KI
 

 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN
 
 NED 
 
 NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 A Story of War and 
 Reconstruction Days 
 
 BY 
 NORMAN G. KITTRELL 
 
 Judge of the 6iit Judicial DUtrid of TCXM 
 
 NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON 
 
 THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 1907
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY 
 THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY
 
 fl 
 
 THE BLACK "UNCLES" AND "AUNTIES" 
 AND " MAMMIES" 
 
 'whose matchless fidelity during the war evoked 
 the admiration, not only of the South, but of 
 ciinlized humanity the world over, and 'won 
 the profound and continuing gratitude of " dey 
 'white folks," this humble volume is affection- 
 ately and gratefully dedicated by one of ' ' dey 
 'white Chilians. " 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN
 
 Ned: Nigger an' Gent'man 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 " GOOD evening, sir! " 
 
 The man who extended this salutation was 
 a traveler in a Southern State on the Atlantic 
 border a few years after the close of the war 
 between the States. He was mounted on a 
 superb saddle-horse, and his voice, dress, and 
 bearing betokened that he was a man of in- 
 telligence and good breeding. The person to 
 whom the salutation was addressed had not 
 heard or noticed the approach of the traveler, 
 and was not aware of his presence until he 
 heard him speak. The contrast presented by 
 the two was most striking. 
 
 The one was a white man, the other a 
 negro. The white man was a little above 
 medium height, his hair was slightly gray, and 
 though he was, perhaps, sixty years of age, he 
 looked younger. The negro was over six 
 feet in height, his hair almost snow white, 
 and he looked seventy years of age or more. 
 
 The white man was dressed in a traveling- 
 suit of fashionable cut and fine texture; the 
 negro was dressed in the garments of a la- 
 borer, but his clothing was clean and bore 
 evidence of having been well cared for.
 
 io NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 The white man was a native of the north- 
 ern part of New England. He had never 
 been South before, and until a few days pre- 
 vious had never talked with a man who had 
 owned a slave, and had never seen a negro 
 who had been a slave. The negro was a 
 native, having been born and reared a slave 
 on the very plantation on which he then lived. 
 
 The white man had been reared amid sur- 
 roundings and under influences and in a po- 
 litical and social faith which caused him to 
 hold slavery and slaveholders in profound ab- 
 horrence. So extreme were his views and 
 such the impression made on his mind by what 
 he had read and heard of slavery in the South, 
 the feelings of the southern people toward 
 Abolitionists, and the character of slave own- 
 ers, that he was reluctant to disclose the fact 
 that he lived in New England, for he feared 
 that, by reason of such fact, he might be in 
 danger of rude or discourteous treatment, and 
 be unable successfully to accomplish the pur- 
 pose most near his heart, the one purpose 
 which had brought him South. The thought 
 of the hospitality of any former slaveholder 
 and rebel being offered him, or of his accept- 
 ance of such courtesy had never for a moment 
 dwelt in his mind. 
 
 The negro had known nothing but slavery 
 and all its associations, except that he had 
 been North as the servant of his master. 
 From his youth he had been the body-servant
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 11 
 
 of a typical representative southern gentle- 
 man, and his wife had been the maid and 
 constant attendant of the wife of that gentle- 
 man, a southern woman of education, culture, 
 and social position. 
 
 He knew of no other standard whereby to 
 measure merit than that of his " Marster " 
 and " Miss Ma'y," who in his eyes were the 
 embodiment of breeding and worth. 
 
 Like all negroes of his class he was an 
 aristocrat of the aristocrats, and while none 
 could in his eyes possibly excel his " white 
 folks," all who fell beneath this, the only 
 standard he knew, were not " quality-folks," 
 and, as he said, he had " no truck erlong dey 
 kin'." 
 
 The white man was highly educated, the 
 negro did not know " a letter in the book," 
 but he had a large fund of native shrewdness 
 and common sense, and a remarkable memory. 
 Despite his years the negro was erect and 
 stalwart, and there was in his movements and 
 manners an air of self-respect, blended with 
 a certain deference and politeness, and a sort 
 of crude grace and dignity, derived, so to 
 speak, by absorption and imitation, from 
 long contact and association with southern 
 gentlemen of his master's class, one of the 
 highest type of gentlemen of which there is 
 either record or tradition. 
 
 When he heard the traveler's voice he 
 looked up, lifted his hat and bowed.
 
 12 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 " Good ebenin', boss. \Von't you 'light 
 an' let me put your boss in de stable an' 
 'scort you ter de big house? " 
 
 "No, I thank you, sir," the traveler re- 
 plied; " but I will get down and sit on that 
 log there. After I've rested awhile I will go 
 into the town, which they say is only about 
 five miles from here." Dismounting, the 
 traveler seated himself and asked, " Who 
 lives here? It is a beautiful place and the 
 view is a lovely one." 
 
 " Dis, sah," said the negro, " is whar my 
 Marster, Gunnel Hamilton Marshall de fus', 
 libs. Dat is his plantashun down dat valley 
 tcr de right. His woods-pastur' is over dar 
 on de hill ter de eas', an' dat is his house jes' 
 on de p'int ob de hill ter de wes'. Mighty 
 nigh all de Ian' 'roun' here is Marster's. He 
 got 'bout five thousan' acres, an' he raise er 
 sight er corn an' cotton." There was a ring 
 of pride in the negro's voice, and as he looked 
 down the valley at the farm white with cotton 
 ready for the picker, and at the blooded ani- 
 mals in the stable lot, on the fence of which 
 he was leaning, and at the stately colonial 
 mansion with broad galleries and fluted col- 
 umns on " de p'int ob de hill," he seemed to 
 feel as if he had a proprietary interest in all 
 that he saw. 
 
 The sun hung just above the high hill to 
 the west, and its parting rays lighted the 
 woods beyond the valley, where the green and
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 13 
 
 gold of the sweet-gum, the crimson of the 
 sumach, and the purple of the black-gum 
 blended in beauty, and set the forest aflame 
 with a glow of rarest colors. 
 
 The traveler sat for some time in silence, 
 apparently enjoying deeply the beauty of a 
 scene which was to him one of almost entire 
 novelty. After awhile he said: 
 
 " This is all very beautiful and very new 
 to me, and since you have told me the name 
 of the owner of this handsome estate, will 
 you not be so kind as to tell me your name? " 
 
 " Well, boss, dey tells me my sho'-'nuff 
 name is Edward Marshall; but Marster calls 
 me Ned, an' I'm Marster's nigger. I b'en 
 waitin' on him fer fifty year, an' I gwine keep 
 on long as I lib or he lib. He's de bes' man 
 an' de smartes' man in de woiT." 
 
 As the conversation proceeded the contrast 
 of expression on the faces of the white man 
 and the negro was as great as their contrast 
 of nativity and condition. 
 
 The expression of the white man was that 
 of mingled surprise, perplexity, and embar- 
 rassment, while upon the face of the negro 
 was a smile which seemed almost ready to 
 spread into a laugh, a laugh which he reso- 
 lutely suppressed. 
 
 u Boss, you looks lak you mout be power- 
 ful tyud. Won't you walk in de house, sah? 
 My Marster an' Mistis is been in town ter- 
 day, but dey will be back about dus'. You
 
 H NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 kin set in de settin'-room by de fiah, 'ca'se it 
 gits kinder cool to'rds de shank ob de ebenin'." 
 
 " No, I thank you," the traveler replied. 
 " I will rest here awhile, for I am very tired." 
 
 " I guess, boss, you ain't used to ridin' 
 much. I notices you come from de Norf an' 
 ain't much 'quainted wid dis kentry." 
 
 The traveler looked up in surprise. " How 
 do you know that? " 
 
 " 'Scuse me, boss, I don't mean no disre- 
 spec'," he bowed and touched his hat, 
 " but I knowed it fus' by your voice, 'ca'se I 
 b'en in de Norf lots o' times; den I knowed 
 it by de way you spoke when you fus' rid 
 up, 'ca'se you said, ' Good ebenin', sah.' ' 
 
 " Well, was not that proper? " 
 
 " Oh, yessah, yessah, it was proper an' 
 perlite an' all dat; but it ain't de way dat 
 er gent'man would er spoke down in dese 
 parts." 
 
 " Why, what would a southern gentleman 
 have said? " 
 
 " Well, boss, dat 'pen's 'tirely on who it 
 was. Now, sah, it's dis way yer see. Ef he 
 was a gent'man w'ut belong ter de quality- 
 folks an' was kinder old lak Marster, an' 
 knowed me, he would er sayed, ' Howdy do, 
 Ned?' in de perlites', kindes' way. Ef he 
 didn't know me he would er sayed, c Howdy, 
 old man,' or * Howdy, Uncle.' Jes' so. Ef 
 he was a quality young man what knowed me 
 lak dem young gent'mens does w'ut comes ter
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 15 
 
 Marster's house er visitin,' he would er sayed, 
 ' Howdy, Uncle Ned ; how you do ter-day ? ' 
 an' sayed it jes' ez perlite ez he would er 
 spoke ter Marster; an w'en any er dem gent'- 
 men spoke I'd say, ' Thankee, Marster, I'm 
 tolurbel ter-day; hope you's well.' Der ain't 
 none er dem would er sayed sah, an' I ain't 
 usen ter it. It 'pears, boss, lak you kin mighty 
 nigh tell quality-folks by de way dey speaks 
 ter de po' an' de 'umbl', speshully ter niggers ; 
 dey al'ays speaks kin' an' perlite. But scrub- 
 folks, w'ut ain't got no manners, speaks big- 
 gerty-lak an' rough, lak it bemean 'em ter be 
 perlite ter de po'. " 
 
 " Well, you've told me what the ' quality- 
 folks,' as you call them, would have said. 
 Now, how would people who are not ' quali- 
 ty-folks,' whatever that means, have spoken 
 to you ? " 
 
 " Boss, I tell you right now, I don' had 
 much truck along er none but quality- folks ; 
 but some time some ob de udder kin' comes 
 erlong heah, an' ef one er dem taller-face 
 trash crowd what libs over yonder in de 
 san'ills, an' who ain't nebber had er nigger, 
 ner his daddy nuther was ter come erlong 
 heah, dar 'd be 'bout er half er foot 'twixt de 
 een' er his britches' laigs an' de top er his 
 shoes, ef he had on a'y shoe, an' his ha'r won' 
 be comb' sence de wah, an' he'd say, ' Say, 
 nigg-e-r,' an' I wouldn't pay no 'tenshun ter 
 him, 'ca'se his sort ain't never had no man-
 
 16 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 ners, ner ain't been used ter nothin', an' I don' 
 reckernize dat kin' 'tall." 
 
 " I fear you think a man must have money 
 and fine clothes to be a gentleman." 
 
 " No, sah ; no, sah, boss ; money ain't got 
 nuttin' 'tall ter do wid it. Money cain't buy 
 no manners. It's all in de blood an' in de 
 stock an' de raisin'. Marster 'd be a gent'- 
 man ef he was in de po'-house. Den dar's 
 lots er peepul w'ut ain't rich w'ut's pow'ful 
 good folks. De carpenter w'ut build Mars- 
 ter's house an' de man w'ut mek his kerridge 
 is de bes' kin' er men, an' I gits on wid 'em 
 fine. Den lots er men w'ut wa'n't rich an' 
 didn't had no niggers, wen' ter de wah wid 
 mah young marsters; an' dey fit lak wil'-cats. 
 But I nacherly 'spises de lazy, triflin', po'- 
 white trash w ut libs in de san'ills an' won' 
 wu'k. Dey got a co'n-patch 'bout de size o' 
 Marster's gyarden, an' a 'backer-patch 'bout 
 big ez er saddle blanket, an' all dey do is, 
 dey chaws terbacker an' squirt de juice thu' 
 dey teef, an' cuss de guberment. But, boss, 
 it's gittin' to'rds dus' an' you must go ter de 
 house. You'll fin' a good fiah in de settin'- 
 room, an' Marster an' Miss Ma'y '11 be home 
 'fore long. Soon ez I put up your hoss I'll 
 go wid you, 'ca'se ob co'se you's gwine ter 
 stay all night." 
 
 " I am obliged, but perhaps I had best wait 
 until the gentleman or the house comes, and 
 ask his permission."
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 17 
 
 " 'Tain't no use ter wait ter ax Marster, 
 'ca'se I represents him w'en he ain't ter home, 
 an' ef I lets you le'be heah dis time ob de 
 ebenin', 'stidder takin' you ter de house, 
 Marster gwine ter meet you down de road, 
 an' den he gwine ter ax me is I los' my 
 manners." 
 
 " Well, I shall risk accepting your invita- 
 tion, and will be glad if your master will al- 
 low me to stay several days, for I am very 
 much fatigued; and besides I may be able to 
 learn something I am anxious to know." 
 
 " Oh, dat's all right, boss. De longer you 
 stay de better Marster gwine lak it, fer he 
 sho'ly do lub comp'ny." 
 
 " I will gladly pay him liberally for my 
 entertainment." 
 
 11 Say, boss, please, sah, don't say nuttin' to 
 Marster 'bout payin' for stayin' wid him, 
 'ca'se ef you do you sho' gwine ter 'fen' him." 
 
 "Why should it give offense? I am a 
 stranger, and I have no right to expect your 
 ' marster,' as you call him, to keep me and 
 my horse for several days, or for a day, with- 
 out pay." 
 
 " Dat's all right, boss; but 'scuse me, sah, 
 but you sho' will 'fen' Marster all de same, 
 'ca'se he's a quality-gent'man, sah, an' he don' 
 run no hotel. I b'en here sence I was born an' 
 Fse seen more'n ten thousan' peepul er gwine 
 in an' er comin' outen dat house, but I ain't 
 never seen no man pay for stayin' in it yit.
 
 i8 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 No, sah, no man don' pay for eatin' er sleepin' 
 in my Marster's house." 
 
 " Why, I paid for my entertainment last 
 night, and the man who owned the house was, 
 I should judge, a rich man." 
 
 " Whar mout it er b'en dat you stay, boss, 
 an' what mout er b'en de man's entitlemunt 
 w'ut lib dar?;' 
 
 " I should judge it was some twenty-five 
 miles north of here. The house was large 
 and well furnished, and the owner's name, I 
 believe, was Harper." 
 
 " Oh, yes, ob co'se, ob co'se. He tuk yo' 
 money 'ca'se he ain't quality-folks. He was 
 oberseer in slav'y-time, an' no oberseer never 
 was quality-folks. He ain't b'long in Mars- 
 ter's class 'tall." 
 
 * You have spoken several times of * quali- 
 ty-folks.' What do you mean by ' quality- 
 folks '? Now Mr. Harper is rich and lives 
 in a fine house, and he treated me as well as 
 a stranger has a right to expect." 
 
 " Oh, yes, boss, he got a fine house an' 
 plenty ob money, but dat don' make quality. 
 Quality-folks is quality-folks, an' when you 
 see my Marster an' Mistis you '11 see de dif- 
 f'unce better'n I kin tell yer. Hit's in dey 
 blood jes' lak it wuz in dey gran'daddy an' 
 gran'mammy blood. Folks is jes' lak bosses 
 some is quality, some is scrub. Now, you 
 jes' look ober dar at dat broad-back, big-laig, 
 fat, slick hoss. He kin pull th'ee bales er
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 19 
 
 cotton, but ef you was ter rub him an' train 
 him an' feed him on wheat an' lightnin' he 
 couldn' run lak dat yonder slim-neck, flat- 
 laig, fine-ha'r'd, short-fetlock sorrel stan'in' 
 dar by him, 'ca'se he's a scrub an' de sorrel's 
 er quality-horse; got de blood in him, got de 
 breedin'; an' dar don' nobody on'erstan' how 
 de diff'unce is, but it's dar, an' it's de same 
 way wid people. 
 
 " 'Scuse me, boss, I don' mean no disrespec' 
 ter you ner nobody. He's a white man an' 
 I'se a nigger; but ef dat man w'ut you stayed 
 wid las' night had dat crib full er gol' dollars, 
 an' er house fine as de Capertul ob de 
 Newnited States, he wouldn' be ekal to Cun- 
 nel Hamilton Marshall, my Marster, an' he 
 wouldn' be quality-folks. Furdermo', his 
 wife wouldn' be ekal ter my Miss Ma'y; but 
 ez fer dat, dar ain't na'y 'oman is ekal ter her 
 upon de yearth." 
 
 " You certainly have a high opinion of the 
 gentleman and lady you call ' Marster ' and 
 ' Miss Ma'y.' ' 
 
 " Ain't got no higher 'pinyun ob 'em dan 
 dey 'serve, boss; an' you '11 say de same when 
 you see 'em. 
 
 " Ef you'll walk in de house now, boss, 
 Hester, dat's my wife, '11 show you inter de 
 settin'-room." 
 
 The gentleman walked up the avenue to 
 the stately mansion which stood something 
 like a hundred yards to the west up a gentle
 
 20 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 slope. It was painted white with green 
 blinds, the galleries were broad, the columns 
 fluted, and there were wings at either side on 
 the same lines with the main building, but 
 only one story in height. The fire-light shone 
 through the high windows, and the whole 
 building presented a most inviting and hos- 
 pitable appearance. 
 
 He was met at the head of the steps by a 
 typical southern " aunty," who dropped a 
 curtsy and led the way to the hall. Her dress 
 was of blue and black stripes, a bandanna 
 handkerchief was tied about her head, and a 
 white handkerchief served as a collar. She 
 looked exceedingly neat and she moved like 
 one accustomed to receiving guests. There 
 was a noticeable pride in her bearing, but she 
 was free from any offensive pretension; on 
 the contrary, her demeanor was that of a 
 thoroughly trained servant; humility, blended 
 with pride and dignity, characterizing her 
 every movement. 
 
 She escorted the stranger to the guest cham- 
 ber, a large room furnished in solid ma- 
 hogany, and every appointment in good 
 taste. 
 
 When he was ready to descend she re- 
 turned and escorted him to the sitting-room. 
 
 The sitting-room was an apartment twenty 
 or more feet square, with ceilings twelve feet 
 in height. It was plainly and most com- 
 fortably furnished with furniture of the best
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 21 
 
 quality, such as was in common use a quarter 
 of a century earlier. 
 
