 
 
 " He '11 do it sho', ef de crap aint out o' grass. I heard 
 him tell Mr. Harding so. You niggahs bettah stir up, ef 
 you wants de Fo'th to come de reg'lar time." 
 
 Dobson's sinister theory as to the beer was correct. 
 Though it did not accomplish a complete rescue of our 
 crop from the grass, it went a long way towards it. I will 
 here make record that the purchase of that barrel of beer 
 was the best investment of the season. 
 
 For a week before the Fourth, when out of the field, 
 the women were washing and starching their finery. The 
 men and women were more particular than ever to have the 
 hair on their woolly heads tied up in little rolls. This is the 
 usual custom, and is done for the purpose of taking "the 
 kinks out." Tied up all the week. Sunday morning the 
 strings are taken off, and the hair combed out, making a 
 huge wavy shock for a head-covering. The Fourth being 
 a grand occasion, their hair was kept tied up uninterrupt- 
 edly for several weeks, during which time, as is their wont 
 when their hair is not dressed, they appeared with their 
 heads wrapped in bandanna handkerchiefs. The store was 
 cleared of its stock of ribbons, as well as every thing else 
 that was capable of being tortured into an adornment of 
 the human person. "We had a quantity of gay belts, col- 
 lars, cuffs, and fancy neckties for the women, white shirts 
 
WE CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF JULY. 331 
 
 and vests fo'r the men, all of which we sold. Hats and 
 shoes were especially in demand, and on the strength of 
 the approaching celebration, we sold several of Dobson's 
 cheapest fancy pipes. Thus, in a very small way, it was a 
 speculation. 
 
 The quarters were really a beautiful sight on the morn- 
 ing of the Fourth. Every-body appeared in their best. 
 Heads were combed to a nicety, producing shocks of wool 
 so large as only to allow the hat to perch on the top of 
 them. There were very black women in white dresses ; 
 there were all shades of dress and face, from the Mary, as 
 black as night, and with classical features, to that other 
 Mary, with the pink in her cheek, gown of the same shade, 
 wavy tresses, and her redolence of tropical growth. The 
 first Mary, in her white turban, with her Grecian cast of 
 face, her cat-like tread, her musical voice, and singularly 
 enough with scarcely a trace of the negro dialect in her 
 speech, had all the graceful ways of a well-bred woman. 
 She made a fine picture, as she sat there on her gallery, 
 alongside of her light mulatto carpenter-husband, her small 
 foot peeping out from under her clothes, in harmony with 
 her small hand. Her " man's " name was Jimmy also, and 
 he was not less devoted to his Mary than the other Jimmy 
 was to his. As a lady's maid she would have been in 
 her sphere ; on the plantation she was simply ornamental. 
 
 " How 's all ?" she asked as 1 i:>assed her cabin. 
 
 " Thank you, Mary, all well." 
 
 '■'■ When did you hear from Mrs. Harding, and the chil- 
 dren?" 
 
 " Yesterday." 
 
 " Was they well ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes." 
 
 " 'Member me to them, when you writes." 
 
 " Certainlj', Mary." 
 
 Further along, sitting on her gallery, was Milly Carter, 
 in her best. She was of anotiier type. Though with as 
 
332 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 pure negro blood as Mary, her skin was brown. She had 
 an almond-shaped eye, straight nose, small lips ; her face 
 was long, classical, and full of character; she carried 
 her head in a lofty manner. A working-woman, her feet 
 and hands were large. There was a charm about Milly 
 that always attracted me. She was never boisterous or un- 
 ladylike, and as she sat there in her black alpaca, her 
 bands folded over her lap, the i)icture of neatness, she 
 would have attracted even a stranger. 
 
 There were three sisters, with a brother, of this family, 
 in the neighborhood, and they all had the same peculiar 
 cast of features, and were alike noted for industry and 
 honesty, as well as the utter absence of what, for a better 
 name, may be described as negro ways. 
 
 Milly had lived with a " took-up man " when a slave 
 woman, but at the close of the war she was married, in 
 due form, to another man, her first one having enlisted as 
 a soldier and left the country. 
 
 Milly's husband was a pure negro, homely and smart. 
 H-is face was pitted by small-pox, and, at first acquaint- 
 ance, there was nothing attractive about him. But to 
 hear him talk, see him work, and to know him — these were 
 the charms. He spoke fair English, and while hearing him, 
 if your face were turned away, you would hardly take him 
 for a negro, there being scarcely a vestige of lingo in his utter- 
 ances. He was one of the very few grown-up negroes am- 
 bitious for an education, and was practicing almost con- 
 stantly with his pen and reader when not in the field. He 
 was sitting alongside of Milly on the gallery, studying his 
 lesson. As I came up and stopi:)ed at the steps, both rose 
 and offered to shake hands, Aunt Milly doing so with a 
 graceful curtsey. 
 
 " How are you both ? " 
 
 Aunt Milly replied, " Poo'ly." 
 
 Charlie said, " AYell, I give you thanks." 
 
 " What is the matter with you. Aunt Milly ? " 
 
WE CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF SULY. 333 
 
 " Do weeds and grass hab worked us mightily." 
 
 " Yon are glad to get a rest, then." 
 
 "Yes, sah ; indeed we is." 
 
 "AYell, I hope you both will enjoy yourselves to-day." 
 
 " We expects to," they both replied. 
 
 Aunt Fannie, sitting on her gallery, was the pure Afri- 
 can negro all over. She was the best woman fighter on 
 the plantation, which was saying a good deal. She could 
 drink more whisky, and kick higher than — hoe as much cot- 
 ton, and plow as good a furrow as — the next one. She had 
 already been the " took-up woman " of three different men, 
 since she had been working for us. There was no conceal- 
 ment about it either. She would say : " 1 would n't marry 
 de best man that eber libed ; I gits tired ob 'em too soon ; 
 an' when dat time comes, 1 do n't make any bones ob tellin' 
 'em so, and if dey aint ready to quit, it 's a fa'r fight, fists 
 and skulls, and de best one wins." 
 
 " Good morning, Fannie," I said, ''you are going to have 
 a good time of it to-day, ar' n't you? " 
 
 •' Good morning, sah ; O yes, sah, I'se gwine it to-day, 
 sho'. How 's de missus and de chil'en ? " 
 
 " They were well when I heard from them, thank you, 
 Fannie." 
 
 " Dat's good ; I reckon you's pow'ful lonesome widout 
 you' lady. Is you gwine to hab dancin' to'day ? " 
 
 " Certainly ; you can dance all day and all night, if you 
 like." 
 
 " To be sho' dat's good." 
 
 " You must not get into any fight to-day, Fannie." 
 
 " What does jou mean, now ? You knows mighty well 
 I nebber pesters any one les'n day pesters me, or give me 
 some cuss wo'd ; den, ob co'se, I's bound to fight. Dat 
 nigger nebber libed dat can pester or cuss me, an' me not 
 fight." 
 
 " Well, I hope no one will ' pester ' or ' cuss ' you." 
 
 " I hopes not, too. ' 
 
334 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 " Is dey gwine to be any 'ligious exercises to-day, Mr. 
 Harding?" Aunt Clara asked. 
 
 " We ought to open with j^rayer, I think, do n't you?" 
 
 " Ob co'se I does ; ef you wants to be bressed, de Bible 
 says you must pray." 
 
 At ten in the morning we were all assembled in the 
 grove ; that is, all save Dobson — he, as usual, was a little 
 late. We had no copy of the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence in our outfit, and it was impossible to find one in the 
 neighborhood, so I was relieved of my duty. 
 
 " Brother '^ias " opened with prayer as follows : 
 
 " Bressed Jesus, we 's all 'sembled here to-day to lis'en 
 to some 'marks from de Grin'al, and to eat de grub, dat 's 
 been 'pared for us by de white folks. Make us willin' to 
 hear de truf as de Gin'al 'spounsed it, and to eat de grub 
 wid willin' hearts, for de kingdom come's sake. Amen." 
 
 Then followed Gen. Dobson's speech, a plain, practical 
 affair, instructing the negroes as to the meaning of the 
 Fourth, and offering many good lessons, which, if they 
 would profit by them, would improve their condition, he 
 told them, and to which there was a general response : 
 
 " We '11 do it, sho'." 
 
 There was a good deal of a disposition to turn the cele- 
 bration into a religious meeting, in the way of responses. 
 Dobson was frequently interrupted by : " Dat 's so ; " '^ Yes, 
 bress God; " " You heah me," and so on. 
 
 The man whom we had detailed to arrange the table and 
 supplies, in tapping the barrel of beer had evidently 
 sampled it too freely. He was one of our up-country batch, 
 and had, doubtless, witnessed celebrations before, so he in- 
 sisted on cheering, and, during the first part of Dobson's 
 speech, at nearly every sentence he would break out: 
 "Hurrah for de Gin'al." This he kept up until finallj^, 
 sprawling on the grass as he was, he dropped off to sleep, 
 but even then, until he got soundly asleep, he would cry 
 out, drowsily : "Hurrah for de Gin'al," "for de Gin'al," 
 
WE CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF JULY. 335 
 
 "Gin'al," until at the last be went off for good, snoring 
 lustily in response to the rest of the speech. 
 
 80 enraged were some of our people, that when Dobson 
 finished, they caught up the drunken fellow, carried bini 
 down to the bank of the river and threw him in. Of 
 course the water woke him up very sbortly. They had a 
 plow-line tied round his waist, so that they could pull him 
 to shore when they thought he was sufficiently punished. 
 
 His wife undertook to rush down after him, but was 
 stoj^ped on the bank and held. She screamed, " You 're 
 murdering Boone, you 're murdering Boone ! Oh, my poor 
 husband ; let me drown wid him ! " 
 
 " Luff her go," Aunt Fannie cried, " Ef she 's fool enough 
 to drown for dat niggah, she ought to be 'lowed to do it." 
 
 On all sides the exclamation was, "it done sarved him 
 right for interruptin' de Gin'al." Finally, after ducking 
 him well, pushing him away from the bank several times, 
 Boone was hauled in, and he came crawling up the bank. 
 Every -body, by this time, was screaming with laughter at 
 the spectacle. His wife, released, threw herself on his 
 breast, crying, " Thank God, you 're saved ! " 
 
 But Boone pushed her off, saying, "Go 'way, gal ; it 
 sa'ved me right fo' gettin' drunk." 
 
 Our master of ceremonies, notwithstanding his acknowl- 
 edgment of the justice of his punishment, was very much 
 crest-fallen. He soon slunk away, and laid himself down 
 in the sun, where he could at once reflect over his folly and 
 dry out his clothes. His wife carried dinner to him, and 
 they took it together. But the day was spoiled for Boone, 
 though the episode served to enliven the rest of our p»eople, 
 and furnished them a topic to talk and laugh over for the 
 remainder of the day. 
 
 The feast was a success, and the beer and lemonade 
 flowed freely. Although there was enough of every thing, 
 such as it was, and the negroes seemed to consider it very 
 nice, there was no surplus. Quite a number of negroes 
 
336 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 from adjoining plantations were drawn to the spot by cu- 
 riosity. They were invited to join in the ceremonies and 
 did so willingly. 
 
 Our celebration was noised about, in the neighborhood, 
 and there was much sharp criticism, among the whites, 
 over the alleged fact that we had placed ourselves on an 
 equality with the negroes! The loudest to make this 
 charge were those who were reputed to be constantly asso- 
 ciating with a portion of the negro race, in a much closer 
 intimacy than that for which they were blaming us. 
 
 The New Orleans papers reported that the Fourth was 
 celebrated, in that city, by the firemen at the Fair Grounds, 
 where there was a charge for admission : " Proceeds to go 
 to the patriotic purpose of assisting to pay for a monument 
 to the Confederate Dead." 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 THE ARMY-WORM. 
 
 As early as July 19th, the first alarm of the dreaded 
 army-worm was sounded in Texas. It did not follow as a 
 certainty, however, that its visitation was to be general in 
 the South. In fact, there was no serious apprehension of 
 this. 
 
 The appearance in Texas was declared to be only a 
 sporadic case. Other similar cases would be reported from 
 time to time in different localities, but beyond this the 
 destroyer would not go. The Southern people had made 
 up their minds that there was to be no worm, and they 
 would not listen to any contrary belief Get your crop 
 clean of grass and weeds, was the word, and with late frost 
 there is a good show for a fair middle and top crop yet. 
 
THE ARMY-WORM. 337 
 
 Encouraged, therefore, by the general belief and voice, wo 
 continued to push ahead. 
 
 Already had Dobson's worst fears been realized with 
 regard to my sickness. Frequently I would come in from my 
 exposure in the field with a chill on me, but as soon as the 
 fever passed oif, in the evening, I would begin taking qui- 
 nine, in eight-grain doses, until I had taken thirty grains, 
 and the next day I would be in my saddle again. I also 
 swallowed frequent huge pills of blue-mass, followed, the 
 next morning, by castor-oil for physic. 
 
 But neither my dosing nor sickness kept me out of the 
 field more than a few hours at a time. The umbrella, which 
 I had recently scoffed at, was now my faithful companion, 
 and under its shade I rode about from squad to squad, en- 
 couraging a little, scolding a good deal, and pushing every- 
 where. 
 
 To get our crop out of the grass and weeds, so that with 
 no worm, and a late frost, it would reward our efi'orts, was 
 my great desire. I did not expect health now. My chilis 
 were chronic. Frost and time were the only effective rem- 
 edies. Frost was in the future, and meanwhile if I could 
 save my life so as still to superintend our work, I would 
 be satisfied. 
 
 " Mr. Harding, what is the matter with your voice ? 
 You do n't seem to be able to control it at all," said Dobson 
 one day. " It is as fine as a woman's. Where is your will 
 theory?" 
 
 Such was the fact. I talked with a squeak, and could 
 no more control my voice than can the boy who is just 
 merging into manhood. It was not in the least painful, 
 but it was very annoying. When undertaking to give a 
 command in the field, there would issue but the faintest 
 sound of a voice, and I would sometimes hear, in an un- 
 dertone, from one negro to another, the remark : 
 
 " De boss speaks like a 'oman." 
 15 
 
338 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Dobson never ceased jesting at me, because i did not 
 bring into requisition my " will," and restore my voice to 
 its normal condition. Not that he was at all heartless. 
 No, indeed ; generous, noble man, every thing that his 
 great medical skill could do for me was done, and in my 
 frequent paroxysms, he nursed me, most tenderly, but he 
 said, " There must be something to laugh at to keep our 
 spirits up." 
 
 Just to the extent that each successive chill served to 
 weaken me, was my voice weakened. But while my " will 
 theory " was exploded, my energy to have our crop clean 
 was unabated, and therefore pushing ahead was the order 
 of the day. 
 
 By sunrise our people were all out in the field, and the 
 plantation quarters had all the appearance of a deserted 
 village. I offered rations of whisky for extra work. This 
 I soon found to be the magic power that compelled into 
 service all the work there was in the negro of either sex. 
 
 " Hoe and plow out this field by sundown, and there is 
 a ration of whisky, all around, for you when you come 
 into the quarters to-night," was sure to accomplish the 
 task. When the hands reached the quarters, to see them 
 run for their cups, to hold their ration of whisky, and 
 then rush to the store to get it, was sufficient to convince 
 one of their fondness for it. 
 
 Finally, in the midst of our struggle, on the morning 
 of the 18th of August, a messenger from a planter living 
 a few miles from us — a native Southerner, and reputed to 
 be the best planter in the country — brought us word to the 
 effect that he had the day before found a few army-worms 
 on his cotton, and he thought that if we should look into 
 our largest, and healthiest patches, we might find them, 
 too. 
 
 Though this intelligence was very unwelcome, its com- 
 munication was the first act which bore any resemblence 
 to kindness we had yet experienced. The planter's name 
 
THE ARMY-WORM. 339 
 
 was Sinton, and he had a partner from Boston. They 
 had really a splendid prospect for a crop, if the worm 
 and frost kept away, having several hundred acres as fine 
 as our best patches. Mr. Sinton sent us word they were go- 
 ing to try to kill off the worms, and if we found them on our 
 cotton and would call, he would gladly show us the process. 
 
 Accordingly Dobson and myself called, when we found 
 his entire force organized as an executioner's squad. Each 
 one had two paddles, and there were two laborers to each 
 cotton-row. Walking along, each one on his side kept a 
 sharp lookout, and whenever they espied an army-worm 
 lying on top of a cotton-leaf, they crushed him with their 
 paddles. 
 
 Mr. Sinton explained that this was the first crop of the 
 army-worm, and that there were but a few of them in each 
 field ; that this crop did not undertake to eat off the cot- 
 ton-leaf to any considerable extent, or, if they did, being 
 so few, their effort did not amount to any thing. He told 
 us they alwaj's lay on the upper side of the leaf, and, be- 
 ing a black-striped worm, were, although small, easily dis- 
 tinguishable on the green cotton-leaf " If left alone," he 
 said, " this worm lies around on top of the cotton-leaf 
 until it gets its growth, which takes two or three days ; 
 then he crawls'on the underside of the leaf, folding it 
 around him, and goes into a chrysalis state ; at the end of 
 seven days, from this chrysalis is hatched a miller. This 
 miller lives about a week, during which he deposits, 
 on the under side of the cotton-leaf, innumerable eggs. 
 These eggs hatch out the second crop of worms. In the 
 same way the third crop is hatched. Each egg hatching a 
 worm, each worm producing a miller, and each miller de- 
 positing myriads of eggs, by the time the third crop of 
 worms appear, they are in sufficient numbers to eat off the 
 leaves of the cotton, and thus kill the stalk." 
 
 " You have certainly given us a very clear description of 
 
340 A YEAR OF WRECK. - 
 
 the miller, and the worm. You must have made them a 
 close study," Dobson said. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; 1 know the army-worm as well as I know 
 the mule.'' 
 
 " Let me see — what time do you give between the differ- 
 ent generations ? " I asked. 
 
 " During the ten days after the first appearance of the 
 worm, he goes into the chrysalis, and comes out the miller, 
 commencing immediately to lay his crop of eggs. In ten 
 days more these eggs hatch out the second crop of worms." 
 
 " Which makes twenty days between each generation." 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 " So that forty days from now, unless they are arrested, 
 that portion of your crop not already made will be de- 
 stroyed." 
 
 " That 's just the situation." 
 
 '^ Your crop would be eaten up about the 28th of Sep- 
 tember? " 
 
 " Unless they are arrested, it won 't vary two days from 
 
 that date." 
 
 " Such being the fact, what is your programme in full? " 
 Dobson asked. " Though I see,' he added, looking at the 
 men at work, " you are aiming to destroy the worm." 
 " Yes, sir ; that is our purpose." 
 " Do you think it can be done effectually? " 
 " If the effort is thorough, and general, yes. If we kill 
 all the worms on this place, and our neighbors above and 
 below us should do nothing, you can imagine what would 
 follow. Their first crop of worms would all hatch, and 
 their millers would come into our fields and lay their eggs. 
 They would certainly do it, because we have the finest crop, 
 which the miller always hunts, so we would have the sec- 
 ond crop of worms all the same. And, even if we could 
 destroy the second crop, our neighbors still doing nothing, 
 when the third crop, hatched in their fields, has eaten 
 them up, it has only to cross into ours and destrov us." 
 
THE ARMY- WORM. 341 
 
 '• Have you notified your immediate neighbors ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; they have all promised to go at the work of 
 destruction." 
 
 " You may rely upon us being thorough," Dobson said. 
 
 " \ye did not doubt that," Mr. Sinton replied. " We 
 may not be able to destroy the worm altogether," he added, 
 " even with the best efforts ; but it is our only hoi:)e, and, 
 considering the stake, it is worth a trial. Even if we 
 should not destroy him altogether, we may reduce him, so 
 that it will take the fourth generation of the worm to eat 
 us up. This would give our crop twenty more days to 
 make, which, on a thousand acres of healthy cotton, would 
 make a difference of two hundred bales, or twenty-five 
 thousand dollars in value." 
 
 Mr. Sinton's plantation was a beautiful sight. There 
 were great fields of luxuriantly growing cotton. There was 
 good corn in abundance. No grass or weeds were to be 
 seen any where ; no, not even in the ditches, or on the 
 ditch- banks. All the ditches were newly-bridged with 
 heavy two-inch cypress plank. The whole place was sur- 
 rounded by a brand-new plank fence. 
 
 And such a garden ! There, growing in the greatest 
 abundance, was every thing in the shape of vegetables. 
 Poultry were cackling in the yard, and a herd of at least 
 a hundred cattle were grazing on the levee-front, anions' 
 which were milch cows. In a pen, at the right of the house! 
 were some twelve or fifteen calves, whisking off the flies 
 under the shade of the locust and china trees. A pair of 
 lordly peafowls moved about through the yard. Then 
 there were guineas, turkeys, old and young chickens— in all 
 stages of growth, from the diminutive ones, newly from the 
 shell, to their fellows, just the size for frying. A flock of 
 sheep, in which we noticed a number of lambs, and some 
 goats, with their kids, lying in the shade at the front gate 
 —and which we had to scare away in order to gain entrance 
 —also spoke of thrift and plenty. 
 
342 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 The cabins and fences around the house were newly 
 white-washed, and the house itself had a fresh coat of white 
 j)aint, with green for the shutters and lattice. The doors 
 were off their hinges, and the windows were up, and in 
 their stead were frames covered with mosquito netting and 
 hung with springs. 
 
 As we sat in Mr. Sinton's oflSce, the breeze came sweep- 
 ing in through the netting, and there was scarcely a fly or 
 insect to be seen, and not a single ptriped-legged mosquito 
 to annoy us. 
 
 " What a splendid arrangement this is for letting the air 
 in and keeping the insects out," Dobson said. 
 
 " Yes," Mr. Sinton replied, " this is a contrivance of my 
 partner, Mr. Lothard. He brought it out with him from 
 Boston." 
 
 Just then a mulatto girl came in with a plateful of lus- 
 cious ripe figs, followed by another with plates, spoons, and 
 a pitcher of what turned out to be pure cream. "What a 
 treat it was ! It made us forget, for the moment, our pros- 
 pective struggle with the army-worm, our discomforts at 
 home, and every thing else. How much more acceptable it 
 was than that everlasting whisky, which was generally set 
 out for the visitor here ! Notwithstanding it Avas my first 
 dish of figs and cream, there was no annoyance about it, 
 such as I had encountered at General Hampson's, over my 
 first whisky toddy. 
 
 " Do figs grow readily here ? " I asked. 
 
 " Oh, yes; as readily as the weeds. I reckon jon have 
 already found out there is but little trouble in getting them 
 to grow," Mr. Sinton said, laughingly. 
 
 " No, sir ; the trouble is just the reverse." 
 
 " It's that fact that has put the squeak in my partner's 
 voice, which you have probably discovered," Dobson said, 
 between spoonfuls of figs, and with a mischievous twinkle 
 of the eye. And then he had to tell Mr. Sinton about my 
 
ARMY-WORMS. 343 
 
 will theory, and the result, over which there was a good 
 laucjb. 
 
 " I go out at all times," Mr. Sinton said, " but in the heat 
 of the day always under the umbrella." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Harding is a convert, now," General Dobson 
 explained. 
 
 " Yes, I observe you both came up under umbrellas. But 
 bave you no figs on lEcbron ? " 
 
 '' If there is one there, we have never discovered it/' Dob- 
 son answered. 
 
 " The fact is," I put in, with a bitter feeling at heart, at 
 the contrast, " we have nothing on Hebron but weeds, grass, 
 and discomforts generally, and you seem to have nothing 
 here but comforts. This is a paradise ; our place is a hell, if 
 you will pardon so strong an expression — but no other word 
 describes it." 
 
 '^ I suppose Hebron is bare of every thing. It was never 
 a home for anybody before the surrender. General Hamp- 
 son intended it as a marriage portion for one of his daugh- 
 ters. He would have fixed it up when that event took 
 place. But you were speaking about figs. There are two 
 crops each year — the first coming on in June, the second 
 later, and, like cotton and oranges, there are figs in all 
 stages of growth on the same bush, at the same time. The 
 first crop hardly amounts to any thing, but the second 
 crop runs from the middle of July to the middle of Sep- 
 tember. The fig-bushes on this place cover the sixteenth of 
 an acre, and it would be easy to gather half a barrel of 
 ripe figs a day, during the season. What we don't consume 
 and preserve, fall upon the ground, when they get over- 
 ripe, and the poultry eat them. They are said to be very 
 flittening, and give poultry a most delicious flavor." 
 
 " Is it much trouble to plant the bushes ? " 
 
 " Kone at all ; all you have to do is to break off a limb 
 and stick it in the ground, and it will grow. In this rich 
 soil and warm climate almost every thing grows from slips. 
 
344 A YEAR or WRECK. 
 
 " Coffee ready, eah." 
 
 "All right, Dinah. — Gentlemen, will you join me in a cup 
 of coffee ? It is a beverage I take as often as I come in 
 from the field. I drink it instead of whisky, and con- 
 sider it the finest possible tonic. I don't know how I should 
 get along without coffee. In fact, I don't believe 1 could 
 do without it." 
 
 Dobson said : ''TVe are drinking it the first thing in the 
 morning, and it has a delightful effect." And so we joined 
 Mr. Sinton in a cup of black coffee. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that we were delighted with 
 this gentleman, and every thing we saw during this visit, 
 our only regret being that we could not meet ]\Ir. Lothard, 
 who was absent in Yicksburg. We saw none of the ladies of 
 the household, though the tidy arrangement as well as gen- 
 eral neatness of every thing, bore witness to their presence 
 in the house, and probably it was their thoughtfulness 
 which had inspired our generous refreshment of figs and 
 cream. 
 
 Here, then, was a complete verification of the fact that 
 it was possible to live comfortably in this country. So far 
 as creature comforts went, Mr. Sinton's household lacked 
 nothing. If this was a sample of the plantations of the 
 South, as they were before the war, then there was much 
 for the Southern people to be proud of That Mr. Sinton 
 could in so short a time put his plantation in the shape it 
 was, and surround himself with every thing in the line of 
 farm comforts, stamped him as a remarkable man. Aside 
 from his achievements, we were charmed with Mr. Sinton. 
 His Boston partner was an evidence, we thought, of the 
 absence of sectional bitterness. And there had not been a 
 symptom of this in his reception and treatment of us. His 
 every utterance was stamped with good common sense, and 
 that he was a good farmer his magnificent crop testified. 
 
 Mr. Lothard returned our call a few days later, and we 
 found him to be a wide-awake Boston man, just as thorough 
 
THE ARMY-WORM. 345 
 
 and competent in the line of accounts, as Mr. Sinton was 
 in that of agriculture. 
 
 He was loud in his praise of the latter, saying : " It 
 would be impossible for half a dozen spadefuls of dirt to 
 be thrown upon any spot of our plantation, and Mr. Sinton 
 not find it out within twelve hours. He sees every blow 
 struck, every furrow turned, and almost knows each cot- 
 ton-stalk by sight." This on twelve hundred acres ! Mr. 
 Sinton had sprung from the rank of overseer, and was in 
 every sense a practical and self-made man. 
 
 Immediately on our return from calling upon Mr, Sin- 
 ton, we inspected some of our largest cotton, as he had 
 suggested, and there was the army-worm ! Only here and 
 there one, it is true, but enough to say that they were in our 
 field. As a result of this examination, we called in all the 
 plows and hoes, put the mules on the levee, in charge of 
 our stock-yard man, where they could easily get their liv- 
 ing, feeding on the Bermuda grass, and placed our entire 
 force in the field with paddles to slay the worms. 
 
 Each day fresh worms were hatched, so we went over 
 and over again, killing them off. Wherever a leaf was 
 turned, was a sign that some worm had escaped our vigi- 
 lence and gone into the chrysalis state. Each laborer was 
 supplied with a bag, with orders to pull these off, and at 
 evening they were brought into the quarters, heaped in a 
 pile, and burned. 
 
 We worked our force zealously, but were surrounded 
 by skeptics. Our neighbors, above and below, notwith- 
 standing Mr. Sinton seconded our efforts to persuade them 
 to do so, refused to lift a hand toward the destruction of 
 the worm. 
 
 There were always a few in their fields, they said, and 
 that was all it amounted to ; or, this was a grass-worm, 
 and not the army-worm at all. There was no danger, 
 they held ; so when the ten days came around, there was 
 a second crop of millers. Some of these came into our cabin 
 
346 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 suddenly one evening. We suspected them to be the an- 
 ticii:)ated army-worm millers, because we had not seen 
 any thing like them before. They had snuff-colored wings, 
 with a little brown sjDot on each, and they had pink eyes. 
 They were beautiful. We caught one, and took it up to 
 Mr. Sinton's in the morning for verification of our surmise. 
 
 " Yes, that is unmistakably the army-worm miller," Mr. 
 Sinton said. " They came beating against Mr. Lothard's net- 
 ting last night. We have resolved to station lights for them. 
 You know how an ordinary miller flies into the light and 
 gets his wings scorched. These do the same. During the 
 day, they hide themselves in the shade, remaining perfectly 
 inactive, coming out at dusk to lay their eggs, which they 
 do very rapidly, flitting from stalk to stalk. Their eggs 
 are never deposited on any thing besides the cotton leaf. 
 Kor does the army-worm ever eat any thing else. 
 
 " Our plan \s to build platforms, a few inches higher 
 than the cotton, at stated distances throughout our fields ; 
 fill the largest plates we can find with oil, put a wick in 
 the oil, place them on the platform, and then at the dusk 
 of evening light them. The millei\s will fly into the lights, 
 singe themselves, and then fall into the oil, where they will 
 stick fast. Every miller, so destroyed, involves the destruc- 
 tion of myriads of eggs, which would hatch out the second 
 crop of worms ten days hence." 
 
 I visited Mr. Sinton's fields, and found his force busily 
 engaged in making platforms for the lights. A sharpened 
 post was driven into the ground, and a plank, wide enough 
 to hold a plate, was fixed on top. Plates were being filled 
 with oil, and wicks placed therein, and then deposited, 
 ready for lighting, on the platforms. Every thing was to 
 be in readiness for a general lighting-up that night. 1 
 hurried off home and put our force at work in like manner. 
 
 In order to see just how destructive a single light would 
 be on the millers, I put some oil on a plate, with a wick in 
 it, and placed it on the end of our cabin gallery, lighting it 
 
THE ARMY-WORM. 347 
 
 up at the same time with those in the field. The millers 
 flew all around this light, but they would not fly into it. 
 They seemed to understand that it was there for their es- 
 pecial destruction. Every thing else of insect life flew 
 into it. We captured but a single cotton-worm miller in 
 our gallery light that night. 
 
 " If this is a sample of what the rest of our lights have 
 done," Dobson said, as he picked out the single scorched 
 miller, ''they are clearly a failure." 
 
 '' They certainly seem to be as shrewd as they are beau- 
 tiful," I replied. 
 
 " Yes, they are all that," Dobson answered, with a long 
 face. " There have been plenty of them flying around all 
 the evening, and only one has been captured. Who ever 
 saw a miller before that would not fly into a light ? " 
 
 The following morning we visited our lights in the field. 
 It was the story of the one on the gallery rej^eated, only 
 ^Yorse — because in some of them there was not a single 
 miller. 
 
 " I fear we are in for the worm, Mr. Harding," said Dob- 
 son, gloomily. 
 