 In the large open fireplace there was a 
 roaring wood fire of oak and hickory which 
 lighted brilliantly the entire room, and 
 brought into bold relief the family pictures 
 on the wall. The room had an air of com- 
 fort and delightful hospitality, and as the 
 stranger stood before the fire he wondered 
 what manner of people they were who lived 
 in such a house, and of whom the old negro 
 and former slave spoke in such terms of pride 
 and affection. 
 
 He had often read and heard of the hor- 
 rors of slavery, of the cruelty, brutality, and 
 savagery of slave owners, of their intolerance 
 of all who differed from them, and of how the 
 slaves hated their masters and yearned for 
 freedom. As he waited for the coming of 
 Colonel Marshall and his wife, his hosts that 
 were to be, he almost wished that he, a New 
 England " Yankee," had not been so bold as 
 to accept the invitation of a servant to be- 
 come the guest of an ex-slave owner and 
 " rebel."
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 As the traveler, with feelings of mingled 
 curiosity and apprehension, stood in the 
 brightly lighted room, he heard a vehicle 
 draw up at the foot of the steps, and a strong, 
 full, kindly voice say, " Well, Ned, you seem 
 to have company to-night," and he heard the 
 old man reply, " Yes, san, dar's a gent'man 
 in de settin'-room, sah. He is a trab'ler, an' 
 rid up late dis ebenin', an' wuz pow'ful tyud, 
 an' I axed him ter stop, an' he say he 'd wait 
 an' see you 'fo' he come in de house; but I 
 tol' him 'twa'n't no use fer dat, 'ca'se ef I let 
 er gent'man le'be heah at night an' tyud, you 
 sho' gwine ax me ef I done los' my manners." 
 
 " I certainly should," the master replied. 
 ' You did exactly right. Come, Mary, we 
 must go in and greet our guest." 
 
 Just as Colonel Marshall and his wife 
 started up the steps Ned drew close to the 
 Colonel and said in a tone he meant to be too 
 low to be heard in the house, " Marster, de 
 trab'ler look lak er mighty nice man, but he 
 come f'um de Norf an' don' know nuttin' 'tall 
 'bout we folks down heah. He sho'-nuff 
 Yankee." 
 
 The stranger heard the remark and the 
 
 22
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 23 
 
 Colonel's reply, " That makes no difference. 
 He is in my house, he is my guest, and he is 
 welcome. If you had not invited him to stay 
 you would have offended me." 
 
 Colonel Marshall passed quickly into the 
 hall and thence into the sitting-room, while 
 Mrs. Marshall went into her bed chamber. 
 As his host approached the stranger saw he 
 was more than six feet in height, erect and 
 stalwart, with clear and ruddy skin. His 
 hair, which had been dark, was almost entirely 
 white, and so was his beard. His eyes were 
 dark and clear, and he carried his seventy 
 years with an ease and grace of manner which 
 proclaimed him the gentleman that he was by 
 birth and breeding. 
 
 He stepped quickly to where his guest 
 stood, and with outstretched hand said, " My 
 name is Marshall, and I am glad, sir, to wel- 
 come you to my house." 
 
 " My name is Standwick and I am from 
 Maine," said the stranger, " and I am ap- 
 preciative of your cordial welcome, sir. I 
 trust I have not offended by acting upon the 
 invitation of your servant to become your 
 guest for the night." 
 
 1 No, indeed, my servant did exactly right. 
 He has given us the pleasure of having a 
 guest, and did what he knew I expected and 
 desired him to do extend the hospitality of 
 my house to any gentleman who desires to 
 stay. If you will excuse me for a moment I
 
 24 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 will bring Mrs. Marshall." He returned in 
 a few minutes, accompanied by his wife, whom 
 he presented to his guest. She gave him a 
 cordial and gracious welcome, and one that 
 made him feel perfectly at home. 
 
 Mrs. Marshall was above the average 
 height, and was an exceedingly handsome 
 woman, and Mr. Standwick soon saw that 
 she was to the tips of her slender fingers, not 
 only an aristocrat, but a woman of culture, 
 and a brilliant conversationalist. Turning 
 smilingly to her husband she said, " My dear, 
 you have forgotten to remove your overcoat 
 and gloves." As she was assisting him in 
 removing his coat, Colonel Marshall said, 
 ' We are specially glad, Mr. Standwick, to 
 welcome you to our home, because your name 
 is one very dear to us. It is associated in our 
 minds and memories with two as noble spir- 
 its as ever gave up their lives on the altar of 
 duty, and as soon as you uttered your name 
 the thought occurred to me that perhaps they 
 were your kinsmen, perhaps your sons." 
 
 If Colonel Marshall and his wife had been 
 looking into the face of their guest they would 
 have seen pass over it an expression of sur- 
 prise amounting almost to a shock, but this 
 expression was followed by one of relief, if 
 not of real delight; but before they turned he 
 had recovered himself and his face had re- 
 sumed its usual expression. 
 
 " I have never been blessed with a son," he
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 25 
 
 said calmly, with a barely perceptible quiver 
 in his voice; "and if those you. knew were 
 kinsmen of mine, I do not know it. There 
 are families in New England of the same 
 name, except that they drop the d; some of my 
 immediate family have done so." 
 
 " The young men we knew did not use the 
 d and they were from Connecticut. They 
 were worthy to be kin to the noblest, 
 and for your sake I wish they had been of 
 your blood. Though one of them died in 
 the ranks of the foes of the South, or rather 
 was a leader of her foes, he was a gentleman 
 and a hero, and his brother who fell on the 
 other side was as knightly a spirit as ever died 
 for his country." 
 
 " As you know, Colonel Marshall," Mr. 
 Standwick said, " I am a native of the North, 
 and doubtless your views and mine relative to 
 the war which ended a few years ago are very 
 divergent. I have never had it in my heart 
 to feel unkindly to the men of the South who 
 battled for their honest convictions, and I am 
 sure we will be willing to accord to each other 
 credit for sincerity of statement and belief. 
 
 "I have never been South before; I was 
 never before in the house of a representative 
 southern gentleman. Never, till I rode up 
 here this afternoon, had I spoken to a man 
 who had been a slave. I know nothing of 
 slaves or free negroes, or of former slave 
 owners, except what came to me in grievously
 
 26 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 distorted shape, and I feel sure already that 
 I have much to learn and to unlearn." 
 
 " We are well prepared," said Colonel 
 Marshall, " to believe what you say, and 
 freely accord you the same sincerity of con- 
 viction we claim for ourselves. I trust you 
 will stay long enough to learn at first hand 
 the truth concerning those matters of which 
 you have heard from prejudiced sources. 
 The South has nothing to conceal. She is 
 willing to be judged by her record. How- 
 ever, we will have ample time to discuss ques- 
 tions which have by the inevitable logic of 
 events become in a large degree mere academic 
 abstractions; for the present the more pleas- 
 ing and profitable discussion of supper claims 
 our attention, and we will go immediately, as 
 I see Hester waiting to announce it." 
 
 Mr. Standwick, bowing, offered his arm to 
 Mrs. Marshall, and followed by Colonel 
 Marshall she led the way across the broad 
 hall to the dining-room, a large room with 
 high ceilings, finished in dark woods, heated 
 by a wood fire in an open fireplace, and lighted 
 by candles in silver candelabra. 
 
 The supper was a typical one, abundant, 
 skillfully cooked and temptingly served, and 
 as the guest ate with appetite sharpened by 
 his long ride, he thought that he had never 
 seen a table so calculated at once to tempt 
 and satisfy the appetite. There was in set- 
 ting and service perfection in every detail.
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 27 
 
 but no ostentation or attempt at display. It 
 was such a meal as such a host and hostess 
 might have been expected to preside over. 
 
 Hester, the wife of Ned, perfectly trained, 
 needed neither command nor suggestion, but 
 was at hand to supply every desire of her 
 master's guest, and what with perfect service, 
 a dignified, intelligent, and affable host, and 
 a gracious and brilliant hostess, the northern 
 stranger found his first meal in a southern 
 home an experience as delightful as it was 
 novel, and when he had supped he bowed to 
 his hostess and assured her he had never be- 
 fore so enjoyed a meal, and his tone and 
 manner attested his entire sincerity. 
 
 After they had returned to the sitting- 
 room, Mr. Standwick said, 
 
 " Never until I rode across the country 
 did I appreciate the ruin and devastation 
 wrought by the war, and after I saw the 
 chimneys of so many burned homes standing 
 like mute memorials I wondered how this 
 house and another I saw this afternoon some- 
 thing like a mile distant escaped what seems 
 to have been well-nigh universal ruin." 
 
 " It would," said Colonel Marshall, " re- 
 quire a long story to explain this almost mar- 
 velous exception to the rule of destruction 
 which seemed to have been the guide of those 
 who commanded the army which invaded 
 this section; but because of some unpleasant 
 features connected with the story I prefer
 
 28 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 not to relate the incident, with which, how- 
 ever, one of the men of your name was most 
 nobly connected. 
 
 " Your curiosity is most natural, and can 
 be readily gratified by inquiry of Ned, who 
 will delight in giving you every detail. You 
 will find him most interesting, and you are 
 at liberty to talk with him freely concerning 
 any incident or matter of local history, 
 whether it relates to a time before, during, 
 or since the war. You will find he has a 
 wonderful memory, a remarkable capacity for 
 interesting recital, and while he is unedu- 
 cated, he has a large fund of common sense, 
 and is absolutely truthful. 
 
 " By the way, I am sorry to say I shall be 
 compelled to turn you over to Ned as your 
 host and entertainer during the day for sev- 
 eral days, instead of enjoying that pleasure 
 myself. Our only surviving son we gave 
 two to the South is a lawyer living in the 
 county-seat five miles to the south, and his 
 only child, a son, Hamilton Marshall the 
 third, has been very ill for more than two 
 weeks. Being the only grandchild and a most 
 manly, promising, and attractive little fel- 
 low, all our hearts are bound up in him, and 
 his grandmother and I drive in every day to 
 aid in nursing him, returning home every 
 night. 
 
 " He is now convalescent, but he needs 
 much nursing, and we must continue to go in
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 29 
 
 every day until all danger is past. Ned and 
 Hester will see to your comfort, and I will 
 have Ned drive over and bring my friend, 
 Captain Alston, who lives in the other house 
 that was spared, to visit you. There will be 
 a buggy and horse, and a saddle-horse at your 
 disposal, and my guns are in excellent condi- 
 tion and my dogs are well trained, if you 
 are fond of quail shooting. I am sorry that 
 we must be away, but am sure you will ap- 
 preciate the conditions." 
 
 " Certainly, Colonel Marshall. I would 
 not have you remain on my account. The 
 very novelty of the situation will, in a meas- 
 ure, atone for your absence. 
 
 " Having your permission to talk to your 
 servant, I have no doubt I shall find him both 
 interesting and instructive. I should perhaps 
 apologize to you for talking for a consider- 
 able time with him this afternoon, but he is 
 an entire novelty and a most interesting and 
 amusing one. I had never talked with a 
 negro who had been a slave, and the oppor- 
 tunity to do so was a temptation I could not 
 resist." 
 
 " I assure you," returned Colonel Mar- 
 shall, " no apology is necessary for talking to 
 Ned. While he is a negro, or as he calls 
 himself and all his race, a ' nigger,' he is a 
 gentleman. He has been my body-servant 
 and carriage-driver for fifty years. His wife 
 has been the maid and constant attendant of
 
 3 o NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 my wife from her childhood, and both of 
 them have by training, association, and ab- 
 sorption acquired the manners of well-bred 
 white people; and know what is proper in a 
 social way much better than many whites. 
 They know their places and keep them. They 
 are proud of the family they belong to, and 
 are scrupulously honest. 
 
 " When they were slaves there was not 
 enough money in the State to buy them, and 
 they have never known what it is to feel a 
 blow or to suffer for want of food, shelter, or 
 clothing, and now that they are free I would 
 shed my blood as freely for either of them 
 as I would in my own defense. 
 
 " They nobly repay our care and affection. 
 I am obliged at times to be away from home 
 at night, and unfortunately, under the changed 
 conditions which freedom of the negro has 
 brought about, no man can safely leave his 
 wife at night unprotected. It was not so be- 
 fore the war. Every woman in this State 
 was as safe from molestation at the hands of 
 a slave before and even during the war, as 
 if she had been guarded by a legion of angels; 
 but now I would no more leave my wife at 
 night unprotected against villainous, lecher- 
 ous negroes, than I would leave her in this 
 house were it in flames. 
 
 " So when I am obliged to be away, all 
 that is necessary for me to do is to tell Ned, 
 and he spreads his bed by the door of his
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 31 
 
 mistress's room in the hall, and is her sen- 
 tinel and guard, and she sleeps with a feeling 
 of perfect safety, because she knows Ned 
 would die in her defense. Woe be to the 
 man, white or black, who approaches this 
 house with evil design while that brave, faith- 
 ful, stalwart old ' nigger ' stands guard over 
 the mistress he loves better than his own life. 
 
 " No, you need not apologize for talking 
 with Ned. I understand, and give you carte 
 blanche to ask him about any matter relating 
 to my family, or the history of this neighbor- 
 hood or county." 
 
 " Thank you, sir. In view of the novelty 
 of my position, and of my utter ignorance of 
 many things of which I desire to be correctly 
 informed, I esteem your permission a great 
 favor. I know already that I have heard 
 and read much that was not true, and I have 
 no doubt that Ned can set me right upon 
 many matters. I accept your invitation to 
 stay longer with much pleasure. Such hos- 
 pitality to me, a ' Yankee,' at the hands of a 
 southern family, I never dreamed of, and I 
 am deeply grateful for it." 
 
 " I am sure," said Mrs. Marshall, smiling, 
 " you are entirely welcome. The pleasure is 
 on our side; the favor you confer. We see 
 very few people except our friends and im- 
 mediate neighbors, and a visitor from the 
 North whom we could or would entertain in 
 recent years has been very rare, and it is a
 
 32 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 great pleasure to have a northern gentleman 
 under our roof." 
 
 In view of the position in which the guest 
 found himself, his mind naturally dwelt on 
 that great conflict which was only a few 
 years in the past. 
 
 " Colonel Marshall," he said, " the further 
 I get away from the war the more terrible it 
 seems, but I never did appreciate what it 
 meant to you people of the South till I trav- 
 eled over the route of the northern army. 
 Now I know that, great as was the material 
 and financial loss, it was nothing compared 
 with the loss of the noble lives and the sorrow 
 visited upon so many hearts and homes ; how- 
 ever, sir, I suppose it may be said that the 
 war was inevitable. 
 
 " From the very foundation of the Govern- 
 ment there were, and have been, two different 
 schools of political thought, two parties who 
 held diametrically conflicting theories of gov- 
 ernmental power and constitutional construc- 
 tion, and their differences of opinion extended 
 even to the construction, meaning, and scope 
 of the decisions of the highest court in the 
 land, and it is not surprising that from the 
 friction of opposing views the flames of war 
 were generated. 
 
 ' The men of the North fought to save the 
 Union and sustain the theories and conten- 
 tions which one party deemed vital to the pres- 
 ervation of the Union, while your people
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 33 
 
 went to war to vindicate the southern theory 
 of government and the correctness of judicial 
 decisions of eminent southern judges." 
 
 " Pardon me, Mr. Standwick," said Mrs. 
 Marshall, " and permit me to say in all kind- 
 ness that you have fallen into error which has 
 often found expression, but which gains no 
 title to respect by frequent repetition, and I 
 must express my earnest dissent from your 
 views. The South did not go to battle to 
 sustain any man, or any party's theory of 
 constitutional construction or governmental 
 power, or to vindicate the correctness of the 
 decisions of any court. I sent three sons to 
 the war. One came back maimed for life; 
 two fell in battle, and, I am proud to say, 
 fell in the very forefront of the fighting, and 
 I know they did not give their lives to sustain 
 the holding of any statesman or judge. They 
 gave no thought to any such question; but in 
 common with all those who stood with them 
 on the fighting line, they fought to defend 
 their native land, the homes of their living 
 and the graves of their dead, against an in- 
 vading foe. 
 
 " They did not stop to consider whether 
 that foe came from beyond the Potomac or 
 beyond the sea, or whether he spoke the same 
 or an alien tongue. They heard the call for 
 an army of invasion; they heard the tramp 
 of that army; and my boys, and the boys of 
 tens of thousands of other southern mothers,
 
 34 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 went forth to plant themselves between that 
 advancing army and all they held nearest and 
 dearest. They were not moved by a desire 
 to destroy the Union, which was in a great 
 measure the work of their illustrious country- 
 men of the South; but by the desire and pur- 
 pose to repel invasion of the land of their 
 birth; but if the defense of that land involved 
 destruction of the Union they did not pause 
 on that account. 
 
 " The duty they owed to their consciences, 
 to the land they loved, and to home and 
 kindred, transcended every other obligation, 
 and defense of their action rests upon the im- 
 pregnable ground that they fought in defense 
 of their homes and firesides, a motive and a 
 purpose infinitely nobler, stronger, and holier 
 than defense of any theory of government or 
 vindication of the correctness of any judicial 
 decree. My sons gave up their lives out of 
 very love of country, and, Mr. Standwick, 
 that is the noblest and most unselfish emotion 
 that ever stirred a human heart, and by the 
 chords of that love their hearts were bound to 
 the throne of God itself." 
 
 Mr. Standwick listened with interest and 
 astonishment to the earnest words of his 
 hostess. She had spoken with deep feeling, 
 and when she ceased, tears gathered in her 
 clear, gray eyes; and after a moment's silence 
 she continued : 
 
 " Please pardon me; I fear my feelings and
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 35 
 
 the memories of the past betrayed me into 
 speech that may possibly have wounded you; 
 if so, I assure you I did not intend to do so. 
 Even were you not my guest, I would not, for 
 any consideration, say anything that could 
 possibly wound your feelings, or be construed 
 as a reflection upon the actions of those with 
 whose purposes and achievements you were in 
 sympathy." 
 
 " My dear Madam," said Mr. Standwick, 
 " I trust I appreciate your feelings. You 
 have said nothing to wound or offend, but you 
 have put the case of the South before me in a 
 light in which it was never before presented 
 to me. I sincerely desire to know the truth, 
 and while it is unlikely that my convictions 
 will be changed, I assure you I entertain noth- 
 ing but respect for yours, and I honor the 
 memories of your gallant sons who died for 
 what they believed to be right." 
 
 " Now you must pardon me, Mr. Stand- 
 wick," said Colonel Marshall, smilingly, " if 
 I take part in the discussion which you and 
 my very southern wife have gotten into. I 
 feel pretty sure that you will believe that how- 
 ever effective the process of reconstruction 
 may have been in some quarters, that it cer- 
 tainly has had no effect upon at least one 
 southern woman; and Mrs. Marshall thinks 
 and feels as ninety-nine out of every hundred 
 southern women do. They are wholly im- 
 mune against reconstruction laws. A ' re-
 
 36 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 constructed ' southern woman no man has ever 
 seen. 
 
 " I hope that you will not misunderstand 
 me when I say that your use of the phrase 
 1 believed to be right,' shows that you have 
 fallen into an error which, like the one to 
 which Mrs. Marshall took exception, has been 
 often repeated, not only by people in the 
 North, but even by people in the South. 
 Understand me, please, I do not question the 
 honesty of conviction or sincerity of purpose 
 of any northern soldier, and as I entertain no 
 bitterness of feeling, I will express none; but 
 permit me to say that my sons did not die for 
 what they only believed to be right,' but for 
 what they knew to be right, and which was 
 right beyond the possibility of doubt, or suc- 
 cessful denial." 
 
 " But, Colonel Marshall, does not your 
 statement reflect upon those who fought upon 
 the other side, and in effect charge them with 
 sinning against light and knowledge?" 
 
 " I had in my mind anticipated your ques- 
 tion, and I unhesitatingly answer, No, not at 
 all. No reflection is intended or implied. 
 My statement is entirely consistent with the 
 statement that I accord to all who differed 
 from me the same sincerity of belief and hon- 
 esty of action that I claim for my sons and 
 myself. 
 
 " I am not going to enter into any discus- 
 sion of the construction of the Constitution or
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 37 
 
 into an analysis of any judicial decree, for the 
 defense of my sons and my countrymen of the 
 South does not rest upon any such ground. 
 The people of the North and South differed 
 upon questions that involved the most impor- 
 tant rights of the South, and that the people 
 of the North believed involved the continuance 
 and existence of the Union itself. Statesmen 
 tried in vain to settle these questions in the 
 forum of legislation, and war followed upon 
 failure to do so, and the people of the North, 
 in order to enforce and apply their views of 
 constitutional construction and governmental 
 power and jurisdiction, invaded the South 
 with an army. The people of the South 
 resented such an invasion, and it does not 
 matter what differences between nations, or 
 between different parts of the same nation, pre- 
 cede hostilities, or what the grounds of differ- 
 ence are, when the people of one nation invade 
 the territory of another nation, or the people 
 of one section of a nation invade the other 
 section, in order to enforce their views or put 
 in effect their policies, the people whose land 
 is invaded, and who fight to resist such inva- 
 sion, are always right. 
 
 ' This proposition is unanswerable, because 
 those who strike in defense of their homes 
 are justified upon the same principles of self- 
 defense as is the individual citizen who de- 
 fends his home or his person or his family. 
 When the defense of home and wife and chil-
 
 38 NED; NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 dren becomes necessary against any invader, 
 come from where he may, or moved by what- 
 ever motive he may be, the act of those who 
 resent such invasion is by its own inherent 
 righteousness and moral force lifted into an 
 atmosphere where the letter of no statute 
 applies, and where no earthly tribunal has 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 " If we of the South had begun the war by 
 calling for volunteers to invade the North, in 
 order to force upon you our views of constitu- 
 tional construction and the rights of the 
 States, and if we had invaded your land, we 
 would have been the aggressors, and you 
 would have been right in resisting, just as we 
 were. This contention does not involve 
 denial of the claim of the men of the North 
 that they were prompted by honest and 
 patriotic motives. I make no such denial, for 
 too many of them sealed their fidelity to their 
 convictions with their life blood, to make such 
 denial reasonable or true." 
 
 ' The statement to which I took exception, 
 Mr. Standwick," said Mrs. Marshall, " and 
 the one which my husband has just combated, 
 are both in my judgment grossly incorrect: 
 but there is another often made, which is an 
 inexcusable slander upon the people of the 
 South, and that is, that they fought to save 
 their slaves. I would not have given the 
 life, not the little finger, of one of my sons 
 for every negro on earth, and it is a cruel
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 39 
 
 slander to say that the South offered up the 
 lives of tens of thousands of her young men, 
 the representatives, types and exponents, in- 
 tellectually and morally, of the loftiest civili- 
 zation the world ever saw, to save the value 
 of a few ignorant and unprofitable slaves. 
 
 " The men of the South fought because 
 from their viewpoint of right and duty, they 
 would have been base cowards and unfit to 
 be free, if they had not fought. That states 
 the South's position in a few words, and while 
 you do not now agree with it, and doubtless 
 never will, it is the fixed faith of the southern 
 people, and they are willing to answer for it 
 and stand upon it, before the bar of history 
 and before the judgment bar of God." 
 
 " My dear Madam," returned Mr. Stand- 
 wick, " I do not question your sincerity, and 
 I admire your fidelity to your convictions and 
 your cause, and since I have already seen 
 and heard so much that I never dreamed of, 
 and find that my preconceived opinions have 
 been in a large measure wrong, I will not pro- 
 tract this discussion." 
 
 " Good," said Colonel Marshall ; " time 
 has slipped by very fast and you are doubtless 
 fatigued after your ride and would like to 
 retire." 
 
 " Hester tells me," said Mrs. Marshall, 
 " that you have been to your room, but Col- 
 onel Marshall will escort you to it again. I 
 will bid you good night. I wish you pleas-
 
 40 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 sant dreams, and ask your forgiveness if in 
 my fervor of feeling and speech I have 
 wounded your feelings," and with a bow, 
 Mrs. Marshall left the room. 
 
 Colonel Marshall, silver candlestick in 
 hand, led the way to the guest chamber, and 
 after seeing that everything necessary to the 
 comfort and convenience of his guest had been 
 provided, bade him good night. The guest 
 soon fell into deep and refreshing slumber. 
 The " Yankee " was asleep and safe beneath 
 the " Rebel's " roof.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 WHEN Mr. Standwick awoke next morning, 
 Ned was just leaving the room after building 
 in the open fireplace a fire which soon diffused 
 a cheerful warmth over the entire apartment. 
 When he saw that the guest was awake, Ned 
 said: 
 
 " Good morning, boss. You must 'scuse 
 me fer comin' in de room widout wakin' you, 
 but sleep had sich a grip on yer eyes dat I 
 couldn't wake you by knockin', so I jes' come 
 in anyhow an' mek you a fire, an' now I'm 
 gwine down an' fetch you your mawnin' cof- 
 fee. I hope you slep' well." 
 
 Upon being assured that he had rested well, 
 the old negro left the room and soon returned 
 with a tray on which was a cup of coffee, a 
 pitcher of golden cream, and a bowl of cut 
 loaf-sugar, and he insisted that Mr. Stand- 
 wick should drink the coffee while yet in bed, 
 assuring him that to do otherwise would be 
 violative of immemorial custom, and the in- 
 evitable precursor of the very worst luck. 
 
 Mr. Standwick good-naturedly yielded to 
 the old negro's insistence, and as he handed 
 the cup back to him, Ned said, 
 
 " Now, boss, w'en you come down-sta'rs 
 41
 
 42 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 Marster '11 have a little somepin' on de side- 
 bode stronger 'an coffee. He big chu'ch 
 member an' de bes' man de Lord ebber made 
 sence de worl' bergin, but he lub a little wine 
 fer his stummick' sake, lak de man I hears 'em 
 read about in de Good Book; 'cept 'tain't 
 'zactly wine, but hit's pow'ful good, an' you 
 bound fer ter drink wid him. He b'en takin' 
 his toddy in de mawnin' ebber since I knowed 
 him, but he ain't never b'en drunk na'y time 
 yit. When you see a suddern gent'man w'ut 
 don't drink mint-julep in de summer an' hot 
 toddy in de winter somepin' sho' wrong wid 
 him." 
 
 When Mr. Standwick entered the sitting- 
 room, Colonel Marshall greeted him most 
 cheerily, and offered him a most delicious 
 toddy, which despite New England training, 
 the guest did not decline. As he sipped it, he 
 said, 
 
 " I have often heard of the southern cus- 
 tom of the sideboard and morning toddy, but 
 this is my first experience in enjoyment of it, 
 and under such circumstances I cannot see the 
 great harm and danger in it that I have often 
 heard pictured." 
 
 " Well," said Colonel Marshall, " strange 
 as it may sound to you, I am not altogether 
 in favor of it as a family custom. I know 
 the usual argument that there was less 
 drunkenness fifty years ago than there is now
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 43 
 
 when the custom is not so prevalent and men 
 drink elsewhere, and that to familiarize boys 
 and young men with the use of liquor is safer 
 than to forbid them to drink at all. From 
 observation and reading, however, I am in- 
 clined to believe that the taste for liquor de- 
 veloped by constant use of it by fathers a 
 generation ago has been by the law of heredity 
 transmitted to the young men of this genera- 
 tion, and if I had sons to raise again I should, 
 in order to avoid possible danger and the ap- 
 pearance of evil, not maintain my sideboard 
 or take my morning toddy." 
 
 Early rising was an established custom in 
 the Marshall household, and it was yet some 
 time before breakfast when Mrs. Marshall 
 joined the gentlemen in the sitting-room and 
 greeted Mr. Standwick and expressed the 
 hope that he had rested well. 
 
 The breakfast was as delightful as the sup- 
 per had been, and when it was finished, Mr. 
 Standwick said to his hostess, 
 
 " Madam, I have often heard and read of 
 southern cooking, southern dishes, and south- 
 ern hospitality, but the half has not been told. 
 I shall chant the praises of the culinary skill 
 of southern colored cooks to Mrs. Standwick 
 to the limits of prudence; for really our famed 
 New England cooking cannot excel that of 
 the South, and I am sure that, with you, hos- 
 pitality must amount almost to a religion."
 
 44 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 " I think, Mr. Standwick," Mrs. Marshall 
 replied, " that it may safely be said that our 
 cooking, and what you are pleased to term 
 our hospitality, must both be in a large degree 
 a matter of usage and tradition. Our family 
 cooks, such as the one who prepared the meals 
 which I am glad to see you so enjoy, descend 
 to us, as it were, and the presiding genius of 
 my kitchen is a natural cook, a culinary artist 
 of instinctive skill. Hospitality is as much 
 her pleasure as it is ours. The more guests 
 she has to cook for, and the more elaborate 
 the meal, the happier she is." 
 
 When the party left the dining-room the 
 surrey was already at the door, and Colonel 
 Marshall, turning to his guest, said, " Now, 
 Mr. Standwick, Mrs. Marshall and I must go 
 to our grandson, and we will leave you in the 
 care of Ned and Hester. You could not be 
 in better hands. Ned will be your host for 
 the day, and you may rest assured he will not 
 presume upon his position, but that he will 
 keep his place as becomes a self-respecting 
 negro and servant. Hester will see that the 
 inner man does not suffer, and, if you wish, 
 Ned can show you some excellent shooting. 
 Should the weather become inclement or any 
 contingency prevent our return, I have di- 
 rected Ned to go over and bring my friend 
 and neighbor, Captain Alston, whose house 
 you see on the hill opposite this, to spend the 
 night with you. You will find him a cour-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 45 
 
 teous, cultured gentleman, and a delightful 
 companion." 
 
 "Thank you, Colonel; you certainly have 
 made every provision for my comfort and 
 pleasure. I am sure I will find Ned an enter- 
 taining host, and I am certain Hester will not 
 fail to do her part." 
 
 When his host and hostess had left, Mr. 
 Standwick said, 
 
 " Well, sir, now I would like to have some 
 writing material, if it is convenient." 
 
 " Co'se, boss, dere's plenty er pens an' 
 paper an' ink in de house an' Hester done put 
 'em in de settin'-room ; but 'scuse me, boss, 
 dere ain't no use er callin' me ' sah.' You jes' 
 call me Ned, like Marster an' all de other 
 suddern gent'men do. I'm used ter dat, but 
 dis here ' sah ' bus'ness, f'um a white man, 
 don' strike mah hearin' right." 
 
 " Very well," said Mr. Standwick, laugh- 
 ing, " * Ned ' it shall be. Now I will go in 
 and write to my wife." 
 
 Before beginning to write, Mr. Standwick 
 seated himself in an arm-chair near the fire 
 and remained long absorbed in thought. The 
 events of the past few hours had been so un- 
 expected, so interesting, so delightful, so dif- 
 ferent from anything he could possibly have 
 expected or imagined, that he wished to col- 
 lect his thoughts so that he might write his 
 wife clearly and coherently, all he was eager 
 to write her. After he had recalled the
 
 46 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 events of the afternoon, night, and morning, 
 and thought long upon them, he took up his 
 pen: 
 
 "My dear wife: Before beginning this 
 letter I sat quietly alone for a long time 
 in order to collect my thoughts, because 
 I am going to relate to you certain facts 
 which I am sure you will find so surprising as 
 to be almost incredible. However, they will 
 not be unpleasant, for I am well, and most 
 comfortably situated. 
 
 " You know my sentiments upon the ques- 
 tion of slavery in the South, the views I enter- 
 tain concerning slaveholders, my abhorrence 
 of the entire system, and my opinion of all 
 those connected with it. I know how fully 
 you agree with me upon these matters, and 
 how, like me, you have learned to believe that 
 there was only one side to the slavery ques- 
 tion, and that one full of cruelty and barbar- 
 ism and starvation for the slaves, and that all 
 slave owners were heartlessly cruel; that all 
 slaves were driven day and night with the 
 lash, and that for all who live in the North 
 and differ from them in sentiment concerning 
 slavery and the late war, the former slave- 
 holders entertain feelings of unrelenting en- 
 mity, and that neither you nor I ever dreamed 
 that in my trip South I would avow my senti- 
 ments or disclose my place of residence, and 
 then ask for shelter beneath the roof of a 
 rebel and former slave owner.
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 47 
 
 " If such a possibility had been suggested 
 to me when I was leaving home I should have 
 treated it as most ridiculous and absolutely 
 absurd. When I think of every statement I 
 have written above being true, I am almost 
 unable to realize where I am. I am mentally 
 dazed by my environment and by the events 
 of the last eighteen hours. 
 
 " You will find it difficult to helieve me 
 when I say that I am seated before a cheerful 
 fire, in the elegantly appointed sitting-room of 
 a stately colonial mansion, the guest of a 
 rebel and former slave owner, and that the 
 servants at my disposal were all born slaves 
 on this plantation, and that I am afraid even 
 to suggest paying for my entertainment lest I 
 give offense to my most hospitable host. I 
 know that you will at once inquire how it all 
 happened, and how I am treated, and what 
 manner of people do I find rebels and ex- 
 slaveholders? 
 
 '' The answer to each inquiry is simple and 
 most satisfactory. I chanced to stop late in 
 the afternoon to rest by the roadside in front 
 of this residence, the home of Colonel Hamil- 
 ton Marshall, and seeing a colored man stand- 
 ing near the stable lot, spoke to him. He 
 replied most courteously and I talked for a 
 considerable time with him, and from the first 
 he insisted that I must let him put my horse 
 in the stable and escort me to the house, where 
 I must spend the night, saying his * Marster '
 
 48 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 and * Miss Ma'y ' were away in the town, but 
 would be back soon; that if I passed instead 
 of stopping for the night, his master would 
 think he, the colored man, had lost his ' man- 
 ners.' I demurred and insisted that I would 
 wait until his ' marster ' came, and get his 
 permission to stop; but he insisted it was not 
 necessary and that I must go to the house. I 
 finally consented, saying I would cheerfully 
 pay for my accommodation; but the old man 
 most earnestly besought me not to say ' pay ' 
 to his ' marster,' for if I did it would give him 
 offense. Accordingly, I have not done so. 
 
 " Both Colonel Marshall and his wife 
 greeted me courteously and welcomed me with 
 evident sincerity and cordiality to their home. 
 No friend or neighbor in all our home State 
 could possibly have been more delightfully 
 hospitable. The old negro told them I was 
 a stranger and a ' Yankee,' but seemingly it 
 did not in the slightest degree lessen the gra- 
 ciousness of their welcome. 
 
 " From what the negro said, and from my 
 own observation, I conclude that my host and 
 hostess are faithful representatives of the very 
 highest class of southern society, and I may 
 say are distinctly typical southern aristocrats, 
 of whom we have often heard. 
 
 ' They are educated, cultured, and their 
 manners are most charming; they are cordial 
 and hospitable without effusiveness or osten- 
 tation in short, they are people of breeding
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 49 
 
 and unexceptionable manners. You cannot 
 fail to be impressed with their sincerity, and 
 all feeling of being a stranger is banished by 
 their gracious hospitality. 
 
 " They have talked freely with me about 
 the war, into which they sent their sons, two 
 of whom fell in battle and the third was 
 maimed for life, and they express no regret 
 for their action, make no apology or explana- 
 tion, and seem to feel that they did nothing 
 but their duty. 
 
 " They cherish with pride the memories of 
 a cause which you and I have always believed 
 was a most unrighteous rebellion, but which 
 they say was a conflict waged to repel invasion 
 of their homes and a defense of their firesides, 
 and that in that conflict they gave no thought 
 to anything else. They will not silently per- 
 mit any person to say that the southern 
 soldiers fought for what ' they believed to be 
 right,' but take issue with the statement at 
 once, and insist that they fought for what they 
 knew was right, and for what was right be- 
 yond the possibility of doubt or denial; yet 
 they indulge in not one unkind or unchari- 
 table word. It is impossible to feel aught 
 else than respect and admiration for such 
 people. 
 
 " What will doubtless surprise you most, 
 my dear wife, is to see how devoted the ex- 
 slaves are to their ' white folks,' as they call 
 them. Their admiration and affection for
 
 50 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 them seems unbounded, and the master and 
 mistress evidently appreciate and reciprocate 
 the affection of their former slaves. I had 
 heard so much of the lash and of the master's 
 brutality to his slaves that I was astounded 
 to learn that the ex-slaves I have seen have 
 never felt a blow or suffered a moment for 
 food, shelter, or any comfort, and I feel sure 
 that no possible temptation could be put be- 
 fore them that would induce them to leave 
 their former owners. Then, too, what may 
 also surprise you, the old negro speaks of all 
 his race, himself included, as ' niggers,' never 
 saying ' negro ' or ' colored man.' 
 