 " Oh, I don 't know— we don 't seem to be able to do any 
 thing with millers, but that will only compel us to stir 
 around livelier when their eggs hatch out. We can kill 
 the worms, and, if everybody would turn, their force out, 
 as Mr. Sinton does, I firmly believe we could put the de- 
 struction of our crop off until the fourth generation of the 
 worm, thus giving us twenty days' more grace." 
 
 We rode out again in the evening, and all along the 
 ditch-banks, flying forth from the dense weed-growth frino-- 
 ing them, we could see the army-worm millers flitting out 
 into the cotton, busy as bees, laying their eggs. 
 
 We tried our lights the second night, but to no better 
 l^urpose, and we then abandoned them. 
 
 We called to see Mr. Sinton with reference to his success 
 
348 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 with the lights, and were informed by him that his also 
 were a perfect failure. 
 
 Mr. Lothard, his partner, was of the opinion that the 
 worm could be killed by s]Drinkling the stalks with a 
 solution of diluted carbolic acid, and they had sent to 
 New Orleans by the packet for a supply of it — also, a 
 number of sprinkling cans — to be ready for the next crop 
 of worms, which might with certainty be looked for from 
 seven to ten days hence. 
 
 We decided to rely upon our paddles to destroy the 
 worm, our chemical knowledge telling us that there was 
 little to be expected from the acid treatment. 
 
 CHAPTEE LXI, 
 
 CHOLERA. 
 
 MiSFORTiJNES never come singly, and among other visita- 
 tions to the South, during this memorable year, was that 
 of cholera. It began its destructive campaign in ISTew Or- 
 leans early in the season. Slowly, but surely, it had 
 traveled up the Mississippi. Not confined to the crowded 
 cities on its banks, it visited the towns in the interior and 
 also the sugar-plantations. Its breath soon pervaded the 
 atmosphere, and its fatality almost kept pace with the 
 number of those attacked. 
 
 Baton Eouge, Natchez, Vickburg, and all the important 
 river landings, in turn, were smitten. So fatal and wide- 
 spread was its course, that not only in several of these 
 large places, but in various parts of the country as well, its 
 dead were buried in trenches, as are soldiers after a battle 
 in which there has been a terrible and general slaughter. 
 
CHOLERA. 349 
 
 Never had an epidemic better material to feed upon. Here 
 were cities which had recently been but so many grand 
 camps for our soldiery. The change from military to civil 
 rule was the signal for the utmost license. The new city gov- 
 ernments were only such in name. No sanitary measures 
 were taken. Each city had its negro quarter, in which 
 the black race were huddled, all sexes and ages together. 
 
 The atmosphere became pregnant with the foul odors, 
 which arose from these dens reeking with filth and cor- 
 ruption. Not a hand was raised to stay the cloud of 
 noxious vapors, which Lung like a pall over these South- 
 ern cities. Nor was there pure air anywhere. As we 
 have seen, the country was weed -ridden, the ditches were 
 choked-up and filled with stagnant pools, on which coat- 
 ings of green scum had formed, from which malaria was 
 constantly arising, to be taken into the lungs at every 
 breath . 
 
 Then it should be remembered that this epidemic was op- 
 erating upon a recently enfranchised race, who had always 
 been cared for by their late masters, but who were now 
 left to care for themselves. The result was, — filthy cabins, 
 filthy persons, general and all-pervading filth. It is in just 
 such localities as these that epidemics are generated and 
 flourish. Among the negroes on the sugar plantations and 
 through the settlements below, cholera raged, reaching, in its 
 upward march, the cotton plantations, and, at last, appearing 
 in our neighborhood. 
 
 Every thing was in its favor. Unquestionably, in very 
 many places the negroes were very poorly fed. A large 
 number of the planters were making their crops by 
 borrowing money of cotton-factors in New Orleans ; many 
 of them had already exhausted the advances promised 
 them. By this time it was evident the crop was to be 
 short. Especially was this the case on the overflow places. 
 The worm had made its apj^earance in different localities. 
 Factors either declined to fill further orders for planters' 
 
350 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 supplies, or filled them reluctantly, and after much delay. 
 The result was, that there was frequently neither meat nor 
 meal — nothing was left for the poor negro but to go out 
 and spear the unhealthy fish in the sloughs and bayous, or 
 to eat such other unwholesome things as he could lay his 
 hands on. In very many cases it was either this or starv- 
 ation, and in many thousand cases, during the year, it was 
 death all the same, since there is nothing so conducive to 
 cholera as the soft river fish. 
 
 The first outbreak in our neighborhood — on a plantation 
 just below us — was the direct result of such fish-diet, and 
 the victims numbered twenty-seven out of a force of seventy- 
 five. The plantation in our rear had a force of eighty- 
 seven, and there were thirty deaths. Finally, in order to 
 arrest the fearful scourge, the planter had to move out of 
 bis cabins entirely, putting his decimated force under hast- 
 ily-built bowers in the woods. On the plantation above 
 us seven, out of a force of twenty, died. 
 
 Thus we were surrounded by this fatal plague. As often 
 as a death occurred, the plantation bell would ring out its 
 funeral note, and almost every hour during this brief, but 
 terrible ]Deriod, its mournful echo sounded in our ears. 
 There were no long funeral ceremonies now — no praying 
 over the dead at night; there was the death-rattle in the 
 throat ; then the blanket wrapped around the yet warm 
 corpse, then this was placed in the cart, trundled off, and 
 deposited in the wide, gaping mouth of the daily extended 
 trench. 
 
 Day after day we waited in dread expectation that 
 Hebron would also be smitten with the plague. It could 
 hardly be otherwise. The cholera was in the air. It sur- 
 rounded us. Our escape from it would be a miracle. In 
 the meantime, however, we resorted to extreme measures 
 to ward it off, not expecting to do this, but hoping at least 
 to mitigate the force of its attack. "We purified every 
 part of our quarters, by the free use of lime, white-wash- 
 
CHOLERA. 351 
 
 ing our cabins inside ; prohibited all but river water for 
 drinking purposes; compelled the negroes to wash their 
 bodies ; watched to see that no speared fish or unwholesome 
 meats were eaten — and so, day after day passed without a 
 case on our plantation, until the epidemic finally ran its 
 course in the neighborhood, and left us untouched. 
 
 We were profoundly thankful at our escape. It now 
 seemed, for the first time, that a kind Providence was 
 smiling upon our undertaking. Here was a distinct re- 
 ward for the honest and earnest effort we had put forth in 
 behalf of our laborers. "We had encountered many difficul- 
 ties and misfortunes up to this time ; but now a dreaded 
 plague had passed over us — this was the first bow of prom- 
 ise in our sky. 
 
 "I feel as if I had just passed through a fearful battle, 
 where my comrades had all fallen," said Dobson,with emo- 
 tion; '• only consider the mortality of this neighborhood, 
 and then think of our escape." 
 
 A singular feature of this epidemic was its reception by 
 the negroes. Why did they not seek to escape it by flight ? 
 It mowed them down, as I have related, and yet not one 
 ever attempted to run away from it — this, too, while it is 
 said that they take great fright at the approach of yellow 
 fever, to which they are not at all susceptible. 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 NEGRO DISTRUST. 
 
 Our lights for the destruction of the army -worm miller 
 having proved a failure, and therefore been abandoned, and 
 the further cultivation of our crop being at an end, our la- 
 borers in the field would now be without employment un- 
 
352 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 til the second crop of the worms appeared, when they 
 would resume their paddles and renew the war of exter- 
 mination. 
 
 The cultivation of the crop ceases generally about the 
 middle of July. The picking season opens about the 1st 
 of September. Thus there are six weeks of comparative 
 rest, when Northern farmers are at their harvest. Our 
 busiest season is during the picking of the crop, and it is 
 at its height from October to February. Scarcely is the 
 old crop off, before plowing for the new commences. Fre- 
 quently picking of the old and plowing for the new crop 
 are carried on in the same field. From this it will be seen 
 that there is absolutely no period of rest in the cotton 
 region, except this midsummer season. This is the period 
 of inclement heat — when the dog-star rages — and wisely 
 has Providence arranged it as a time for rest, just as mid- 
 winter is the period of comparative rest for the farmers 
 of the North. 
 
 It is interesting to remark that the crop of cotton is 
 plowed, planted, and in part cultivated, during a season of 
 moderate temperature, and that the season for gathering 
 the crop — which, as I have stated, although not hard work 
 in itself, is much the most pressing duty of the year — oc- 
 curs at a time when the thermometer does not val-^^' 
 much from an average of 70°. It would be difficult to 
 imagine a more delightful temperature than this. In fact, 
 the only discomforts during the picking season are towards 
 its close, from cold rains and the frosts, which chill the 
 fingers of the pickers. There are certain duties to be-per- 
 formed during this midsummer period. The wood for gin- 
 ning the crop has to be cut and hauled to the gin-house, as 
 well as that for the winter use of the planter and his labor- 
 ers. This is a time when the swampy roads through the 
 woods have thoroughly dried out, thus leaving them in 
 good condition for hauling the wood, whereas, in winter, 
 after the annual rains have set in, the roads are well-nigh 
 
NEGRO DISTRUST. 353 
 
 impassable. Besides, after the picking season has opened, 
 there is no time to do any thing else. The manufacture 
 of baskets for the picked cotton is another duty belonging 
 to the men at this period, while the women make the pick- 
 ing-sacks from heavy Osnaberg. The difficulty of oversee- 
 ing these employments, to secure an honest day's work, was 
 a matter of solicitude. My policy had been to put the la- 
 borers on their honor, llaving no overseer, we were en- 
 tirely in their hands. To raise their standard, and make 
 them efficient, without a watch-dog supervision, was my aim. 
 I offered to job the work, naming seventy-five cents a cord 
 for wood, and fifty cents apiece for baskets, but there 
 seemed a disposition to dicker with me. The negroes evi- 
 dently distrusted me. My white fixce was at a discount. I 
 had not gained their confidence. Clearly this feeling of 
 distrust was not to be rooted out in a few months of even 
 perfectly fair treatment. Finally I said, " Name a price 
 yourselves ;" and they went to hold counsel over it. Ee- 
 turning, shortly, one of them said that he and his partner 
 would cut twenty-five cords of wood for ten dollars, which 
 was the very best they could do ; that they could not begin 
 to do it at my figure of seventy-five cents a cord — they 
 would like to accommodate us, but could not afford it. 
 After which he looked wise, as did his companions. 
 
 " Are you all willing to cut at that figure," I asked. 
 
 " Yes, sah ! " "Yes, sah ! " came from all sides. 
 
 " All right ; it is a bargain." 
 
 " I kuow'd de boss 'd come to our price," I heard one 
 negro say to another, with a knowing wink. 
 
 " Yes, de boss know 'd mighty well six bits aint no price 
 for cuttin' a co'd o' wood," was the reply. 
 
 *' Dat 's so, sho'," piped in another, in an undertone. 
 
 " What will you make the baskets for? " I asked. 
 
 " I '11 git y' up six for three dollars," called out an old, 
 white- wooled bundle of rags. Several others were ready 
 
354 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 to do the same, so that we at once had as many basket- 
 makers as we wanted. I did not say a word to the negroes 
 about having underbid us on the wood, resolving to keep 
 quiet until their job was done ; when they came for their 
 pay I would read them a lesson on distrust. 
 
 Those selected for the respective tasks of wood-chopping 
 and basket-making returned to their work, happy at hav- 
 ing got their own bargain. 
 
 I had no trouble in fixing a price with the women for 
 making the picking-sacks. I soon found that it was much 
 easier to deal with them than with the men. "Was this be- 
 cause their sex shielded them, even when skives, and that, 
 therefore, they had not learned the lessan of distrust, as 
 hud the men ? 
 
 CHAPTEE LXni. 
 
 ANTS VS. CHRYSALIS. 
 
 As Mr, Sinton had predicted, in just twenty days from 
 the appearance of the first crop of the army-worm, the 
 second croj) began to show itself 
 
 Scarcely, therefore, were our jobs of wood-chopping, 
 basket-making and sack-making completed before we had 
 to resume the destruction of the worm. There was no 
 trouble in finding it this time, and in consequence, get- 
 ting over the fields was necessarily slow. The paddles 
 kept up a constant clapping sound, as they came together, 
 crushing this enemy of the cotton-plant, and a peculiar 
 pungent odor prevaded the atmosphere in the immediate 
 neighborhood, as the result of the wholesale slaughter. 
 
 This second crop of worms was as active as the first had 
 been sluggish. It was evidently determined to make the 
 
ANTS VS. CHRYSALIS. 355 
 
 most of its brief span of life. One morning the new-born 
 babe would cotne up from its birth-place under the leaf, 
 and lie on top of it — a tiny thing, no larger than the half 
 of a cambric needle — while, at the end of the third day, 
 there would be the full-grown worm, about the size of an 
 inch of slate pencil. 
 
 This generation did no traveling from stalk to stalk, 
 either finding in its original plant enough to feed on, from 
 the time of its birth, or a premature death between the 
 paddles. 
 
 " There is certainly nothing hap-hazard in the move- 
 ment of the worm," Dobson said. " I had supposed he 
 came, suddenly and unexpectedly, in great numbers, and 
 full-grown, moving in army-order from field to field, de- 
 stroying the crop as he went. But from what we have 
 seen, it is plain his coming is as systematic as is that of 
 human kind, hence, I suppose, the term army — for 1 see 
 nothing else in his movement which would make that name 
 appropriate." 
 
 " I wonder if the coming of all this insect life about us 
 here is thus regular? " I asked. 
 
 '• I suppose it must be so." 
 
 " I had never thought of the thing quite in that light, 
 but of course such is the fact. How true it is, that ' God 
 numbers the hairs of our head, and not a sparrow falls 
 without His notice.' This thought changes 'my feelino- 
 towards these horrible pests from disgust to awe. Only 
 think of it ! from this it would seem that all these innu- 
 merable, variously-shaped things, which frequently look 
 like hap-hazard clippings from woolen cloths of different 
 colors, that are now flying around our lamp, from the size 
 of a pin-head to that of a beetle, have their birth, span of 
 life, and are no more the results of accident than are we." 
 
 " You remember the buff'alo-gnats," said Dobson, '' that 
 came last May — continuing some three weeks— and then 
 
356 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 suddenly disappearing under the hot rays of the June sun, 
 which Uncle "Wash said burned them up?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed ; I shall not soon forget them, and how 
 they used to bite our hands and faces, but especially our 
 necks behind our ears, raising great blisters — at once so 
 lazy and so greedy that, when we felt the sting, they allowed 
 us to put our fingers on them and pick them off, and so soft 
 and tender were they that they went all to pieces in the 
 operation. And I remember how Billy used to grease the 
 mules in and around their ears, between their legs and on 
 their breasts with a preparation of lard and coal-oil, to 
 keep these gnats from stinging them to death, as is not un- 
 frequently the case ; and then how he anointed the ex- 
 posed parts of his own body with the same, thus going 
 about with a greased look and an odor of coal-oil. He- 
 member the buffalo-gnats? I guess I do — though why 
 'buffalo ' I can not see, looking, as they do, like the tiniest 
 flies, unless it is because of the size of their bite." 
 
 " Well, these gnats are said to be unfailing in their an- 
 nual visitation, coming about the same time each year, 
 lasting about three weeks — though this depends a good 
 deal upon the heat which is required to scald them — and 
 then suddenly disappearing." 
 
 " There is one thing to be said in flwor of both the army- 
 worm and buffalo-gnat. They do their work and then dis- 
 appear. There are the mosquito and the red-bug that hang 
 on through the season. I wish they would crowd their 
 stay in as short a space. I think of all the insects that 
 prey upon us here, the red-bug is the worst. He is invis- 
 ible to the naked eye, and thus small, you can not feel him 
 crawling on your body, and so j)ick him off. He is cour- 
 ageous, traveling as he does up your sleeves, pantaloons, 
 and down your neck, until he finds his favorite spots on 
 your body — among others in your arm-pits — and then, after 
 he has bored his way into your body, for the first time you 
 feel him." 
 
ANTS VS. CHRYSALIS. 357 
 
 " Yes, I think you do feel him," said Dobson, scratching. 
 *' What satisfaction it can be to these atoms to sift them- 
 selves on your body from the leaves that you strike while 
 passing a tree or bush, or the grass you "walk through, and 
 make at once shroud, coffin and grave of their burrow (for 
 you know they never bite but once, when it is a blister to 
 you and death to them), is beyond my comprehension. 
 And where they keep all their bite is more than I can 
 conceive. I sometimes think they must be made of springs, 
 drawn into the utmost tension, and when they get into your 
 body, somehow the spring suddenly flies out, so that what 
 entered your skin an atom, is instantly enlarged to the size 
 of a bumble-bee, with a combination of its sting and the 
 bite of a flea." 
 
 " The bite of the red-bug is not so much as is the poison 
 in its little body, — for there must be poison, else it 
 would not swell and fester as it does. But, to get back to 
 our subject, I wonder how the army-worm winters over. 
 Let us ride up to Mr. Sinton's and get his views on the 
 subject." 
 
 "Agreed," replied Dobson. 
 
 We found Mr. Sinton at home, and, like us, engaged in 
 battling with the army -worm. In answer to our inquiry 
 he said : " When the third, and last crop of the array - 
 worm comes, they eat the leaves off the cotton. Of course, 
 we hope, this year, for the sake of our crop, that the third 
 generation will leave that task to the fourth, but usually 
 the third generation does the work. This crop are travel- 
 ers—that is, they crawl from stalk to stalk, and sometimes 
 from field to field, not stopping until the cotton leaves are 
 all eaten off. Thus there are no leaves left under which 
 they can go into the chrysalis state to hatch out the fourth 
 crop of millers. Feeding exclusively on cotton, as they 
 do, this crop of worms is larger than the supply of feed, so 
 that many of the later comers are starved to death. A few 
 crawl off into the woods, ditches and under-growth, and 
 
358 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 hide themselves in rotten logs and various other places, 
 where they go into the chrysalis state, in which condition 
 they remain, subject to destruction by storms or the sever- 
 ity of the winter, until the warm weather of the following 
 season, when those left alive hatch out as millers, and thus 
 is started another year's croj). If the winter is severe but 
 few survive, in which case it takes more generations to 
 bring them up to destructive numbers, by which time the 
 crop is made, and so the worm infliction is escaped for that 
 season. It is because of this that the ditches should all be 
 thoroughly cleaned, the undergrowth cut away, and every 
 thing burned up early in the spring, thus destroying the 
 chrysalis, which otherwise would hatch out millers. When 
 the country is cleared up, there will no longer be sufficient 
 hiding-places for the chrysalis to winter over, and so there 
 will be no more destruction of cotton by the army-worm. 
 Until then he is likely to visit us annually, either to a 
 greater or less extent, depending upon the severity of the 
 winter. Before the war we kept things neat, and so there 
 were but few hiding-places for the chrysalis, and, therefore, 
 we were seldom annoyed by the worm." 
 
 " You say the third generation are travelers. Do they 
 move with any regularity ? — and on account of this are they 
 called army-worms ? "' Dobson inquired. 
 
 " Oh ! no; as the saying is, it is ' every one for himself, 
 and the devil take the hindmost.' I never saw any two 
 army-worms alongside of each other, moving in the same 
 direction. There is not the least possible concert of action? 
 except that each one is struggling to get his fill of the, to 
 him, delicious cotton -leaf before he dies. And while the 
 crop is being eaten, there is a sound at dusk, when they 
 are busiest, like that which at some distance pigs make in 
 drinking swill, and the air is filled with a strong smell of 
 the bleeding leaves. I don't know why they should be 
 called army-worms," !Mr. Sinton added, laughing, " unless 
 it is that they do n't show the least resemblance to the 
 
ANTS VS. CHRYSALIS. 359 
 
 movements of an army, unless in that of a disgraceful 
 rout, or in a victory where every soldier is going for pil- 
 lage." 
 
 "Did you ever come U2:)0n a chrysalis in the winter? " I 
 asked. 
 
 "Yes, in tearing down a cabin, or moving some old 
 building, I have frequently found them hidden away in the 
 decayed part of a log, and picking them up could feel them 
 squirm between my fingers, showing that there was life ; 
 and sometimes I have found only the shell of the chrysalis* 
 showing that its hiding had been of no avail. 
 
 " There is another destructive enemy to the cotton, called 
 the boll-worm This worm only operates on the boll, bor- 
 ing its way into its very heart, and stinging it to death ; 
 attacking only the half-grown bolls, these being the tender- 
 est. In this way the entire fruit on a stalk may be de- 
 stroyed, while the stalk itself continues growing. They are 
 produced substantially as is the army-worm, but winter 
 over differently, crawling into the cracks of the dry cotton- 
 stalks. On this account cotton-stalks should always be 
 pulled up by the roots and burned, instead of broken down 
 and plowed under. 
 
 " Have you noticed any of the boll-worms yet ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; there are a few of them at work in our fields." 
 
 We fell in love newly with Mr. Sinton's plantation. His 
 work was as nearly complete as the imperfectly working ne- 
 gro could make it. There was consummate management dis- 
 played every -where on his place. Evidently his knowledge 
 of cotton was perfect. It would be impossible to express in 
 words our admiration of this man, not only as a man, but 
 as a cotton -grower. As his statements indicate, he was as 
 familiar with the army-worm as the most thoroughly in- 
 formed stock-raiser could be with his cattle. 
 
 We returned home disgusted with Hebron, its manage- 
 ment and our ignorance, and pushed our worm destruc- 
 tion with a desperate energy, as if that would give us 
 
360 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 healthy growing cotton-fields, clear of grass and weeds, 
 cleaned-out ditches, and tidy ditch-banks, such as we had 
 just seen at Mr. Sinton's. 
 
 By the time we had destroyed this crop of worms, what 
 with the nibbling of the leaves by the worm, and the tearing 
 and crushing of them by the paddles, our fields had an ex- 
 ceedingly ragged look. It was as if they had been smitten 
 by a hail-storm. 
 
 Desirous of fully informing ourselves, and verifying Mr. 
 Sinton's statements as to the worm, Dobson pulled off some 
 leaves, which had on their under-side some millers' eggs 
 (they always lay their eggs on that side of the leaf), about 
 quarter the size of a grain of mustard-seed, and looking 
 like little warts. These he took to our cabin, and put them 
 under a glass, when we saw some of the eggs hatch, the 
 worms grow to full size, and then each go into the chrys- 
 alis. Ey supplying them with fresh cotton-leaves each day, 
 we could see how they fed, and, having the chrysalis under 
 our eye, we would know the exact period it took to hatch 
 the miller. 
 
 One morning, upon looking at the chrysalis, I found a 
 small army of ants preying uj)on them, and upon examina- 
 tion found they had actually eaten through the shell, and 
 were feeding on the embryo miller. A number of the 
 chrysalids had actually been destroyed. The ants had 
 found their way under the glass, through a crack in the 
 wood. 
 
 I at once changed the location of the remaining chrys- 
 alids, and fixed the glass so that the ants could not possibly 
 get under it again. But here was a discovery. The coun- 
 try was full of ants. Why, having found our chrysalids 
 with difficulty, were they not ravaging upon those on the 
 cotton-stalks in the field, which they could easily reach ? 
 No sooner had the thought suggested itself, than I hurried 
 out to make examination. 
 
 " God bless the ants !" I exclaimed, involuntarily, for 
 
ANTS VS. CHRYSALIS. 361 
 
 here they were, actually at work on the chrysalids, which 
 had escaped the observation of our laborers. I could 
 easily trace them, by their line of march, up and down the 
 cotton-stalk, where their vigilance had detected a concealed 
 chrysalis, and which they had attacked, broken through 
 the shell, and were busily feeding upon its vitals. And 
 it seemed, indeed, to be a grand feast for them. I eagerly 
 examined stalk after stalk where the ants were, only to 
 find a repetition of my first discovery. They were on a 
 single errand, that day, to fill themselves out of the army- 
 w»rm chrysalis. 
 
 Searching closely, I found quite a number which they 
 had already emptied. The work was apparently being 
 done with a faithfulness attesting the proverbial industry 
 of the ant. I remembered how often, in the sandy 
 portion of our land, I had seen our plows sweep ruthlessly 
 through the ant-hills, tearing to pieces in a moment their 
 homes, which had cost them so much labor. In sight of 
 their present service, my conscience smote me. I grew 
 childish, and found myself saying : " Dear, kind ants, this 
 is the way you repay us for breaking up your nests. Well, 
 it shall never be done again. Go ahead, now, and make a 
 grand ant's-nest of Hebron, if you want to." And then I 
 took up one in my hand to fondle it, and it bit me of 
 course ! — which brought me to my senses, and I hurried off 
 home to share with Dobson my discovery. 
 
 " Eureka !' I shouted to him, as I came up to our cabin, 
 and saw him sitting on the gallery. 
 
 " What is the matter, Mr. Harding," inquired Dobson, 
 after he had slapped away two or three times, very delib- 
 erately, at a shy but apparently very hungry musquito, 
 which managed each time to elude the blow, but as often 
 renewed the attack. 
 
 " Matter ! why the country is swarming with a deadly 
 16 
 
362 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 enemy to the army-worm chrysalis, and a general attack 
 is now being made." 
 
 " What do you mean ?"' inquired the General, a little 
 anxiously, still not percipitately, but with a look which 
 said, " Is the man crazy ?" 
 
 Then, as coherently as I could in my excited condition, 
 I explained to Dobson what the reader already knows, 
 showing him, for verification, his own dilapidated chrysal- 
 ids. " Only think — these ants that we 've been crying out 
 against all summer, because they w^ould get into our brown 
 sugar, are to be our salvation. After this I love — a red 
 bug ; I love — a musquito ; yes, I love — a buffalo-gnat. 
 They will prove to be of service yet. I '11 never say again 
 that either the smallest, most venomous or disgusting things 
 with life in it, was not made for a purpose. Hurrah ! I 
 am in love with the country, because it is full of insects — 
 especially ants. If we ever get rich here, it will be due to 
 the ant, and if then we have a coat-of-arms, it shall show 
 two of them rampant." 
 
 "Hold on, there, Mr. Harding; wait till the time comes 
 for the millers to hatch out, and if, then, after all the feast- 
 ing of the ants, there are not still enough millers left to 
 lay enough eggs to hatch worms enough to destroy our 
 crop, I '11 join jo\x in praise of all insects — especially ants, 
 as you say." 
 
 " Go out in the fields, and see for yourself. General, and 
 if you do n't return feeling, as I do, that it is the first 
 thorough work we have had done this year, I shall be 
 disappointed." 
 
 " If there is anj' thing in it, it follows that while the 
 gods may not help those who don't help themselves, the 
 ants do — because, of course, they are in our neighbors' 
 fields, who have refused to turn a hand toward the de- 
 struction of the army-worm, and they will be benefited 
 equally with us. But," continued Dobson, " I must go and 
 take a look for m3"self " 
 
WINE. 363 
 
 "Yes," I said, "the sanguine member of the partnership 
 is convinced ; go and sec bow it impresses the conserva- 
 tive member." 
 
 "And when we bave compared statements, we will 
 strike an average," Dobson added, good naturedly, "which 
 will be near the truth." 
 
 The General returned from bis inspection quite im- 
 i:)ressed, saying : " It certainly looks as if they were doing 
 thorough work. But it is all very odd ; I can hardly real- 
 ize it. What a fine thing it would be, if, after all, the ant 
 were to be our salvation." 
 
 "Pretty good for you, 3Ir. Cautious. The average, 
 then is ?" 
 
 " There is strong hope," answered Dobson. 
 
 " Adopted," was my reply. 
 
 Here, then was a double dependence — on the work of the 
 paddles and that of the ants. It must be confessed, at that 
 moment we both felt that there was more to be expected 
 from the latter than the former — first, because of its 
 thoroughness ; next, because it must be general. It was a 
 slender thread to hang a hope upon — the help of the ants — 
 and, compared to our out-start, what a fall ! 
 
 CHAPTEE LXIV. 
 
 WINE. 
 
 Notwithstanding General Dobson's indoor life, and use 
 of an umbrella, he began to look sallow. It was clear that 
 he was feeling the enervating influence of the climate. I 
 thought him a good singer; though when I told his wife 
 so, on her return in the fall, she laughed, saying : 
 
364 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 " I think you must have been easy to satisfy, if Dob- 
 son's singing pleased you." 
 
 He was always willing to sing for me, and, sometimes, 
 after we had ourselves tucked away under the bars for the 
 night, with the lights out, I would call out : 
 
 " If 5^ou are not too sleepy, sing something." 
 
 My favorite song was " Benny Haven," which, to my 
 mind, the General sang with fine feeling. He said he was 
 of Scotch-Irish descent, which perhaps accounted for his 
 throwing so much soul into it. 
 
 At night the swarming mosquitos joined in with their 
 notes, only the key was jerky, easing off, as it did, when 
 they were about to settle for a bite ; and coming out with 
 an angry " ping," like the sound of a tuning-fork, when 
 they were suddenly driven from their feast. 
 
 After the sallow appearance in his face, there soon came 
 a quaver in his voice when he sang. Sadly but eloquently 
 did this tell of the serious strain to which a summer in 
 this swamj^-country subjects one. 
 
 "Somebody else I know of is getting a weak voice," I 
 said, laughingly, remembering the fun the General had 
 been making of mine. 
 
 "Yes, indeed," he replied, trying to clear his throat, as 
 if he thought the trouble there ; " it looks as if the music 
 would be left to the birds, frogs, and insects, if indeed they 
 do n't lose their voices, too, before this long summer is 
 over. It may be fancy, but it seems to me that their an- 
 noying notes are already weakening." 
 
 "I wish that could happen, except to the mocking-bird. 
 His note is as welcome to me as your singing. I think we 
 could dispense with all the rest, especially the owls and 
 turtle-doves." 
 
 " Include the mosquitos and frogs by all means. Thanks 
 for your compliment in classing me with the mocking- 
 bird." 
 
 " Do you know," Dobson said, after a moment of silence, 
 
WINE. 365 
 
 " I have been thinking that some light kind of wine would 
 be a good thing for us as a daily tonic — something to drink 
 after our meals." 
 
 " Wine and bean-soup, bah ! " I replied with my squeak- 
 ing voice, and with all the disgust which even the thought 
 of bean-soup excited in me. 
 
 " We should probably enjoy our bean-soup, if we could 
 have our systems toned up by wine. Claret, you know, is 
 the great drink here. I am of the opinion, notwithstand- 
 ing Mr. Sinton's views, that there are times when we re- 
 quire something stronger than coffee. I think such is our 
 case now." 
 
 " It is customary to regard wine as a luxury ; that is, 
 wine for a steady diet. You know, General, how low we 
 are in funds. If we can get along without it, I think we 
 should try and do so. I really do n't know where the 
 money would come from to pay for it." 
 
 " 1 have thought of that too ; but before a great while 
 the picking season will commence, and shortly thereafter 
 we shall have cotton to ship. We shall then need a mer- 
 chant. Why not select him now, and order a cask of 
 claret — he to pay himself for the same out of our cotton 
 shipments." 
 
 " In other words, you propose to ask an advance of a 
 cask of claret from some New Orleans cotton factor on our 
 prosjoective crop." 
 
 " Yes, that was my idea. It can't cost a great deal ; 
 perhaps not over the value of a bale of cotton." 
 