 " Nothing that we have ever heard or read 
 of southern hospitality has exaggerated or 
 even equaled the reality, and I am sure that 
 the people under whose roof I am an honored 
 and grateful guest, were never brutal or un- 
 kind to a slave or to any other person. 
 
 ' They are proud, it may be said, almost 
 to haughtiness, but it requires but a glance to 
 tell that my host is a gentleman in the broad- 
 est and best sense of that term, and that his 
 wife is a gracious and cultured lady. As I 
 have already said, I have every reason to be- 
 lieve that they are true representatives of a 
 class that you and I have been taught to be- 
 lieve lived in an atmosphere of cruelty and 
 tortured slaves to gratify brutal instincts. 
 
 " While my views as to the evils and in- 
 justice of slavery have not undergone any
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 51 
 
 change, and most likely will not, I freely con- 
 fess, my dear wife, that my opinions of south- 
 ern slaveholders and the relations existing 
 between them and their former slaves, have 
 within a few hours undergone a radical and 
 revolutionary change, as would yours if you 
 were situated as I am. What I have seen 
 and heard and felt within the past eighteen 
 hours, has been so utterly different from what 
 I had ever dreamed to be within the range of 
 possibility, has been so surprising, so agree- 
 able and so instructive, and has had the effect 
 so to overturn preconceived opinion, that it 
 has left me in a state of mind difficult to 
 describe. 
 
 " However, my dear wife, I am, as I have 
 said, most delightfully situated, and what is 
 more, I have reason to believe I will be able 
 while here to bring to a successful end the 
 mission upon which I came, and be able to 
 learn the fate of those who were so dear to 
 us. Trusting this expectation may be real- 
 ized, and wishing that you were here to share 
 with me the delightful hospitality and society 
 I am enjoying, I am, most affectionately your 
 husband, 
 
 "EDWARD B. STANDWICK."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 WHEN his letter was finished, Mr. Standwick 
 went out into the genial sunshine. The heavy 
 frost had vanished, the sun shone brightly 
 from a cloudless sky, and the air was crisp 
 and bracing. He found Ned basking in the 
 sunshine on the front steps. 
 
 " Well, Ned, you seem to be a gentleman 
 of elegant leisure." 
 
 " Well, boss, ef dat means I ain't got much 
 ter do, you is right. I ain't got so mighty 
 much ter do, 'cept ter go ober ter de fiel' now 
 an' den ter see how dem free niggers is gittin' 
 erlong pickin' cotton. Dey is pow'ful ag- 
 gervatin', 'speshully dese new niggers. De 
 ole niggers w'ut b'longed ter Marster 'fo' de 
 wah '11 wu'k, but dese young an' sorter eddi- 
 cated niggers is scan'lous lazy an' triflin'." 
 
 " But you must make allowance for them ; 
 they will do better when they get more edu- 
 cation and become more like the white folks." 
 
 " Dat's gwine ter be a long time, boss. 
 Mebbe it'll be so some er dese days, but you 
 ner me ain' gwine ter lib ter see it. De 
 pnlies' niggers w'ut's any good ter wu'k now 
 is de ole-time 'fo'-de-wah niggers, w'ut 
 wouldn' know a letter in de book f urn a 
 52
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 53 
 
 buggy wheel. De mo' you eddicates dese 
 young new niggers, de less 'count dey is. 
 Mebbe ef you give 'em heap er 1'arnin' so dey 
 kin 1'arn de udder niggers in de big schools, 
 it '11 do 'em good; but w'ut liT haid-1'aniin' 
 an' book-1'arnin' dey gits now jes' spiles 'em 
 fer fiel'-han's, an' dats all dey fitten fer." 
 
 " Well, Ned, you must admit that education 
 will improve anybody." 
 
 " No, sah ; it ain' improve na'y nigger dat 
 ever I see yit. De Yankee army ain' hardly 
 lef heah 'fo' a lot er white 'omans come down 
 heah fum de Norf an' 'mence ter teach dese 
 young niggers ter read an' write. Dey say 
 dey gwine ter ' elervate ' 'em I b'liebe dat's 
 de wu'd dey spoke. Well, some er dem 
 young niggers was sharp ez er briar, an' dey 
 1'arn ter write quick; den dey quit school, an' 
 dey write too much. Dey han's an' dey 
 haids b'en eddicated, but dey hearts ain't 
 nebber b'en tetched, an' dey was wuss off 'an 
 dey was widout eddication, 'ca'se dey ain' 
 think nuttin' 'tall er writin' some white man's 
 name ter er note er ter er order on de stoah 
 w'en dey wan' money er goods, an' jes' lots 
 men went ter de pen'tenshy fer fo'g'ry. 
 Boss, I tell you de truff, dar's 'nuff ha'f-eddi- 
 cated niggers in de pen'tenshy fum dis county 
 fer writin' some odder man's name on notes 
 an' orders, ter wu'k dis plan'ashun. Dat's er 
 f ack, an' anybody '11 tell you so w'ut libs 'roun' 
 dese parts. I hope some er dese days dey '11
 
 54 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 eddicate niggers diff'unt dan w'ut dey do now, 
 'ca'se dey ain' doin' 'em no good de way dey 
 gibs 'em 1'arnin' now." 
 
 " Why, you don't seem to have a very high 
 opinion of your own race. We have some 
 colored people in the North you might like 
 better." 
 
 " Now, boss, 'scuse me, but please, sah, 
 don' misonnerstan' me. I ain' got nothin' 'tall 
 'g'inst mah race. I'se a nigger jes' lak de 
 balluns on 'em, an' I know dey ain' had much 
 chance, an' I ain' er blamin' 'em er 'busin' 
 'em; but dar ain' much diff'unce 'twix' nig- 
 gers. Boss, I 'speck you gwine ter be heah 
 fer sebb'ul days an' I spec I gwine ter talk er 
 heap ter you 'bout niggers, speshully 'bout 
 yaller niggers, an' I hope you gwine ter on- 
 nerstan' me. 
 
 " I don' mean ter say dat all de niggers is 
 mean er triflin', 'ca'se dey ain' by er long shot. 
 Dar is lots er good niggers, an' wu'kkin' nig- 
 gers an' hones' niggers, but dar's a lot wu't 
 won' wu'k an' it ain' ve'y s'prizin', 'ca'se dey 
 al'ays b'en tuk keer ob ; dey ain' had ter think 
 fer deyselves, an' 'ca'se it look lak ter dem 
 dat de white folks didn' wu'k, dey think dey 
 mustn' wu'k, 'ca'se dey's free. 
 
 " Dar's good yaller niggers, too, but in 
 ginurl dey ain' no 'count. It 'pears lak dey 
 got all de bad p'ints er dey daddy an' mammy, 
 an' none er dey good uns; but some un 'em is 
 good niggers. I heah white folks say de
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 55 
 
 'cepshun proob de rule, but I cain't onnerstan' 
 dat kin' er talk. How somepin' w'ut ain't 
 somepin' kin proob somepin' ter be so, is too 
 much f er me ; but howsomebber dat may be, er 
 yaller nigger er a black nigger is a nigger. 
 Boss, sho' 's you's bo'n, dar's a mighty big 
 diff'unce 'twix' er white man an 'er nigger, 
 mo' 'n dey is, ef dat kin be, 'twix' Marster 
 an' one er dem san'lappers ober yon'er in de 
 pine woods. 
 
 " Look at de foot ob a quality-man, lak 
 Marster! Ef he put his bar' foot on de 
 groun', it don' tetch nowhar 'ceptin' de heel 
 an' de ball er de foot 'hin' de big toe, but de 
 holler ob a nigger's foot mek a hole in de 
 groun'. 
 
 11 I ain't got no eddication, neider de lang- 
 widge ter 'splain w'ut I mean, but I don' mean 
 nuttin' 'gin mah race. Dey ain' ter blame 
 fer bein' ez dey is; but it '11 be er long time 
 'fo' dey is gwine ter lib lak white folks. I see 
 niggers come right f'um Afferky whar niggers 
 b'en free sence Adam was bo'n, an' soon dey 
 git heah dey 'mence lookin' fer snakes ter eat 
 an' gwine on 'bout ' hoodoo ' an' ' voodoo,' 
 an' de lak er dat. 
 
 " Dar ain' no mo' use er tryin' ter run de 
 guberment wid niggers 'an 'tis ter try ter beat 
 er thurrerbred wid er plow-hoss. 'Fo' de 
 wah Marster mighty nigh run de guberment, 
 an' mek mos' er de laws, an' 'bout two hun- 
 derd niggers was mekin' cotton an' co'n on dis
 
 56 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 place; but now w'en 'lection day come dey all 
 quit de fiel' 'cept a few ole niggers, an' bre'k 
 off ter town ter vote, an' dey don' know no 
 mo' 'bout w'ut dey doin' dan er house-cat 
 know 'bout playin' er pianny." 
 
 " Why do you say ' niggers,' Ned? Why 
 not say ' negroes,' or 'colored folks ' ? " 
 
 " 'Ca'se I calls 'em w'ut dey is, an' w'ut 
 dey calls deyselves. Boss, you go down 
 yon'er ter de quarters an' ax a'y nigger you 
 see whar some udder nigger is, an' he gwine 
 ter say, ' Dat nigger right here som'er's,' er 
 'Dat nigger jes' gone'; howsomebber it 
 may be, an' ef dey gits ter fightin', which dey 
 in ginurly does, an' you ax w'ut's de matter, 
 de nigger you ax '11 say, ' Jes' a lot er dem 
 niggers fightin'.' I don' mean no disrespec' 
 ter 'em by callin' 'em niggers, but far as de 
 niggers whar you lib is consarn, boss, I done 
 al'ays 'serb dat er nigger's er nigger, whedder 
 he lib in de Norf er de Souf, er de Eas' er de 
 Wes'. I b'en in de Norf, an' I see plenty er 
 niggers dar, an' dey jes' lak udder niggers, 
 'cept dey call deyselves free." 
 
 " When were you in the North? " 
 
 " Boss, I b'en dar mighty nigh ebber' year 
 'fo' de wah. Marster and Miss Ma'y go up 
 dar to N' Yawk an' Nagry Falls an' Can- 
 nerdy, an' tek Hester an' me erlong ter wait 
 on 'em, an' I see lots er niggers." 
 
 ' Why didn't you stay there and be free? 
 Didn't you know you could have done that? "
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 57 
 
 " Yes, sah; I knowed dat; but w'ut I wan- 
 ter stay fer? Marster an' Miss Ma'y wa'n't 
 gwine stay, an' I know I ain' gwine be sip- 
 perate' f'um Marster, an' I sw'ar Hester 
 gwine die 'fo' she le'be Miss Ma'y, so dar 
 you is. Ef mah Marster ain't gwine stay, 
 neider mah Mistiss, nur mah wife, I sho' 
 ain't gwine stay. 
 
 " Dar wa'n't na'y nigger I see up dar well 
 off ez me; an', boss, I wanter tell you de 
 currissest thing dat ebber was. I seed one 
 HT didapper yaller nigger up dar waitin' on 
 de table at de hotel. He was mighty nigh 
 white, an' he axed me ef I was gwine back to 
 de Souf wid Marster. I say ob co'se; I got 
 er good house an' plenty ter eat an' ter w'ar, 
 an' my Marster an' Mistiss gwine tek good 
 keer er me ef I was sick de res er mah life. I 
 gwine back an' I mighty glad ter go at dat. 
 Den he say, ' Mebbe I come ter de Souf some 
 er dese days, an' ef I do mebbe I call ter see 
 dat purty young lady w'ut you call Miss 
 Lucy.' 'W'ut dat you say?' I ax him I 
 cain't b'liebe I onnerstan' him right. Den he 
 say, ' I sayed ef I go ter de Souf mebbe I call 
 on yo' purty young mistiss. I mighty nigh 
 white ez anybody, an' ain't I tolerbul good 
 lookin'?' 
 
 " Den, boss, I got mad thu' an' thu'. I 
 looked at dat nigger fer er minnit jes' lak 
 rattlesnake look at cat squ'r'l ter cha'm him; 
 den I say, ' You damn little yaller fool ! '
 
 58 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 Boss, I chu'ch member an' say mah pra'rs, but 
 I fergit my 'ligion dat time. I say, ' You talk 
 'bout callin' on mah young mistiss, an' I'll git 
 my ban's on yer, an' ef I do I'll crack yer 
 neck. I tell yer right now, nigger, you's 
 'lectioneerin' fer a fun'al,' an' I lef him right 
 dar, an' I ain't never speck ter see him erg'in; 
 but I did, an' whar it was I see him, you 
 reckon? " 
 
 " Really, I have no idea." 
 
 " I seed him right heah on dis place, an' 
 he was heah w'en de nigger so'gers lak ter 
 bu'n dis ve'y house. It was de time w'en 
 Marse Arthur Stan'ick, dat was er 'Fed'rit 
 cap'n, an' Cap'n Chawles Stan'ick, who was 
 er Yankee cap'n, meet right heah jest atter 
 Cap'n Chawles an' his mens done sabe dis 
 house. 
 
 " Dat sho' was a turrerbul time, boss ; de 
 wuss' time I ebber seed sence I was bo'n. Dey 
 sot fiah ter dis house whar Marster fotch Miss 
 Ma'y w'en she was de beauterfullest bride dat 
 ebber was in de worl' ; all dey chillun was bo'n 
 in it, an' all de picters ob dey gran' kin-folks 
 was in dar. Marse Alf'ed an' Marse 
 Willyum dat was kilt in de wah laid right in 
 dar in de parlor in dey coffins, an' mah boy 
 Tom w'ut was kilt in de wah 'long er his 
 Marse Willyum laid in dar in his coffin. 
 
 " Miss Lucy died right in dar an' de angels 
 was er waitin' fer her. She was too purty an' 
 too sweet ter lib on de yearth, an' God sont de
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 59 
 
 angels atter her an' tuk her fer hisse'f, an' 
 spite er all dat, dem niggers sot fiah ter dis 
 ve'y house ; but thank de Lawd dey didn' bu'n 
 it. Cap'n Chawles an' his mens got heah an' 
 put out de fiah, an' his mens did sho' pile up 
 dem nigger so'gers." 
 
 If Ned had not been so moved in his recital 
 by the memory of that day of horror he might 
 have noticed that when he mentioned the 
 names of Arthur and Charles Stanwick, his 
 guest started as if he had received a shock; 
 but he almost instantly recovered his com- 
 posure, and a close observer could have seen 
 on his face an expression of relief that 
 amounted almost to joy. 
 
 " How did the two captains chance to meet, 
 and how did Captain Charles save the 
 house?" Mr. Standwick asked. 
 
 " Well, boss, dat's a long story, an' I 
 'bleeged ter go in de fiel' now, an' see w'ut 
 dem free niggers is er doin' ; but ef you please, 
 sah, I'll tell you dat story ter-morrer er de nex' 
 day." 
 
 "Very well, I will excuse you of course; 
 but here comes a colored boy with a note." 
 
 Approaching them with his hat in his hand, 
 the boy said, 
 
 " Colonel Marshall tol' me ter brung dis 
 heah an' gib it ter you, Unker Ned, an' tell 
 you ter gib hit ter de gen'man w'ut's stayin' 
 heah." Ned took the note and handed it to 
 Mr. Standwick, who read it as follows:
 
 6o NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 "My dear Mr. Standwick: My grand- 
 son is much better, but his father and mother 
 are anxious to have us remain, and as Mrs. 
 Marshall is not very well, we will not be 
 home to-night. I sincerely regret that I shall 
 not have the pleasure of being with you to- 
 night, but Ned will go over and bring my 
 friend, Captain Alston, to spend the night 
 with you, and as you are to remain with us 
 for several days yet, the pleasure of your 
 society for another evening is not lost, only 
 postponed. Captain Alston and my deputies, 
 Ned and Hester, will see that you are well 
 taken care of. 
 
 " Very cordially, 
 
 HAMILTON MARSHALL." 
 
 ' The Colonel will not be home to-night," 
 Mr. Standwick announced, when he had 
 finished reading the letter. 
 
 " Is dat so? I sho'ly hope little Marster 
 ain't no wuss." 
 
 " Oh, no, he is better; but his parents wish 
 Colonel and Mrs. Marshall to stay, and the 
 Colonel says Mrs. Marshall is not very well." 
 
 " I 'spec' so much ridin' an' anzi'ty 'bout 
 her onlies' gran'son done mek Miss Ma'y 
 kinder weak. I sho' do hope she don' be tuk 
 sick dar. Ef she do, Hester gwine right dar 
 ef she hatter walk, an' den dis husban' er hern 
 gwine ter foller her. You cain't tie me 'way 
 ef my Mistiss be sick. I gwine tek Marster'
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 61 
 
 saddle-hoss atter dinner, an' go over an' fetch 
 Cap'n Als'on ter see you, an spen' de night. 
 
 " He sho' is a mighty fine man. He speak 
 saft, an' he pow'ful perlite; but Lor', boss, he 
 sho' is a fignter. Dey say de way he fit en- 
 durin' er de wah was a caushun, an' hit won' 
 do ter fool wid him now nuther. One white 
 man done foun' dat out ter his sorrer, an' lots 
 er 'citement an' trubbel come outen dat white 
 man foolin' 'long er Captain Angus Als'on." 
 
 "How was that?" asked Mr. Standwick. 
 
 " 'Scuse me, boss, I gwine tell yer 'bout dat 
 'fo' long; but it's er long tale, an' ef I starts 
 now you gwine ter miss yer dinner, an' Hester 
 an' Dinah dat's de cook done spread dey- 
 selves ter gib you a dinner f'um erway back. 
 Bein's how you's a stranger f'um de Norf, 
 dey wanter 1'arn you sumpin' 'bout our folks 
 kin' er eatin'." 
 
 " Well, I have already learned much and 
 am willing to learn more. I am sure there 
 could be no more pleasant education." 
 
 " Well, boss, you jes' walk in de house an' 
 mek yo'se'f ter home, an' I step down in de 
 cotton-fiel' er few minnits an' see 'bout dem 
 free niggers, an' 'g'inst I git back dinner be 
 ready." 
 