 " Well, go ahead ; but it is scarcely practicing as we 
 preach. You know the fun we 've made at several of our 
 neighbors who, it was understood, had to borrow money to 
 commence their crops, and who, according to estimates, 
 have spent only about sixty-six per cent, of their loans for 
 that purpose, the rest going for poker, whisky, and fast 
 livintr. And then there was that half-starved negro, who 
 came along the other day, and to whom we gave the job- 
 
366 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 of cleaning-up around the gin-house, to be paid for in ra- 
 tions, and who insisted in spending seventy-five cents of the 
 amount in whisky, leaving only twenty-five cents for meat 
 and meal. These facts, as we thought, illustrated the im- 
 providence of the Southerner and his late slave. And yet 
 you propose to secure a factor in New Orleans, and com- 
 mence by asking him to loan us money with which to pur- 
 chase wine ! — this too, in view of our sorry crop-prospect, 
 and of our second payment, of §29,700, due in February, 
 on Hebron. 
 
 " Of course we can get the wine. Any factor will loan 
 us the value of a cask of claret, with our crop as a pledge ; 
 but if wo are going to borrow even this small sum, we had 
 best, for sake of eff'ect, practice a little deception — spend it 
 for a legitimate purchase, say pork, and then draw from 
 our slender purse to pay for the claret. We do n't want 
 the firm of Dobson, Harding & Co. to be rated ' doubtful,' 
 as it would be, in New Orleans, if the first loan it asked 
 for was to purchase claret." 
 
 " Oh, I think you are over sensitive, Mr. Harding. I 
 don't believe loans are criticised in that way in New Or- 
 leans." 
 
 " Do n't doubt it, General ; no matter how rich a man 
 may be reputed to be, his orders are taken as a key to his 
 ultimate business success — if they are haj)-hazard, and for 
 illegitimate uses, the verdict of ' doubtful ' goes against 
 such a name, and in nine cases out of ten it is correct." 
 
 " But, in my judgment, we need the wine, and therefore 
 would not put the loan to illegitimate use." 
 
 " That is very well to say, to ease one's conscience — ^just 
 as those by whom we are surrounded, who borrow money 
 and spend a large j)ortion of it illegitimately, say, ' Oh, we 
 can't do without whisky, we must play poker, ride on 
 steamboats, and have our frolics in New Orleans. These 
 make our life and. happiness, and save us from dull times.' 
 And yet such a life is none the less the road alike to ruin 
 
WINE. 367 
 
 and bankruptcy. The theory that a man has a right to 
 do as ho pleases with borrowed money, is what has buried 
 the lands in the South under a mountain of mortgages. 
 It is this which has made her people so many communities 
 of bankrupts. The war did not load New Orleans with 
 her twenty millions of mortgages. It found the load al- 
 ready there. From what 1 was told by an English banker 
 at Yicksburg, when I was down there after labor, I am sat- 
 isfied that the smaller half of this indebtedness went to 
 legitimate uses ; that, in fact, the debt was the result of 
 years of illegitimate expenditures — expenditures com- 
 menced with quite as harmless intentions, and as many 
 reasons therefor, as you now have for our proposed pur- 
 chase. You know, General, it is the first false step that 
 makes the others easy." 
 
 " Yes, I know that ; but do n't you think our crop will 
 justify this single extravagance, if you choose to consider 
 it such, and leave enough for our second payment and cur- 
 rent expenses another year ? " 
 
 "A thousand times, no. Besides, what answer do you 
 suppose our old banker, Mr. Cooper, would make if you 
 applied to him for a loan with which to purchase wine?" 
 
 "I suppose he would tell me, if I hadn't the money in 
 hand to spare from my business to purchase wine, I had 
 better do without it," replied Dobson, laughingly. 
 
 " Precisely so ; he would refuse you the loan, at the same 
 time knowing you to be amply responsible for the amount 
 sought, and then he would ever after distrust you for offer- 
 ing to borrow money for such a purpose." 
 
 " Oh, well, that is in the North ; it is hardly fair to com- 
 pare the two sections." 
 
 "That is just to the point. It is this rule, running 
 through business in the North, as fixed as the laws of the 
 Medes — that money can only be borrowed for legitimate 
 uses, and that it must be put to such uses exclusively — 
 which has made the North a success. It is the very oppo- 
 
368 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 site of this which put the South in the horrible financial 
 condition in which the war found it. IRever, never, will 
 the South be a financial success, so long as the planters 
 here can pledge their crops for whisky, poker, fast liv- 
 ing, or any other purpose than the absolute supplies neces- 
 sary to make a crop, which of course include legitimate 
 family expenses. The same economy and business rules 
 are required here to make a financial success that are re- 
 quired in the North. It is the same dollar which you bor- 
 row, and if you take it for the ostensible purpose of cotton- 
 raising, and use only thirty -three cents for that, wasting 
 the remaining sixty-six, those thirty -three cents will have 
 to earn you one hundred and eight cents to enable you to 
 return your loan, principal and interest. At the end of the 
 year a full crop of cotton, at present prices, w^ould do this; 
 but where is your full crop ?" 
 
 " I regret to say, it is not on Hebron," Dobson replied, 
 with a lengthening face. 
 
 " No, nor any-where else in the South. Cotton is high 
 because it is scarce. We know now that it is not a crop 
 that grows of itself. If such had been the case, your esti- 
 mate would have been realized, and we should be in a fair 
 way to be happy, I suppose. But I tell you, General, the 
 more I see of cotton, as the season advances, the more I 
 am satisfied there is money in it. No such sum as you 
 figured, of course," I said, laughing ruefully, "but a rea- 
 sonable amount, with the same economy which any other 
 legitimate enterprise requires. 
 
 " There are weeds to be gotten rid of elsewhere than in 
 our fields — they are in the hearts and habits of all classes 
 of people here. Our ditches are choked up, and hence 
 there is no drainage to our flat plantations; and so we 
 have stagnant pools, sickness, death, with sour, dead land, 
 producing a puny crop. There are white ways and negro 
 ways that must be mended, at the same time that our ditches 
 are cleared out, before success will come to us. There is to 
 
WINE. 369 
 
 be no realization of the Dobson scheme — at least this year's 
 estimate "will never be realized; but, if vre are laying some 
 sort of a foundation for the future, our labor will not have 
 been in vain." 
 
 '' You 'd better say, erecting a mill, — because, to use a min- 
 ing phrase, the wealth of this country does not now lie in 
 nuggets, to be gathered in rude sluice-ways, as was the 
 case during the war when it was full of cotton, in bales, 
 worth four hundred dollars a-picce — but it is in quartz, 
 and has to be crushed out. By the time we get our errors 
 crushed out, and correct notions crushed into us, with the 
 weeds removed from the land, I fear we shall bo worn 
 out." As Dobson said this, his face became still more pal- 
 lid, as if even the thought of what might be a long jour- 
 ney made him tired. 
 
 " May be so ; but I am desperately in earnest in my de- 
 sire that, meanwhile, we shall not fall into these wretched 
 Southern ways. A man who preaches against vice should 
 be proof against it. Why, look at that planter. Hunt, our 
 neighbor. Eeputed to be the wealthiest man in the coun- 
 try, having three plantations here, and two or three 
 others in different portions of the State ; and yet each one 
 of them mortgaged for a part of the original purchase 
 money, and then mortgaged again to some New Orleans 
 factor for advances — even the homestead, which has been 
 in the family thirty years. Not a single place paid for. 
 They were all under full cultivation before the war, stocked 
 with slaves and commanded by overseers. The story of 
 this man's wealth you know we have heard, a dozen times, 
 from different ones. It was of the English banker at 
 Vicksburg I learned it. ' He was never worth a dollar,' 
 said he. ' He held the titles to several plantations, but 
 they were not ])a\d for. He simply owned the six feet 
 which the poorest menial on the face of God's earth owns,' 
 was the banker's closing comment. As corroborative of 
 
 this, I learned at the village the other day, that he had 
 10* 
 
370 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 surrendered all his places except those near us, and that 
 they were likely to go. 'What for?' I asked. 'He had 
 never paid for them, and had to give them up,' was the 
 answer. 
 
 " Hunt, of course, raised a great deal of cotton on these 
 places. If it was so profitable before the war, why did he 
 not pay off his debts? Simply for the reason that there 
 was not any more than a fair living profit in cotton pro- 
 duction, and that the revenues from his crops were antici- 
 pated, never less than two seasons ahead. His legitimate 
 family was maintained in an establishment in one of the 
 border slave States, where they lived in costly style. 
 They were understood to be drawing their supj)ort from 
 the revenues of Hunt's cotton plantations. His reputed 
 wealth had enabled him to marry a woman of true refine- 
 ment ; and their home in the border State, in the absence 
 of its coarse master — and he was seldom there — was said 
 to be chastely elegant. Then there was an illegitimate 
 family on the homestead plantation here — the mother of 
 whom was at once slave and mistress, except when the le- 
 gitimate family made their occasional visits. I saw two 
 of her daughters at the village store once. Beautiful girls 
 they were, with scarcely a sign of the negro about them. 
 And finally there was Ihe plassa quadroon wife in I^ew 
 Orleans, with her luxurious establishment, and her off- 
 spring educated in Euroj^e. In journeying to and from 
 these separate establishments, Hunt's only beverage was 
 champagne, and he would never touch a game of poker if 
 it had a limit. It is said of him that he would not ride 
 after hounds here — which he was passionately fond of 
 doing — on a horse which had not cost him a thousand dol- 
 lars and upwards. All his expenditures were on a par 
 with this. Here was a man who, if his debts were paid, 
 would not own the boots in which he stood, and this is a 
 not uncommon sample of Southern wealth and habits." 
 
WINE. 371 
 
 "What a coarse, wicked, and false life it was!" said 
 Dobson. 
 
 " Yes, indeed, it was all that. Merc extravagances may 
 be excusable, provided it is your own money you are 
 spending, but it is not excusable to indulge in extrava- 
 gances, either on borrowed capital or on prospective prof- 
 its. It is plain that the Southern practices were in viola- 
 tion of this rule. The South has yet to learn the first les- 
 son in finance." 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 " Live within your income." 
 
 " I think from what you say about men holding the ti- 
 tles to plantations which they have not paid for, that there 
 is another lesson they could learn to advantage : a man 
 really owns only what he has paid for." 
 
 " Yes, and so long as you divert the revenue of any 
 thing from its legitimate channel— which is to discharge 
 the debt it owes as fast as it can do so, and at the same 
 time leave means to develop its resources — so long as an 
 individual does that, he will be a financial failure." 
 
 My object was, if possible, to induce Dobson to abandon 
 the idea of running in debt for a cask of claret. While it 
 might, as he said, be of service to us, I thought it smacked 
 strongly of falling into the custom of the country in the 
 matter of drink, and of spending money before receiv- 
 ing it. 
 
 But my efi'ort w^as unavailing. The General thought we 
 ought to have the claret, and so ordered it. The following 
 is a copy of Dobson's letter, as found in the plantation 
 letter-book : 
 
 " Hebron Plantation, August 5, 1866. 
 
 " Gents : — We are the owners of the above-named place 
 of eleven hundred acres, nine hundred acres of which are 
 in cotton. Our chances of a crop depend upon there being 
 no worm, and a late frost, but in any event our shipments 
 will be considerable. We have concluded to select you as 
 
372 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 our factors. If you are willing to serve us, jjlease indicate 
 the same by return mail. At the same time we will thank 
 you to forward us by packet a cask, say twenty gallons, of 
 some reliable brand of table claret, charging cost of same 
 to us, and awaiting our cotton shipments to reimburse you. 
 We shall want bagging and ties shortly — will notify you 
 when. Yery truly, 
 
 " DoBsoN, Harding & Co. 
 " To Carter & Thompson." 
 
 Mechanically, this effort of Dobson's, like his first, which 
 had so captivated me, was lovely to look upon. But I 
 groaned out, as I read it in the letter-book - 
 
 " Beautiful, but inwardly dead men's bones !" 
 
 Whereupon the General laughed, good-naturedly, say- 
 ing : " No, rather life and restoration to health for us. We 
 can stand the expenditure for a cask of claret, I am sure 
 we can." 
 
 '' It was not in your estimate, General, but neither were 
 a good many other items. The pipes, for instance," I 
 added, jestingl}^, though more than half in earnest — at 
 which the General colored. '' Pipes " was a tender subject. 
 
 As I had predicted, the claret came to hand by the re- 
 turn packet, with a very polite letter, consenting to serve 
 us, and including a bill for the claret of $125, which the 
 letter said was charged to us. The majestic steamer, " Gen- 
 eral Quitman," whose sonorous whistle could be heard on 
 a clear day twenty miles — and which we had heard on 
 this particular afternoon even further — finally rounded the 
 bend below, hove in sight, and, after swinging across the 
 river and back for fully two hours, stopping at almost 
 every plantation landing, to leave little batches of freight 
 and planters returning from a trip below, at last steamed 
 up to Hebron. 
 
 It Avas a beautiful moonlight night, and Dobson and my- 
 self rode down to the landing to wait for the boat's arrival. 
 
WINE. 373 
 
 As is the custom with negroes, when out of the field, the 
 Hebron force were at hand to watch the boat in to and out 
 from the binding. The " Quitman " shoved her prow into 
 the soft bank with such force that she cut a great gash in 
 it, which remained there a long time afterward. If the 
 bank had been rocky, instead of alluvial, the blow would 
 have shivered her to pieces. As it was, she stuck fast to 
 the shore, with a current of four miles an hour against her, 
 and without any line, until the freight was off and the re- 
 versed wheels pulled her out again. It was a weird sight, 
 as she came in to the shore with her torch of resin and pine 
 fiiggots, in an iron basket at her side, casting, as it did, lurid 
 shadows upon the water, exposing to view, under the red 
 smoky sheet of flame, the small army of stevedores and 
 piles of freight down on the lower deck, and, when the 
 boat came nearer to the bank, sharply defining the outlines 
 of the rugged shore, and bringing out under its light the 
 waiting crowd on the bank. 
 
 As we passed^ down upon the deck, on our way to the 
 clerk's desk in the cabin to pay for our freight, we could 
 see barrels of pork, sacks of corn, barrels of corn-meal, and 
 bales of hay, which had already traveled down this very 
 stream from Cincinnati or St. Louis, now traveling up the 
 river again, eloquently telling their story of the peculiar 
 management which prevailed among the planters of the 
 Mississippi Yalley. There were also to be seen any num- 
 ber of kegs, demijohns, baskets, and boxes, all of them ev- 
 idently containing liquor of some kind — a feature we no 
 longer had a right to criticise, since our cask of claret had 
 just gone up the bank. At the present rate we should in 
 a year or two be ordering our supplies, grown in the AYest, 
 from ]^ew Orleans. 
 
 We went up into the cabin, and there, hanging over the 
 bar, taking a drink, were the companions of our first trip 
 down the river, Parker and Southland. They looked so 
 natural, that it seemed a continuation of our first journey, 
 
374 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 but when I directed Dobson's attention to them my cracked 
 voice recalled my wandering fancy. Others were jostling 
 their way either to or from the bar. There were two 
 tables of card-players, a man writing letters, others loung- 
 ing or chatting, all smoking, and so the scene was made 
 up. The captain came in, taking a bee-line to the bar, 
 where Parker and his partner still were. He was invited 
 by the former to drink, which invitation he was not slow 
 to accept. 
 
 There was of course a profuse display in the bar and 
 clerk's office of Confederate Generals, while at the head of 
 the boat hung a likeness of General Quitman, of Mexican 
 war fame, whose name the steamer bore. 
 
 The officei-s of the boat were all polite to us, but there 
 was a great deal of staring at the " Yankees," by the pas- 
 sengers. Our status was evidently understood. Southland 
 was especially savage, as he leered at us, and his right 
 hand went under his coat-tail, as if in search of some- 
 thing. 
 
 Upon the bank again, we took the first good look at our 
 cask of claret. 
 
 "Here is health for us," Dobson exclaimed. 
 " There is rather the beginning of indebtedness to a 
 New Orleans cotton-factor. We are known now in that 
 city, and our crop is mortgaged," 1 said, somewhat snap- 
 pishly, I fear. 
 
 It was a foreign-looking object, which our eyes rested on. 
 The hoops were wrapped with something resembling split 
 willow. The barrel was very small at each end, bulging 
 out prominently in the center. There was a wooden stave 
 across one end, and some letters were burned upon it, which 
 Dobson said was the brand of the claret. On the other end 
 was our address. Altogether it was a very stylish barrel, 
 and as Dobson rolled it over to inspect it, there came a gurgle, 
 which he declared to be a mighty pleasant sound. Billy 
 
WINE. 375 
 
 had the cart at the landing, into which the cask was lifted 
 and at once carried to our quarters. 
 
 We ought to have prepared ourselves for bottling the 
 claret on its arrival, by ordering the necessary bottles and 
 corks forwarded with it. But we did not know this; and, 
 accordingly, what we did do was to prepare it for use pre- 
 cisely as a barrel of cider is prepared. We bored a hole in 
 one end of the cask, in which we put a common cider fau- 
 cet, and then placed the cask on its side, on blocks, in our 
 little cabin closet, at the side of the chimney. Having a 
 little fire on the hearth, as we had night and morning, thus 
 warming up the chimney, this was not just the coolest 
 place we could find, but in view of the fact that negroes 
 generally have a weakness for liquor, and that George had 
 a particular weakness for it, this was the safest place at our 
 disposal. Here, under lock and key, and drawing it our- 
 selves, there was no danger of its being meddfed with. 
 
 If it had been our intention to make an excellent article 
 of wine-vinegar, we had hit upon the precise location and 
 plan. There was the gimlet-hole, which we bored near 
 the bung, to admit air, and there was the gentle warmth 
 of the chimney. 
 
 At first we drank the wine with zest ; then it seemed to 
 have a stale flavor, which Dobson attributed to our lack of 
 a cultivated taste rather than to any fault of the wine. 
 Finally, it became decidedly sour. But, notwithstanding 
 this, we continued to drink it, not suspecting its actual con- 
 dition, and determined to think it our own defective taste. 
 
 One day, however, Dobson was at the village, and, hav- 
 ing in mind the peculiar sour taste of our claret, without 
 letting the bar-keeper know the purpose of his inquiry, he 
 learned from him what was the trouble. The wine had 
 turned to vinegar. It was agreed to keep the matter a 
 profound secret. 
 
 If you want to make Dobson color to the roots of his 
 hair, just ask him, " How is wine-vinegar as a beverage?" 
 
376 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 We made no farther purchases of claret, but we had an 
 excellent article of wine-vinegar on hand, as an asset, when 
 we came to invoice at the end of the season ; besides hav- 
 ing made a beginning in running a Xew Orleans account 
 which, like most planters' accounts with their factors, 
 would doubtless grow to be a ponderous affair on the debtor 
 side. 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 LUMBER — DISAPPOINTED HOPES. 
 
 Between the second and third generations of the worm, 
 was another brief respite for our laborers. Some little time 
 previous. Colonel Grey had returned from his furlough, 
 which, not needing him, and not wishing to inflict any 
 more of our hard experience upon any one than was abso- 
 lutely necessary, and he desiring to have more time at 
 home, we had extended indefinitely. lie was occupying 
 a room in one of the negro cabins, and putting up cour- 
 ageously, like the true soldier he was, with our rude plai. 
 tation fiare. 
 
 There was nothing for him to do in the line of farm- 
 ing, so he expressed a desire, as soon as we could spare him 
 the necessary hands, to get to sawing. We were more than 
 ever anxious for him to do so, since our cotton-crop warned 
 us that, even under favorable conditions as to the worm 
 and frost, we should need outside help to make our second 
 payment, and supply ourselves with funds for the next 
 year's current expenses. 
 
 Our earnest hope was that the saw-mill would be this 
 auxiliary. In consequence, we came to look upon our two 
 hundred acres of wood-land with something of that feeling 
 
LUMBER, ETC. 377 
 
 of relief, which is experienced by a commanding officer, des- 
 pcratel}' pressed in battle, when reinforcements come to his 
 rescue. Those tall trees out tliere, we thought, were so many 
 soldiers, ready to give up their lives to save our enterprise 
 from the disaster which sorely threatened it. True, we had 
 never inspected them, to see what kind of timber we pos- 
 sessed, but General Ilampson had stated that it was fine 
 timber-land, and we had never doubted his statement. By 
 this time, however, wo had learned that the only timber of 
 much value for lumber in our locality was cypress, and 
 that it was exceedingly valuable, being a cross of pine and 
 cedar. We had also learned to recognize this tree, by its 
 peculiar scraggy top. Mr. Sinton had pointed out what he 
 termed his magnificent cypress-brake in the rear of his 
 l)lace, with unmistakable pride, and had told us that all his 
 fences, etc., were of that material, adding that it was next 
 to cedar in durability. Upon inquiry, we found that (he 
 only other timber in any way suitable, or in use, for lumber 
 was the gum-tree, somewhat resembling the oak, though 
 not at all like it either in durability or in the grain of the 
 w^ood, and having to be kept in the dry to last for any time. 
 It must be used green, and be very firmly nailed down to 
 prevent it from warping fearfully. 
 
 There were, besides, to serve for lumber in desperate 
 cases, the cotton-wood, similar to bass or linn— very soft, 
 and, if exposed to the weather, spongy, and lasting a 
 very short time ; the hackberry, the beech-tree of the 
 South, and an occasional sycamore. 
 
 The fact Avas that the only timber of commerce here was 
 the cypress, but it was scarce, and hence valuable. Gum, 
 cotton-wood, hackberry, and sycamore were consequently 
 sometimes sawed up and used to help it out, for sheathing, 
 frames, and timbers, and wherever the wood could be kept 
 dry ; and occasionally, when a planter had no cypress on 
 his place, they were made into plank for fencing, being 
 
378 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 put on green, as previously stated, before the boards could 
 have time to warp. 
 
 AVe had examined the buildings on Hebron, and found 
 the timbers used in them were gum, every thing else being 
 cypress. This, and the fact of the saw-mill, with General 
 HamjDSon's statement, led us to suppose there must be 
 l)lenty of cypress on the place, though it was not exposed 
 to view, as was Mr. Sinton's. We concluded, therefore, it 
 must be in the rear of what appeared to be mostly gum-trees ; 
 and, if we were not mistaken, we could see the outlines of 
 their scraggy tojDS beyond. There was one circumstance, 
 however, which excited our distrust : The fire-wood chiefly 
 used here was ash, and our choppers had found it very 
 scarce. But j^erhaps our treatment was making us need- 
 lessly suspicious, we thought ; and, because ash was scarce, 
 it did not necessarily follow that cypress was also scarce. 
 
 We detailed our two carpenters as assistants of Colonel 
 Grey in fixing up the mill, he finding, upon inspection, 
 that many of the timbers Avere useless, having rotted away. 
 Colonel Grey also made another discovery. Our boiler 
 was of locomotive pattern, and the whole surface of it, 
 called the crown sheet, where the fire struck it, seemed to 
 be badly blistered, and, he thought, would have to be re- 
 placed by new sheets of iron. It was evident that the long 
 rest to which the gin-house had been subjected during the 
 war, was quite as injurious to them, in the way of rusting 
 out machinery and rotting timbers, as was the rest to the 
 land in producing its weed-growth and choked-up ditches. 
 We had already found it necessary to repair our grist-mill, 
 at considerable outlay, in anticipation of grinding our own 
 meal when we fired-up for the ginning season. Thus the 
 gin-house, which had seemed to be in such perfect order 
 when General Hampson and ourselves had inspected it, 
 was proving to be the very opposite. The engine had 
 been last used for grinding meal for our army, and had 
 done long and faithful service in that way, for either one 
 
LUMBER, ETC. 379 
 
 side or the other, as the fortunes of the campaigns put this 
 locality now in Federal, now in Confederate hands. 
 
 Uncle Wash said: ''Be guo'ment done broke it, an' de 
 guo'ment ought to repar it." 
 
 "Hardly that, Uncle Wash," replied Colonel Grey; 
 " because, when the damage was done, it was owned by a 
 Eebel Senator, and, for aught we know, it may have been 
 injured while the country was held by the Confederates." 
 
 We sent a letter to the nearest machine-shop, at Yicks- 
 burg, describing the damage, and asking the firm to send up 
 a boiler-maker, to look at it, with a view to repairs, if such 
 should be necessary. In due time, a person reported — a 
 very unprepossessing Irishman, who carried an exposed 
 flask of whisky in his side-pocket, and a pistol under his 
 coat, behind, like a '• true Southerner " — with a letter from 
 the Yicksburg machinists. He was accompanied by three 
 equally disreputable-looking companions, whom, after his 
 entrance, I saw, through our cabin-window, sitting on a 
 strange box at the gate. They were in the act of reinforc- 
 ing their spirits from a flask which seemed the partner of 
 the one protruding from our visitor's pocket. 
 
 " Who are those people?" I asked. 
 
 " One is me pardner ; the two b'ys are ribbit-bolders. 
 I brought them up with me, and a box of tools, so that we 
 could go to work on your job at once, if we could agree as 
 to price. 
 
 These men might be capable workmen, but without the 
 letter they bore, from a reputedly respectable Yicksburg 
 firm, I should not only have not considered them for a mo- 
 ment, but should have regarded them as disreputable 
 characters. The necessity of the job was evidently pre- 
 judged, coming up as they did thus in force to do it. I will 
 not tire the reader by giving in detail the disgusting 
 dicker over the price of the work, which they placed at 
 the enormous sum of S525, besides §90 for one little patch 
 
380 A YEAR OP WRECK. 
 
 two inches square. As to its necessity, after a glance, the 
 foreman said : 
 
 "Av coorse it will have to be patched." 
 
 After they had finished the job, they went to the village 
 to wait for a boat to take them back to Yicksburg, and 
 while there got drunk, in which condition they boasted 
 that they had been told by their Yicksburg employers to 
 charge exorbitant rates, and that they had just *' salivated 
 the dommed Yankees." Their stay was a fearful experi- 
 ence ; what, with their drinking, card-playing, nightly ca- 
 rousing, and intolerable filth, we were worn out. We were 
 firm in our determination to make them do good work ; 
 but in order to get this, we had to see every rivet driven, 
 and sometimes the work was temporarily stopped, until 
 they were ready to go ahead as we desired. Of course I 
 bad no confidence in the integrity of their opinion, and 
 shall never know whether the patches were really needed 
 or not, but from a subsequent development I am inclined 
 to think the work was not, at the time, absolutely neces- 
 sary. What I allude to was this: — instead of using new 
 iron entirely, as they should have done, for most of the 
 work they heated up the old iron, pounded out the blisters, 
 and put it back again ; so that, as soon as we began to use 
 the boiler, there were the old blisters again. 
 
 Such was our experience of the character of this class 
 of labor. Think of the robbery — 8615 for what ought not 
 to have cost over §200 with entirely new iron : 8615, and 
 the old blisters back again ! 
 
 What we ought to have done was to dismiss the Yicks- 
 bur<T gang at sight, send up to Cincinnati or St. Louis, and 
 bring down honest, competent workmen ; but this is not 
 a story of what we ought to have done. Should we have 
 o-one into the enterprise at all if we had done just what we 
 ought to have done ? I must tell the reader how we got 
 the money to pay the 8615 swindle, although I blush to do 
 so. We added it to our claret debt, by borrowing the sum 
 
LUMBER, ETC. 381 
 
 from our cotton factor ! Thus it will bo understood we 
 bad taken anotber step towards disbonesty. "We were now 
 ebinning for funds in earnest. First, we bad borrowed to 
 gratify wbat we considered a luxury ; now it was a loan to 
 meet a necessity. It seemed as if our business downfall 
 bad set in. 
 
 Then we looked at tbe trees, and tbougbt of tbe lumber 
 in tbem, and of tbe ants, busy in tbe field upon tbe chrys- 
 alis, and grew bopeful. It is astonisbing ujoon wbat slender 
 threads our hopes often depend. This I say in retrospect, 
 because we did not at tbe time begin to realize our con- 
 dition. 
 
 I now have to record tbe most serious disappointment 
 we bad yet encountered. Our saw-mill was progressing to 
 completion ; a log-wagon, in Wisconsin style, was pre- 
 pared ; and Colonel Grey requested a squad of bands, that 
 be might go out into tbe woods and procure some logs, and 
 also a pair of our largest mules for the log-wagon. Thus 
 be would chop and haul at once, and have logs on band 
 wben tbe mill was ready, himself remaining in tbe woods 
 to superintend, I made the detail as be desired, and 
 they all started to the woods bright and early one morn- 
 ing (chanting plantation melodies, and charmed, as a ne- 
 gro always is, like a child with a new toy, at a change of 
 work), to commence operations. 
 
 About two hours afterwards. Colonel Grey rode back 
 with tbe most painful expression on bis face. 
 
 " Wbat is the matter ?" I asked, frightened by bis hag- 
 gard, disappointed look. My first thought was that some 
 one of the hands might have been injured, perba2:)S killed, 
 by a falling tree ; so I added : 
 
 '' Is anybody hurt ?" 
 
 "No, sir, not that; but I have been all through your 
 woods and can 't find a single cypress tree." 
 
 I looked at Dobson. His rubicund features bad suddenly 
 assumed a pale hue, under which bis face was ghastl3\ 
 
382 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 '' What do you think of this?" I gasped out. 
 
 " Oh, God !" he at once answered, " it can 't be true — it 
 is too cruel to contemplate." 
 
 " There must be some mistake," he added, as if trying to 
 convince himself; and then he looked pitifully, but inquir- 
 ingly, into Colonel Grey's face, as if he would ask, " Do n't 
 you think there is some mistake?" but he hesitated, as if 
 fearful to do so, because the answer might be, was almost 
 certain to be, against him. 
 
 " I wish I could think there was a mistake," said Colonel 
 Grey, very gravely, '• but I have made what I regard a 
 thorough reconnoissance, and you have my report." 
 
 " But hark. Colonel ! did you not hear that crash ? 
 That was a falling tree. The hands must have found some 
 cypress, after all." 
 
 Dobson's face lost a little of its distressed expression, 
 and he added : 
 
 " Yes, that was certainly a falling tree." 
 
 Just then there was another similar sound, and my 
 spirits immediately rose, but only for an instant, as Colonel 
 Grey at once said : 
 
 " Those are gum-trees. Failing to find cypress, I put 
 the laborers to chopping them down, until I could report 
 to you the condition of things, and ask you to ride out and 
 see for yourselves. 1 thought we might find a market for 
 a little gum lumber." 
 
 This was the thing for us to do, see for ourselves; so 
 ordering our horses, we mounted and rode, sadly enough, 
 to the woods. 
 
 It is needless to say that Colonel Grey's statement was 
 fully confirmed. There were fifteen or twenty cypress 
 trees, on what we thought might be an upper corner of 
 Hebron ; they were those which we had seen outlined, and 
 which had served to allay our suspicions ; but, upon ex- 
 amination, they were found to belong to the plantation 
 above ; and not only this, but we could not find, though we 
 
LUMBER, ETC. 383 
 
 scoured our woods, a single ash-tree either — and, as if dis- 
 appointments would never cease, we also discovered that 
 the ash which our hands had cut for tlie ginning, etc., was 
 not on Ilchron at all ! 
 
 "With heavy hearts, we turned the heads of our horses 
 homeward, telling Colonel Grey to go on and chop down a 
 lot of the gum-trees ; having no cypress, we would see 
 what could be done with gum lumber — it might be only a 
 fiction about its being so warpy. Thus did we grasp at 
 this straw. 
 
 Dobson's face wore a savage look. 
 
 " The fates are against us," he muttered. " Whichever 
 way we turn we find deception, black and damnable, as 
 our portion. Fine timber-land!" he exclaimed, with a sar- 
 castic curl to his lip ; " we have just gone over it, and what 
 do we find ? Eidges of gum-trees, matted with a growth 
 of cane and blackberry-bushes ; sloughs full of moccasin- 
 snakes, fringed with willow-trees, water-oaks, here and 
 there a pecan, persimmon, sycamore, or cotton-wood; with- 
 out ash enough to boil a tea-kettle, or cypress enough to 
 make our coffins, which, from present indications, we shall 
 soon need." 
 
 " Splendid picking for a saw-mill that ! Where do you 
 suppose Ilampson got his cypress?" I asked ; "he never 
 found it on Hebron. There is a trick somewhere, and, as 
 usual, we are the victims. I am going to send for Cato, and 
 find out what he knows about it." 
 
 -' That is n't going to give us fine timber-land, such as 
 Ilampson told us wc were buying," said Dobson, now fallen 
 into a gloomy mood. 
 
 '^ jS'o, but there will be some satisfaction in knowing the 
 facts." 
 
 That evening Cato reported. The sum of his informa- 
 tion was that his late master bought a raft of cypress logs 
 somewhere above, had them floated down against the 
 Hebron levee in the season of high water, which was the 
 
38i A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 way he got his cypress for the Hebron buildings, but that 
 there never was a stick of cypress grown on Hebron, 
 " plum pintedly." 
 
 I never dreamed that General Dobson could be so pow- 
 erfully affected as he was by this discovery, nor could he 
 have been by this alone ; but coming, as it did, in addition 
 to the other sore disappointments and trials, which had 
 continued to strike us, blow after blow, it was the last straw ; 
 and then, poor man, he was far from well ; his sallow face 
 and sunken eyes told eloquently of the effect which this 
 semi-tropical region, with our wretched preparations for 
 enduring it, was having upon him. The fact of General 
 Dobson's taking this last blow so much to heart, together 
 with his failing physical condition, served to distract for 
 the time my own mind from brooding over our common 
 cause for grief. 
 
 There must always, if a calamity befall two, sharing 
 alike the same fortune, be the sufferer and the assuager. 
 The latter's task, the harder one of the two to discharge, 
 this time fell to me. 
 
 But my attempted words of cheer sounded hollow, and, 
 indeed, they were as unsubstantial as a building without 
 foundation. 
 
 They were, " Courage ! courage ! General, we shall suc- 
 ceed yet," while from the outlook there were no grounds 
 for courage, save the slender one that the ants, supple- 
 menting our worm-slaughter, might destroy the chrysalis, 
 and so save us further infliction from the worm. 
 
 Thus, whereas, at the outset of our enterprise, our sky 
 was beset with stars, now but a single one remained, if, in- 
 deed, it was any thing more than a will-o'-the-wis}). 
 
 I am now speaking of the crop of 1866, because I never 
 doubted our ultimate success in cotton-planting. ]N"o, never 
 in our darkest moments did I doubt that ; the doubt was 
 whether we should be able to hold on until that happy 
 time. 
 
dobson's discouragement, etc. 385 
 
 Of course, each one of the many robberies which had 
 been inflicted on us — each one of our own many mistakes, 
 resulting from ignorance — had made us less able financially 
 to hold out, and each one had helped to take the heart out 
 of us, too. 
 
 CHAPTEK LXVI. 
 dobson's discouragement — OLD Clara's comfort. 
 
 It was painful to witness Dobson's writhing under 
 this last infliction; — it really seemed as if another blow 
 would crush him, and yet there it was, impending, in the 
 probable destruction of our crop by the array-Avorm. 
 
 We sat, the evening of the day of our last disappoint- 
 ment, in our cabin, brooding over the trying situation. Our 
 rude dinner had been carried away by George, almost un- 
 tasted, including the claret, which was growing wretchedly 
 sour. We were smoking our pipes in silence. Long since our 
 last cigar had disappeared, to be replaced by pipes, with 
 black navy tobacco, the same the negroes were chewing. 
 We had each our plug, and whittled ofi'our pipes full, each 
 crumbling it in the hollow of his left hand, with his right- 
 hand thumb, in true Southern style. 
 
 George had taken the dishes out upon the gallery for 
 Mary, who occasionally helped him, to wash them, and he 
 was now sleeking-up the room, trying to make it look 
 cheerful. But Mary, on the gallery, with her sleeves rolled 
 up, in her pink gown, and with her sweet face, was the 
 only cheerful object in sight, though George's devotion was 
 not less marked than Mary's beauty. 
 17 
 
386 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Visiting an adjoining plantation, I had once seen iu a 
 negro cabin an elaborate oval gilt mirror, which had doubt- 
 less been taken surreptitiously during the war from the 
 residence of some plantt^r. I was struck with the incon- 
 gruity of this elegant piece of furniture with such rude 
 surroundings. Mary's presence recalled this looking-glass. 
 Anxious to turn our thoughts away from their gloomy 
 channels, I related the incident to Dobson, and, continuing, 
 said : 
 
 " "What a strange war it was, the fortunes of which 
 placed a French mirror in that cabin, and made this woman 
 the wife of that negro. The war robbed the mirror of its 
 place, but it has given the woman hers. The mirror teas 
 out of place, the woman only seems so, because of the 
 bleaching process through which she has passed, the result 
 of her white graft." 
 
 A long discussion followed, in which I was the chief 
 speaker, Dobson making only a brief remark, or answering 
 a question, occasionally, concerning the mixture of races 
 under the institution of slavery, a striking result of which 
 was the pink-cheeked beautiful mulatto woman at her me- 
 nial service on our gallery, when a knock was heard at the 
 door, and Aunt Clara entered. Her great black shining 
 face glistened upon us, the soul of good nature and perfect 
 health. We greeted Clara with the customary " howdy?" 
 to which she responded, with a graceful curtsey, and an- 
 swered, " poo'ly." 
 
 " What is it. Aunt Clara ?" I asked. 
 
 Dobson had by this time relapsed into his mood of des- 
 perate gloom, from which our talk had somewhat ral- 
 lied him. 
 
 Looking at the G-eneral, she replied : " De black folks 's 
 bin tellin' you 's had a pow'ful dissap'intment 'bout de cy- 
 press, an' de Gen'l da' looks 's if he war jes' done out wi'd 
 it, and Clary come'd aroun' to tell yo' she 's mighty sorry 
 'bout it." 
 
dobson's discouragement, etc. 387 
 
 The General looked up when Clara spoke of him, and 
 had continued looking as if it were impossible to resist 
 gazing into a face which expressed so much sympatiiy. 
 
 "Thank you, Clara," he replied, "I don't doubt your 
 feeling sorry, but there is no help for it." 
 
 " No, sa', it can 't be helped ; dat is, de cypresses can 't bo 
 sot dar in de woods ; but, Gen'l," continued Clara, perch- 
 ing her head on one side as if she were now about to say 
 something worth hearing, " heah me; de white folks in dis 
 country would n't buy a single lo'd of lumber of you to 
 Babe yo' souls, an' dat 's de truf, plum pintedly. Ole Clary 
 heerd you was greevin' might'ly, an' she jes' could n't 'sist 
 de temptation to come up heah an' tell yo'. Now, da'," 
 she added, heaving a long breath of relief, '• Clary feels 
 better ; she '11 go. .Good night, Gen'l ; good night, Mr. 
 Harding." 
 
 We looked at each other inquiringly a full minute after 
 her departure. 
 
 " What do you think of Clara's idea, General ?" I finally 
 asked. 
 
 ''I am afraid it is too true," replied Dobson, shaking his 
 head with a grave face, but from which the gloom was 
 lifting. Then he suddenly added, with an angry flash of 
 the eye : 
 
 " What fools we were to sujipose we could find patronage 
 for our lumber in the midst of a people where there is such 
 a despotism of opinion that even the best disposed towards 
 us do not treat us decently, for fear they will be charged 
 with a sympathy for Yankees. Buy lumber of us ? No, 
 old Clara was right ; her mother-wit is worth all our 
 knowledge — we could n't sell a stick of lumber." 
 
 '' Unless," I interrupted his paroxysm to say, '^ we should 
 advertise to do a credit business, in which case, I suppose 
 we could sell as much lumber as Mr. Sinton has in his 
 cypress brake, if we had that much sawed." 
 
388 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; they 'd buy lumber of us on credit, and then 
 never pay for it," replied Dobson, bitterly, "just as they 
 have borrowed our pork, and do n't return it. If they 
 won 't pay a debt of honor, how is it to be expected that 
 they would pay one incurred in the ordinary run of busi- 
 ness?" 
 
 " May be they do n't consider any debt, with ' Yankees ' 
 situated as we are, one of honor." 
 
 " But it is a wonder it never occurred to us before that 
 there was no chance of our finding a market here for lum- 
 ber," Dobson continued, after a moment's thought. 
 
 " Well, no, not so much of a wonder, when you remem- 
 ber that this lumber scheme was started early in the sea- 
 son, before we fully realized the extent of hostility towards 
 us, and that it was finally taken up as a last resort for us 
 in our desperate straight." 
 
 "Yes, yes! " Dobson replied, his head falling upon his 
 breast, with an air of utter hopelessness, " that is so." 
 
 George came in now to prepare for our nightly bath. 
 
 " JS'ever mind about my bath, George," Dobson said. 
 " There is nothing worth living for here," and then, heart- 
 sick, and sick in body, my poor companion went off to bed, 
 not to rest, but to tumble and fret the night through, and 
 to show himself still more haggard in the morning. 
 
 In explanation of Gen. Dobson's sinking under our 
 late blow, while I did not, it is j^roper to say that, while 
 difference in temperament may have had something to do 
 with it, the main reason, perhaps, was that he was quite a 
 number of years my senior, and was here called upon to 
 encounter experiences, which, in order to be endured with 
 any comi^lacency, should be met in earlier life. 
 
 Dobson had left behind him those years, filled with en- 
 thusiasm, hope, trust and confidence, which come into the 
 life of every one when he first passes the threshold of man- 
 liood — the close of which, if he is successful, finds him with 
 
CREDIT VS. CASH. 389 
 
 refined judgment, self-confident and happy; if otherwise, 
 with distrust of his ability and bitterness of heart. 
 
 Dobson's age, with his experience, and hence ripened 
 judgment, led him to the conclusion that we were hope- 
 lessly lost ; therefore, he was crushed, overwhelmed, while 
 ™y i^gc, and immature judgment, enabled me only to see a 
 grave situation, which demanded and inspired me to greater 
 endeavor. It w\is given to him to look into the past as 
 well as to the future, and if there was no fruit in the retro- 
 spect or prospect, the eifect just described naturally fol- 
 lowed ; while my life was all in the future, and if no fruit 
 was in sight, I could say, with the happy trust of my years, 
 this is the planting season— it is too soon to expect fruit. 
 This I say now, with Dobson's years upon my own head. 
 I can now appreciate the brave, noble man's despair, as I 
 could not then. And if I lacked in sympathy— as perhaps 
 I did, because in the absence of experience I could not ap- 
 preciate his situation— I here drop a tear, in recollection of 
 my partner's feelings at that time. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVII. 
 
 CREDIT VS. CASH. 
 
 Negroes are almost universally both chewers and smok- 
 ers, including a large percentage of the women, and their con- 
 sumption of navy-tobacco, which they used for both purposes, 
 was very great. Another item of heavy expense to those 
 on our plantation was their shoes, though in the order of 
 expense probably whisky should come first. As for cloth- 
 ing, their out-fit, like Joseph's coat, was generally patch- 
 work. The negro has no disposition to cast off a garment 
 
390 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 when a hole appears in it ; on the contray, it is to patch 
 and patch, until the last vestige of the original garment 
 disai^pears, in which condition it is, for the first time, in 
 its glory. 
 
 A good many of the wants of our laborers we supplied 
 by purchases at the village store. In consequence, our 
 trade at that place was a considerable item. Every week 
 I would have to go down and buy brogans, navy-tobacco, 
 etc., for which I always paid cash, our names never appear- 
 ing once during the season on the books of the village mer- 
 chant, although I was frequently told not to be particular 
 about paying at the time of purchase. Our credit, like 
 that of all new-comers, was i?ar excellence. I am not aware 
 of any other point of seeming advantage on the part of our 
 class, but it is a fact that we were looked upon as having an 
 abundance of money, and though Southern people would 
 not fraternize with us, they would sell us any thing. For 
 it was freely admitted -that they were generally short of 
 funds, and nothing was more fashionable in their circles 
 than to plead i^overty as the result of the war. 
 
 We almost always found Southern people at the store 
 purchasing similar articles to those we were buying, but 
 unlike us, they were generally having them charged — to be 
 paid for out of their crop. 
 
 In the course of the season, it gradually leaked out that 
 the village merchant was charging us the same price for 
 our cash purchases that he was charging other planters for 
 their purchases on credit. 
 
 All along we had regarded these prices as excessive. 
 For instance, we paid for navy-tobacco by the caddy, 
 which was the form in which we bought it, $1.25 cents per 
 pound. And we paid for every thing else in the same pro- 
 portion. Thus, for every dollar we were expending, the 
 merchant was making from fifty to sixty cents profit. 
 
 I had not thought much about this matter early in the 
 season, while I was counting on the Dobson estimate, but as 
 
CREDIT VS. CASH. 391 
 
 the year advanced, and our prospect waned, I came to re- 
 gard it as a serious matter, and finally complained to the 
 merchant about his prices, and the fact that he did not dis- 
 criminate in favor of our cash purchases. 
 
 " Buying, as we do, tobacco by the caddy, and shoes by 
 the dozen, our purchases arc in the nature of wholesale, 
 and paying you cash, as we do, you ought to sell lis very 
 low." 
 
 " My dear sir," he replied, " we can 't afford to sell you 
 any lower than we do. We have to sell to most of the 
 planters on long time. A good many of them never pay 
 us at all. Unless we get big prices from our good custom- 
 ers it would be impossible to make any money." 
 
 Shocked at his statement, which had not a single prin- 
 ciple of correct business in it, I exclaimed : 
 
 " What is this, but making what you call your good cus- 
 tomers pay for the goods purchased by the many who 
 never pay ?" 
 
 " Oh, well, that is one view to take of it ; but really, sir, 
 when we come to charge up the heavy losses, our profits are 
 none too large." 
 
 " Why do n't you stop trusting those who make your 
 losses?" 
 
 " They would get mad, raise a row, most likely shoot — 
 and I do n't like fusses. Eather than that, I trust them. 
 Some of them may pay, if times get better. If that happy 
 day ever comes, when everybody here pays his debts, we can 
 sell goods cheaper; until then we have got to charge up." 
 
 " But the eifect of this, when rightly understood, will 
 be to drive off your good customers ; for clearly you are 
 making them pay your losses on the poor ones to whom 
 you say you are afraid to refuse credit. That is an awful 
 condition of things, when a man, pecuniarily irresponsi- 
 ble, can force a merchant to sell him goods — that mer- 
 chant all but certain that he will never get his pay. 1 
 do n't see any difference between this and the highway rob- 
 
392 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ber's motto ; the one is, ' Your money or your life ;' tbe 
 other is, "Your goods or your life, — your goods, which, 
 all the same, are money ; and then you depredate your 
 good customers to make up your losses," I said, trying to 
 be good-natured in my deservedly severe remarks. 
 
 "It is nothing new. This is the way we did business 
 before the war; only it is likely to be worse now than then 
 — our losses, I mean." 
 
 " Do n't you think you could select your customers, re- 
 fusing those whom you do n't consider good ?" 
 
 " I should n't like to try it," he said, significantly, 
 * though we may be forced to do it from lack of money to 
 go on. You know when this season opened we all had 
 great hopes. We got free credit in New Orleans ; we gave 
 free credit here. Now, that the out-look is so poor, New 
 Orleans is shutting down on us, and we may have to do 
 the same with our customers. 
 
 " Well, I do n't know how it may strike others who deal 
 with you and pay cash, but we certainly can not afford to 
 pay you prices to enable you to make up your losses by 
 your credit customers, nor will we do it. If this is your 
 programme, and you will not deviate from it, much as we 
 regret, we shall have to withdraw our custom. We can, 
 of course, buy goods as cheap as you can, which we will 
 have to do, opening up a full line of necessities on the plan- 
 tation, and thus coming in contact with your trade, be- 
 cause, if we oj^en a store, we shall aim to sell to the 
 negroes on other places. I say negroes, for the reason that 
 I would not expect your Southern white friends to patron- 
 ize us, even if we should sell goods cheaper than you do. 
 Their prejudice, we have discovered since our residence 
 here, is so strong against us, that they would not patron- 
 ize us under any circumstances ; but the negro is predis- 
 posed in our favor, and would be certain to patronize us. 
 If I am not mistaken, aside from our class of trade, he is 
 your best customer." 
 
CREDIT VS. CASH. 393 
 
 " Oh, you can buy cheaper, because, having the money, 
 you can order from either Cincinnati or St. Louis. We, 
 having to borrow our capital in New Orleans, are com- 
 pelled to bu}' our goods there through our factor, paying 
 heavy commissions and New Orleans profits. You are 
 right in supposing that next to your class the negro is our 
 best customer. I shall be sorry to lose your custom, and 
 have your competition, but I can 't sell my goods any 
 cheaper. I have to charge all as I do, in order to make 
 any money. If every body paid me I could, of course, 
 sell goods cheaper, but as it is I can not." 
 
 Such was the logic of our village merchant. I give the 
 conversation as it occurred, in order that the reader may un- 
 derstand his idea — which was no doubt the characteristic one 
 of the country at that time — of how goods should be sold. 
 
 While his utterances were foolish, they were not the ut- 
 terances of a man reputed foolish himself; — on the con- 
 trary, he was regarded as the shrewdest and best business 
 man in our section. I fear the reader will exclaim, " God 
 help the others, if he was the best of them." So far as he 
 was trusting men whom he knew to be poor pay, how elo- 
 quently did it tell of a despotism of opinion, as hateful as 
 it was unwholesome. Was it possible to have a healthy 
 condition of things in a community where such a de- 
 plorable state of affairs existed? Only think of it: — the 
 leading village merchant afraid to refuse credit, and actu- 
 ally letting his goods go to men who he was absolutely cer- 
 tain would never pay him, because he was apprehensive 
 they might raise a fuss or shoot — and then making up his 
 losses on his good customers I 
 
 Did not this single wretched fact convict and condemn 
 this locality ? There may be despotisms in the old world, 
 but I do not believe it has a parallel to that here indicated. 
 Possibly there may be those who will say this statement 
 is a fiction — that it is too improbable to be true; but every 
 word of it is the truth. I have reported precisely what the 
 
394 A YEAR OF "WRECK. 
 
 village merchant said to me, every word of "svhich was ver- 
 ified by his practices. It was, moreover, corroborated by 
 the English banker's statement, that not uncommonly, be- 
 fore the war, New Orleans factors continued to trust plant- 
 ers, frequently the leading men of their localities, when 
 they knew they were not responsible, for fear of giving of- 
 fense. The village merchant was thus only following the 
 example of his factor — an example, I add, which was here 
 regarded as commendable. 
 
 From this rotten state of affairs sprang the plantation 
 stores, which in the coming years dotted the country — ours 
 being the pioneer enterprise. Because we meant to be as 
 good as our word, we proceeded, as soon as we could, to 
 put our resolution into execution. We could not, nor 
 would we, place ourselves on a par with men who did not 
 propose to pay, or could not pay their debts, nor would we, 
 any longer than we could help, allow the merchant to 
 charge to our cash purchases a j^ro rata share of his bad 
 debts, which by his own statement he was doing. 
 
 This village merchant was a sincere, honest man, and he 
 thoroughly believed that the same price should be asked 
 for a pair of brogans, whether the purchaser paid cash 
 or had them charged, being almost absolutely certain at 
 the time of sale, in the latter case, that he would never re- 
 ceive a cent of pay for them. If there ever was an inflex- 
 ible one-price store, it was here. It was the same price, 
 whether he sold his goods or gave them away ! 
 
 Is"or was he singular. This habit ran through every 
 branch of business. It was as much the established cus- 
 tom as slavery had been. The purchaser practically said, 
 " We are good, if we never pay," and the answer was, 
 " Yes," from the party selling to him, with the practical 
 addition, " and you seldom do pay, but all the same, come 
 and buy." Sifted down, it was really a continuation of the 
 ante-bellum system of unlimited credit. 
 
 The village merchant was doing business, according to 
 
CREDIT VS. CASH. 395 
 
 Ill's own admission, by means of credit with the cotton fac- 
 tor. What cared he for money ? "As long as my drafts 
 are paid, I am all right," was his reasoning. The planter 
 was purchasing of him in tho same way. '• What care I 
 for money?" was his practical utterance — "as long as tho 
 merchant will sell, or the factor pay my drafts, I am satis- 
 fied." 
 
 Thus it was the ability to get credit, not the cash in 
 hand, that was made the standard, and, because of this, a 
 man was wealthy so long as he could get credit. In other 
 words, it was not his cash receipts that fixed his financial 
 status, but it was the drafts he could draw, and have paid, 
 and the goods he could buy on credit — his outlay and not 
 his income. The idea of credit ramified through every 
 thing — individual, commercial, municipal, and state — be- 
 cause generally every thing and every body were buried 
 under a mountain of debt, though but few seemed to real- 
 ize it. The question was not, have we any money on 
 hand ? but will our drafts be paid — can we buy such and 
 such articles on credit ? 
 
 From this stand-point, the position of the village mer- 
 chant was logical — credit, not cash, was the desideratum. 
 AVhy, then, should he charge us less for cash, for which he 
 did not care, than he charged others for credit, for which 
 he cared every thing? Not that he did not care for cash 
 — no, he would have resented such a suggestion ; but this 
 was the practical effect of his method of doing business. 
 And it was not a credit based on resources, either, for it 
 was often indiscriminate in its character. Nor was it a 
 credit for legitimate purposes alone, because included in 
 its uses was every vice. 
 
 It is fair to say that, while resisting the village mer- 
 chant's ideas of credit, I did not forget our recent invest- 
 ment of our crop in claret. Thus, it may be said, we saw 
 the evil, but had not altogether shunned it. It would be 
 well for us if, simply tasting the fruit (wine), as we had 
 
396 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 done, and finding it bitter, or rather sour, we should ever 
 after abstain from further temptations. 
 
 However that might be, I then felt exceedingly virtuous 
 and said to Dobson : '' Our village merchant has driven us 
 away from his store, as he is driving away many other 
 prudent ones, because he insists in charging us, who do 
 pay, the same price he charges others who do not pay." 
 
 " So far as he is doing this for fear of giving offense, he 
 is truly to be pitied ; and he is to be pitied, though in an- 
 other way, for his regard for credit above cash ; and he is 
 to be pitied in still another way — for his downright ignor- 
 ance of plain business rules." 
 
 CHAPTEE LXYIII. 
 
 CROP DESTROYED BY ARMY-WORM — RETROSPECT AND PROS- 
 PECT. 
 
 As Mr. Sinton had predicted, the third crop of the army- 
 worm made its appearance on the 28th of September. 
 While we were getting out our gum-tree logs for sawing, 
 the third crop of millers appeared. They had not seemed 
 to be very numerous, however, and so we hoped the ants 
 had all but succeeded in destroying the chrysalis. This 
 went far towards restoring the tone of Dobson's feelings, 
 after our lumber disappointment, and led us to hope that 
 we were to be spared the last great blow : the destruction 
 of our crop by the army-worm. If such were to be our good 
 fortune, we felt it would repay us for all the hardships we 
 had encountered ; and as the time for the third crop of the 
 worm approached, our anxiety, which had come to be cen- 
 tered in the saw-mill, was transferred to the worm. 
 
CROP DESTROYED BY ARMY-WORM, ETC. 397 
 
 Dobson knew just when to expect the millers in the field, 
 from the hatching of the chrysalids which he had placed 
 under a glass. The evening of the day which saw his 
 prisoners out also saw their brothers flying into our room 
 from the field, attracted by the light ; and a reconnoissance, 
 early the following morning, showed them along the ditch 
 banks, flying out into the cotton, before the heat of the 
 day should drive them into the shade, and busy laying 
 their eggs. 
 
 We estimated, from the numbers of this third crop of 
 millers, that our destruction of the worm, and the destruc- 
 tion of the chrysalis by the ants, had reduced the crop to 
 about what the second one was. If this estimate was cor- 
 rect, we had accomplished our object in putting the in- 
 crease of the worm back a generation, and might expect 
 the third crop of the worm to be only about as numerous 
 as the second ; and if they were no more destructive than 
 the Second, no great harm would be done. 
 
 For two days we continued to hope. The weather was 
 exceedingly hot, and the theory was that the worm did not 
 eat during the heat of the day. His life being so brief, if 
 there were but a few hours, morning and evening, for him 
 to feed, he could of course accomplish much less than if 
 the weather were rainy or cloudy, which would enable him 
 to feed constantly. 
 
 Thus the elements seemed to be in our favor. But each 
 day saw the number of worms increasing. The third day 
 it became alarming, on the fourth more alarming, and on 
 the fifth the case seemed hopeless. 
 
 The sun shone hot, but the worms did not mind it any 
 more than the mocking-birds or the negroes. They ate 
 voraciously all day long, traveling from stalk to stalk, each 
 one for himself, and all seeming to be famished. As the 
 cotton leaves, save the veins, disappeared under their steady 
 attacks, they were to be found in the road-ways, on the 
 ditch-banks— every -where, without the least concert of ac- 
 
398 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 tion, no two moving in the same direction ; and Tvhen the 
 dusk of evening came on, their eating could be distinctly 
 heard, falling upon the ear with a low, chopping sound, 
 while the odor of the bleeding leaves filled the atmosphere. 
 
 It is doubtful whether there were really any more worms 
 than those of the second crop, but how different ! The 
 second crop were not ^particularly hungry, while these 
 seemed to have come into the world in a starving condi- 
 tion, and never for an instant during their existence did 
 they appear to be able to get their fill. The fact was, the 
 cotton crop being so short left but little for them to feed 
 upon. When they had taken a good square meal, there 
 were no leaves remaining. It is my belief that if there 
 had been a fair crop of cotton, and thus an abundance of 
 leaves, we should not have been seriously injured by the 
 worm visitation, and our effort to destroy them had been 
 successful ; but the crop was not sufficient even to justify 
 that effort. 
 
 We had demonstated, however, that the increase of the 
 worm could be retarded a generation. This fact might be 
 valuable for the future. In this respect, it was on a par 
 with all our labors of the year ; for, now that the struggle 
 was over, it was as well to acknowledge that never for an 
 instant did we have any show for a crop. 
 
 Eut there had to be a beginning, and, like other pioneers, 
 we had plowed and planted and organized our laborers, real- 
 izing and endeavoring to remedy their shortcomings and 
 our own. If we had succeeded in redeeming our weed- 
 ridden plantation, reforming some of the defects in our ne- 
 gro laborers, and gaining some knowledge of farming our- 
 selves, thus laying the foundation of a crop in 1867, we had 
 done all that in human reason there was any hope to 
 expect. 
 
 Our fields, which had given us so much solicitude, alter- 
 nating between hope and despair, and which a few days 
 previous, when the millers came so sparsely, had looked so 
 
CROP DESTROYED BY ARMY-WORM, ETC. 399 
 
 promising, indicating that our struggle was over and that 
 victory was at hand, now suggested a ground strewn with 
 skeletons. But 3'esterday there were the growing cotton- 
 stalks — now they were stripped of their leaves, showing 
 here and thei*e a mature cotton-boll, and only the dry skel- 
 etons of their former growth. 
 
 General Dobson was perfectly crushed, and fled on the 
 first boat he could catch to the IXorth, while Colonel Grey, 
 seeing plainly that there was nothing left for him, hurried 
 off, heart-sick, for his home in Wisconsin. Except Billy, 
 mine was now the only white face remaining on Hebron. 
 
 The fate of our plantation was but the common one. 
 The visitation of the army-worm swept like a besom of 
 destruction over the South, and all were alike prostrated. 
 All that we could do was to wait, now that the bolls 
 were entirely exposed to the sun, for them to open, and 
 then gather such portions of the croj) as were ripe. There 
 was this single illusion surviving, the hope that a good 
 many bolls were already matured. 
 
 The reader will understand that, when this destructive 
 visitation of the army-worm came, on each stalk were cot- 
 ton-bolls in all stages of growth — from those fully matured 
 to those from which but the day before the blossom had 
 dropped — as well as buds and blossoms. It was only ma- 
 ture bolls, or those nearly mature, that would yield cotton. 
 
 The worms left the veins of the cotton-leaf untouched, 
 and there being nothing for them to hide under when they 
 went into the chrysalis state, they suspended themselves 
 from those skeleton leaves, dangling like so many oblong, 
 dark beads. 
 
 Just as the spires of flame from a conflagration are fearful 
 to contemplate when viewed in the light of results, and yet 
 are none the less beautiful, considered simply as a spectacle, 
 so our cotton-stalks, while telling their sad story of destruc- 
 tion by the army-worra, thus stripped of all but the veins 
 of the leaves, and festooned with chrysalids, were, as a spec- 
 
400 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 tacle, beautiful to behold. Under the sunlight the skeleton 
 leaves resembled lace, and the chrysalids were like strings 
 of beads festooning the same. 
 
 In the course of the next ten days, a fourth generation 
 of millers would hatch from the exj^osed chrj^salis, but 
 finding, as they would, no more cotton-leaves to feed on, 
 and not feeding on any thing else, they would starve to 
 death. This was a feature in the career of the worm that 
 Mr. Sinton had not mentioned. I rode up to his place a 
 few days after our last calamity for the purpose of mutual 
 consolation, and was pained to learn that he had been vis- 
 ited with a double calamity, the greater of which it was 
 hard to determine — one was the worm-destruction, the 
 other was drought. 
 
 The front of Mr. Sinton's plantation was a sandy loam, 
 which is a soil easy of cultivation, and in which the cotton 
 grows rapidly and freely, early in the season, but is apt to 
 burn out without occasional rains. When this sandy soil 
 gets too dry the cotton begins to shed its blossoms, and its 
 partly-formed bolls shrivel and dry up — from which time no 
 more fruit is formed — this, too, while the leaves may be 
 fresh, and the stalk growing. But after awhile, if the 
 drought continues, the leaves begin to shrivel, further 
 growth of the stalk is arrested, in time the leaves fall off, 
 and the plant seems to die. But from the moment it begins 
 to shed its blossoms, though the stalk itself may grow, its 
 only service is to ripen the bolls which were already well- 
 formed before the shedding of the blossoms began. 
 
 Sometimes the drought is ended before the stalk dies, in 
 which case it will continue to grow, reaching a large size, 
 but with only the fruit on it which was made before it first 
 commenced to dry up. 
 
 In the black, or "buck-shot" land the crop begins slow, 
 but will make almost without rain, never burning out. 
 The black land is the best for cotton, growing and fruiting 
 as it does until arrested by worm or frost. 
 
CROP DESTROYED BY ARMY-WORM, ETC. 401 
 
 It was this sandj-land cotton, beautiful to behold early 
 in the season, but very apt to burn out, as above described, 
 and thus an uncertain crop, which had so filled our eye 
 with admiration during the two previous visits we had 
 made to Mr. Sinton's place. 
 
 This fine-looking crop had met its not uncommon fate, 
 and there was less fruit on it than on his black-land cotton, 
 which the worm had eaten up. 
 
 " How did you come out witli your preparation for kill- 
 ing the worm ? Did you use it ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes ; we used it," said Mr. Lothard, laughing and 
 blushing at the same time. 
 