 Mr. Standwick was adding a few lines to 
 the letter to his wife, when Ned came in and 
 bowed profoundly. " Dinner am ready. 
 Walk in, sah ! '] 
 
 Mr. Standwick was astounded. A veri-
 
 62 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 table feast had been spread, enough for a 
 score, yet so delicately cooked and tastefully 
 served was it, that it tempted the appetite, 
 and provoked liberal indulgence. 
 
 When Mr. Standwick had finished his din- 
 ner and was sipping a delicious cup of coffee, 
 and inhaling its delightful aroma, he said to 
 Hester, 
 
 " Madam, you are a wonderful cook." 
 Hester put her apron to her face and en- 
 deavored with only moderate success to sup- 
 press a laugh at being addressed as " madam," 
 but her training enabled her to regain her 
 composure, and she replied, 
 
 " Much erbleeged ter yer, sah; but I hope 
 you 'scuse me, sah, but I'd ruther you'd call 
 me Hester; dat's mah name." 
 
 " Why, are you not a married woman, 
 Ned's wife?" 
 
 " Yes, sah, dat's so ; but yer know it's all in 
 bein' usen ter sumpin. I ain't usen ter 
 'madam,' an' I is usen ter Hester; an' den, 
 sah, I ain't de cook. No, indeed, sah, I jes' 
 super'ten'. De cook's name Dinah." 
 
 ; ' Well, I would like to see the cook who 
 cooked this elegant dinner; may I see her, 
 Ned?" 
 
 ' Yes, sah ; I 'speck she'll come ; I dunno fer 
 sho'. She pow'ful modes' an' skittish, but 
 she sho' is er cook ter beat de ban' I She so 
 black, charcoal mek a white mark on her face, 
 an' de chickens go ter roos' w'en she go in
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 63 
 
 de hen-'ous'; but de way she kin cook do 
 tek de day, an' I gwine ter call her." Step- 
 ping to the door of the kitchen, Ned called, 
 " Dinah, come here right now ! " 
 
 " W'ut you want er me, Ned? " replied a 
 voice from the kitchen. 
 
 " De gen'man say he wan' see de cook w'ut 
 cook dis fine dinner." 
 
 " Whoopee ! I sho'ly mus' 'spon' ter dat 
 call," and a black woman stepped into the 
 doorway of the dining-room, almost filling it 
 with her generous avoirdupois. Her ebony 
 countenance was in striking contrast with the 
 turkey-red bandanna which surmounted her 
 head, and on seeing Mr. Standwick she 
 dropped a curtsy. " I ve'y much 'bleeged fer 
 de praise er me, sah; Fse pow'ful proud." 
 
 " You certainly deserve the praise ; you are 
 a great cook. If you would go North you 
 could get large wages." 
 
 "Yes, sah, mebbe so; but den my white 
 folks wouldn't be dar, en' I cain't leave 
 Marster an' Miss Ma'y. B'en cookin' fer 
 dem forty year, an' 'speck ter keep on twell 
 I die." 
 
 " You colored people are strange folks to 
 me. You have been slaves all your lives, 
 liable to be whipped and sold, and badly 
 treated, and yet you seem to love those who 
 kept you in slavery as if they were your 
 parents." 
 
 "Li'bul fer what, boss?" said Ned.
 
 64 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 " Li'bul ter be whipped? Ef dar's a stripe 
 big ez a brumstraw on a'y nigger in dis room 
 I 'gree ter wuk fer you de res' er my life. 
 Nobody ain't never tetch na'y one er we-uns, 
 an' dar wa'n' 'nuff gol' in de Newnited States 
 ter get Marster ter sell eider one er de th'ee 
 in slav'y time. An' does you know, boss, dat 
 neider Hester er me er Dinah is ebber seed de 
 day w'en we didn't had plenty ter eat an' ter 
 w'ar. Ef yer don' know it, all de same it's 
 er fac'. 
 
 " Boss, you done heahed er heap 'bout de 
 white folks an' niggers down heah in de Souf 
 w'ut ain't so ; an' we-uns all is glad you come 
 down dis way so you kin see fer yerse'f." 
 
 " I am glad too that I came, Ned. I am 
 ready to believe anything good you say about 
 Colonel and Mrs. Marshall; but your love of 
 those who kept you in slavery puzzles me." 
 
 " Boss, 'twan't dey fault. Dey tuk us lak 
 dey foun' us. Dey ain't mek us slaves, an' 
 dey done de bes' dey could wid us, an' Gawd 
 knows dey wuz good an' kin' ter all dey 
 niggers." 
 
 " I am sure that is true, because I know 
 they could not be unkind to any one. Now I 
 am greatly obliged for this splendid dinner 
 and I want each of you to take this little gift," 
 and he laid a small gold piece in the palm of 
 each of the three. 
 
 Ned and Hester bowed and thanked him, 
 while Dinah dropped a curtsy and continued
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 65 
 
 to bow until Mr. Standwick reached the door, 
 and then she said, " Boss, ter-morrer I gwine 
 ter git you a dinner sho' 'nuff. Yer ain't 
 seed no dinner yit. I gwine ter put de liT 
 pot in de big un an' den you'll see a sho'- 
 nuff quality-folks dinner, fer I'se gwine ter 
 show you mah serbility ez er cook. I gwine 
 ter bergin ter erupt up de 'gregunces dis 
 ebenin'." And with this deliverance in what 
 to the southern ear was an entirely familiar 
 dialect, but which to Mr. Standwick was a 
 wholly foreign tongue, Dinah withdrew to her 
 kitchen and the guest went into the sitting- 
 room, wondering if it were possible for her to 
 excel the dinner he had already enjoyed.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MR. STANDWICK returned to the sitting-room, 
 and Ned, after he had finished his dinner, 
 entered the room. " I thought, boss, mebbe 
 you mout lak ter ride eroun' er bit an' see de 
 plan'ashun, sah. Guess yer ain't nebber seed 
 no cotton growin' er bein' picked twell you rid 
 'cross dis kentry, so I done saddle up de liT 
 mar' Redbird fer you. She's er singlefooter 
 f 'um taw, an' a saddle-nag dat's hard ter beat, 
 an' I hope you gwine 'joy ridin' her." 
 
 " I am very much obliged, Ned, but I will 
 not ride till later in the afternoon. I will go 
 out now and enjoy the evening sunshine, and 
 you can tell me about how Captain Charles 
 saved the house, and about the trouble that 
 came of somebody ' foolin' 'long er Cap'n 
 Als'on,' as you say; and then there is some- 
 thing else I want to learn about, and that is 
 how your son came to be killed in battle and 
 to lie in the parlor in his coffin." 
 
 " Well, boss, I cain't tell yer 'bout all dem 
 'currences dis ebenin', 'ca'se dere won' be 
 time 'nuff; but I kin tell you right smart, en' 
 I'll tell you de res' ter-morrer er nex' day." 
 
 ' Very well, and if you have no objection I 
 had rather hear first about your boy." 
 
 ' Well, boss, you see Hester an' me ain't 
 66
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 67 
 
 nebber had but one chile, dat was Tom. He 
 was 'bout five year ol'er dan his Marse 
 Willyum. When Marse Willyum was bo'n, 
 Tom he wen' ter de big-house ter see de 
 new baby. He crope up to'rds de baid right 
 easy, an' Miss Ma'y seed him, an' she say 
 right den an' dar, ' Tom, I gwine gib you ter 
 your new young Marster, an' now you b'longs 
 ter him.' Jes' so. Wen der baby got big 
 'nuff ter trus' him ter Tom, Tom set by de 
 cradle an' rock it, an' some time he lif' de baby 
 an' mek him laff. An' heap er times w'en de 
 baby be 'sleep an' smile in he sleep 'ca'se de 
 angels be whisp'in' ter him, Tom jes' clap he 
 han's an' say, Ain't he de purties' baby dat 
 you ebber see, daddy? ' 
 
 " Wen de baby could toddle 'roun' Tom 
 was a tolerbul sizerbul chap an' er right good 
 nuss, an' de two growed up tergedder; an' 
 dey paddle in de branch, an' dey climb trees, 
 an' dey go swimmin', an' dey sho' was lak two 
 brudders. Tom did set a stoah by his young 
 Marster. He nebber done er thing 'ceptin' 
 play wid him, an' dey was de mischievousist 
 pa'r dat ebber yer see in all de bo'n day er 
 yer life. Dey weren't mean. Dey didn't lie, 
 but dey was up ter all kin' er boy pranks an' 
 projickin's. 
 
 " Dey wen' swimmin' 'g'inst orders, an' dey 
 git in er hurry an' tu'n dey sh'ts wrong side 
 out'ards, an' run sticks right fas' back'rds an' 
 fur'uds thu' dey ha'r ter dry it; den Miss
 
 68 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 Ma'y gin 'em bofe a curr'in' wid er peach- 
 tree sprout. Dey rid Marster's saddle- 
 hosses, an' dey lots er times clum' er hunderd 
 feet atter a coon or a squ'r'l, an' you nebber 
 see 'em sip'rated. Wen Marse Willyum 
 went off ter de 'cademy Tom went wid him, 
 an' w'en he went ter de wah Tom went wid 
 him." 
 
 " Do you say your son went to the army 
 with Colonel Marshall's son? " 
 
 1 Yes, sah." 
 
 ;t Was your boy killed on the battlefield? " 
 
 " Yes, sah; he was kilt wid his arms 'roun' 
 his young Marster." 
 
 " Do you tell me that people like Colonel 
 Marshall and his wife made your son go to 
 war and fight against his friends who were 
 fighting to give him freedom?" 
 
 "How dat, boss? 'Scuse me, please, sah, 
 but I r'ally don' onnerstan' w'ut yer mean. 
 Mek him go? Lor' bless yer soul, boss, you 
 couldn't er tied him wid er trace-chain ef his 
 Marse Willyum had gone an' lef him. He 
 didn't gone ter fight, he went ter wait on his 
 young Marster; but he would er fit ef his 
 Marse Willyum had er tole him." 
 
 " Do you mean he would have fought the 
 northern soldiers as his young master did; 
 that he would have fought men who were try- 
 ing to set him free? " 
 
 " Of co'se, sah. He gwine ter do w'ut- 
 ebber his young Marster say fer him ter do;
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 69 
 
 an' den I dunno so well 'bout his fightin' 
 'g'inst his freedom. Ez I onnerstan' de bus'- 
 ness, de Feddul so'gers didn' sot out ter free 
 de niggers. I heahed Marster say how dat 
 Mr. Linkum, who Marster say was a pow'ful 
 good man, sayed one time dat ef dese folks 
 down here 'ud quit fightin' an' come back 
 inter der Newnyun lak dey was 'fo' dey ber- 
 gin ter fight, dat dey mout keep dey niggers; 
 but howsomebber dat mout er b'en, dar ain't 
 no pusson made mah boy go ter de wah. 
 
 Marster ner Miss Ma'y wouldn't er sont 
 him 'ceptin' Hester an' me was both willin' 
 an' Tom wanter go hisse'f, 'ca'se Miss Ma'y 
 tole me so. Tom wanter go, an' w'en he 
 come back wid his Marse Willyum dey was 
 bof ob 'em in dey coffins. 
 
 " De so'gers put 'em in de ground right 
 whar dey died, an' mark de place, an' atter 
 de wah Marster fetched 'em both home, an' 
 dey lay side berside in de parlor, an' dey sleep 
 side berside over yon'er on de hill. De paper 
 in town done print all 'bout mah boy gwine 
 ter de wah wid his young Marster, an' 'bout 
 how he was kilt, an' Miss Ma'y an' Marster 
 heap er times reads it ter me. I got it in 
 de bottom er my chis' in mah house, an' ef 
 you 'scuse me I'll go an' git it, an' I be much 
 erbleeged ef you'll read it ter me." 
 
 " Certainly, I will read it to you gladly. I 
 have no doubt it will be an interesting story." 
 
 " Boss, it ain't no story, it's de sollum fac'.
 
 70 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 It tetches mah heart 'ca'se it's 'bout how mah 
 boy died, an' how he kep' his wu'd." 
 
 " Oh, I understand. I don't doubt your 
 word, nor doubt the truth of what has been 
 printed. I mean it is a true story of noble 
 deeds." 
 
 " You's right, boss, fer it sho'ly is." 
 
 The negro soon returned with a broad piece 
 of cardboard on which was pasted a piece of 
 newspaper a column or more in length. He 
 held it as carefully as if every letter had been 
 a diamond, and well he might, for on no 
 record of heroism was there ever graven the 
 recital of sublimer courage, more unselfish 
 devotion, or nobler fidelity to duty. 
 
 He handed the priceless treasure to Mr. 
 Standwick, who read it as follows: 
 
 ' Since the war began there have been 
 many noble young lives offered up in defense 
 of the South, many hearts saddened, and many 
 homes darkened, but with the gloom there 
 has been blended much of glory, and this good 
 county has had her share of both. But there 
 is something peculiarly pathetic and glorious 
 in the death of young William Marshall, who 
 fell in battle a few days ago, and the pathos 
 and glory of his fall is intensified by the death, 
 at his side, of his faithful negro body-servant, 
 Tom. 
 
 " ' William was the youngest son of that
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 71 
 
 knightly Christian gentleman, Colonel Ham- 
 ilton Marshall, who is beloved and revered 
 by the entire citizenship of this State, and the 
 son of as noble a mother as ever gave her be- 
 loved children to their country, a representa- 
 tive southern woman, the highest type of 
 womanhood. 
 
 " ' William was born and reared in this 
 county, and was a handsome, noble young 
 fellow, worthy of the stock from which he 
 descended, and than this, praise can find no 
 higher expression. 
 
 " ' The day that he was eighteen years 
 old, his mother, in whose veins flows the blood 
 of generations of gentlemen and heroes, said 
 to him, " William, my son, you are eighteen 
 to-day, and your country needs you. Are you 
 ready? " Uncovering himself, he bowed his 
 head and replied, " Yes, mother, I am ready 
 and anxious to go. Brother Hamilton has 
 come home maimed for life, brother Alfred 
 has died in battle, and I must fill the place 
 of one of them." His mother replied, " Very 
 well, my son, everything is ready. You can 
 leave this afternoon." 
 
 ' The haversack, the blankets, everything 
 the young soldier needed or could take, was 
 ready for use, and upon each article had fallen 
 the tears of his heroic mother; but when the 
 crucial hour of sacrifice came, she gave no sign 
 of anguish. 
 
 " ' " Mother," William said, " may I take
 
 72 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 Tom with me? We have never been sepa- 
 rated." As everybody in the community 
 knows, Tom was the only son of Ned, the 
 body-servant and carriage-driver of Colonel 
 Marshall, and Hester, his wife, the maid and 
 constant attendant of Mrs. Marshall, two 
 negroes who have been always justly respected 
 for their fidelity, good manners, and good 
 character. 
 
 " * Mrs. Marshall replied, " Son, I will not 
 make Tom go, or permit him to go unless he 
 wishes to, and not then unless both his parents 
 consent. I have too much affection for Ned 
 and Hester, and know too well how a mother 
 feels at giving up her boy, to send Tom with 
 you, unless they freely consent. I will call 
 them and let them decide." Mrs. Marshall 
 called to Hester to come at once and bring 
 Ned and Tom with her, and soon the trio, 
 father, mother, and son, appeared, when Mrs. 
 Marshall said, " Ned, I have called you and 
 Hester here to tell you that William is eigh- 
 teen to-day, and he is going to start to Vir- 
 ginia to join the army, and he wants Tom to 
 go with him; but I will not make Tom go 
 unless both you and Hester are entirely will- 
 ing, and Tom himself wants to go." 
 
 ' Tom stood by, the very picture of excite- 
 ment, interest, and anxiety, and it seemed as 
 if he must speak, but, apparently by a great 
 effort, he restrained himself and waited for 
 his " daddy " to speak first.
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 73 
 
 " * " Miss Ma'y," said Ned, " ef Marse 
 Willyum want Tom to go Fse willin', 'ca'se 
 dey never is been sipperated in dey lives. 
 Hester kin speak fer nerse'f." " Ef Tom 
 want to go I ain't gwine try ter keep him," 
 agreed Hester. " It's mighty good er you, 
 Miss Ma'y, ter 'fuse ter sen' him bedout we be 
 willin'. I love Marse Willyum mos' lak I do 
 Tom, an' he kin have Tom erlong wid him in 
 de wah ef he wan' him." Then Mrs. Mar- 
 shall said, " What do you say, Tom? " " I 
 wants ter go, Miss Ma'y. I don' want Marse 
 Willyum ter le'be me, 'ca'se I ain't gwine 
 stay ef he go bedout me." Mrs. Marshall 
 said: " Tom, your Marse Willyum may go 
 into big battles, and you might follow him 
 and get killed." " I cain't he'p it, Miss 
 Ma'y; I'd ruther be daid den ter be sip- 
 
 crated f'um Marse Willyum." "Well, 
 om, you may go." Whereupon Tom fairly 
 shouted, " Goody 1 Marse Willyum an' me 
 gwine ter de wah tergedder. Much er- 
 bleeged ter you, daddy an' mammy, an' Miss 
 Ma'y." 
 
 '""Tom," said Mrs. Marshall, "come 
 here and kneel, and while my hand lays on 
 your head I want you to make me a promise." 
 ' The young negro knelt on both knees 
 at the feet of his mistress, with head bowed 
 low, and as he did so Ned and Hester knelt 
 just behind him. 
 
 " ' Mrs. Marshall, laying her hand on
 
 74 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 Tom's head, said, " Do you promise me that 
 if your Marse William goes into battle that 
 you will go hunt for him as soon as you can 
 go, and that if you find him wounded, you will 
 stay by him, and never leave him while there 
 is life in his body? " 
 
 " * " I does promise dat, Miss Ma'y, so 
 he'p me Gawd! " 
 
 " ' " God bless you, Tom," said Mrs. Mar- 
 shall, " and help you to keep that promise." 
 To that wish Ned and Hester responded in 
 unison, with a fervent amenl 
 
 " ' The young soldier and his faithful 
 body-servant went to Virginia, arriving just 
 in time to go into one of the bloodiest battles 
 of the war. 
 