 " Did it kill the worm ? " 
 
 " Lothard, you might as well tell Mr. Harding the joko. 
 It will get out anyway," said Mr. Sinton, with mischief in 
 his eye. 
 
 "Tes, I guess we better tell on ourselves." 
 
 " On yourself, you 'd better say." 
 
 " I believe I icas the author of the discovery. Well, yes, 
 it killed the worm, but it killed the cotton also." 
 
 " Mr. Lothard went out before breakfast and had a couple 
 of acres sprinkled, and went back after breakfast to see 
 the result ; and I think we have some sprinkling-cans for 
 sale now, have we not?" This Mr. Sinton added to his 
 partner's statement, with the keenest relish, good natur- 
 edly enjoying Mr. Lothard's discomfiture. 
 
 As an offset, I told how the worm catastrophe on Hebron 
 had sent Dobson off to the North, as well as Col. Grey, 
 which was the reason I had called alone. 
 
 The direct loss from this visitation of the army-worm, 
 or rather from the fact of the South not beinsi: able to make 
 
 CD 
 
 a crop this year (there was reall}^ no crop to destroy — the 
 army-worm simply exposed the situation), was immense, 
 but compared with the indirect loss, it was insignificant — 
 
402 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 though if the direct loss had not come, the indirect loss 
 would not have been great. 
 
 The indirect loss was in the failure of the planters to meet 
 their engagements with their laborers, and the demoraliza- 
 tion resulting therefrom. The negroes were badly enough 
 demoralized when they were hired in the spring, but turned 
 out, as they were now all over the South, to starve, in how 
 much worse a condition they would be when the time 
 came to gather them up for the purpose of making a new 
 crop. 
 
 All hope of a crop this year being now dispelled, each 
 factor put his foot down in most cases, and refused further 
 advances. As a result, plantations were abandoned, and 
 the levees and railroads were lined with negro families dis- 
 missed from service, because their employers could no 
 longer furnish food for them. The negroes believed their 
 masters possessed untold wealth, and they were perfectly in- 
 capable of understanding that they were dismissed from 
 sheer necessity. In many instances the same hunger which 
 awaited the negroes awaited their white employers. If the 
 latter were to be blamed, because of a determination early 
 in the season not to do fairly with the negroes — not from 
 lack of ability, but because of their non-acceptance of the 
 situation — they were now equally to be pitied, the crop 
 failure having rendered the carrying out of their contracts 
 impossible. 
 
 Then, there was the demoralization of the planters. 
 Most of them had staked all their ready money on the 
 crop, while very many had exhausted their credit, fre- 
 quently mortgaging their plantations in doing so. Al- 
 most a total crop failure was to be the result. There was 
 nothing for the laborer, and there would be but little for 
 the planter, when the crop was all gathered, which little 
 would have to go to the factors on account of advances. 
 
 Many of the new-comers contemplated an early aban- 
 donment of the field, and a return to the North. But with 
 
CROP DESTROYED BY ARMY-WORM, ETC. 403 
 
 the Southercn planters it was diflfcrent. They had no 
 other home, no other occupation. There was nothing to 
 do but to pick their flints and trj' again. All that could 
 be said against them now was that they would have been 
 in better condition if they had paid less attention to the 
 President's policy, honestly accepting the situation, and if 
 their habits of life had been different. But more than all 
 was their desperate situation due to the condition of the 
 soil, and to their own and the negroes' ignorance ; so that, 
 while they were at fault, they were still more the victims 
 of misfortune, and as such the Southern people were now 
 truly an object of pity. 
 
 If Providence had smiled on this region in 1866, by giv- 
 ing it a reasonable croj), sectional politics, injustice to the 
 negro and the new-comer, bitterness of heart, and hatred 
 of the government would all have disappeared. In the 
 absence of a good crop, the result was that these were all 
 intensified. 
 
 It is natural for mankind to seek excuses for their mis- 
 fortunes, other than their natural causes. This is particu- 
 larly true of a people like those of the South, with their 
 passions inflamed, and governed, not so much by reason, as 
 by impulse. 
 
 If the reader will understand that this crop failure, fol- 
 lowing upon the losses incident to the war, thoroughly and 
 completely j)rostrated the South, he will be able to apj^re- 
 ciate its pitiful situation at this time. 
 
 What a spectacle it was ! Looking out upon the worm- 
 eaten fields, at the skeleton cotton-stalks — sickly, spindling, 
 and small even before the last visitation which now had 
 stripped them of all except the few mature bolls, the 
 only fruit left ; the choked-up ditches ; the huge 2)lanta- 
 tions, overgrown with briers, cotton-wood, willows, and 
 in many places bearing the marks of overflow from the 
 waters of the ^Mississippi, through the numerous ugly gaps 
 in the levees j at the absence of forage, meat, and meal ; at 
 
404 A TEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 the books of the cotton-factors, and the country merchants, 
 who had supplied the plantations, disclosing, as they did, 
 monstrous indebtedness, with no crops in the field to cancel 
 the same ; at the fact that there was absolutely nothing left 
 but the land, buildings, mules, and implements, and these in 
 most cases heavily mortgaged ; and then, above and over 
 all, at the recently enfranchised negro, with the problem 
 yet unsolved, as to whether he could be made an efficient 
 free laborer ; — if all this could have been understood, some 
 idea of the utter and complete prostration throughout the 
 South might have been gained, and the country would 
 have had more patience with this terribly smitten section 
 than it has had. 
 
 There was but one source of relief — through the same 
 soil and labor which had now so grievously disappointed 
 all. Many said, with pale faces, " We have utterly 
 failed to make cotton ; is there no other crop which these 
 lands will produce?" Many talked of broom-corn, castor- 
 beans, etc., but cotton was the idol of the South, and the 
 2")eople were not yet ready to break it into pieces. 
 
 The worst feature in the whole case was the utter want 
 of appreciation on the part of the negroes, that they had 
 made a crop failure ; that the only source of revenue to 
 the planter was his crop, and, this having failed, in the 
 nature of things there must be great distress ; and so, 
 when pay and rations failed to come with perfect prompt- 
 ness they attributed it to an intention on the part of the 
 planter to defraud them. They would not consider for an 
 instant that it was from lack of funds. 
 
 " Look at de crop in de fiel','' would be their answer, 
 " our old masters have got heaps and heaps of money, and 
 we knows it," and so on. 
 
 I^ever was the utter darkness of intellect of the recently 
 enfranchised negro more apparent than now. Here were the 
 smitten fields, all but barren of any crop, due in part to their 
 defective labor ; the money and credit of the planter gone, 
 
CROP DESTROYED BY ARMY-WORM, ETC. 405 
 
 with nothing to show for it ; and yet they did not seem to 
 have the faintest idea of the general and fearful wreck. If 
 they were not fed and paid, it was because their employer 
 did not want to do it — this was their conclusion ; and so 
 the breach between them was widening. 
 
 The planter made mistakes, and grave ones, but in the 
 midst of a conflagration how many feather-beds are ten- 
 derl}^ carried down stairs, while the looking-glasses are 
 rudely thrown from the window! It was a spectacle of 
 general destruction, not less frightful than where this has 
 happened, and the sufferers were scarcely more account- 
 able for what the}^ did. 
 
 The trouble with the negro was utter inability to realize 
 the state of affairs, to understand he Jiad made no crop, 
 and that the season was as near as possible a total failure. 
 Those of us who had bought land were chained to the 
 situation. In our own case, to abandon the country was to 
 lose our first payment of 827,500, and so the thing was not 
 to be thought of for an instant, though there was the sec- 
 ond payment of equal amount with current expenses to bo 
 met— how, was yet in the future. 
 
 We felt that we had learned something about planting 
 cotton, though at a terrible cost, and unless we continued on, 
 utilizing the knowledge acquired by planting another crop, 
 our year of struggle would be thrown away. 
 
 "No, we will never do this," I said to myself all alone in 
 our cabin. " The production of cotton is a legitimate en- 
 terprise ; this land produced it before the war, and it will 
 do it again. With equally good mules and the same land, 
 
 if a crop is not made, it will be due to one of two causes 
 
 the labor bestowed, or Providence, and has not the Al- 
 mighty pledged us seed time and harvest? We will guard 
 against the first by making such a contract as will force the 
 loss resulting from a failure, unless from Providential 
 causes such as storms or army-worms, upon the laborers; 
 but before we can conscientiously do this we must restore 
 
406 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 the ditches on Hebron. Our cultivation this year will, in 
 a manner, redeem the land from its weed-ridden state, and 
 with the ditches opened for drainage, we shall have done 
 our part. Our contract with our laborers runs until the first 
 of January. The crop we shall have to pick will not re- 
 quire near all of that time. Having agreed to, we will keep 
 them at work, and for the time they are not picking they 
 must ditch, l^ext year our place will be in a condition to 
 make a crop, and we will hold our laborers to it. We have 
 lost our money here, and right here we will stay until we 
 find it." 
 
 " Did you speak?" George called out. 
 
 " No, not to you," I said, a little confused at being caught 
 thinking aloud. 
 
 That night 1 heard George telling Mary, " De boss done 
 git so lonesome dat he talks to hisself." 
 
 Having taken my resolution I proceeded to make it 
 known to our hands, and they acquiesced at once, declaring 
 they were all born ditchers. 
 
 It was necessary to order shovels, which I did at once, 
 and in the meantime, until they came, or the cotton opened 
 suflScient to commence picking, I put our force to cutting 
 out the growth in the ditches and getting them ready for 
 the shovels. 
 
 CHAPTEE LXXIX. 
 
 OUR LOG-CABIN. 
 
 The destruction of the crop by the army-worm left noth- 
 ing to fear from frost, which we had hitherto dreaded and 
 had hoped would postpone its comicg until late in the sea- 
 son, so as to give our cotton the longest possible time to 
 
OUR LOG-CABIN. 407 
 
 fruit. On the contrary-, I now ardently desired its coming 
 as the signal for the commencement of the healthy season, 
 when we should again breathe a wholesome atmosphere, 
 and my fiimily could return to Hebron with perfect safety, 
 so far as health was concerned. Scarcely, however, had 
 this latter thought warmed and quickened my blood than 
 it was chilled again, when I remembered that the only 
 place I had for them was our room in the overseer's cabin. 
 And, looking out upon our worm-eaten and weed-ridden 
 fields, I saw the sad but unmistakable evidence that there 
 was no crop in sight to justify the expenditure of even a 
 penny in the building of a new house. 
 
 In the early days of our enterprise it had never entered 
 our heads that we should not have each a nice little home on 
 the plantation for our fiimilies in the fall. We had said good- 
 bye to our dear ones at the village landing, with the certain 
 belief that when we welcomed them again it would be at the 
 Hebron landing, and to that new home. 
 
 During my rides over the plantation with Dobson, we 
 had talked over our locations and decided upon them; but 
 now, alas ! so far as our cotton crop could help us, our 
 castles in the air could not possibly take substantial shape 
 and foundation, and it looked as if, for this year at least, 
 they were not to be any thing more than pleasant dreams. 
 If at the time we purchased Hebron we had been asked 
 how much we should expect to spend for our plantation 
 homes, we would unhesitatingly have said, " Not less than 
 five thousand dollars each." That was the day of promise. 
 The day of performance was now at hand. The journey 
 from daylight to darkness was in the interval. How gladly 
 now we would have taken a naught off the spring estimate 
 for our houses. Yes, how happy we should be if we could 
 see in our smitten fields the prospect of a crop sufficient to 
 make our second payment and meet our current expenses. 
 As I looked our situation squarely in the face, not a ray 
 of sunshine lightened it; and yet we must have a home, if 
 
408 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ever 80 humble. But whence was the money to come to pay 
 for it? 
 
 But for my partner we might manage to get along in the 
 .verseer's cabin for another year, although the discomforts 
 would be great. Not that I feared Mrs. Harding would 
 object to it ; I knew her well enough to feel certain that 
 she would gladly accept any thing which would secure 
 us a shelter from rain and storm and reunite our family. 
 And then in my misery I thought we should be very happy 
 if only we could be assured of this wretched place. The 
 more I considered it, however, the more I felt certain that 
 even this boon would be denied us. IS^aturally, Dobson 
 would recover from the shock of our disappointments suf- 
 ficiently to wish to return, and with him, of course, the 
 healthy season being at hand, would come his wife. I knew 
 1 hat neither of us would feel it right for himself to occupy our 
 room in the overseer's cabin with his family to the exclu- 
 sion of the other. Besides, we needed every inch of this 
 cabin for the general plantation business, and we could not 
 afford to allow either or both of the partners to devote it to 
 personal uses. And yet there seemed no other way to se- 
 cure a roof for us. 
 
 Once, in my great desperation, I contemplated writing 
 Dobson, to ask how it would do to cut our room in the 
 cabin in two, with a partition, his family taking half and 
 mine half, or an 8x9 apartment each. As I revolved 
 this plan, I found myself thinking what a bright spot this 
 8x9 room would be. Talking to myself, as I had learned 
 to do in my solitude, there fell upon my ear the exclama- 
 tion, in my squeaky voice : 
 
 " Would n't it be cozy?" 
 
 Then I remembered the Dobsons' brown-stone front and 
 the Harding residence, in their splendid neighborhood, 
 which our wives would have to leave for such a place. At 
 which my voice was again heard soliloquizing : '• Such a 
 step would be just grounds for a divorce." But what bet- 
 
OUR LOG-CABIN. 409 
 
 ter could be done was the anxious question. Look •which- 
 ever way I might, this seemed the only alternative. And 
 then all the bile engendered, in my system would become 
 aroused at the thought that this was the only way open. 
 
 One day, however, while I was still fretting over the 
 matter, I chanced to ride to the upper end of the planta- 
 tion, out in front of the levee, where there was a young 
 cotton-wood thicket. The leaves of these long, lithe, rapid- 
 growing trees glistened in the sunlight. The facCis, I used 
 frequently to ride up into this grove — that it was going north - 
 ward, and took me a mile nearer ray family, was enough 
 to make it a favorite ride. How oflen I sat on my horse 
 here, as I did upon that memorable night, when the '-Dan 
 Able," with its precious load, j^assed out of my sight, 
 around the bend above, and looked longingly up the river. 
 Then, if perchance a northward-bound boat should steam 
 by, would again come the eager desire to hail her for pass- 
 age, and be forever done with this hapless experience. 
 
 Oh ! the lonely feeling of the pioneer, as his thoughts go 
 back to the home of civilization from his hard life in the 
 wilderness ! Who can realize it, except one who has drunk 
 of the same cup ? Such was my thought upon this partic- 
 ular morning. 
 
 " Yes, this is in every respect a joioneer experience," my 
 voice squeaked out. " Well, pioneers live in log-cabins," it- 
 added. " If you are a pioneer, and want a home for your 
 family, go build them a log-cabin." Then a breeze swayed 
 the cotton-wood saplings, and they bowed to me, as if to 
 say : '• Here we are ; cut us down and hew us — here are 
 the logs for your cabin." It was all clear to me. A log- 
 cabin it should be. 
 
 Not less than a home for my family did I need a thor- 
 oughly distracting occupation. Living in the midst of the 
 scene of our terrible disappointment, without a single con- 
 genial companion — my system filled with malaria, the 
 characteristic feature of which is melancholy, be the suf 
 
410 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ferer's surroundings ever so bright (and mine were ever so 
 dark), wbicli intensified the feeling; with our financial ne- 
 cessities looming up in our pathway, to -be in some way 
 other than by our crop satisfied — all these had their natural 
 effect to fill me with sensations of desperate gloom. The 
 only hope was to get out of this rut. No sooner had I de- 
 cided upon building a log-cabin than I seemed to be lifted 
 into a new atmosphere. 
 
 '' Not jIs Solomon built the temple will I build our log- 
 cabin," I said to myself, as my spur struck the side of my 
 horse, sending him homeward on a keen gallop, " but just 
 as pioneers build their cabins will I build ours. Their 
 hands fell the trees, hew the logs, haul them, 2:)ut them in 
 place, chink them with mud and sticks, rive out puncheons 
 for floors, etc. All this I, John Harding, will do, and when 
 I welcome my family to their plantation home, I will be 
 able to tell them that my own hands wrought it, and there 
 will be blisters and calloused skin in their hollows as 
 proof" 
 
 I never stopped to think that this was not the Southern 
 home of my dreams. My absorbing thought was that I 
 had hit upon a plan for the accomplishment of my present 
 desire, a home for my family. 
 
 The consummation of the plan was the occupation 
 which I so much needed. 
 
 The architect's task was the work of an evening. Be- 
 fore bed-time I had our cabin on paper. It was a labor of 
 love, and the time occupied did not seem an hour. Eut 
 George came in to say it was '• pow'ful late, done pas' mid- 
 night." 
 
 " My ! can it be that late ? " I answered. " It has been 
 a very short evening." Then I showed George my draw- 
 ing, telling him what I proposed. 
 
 " De Lo'd, sir ! dat's easier said 'n done — but I knows 
 you's got de courage to put it through. Hit '11 be pow'ful 
 nice to hab de missus and de chil'en here agin, even ef dey 
 
OUR LOa-CABIN. 411 
 
 hab to lib in a log-cabin. But dat's a pow'fiil fine log- 
 cabin, in dat pictur'. Dat's nice 'nuff hou.sc for anybody," 
 George added, continuing to eye the draft with admiration. 
 
 " My grandfiither was a pioneer settler in Ohio," I said 
 to George; '« and, when a small boy, I used to live with 
 him, and that is where I learned what little I know of 
 fiirming. I remember his log-cabin so well. This is mod- 
 eled after it. One thing about it I remember particularly 
 well. I used to go to bed on cold winter nights, to wake 
 up in the morning and find streaks of snow scattered over 
 the bed-cover and along the floor, which had sifted through 
 the rude roof and chinks in the logs. How my breath 
 would steam out through the cold ! Oh, George, how nice it 
 would be to have a taste of that experience down here now ! 
 How it would purify the atmosphere, and bring health 
 again to this sickly country: It was not very pleasant to 
 have to jump out of bed, in my bare feet, on the snow- 
 sprinkled floor, and to have snow from the comforter sifted 
 on the exposed parts of my body, but it was wholesome, 
 and, as I now feel, I would jump into a snow-bank with 
 less clothes on than when, in my grandfather's cabin, I 
 jumped, out of my warm feather-bed nest, upon the cold, 
 snow-streaked floor." 
 
 By this time, George was pulling his coat-collar up about 
 his ears, and he exclaimed : 
 
 " Dat sort o' talk puts me all in a shiver o' cold." 
 
 " Well, good-night, George ; if you 'ro cold, go to bed 
 and warm up. I will do the same, although I 'm not shiv- 
 ering with cold." 
 
 Ever since the destruction of our crop by the army- 
 worm, my sleep at night had been broken by gloomy 
 thoughts concerning our ruined prospects, and in the vain 
 effort to devise some way out of them. To-night, as my 
 head pressed the pillow, it was full of my log-cabin scheme, 
 and my brain was so excited that I spent the night build- 
 ing it in fancy. I also arranged the furniture in it, and 
 
412 A YEAR OF WRECK, 
 
 welcomed my family to its occupancy. In the darkness of 
 the night I fancied I could see the fire crackling upon the 
 hearth, with the Harding family seated around it. It was 
 only when day came, that these delightful illusions were 
 dispelled by the thought that many would be the hard 
 blows before the vision of my dreams could become a 
 charming reality. 
 
 The following day, three axes swung busily in the cot- 
 ton-wood thicket, and by night a number of the trees, 
 which in the morning had reared their young heads proudly 
 heavenward, lay prone upon the ground. My own ax was 
 the busiest one of the three, and as I plied my happy task, I 
 made an estimate that each blow brought my family a foot 
 nearer to me. Not a moment was there now for brooding 
 or gloomy thoughts, while wholesome hunger and sleep 
 were the natural results of this heavy, manual labor. 
 
 As day followed day, our cabin took shape and form un- 
 der the sturdy blows which willing hands struck for it. 
 It was a proud moment for me to find, as I did at the end 
 of the fifth day, our logs all chopped, hewed, and notched. 
 Then came the hauling of them, and the getting of blocks 
 for the foundation. 
 
 The location selected by me was on the spot where we 
 had commenced our cotton-planting in the spring. It was 
 one of the spots where the cotton had grown luxuriantly. 
 It was necessary to clear a space for our cabin, and I pulled 
 up the cotton-stalks regretfully, feeling that, with our slen- 
 der show for cotton, we could not afford to destroy a sin- 
 gle boll. 
 
 I carefully laid the stalks at one side, where we could 
 pick out the cotton as the sun cracked open the bolls. It 
 was a proud moment when, with a tape-line, I laid off the 
 ground, and drove the pegs for the corners. The fresh 
 cotton-ridges in our prospective yard made the hauling of 
 our material rough enough ; but, recollecting the object to 
 be accomplished, I relished it keenly, bearing a large share 
 
OUR LOG-CABIN. 413 
 
 in the task of helping to lift each log on and off the wao-on, 
 and frequently riding the lead mule, in true teamster style. 
 
 Knowing that General Dobson would also need a house, 
 I had not proceeded far in the erection of our own before 
 I decided to detail Billy, with a couple of extra hands, to 
 build a duplicate on the spot he had selected. Thus the 
 two cabins w^ere under w\ny at the same time — ours being 
 a little in the lead. These preparations must not, how- 
 ever, interfere with our farm duties, so there was the gen- 
 eral superintendence of these added to ray task, all of which 
 filled up my time to its utmost, 
 
 I could now show the horny hand of toil, and my bronzed 
 features told their story of exposure, while my squeaking 
 voice yet gave evidence that I was a victim to the influences 
 of the climate. 
 
 This strain upon me was just what I needed, however, to 
 keep me out of the " slough of despond." The very mo- 
 ment 1 stoj^ped to think there would come up the picture 
 of our year of failure, and, passing from that to the future 
 the anxious inquiry would arise, ''How are w^e to get 
 through the next year ? " 
 
 Sunday was a day greatly to be dreaded. There were no 
 religious exercises, except such as those already described, 
 which the negroes engaged in, and the very sight of which, 
 presenting such a sad spectacle of benighted ignorance, 
 made one feel gloomy. Outside of this attempt at wor- 
 ship, and the village spire, with its vacant temple below, 
 there was nothing to indicate any Christian observance of 
 the Sabbath here. On the contrary, the occasional glimpses 
 I had of whisky-drinking, card -playing, and general 
 debauchery at the village landing, on this day, indicated 
 that the customs of this section had especially set it apart 
 for such sinful purposes. 
 
 As for reading matter, I had long since exhausted our 
 supply? ^oing over it time and again, even down to the pat- 
 ent-medicine almanac. We used to get, by the Saturday 
 
41-4 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 evening packets, New Orleans and Yicksburg newspapers, 
 but so full of bitterness were they against the North tbat it 
 was only an aggrevation to read them. If we were to judge 
 from these papers, the great mass of people in the North, 
 led by President Johnson, were heartily sorry for what had 
 happened to the South, during the war, and they were 
 about to give them back all they had lost. The few in the 
 North who did not feel in that way, were, according to 
 these papers, so many cut-throats, thieves, and villains. 
 
 This fearful Sunday ordeal alwaj'S left me demoralized. 
 Weary with our labors of the week, I slept as much of it 
 away as possible, managing generally to get rid of two or 
 three hours in this way ; but the effect was nearly all lost by 
 the wakeful Sunday night which followed. Thus, in spite 
 of all my efforts to the contrary, Monday morning would 
 find me fretted at our situation, as the result of my Sun- 
 day's brooding. 
 
 Continued action, not a moment for thought, was the 
 medicine I required, and Sunday gave me the very opposite, 
 so that as often as it came I sickened under its influence, 
 and scarcely would I recover from one paroxysm before the 
 next came. Oh, how ardently I longed for the Sunday in- 
 fluences I had parted with in the North. If it should ever 
 be my fate to resume them, how I would prize them ! No 
 frontiersman was ever more completely excluded from all 
 church privileges than I was here. I used frequently to 
 question, whether it were not better to work right along, 
 forgetting Sunday, than to drone and fret around one day 
 in seven as I did. 
 
 There was another experience which was particularly 
 exasperating. I seldom now visited the village landing, or 
 came in contact with Southern people ; but when I did, 
 there was in the manner of most of them, more than ever, 
 an intimation that we were at best simply tolerated, while, 
 with a few, it was unmistakable repulsion and scorn. 
 
 Be it remembered, I am now speaking of the period prior 
 
OUR LOG-CABIN. 415 
 
 to reconstruction, when the State and county governments 
 were entirely in the hands of the old citizens. We had 
 never given utterance to apolitical opinion, but had simply 
 come into the country, purchased a farm and gone to work. 
 If immigration is ever a blessing our immigration was, 
 and yet here we were simply tolerated, not unfrequently 
 frowned at by the people in whose midst we were located. 
 It is said that you can take an intelligent child, and by 
 constantly treating him as having no sense, in time make 
 an idiot of him. In the same way, you can continue to 
 charge an honest man with dishonesty until he comes to 
 half-believe it himself. Similar influences were at work upon 
 me. We had made our location with the best intentions, 
 and with the sincere feeling that our coming was a gain to 
 the locality. Indeed, I knew this to be so by the proof 
 of statistics. The result of our reception and treatment 
 was to cause me to distrust myself. Thus, in passing 
 through the village one day, I distinctly heard one of the 
 intolerant loafers, who had frowned in my face as I brushed 
 by him, say to another of his class : 
 
 " Did you notice what an ugly eye that Yankee has in 
 his head?" 
 
 I passed out of hearing before the reply was given, and 
 tried to forget it ; but when I reached home, one of the first 
 things I did was to peer into a mirror, and study my eye, 
 to see if I could detect any thing ugly in its expression, ex- 
 asperated at myself to think that the remark had im- 
 pressed me so deeply as to cause such an inquiry on ray 
 part. 
 
 This offensive warof sentiment, falling upon us as silently 
 and as unwholesomely as an epedemic settles u^Don a land, 
 pervaded my system, and frequently it found me defend- 
 ing myself, and again inquiring whether there was not 
 something in my character to justify the Southern people 
 in their mistreatment of and intolerance toward me. Then 
 I would try to recall the 'esteem in which I had always 
 
416 A TEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 been held at our late home, which would tone me up again. 
 But, being thus put on the defense, at the next instant the 
 feeling would return. 
 
 I mention this because, while building our log-cabin, I 
 had signal evidence of the feeling toward me. The autumn 
 elections were at hand in the North, and the Southern peo- 
 ple had been confidently looking forward for them to 
 demonstrate the great reaction in their favor, when, as one 
 after another State returned heavy majorities against them, 
 they became savage. I visited the village to get some 
 nails for our cabin, just after some particularly over- 
 whelming opposition returns had reached them. I was 
 met nowhere outside of the village merchant's store with 
 any thing but frowns, and savage utterances which would 
 not be proper to repeat here, but which convinced me that 
 there was a strong disposition to wreak their vengeance for 
 the victories in the North upon me. 
 
 ''Better hurry home," whisj^ered the village merchant 
 to me, as he wrapped up the nails. " The boys are feel- 
 ing ugly over the election returns, and there is no telling 
 what they might do if they should get sight of a Northern 
 man." 
 
 I heeded the warning, hurrying back to the plantation ; 
 but with such feelings ! Fleeing from personal danger — 
 for what? Not because I had excited any body by boast- 
 ing at the village of recent victories in the North. I had 
 not even mentioned them. They were not even in my 
 thoughts. I had never even declared my politics. No, my 
 offense was that I had recently immigrated from a section 
 which, at its latest election, was casting a majority of 
 votes against their party, and this was sufficient ground for 
 the murder of one of our class, if they should chance to 
 encounter him. 
 
 1 gave my navy-tobacco vigorous puffs that evening, in 
 my lonely room, as I recalled the state of affairs at the vil- 
 lage landing, and then I pinched myself to see if I were 
 
THE COMMENCEMENT OF COTTON-PICKING. 417 
 
 really John Harding, and, looking into the glass, I read the 
 sad truth, that it was only his wreck. 
 
 Again and again would I come back to the question, 
 " What have I done that I should be thus treated ? As 
 a matter of fact am I an objectionable character, to bo 
 simply tolerated, frowned upon, or murdered, if I do n't 
 hurry away from the village landing when I go there to 
 make a purchase, if I chance to find the people in a pas- 
 sion, because an election in another section has gone 
 against their wishes ? What a life it is to be sure. If I 
 am spoken pleasantly to at all, it is by stealth — and then to 
 hear that men have been ostracized, yes, murdered, be- 
 cause they extend to us the courtesy of some sort of a 
 welcome ! " Always upon such occasions would come up 
 the recollection of Chapman's tragic fate for associating 
 with us. 
 
 CHAPTER LXX. 
 
 THE COMMENCEMENT OF COTTON-PICKING. 
 
 The full-grown cotton-boll, just before it is ready to 
 open and expose the fleecy staple ripe for the picker's dex- 
 terous fingers, bears a strong resemblance to the hickory- 
 nut in the hull, except that it is about the size of the wal- 
 nut, and elongated like the butter-nut. As the cotton 
 ripens in the boll, the latter loses its green and assumes a 
 russet hue. The seams of the pod become more and more 
 distinct as maturity approaches, while the rind is glossy 
 and has the appearance of being stretched to its utmost by 
 the rapidly swelling fruit within. Then comes the burst- 
 ing of the boll. 
 
 There are four or five pods to each boll ; — first, are seen 
 18* 
 
418 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 the tiniest lines of pure white, increasing for several days, 
 until the pods are pressed back by the swelling cotton, as 
 the breezes open out their folds; finally hanging down in 
 graceful waves, ready for the picker's hands. 
 
 First it is the advanced bolls, the pioneers, which open 
 out their singular and beautiful fruit, here and there, one 
 or more on a stalk — this, be it remembered, while the plant 
 is still blossoming. Thus, as before stated, all stages, from 
 the blossom to the ripe cotton, are seen upon the same 
 stalk — that is, such is the case when the army -worm does 
 not come, as it did this year, and kill the stalk. 
 
 The firstpicking is called " trashing ;" that is, the hands go 
 over the field and pick the cotton from the few open bolls, 
 realizing twenty pounds and upwards a day, whereas, if 
 there were plenty of cotton open, they would gather two 
 hundred pounds. This first picking — the hands having to 
 search for the open cotton, thus disturbing the stalks — 
 causes the ripe bolls to open rapidly, so that a field which 
 has been ''trashed" over will in a few days be again ready 
 for the pickers, with j^lenty of cotton for full work. 
 
 This is true with reference to a healthy growth of cot- 
 ton. We had only a few acres of such. This I looked 
 upon with pride, whenever I could forget for a moment 
 that the rest of the plantation was its opposite, and I found 
 myself trying to believe that we had a good many acres 
 of fair cotton ; but alas ! my better judgment told me that 
 when I saw good cotton on Hebron, I had to seek for it. 
 In one view it was greatly to the advantage of my feelings — 
 though it held me in suspense, which is always unpleasant — 
 that I had never seen an old-time crop of cotton; so I could 
 make no comparison between it and the Hebron crop, and 
 thus arrive at an intelligent conclusion as to our prospects. 
 Be a crop good or otherwise, however, I knew that the 
 harvest must always be a hopeful period. It is something 
 to see the product coming in, even if you know the yield 
 may be small. Such was my sensation, when one morn- 
 
THE COMMENCEMENT OP COTTON-PICKING. 419 
 
 ing in the early part of September, I started out our force 
 for the picking season. The wagons carried out the big 
 baskets for holding the cotton as it was emptied from the 
 picking-sacks. Behind them, with their picking-sacks 
 ready to commence work, followed our force. 
 