 " ' With throbbing heart Tom watched his 
 slender and boyish-looking, manly young 
 master, as he took his place in line, and the 
 devoted negro trembled as the battle opened 
 with heavy cannonading, followed soon by a 
 deadly musketry fire in the direction of which 
 he saw his master move. The battle raged 
 for more than two hours, but at the first slack- 
 ening of the fire, Tom started in the direction 
 of the fighting. 
 
 " ' He soon met many stragglers and 
 wounded men, and again and again was di- 
 rected to go back, but he made no response, 
 and though his face was ashen with fear, his 
 great love for his young master nerved him 
 to heroism of the truest kind that courage
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 75 
 
 which, despite terror and seeming imminent 
 death, dares danger. 
 
 " ' Bullets were thick in the air, the artillery 
 fire was cutting off limbs of trees over his 
 head, and the ground was covered thickly 
 with the wounded, the dying and the dead, 
 but he pressed on. 
 
 " ' At last he met a member of his master's 
 company whom he knew, and who said to 
 him, " Go back, Tom, you must not go in 
 there." The negro replied, " I boun' ter go, 
 boss; I done promise Miss Ma'y an' I mus' 
 keep my wu'd," and creeping and dodging 
 and trembling, he went on, and soon he heard 
 near at hand a voice that he would have 
 known among a million. 
 
 " ' Shot and shell were filling the air with 
 deadly hail, but he knew his master's voice, 
 and it was calling piteously for water. Tom 
 hastened to his side with two canteens with 
 which he had provided himself. What fol- 
 lowed in the next few minutes we have from 
 Henry Armistead, a comrade of William's, 
 who lay wounded almost in arm's reach of 
 him. 
 
 " * The devoted servant found William 
 wounded beyond hope of recovery, and 
 propped against a large oak in a half-recum- 
 bent position. He knelt beside his beloved 
 master and passed his left arm about him. 
 " Oh, Marse Willyum, thank Gawd I done 
 foun' you ! " and pressed the canteen to the
 
 76 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 parched lips of the suffering young soldier, 
 who drank long and deeply, and then said, 
 ;< Tom, take the other canteen and put it 
 down by Mr. Armistead, and put this one by 
 me, and put my blanket between my body 
 and the tree, and then go back. I have but 
 a little while to live I know, and you can do 
 no more good here. You have been brave 
 and faithful. Tell mother I loved her and 
 will love her in heaven. Tell her I did my 
 duty." 
 
 " ' Tom placed the canteen in reach of Mr. 
 Armistead, and moved him to make him more 
 comfortable, and then returned to his master, 
 and put his arm again about his beloved 
 form, and again the unselfish young soldier 
 said, "Go, Tom; good-by. You will be 
 killed if you stay here. Go back and take 
 my dying message to father and mother. 
 Tell them I loved them to the last." 
 
 " ' Holding yet closer the form of his dy- 
 ing master, Tom said beseechingly, " Marse 
 Willyum, don' mek me go. I never is disobey 
 you in all mah life, but I cain't go now. I 
 done promise Miss Ma'y dat I won' le'be you 
 while dere's life in yer body, an' I mus' keep 
 my wu'd." 
 
 " I know, Tom, you mean to be faithful, 
 and you have been and I love you; but I re- 
 lease you from your promise; go now and 
 bear my message." 
 
 " ' " Marse Willyum, please fer Miss
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 77 
 
 Ma'y's sake don' mek me go now. You 
 wounded desp'rit, an' I'd ruther die dan le'be 
 you an' go back home an' tell Miss Ma'y I 
 didn't keep my wu'd, but lef you ter die on 
 de groun' an' nobody ter hoi' you er git you 
 er drink er water." 
 
 " * " Tom, it will only be a little while. Go, 
 and God bless you, Tom ! " 
 
 " ' Tom drew the slender form closer to 
 him, till it rested against his shoulder, and as 
 he wiped away the death damp from the 
 pallid brow he said, " I done promise Miss 
 Ma'y an' I mus' keep my wu'd," and as he 
 spoke he started, his hold for a moment re- 
 laxed, and a shudder ran through his frame. 
 The dying master said, "Tom, you are hit; 
 you are wounded, aren't you ? " The voice 
 that replied was already husky and feeble. 
 " Yes, Marse Willyum, I'se hit. We's gwine 
 tergedder. We never '11 be sipperated no 
 mo', an' some er dese days up yonder we'll 
 see Miss Ma'y an' you'll tell her dat I kep' 
 my wu'd," and the black arms tightened 
 again in a last loving hold; a quiver passed 
 through the frame of both and each form 
 relaxed and rested against the other, and both 
 against the tree, and from that scene of awful 
 carnage, that field of fratricidal strife the two 
 passed up to God the white man and the 
 black, master and slave, passed up to tell 
 " Miss Ma'y " and mother of a fidelity un- 
 failing and a love that outlived death.'
 
 78 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 When Mr. Standwick finished reading 
 there were tears in his eyes, and Ned, who 
 had stood with bowed head, looked up and 
 said in earnest, reverent tone, 
 
 " Boss, my boy kep' his wu'd; dat's de 
 p'int, he kep' his wu'd. I'd ruther he be over 
 yander, sleepin' by his young Marster, dan 
 fer him be libbin' an' bre'k his wu'd which 
 he gib Miss Ma'y. He kep' his wu'd, dat's 
 de p'int. 
 
 ' Now, boss, will you please 'scuse me now? 
 My heart is hebby," and as he walked away 
 with bowed head, Mr. Standwick lifted his 
 hat in reverent salutation to the old black 
 hero.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 AFTER Ned had gone, Mr. Standwick 
 mounted Redbird and rode across the hills and 
 round and through the plantation. 
 
 The evening was clear and cool, the sun 
 shone brightly, there was scarcely a breath 
 of wind, and as Mr. Standwick crossed the 
 narrow bottom which bordered the creek he 
 heard the barking of the gray squirrels, and 
 the long, mournful, songlike note with which, 
 in the fall when they are feeding on nuts, 
 their barking often ends. 
 
 From the red oaks and water oaks acorns 
 were dropping, and on the edge of the hill 
 at frequent intervals hickory nuts fell on the 
 thick carpet of leaves, which, touched by the 
 frost, had fallen and left the trees thinly 
 garbed and silhouetted against the sky. 
 
 Far down the valley stretched the cotton- 
 field white unto the harvest, and the scene was 
 so novel to the New Englander that he 
 stopped his horse and gazed long upon it; and 
 recalling the events of the past two days he 
 could almost imagine that the forms he saw 
 among the cotton and at the ends of the rows 
 were yet slaves, belonging to the splendid 
 gentleman whom they yet called " master." 
 
 79
 
 8o NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 By a more direct route, or, as he said, " er 
 short cut," Ned had reached the cotton-field 
 in advance of Mr. Standwick, who found him 
 moving quickly among the pickers, urging 
 them to greater diligence and steadiness in 
 their work. When he saw Mr. Standwick he 
 came to where that gentleman was sitting on 
 his horse. 
 
 " I gwine atter Cap'n Als'on. I jes' stop 
 ter look atter dese pickers er li'l' while. Boss, 
 I'se glad you come down ter dis cotton-patch; 
 you kin see how dese free niggers wu'k. Dar's 
 some settin' down at de een' er de row, some 
 er layin' down 'twix' de rows, a whole bunch 
 on 'em ober yander talkin' 'bout polerticks an' 
 votin', an' dey ain't know no mo' 'bout neider 
 one dan er mule does 'bout leadin' er singin'- 
 school. Dar's 'bout er dozen er Marster's 
 ole niggers pickin' stiddy. Did you ebber see 
 de beat er dem udder niggers in yer life? " 
 
 "Well, I must admit," said Mr. Stand- 
 wick, " that they hardly appear to be earning 
 their wages." 
 
 " Wages, boss? Dey ain't paid no wages 1 
 Dat cotton you see dar, whar er hones' wu'kin' 
 man kin pick th'ee er fo' hundred poun' er 
 day, is dey crop. Half un it b'longs ter 'em. 
 De mo' dey gedders de mo' money dey hab 
 at de een' ob de yeah but you see how dey 
 does. But you jes' wait twell Sadday come, 
 an' dey all gwine light out fer town ef dey 
 lose er bale er cotton erpiece. Hit's de same
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 81 
 
 way on ever' plan'ashun, an' fer mah life, I 
 cain't see w'ut's gwine ter become er sich 
 peepul; but I mus' go on atter de Cap'n now, 
 ef you'll 'scuse me." 
 
 As Mr. Standwick rode away he said to 
 himself, " I must admit there seems to be 
 much truth in what Ned says. The negro at 
 a distance and near at hand, in theory and in 
 practice, I find a very different being." 
 
 When he returned to the house there was 
 a roaring fire in the sitting-room; the dining- 
 room and parlor were brilliantly lighted, and 
 the whole house had an aspect so cheerful, so 
 hospitable, so inviting that Mr. Standwick 
 felt almost as if it were his house beckoning 
 him to all its elegance and comfort. 
 
 After a short time, when Captain Alston 
 arrived, Ned escorted him into the house and 
 Mr. Standwick met him at the door of the 
 sitting-room, and the two gentlemen greeted 
 each other cordially. Mr. Standwick was im- 
 pressed, even at first glance, at his guest, or 
 rather at Ned and Hester's guest, for Cap- 
 tain Alston was a striking-looking man, who 
 quickly and favorably impressed all who met 
 him for the first time. 
 
 He was above the average height, slender 
 and well knit. He was straight as an arrow, 
 his voice was soft and finely modulated, 
 and his movements were characterized by 
 ease and grace. His hair, originally black as 
 a raven's wing, was well sprinkled with gray.
 
 82 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 His eyes were black, and looked one straight 
 in the face; his mouth indicated frankness 
 and courage of the highest type ; but there was 
 in his face an expression which, at frequent 
 intervals, was almost pathetic. 
 
 He was courteous and cordial, but by no 
 means effusive in manner. The impression 
 made upon Mr. Standwick was that he had 
 clasped the hand of a gentleman of character 
 and courage, one who had suffered some great 
 sorrow, and who was worthy of the admira- 
 tion and friendship of Hamilton Marshall. 
 As soon as Captain Alston had removed his 
 top coat he said, 
 
 " I am very glad to meet you. I am glad 
 you are in the South, and I am especially glad 
 that you are a guest under this roof, for the 
 world holds no better people than Colonel 
 Marshall and his wife." 
 
 " I am very glad to agree with you, Cap- 
 tain," replied Mr. Standwick, " though I have 
 seen very little of them; but certainly never 
 was more considerate and gracious treatment 
 extended a stranger, or more delightful hos- 
 pitality." 
 
 At this juncture, Hester appeared in the 
 door-way, curtsying and nodding. " Howdy 
 do, Marse Cap'n'; I sho' is glad ter see you. 
 It's b'en er long time sence we had de good 
 luck ter hab you in dis house." Captain Als- 
 ton went forward and shook hands with Hes- 
 ter and thanked her, and expressed the hope
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 83 
 
 that she was well. Had Hester been the first 
 lady of the land, this southern soldier and 
 aristocrat could not have been more unaf- 
 fectedly and sincerely kind and cordial. Hes- 
 ter assured him that she was " tolerbul," for 
 like all of her race she never admitted that 
 she was altogether well, and she added, " T'se 
 sorry Marster an' Miss Ma'y 'bleeged ter be 
 erway ter-night; but Ned an' me an' Dinah 
 '11 do de bes' we kin." 
 
 " I have no fear on that score, Hester," re- 
 turned Captain Alston. " I have been here 
 too many times to have any doubt whatever 
 of your ability." 
 
 " Yes, sah; but yer ain't b'en here no mo' 
 times dan yer was welcome, Marse Cap'n; 
 an' now I mus' ax you an' Mr. Stan'wick ter 
 walk in ter supper." 
 
 No meal could have been more delightfully 
 cooked or served, and both gentlemen were 
 sincere in their assurances of appreciation, 
 Mr. Standwick declaring, 
 
 " Each meal here is to me a surprise, and 
 such cooking I have never seen." 
 
 " That," said Captain Alston, laughing, 
 " has been my experience for thirty years and 
 more. Dinah stands pre-eminent among our 
 colored cooks. No head cook or chef in any 
 cafe or hotel in the preparation of tempting, 
 appetizing food is in her class at all, and 
 Hester can set the table and serve as can no 
 other servant I have ever seen."
 
 84 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 "Thank you, Marse Cap'n; it sho' is 
 mighty kin' in you ter say dat," said Hester. 
 
 When the two gentlemen returned to the 
 sitting-room, Captain Alston said: " I was 
 saying when supper was announced that I was 
 glad you were in the South and were the guest 
 of this family, for the South needs now, as 
 never before, to be understood in the North; 
 and those who come from there with all the 
 convictions and prejudices and sympathies of 
 our northern neighbors, can never do better 
 nor learn the truth quicker than by being 
 thrown in contact with such people as your 
 hosts." 
 
 " I agree with you heartily, Captain Alston, 
 and I will say to you what I shall unhesitat- 
 ingly, as an act of justice, say to Colonel Mar- 
 shall, that so entirely did I misapprehend 
 southern sentiment and the character of south- 
 ern slave owners that I felt afraid that I 
 would be denied lodgment beneath this roof, 
 when my birth-place and my political convic- 
 tions were made known. I had read much and 
 heard much from which I drew that conclu- 
 sion, or which at least suggested that pos- 
 sibility, and when I stood in the cheerful light 
 of the fire in this room and heard Colonel 
 Marshall approach last evening, I felt no 
 small degree of trepidation, and had grave 
 doubt as to my reception and treatment." 
 
 " My dear sir," said Captain Alston,
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 85 
 
 " never was there less cause of apprehension. 
 You were already by the hearthstone of Col- 
 onel Marshall's home, and had you been his 
 dearest foe you would not have been 
 driven out into the night; and being a stranger 
 and a traveler wearied by an unusual journey, 
 you became at once the guest of those to 
 whom hospitality is at once a duty and a 
 delight." 
 
 " I have," said Mr. Standwick, " often 
 heard and read of such hospitality, but I fear 
 now I was quicker to believe the evil than the 
 good reports of the southern people. I have 
 read some most bitter and cruel attacks upon 
 ' southern aristocracy,' but if Colonel Mar- 
 shall and his wife are typical representatives 
 of that class, then, here and now I dis- 
 claim any belief in what I have either heard 
 or read." 
 
 " Mr. Standwick, Colonel Marshall and 
 his wife are representatives of the best so- 
 ciety of the South. It is not necessary to call 
 it an aristocracy, because it was not, and is 
 not, aristocracy in the modern sense of that 
 term. No man can buy his way into it, nor 
 does it measure people by a monetary stand- 
 ard. It is an aristocracy of blood and breed- 
 ing and character, and stands even in its 
 poverty of to-day in hereditary and perpetual 
 rebellion against the social despotism of the 
 dollar. We have, or rather before the war
 
 86 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 we had, the rich and the poor, of course; 
 nearly all are poor now, but there were rich 
 people who were not in the class to which 
 Colonel Marshall belongs, while many who 
 were not rich were in it, and enjoyed all its 
 social honors, dignities, delights, and privi- 
 leges." 
 
 " What surprises me, Captain Alston, is 
 that such a social system could have existed 
 coincident with slavery, to the idea of which 
 I can never become reconciled. That such 
 people as Colonel and Mrs. Marshall should 
 have owned and kept slaves is to me beyond 
 comprehension. No man can fail to see in an 
 hour that Colonel Marshall is a gentleman of 
 education, liberal culture, thorough breeding 
 and courage, and possessed of that kindness 
 of heart which is essential to constitute a gen- 
 tleman in the highest sense of that somewhat 
 abused term, while no more gracious, gentle, 
 or charming woman than Mrs. Marshall have 
 I ever seen; yet they are the products of a 
 social and industrial system of which human 
 slavery was, so to speak, the corner-stone, and 
 yet very certainly slavery antagonized the 
 sentiment and conviction of the civilized 
 world." 
 
 ' Yes, they were slave owners, as were their 
 sires and grandsires before them. They were, 
 so to speak, the victims of circumstances and 
 environment. They received slaves as their 
 legacies, just as people in the North received
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 87 
 
 bonds, mortgages, and shares of stock, and 
 they could not set them free; if they had, nine- 
 tenths of them would have become tramps 
 and vagabonds on the face of the earth. 
 
 " The experience of the last few years has 
 proved that the negroes if set free could not 
 have found homes in the North, because the 
 climate was unsuited to them, as was the char- 
 acter of work done by common laborers; so 
 the people of the South, while they did not 
 prefer slavery and recognized that there were 
 many evils connected with it, and knew that 
 the sentiment of Christian civilization was 
 rapidly crystallizing against it, could not free 
 their slaves, and they knew that no power on 
 earth had the lawful right to take their slaves 
 from them or set them free. 
 
 " They knew that the evils of slavery were 
 greatly exaggerated by anti-slavery writers 
 and speakers, because five-sixths of the slaves 
 in the South were better fed, better housed, 
 and better clad than were the common white 
 laborers in the North, and not one in ten of 
 such laborers enjoyed the comforts and free- 
 dom from care and anxiety as to the future 
 that the slaves of Colonel Marshall did. 
 
 " There were, of course, many, yet in com- 
 parison really very few, cruel masters in the 
 South; but that few did much to develop a 
 sentiment here against slavery. Even I, a 
 slaveholder, did not believe in it; but like my 
 neighbors, I was helpless to prevent it. I
 
 88 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 would not to-day return the negroes in the 
 South to slavery if I could do so by uplifting 
 my finger, and I know I speak the sentiments 
 of ninety-nine out of every hundred of those 
 in the South who owned slaves. 
 
 " Negroes were property, recognized by 
 the Constitution and laws, and I believe, as 
 do all my fellow-countrymen of the South, 
 and as I and they will always believe, that to 
 set the negroes free and to wipe out thou- 
 sands of millions of dollars of property values 
 without compensation was inexcusable and in- 
 defensible in the forum either of morals or 
 of law." 
 
 " But, Captain," said Mr. Standwick with 
 some warmth, but in a courteous tone, " the 
 people of America at least I can speak for 
 the people of New England were unwilling 
 to see half the nation a land of slavery and 
 see millions of their fellow-men sink lower 
 and lower in the scale of being every year, 
 and see them made beasts of burden in order 
 that their masters might grow rich. Pardon 
 me, I mean no offense. I trust each of us 
 can express his views with perfect candor. 
 I am sure each will do so with kindness and 
 courtesy." 
 
 " My dear New England friend," said 
 Captain Alston in a bantering tone, " don't 
 you think it w r ould have been more becoming 
 and consistent in our Puritan friends if they 
 had become indignant and horrified at the
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 89 
 
 idea of human slavery before they went into 
 the slave trade or at least before they sold 
 out their stock of negroes to the southern 
 people? We got them from your ancestors 
 because the soil, climate, and the industrial 
 conditions of New England were not con- 
 genial to the negro. He failed to pay as an 
 investment, and with characteristic foresight 
 and thrift, which it would be well if we our- 
 selves had more of, the good people of New 
 England, who in matters of finance are never 
 caught napping, got rid of the negro, not by 
 setting him free and washing their hands of 
 the ' awful sin of dealing in human flesh and 
 blood,' as they were wont to say, but by 
 turning him over to us at a good bargain for 
 the sellers. That is a historical truth so well 
 established that no man even pretends to 
 deny it." 
 
 " Admitting that to be true," said Mr. 
 Standwick, " it belongs to the past, and I am 
 glad to say that for several generations no 
 human being has been held in slavery in New 
 England, and her past offenses do not justify 
 yours of more recent date." 
 
 " Concede that for argument's sake, or 
 even as a fact," returned Captain Alston, 
 " nevertheless, it does appear a little, indeed 
 very inconsistent to us, to see or read that the 
 agitation in the North for the abolition of 
 slavery was almost coincident with the closing 
 out or the last negro by sale to the South.
 
 90 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 "Then, as to the negro sinking lower in 
 the scale of being every year, the truth is ex- 
 actly the reverse. You have heard and read 
 such statements so often that it is not sur- 
 prising that you should have believed them, 
 but the negro was constantly improving in in- 
 telligence and morals. 
 
 " The negro in slavery was in the matter 
 of morals and industry and honesty, infinitely 
 the superior of the free negro of the present 
 day. There is no doubt whatever of that 
 fact; but what relative conditions may be 
 twenty years from now, I do not undertake 
 to predict. 
 
 " The negro in slavery was allowed Sun- 
 day and most often half of Saturday for rest, 
 and nearly every planter provided his slaves 
 with opportunity for worship, and the fidel- 
 ity of the negro during the war, which 
 was beyond all praise, is the best evidence of 
 his affection for his owners. When the South 
 took the negroes as slaves they were eating 
 snakes and worshiping toads, and when they 
 were set free they were qualified for judges 
 and legislators and congressmen and gover- 
 nors, at least many of them went at once into 
 these positions, and every male negro became 
 at once a voter." 
 
 " I know, of course, that they were given 
 the right to vote, Captain Alston; but to say 
 they were put in high offices though they were 
 ignorant and uneducated, is of course an ex-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 91 
 
 travagance of speech which should be par- 
 doned, as it possibly illustrates unusual 
 conditions." 
 
 " Indeed, sir, it is not a figure of speech ; 
 it is the statement of a fact, the unvarnished, 
 undeniable truth. There were during the 
 Reconstruction period scores of legislators, 
 and minor judicial officers like justices of the 
 peace, who could not read or write a word, 
 and ex-convicts were put in high offices, and 
 States already devastated by war were plun- 
 dered until they were absolutely bankrupt." 
 
 " I had no idea," said Mr. Standwick, 
 " that statements to this effect which I often 
 heard and read were true in fact. I sup- 
 posed they were merely born of prejudice and 
 passion and that they were made to influence 
 public sentiment in the North against the 
 policy of Reconstruction." 
 
 "No, indeed, sir; the conditions to which 
 I have referred were the fruits of Recon- 
 struction, and I refer to them in no spirit of 
 complaint or repining over the past, but 
 merely as matters of historical interest, which 
 will prove of great value as a lesson and a 
 warning to statesmen of the future who may 
 possibly attempt the impossible task of sub- 
 jecting the intelligent, liberty-loving white 
 man to the domination of men of an inher- 
 ently and hopelessly inferior race. 
 
 ' Now, you were, a few minutes ago, ex- 
 pressing surprise that a class of society such
 
 92 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 as Colonel and Mrs. Marshall belong to and 
 fitly represent could have been produced un- 
 der the system of slavery which existed here. 
 The highest guarantee of noble living is a 
 life of freedom and a jealous regard for per- 
 sonal liberty and individual independence of 
 convictions and action, and history attests that 
 they who own slaves have ever most zealously 
 guarded their own liberties, and been quickest 
 to resist aggression and oppression in every 
 form. 
 
 " The system of slavery in the South was 
 half patriarchal and half feudal, and despite 
 the evils that were inevitably incident to it, as 
 they must be to human slavery in any form, 
 and to the objections to which it was justly 
 subject, it was best for the negro, though not 
 best for the white man. 
 
 " How from such industrial and economic 
 environment there was evolved a social sys- 
 tem that produced such men and women as 
 composed that element of southern society 
 which is typified and illustrated in those be- 
 neath whose roof we sit, is an inquiry which 
 cannot fail to interest the historian and social 
 philosopher, and the student who inquires into 
 the relation of industrial and economic poli- 
 cies to social conditions and standards. 
 
 ' That the social system of the South, Mr. 
 Standwick, did produce the highest types of 
 mankind and womankind that have ever lived 
 in any age or in any land, I firmly believe.
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 93 
 
 The standard here of manly honor and wom- 
 anly virtue was the highest ever known in 
 any system of society of which there is record 
 in history. 
 
 " The standard of honor and manhood in 
 private life was reflected in the public service, 
 and I can recall neither in history nor tradi- 
 tion a single instance where there was in the 
 legislature, in Congress or on the bench, a 
 charge of corruption against a southern 
 official, or a breach of official trust by any 
 office-holder in any Southern State. 
 
 " The social, industrial, and economic sys- 
 tem which prevailed here produced not only 
 honest, faithful public servants, but men of 
 intellect and culture, and statesmen of the 
 highest type. 
 
 ' You are, of course, familiar with the con- 
 trolling influence of southern statesmen in the 
 formation of the new republic, and know the 
 Constitution of the United States, which has 
 justly been said to be the greatest product of 
 the human mind, was the work of southern 
 men and slaveholders. I do not speak of these 
 things in a spirit of boasting, but in defense 
 of a social and industrial system which has 
 often been most unjustly assailed. 
 
 " Our northern critics have often said that 
 ' the South, being rid of slavery, with all the 
 demoralizing influences,' would form loftier 
 ideals and rapidly rise to a higher standard 
 of civilization and society, but they err in
 
 94 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 making this statement. She never will be- 
 cause she cannot. There are none. 
 
 " Say what you will of slavery, and remem- 
 ber, I am not seeking to justify or defend it, 
 judged by the men and women the last cen- 
 tury has produced in the South; measured by 
 the tests of honor and courage and intellect 
 and patriotism of the one, and the refine- 
 ment, purity, and social charms and graces of 
 the other, here in the South, where slavery 
 existed, civilization reached the highest point 
 ever attained. 
 
 ' This may sound to you as extravagant 
 and paradoxical, and you may wholly dissent 
 from my views ; yet, nevertheless, what I have 
 said is true. The South will preserve and 
 adhere to her ancient social faiths and stand- 
 ards, for there are none higher. Her men 
 and her women, in time of peace, prosperity 
 and plenty, and in time of war and adver- 
 sity and want, have held unseduced to the 
 social and political faiths once delivered to 
 the fathers, and thereby challenged the ad- 
 miration of universal humanity. 
 
 " I trust you will acquit me of unbecoming 
 vanity in so extolling a system to which I bear 
 so intimate a relation, but my statements are 
 impersonal, and in support of them I desire 
 to give you some high and disinterested tes- 
 timony. 
 
 * You will remember that Mr. Thackeray, 
 the English novelist, came to America on a
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 95 
 
 visit about 1853. He visited New York, 
 Boston, and Philadelphia, and met many of 
 the cultured, refined, and splendid people of 
 those great cities. He was the guest of a 
 distinguished citizen of Philadelphia who was 
 a few years afterward the diplomatic repre- 
 sentative of the United States at the court of 
 one of the great Oriental nations, and who 
 wrote a memoir of Mr. Thackeray, a most 
 charming piece of literature. In the course of 
 the memoir he spoke of the horror he said he 
 was sure Mr. Thackeray felt at the war be- 
 tween ' brethren speaking the same dear 
 tongue ' the late war between the States, 
 because he said Mr. Thackeray had vis- 
 ited southern homes and shared southern hos- 
 pitality and had met southern ladies and 
 gentlemen, ' the highest types of American 
 civilization.' 
 
 " I appreciate the sturdy character of the 
 Puritans and esteem them for their many ad- 
 mirable qualities, but they are prone to speak 
 patronizingly of us of the South. Sometimes 
 it seems to me there is too much of the ' I am 
 holier than thou ' spirit in their utterances, 
 but I do not include you, Mr. Standwick, in 
 my indictment. I believe you will do us 
 justice when you return. 
 
 ; ' We have our faults and our vices, but 
 frankness and courage and candor are charac- 
 teristics of the people of the South. They 
 have none of the genius of indirection, they
 
 96 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 neither practise nor know the arts of hy- 
 pocrisy. 
 
 " We owned slaves, they were our prop- 
 erty ; but we would not have fought for their 
 value and did not. We fought because our 
 land was unlawfully invaded, and the per- 
 petuation or extinction of slavery was a mere 
 incident. We have endured much, but have 
 made no complaint. We ask no pity, seek no 
 sympathy, crave no pardon. Confessed ne- 
 cessity for pardon involves consciousness of 
 guilt, and we are conscious of neither moral 
 nor political guilt, unless it be guilt to defend 
 our homes and firesides against unjustifiable 
 invasion, and to battle as we are now battling 
 to overthrow negro domination, and restore 
 the white man to his rightful possession. We 
 stand for the eternal supremacy of the white 
 man and assert the physical, moral, intel- 
 lectual and ethnological inferiority of the 
 negro. 
 
 " The madness and folly of the present 
 hour will pass away; this frenzy of fanaticism 
 about the negro and his ' rights and suffer- 
 ings ' will in a generation become but a mem- 
 ory, and the South treading now alone the 
 wine press of sorrow will be Heaven's favored 
 land, and the last and safe refuge and hope 
 for free democratic government on this con- 
 tinent. 
 
 ;t We admit neither the moral nor social 
 superiority of any people in the world. If
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 9? 
 
 you could gather in this house to-morrow the 
 husbands, wives, sons and daughters of a 
 hundred families of the class to which your 
 host and hostess belong, you could not in point 
 of culture, good breeding, intellectual accom- 
 plishments, manly honor, womanly virtue and 
 social charms and graces match that gather- 
 ing in any land on all the earth. You would 
 see there the products and exponents of 
 the golden age socially the apotheosis of 
 Christian civilization. 
 
 " Mr. Standwick, I feel as if I owed you 
 an apology for monopolizing the conversa- 
 tion, but the subject is one in which I feel 
 deeply. From heartcore to finger tip I am a 
 southern man, and if I have allowed my feel- 
 ings to betray me into any utterance that 
 could possibly in the slightest degree give 
 you offense, I crave your forgiveness. 
 
 " I have spoken with unrestrained freedom 
 because I believe you are capable of appreci- 
 ating the conditions which now confront us 
 and the motives which prompted us in the 
 past and those which prompt us now; and 
 that while you may never agree with us upon 
 many questions and policies, that you will do 
 us justice and give us credit for sincerity of 
 conviction and purpose." 
 
 " Captain Alston, it is not necessary that 
 I should agree with you in order that I should, 
 as I do, respect your opinions; and your 
 pride in and devotion to your native South
 
 98 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 challenges my admiration. This much I say. 
 Any social system that produced such people 
 as Hamilton Marshall and Mary Marshall 
 could not have been as full of evil as I have 
 been taught to believe the South was. No 
 evil tree could possibly have produced such 
 splendid fruit. I hope and believe I under- 
 stand better than I have ever done, the po- 
 sition of the southern people upon many 
 questions." 
 
 " Permit me, Mr. Standwick, to speak a 
 few words in defense of the South upon one 
 point. You spoke of slaves being made beasts 
 of burden by cruel southern masters. Do you 
 know that it was throughout the entire South 
 a matter of common knowledge that in ninety- 
 nine instances out of a hundred, where a slave 
 owner was peculiarly and unusually unkind 
 and cruel, who half fed and half clothed his 
 slaves, and who exacted extreme and cruel 
 tasks of them, that owner, when traced back 
 to his place of birth, was found to be a north- 
 ern man? 
 
 " You will understand, of course, that I do 
 not mean by this that the average northern 
 man is naturally more unkind or cruel than 
 his brother man in the South; but what I have 
 stated was attributable to two facts. First, 
 the northern man invariably acquired his 
 negroes by purchase and not by inheritance, 
 as was the case with the majority of the 
 largest southern slave owners, and he knew
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 99 
 
 nothing of the ties of interest and affection 
 which existed between those owners who had 
 reared their slaves or been reared from child- 
 hood with them. In the second place, the 
 northern man had been lured to the South by 
 the glowing tales he had heard of the rapid 
 road to riches that farming with slave labor 
 opened, by the way, a most erroneous 
 idea, and he had heard exaggerated and un- 
 truthful reports of how slaves were worked 
 and had an idea that they could stand on 
 scant rations all that beasts of burden could, 
 and that there was no limit to their ability to 
 labor; and he worked them according to those 
 false conceptions, and the result was that he 
 was a far more exacting master than was his 
 southern neighbor, and his slaves were slaves 
 indeed. I can furnish you strong testimony 
 on this point, testimony furnished by a witness 
 who certainly cannot be said to have been 
 biased in favor of the South. 
 
 " In Colonel Marshall's library I see a 
 book which you have doubtless seen, one that 
 fanned the sparks of sectional strife and bit- 
 terness into a consuming flame and ' wrought 
 woes unnumbered,' ' Uncle Tom's Cabin.' 
 Whether it so occurred by accident or inad- 
 vertance, or whether for a purpose Mrs. 
 Stowe so designed it, the hardest, most cruel 
 and unworthy character in that remarkable 
 book, Legree, was born in the North and 
 came South and trafficked in slaves and mal-
 
 ioo NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 treated them; while the two most lovable 
 and admirable characters, Uncle Tom and 
 Eva, were reared amid slavery, one having 
 been a slave, the other his young mistress." 
 
 " I have, of course, read the book," said 
 Mr. Standwick, " but really your statement 
 is a revelation to me. I had not read the book 
 so carefully." 
 
 " Well, you will find it to be as I say, and 
 whether it be the result of inadvertance or 
 design it is a remarkable fact." 
 
 The conversation between the Puritan and 
 the Cavalier, though long continued and most 
 earnest, was conducted with the courtesy to 
 be expected of gentlemen of intelligence and 
 good breeding who are guests under the same 
 roof, and they separated for the night with 
 sincere respect each for the other.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 AFTER breakfast next morning, Captain Als- 
 ton said that he must excuse himself, as he 
 had engagements at home which must be met; 
 but Hester having overheard his remarks 
 came quickly to the door of the sitting-room 
 and said, 
 
 " Marse Cap'n, you sho'ly ain't gwine ter 
 go befo' dinner. Dinah gwine ter spread her- 
 se'f ter-day an' give de nordern gent'man a 
 dinner fer true, an' you mus' stay an' eat wid 
 him. We will sho'ly be diserp'inted ef you 
 don't. Yer ain't b'en ter see us ez many 
 times lately as we spected, an' bein's you b'en 
 so good ez ter come, you mus' stay ter dinner, 
 fer Dinah '11 be sho' flustrated ef you leabe." 
 
 Captain Alston could not resist so hospi- 
 table and evidently so sincere an invitation, 
 and consented to stay. Hester advised Ned 
 of Captain Alston's acceptance of her invita- 
 tion, and Ned at once saddled Redbird and 
 Colonel Marshall's saddle-horse and brought 
 them to the door, and when the gentlemen 
 appeared on the front gallery he said, 
 
 " Marse Cap'n Als'on, I t'ought you an' 
 Mr. Stan'wick mout lak ter tek a ride dis 
 fine mawnin'; an' ef you do you know dar's
 
 102 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 two er de bes' ridin' nags a gent'man ebber 
 flung his laig ober, an' dey's fa'rly chawmpin' 
 dey bits fer ter go." 
 
 " Good, Ned," said Captain Alston. " I 
 should like to ride with Mr. Standwick across 
 the country." Mr. Standwick falling readily 
 into the idea, the two gentlemen were soon 
 off for a morning jaunt. 
 
 They rode through a part of the country 
 which Mr. Standwick had not been over; but 
 there, as elsewhere within a radius of many 
 miles, were to be seen the depressing and dis- 
 tressing evidence of vandalism and wanton 
 destruction of property. At rare intervals 
 some humble house had been spared ; but such 
 instances were few, and there were in many 
 places rude structures standing where once 
 had stood splendid mansions. On every side 
 were evidences of ingenious endeavors to re- 
 build, out of crude material, burned fences 
 and farm houses, and of a struggle against 
 poverty and adversity that was pathetic in its 
 heroism. After riding in absolute silence 
 more than a mile, Mr. Standwick said, 
 
 " It certainly was not necessary or justifi- 
 able to spread such destruction and devastation 
 as this. If there be such a thing as civilized 
 and Christian warfare, which terms are in 
 my judgment contradictory and absurd, this 
 certainly does not come within that defini- 
 tion. The warfare conducted here was bar- 
 baric and a reproach to the great nation
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 103 
 
 whose soldiers were responsible for the ruin 
 and desolation I see around me." 
 
 " You know," said Captain Alston, " that 
 I have, when I reflected calmly upon these 
 things which you see to-day, wondered 
 whether those who live where you do and 
 think of the war from your point of view 
 really knew what vandalism and barbarism 
 marked the path of the northern army in 
 the South." 
 
 " I certainly did not; I desire to say most 
 emphatically that I did not," Mr. Standwick 
 replied. 
 