 " I's longed for dis day," said Milly to Martha, as they 
 trudged along, side by side." 
 
 " Go 'long, now Milly. Sis Frances kin pick all roun' 
 you, an' at de same time dance a hoe-down on de turnin 
 row afo' you gits in wid your row." 
 
 " Bragg 's a good dog ; hole-fast 's anudder," grunted 
 out Uncle Wash, at this attack on his Milly. 
 
 " Does you see dose fingers da ?" flashed out Milly, hold- 
 ing up her hands. " De second pa'r was nebber born dat 
 could beat 'em pickin' cotton. 
 
 " Does you call dis pickin' cotton ? I calls it trashin'. 
 Wait till de cotton gits open, an' I 'm wid you from de risin' 
 till de settin' ob de sun. I's bo'n 'twixt de cotton rows, 
 chile, an 'pickin 's my fote," said Eube to Milly, as be 
 swung along with his Indian gait. 
 
 Just then we were passing by a field of our small cotton. 
 " You niggars '11 git mighty lame backs afore we gits 
 through dis crap, pickin' in dis small cotton, an' bavin' to 
 stoop over so," remarked Eichard. 
 " Dat's so," a number of them replied. 
 '' Et 'ill be huntin' for cotton here," said Wes, the little 
 French negro. 
 
 I felt like telling him that was all he knew about it, if 
 he thought there was not much cotton in that field, but 
 then I reflected that it was likely to turn out as he said, 
 and I had best keep still. So little fretted me now, and 
 Wes's insinuation had done it. I Avas especially sensitive 
 on this point. 
 
 " Dat 's all you knows about a crap, nigger," replied 
 Wash, indignantly; " der 's heaps o' cotton on dis j^lace, 
 an' you '11 find it out so afore do i)ickin' season 's ober." 
 
420 A YEAR or WRECK. 
 
 Wash's assurance restored my temper, although the com- 
 placency I felt at his belief was rather the result of my 
 heart's wish than of conviction. 
 
 "Bless you, Uncle Wash," I exclaimed, "you are al- 
 ways giving me comfort." 
 
 " Nebber mind, Unk Wash," replied Wes, " time '11 tell 
 who 's right." 
 
 "Yes, time will tell, an' what' s mo,' it '11 be Uncle Wash, 
 sho' ; 1 knows a crap when I sees it, I does." 
 
 We had now reached the field we were to begin on. 
 
 " Scatter de baskets 'long de turnin' row," called out 
 CJncle Wash to the drivers. 
 
 " To be sho'," they replied, proceeding to do it. 
 
 " Turn in dar, two on a row," said Uncle Wash to the 
 pickers. 
 
 Milly sprang to the task, and the first lock was picked 
 by her. 
 
 Martha saw it, and was chagrined that her favorite 
 picker, Frances, had not taken the honor, but made the 
 best of it, exclaiming : 
 
 " La, Sis Milly, dat do 'nt significate ; do n't de Bible 
 say de fust shall be last?" 
 
 " Dat do n't 'fer to cotton-pickin', an' you knows it, Sis 
 Martha," retorted Milly, wonderfully in earnest in her de- 
 termination to get the most cotton for the evening's 
 weighing. 
 
 Old Clara was on hand with her picking-sack. 
 
 She called out: "Sis Martha, you're a sinner, an' sin- 
 ners has no right to be quotin' from de Bible. Sis Milly 
 'longs to the Lord's 'n'inted ; she 's 'ligious, an' knows what 
 de Bible means." 
 
 Martha retorted : " I ain't studyiu' 'bout 'ligion — time 
 'nuff fo' dat; I wants my fun fust — dey ain't any fun in 
 'ligion. I believes in de fiddle an' dancin', I does." 
 
 There was a general groan among the church people, par- 
 ticularly Clara, at this sacrilegious talk of Martha. 
 
THE COMMENCEMENT OF COTTON-PICKING. 421 
 
 " You'se dc debil's own chile, plum pintedly ! " Clara ex- 
 claimed, at which there were several responses : " Yes, 
 Massa;" ''Yes, Jesus;" "Do you hea' me?" and then 
 Uncle Wash yelled out : " Less 'ligion and more cotton- 
 pickin' in dat field ; do you hea' me!'' But the conversa- 
 tion had struck a religious vein, and was not to be easily 
 quieted. After a moment of silence, it broke out again in 
 the shape of a hymn, which Clara started up, or rather the 
 line of one: 
 
 " Yes, Jesus, hea' me," 
 
 which was taken up by the " brothers " and '< sisters," and 
 repeated time and again, until one of the " sinner negroes," 
 with a very rich voice, opened out with : 
 
 " Way down upon de Swanee ribber." 
 
 This was understood to be a signal for his class, and 
 most of them joined in, soon effectually quieting the relig- 
 ious singers. 
 
 " Water me !" some one cried. 
 
 " Hea' dat nigger ! " exclaimed Wash, in disgust. '-Dis 
 ain't de hoein' season, an' dar ain't no heat in de a'r, fo' 
 you to be cry'in' water. You jes' wait till you git back to de 
 turnin'-row, whar de wagon is, fo' water. No mo' water- 
 toters in dis field dis year ;— water-toters, chiluns, old folks 
 an' nursin' 'omen, all got to turn in an' pick, ef dis crap is 
 to be saved. You niggers dar, what's been talkin' all de 
 year 'bout bein' big cotton-pickers, better stop your talkin' 
 an' go to pickin', caze it's de scales at de wagon dat '11 tell 
 who 's de big pickers. Stir up dar, Milly — don't you see 
 how Sis Frances is jes' reachin' out fo' cotton?" added 
 Uncle Wash. 
 
 Milly looked up with an injured air, as much as to say, 
 " Uncle Wash, you need not ever push me to work," which 
 was quite true, and none knew it better than he ; but the 
 fact was. Wash was ambitious that his Milly should be the 
 
422 A YEAR or WRECK. 
 
 prize-picker — and be saw by Frances' mood that it would 
 crowd her to become so. 
 
 " I declarV' said Clara, " It 'pears like I'd hab to laarn 
 to pick cotton agin. We black folks hab n't had any ob it 
 to do sence 'fore de 'bellion sot in, an' it goes mighty awk'ard 
 now — my fingers ain't nothin' like as suple as dey used to 
 be." 
 
 " 'Fore de wa' was five years ago, Clarry — fingers git 
 pow'ful stifi" restin' all dat time," said Eeub. 
 
 " Dat 'pends on what you calls restin'," said Clara ; " dese 
 bans hab done some work in dat time." 
 
 " What I means by work is cotton-pickin'," replied 
 Eeub. 
 
 "Dat's what darkies' fingers was made fo', and less'n dey 
 bab it to do ebery year, dey's restin' — jes' what we's all been 
 doin'." 
 
 "Alex and John," said an old negro to his sons, one 
 about ten and the other about sixteen, who were picking 
 near him, " when I war your age, de obserseer used to 
 whip me on de turnin'-row at nigbt ef I didn't hab two 
 hundred pounds ob clean cotton in my baskets. Dey ain't 
 any oberseer now, since we's got our freedom, to whip us ; 
 but I's gwine to see dat you larn to pick jes' as I was larnt, 
 an' ef de cotton ain't in your basket when weighin' time 
 comes, your dad's gwine to know de reason why." 
 
 "Yes, dad, we'll do de bes' we kin," drawled one of the 
 boys in reply. 
 
 " De bes' you kin is as well as de nex' one," answered 
 the father. '' Ef you git dat, you's all right — ef not, look 
 outfo' your hides." 
 
 This admonition bad the immediate effect on Alex and 
 John to hurry them up. And then, doubtless instigated by 
 the threat of the old man to punish his sons, some one 
 started the song commencing : 
 
 '* Oh ! niggers, does you know you's free now ?" etc. 
 
THE COMMENCEMENT OF COTTON-PICKING. 423 
 
 Alex was old enough to have a sweetheart among the 
 negro girls, who mischievously called out, looking over to 
 him Avitli her great black eyes : 
 
 "Alex's dad's gwinc to switch him ef he don't hab's 
 much cotton in his basket to-night as do res' ; — better hurry 
 up dar, Alex, ef you do n't want to get switched," — this 
 with a chuckling laugh, showing a dazzlingly white set of 
 teeth. 
 
 Alex answered good-naturedly : 
 
 " I'll be dar to see you, Minty, when do weighin' time 
 comes." 
 
 I could see at a glance this morning that the work of 
 cotton-picking was one which absolutely prevented shirk- 
 ing. The cotton in the basket, when weighed, as it was to 
 be nightly, would tell the story. This knowledge was re- 
 freshing. If we only had what we expected when we em- 
 barked in our enterprise, a fair crop, how happy I should 
 now have felt. How rapidly the picking season, running 
 into January as it does, and frequently later when a good 
 crop is made, would have glided away. 
 
 The glorious days of autumn were at hand, when, except 
 at midday, the heat was not at all uncomfortable ; when 
 the forests were clothing themselves in russet and gold; 
 when insect life, hitherto so troublesome, had mostly dis- 
 appeared ; when the nights were delightfully cool, inviting 
 to uninterrupted slee^D — and if I could have felt that for 
 months to come cotton was to flow from our fields in a 
 steady stream, I repeat, how happy should I have been ! 
 Still, as it was, I must confess that upon this particular day 
 I was not the most unhappy man in the world. 
 
 There was in me one per cent, of belief and ninety-nine 
 per cent, of hope, that after all we had a considerable crop 
 to gather. Then the happy feeling of the harvest time 
 was upon me. There, out in the field, were our busy 
 pickers, and soon, their sacks becoming heavy with the 
 weight of cotton in them, one after another commenced 
 
424 A TEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 coming out to the turning-row, where the baskets were, 
 with their gaping, hungry mouths ready to receive the first 
 tribute of the harvester. Milly had picked the first lock, 
 but Frances was the first to discharge her load, Milly com- 
 ing half a minute later. Their baskets were near together, 
 and, after the contents of their sacks were emj^tied into 
 them, there was a subject for a painter in the scene — each 
 eyeing the other's basket with the same thought expressed 
 in their countenances : " I wonder which basket will win ! " 
 
 Uncle Wash was there too, and not a little anxiously he 
 put his hand first into one basket and then into the other, 
 bearing down each time as if seeking to determine which 
 contained the most. Eeub came up just then, and taking 
 in the scene, said : - 
 
 " Go way dere. Uncle Wash. I '11 tromp de baskets, an' 
 kin tell you which has de mos' in it, to a lock." 
 
 Whereupon, with his left foot in the center, and his right 
 as a tramper, Eeub proceeded to circle around on top of the 
 cotton in each basket, looking very wise meanwhile. 
 
 Seeing there was likely to be a controversy, which would 
 take time from picking, I said : 
 
 " The scales will tell the story to-night. Eeub's opinion 
 will not settle any thing. Go back to work." 
 
 They all answered in a chorus, " Dat 's so," and returned 
 to picking. 
 
 As I walked along and looked into the baskets filling 
 up with the staple, as white as the untrodden snow, I was 
 deeply impressed with its great beauty. And then I thought 
 of the miner, who, after months of hard and unrequited 
 toil, finally seizes the first nugget of gold, and felt that I 
 could appreciate his feelings through my own at the pres- 
 ent moment. 
 
 There was our treasure, after seven months of toil and 
 rough experience, at last in sight ! And then at the 
 thought, I thrust my hands into the cotton, lifting up the 
 
THE COMMENCEMENT OF COTTON-PICKING. 425 
 
 white locks, which looked like giant snow-flakes, and let- 
 ting them fall back into their fleecy beds. 
 
 Not only did I do this, — I found myself pressing a 
 handful to my breast ; but I recollected myself — the excite- 
 ment over the first sight of the fruit of our long toil was 
 carrying me too far. 
 
 I did foolish and childish things like this, however, all 
 day long, constantly delighting to handle the fresh staple. 
 It was like the father's sensation over his first-born babe, 
 when his eye for the first time rests upon it. 
 
 \Yhen the negroes would get into the basket with their 
 big feet and dirty shoes to trample down the lovel}^ white, 
 fleecy stuff", 1 felt like crying out : " Get out of there, you 're 
 hurting it ; you 're soiling it; it is cruel to crush it so!" 
 And when at last night came and the scales told of Milly's 
 discomforture and Frances' triumph, and when John and 
 Alex were informed by their father that he would let them 
 off this time, but to-morrow night, if they did not have 
 the cotton, he would know the reason why; and when I 
 saw the day's work emptied from the baskets into the 
 wagons — so many white billows to be beaten under the feet 
 of the trampers, as the wind whips down the white-crested 
 waves into solid sheets of foam : — I was at once angry at the 
 rough treatment my idol was receiving and enthused by it^ 
 beauty. 
 
 And when at last, our wagons full to overflowing, I 
 started off behind them for the gin-house, I seemed to be 
 following snow-banks on wheels; and so busy was my im- 
 agination, and so excited my brain, 1 fancied there came 
 back to me from them a breath of chill, which fancy was 
 not dispelled until at a turn in the road I buried my hand 
 in one of the great white piles to find the warmth of wool. 
 
 The crowd of tired negroes followed along behind, their 
 sacks over their shoulders, discussing the events of the day. 
 
426 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 Martha was jubilant over her " favorite's " (as she called 
 her) " success." 
 
 " Sis Milly, what 'd 1 tell you 'bout Sis Frances?" 
 
 " Dat 's all right, Sis Martha ; dey 's mo' days 'n one, I 
 rec'ons. I '11 be in de fiel' to-morrow, God willin', to see 
 Sis Frances," replied Milly, with an air which said plainly, 
 " I can beat her, certain." 
 
 " Sis Frances '11 be dere sho," answered Martha. 
 
 '' Yes, you can 'pend on dat," said Frances, not a little 
 proudly over her day's success. 
 
 " Grolly, you niggars ort to know 'nuff 'bout cotton-pickin' 
 to know dat one day don't 'cide nuffin'," said Eeub. 
 
 " Ef it did, you 'd be no whar," sputtered out Wes, the 
 French negro. Eeub"s first day's record as a cotton-picker 
 was one of the lowest. 
 
 ' Go 'long, Wes ; I was jes' gittin' my hand in to-day — 
 come an' see me arter I git started." 
 
 " Dar must ha' been some mo' gittin' their hands ii^to- 
 day," said Eichard, sarcastically, '' by de weights." 
 
 " Dat 's so," answered Uncle Wash. " Ef some "of you 
 niggars is done your best to-day, dar's been mighty tall 
 braggin' on dis plantation dis year." 
 
 " Wait 'til we git our fingers an' our backs suple," said 
 one of the hitherto biggest boasters, but whose day's record 
 was even below Eeub's. 
 
 "Yes, dat's so," responded several of the equally guilty 
 ones. 
 
 " Did you 'sarve Mr. Harding, to-day," I heard one 
 negro ask another in a low tone. " He 's bin nigh 'side his- 
 self at de fust sight o' de cotton. 'Pears like he 's fear'd 
 we 'd hurt it han'lin' it." 
 
 " Yes, he tole me to clean off my boots 'fore I got into 
 de wagon to tramj) de cotton," was the reply. 
 
 " I tole him de cotton would clean 'em. He said dat 
 was jes' what he did n't want ; he din n't want to have it 
 s'iled ; dat he didn't want a pin's p'int of dirt on it ; dat 
 
THE COMMENCEMENT OP COTTON-PICKING. 427 
 
 cotton 's like our white pocket-handkercher of a Sunday: 
 how would we like to wipe our muddy boots on hit?" 
 
 There was a little subdued mirth over this' idea, when 
 some one said : 
 
 '' De bos '11 git ober dat 'fore we 's been pickin' many 
 days ; cotton aint s' easy s'iled as all dat comes to." 
 
 " Cotton s'iled," was the answer, spoken disdainfully. 
 " Et '11 take rain an' mud 'tcl you 'd think it was ruinated, 
 and den come out o' de gin stan' as white as Liss' teeth 
 thar. ' 
 
 " Go way dar, niggar ; you better not be cas'in' sheep's- 
 eyes at my teef ; my teef 'longs to me." 
 
 " Who 's cas'in' sheep's-eyes at your teef, gal ? You 's 
 got so much mouf, if you 's any whar roun' de fust t'ing to 
 see is your teef." 
 
 The laugh was on Liss, and being boisterously indulged 
 in, threw her into a pout. And then the music in the ne- 
 gro cropped out, as there fell upon the night air : 
 
 " Can 't stay in de wilderness," etc. 
 
 The song proceeding, one after another joined in, until 
 the air fairly rang with the music of their rich voices. 
 
 " Why do n't you jine in de singin', Liss?" asked good 
 old Clara, evidently wishing to mollify her. 
 
 "I aint stud'in' 'bout singin," growled Liss. 
 
428 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXl. 
 
 RETURN OF MRS. HARDING AND THE CHILDREN. 
 
 A FEW days before our cabin was completed, while I was 
 hewing down a wooden wedge, which I held in my left 
 hand, the hatchet made a mistake, and cut out quite a 
 large piece of the ball of the hand, below the thumb. This 
 would put a stop to my further carpentering, but there was 
 little more to do to make our home complete. 
 
 I had, before coming South, taken out a policy in an ac- 
 cident insurance company-, my weekly dues from which, in 
 case of an injury, were fifty dollars, so that the wound, in 
 view of our short crop, was not an unmixed evil. My dis- 
 ability would probably last a couple of weeks, and though 
 one hundred dollars was but little in the light of the Dobson 
 statement, it was yet a considerable sum in the light of its 
 results. 
 
 It was now the 5th of November ; our first frost had 
 come the 15th of October, and there had been several 
 since, so that the atmosphere was now thoroughly whole- 
 some. I had, some time before, written to Mrs. Harding 
 that I would be ready to receive her any time after the 10th 
 of November. 
 
 In my enervated condition there was a good deal of the 
 child about me. I found myself looking longingly up the 
 river before the time for her arrival had come, and grew 
 more petulant each day. Then my accident rendered me 
 useless for any thing but riding around a little among the 
 cotton -2:)ickers with my hand in a sling. My blood was 
 thin, and in consequence the wound healed slowly. It was 
 also quite painful, breaking into my sleep at night. The 
 days seemed weeks, and the nights interminable. 
 
RETURN OF MRS. HARDING AND THE CHILDREN. 429 
 
 The lOtli of November, however, at last arrived. The 
 sun went down, and the stars appeared, but no Mrs. Hard- 
 ing, and then I did indeed feel anxious. But 1 was to 
 have four more days of this anxiety, only constantly in- 
 creasing, before my great suspense was removed. 
 
 For a week previous I had been occupying what, com- 
 pared with our lodging in the overseer's cabin, I regarded 
 as spacious apartments, in our new house. True, the gum 
 flooring rattled under my feet, and showed a decided in- 
 clination to warp up toward the roof, and patches of day- 
 light streamed through the holes in the chinking; but, 
 then, it was a home for us. The cracks in the floor and 
 chinking meant ventilation, and, as a consequence, health. 
 If any of our old friends had happened along then, and 
 showed any disposition to make fun of our building, there 
 would have been a difficulty. Other people might not like 
 chimneys of sticks and mud, but I did ; this was home pro- 
 duction, and partook of the rudely picturesque — was high 
 art in fact. Once during the long stretch of watching for my 
 family, I came over to the house from the landing. The 
 moon was at its full, and our cabin stood out under it, in 
 bold relief It had never looked so beautiful to me before, 
 and I then and there concluded, that, placed in a city beside 
 the finest residences, it would excite more admiration from 
 people of genuine artistic taste than the best of them. But 
 if I felt proud of it that night, how much more did I feel 
 so when showing Mrs. Harding and the children through 
 it upon their arrival ! There was our own room, and there, 
 just adjoining it, was the children's ; on the other side of 
 the area was the guests' room, and just adjoining that the 
 kitchen. I fancied Mrs. Harding looked a little dubious at 
 this last arrangement. She had been ecstatic over the 
 location of the children's room and our own, but now she 
 only answered, very faintly, when I explained the purpose 
 of the others, "Yes." Then it occurred to me that per- 
 haps it was not quite the thing to have the guests' room so 
 
430 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 near the kitchen ; besides, come to think of it, what was 
 the use of a guests' room any how ? Should we ever have 
 a guest down here ? While this query was revolving itself 
 in my mind, Mrs. Harding asked, a little faintly : 
 
 " What about a dining-room ?" 
 
 " Why not use this ?" 
 
 " That is what I thought ;" and so it was settled, only 
 she added, " w^e can consider this our ' multum in parvo ' 
 room — pai'lor, guests' room, dining-room, etc." 
 
 Several busy days followed, with the opening of trunks 
 and scattering of the bric-a-brac contents through the sev- 
 eral rooms. There was also an abundance of home-made 
 canned goods, with a coop of chickens, bought in the home 
 market, and brought all the way down. The latter were 
 beauties, and Mrs. Harding said, looking at them, not a 
 little proudly : 
 
 " We will have our own eggs this winter." 
 
 There was a wild look in my eye after she had said this. 
 
 '•' What is the matter, John ? Do n't you approve of 
 it?" 
 
 The look came from my having noticed that the chick- 
 ens seemed generally to have long combs, and the doubt 
 struck me — what if they are all roosters ? A little further 
 inspection proved them to be so, and then I let her know 
 it, mischievously. 
 
 To say that Mrs. Harding was crest-fallen over this dis- 
 covery but feebly expresses the situation. 
 
 " Never mind, dear, this is our unfortunate year ; — we 
 can 't even buy a coop of chickens without being fooled." 
 
I AM APPOINTED A JUDGE. 431 
 
 CHAPTEE LXXII. 
 
 I AM APPOINTED A JUDGE. 
 
 During the summer a vacancy, by death, had oc- 
 curred in the judgship of the county. Owing to the fiict 
 that the native lawyers had all been in the Confederate 
 army, it was found impossible to appoint any one among 
 them who could take the necessary oath of office. So the 
 vacancy had continued to exist until there was quite a 
 clamor for a term of court. The agent of the Freedman's 
 Bureau for the county, it seems, stated the case to the com- 
 manding General of the District, who, in turn, called the 
 Governor's attention to the matter. A correspondence en- 
 sued beteween these officials on the subject. 
 
 As a remedy, the General suggested my name, which 
 was accepted, and a commission was sent me through the 
 Bureau agent, who explained to me the facts as above. 
 
 My first impulse Avas to decline the honor so unex- 
 pectedly conferred. But General Dobson advised differently, 
 and finally I was persuaded to accept, but with the under- 
 standing that it was only until a successor could be found 
 among the old citizens. The idea of occupying the position 
 was, under the circumstances, repulsive to me, and I recon- 
 ciled myself to it only upon the purely patriotic ground 
 that, with the necessity that it should be filled, there was 
 no one else available for the place, and a citizen of the 
 county as I was, I felt it to be my duty, thus called upon, 
 to respond. It was but a temporary duty — certainly some 
 one would shortly be found who would take the judicial 
 burden off my shoulders. Many Confederates were being 
 pardoned at Washington just then, and it was not unlikely 
 
432 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 that some of those in our county might have the fortune 
 to receive this executive favor. Thus unexpectedly was a 
 handle added to my name, and hence I should be no longer 
 plain Mr. Harding. 
 
 The above are the facts in the case, and my friends in 
 the J^orth who have blamed me for accepting a judgeship 
 so soon after my location in the South, and have, there- 
 fore, given me my judicial title grudgingly or not at all, 
 will, I hope, now that they know the circumstances, think 
 differently, regarding me rather as one who unwillingly 
 undertook a disagreeable duty. If there are skeptics, I 
 beg of them to read through this chapter in my experience, 
 when I feel certain they will concede that my task was 
 far from being either pleasant or free from personal dan- 
 ger. 
 
 Ilaving accepted the trust, my purpose was to fulfill it, 
 which I at once made preparations to do. General Dobson, 
 reinvigorated by his sojourn in the North, willingly as- 
 sumed the general plantation duties. Several days were, 
 however, occupied in getting out of the harness myself, and 
 familiarizing my successor with the same. 
 
 It was while I was thus making preparation that there 
 came to my knowledge the unpleasant fact of bitter feeling 
 among some of the old citizens of the county at my ap- 
 pointment. 1 had notified the sheriff to have the court- 
 room ready for me on the following Monday, a week 
 later than the date of my notice, and the information was 
 circulated rapidly through the county. Visiting the post- 
 oflSce a day or two later, I found two anonymous letters, one 
 begging me not to go out to the county-seat and hold court 
 if 1 cared for my life, signed, "An Unknown Friend;" 
 another saying : " Make your peace with your devil, you 
 have no god, before you set up to be our judge ; kaze you '11 
 never live through it." I stopped at the village store to 
 make a small purchase, and the kind-hearted owner man- 
 aged to drop into my ear, "Don 't undertake to hold court 
 
I AM APPOINTED A JUDGE. 433 
 
 now ; I can't say more, but, believe rac, I have reason to say 
 this much." As 1 passed through the streets of the vil- 
 lage it was manifest that I was an object of curiosity. 
 " Southland " scowled at me, and a triumphant look flashed 
 from his blood-shot eye, which I did not then understand, 
 but which portended mischief to some one. Greatly to my 
 surprise, further along at a turn in the levee, I was stopped 
 by a prominent citizen, who said to me : 
 
 " I understand you are going out to the county-seat to 
 hold court next Monday. I am o^^posed to you, but I 
 don 't want to see you killed, as I think you would be if 
 you undertook it. You had best stay home and let the 
 court go." 
 
 I thanked him for his words of caution, and heartily, 
 too, because it was plain to be seen that he was in earnest 
 and felt for me, but I added : " I have accepted this office 
 — reluctantly, it is true, but as long as I hold it I am going 
 to perform its duties, even if I am murdered in so doing." 
 
 " Well, Mr. Harding, that is courageous in you, but 
 where is the use of your risking your life ? At any rate, 
 do n't open court just now ; may be after awhile you can 
 do so safely." 
 
 " The law compels the judge to hold court monthly. 
 The jail is full of prisoners waiting trial, and I must go out. 
 Again I thank you for your warning," and, seizing him 
 by the hand, I pressed it, saying : " It is something to 
 know, as I have learned to-day, that there is a friendly 
 voice to caution me when danger threatens," and, still suf- 
 fering from my enervated condition, I felt a tear drop upon 
 my cheek, at the discovery I had made — first, by the 
 warning letter; second, by the verbal warning of the vil- 
 lage merchant, and now by this one — that I was not en- 
 tirely without friends. 
 
 The next day General Dobson visited the village and 
 returned full of the impression that it would be danger- 
 ous for me to hold court now, and that I should have to 
 19 
 
434 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 proceed with great caution. There had been personal 
 warnings dropped into his ear. As he told me what he 
 had heard, his face was gravely apprehensive. Neverthe- 
 less, my resolution remained unchanged. 
 
 Still later in the week, the New Orleans papers brought 
 an account of the cold-blooded assassination of a new- 
 comer like myself who had been appointed in a Louisiana 
 parish to the precise position I had accepted ! As I looked 
 at the head-lines, the thoughts flashed through my mind — 
 " only change the name and read your own fate. It is not too 
 late to recall the appointment. But no — my hand is at the 
 plow ; to remove it is cowardice ; 1 will die first. I accept 
 this obituary notice, if needs be, as my own." 
 
 It was a double tragedy, as the sheriff, also a new-comer, 
 and the judge were at the same time murdered, and that 
 too, on their way to court! The account said there was 
 no clue to the perpetrators. Nor did it express any in- 
 dignation or regret over the bloody affair. 
 
 The reader may be certain that this terrible news was 
 kept from my famil}', and I endeavored to betray no sign 
 of excitement in consequence. 
 
 There were many things I did at this time which 
 were unusual. Dobson had a pair of derringers, also of 
 navy-sixes, which I borrowed. I closed u]o some unset- 
 tled accounts ; made several memorandums and laid them 
 away in a drawer, where any careless searcher might find 
 them, directing certain thing to be done, "if any thing 
 should happen to me ; " that mysterious last will and testa- 
 ment came out from its hiding-place, and was carefully looked 
 over. In view of our crop failure it was a ghastly joke. 
 I added a codicil to the effect that, if I died while a resi- 
 dent of the South, it was my wish to have my remains 
 taken to the North for interment. Both Dobson's derring- 
 ers and navy-sixes came into use several times, ostensibly 
 to bring down a bird, but really, I fear, to test my accuracy 
 of aim. I did all these things, and, while silently pro- 
 
I AM APPOINTED A JUDGE. 435 
 
 testing in my mind that they had no significance, I yet felt 
 they had. 
 
 Our county was partly hill and partly bottom-land— the 
 latter bordering the Mississippi, the former in the rear of 
 it, and beginning some ten miles back from the river. 
 In the bottom region, the plantations being large, and the 
 labor exclusively negro, the white people were few. The 
 contrary was true of the hill region, and so, some time be- 
 fore the war, a contest had taken place for a change of location 
 of the county-seat, which was then on the river. The vote 
 showed the hill people to be largely in the majority. The 
 county-seat was, accordingly, moved back twenty miles to 
 the hills, where it remained at the time of which I write. 
 
 This region was inhabited by that class of people called, in 
 derision, " the poor white trash," — this because they owned 
 but few or no slaves, and such work as was done they 
 mostly did themselves. There was but little in harmony 
 between the two regions. The hill people generally voted 
 against secession, the river people for it. When the war 
 came on the former, either voluntarily or through conscrip- 
 tion, largely made up the rank and file of the Confederate 
 army, while the latter either became its ofiicers, or were 
 exempted from service under a later Confederate law, 
 which prevented the owner of a certain number of slaves 
 from conscription into the army. 
 
 From my almost daily intercourse with the village mer- 
 chant, while making our jDurchases, I got the impression 
 that, to say the least, he did not dislike me, if, indeed, he 
 did not entertain a kindly feeling toward me ; and so one 
 day, anxious to learn all I could of a class of people I was 
 about to encounter for the first time, I said : 
 
 " Tell me what you know about the hill peoj^le." 
 
 " Come into the oflSce," he answered, in an undertone, — 
 after looking around among the bystanders inquiringly, as 
 if observing who were there, so that he might make up his 
 mind whether or not it would be safe to be closeted with 
 
436 A TEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 one of the " Yankee new-comers." Locking the door ho 
 began, with a something in his manner which caused me to 
 feel that, for once, he was going to speak his mind, let the 
 result be what it might. 
 
 He bit into his cigar savagely, and sent out great puffs 
 of smoke from it; then he kicked out viciously at one of 
 the mangy country curs, which was making a kennel of 
 his counting-room, sending him howling into a corner on 
 three legs, and then he said : 
 
 " If the river people indulged in champagne before the 
 war, the hill people were not less devoted to whisky. It 
 was drink in both cases, and drunkenness, too, though in 
 the one case, the victim may have fallen more often into a 
 bed of luxury ; in the other, more often into the first fence- 
 corner. 
 
 " If a personal difficulty arose, the code duello may have 
 been invoked to settle it with the first class, but the other 
 also had a remedy — warning and shot being almost simul- 
 taneous with the offense. 
 
 " These hill people are woefully isolated. There is in 
 their lives all that may be conceived of remote frontier ex- 
 perience. There are bears, deer, in fact all sorts of wild 
 and savage game, in their woods. Take your best culti- 
 vated city man," continued he, "and give him fifteen years 
 of this experience, and you will find that he has lost most 
 of his former identity — not only that, but he has gained 
 most of the characteristics of his wild surroundings. Give 
 a man a life of it and what do you find ? " 
 "Are they a laborious people ? " I asked. 
 " Yes ; they work some. They need money with which 
 to purchase ammunition to kill game and end personal 
 quarrels, to buy whisky, tobacco, some coffee and sugar, a 
 little clothing— jeans, cottonades, and kerseys, — and play 
 poker in a retail way." 
 
 " What do you mean by 'poker in a retail way? '" I 
 asked, amused. 
 
I AM APrOINTED A JUDGE- 437 
 
 '' I mean small games — five cents ante with twenty-five 
 cents limit, for instance. Neither books, magazines or news- 
 papers are in demand out there, unless used as wadding for 
 their guns — because tow is scarce, and then paper covered 
 with printing will do, though there is something about their 
 manner which says they would prefer the j)aper without 
 the printing on it, as printer's ink fouls their gun-barrels. 
 
 "There are exceptions among these people — just about 
 as gold is exceptionable," he added with a smile; "but 
 where there is little difference in their mode of existence, 
 the people themselves must be generally alike. It is not 
 living out there, as life is understood where you came from, 
 but simply existence. 
 
 "Just now there is one point on which the hill and river 
 people are united — hatred to the Yankees. This is one of 
 the results of the war. 
 
 " The beliefs of the hill people are sincere. In this re- 
 spect they are vastly different from their more intelligent 
 brothers, the river people. Convince a bill-man that a cer- 
 tain thing is right, or true, though it may be entirely dif- 
 ferent from what he had hitherto thought, and he will 
 adopt it. Thus, with terrible prejudices, they may be said 
 to be a plastic people. The man that one moment they 
 would put a bullet through, because of a belief that he was 
 in some way their enemy — and this being their idea of the 
 way to rid themselves of enemies — once undeceive them, 
 and the next moment they will take him to their hearths 
 and shower upon him the best their homes afford. 
 
 "In the nature of things, with the same opportunities to 
 do so, these untamed people will absorb the civilizing in- 
 fluences of the North much sooner than the river people, 
 and I sincerely believe that the great hope for the near 
 future of this country is through them. 
 
 " Some one has said of the upland people : ' They arc 
 like the acid in photography : turn it loose and it will either 
 injure or destroy whatever it comes in contact with. Put 
 
438 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 it to its appropriate use, and what a beautiful picture it as- 
 sists to produce.' I suppose the parallel is that these 
 hill i)eople, without j^roper influences, are the acid turned 
 loose, but under proper influences they would make the best 
 of citizens. 
 
 " The prejudices engendered by slavery will only en- 
 tirely disappear with the disapjDcarance of the generation 
 in which slavery lived. These hill peoj)le, being only un- 
 der'its influence to a smalt degree, rather sufl'ering from its 
 example of making white labor ignoble, will soon find out 
 that, if any thing, they were relieved by its abolition, hence 
 the small grains of prejudice that now exist in their minds 
 will be replaced by feelings of gladness that an institution 
 which made them ' poor white trash ' is dead ; and there 
 will naturally grow up a kindly feeling toward the govern- 
 ment and people who accomplished this for them. In 
 slavery times unquestionably white labor was a disgrace 
 here. In time this will all be changed, now that slavery is 
 abolished." 
 
 The village merchant had entirely opened u]0 his thoughts 
 to me. He had never before seemed to have any opinions, 
 but the fact was that, like so many of his class, he was 
 wearing a mask which, lifted, disclosed a man of decided 
 ones. I thanked him sincerely for the insight he had given 
 me, and told him that I had never dreamed that he was so 
 close an observer. I was strongly inclined to ask him if he 
 thought the day would ever come when his class would as- 
 sert themselves in the South, but upon second thought I 
 felt that he had already given me so much of his confidence 
 that it would not be kind to press him further at that time. 
 I mounted my horse and rode slowly home, thinking : " Out 
 into this hill region I must go to hold court with all my 
 Yankee odor about me. What is to be my fate ? Will 
 these hill people give me time to get acquainted with them, 
 and so, may be, teach them to think well of me? or will 
 they shoot me on sight ? " 
 
I AM APPOINTED A JUDGE. 439 
 
 The sun had sunk to rest when I wound my way out of 
 the village. There was our first home, and in the twilight 
 it had the silence of death. Why did I gaze at it so long, 
 unless for the thought which came into my mind, " Will I 
 ever see it again ? " The full moon came up, a little fur- 
 ther on, its fiice strongly shaded with red, and instead of 
 questioning, as was my wont, what sort of a morrow it prom- 
 ised, there fell from my lips the exclamation : " There is 
 blood upon it." 
 
 At one of the river landings I passed, there was some- 
 thing white glittening in the moonlight. Anxious to di- 
 vert my thoughts from their gloomy channels before reach- 
 ing home, I rode out to see what it was, and found a 
 tomb-stone, freshly landed from a down-river boat ! At 
 this time a party of government employes were in the 
 neighborhood, engaged in disinterring the remains of Fed- 
 eral soldiers from those great grave-yards, the Mississippi 
 levees, for transfer to the national cemeteries, then being 
 established ; and there, on the side of the levee, on ray route, 
 was a great pile of coffins, either filled or to be filled, and 
 there were the gaping pits strewn along my path. There, 
 also, were the untouched mounds, showing the work of 
 disinterment unfinished. Then I came upon a pack of 
 hungry dogs of the neighborhood, feeding upon the carcass 
 of a mule, passed the buzzard's-roost in the dead tree, and 
 so reached home, sadly wondering why it was that uj^on 
 this particular night I had to travel through such scenes as 
 1 have just described. 
 
440 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 CHAPTEE LXXIII. 
 
 HOME FROM THE VILLAGE. 
 
 If reminders of death attended my ride home from the 
 village, they vanquished upon my arrival there. Two pairs 
 of chubby arms encircled my Deck as I stepped upon the 
 gallery, and there also was Mrs. Harding, claiming her 
 share of the welcome. Kisses greeted me from those sweet 
 lijDS of mother and children. The sky cleared at once, and 
 for the time being I forgot about the blood on the moon, 
 or any thing else ominous, in the bright cheer of our log- 
 cabin. 
 
 " Why are you so late, John ? 1 have worried, fearing 
 something had haj^pened to you," said Mrs. Harding, ten- 
 derly. 
 
 "No especial reason, my dear." 
 
 And then it occurred to me that I had best give her a 
 little suggestion of the situation, whereupon I corrected 
 my reply : 
 
 " Oh, yes, there was ; I had quite a long interview with 
 the village merchant." 
 
 This statement had sobered my face, and Mrs. Harding 
 asked, a little anxiously : "Any bad news?" 
 
 " Nothing very particular. He told me what he knew 
 about the hill people I have got to visit next week ; and, 
 by the way," approaching more nearly the plain truth, 
 " there is right smart talk of danger to me, if 1 go out 
 there ; but I 'm going, nevertheless." 
 
 "Why do you go, John? — why not resign the place? 
 There is danger enough here, without encountering it out 
 there." 
 
HOME FROM THE VILLAGE. 441 
 
 "Well, darling, it is a duty that has presented itself in 
 my i^athway. I have lifted it upon my shoulders, and I 
 could never look my family in the face if I put it down 
 now. You had better have my dead body, if it comes 
 to you through the discharge of duty, than the cowardly 
 wretch I should be if I shunned it because it was fraught 
 with danger. It was dangerous to be a soldier, but where 
 would our government be now but for ils soldiers? We 
 are fighting now in a different way, and he that is in the 
 contest, and shirks his duty, is a coward. But enough of 
 this. I am hungry for our evening rubber of cribbage, 
 and, besides, I do n't want any gloomy thoughts in this 
 paradise, which you and the boys have made for me. If it 
 is all dark on the outside, let it be bright in here." This 
 last utterance filled Mrs. Harding's face with joy, and she 
 replied : 
 
 '^ It shall always be a bright place for our papa— shall it 
 not, boys ?" And there was a '• Yes, mama," from the old- 
 est, with a " 'Es, mama," from the little parrot brother. 
 Then, while the lamps were being turned up, to make it 
 brighter, and the coals on the hearth stirred, to bring out 
 their lovely glow, and Mrs. Harding was arranging for our 
 game, the boys grouped themselves at my knee, and told 
 me what a time they had had to-day, in breaking their 
 yoke of calves ; how, becoming thirsty, they had run the 
 sled into a pond of water, and upset themselves, and there 
 near the fire were the drying clothes as proof The eldest 
 one showed the sore finger he had for the day's work, and 
 the little parrot held up one of his tiny ones, declaring ho 
 had a '' sore fin'er, too." And so in this prattle of their 
 troubles, my own sank deeper into temporary oblivion. And 
 when Mrs. Harding said the cribbage was ready, I had 
 come to feel that the whole world was bounded by the four 
 walls then inclosing us, and that it was a very happy one, 
 too. 
 
 Scarcely was the cribbage over before two small sleepy 
 19* 
 
442 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 faces presented themselves for the good-night kiss ; a little 
 later, '' Spare my papa and mama," was part of what they 
 had been taught to say ; and as the words fell on ni}^ ear 
 to-night, there arose in my mind the question, " Will this 
 petition be answered ?" 
 
 Two drowsy voices called out from their nest, bringing 
 my thoughts back from their gypsying : " Good-night, 
 paj^a." 
 
 " Good-night, darlings ; pleasant dreams." 
 
 *' Pleasant dreams," answered one. 
 
 " P'esant d'eams," echoed the other, almost inaudibly, as 
 sleep was taking him in its arms. This last was too much 
 for me, so there was a rush to the bed-side, and more hug- 
 ging and kissing, until the mandate of the little one came 
 forth : " Do way, mama and papa ; I want to do to s'eep," 
 when I reluctantly stole out, and the angels began their 
 watch. 
 
 As I walked back, after saying the last good-night, the 
 loose boards rattled under my feet, but in my happy mood 
 I seemed to be treading on Turkish carpet. My eyes 
 rested on the rude wall of logs only to transform them into 
 costly wainscoting and fresco-work ; and there, by my 
 side, was Mrs. Harding, needing, as I thought, only wings 
 to be an angel. There was no dragging on of time under 
 this lotus influence. Indeed, 1 felt that the moments were 
 passing by only too swiftly. And soon, my wnfe following 
 the example of the children, I was left alone with my 
 thoughts. 
 
 There was the chirp of the cricket on the hearth, the 
 ticking of the clock, the occasional growl of the faithful 
 watch-dog, the hardly audible breathing of the three quiet 
 sleepers — no other sound greeted my ear. I looked up 
 among the rafters, and thought I saw a huge diamond hid- 
 den away there, but a second look showed it to be a star 
 shining through a crevice in the roof. I opened the door 
 
I START OUT TO HOLD COURT, ETC. 443 
 
 Stealthily, and crept out upon the gallery, to see what the 
 night promised. 
 
 The moon was high in the heavens, shining now with a 
 white light. There was not a cloud to be seen, and the 
 whole aspect of the night was assuring, thus strengthening 
 the pleasant inspiration of the evening in-doors. I said 
 to myself: "There is no harm in a region that can pro- 
 duce so beautiful a night as this," when " whoop! whoop !" 
 from an owl on the roof over ray head, fell like a dirge 
 upon me, and I hastened in, hurried to bed, and covered 
 ray ears, to shut out the doleful sound that was rapidly de- 
 stroying thedclightful state of mind I had previously se- 
 cured. 
 
 CHAPTEE LXXIY. 
 
 I START OUT TO HOLD COURT— AND WHAT COMES OF IT. 
 
 At last the hour arrived when I must say good-bye to 
 ray family, and go out to fulfill ray official duties. I had 
 thought the raatter all over. If I were to be raurdered, it 
 would raost likely be in the low^ swarap region, about ten 
 railes back from the Mississippi, which divides the hills 
 and the river. This was neutral ground, and the deed be- 
 ing done there, the hill people could charge it upon the 
 the river people, and vice versa, and no one but those in the 
 conspiracy would know the guilty parties. 
 
 They would expect me along Monday raorning, I 
 thought, and be in ambush, awaiting me. Why not flank 
 them by going out Sunday afternoon ? I could not think 
 if I reached the county-seat in safety, there would be any 
 great danger for rae. But, no, I would not try to shun ray 
 fate by stealing out a day in advance. Having resolved to 
 
444 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 undergo the ordeal, I must take no step that would show 
 the white-feather. If I passed through it with my life, it 
 must be with bead erect ; if not, my fate must be met with 
 a brave front. One thing I would accomplish, if I died for 
 it — my courage should be acknowledged. 
 
 The worst-situated man has always something in his fa- 
 vor; to me this was the animal I was to ride. I felt cer- 
 tain that if I were ambushed, — and my belief was that this 
 was the way in which I was to be attacked, if at all — and 
 if I were not killed or seriously wounded at the first vol- 
 ley, and before I could place my would-be murderers be- 
 hind me, I would be in a measure safe. My mare had great 
 speed, wonderful endurance, was as quick as a flash, and 1 
 felt that we could just shoot away from our pursuers. If 
 1 do not stoj) here I shall say too much of this wonderful 
 brute — not more than she deserves, for that would be im- 
 possible ; but I might weary the reader. Her name should 
 have been " Invincible," but, instead, it was simply 
 "Kitty." 
 
 For several days before my departure she received the 
 closest attention as to feed and grooming — so much, in- 
 deed, that Mrs. Harding declared herself jealous of my de- 
 votion to her ; and whenever there was any question as to 
 my whereabouts, it was solved by finding me at the stable. 
 
 When Kitty was brought out for starting, she would 
 have made the eyes of Eosa Bonheur twinkle. "What 
 strength of loin she disclosed, and how the cords stood out 
 upon her shapely, unblemished limbs. There was a look 
 in her eye which said : " Never fear ; we '11 be enough for 
 them to-day, master." 
 
 When I have said that a spectator would not have been 
 likely to remain unmoved at my parting with my family, 
 I have said enough. 
 
 As to my equipments, it is, also, enough to say that, save 
 the derringers which had found their way into the side- 
 pockets of my coat, every thing else, including the navy- 
 
I START OUT TO HOLD COURT, ETC. 445 
 
 sixes, were in the saddle-bags under me. And so, going 
 out to administer the law with concealed weapons, I be- 
 came the law-breaker. 
 
 A turn in the levee, half a mile off, showed Mrs. Hard- 
 ing and the children still on the gallery. Fluttering hand- 
 kerchiefs telegraphed a last good-bye, and then I passed out 
 of sight. 
 
 I was due at court at ten o'clock, and so I had left homo 
 just as the sun was showing himself over the woods. There 
 was the customary coolness of this gulf-region in the atmos- 
 phere, and Kitty swept along as if there was only a 
 feather on her back. But the time for the push had not 
 yet come, and so I held her in. To test her I jumped a 
 couple of ditches, and they, seeing a five-rail fence along 
 the road-side, I made a dash for it, and she vaulted it with- 
 out hesitation, or apparently great effort. How proudly I 
 patted her neck, telling her to tr}- it again, and get back 
 into the road. How willingly she obeyed. Thus 1 rode 
 on, jumping several good-sized logs, dashing into and 
 through some thickets which, from the outside, seemed im- 
 penetrable. Whatever I undertook to do, a slight pressure 
 of the spur was all that was needed to send my mare to its 
 successful accomplishment. I felt confident that I could 
 dodge a bullet, if one should bo sent after me. Yes, but 
 could I dodge a volley of them ? 
 
 Passing through the village, I espied a party of the 
 " mischievous boys " staggering along from their night of 
 drunken debauch. Southland was not of the number. 
 There were others also missing. Should I find them fur- 
 ther along ? The air of the village seemed charged with 
 bar-room odors. The roofs of the houses, as well as every 
 thing else, were wet, as if the town were in tears. And, hor- 
 rors ! there a little further on in the road, lay a negro man 
 with a hole in his temple, and the blood still slowly oozing 
 from it, showing that he had only been dead a short time. 
 Hanging over him, as if contemplating a feast, was a vil- 
 
446 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 lage cur, and up in a tree, near by, was a flock of buz- 
 zards. Kitty shied from the dead man, and snorted as she 
 smelled the blood, rushing forward as if anxious to hurry 
 her master and herself away from the terrible spectacle. 
 Here was surely death in our path. Was there more of it 
 to come ? 
 
 Getting into the country again, the scenes had a quiet- 
 ing effect. There were the cotton-pickers at work, songs 
 meanwhile falling from their lips. The rabbits were bus- 
 ily hunting their morning meal, with bird and insect life 
 every-where. Then a proud deer, with head erect and 
 broad antlers, crossed the road in front of me ; and then 
 some wild-turkeys flew from their feeding up into the trees, 
 and looked down upon me. Thus there was tempting work 
 for my navy-sixes, but the mood was not in me to try it. 
 This large game warned me that I was nearing the point 
 where I might expect trouble. Soon the low ground was 
 unmistakable. There were the marks of the annual over- 
 flows high up on the trees ; there were the mud chimneys 
 of the cray-fish, and the cypress-knees, serving the purpose 
 of lungs, and over all was the dense growth of moss, which 
 one never sees without thinking of grave-yards. 
 
 At sight of these, I felt my heart throbbing more quickly, 
 but, as I drew the reins more firmly, I saw with pleasure 
 that my hand was steady, showing that I had not lost con- 
 fidence in myself. 
 
 The road was but little more than a pathway, following 
 a tortuous course through the woods, so that if I en- 
 countered an ambush it would most likely be at a sharp 
 turn, and thus with scarcely any warning. I had put my 
 noble mare down to her best work, which, in spite of my 
 apprehensions, was exciting my admiration, when she came 
 to a sudden halt by a vine hanging low across the path. 
 Quick as thought I turned her to one side, laying my body 
 upon her neck, while she, understanding what was needed, 
 stooped simultaneously with me, and thus I passed under 
 
I START OUT TO HOLD COURT, ETC. 447 
 
 it successfully. Looking back, as I shot onward, the glance 
 I had was enough to make me tliink tliat the vines had 
 been purposely pulled down, and a crackling sound, show- 
 ing that something was moving near the spot, convinced 
 me that there was an enemy in the neighborhood, and that 
 I had just passed his first trap. One more chance for my life, 
 I thought, but 1 felt also a certainty that there was trouble 
 ahead. How I thanked my mare for that intelligent act 
 of hers in getting under the vine. I told her so, patting 
 her on the neck. She moved along at wonderful speed. 
 If it had been a straight road I might have defied my ene- 
 mies, but, crooked as it was, 1 was constantly presenting a 
 broadside for assault. How I used my eyes ! They must 
 have flashed fire, — now. peering ahead; now glancing 
 on one side, now on the other. If I could only have 
 looked every way at once, so as to know which way to 
 dodge ! 
 
 There was another sharp turn in the road, as near as I 
 could estimate, a mile further on from the first trap. Sus- 
 picious of these turns, I looked sharply in that direction. 
 There was need of this. Eight across the road, not less 
 than four feet high, was a matted growth of vines, and 
 there was the freshly-torn appearance of the woods, show- 
 ing that it had just been prepared. I laughed at the ob- 
 stacle, and my now foaming steed went over it as readily as 
 if there was nothing in the way. I knew she would do 
 this, so, beyond lifting the reins and giving her the spur, I 
 took no heed of it, devoting myself to watching the thick 
 undergrowth on either side to see if I could espy an 
 enemy. 
 
 I had now a derringer in my hand, and it was no longer 
 a concealed weapon with me. I had a glimpse of certainly 
 two, and I thought three men, as I flew on, the cowards 
 stealthily making toward the trap, with guns in their 
 hands. They were masked, and so unrecognizable. They 
 were behind me, and so in a measure harmless. 
 
448 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 A few rods further I heard a rustic in a thicket near 
 the road, and, looking towards it, saw three mustang ponies, 
 saddled and bridled, tethered there. They were doubtless 
 the property of the men behind. I had passed the second 
 ambush in safety. Were there more to come? On and 
 on I flew, my mare's nostrils distended, and her sides rap- 
 idly swelling and falling under the mighty effort she was 
 making, my eyes strained in every direction. I roused up, 
 as I went on, several of those gloomy reminders of death, 
 buzzards ; also those emblems of innocence, a doe and her 
 fawn. Thus there were sunshine and darkness in ray 
 path. 
 
 I realized that every leap of my mare carried mo so 
 much nearer to safety or further danger, and* then my 
 heart sank within me when I thought that this terrible 
 gait could not be continued much longer. But I also knew, 
 from the distance I had come, that it would not have to 
 be. This thought encouraged me, when suddenly an- 
 other turn in the road was disclosed, and there, half visi- 
 ble ahead of me, were the dread enemy ! There were no 
 vine-obstacles this time, but a party of fiends, mounted 
 and armed ! Oh, God ! 1 here thought, if I can only 
 pass them — if I can only put them behind me ! I 
 looked down at my spur and the mare's side ; there was 
 blood upon them, but, notwithstanding, I struck the spur 
 again into her side, and how she responded to my will ! 
 
 There was a rush in the woods as I swung around past 
 the enemy, and — bang ! bang ! fell upon the air, and then 
 a volley of musketry followed. The bullets whistled 
 around me, and a stinging sensation in the hand which 
 held the reins warned me that I had been struck. Kitty 
 shook her head viciously, which, terrible to contemplate, 
 caused me to fear that she too was wounded ; but as she 
 continued to move steadily under me, I concluded that, if 
 wounded at all, her hurt was not serious. 
 
 Qood ! — glorious ! I had passed the enemy ! This was 
 
I START OUT TO HOLD COURT, ETC. 449 
 
 unquestionably the final assault. My foes were in the rear. 
 I looked back for the double purjiose of seeing if there 
 were any blood-marks on my mare, and to learn what the 
 enemy were doing. I could see no such marks, but the 
 enemy were in full j^ursuit, strung out behind me. They 
 wore masks on their faces. I gave them a shot with my 
 derringer, and shouted back to them: "Come on, you 
 cowards !— catch me if you can !" Looking ahead again, 
 I saw blood running down the side of Kitty's head from' 
 her left ear. I leaned forward in my saddle, and, examin- 
 ing it as best I could, with the speed she was making, I 
 found a bullet had passed through the upper part of the 
 car. Thus the extent of damage done was this, and a ball 
 through my hand, which was bleeding profusely. 
 
 Putting the empty derringer back into my pocket, I took 
 out my handkerchief and tried to stop the flow of blood 
 with it. The wound was almost in the wrist, and in close 
 proximity to the pulse artery ; indeed, I feared it might be 
 the pulse artery itself. I did not seem to be able to 
 stop the flow, and I felt there was danger of my bleeding 
 to death. I looked back again, and there were the enemy 
 still in pursuit, though falling behind. They were firing 
 shots at me at frequent intervals, but all falling short of 
 the mark. I could plainly see that they were applying 
 spur and whip in their frantic eff'ort to lessen the space be- 
 tween us. Whether it were fancy or not, I am not certain, 
 but there was a striking resemblance to Southland in one 
 of the party. As nearly as I could count them, I made out 
 seven of these brave, chivalrous Southerners. There they 
 were, growing smaller and smaller as I looked at them. 
 
 I felt safe now— my mare having no serious injury, thero 
 was no longer any doubt of my escape. But my still 
 bleeding wound caused me some fear. What with hers and 
 my own, but principally my own, the mare was streaked 
 with blood, and I found myself growing weaker. 
 
450 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 But my druggist knowledge came into play to save 
 me. I bad a flask of whisky in my saddle-bags, tbe cork 
 of wbicb I took and cut into balves. This gave me two 
 pieces, flat on one side, and oval on tbe otber. Tbe ball 
 bad passed tbrougb the band. I placed tbe oval face of 
 tbe cork across tbe wound on eitber side, strapping tbe 
 pieces down witb my bandkercbief, tbus arresting tbe se- 
 vere flow of blood. Tben giving tbe flask a strong pull, I 
 poured tbe rest over tbe mare's bead and neck, throwing 
 some into ber nostrils as a tonic. Tbus playing tbe sur- 
 geon for myself, wbile still engaged in my race for life, I 
 at last arrived at a point where I could see tbe county-seat 
 in tbe distance, and, fortunately, at a small running 
 stream. 1 sat there upon my foaming, panting steed for 
 some time, and listened to see if I could hear any sound 
 of my pursuers. I could not. I did not think it at 
 all likely that they would continue their pursuit of me into 
 tbe village. They bad, no doubt, ere this turned back. 
 The mare was famishing for a drink, and come what might 
 I would take the chances of giving it to ber. She that bad 
 done so much for me deserved all at my hands ! After she 
 had finished drinking, still bearing no sound of coming 
 horses, I concluded to dismount and wash off tbe blood 
 from Kitty and myself, so that I should be more present- 
 able before entering town. This I did, and then rode into 
 the village. Looking at my watch, I found it only eight 
 o'clock. I bad certainly made a quick trip. 
 
 Wbile riding through the main street, I decided not to 
 speak a word of my morning's experience. My wound 
 should be understood to be simply a sore band. I had ex- 
 amined Kitty's wound again at tbe stream, and found the 
 bullet bad passed through the upper part of her ear, leav- 
 ing only a small bole that would not be likely to excite 
 suspicion. I felt devoutly thankful to tbe Almighty for 
 having spared my life. There was also a feeling in my 
 heart for the brave mare — I felt that, notwithstanding 
 
I nOLD COURT. 451 
 
 my needy condition, the amount of the Hebron indebted- 
 ness would not buy her. In fact, I then felt, I was amply 
 repaid for all I had suflfered in the South in the possession 
 of her. This might all be very foolish, I thought, but, 
 nevertheless, I felt it. Think of the gauntlet she had run 
 for me, and then say if it was really foolish. She had en- 
 abled me to place at defiance the devilish machinations of 
 my would-be murderers ; and I felt that if I could look 
 into the black hearts of the conspirators who had lain in 
 wait for me, while I should still find hatred, there would 
 also be respect, in that they had found a new-comer who, 
 when he accepted a trust, was determined to fulfill it. 
 
 It is said of the Southern people that, when once they find 
 what they consider a courageous man, they are disposed 
 to let him alone. The hope for my future safety was, that 
 this morning's experience would convince them that I was 
 not lacking in courage. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXY. 
 
 I HOLD COURT. 
 
 Arriving at the village, I learned, upon inquiry of a by- 
 stander, where lawyer Whitely lived, and, riding directly 
 there, I found him at home. I had always heard of this 
 gentleman as being conservative in all his views, rather 
 the leading citizen of the village, and a warm friend to the 
 immigration of our class. He gave me a hearty welcome, 
 and I passed a great deal of the spare time during my ten 
 days of court in his society. More than any man I had 
 met since my residence in the State, he made sentiment him- 
 self, instead of allowing the sentiment of others to control 
 him. Inasmuch as he fraternized with me, it did not seem 
 
452 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 disreputable for others of the hill-people to do so, and, for 
 the first time in my experience, I had the pleasant sensa- 
 tion of finding myself, in some sense, welcome, and not, as 
 always before, merely tolerated. It was clear from this 
 that my class could make headway among these people 
 much more rapidly than among the river people. 
 
 There was one feature of my arrival which impressed 
 me as suspicious. No lawyers came out from the river on 
 that first Monday, but the next day they were there in a 
 body. Was it because, for some mysterious reason, which 
 they understood, they did not think any court would be 
 held ; but found, on Monday, later in the day, that they 
 were mistaken ? Who knows ! 
 
 On the faces of many of the people present at the open- 
 ing of ray court, there was an expression of great surprise, 
 and I also marked some scowls, as an off-set to which there 
 were a few pleasant faces. I was a great curiosity, and 
 had to undergo considerable staring. My bandaged hand 
 was looked at not a little suspiciously. 
 
 One or two ugly episodes occurred. AVhen my stay was 
 about half throufrh.I was standins: in the midst of a crowd 
 of people in the court-room, chatting with one of them, 
 while waiting for the moment to arrive at which to of)en 
 court. Chancing to glance across the court-room, my eye 
 caught that of Whitely looking at me with an expression 
 of most intense pain and apprehension on his face, and 
 beckoning me. At the same time I heard a noise, and then 
 a movement with shuffling of feet, in my rear. Turning 
 quickly I saw some men carrying a struggling fellow off, 
 and trying to take from him a huge knife. 
 
 " What is the matter? " I asked of Whitely, who by this 
 time had made his way over to me. 
 
 " Matter ! " said he ; " that man was about to j^lunge his 
 knife in your back, and would havo done so if his blow had 
 not been arrested." 
 
 "Who is he?" 
 
I nOLD FORTH. 453 
 
 no gavo tbo name of a man I had often hoard of, and 
 who it was known had committed more murders than ho 
 liad fingers and toes. I afterwards heard that he had come 
 to town with the avowed intention of murdering " that 
 d— d Yankee judge," and ho said he was going to get good 
 jmy for it, too. 
 
 The wretch was so near doing his work that I remem- 
 bered, after it was over, having felt a pressure on my back 
 which I believed was the knife. When I went to my room, 
 this imin-ession was verified by my finding a slight cut in 
 my coat. 
 
 " You had a narrow escape," said lawyer Whitely, his 
 face still pallid. 
 
 " Yes, indeed, it seems so," I answered, feeling profoundly 
 thankful at my escape. 
 
 Then I took my seat upon the bench, and held court dur- 
 ing the afternoon, feeling dazed at the dreadful experi- 
 ences I was encountering. That night, when I thought it 
 all over in the quiet of my room, and in connection%vith 
 my remarkable escape in reaching the county-seat, I came 
 almost to feel that Pbore a charmed life. 
 
 The second episode was as follows : There were some 
 enumerations being made under the auspices of the Freed- 
 man's Bureau. The enumerators, who were new-comers, 
 were in session in one of the rooms below the court-room.' 
 They were not likely to have suflicient blanks to finish 
 their work. This they knew before they came out, and so 
 it was arranged that the agent of the Bureau should send 
 more upon their arrival daily expected, from New Orleans. 
 The blanks gave out before the new supply came. It was 
 noised around that it was all a "Yankee trick" which 
 would result in the people not getting a fair enumeration. 
 This suggestion was no sooner started than it spread like 
 wild-fire. An angry crowd began assembling at the door 
 of the office, with threats to pull out the " Yankee 
 wretches" and hang them to the first tree. I heard the 
 
454 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 tumult in the midst of the session of my court. Pretty 
 soon lawyer Whitely, who had left the court-room when 
 the noise commenced, came back, his face white with ex- 
 citement. He whispered in my ear the nature of the 
 trouble, saying : 
 
 " You had better assemble a posse to maintain, if possi- 
 ble, the peace. There is terrible excitement below over the 
 non-arrival of the blanks. I fear the result. "When will 
 the blanks come?"' he added, half to himself, looking out 
 of the window impatiently. I was proceeding to make a 
 list for a 'posse, at the same time apprehensive as to whether 
 my mandate, or that of the mob-court, would be heeded, 
 when a shout below announced that something unu- 
 sual had occurred. Whitely hurried out to see what it 
 was. Though absent but a moment, it seemed an age. 
 He returned with the grateful information that the messen- 
 ger had just arrived with the blanks, and that no further 
 trouble need be apprehended. 
 
 I have always thought that but for the opportune arrival 
 of the messenger, this would have been my fatal day. A good 
 deal of drinking had been going on in spite of my order 
 to close up the drinking-shops, and if the blood of the poor, 
 innocent enumerators had been shed, the mob would never 
 have rested until they had taken my life. As it was, while 
 the riot was brewing, one of the enumerators was struck in 
 his side with the point of a bayonet, put through the open 
 window, and the crowd seemed bent on worrying their vic- 
 tims to death. 
 
 In the afternoon of the last day of court one of m}" new- 
 found friends came to me and said in an undertone : " Don 't 
 sign your docket to-night. Let it be understood you '11 
 sign it to-morrow, before you leave for home. Come out to 
 my house and stay all night. Do n't tell any one where 
 you are going, though. I mean what I say," said he, sig- 
 nificantly. 
 
 '• Thanks ; I will accept your kind invitation with pleas- 
 
I HOLD FORTH. 455 
 
 lire." Accordingly, after court, I mounted Kitty, with ray 
 outfit,.and proceeded as I had been directed. I had no dif- 
 ficulty in finding the place, but it would be impossible to 
 describe ray surprise at what I found there. It was a fam- 
 ily consisting of husband, wife and two daughters, who 
 had never seen the JN"orth, or scarcely ever, they said, met 
 jNorthern people, and yet, so far as I could see, they had 
 not the shade of a prejudice against them. 
 
 I found on their table Harper's Weekly, with Putnam's 
 and Harper's Monthlies. There were copies of these for sev- 
 eral consecutive raonths, indicating that the faraily were sub- 
 scribers. I found a j^iano, though this was not so strange, 
 and choice rausic, including among the patriotic airs " Star- 
 Spangled Banner," "Yankee Doodle," and "The Bonnie 
 Blue Flag." There was choice bric-a-brac scattered about, 
 with fine specimens of embroidery partly done. What did 
 it all mean? Here was a faraily exclusively Southern, 
 with whom I harmonized as if they had mingled always 
 in Northern circles. I did not understand it then ; I do 
 not now exactly, and never shall, quite. 1 remember very 
 distinctly to have had this delightful experience, — there 
 was singing, reading and discussion for an evening that 
 ran on until midnight, but which did not seem to occupy 
 an hour. All this I will make oath to as havin2: occurred, 
 
 O 7 
 
 but how it could be, considering the antecedent surround- 
 ings of this fiamily, was a raarvel. 
 
 Colonel Edraunds — their name was Edmunds, and their 
 plantation was called Edmundston — did raore than I have 
 indicated. He did not, in so many words, tell me it was 
 arranged to murder me as I returned home the next day, 
 nor did he, perhaps, intimate that ; — just what he did was to 
 give me definite instructions as to my course homeward. 
 
 " There is no need of your returning to the county-seat 
 to sign your docket. You can do that when you come out 
 to your next term. You must go back to the river by the 
 upper road, and thus avoid the route you came before." 
 
456 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 He seemed to lay great stress upon the last sentence, and 
 I thought his eyes said, " Yon know what I mean." » 
 
 Did he indeed know of the ordeal I had passed through 
 at that time ? The matter had not been spoken of, so far 
 as I knew, and to all appearances it was not known. 
 
 There must have been an expression of doubt in my 
 face, for my host added : 
 
 '' Excuse me, sir, but I have the best of reasons for ad- 
 vising you to take this step. The upper road to the river 
 is one seldom traveled, and you are sure,'' — he said " sure " 
 with emphasis, — "not to be at all interrupted in your 
 journey." I had intended from the first to adopt his sug- 
 gestions, whatever they might be, but now I was more 
 than ever convinced that I ought to do so. 
 
 " 1 will certainly take the route you suggest, and feel 
 more grateful to you than I can tell for your advice," I 
 said warm'y. 
 
 The next morning I was off in good time, and without 
 interruption reached the river. 
 
 It so happened that at the point where I came out there 
 was in progress some sort of a public meeting. It must 
 have been semi-political in its character. There were a 
 hundred or so of white people assembled around the 
 speaker's stand, with several hundred negroes on the out- 
 skirts. As I rode up the speaker was actually engaged in 
 an attack upon me, telling how I had come into the coun- 
 try, and was now undertaking to rule them. He saw me, 
 and his countenance expressed the utmost surprise, so 
 much so that he stopped his harangue. At this his audience, 
 who had been aj^plauding him, at least the white portion 
 of them, turned around to see what Avas the matter, and saw 
 me. A number of them were from my part of the county, 
 and knew me at a glance. If I had been one from the dead 
 the expression on their faces could not have been more 
 marked. There was at once surprise, consternation, indig- 
 nation and chagrin expressed, and, watching them closely 
 
I HOLD FORTH. 457 
 
 as I did, I saw significant looks pass between them. My 
 name flew from lip to lip, and soon every one knew who 
 the stranger was who had so quietly and unexpectedly 
 ridden into their midst. I knew then just as well as 
 afterwards, when it was told as a fact, that I had again 
 flanked my enemy; that it was supposed I was then on 
 the route I went out by, and that there was an ambush 
 ready for me this time that I could not pass. Keed I say 
 that, terrible as the situation was, looked at as a whole, I 
 yet felt a sense of triumph on this particular occasion. 'No 
 doubt in the crowd before me were many of the plotters 
 of ray destruction, and here I stood before them, having 
 successfully passed through the fiery furnace their malice 
 had prepared for me. My hand was still in a sling — their 
 bullet had made its mark ; and this, too, doubtless, told its 
 story to some of those present. 1 felt, as I looked them 
 squarely in the face, that I now had a mission here, not alto- 
 gether in the accomplishment of the Dobson scheme. Then 
 there came into my mind a terrible resolve — to try to per- 
 form it, even though its goal, as was not unlikely, should 
 be my grave. With this resolve swelling my bosom, how 
 immeasurably I felt myself above the scared, outwitted 
 crowd about me ! 
 
 I passed out of their sight on my way home. In course 
 of time I reached the village landing. Here everybody 
 knew me, and here again I read consternation, chagrin, 
 surprise, and anger in the faces of those I met. I looked 
 out for Southland and others of his party. They were 
 missing ! 
 
 The mare, from this on, scented her home, and what 
 strides she made towards it ! It brought back to my mind, 
 for an instant, our memorable race through the camp of the 
 enemy. 
 
 There, on the gallery to welcome me, were wife and 
 
 children — and such a welcome ! Then the whole storv 
 
 liad to be told, and my now rapidly healing wound looked 
 20 
 
458 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 after, tears dropping into it along with the healing lotion — 
 the former I declared, laughingly, much more healing than 
 the lotion. 
 
 I never mentioned the experience just described, outside 
 of Hebron, and never heard it spoken of in the county. 
 Evidently, if I did not care to expose it, the participants 
 on the other side did not. 
 
 CHAPTEE LXXYI. 
 
 RESULTS. 
 
 The history of one day's cotton-picking is the history of 
 all, and so the months went by, with their daily receipts of 
 the fleecy staple, until the first of December came, when 
 the crop was declared gathered. 
 
 No ginning had been done, and so our entire yield lay 
 up in the gin-house chamber, looking like an enormous 
 snow-bank. I had no idea how many bales it would make, 
 but one day, about the close of the picking, an old-time 
 overseer chanced to be passing, and I asked him to make 
 an estimate of it, which he was kind enough to do, placing 
 it at two hundred and sixty bales. He said he could " es- 
 timate a pile of cotton within a few bales of what it would 
 gin out." 
 
 This was a terrible fall from the Dobson estimate, and 
 £Otton was now down from a hundred and twenty to one 
 hundred dollars a bale ; but upon the whole, I felt relieved 
 to think that we were likely to have so much. This would 
 give us twenty-six thousand dollars, or nearly enough to 
 make our second payment ! 
 
 Thus relieved, as soon as the picking was over, we com- 
 
RESULTS. 459 
 
 raenccd ginning. With reasonable success, wc could finish 
 in five weeks, which would take us a week into 18G7. It 
 was sad enough to commence ginning on a two hundred 
 and sixty bale crop, but soon the estimate was reduced 
 sixty bales, and then sixty more, and so on, until the at- 
 mosphere around the gin-house became terribly dismal. 
 
 Finally, when the entire Hebron crop lay out in a row 
 at the end of the gin-house, there were only sixty-five 
 bales of it. Reader, that is all ! My pen almost refuses to 
 make the statement, but this is a true story, and I force it 
 to the discbarge of its task. To be exact about it, and to 
 turn over this terrible leaf in our experience in a hurry, I 
 will add that it brought, in mone}', sixty -five hundred and 
 sixty-four dollars and twenty-seven cents, out of which 
 came the cask of claret, with the bagging and ties, and the 
 repair of the engine — in all about a thousand dollars. 
 
 General Dobson went to his log-cabin sick, and I to mine, 
 sicker. There it was : 
 
 Promise— Dobson estimate, 900 bales, $120 $108,000 00 
 
 Eealization, 65 bales 6,564 27 
 
 making the slight difference of 835 bales, amounting to 
 §101,435. 83; or, stated in round numbers, a discrepancy 
 of over one hundred thousand dollars. To say the least, 
 and indulging in a little sarcasm, the outlook was not 
 promising. Many a time, for a good deal less, suicides 
 have been committed. Not that I contemj^lated any thing 
 of the kind, only the thought entered my mind, and I let 
 this confession go out with the rest. 
 
 Then I asked myself: " Is this a legitimate enterprise?" 
 Thinking it carefully over, there was but one rcsiDonse, and 
 that was, " Yes." Then I again resolved to prosecute it, if 
 my life was spared. But, of course, further means were 
 required. 
 
 I still had resources in the North, but these I felt loth to 
 
460 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 disturb, and so I concluded, if it were possible, to borrow 
 the means necessary to continue tlie enterprise, as was the 
 custom of the country, in New Orleans ; having long since, 
 in the case of the claret, persuaded ourselves to borrow 
 money there for illegitimate uses, I felt that I should not 
 hesitate to solicit it for legitimate uses. 
 
 I talked the matter over fully with General Dobson, and we 
 agreed upon this programme. Beyond the ditching on the 
 plantation nothing was doing at Hebron, or would be done, 
 until we commenced the crop of '67. My health was now 
 pretty thoroughly undermined. The recent blow from the 
 final result of the Hebron crop, was so severe that, in con- 
 nection with my shattered health, I did not seem able to 
 rally. 
 
 General Dobson, in his capacity of physician, gave it as 
 his opinion that a change of climate was necessary for my 
 restoration to health. Where to go was the question. 
 Crushed and broken as I was, I had no heart to face our 
 friends in the North. It would certainly be necessary for 
 me to go to New Orleans, to procure the proposed loan, and 
 so, after fretting around several days, my voice growing 
 weaker and my sj^irits more depressed meanwhile, I de- 
 cided to take my family with me to New Orleans, and to 
 reside with them temporarily on the shoal waters of the 
 gulf, near that city, where we should find salt-water and 
 sea-air, which Dobson said, above all things, I needed. I 
 could not well bear the expense of such a journey, but much 
 less could I bear the thought of leaving my family behind, 
 with all their inhospitable surroundings. Besides, more 
 than ever now, I needed Mrs. Harding's watchful care, and 
 she herself was unwilling to let me go without it. 
 
 Nothing eventful occurred on our journey to the Cresent 
 City. Anxious to secure the good effects of salt baths and 
 breezes, we hurried through New Orleans, and at once lo- 
 cated ourselves at one of the numerous gulf watering- 
 places. After resting and recuperating, as I began to do 
 
RESULTS. 461 
 
 at once, for a -svcck or two I visited New Orleans, to see 
 what could be done toward making my needful financial 
 arrangements. 
 
 Greatly to my disappointment I found a condition of 
 financial distress, not second to my own, and I at once saw 
 that relief from this quarter was out of the question. 
 JNTothing remained for me but either to abandon all further 
 thought of continuing the enterprise, and return perma- 
 nently to the North, as nine-tenths of the new-comers we 
 found were doing, or to seek financial relief in the North. 
 . Still feeling strongly that the Southern country had a 
 future, 1 resolved upon the latter course. I decided to do 
 this in the face of the terrible prejudice I could see every- 
 where apparent toward every thing Northern. Nowhere 
 else had I found this feeling more intensely bitter than in 
 New Orleans, and the little watering-j^lace on the gulf 
 which we had made our temporary home, likewise evinced 
 great intolerance. 
 
 The simple fact that we were new-comers condemned us. 
 If, as a class, upon coming here we had espoused the 
 " Southern cause," all would have been well with us. Oc- 
 casionally one would do this, and it was astonishing to see 
 how soon he lost his identity as a Northerner. But the 
 Judases in this army of immigrants were few, and so the 
 class was condemned. 
 
 I registered myself at the hotel in New Orleans, and at 
 the watering-place on the gulf, as a resident of a Southern 
 State. My swarthy face testified to the fact that 1 was this 
 in fact. If I could have surrendered my manhood enough 
 to have claimed an anti-bellum residence in some one of 
 the Southern States, all would have been well with us. I 
 could have gone in and out on my daily walks with no one 
 to molest or make me afraid ; so long as the antecedents of 
 our residence were unknown, I did so. 
 
 Whether sitting in the rotunda of the St. Charles hotel, 
 at New Orleans, or on the veranda of the gulf hotel, tak- 
 
462 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ing in great breaths of salt air, feeling my blood flowing 
 faster through my veins, and enjoying the delightful sen- 
 sation of returning health, the people around me talked 
 freely. There was but one topic — abuse of the Xorth. In 
 the few days, while I was yet unknown, I heard all about 
 the Ku-klux of the South ; its murders were freely talked 
 of, and with no more feeling than one would talk of the 
 killing of so many swine. I met a new-comer whom I had 
 known as a resident of the North. I heard some one at 
 the hotel ask him from what State he came here. 
 
 " Missouri," he answered. 
 
 This made him a Southener at once, and was his pass. 
 
 I asked him afterwards what he meant by that state- 
 ment. 
 
 " Do n't you know," was his reply, " that half the men 
 living here, and professing to come from some one of the 
 border States, either only passed through one of them, or 
 at most spent a week or so there, as they came South to 
 live, and this for the purpose of concealing the fact that 
 their actual residence was in the North ? It works splen- 
 didly." 
 
 " Where did you get that idea ?" 
 
 " From an Indiana flat-boat man, before I came down. 
 It's old, very old. ' Go to Kentucky,' said he to me, ' or any 
 border slave State ; take up your residence, even if you 
 do n't stay longer than a day ; then, when you 're asked 
 where you hail from, and tell them a Southern State, you '11 
 be all right. It 's mighty seldom a flat-boat man hails 
 from a free State. I know some of them who have farms 
 in Indiana, and do all their business there, and yet take up 
 their residence in Kentucky, so as to say, when they go 
 South with their crops, that they hail from that State. 
 What is true of the flat-boat man is true of all classes of 
 laborers who go South for work." 
 
 Mrs. Harding and the children were, as Southerners at 
 the hotel, declared by every body "just splendid," and 
 
RESULTS. 4G3 
 
 were quite songLt after. A grand-looking lady at the St. 
 Charles, in particular, was anxious that her little daugh- 
 ter should take as her play-mate our youngest, and she 
 called at Mrs. Harding's room, where, the latter not being 
 in, she left her lavender-scented card. Every thing was 
 charming for us; but, alas! we were sailing under false 
 colors, and could not stand it. 
 
 Eeluctantly we decided to do so no longer — we felt 
 that we were losing our self-respect. We had to listen to 
 such dreadful tirades against the North, and Northern 
 people, as became intolerable, and finally we let it be 
 known that we were new-comers. Then the w^ay the 
 high-bred lady just mentioned pulled her little daughter 
 away from her j)lay-mate was a caution ; and how she 
 stormed at having called on " that Yankee woman " — was 
 it not reported by that chatter-box, the hair-dresser? 
 
 " Gods," I exclaimed, when, after it was known we were 
 new-comers, frowns met us where but yesterday we were 
 greeted only with smiles, " what has the North, or what 
 have Northern people done to be so mistreated ?" and tiien, 
 just as once before in my own case, distrust entered my 
 mind — only for an instant, however — of that section which 
 was being so terribly traduced. Then all the loyalty of my 
 heart rose to the defense of that slandered section, and I 
 looked squarely into the faces of those who were frowning 
 upon us, as only a man can do when he is thoroughly con- 
 scious of being in the right; and, neither seeking nor avoid- 
 ing the oi:)portunity, I also told them of our beliefs, which 
 were in no sense uncomplimentary to our birth-place, 
 though perhaps not entirely politic for us. 
 
 The time came for me to make my trij^ to the North, for 
 the purpose of* raising the means necessary to continue our 
 enterprise. It was decided that Mrs. Ilarding and the 
 children should remain at the gulf watering-j^lace during 
 my absence, and I should pick them up on my return to 
 Hebron. I hesitated much before leaving them behind, 
 
464 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 but my trip with them all would have been very expensive, 
 and I was really forced to do so. I found in ^ew Orleans 
 some old acquaintances, to one of whom I entrusted my 
 family during my absence ; I also prepared a cipher tele- 
 gram to be forwarded to him and me if any thing unex- 
 pected should happen. Then came the good-by. 
 
 More than ever I felt I was leaving my family sur- 
 rounded by enemies, but the case was desperate. I jour- 
 neyed northward by rail, with a heavy heart. 
 
 Some days after my departure, greatly to the surprise of 
 Mrs. Harding, our eldest son was invited to dine with a 
 family of natives, where there was a house full of j'oung 
 girls, and one son nineteen years of age. I had never 
 said much in the presence of my family about the state of 
 feeling in the South toward J^ortherners, so Mrs. Harding 
 had very little just conception of it, and not dreaming that 
 the invitation to her son had any significance, desir- 
 ing to add to the pleasure of the child, and avoid any sec- 
 tional feeling, she gladly accepted the invitation for him. 
 
 He was treated with attentive hospitality, dined upon 
 the fat of the land, and in every respect had an enjoyable 
 visit. When he took his leave he was urged to be so- 
 ciable. 
 
 The next evening, while the family were seated on the 
 gallery, one of the elder girls called to invite him to join 
 a party on the beach, for a moonlight boat-ride. It was 
 arranged that he was to go immediately there, and she 
 would follow. "When he reached the beach, he found but 
 one member of this pleasant family, and that the son, with 
 some seven other boys, none younger than himself. As he 
 stepped towards them in the twilight, he was confronted 
 by one of the number with : 
 
 " Are you a Yankee ? Where has your father gone ? " 
 
 While these questions were being asked, greatly to the 
 surprise of the boy, a second stepjDed up in his rear and 
 dealt him a blow in the back which staggered him, knock- 
 
RESULTS. 465 
 
 ing his hat off, and, his tongue being between his teeth 
 when the blow was given, his jaws came suddenly together, 
 cutting it badly. A third kicked his hat, saying: 
 
 " You d d little Yankee, we've got you now, and we 
 
 propose to kick the breath out of you." Another blow on 
 his back sent the poor, dazed, puzzled boy to the ground, 
 and then the whole crowd of young Southerners com- 
 menced pounding and kicking him. 
 
 He shouted, " Help, help." 
 
 His mother still sat on the gallery, where he had, but the 
 moment before, left her with joyous anticipations of the 
 bright moonlight ride he was about to have on the gulf. 
 Mrs. Harding's heart was swelling with kindly feeling for 
 the people who were showering attentions upon her eldest, 
 when his cry for help fell upon her ear. She immediately 
 recognized his voice, and flew down the path half crazed 
 at the, to her, terrible appeal. She was dressed in white, 
 and as she rushed along, responsive to that heartrending 
 cry, in the evening dusk, it was as the flitting of a spirit. 
 There was in her mind the thought that her boy had fallen 
 into the water andwas drowning. That fearful cry for help 
 certainly meant something. As she dashed on, it contin- 
 ued at intervals— only growing fainter, as if from weak- 
 ness or being in some way suppressed. At last, breathless, 
 she reached the beach. She saw a crowd of what appeared 
 to be men apparently in a struggle, and from under them 
 came up the sufl'ocatcd cry for help. She rushed up to 
 the chivalrous crowd, who, seeing her, desisted from their 
 fiendish task. Then she saw her poor, beaten boy lying 
 upon the ground. One of the Southern braves had a pis- 
 tol in his hand. The crowd parted, and she raised her 
 poor boy, taking him in her arms ; they stood aghast at the 
 spectacle of this enraged woman. The moon, shimmered 
 across the waters of the gulf, lighting up her face, upon 
 which were playing at once expressions of rage, conster- 
 nation and joy. Then she said, as if she would have the 
 20* 
 
466 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 bitterness in her heart drop from her lips, and with with- 
 ering scorn : " Is this Southern chivahy ? I have read of 
 it frequently, but this is my first experience with it." Then 
 she added, as she pressed her restored boy to her breast : 
 " God grant it may be my last experience with it." As she 
 turned, with her disabled son on her arm, she looked into 
 their faces, as they stood with open, speechless mouths and 
 staring eyes. 
 
 The mother, sore at heart, the boy bruised in body and 
 crushed in spirit at the terrible ordeal through which he 
 had passed, slowly and sadly went back to their room. 
 There was no more sitting on the gallery for that night. 
 Beaching their room, mother and child fell upon their 
 knees, and with her hands upon that swollen face, she of- 
 fered up her thanks to God for the escape of her child. 
 There was but little sleep that night in the chamber occu- 
 pied by that unprotected mother and her two boys. 
 
 The following morning, the watchful eye of his mother 
 noticed an expression on the injured boy's face, which 
 boded mischief to some one. She called him to her side, 
 and pressing him to her bosom, begged him to tell her 
 what was in his mind. 
 
 " Mama," the manly little fellow answered, " I have been 
 terribly outraged, and I feel, if I am to die for it, like 
 having revenge. What an awful thing it was for that girl 
 to toll me out last nio-ht into the clutches of those brutes. 
 If I can catch one of them, and the largest one, too, by 
 himself, either he must whip me, or I will whijD him. Now, 
 there, mama, you have it." 
 
 The mother used all her persuasive power upon her son 
 to dissuade him from his intention, but to no purj^ose. 
 
 During the forenoon of the next day, while sitting in 
 their room, a crowd of men stopped before their windows, 
 and groaned in the most hideous manner, also calling out : 
 
 " Where 's your protector ?" " You 'd better keep close." 
 •'Andy Johnson 's on our side." ''We'll make it hot for 
 
RESULTS. 467 
 
 you here." "You'd better make your Yankee hides 
 scarce." '' We 've got you spotted," etc., etc., until the 
 air grew thick ^vith their fearful yells and talk. 
 
 Mrs. Uarding decided at once to send the cipher tele- 
 gram to New Orleans, but not to her husband, her thought 
 being that if she and her boys were in New Orleans they 
 would be safe. Somebody had to take the telegram to the 
 office, and tremblingly did Mrs. Harding place it in the 
 hands of her eldest son, cautioning him to hurry there and 
 back. 
 
 A careful observer would have detected an expression of 
 joy on the boy's face when he started out. If this observer 
 had watched him, he would have been seen hurrying to the 
 office to deposit his message, with an exi^ression of relief 
 on his face when the task was done. Then, as he started 
 back, there was firm determination pervading his every 
 look and movement. As he walked down the street, he 
 was evidently on the watch for some one, and several times 
 it was noticeable that his right hand was clinched, as if 
 ready to deal a blow. Not far from home, out on the beach, 
 was a boy several sizes larger than himself. Glancing 
 around, as he was constantly doing, his eye rested upon 
 this boy. A gleam of vindictive joy shot across his face, 
 and sooner than I can tell it, he was at his side. 
 
 " You are one of the wretches that attacked me last 
 night. You called me a Yankee, and you kicked me, and 
 I '11 show you that Yankees can fight, even if they are 
 smaller than you." Then he jumped upon him, like an en- 
 raged tiger, and before he finished with him somebody had 
 a black eye, bloody nose, and was yelling loudly, '' enough," 
 and it was not young Harding, either. The latter went homo 
 with a triumphant expression on his face, and told his 
 mother what he had done. 
 
 "I should never have been satisfied with myself, mama, 
 if I had n't got this opportunity to show I 'm not a cow- 
 
468 A YEAR OF WRECK. 
 
 ard." The boy was scolded by Lis mother; but as is 
 often the case, 1 fear the reproof only came from her lips 
 
 That night, thanks to the kind friend who responded at 
 once to Mrs. Harding's telegram, the family was safely 
 sheltered in a private boarding-house at New Orleans, to 
 await the return of Mr. Harding. 
 
 A week later found the latter and his family back at He- 
 bron, where I will now leave them, hojMng that the year 
 1867 will prove as fortunate to them as these pages show 
 the year 1866 to have been unfortunate. 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 469 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 
 
 This narrative was prepared prior to ISVG. It was then 
 laid aside, where it has quietly rested, takini^ on coats of 
 dust and cobwebs, and apparently abandoned to the ravages 
 of nibbling mice and the slow decay of time. At last it 
 leaves its hermitage to do its part in portraying the South 
 at an important era in its history. To give the reader a 
 glimpse of the present, so that he may judge the extent of 
 the improvement, this brief supplement is adder! . The South 
 of 1806 and 1880 is different. From the midnight darkness 
 of a densely clouded sky as then, there are now stars to be 
 seen. Largely have we got rid of the weeds in our fields. 
 Would that I could say as much of those in our hearts and 
 feelings. A good deal I can, however, say. We are grow- 
 ing more of everything than was grown before the war. 
 The production of the greater part of the world's supply of 
 cotton, both as to quantity and quality, as of old, rests with 
 the South. Thus, and this time in no offensive sense, Cot- 
 ton is again king. In view of this fact, and that, save in 
 Texas, there has been no immigration into the South since the 
 war (except my class, most of whom, as these pages indicate, 
 fled from the country within the year), it is conclusive that 
 the negro as a free laborer is a success ; and I am pleased 
 to say that such is the undisputed belief with the class of 
 Southern people who have to deal with them. Nowhere 
 else now is the feeling stronger than here that, in a business 
 point of view, slavery was a mistake. There is a more sub- 
 stantial prosperity here now than before the wai-. Only 
 a fraction of the millions of indebtedness that hung: like a 
 
470 SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 
 
 pall over the South in 1861 has ever been paid; but, thanks 
 to an elastic national bankruptcy law, the debts have been 
 cancelled, leaving in some mysterious way, to a great extent, 
 the lands in the same hands. Manufactories are springing 
 up rapidly. There were no cotton -seed oil factories here 
 before the war; there are none anywhere else now. A 
 moderate percentage of the cotton grown is now manufact- 
 ured at home. There being nothing to fear from runaway 
 slaves, railroads are being built. The "mischievous boys" 
 are disappearing, their dissipation giving them an early 
 claim to that six feet of ground the heritage of all. Nota- 
 bly, Southland is dead. He learned to think more kindly 
 of my class in the years that followed; and once when I was 
 at the village, and he hungry, he borrowed a dollar of me ; 
 went at once to a Chinese restaurant, spent it for food, and 
 thus gorged, hid himself away, where he was discovered the 
 following day a corpse. General Parker, also, long since 
 commenced his journey to that "bourn from whence no 
 traveller returns," thus reducing the annual consumption of 
 whiskey six barrels. Tyler, too, is of the past — gone to meet 
 at the Judgment-day that brave Confederate officer whom 
 he so foully murdered, as also a dozen others of his murder- 
 ed victims. The village merchant finally learned that cash 
 was better than credit; lacking it, he had to close his doors. 
 They are open again now, this time on a cash basis. It is 
 doubtful if the best Southerner in the land could purchase 
 so much as a box of matches of him on credit. Xor does 
 he now hesitate to speak out against the " mischievous boys," 
 or to fraternize with the new-comers; nor is he by any 
 means alone in this latter feeling. The negro has gradually 
 worked his way up from the lower deck on steamboats, until 
 now upon the later built ones he has a cabin of his own, 
 above that of the " white folks," in which are to be found 
 piano, silver-ware, and about the same cuisine as the white 
 fellow-passengers below have. No legislation lias accom- 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 471 
 
 pllshed this. It lias simply grown out of the fact that the 
 negro has the money to pay for such accommodations. lie 
 has not yet, however, gained access to the bar in the main 
 cabin of steamboats. God grant it may be long before he 
 does! lie can, however, walk up to the clerk's desk "along 
 of de white folks," and get his bill of lading for his cotton 
 shipped to his merchant in Xew Orleans. It is sad to say 
 that at the village landing the numerous bars, without an ex- 
 ception, are open alike to whites and negroes. The prejudices 
 of the Southerner to renting the negro land, mules, etc., soon 
 disappeared, and about the same percentage of them are get- 
 ting along financially as are white people. As to education, 
 nothing short of a compulsory system will answer the pur- 
 pose, and this is true of both white and black. If the read- 
 er will recall Mr. Sinton's lovely home, he will understand 
 what Hebron has grown to be. With prosperous crops, as 
 soon as our plantation was redeemed of its weed-ridden con- 
 dition, we throve, and the log-cabins made way for preten- 
 tious mansions; then rapidly came the needful surroundings, 
 to make them cheerful and comfortable : so now, if needs be 
 for us to spend the midsummer season at home, we can do 
 so with pleasure. Most of the negroes referred to, as with 
 us in 18G6, are still our tenants. In many cases their woolly 
 heads are now fleecy white, as ours is sprinkled plentifully 
 with gray. We have all grown older fast, in the terrible 
 ordeal of so-called Reconstruction, but Avhich history will 
 term Destruction. Ole Clara is married, this time " out ob 
 de book," and, a little superannuated as she has grown to 
 be, spends most of her time in religious duties. The de- 
 voted servant of Mrs. Dobson, the General has built her a 
 cabin in which she can spend the balance of her days. The 
 beautiful Mary and Jimmy are, as they long have been, a 
 fixture on Hebron. Frances and Liss, who were once so 
 vicious and wild, are now sober wives and mothers. The 
 South of 1880 is more tolerant than the South of 18GG. But 
 
412 SUPPLEMEXTAEY CHAPTER. 
 
 it Las yet so much to learn on this score ! There are por- 
 tions of it now — a very few — where a Northerner, whatever 
 his politics may be, is as highly respected as he would be 
 anywhere in the North ; but, generally speaking, any one in- 
 imical to the politics of this section is simply tolerated, and 
 would receive a similar treatment to ours of 1866 ; and there 
 are regions — alas ! a great many — where his personal safety 
 would be in question. Nearly everywhere the good element 
 is under the domination of the "mischievous boys." Many 
 times in my region have I thought that the former were on 
 the eve of asserting themselves, only to be disappointed. 
 Still, I can see that each year the good element is growing 
 stronger, and the time icill come when it will have the up- 
 per hand. God speed that day ! Long since has the coarse 
 display of pictures of Confederate generals ceased, and in 
 their stead are to be seen the counterparts of pictures to be 
 found in the North. Northern papers are now circulating 
 generally in the South; Southern people are visiting the 
 North, and through these instruments they are slowly learn- 
 ing that there are two sides to every question ; and so the 
 improvement goes on, it may be at a snail's pace, but be it 
 remembered, given a number of years, a snail's pace means 
 many miles ! 
 
 These straws must satisfy the reader that something has 
 been accomplished since the war. What more is needed to 
 make the South as free as the North will come, and with it 
 unexampled prosperity. 
 
 THE END. 
 
VALUABLE AND IXTERESTIXG WORKS 
 
 FOR 
 
 PUBLIC & PKIYATE LIBRARIES, 
 
 Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. 
 
 XW For a full List of Books . uitahle for Libraries published by Habpeb & 
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