 " The ruin and devastation of houses and 
 fences and mills and all the appurtenances be- 
 longing to farms and plantations was fear- 
 ful," said Captain Alston; " but in the course 
 of time such losses can be replaced, but in 
 very many instances all the family supplies 
 were destroyed. The cattle and hogs were 
 killed, and when the homes were burned the 
 old men and women and children, mothers 
 and grandmothers and grandfathers, stood 
 by the smouldering ruins of their homes, pen- 
 niless, shelterless and hungry, and many of 
 such sufferers were people who not only had 
 never known poverty or want, but had always 
 been accustomed to prodigal luxury. I do not 
 recall the past to renew bitter memories, but 
 only that you, who I believe are seeking the 
 truth, may know all the facts." 
 
 " I have," said Mr. Standwick, " often
 
 104 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 read of such conditions, but could not believe 
 they ever in fact existed; but since I have been 
 here and have seen for myself, I am entirely 
 willing to believe that indeed ' the crow that 
 flew over this country would have been 
 obliged to carry his rations.' ' 
 
 " Comparisons are said to be odious, but 
 I cannot refrain from saying, Mr. Standwick, 
 that as a southern man I take much pride in 
 and derive much consolation from the fact 
 that no such deeds as caused this fearful deso- 
 lation marked the pathway of the southern 
 army in Pennsylvania. The southern soldier 
 who was guilty of such vandalism would have 
 been shot in an hour." 
 
 " Your pride is entirely justifiable, Captain 
 Alston; and I only wish the northern army 
 had not by such deeds marred an otherwise 
 glorious record." 
 
 When the two riders returned to Marshall 
 Hall, it was a little past noon and they were 
 entirely ready to hear announcement of the 
 midday meal which, in accordance with uni- 
 versal custom in the South, was called dinner. 
 When it was announced and the gentlemen 
 had seated themselves at the table, they saw 
 that Dinah had nobly fulfilled her promise to 
 prepare a dinner " sho' 'nuff." 
 
 It was a feast of good things, a triumph 
 of culinary skill, a marvel of variety and of 
 service, such a dinner as Captain Alston was 
 accustomed to see in the Marshall home, and
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 105 
 
 such as Mr. Standwick had often heard of 
 but which he confessed he had never seen. 
 The linen was the finest and whitest, the 
 abundant and handsome silver was spotlessly 
 burnished, and every incident and appurte- 
 nant of the dinner was in exquisite taste, and 
 it being a typical southern dinner, every dish 
 was on the table, except the dessert and coffee. 
 
 Hester, who surveyed the table with a pride 
 which she did not attempt to conceal, replied 
 to the compliments bestowed upon the din- 
 ner by her guests. "Yes, sah; Dinah sho'ly 
 is outdone herse'f ter-day. Miss Ma'y would 
 be proud ef she was heah. I hope you gwine 
 eat somepin' ob ebberythin' on de table." 
 
 " I am sure we will do our best," Mr. 
 Standwick, laughing heartily, replied; "but 
 if we were to eat something or everything 
 Dinah has provided you would have two sick 
 guests on your hands." 
 
 Ned, who felt as if he had a share in the 
 triumph of the dinner, said, " Now, Mr. 
 Stan'ick an' Marse Cap'n, heah's tuckey an' 
 chicken, an' roas' pig an' bake' ham, an' den 
 de ve'y bes' ob all, a big fat 'possum. I 
 cotch him night 'fo' las' on de aige ob de 
 bottom up a little bitty sweet gum w'ut ben' 
 wid him. You know how dey say, 
 
 " ' De mostes' smoke is whar de H'les' fire be, 
 
 En de ve'y bigges' 'possum clira' de ve'y H'les' tree ; ' 
 
 an' dat's er fac'. I roll him in de hot ashes
 
 io6 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 an' HT coals ter tek de ha'r off, an' he hang 
 out in de fros' las' night, an' Dinah parbile 
 him w'en she cook brekkus, an' bake him wid 
 sweet taters 'roun' him fer dinner; an' dar he 
 is, an' der ain't no meat ekalize ter him." 
 
 " Why, I never ate a piece of 'possum in 
 my life," said Mr. Standwick. 
 
 "Laws a mussey! is dat so, boss? Den 
 you sho' is miss a heap er good eatin'," re- 
 plied Ned. 
 
 " I endorse Ned's encomium upon the 'pos- 
 sum," said Captain Alston, " but I am in- 
 clined to think love of the dish is in a large 
 degree a cultivated taste." 
 
 ' Jes' you try a piece 'fo' you quits, boss," 
 said Ned, " an' you gwine ter say it's de 
 fines' meat dat you ever wrap yerse'f 'roun'." 
 
 This new and forceful expression amused 
 Mr. Standwick greatly, and in the course of 
 the good dinner to which he sought to do full 
 justice he did not fail to try the 'possum, 
 which, though he found it exceedingly tooth- 
 some, he was inclined to agree with Captain 
 Alston that he would have to cultivate a taste 
 for it. 
 
 Soon after dinner, Captain Alston excused 
 himself, after cordially inviting Mr. Stand- 
 wick to visit him. Ned, who, as he expressed 
 it, had " done finis' hidin' de res' er dat 'pos- 
 sum," escorted him home, and when he re- 
 turned, Mr. Standwick was regaling himself 
 with a cigar on the front gallery. When
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 107 
 
 Ned had put the horses in the stable, he came 
 and seated himself near the top of the steps. 
 
 " Boss, ain't you fin' Cap'n Als'on a 
 mighty nice man? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed; I enjoyed his company very 
 much. He is very intelligent, and is an ele- 
 gant gentleman." 
 
 " Ob co'se he's er gent'man. He Mars- 
 ter's fr'en' an he's quality-folks, de very top 
 er de pot. He's a thurrerbred no scrub in 
 him, no, sah! He come f'um fightin' stock, 
 an' endurin' er de wah he was de cap'n er de 
 out-fightines' comp'ny dat ebber you seed. 
 Dey fit twell mos' all on 'em was kilt. Marse 
 Hamilton an' Marse Alfred all b'long ter it. 
 Cap'n Als'on was bad shot an' his son too." 
 
 " Ned, he tried all the time to be cheerful, 
 but I think he must have suffered some great 
 sorrow." 
 
 ' Yes, sah; he b'en thu' de fi'y furniss ob 
 'flickshun; an' I gwine ter tell you 'bout him 
 soon I git de time. I 'lowed ter do it dis 
 ebenin', but I got ter fly 'roun' heah an' 'ten 
 ter some matters 'g'inst Marster git back, so 
 I jes' fetch you de little mar' an' yer kin go 
 ridin'. Time yer git back, Marster an' Miss 
 Ma'y be heah." 
 
 Later, Mr. Standwick took a short ride 
 through the field and watched the cotton- 
 pickers, and listened to their conversation as 
 they lazily picked or loitered at the ends of 
 the rows. It was all new to him, and very 
 amusing.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE short autumn afternoon was fading into 
 twilight when Colonel Marshall and his wife 
 drove up. They warmly greeted Mr. Stand- 
 wick, and expressed the hope that he had been 
 so well entertained as not to have been lone- 
 some. He assured them that his experience 
 as the guest of Ne<jl and Hester had not only 
 been novel, but most delightful, and that a 
 night and forenoon spent with a gentleman 
 like Captain Alston was a pleasure never to 
 be forgotten. 
 
 " Ned has been a fine host, and all you said 
 of him I found to be true." 
 
 Ned removed his hat and bowed. 
 
 " Thankee, boss; I'se glad you sat'sfied. I 
 al'ays tries ter do de right t'ing w'en Marster 
 be gone. I knows he 'spects me ter be er 
 gent'man, 'ca'se I ain't nebber 'soshate wid no 
 udder kin' er folks. Boss, you ain't seed Ned 
 yit lak I wan' you ter see him. Yer jes' wait 
 twell Sunday an' I gwine drive Miss Ma'y to 
 de 'Piskerpul chu'ch in de kerridge. You 
 jes' wanter see me in de bro'dclof suit w'ut 
 Marster give me, an' mah stobe-pipe hat, an' 
 my blue-silk neck han'kercher, wid my ker- 
 ridge whip in mah han'. Den you gwine see 
 Ned, Marster's gent'man nigger sho' 'nuff. 
 
 108
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 109 
 
 I b'en dress dat way ev'y Sunday sence I b'en 
 er man. I b'en drivin' Miss Ma'y mo' 'n 
 forty year, an' I al'ays w'ars mah bro'dclof 
 suit an' mah stobe-pipe hat, an' my blue-silk 
 neck han'kercher, an' I wouldn' swap places 
 wid de man w'ut drive de king's charyet. I'd 
 ruther drive Miss Ma'y dan drive der Queen 
 er Inglun." 
 
 Mr. Standwick and his host and hostess 
 laughed heartily at Ned's picture of himself 
 as he would appear in the role of charioteer 
 on Sunday, and then entered the house. 
 
 " Mr. Standwick," said Colonel Marshall, 
 "we will go into the parlor ; you have never 
 been in there, I believe/ We prefer the more 
 homelike environment^ of the sitting-room. 
 To sit with a guest in the parlor looks like 
 making company of him, and we want you to 
 be as one or the family." 
 
 The parlor was a handsome room, fur- 
 nished luxuriously, and the walls were adorned 
 with several pictures that were genuine works 
 of art; but after admiring the beauties of the 
 room, by common impulse they all moved to- 
 ward the brightly lighted and cosy sitting- 
 room. 
 
 " Mr. Standwick," said Colonel Marshall, 
 " you might not unreasonably suppose that 
 Ned talked to curry favor with the ' powers 
 that be ' in this little realm, but if you think 
 so, you are doing him an injustice. He means 
 every word he says. His devotion to his Mis-
 
 i io NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 tress is not pretended. He would die for her 
 if it were necessary. He is possessed of one 
 virtue, among many others, that is unfortu- 
 nately rare among people of all races, and 
 especially among negroes gratitude. 
 
 " Unfortunately, as you know, negroes 
 were sometimes sold for debt, and an improv- 
 ident relative of Mrs. Marshall's owned 
 Hester when she was a girl, and as she was in 
 danger of being sold, an event most rare in 
 every branch of Mrs. Marshall's family, and 
 mine, I am proud to say, Mrs. Marshall 
 bought her to prevent her and Ned from be- 
 ing separated; and they have both proved 
 their gratitude through many a long year. 
 Negroes though they are, Ned is a gentleman 
 and Hester is a lady, in conduct and character, 
 and both have not only our respect, but our 
 affection." 
 
 " I am entirely prepared to believe all you 
 say, Colonel Marshall. I have never seen 
 greater affection manifested than that which 
 Ned certainly feels for your wife and your- 
 self. If, before I came South, any one had 
 told me such relations ever existed between 
 master and slave, as I am sure existed be- 
 tween your family and those two negroes 
 when they were slaves, and which exist yet, I 
 would have scoffed at the statement as absurd 
 and impossible, for it would have been to me 
 incomprehensible then." 
 
 " It may surprise you, Mr. Standwick, when
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN in 
 
 I say that it is by no means exceptional. 
 There are tens of thousands of such instances 
 in the South, and, indeed, among families of 
 social position, such relations of affection and 
 trust between masters and slaves holding the 
 place in the household that Ned and Hester 
 do, were the rule rather than the exception; 
 yet the people where you live were made to 
 believe that we beat and butchered slaves to 
 make a southern holiday. 
 
 " You will understand that I do not mean 
 to paint slavery in roseate hues, nor to make 
 any beautiful picture of the conditions which 
 accompanied it, for I did not myself believe 
 in slavery. There was much to be deplored 
 and room for improvement, and under no 
 condition would I have my two hundred 
 negroes restored to slavery; but there is no 
 doubt whatever, that nine negroes out of ten 
 were more comfortable and better cared for 
 in every way than they are now. Whether 
 the crop failed or flourished, whether prices 
 of products were high or low, it made no dif- 
 ference to the negro. He had no care for the 
 morrow, but his master had to feed and clothe 
 and shelter him, and over the whole South he 
 did not pay one per cent, dividend on his 
 market value." 
 
 " I must confess, Colonel," said Mr. Stand- 
 wick, u that my views as to conditions here, 
 and the relation between master and slave, 
 have undergone a great change. They were
 
 ii2 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 largely erroneous, even if conditions were only 
 half so good and so pleasant elsewhere as 
 they are between you and your slaves and 
 former slaves." 
 
 Supper was announced, and the guest had 
 another opportunity to observe the seemingly 
 exhaustless capacity of the Marshall larder, 
 and to admire Dinah's culinary skill and 
 Hester's taste, and again he expressed his ap- 
 probation and appreciation. 
 
 " We are," said Mrs. Marshall, " apprecia- 
 tive of your kind expressions, and your enjoy- 
 ment of what our table affords gives us 
 pleasure. The matter of how people live is 
 largely a matter of custom and heredity, so 
 to speak. The kind of food eaten and the 
 ways of cooking it, are as various as the lati- 
 tudes. Your people in the North, as I know, 
 use cold bread, and so you have found it at 
 your plate at every meal. We think no meal 
 complete without hot bread in at least one 
 form. I have been told that, while in New 
 England they have excellent food, and that it 
 is well prepared, yet in most instances the 
 quantity is so carefully gauged, that when the 
 meal is over and every member of the family 
 and every guest is fed abundantly, there is 
 practically nothing left." 
 
 ' Yes, Madam, that statement is in a large 
 measure true. I do not believe that the art 
 of preparation of food is better understood 
 anywhere, but the people are not inclined to
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 113 
 
 waste. The climate is not so genial as it is 
 here; the season for growing crops is much 
 shorter; the area of arable land is much less, 
 and as we have had no slaves, it has required, 
 and still requires, skillful farming and good 
 management, and work by all the family, com- 
 bined with the closest economy, to insure pros- 
 perity and the laying up of wealth; so we do 
 not waste in any line, yet we have every com- 
 fort." 
 
 " With us it is exactly the contrary, Mr. 
 Standwick. I have since my childhood, as 
 has Mr. Marshall, been accustomed to living, 
 so far as concerns the table, just as we live 
 now. My father and his father lived the 
 same way, as did their fathers. 
 
 " There is, of course, no special style, no 
 splendor about it, no attempt to set a banquet, 
 but we know that you must see that it is too 
 abundant even prodigal; more is left than 
 is eaten; but we are accustomed to it, and ex- 
 cept under the stress of sheer necessity we 
 could not live otherwise, and fortunately we 
 have never felt such stress. 
 
 " As we lived before the war and live now, 
 nine-tenths of the best people of the South 
 lived, and when social peace and industrial 
 and commercial prosperity come again they 
 will return to the same way of living. It is 
 an element and incident of hospitality, and we 
 hold that hospitality is a cardinal virtue." 
 
 When they had returned to the sitting-
 
 ii4 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 room, Mr. Standwick said, " Ned has told me 
 some most amazing stories about juries to- 
 day, and I rather suspected that he was draw- 
 ing a long bow and was disposed to have some 
 fun at my expense, though he seemed to be in 
 earnest." 
 
 " I assure you, Mr. Standwick, he was not 
 jesting. Every incident he related, you may 
 rest assured, was literally true, and they are 
 but specimens of many such which occurred 
 during the horrible process of Reconstruction 
 so-called. Why, sir, in one of the South- 
 ern States, in many parts of which the negro 
 population largely outnumbers the whites, 
 there was a negro justice. The lawyers en- 
 gaged in the case argued it all day before him, 
 there being no jury. The lawyers repeated 
 the familiar rule of law that the justice must 
 decide ' according to the weight of the evi- 
 dence,' so when the argument was ended the 
 sable jurist rose, and solemnly stroking his 
 chin, said, ' Ebber ' one of yer niggers step 
 quick ober heer to de flatform scales.' 
 
 " One of the counsel said, ' Why, Judge, 
 what are you going to do ? ' 
 
 ' I'm gwine ter weigh dese niggers w'ut 
 been er testerfyin' so I kin tell w'ich side got 
 de mos' weight ob de ev'dence.' 
 
 ' That, too, is a literally true incident, and 
 we were for a number of years, and are yet 
 to a great extent, subject to such conditions. 
 Yet the people of the North were told how
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 115 
 
 beneficent and beautiful was the working pro- 
 cess of what was misnamed ' Reconstruction ' 
 the most fearful orgy of destruction and 
 corruption, rottenness and robbery that ever 
 stained the records of human history. 
 
 " We told the whole world just what I 
 have told you, but were not believed because 
 we were or had been so-called ' rebels.' I 
 say * so-called,' because, of course, we were 
 not so in fact. The Southern States exer- 
 cised the unquestionable right to withdraw 
 from the Union, and sovereign States could, 
 of course, not rebel, and the citizens of these 
 States, of course, were not ' rebels.' Our 
 northern friends seemed to find pleasure in 
 applying to us the designation of ' rebels,' and 
 we, in like spirit, called them ' Yankees,' so 
 I suppose honors may be said to be easy. 
 
 " Do you know, Mr. Standwick, that after 
 the brave, decent men of the northern army, 
 who fought from conviction, had returned to 
 their homes victors, that so-called Republi- 
 cans, but, in fact, scalawags and carpetbag- 
 gers, and aliens from every land, and the rak- 
 ings of the alleys and gutters and purlieus 
 of the northern cities, fastened on the ten 
 Southern States in five years a debt of $293,- 
 000,000, and that the printing bill of one 
 State for one year was more than the entire 
 expense of the administration of the govern- 
 ment of that State before the war? " 
 
 " Permit me to ask, Colonel Marshall,
 
 ii6 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 what was the meaning of the terms ' carpet- 
 bagger ' and ' scalawag ' ? " 
 
 ' The designation ' carpetbagger ' is easily 
 understood, Mr. Standwick. It means indi- 
 viduals who came from the North to take 
 advantage of conditions which speedily arose 
 after Reconstruction legislation went into ef- 
 fect. Most of such adventurers were with- 
 out character, conscience, or property. Their 
 entire worldly possessions were easily trans- 
 ported in a carpet-bag, yet when many of 
 them left, they had grown rich by reason of 
 their pillaging and plundering a disfranchised 
 and helpless people. 
 
 " ' Scalawag ' is almost an entirely arbitrary 
 term of reproach. I believe it was at one 
 time applied to the undersized cattle of Shet- 
 land, but down here, in the Reconstruction 
 period, it meant a native southern Republican, 
 as distinguished from a carpet-bag Republi- 
 can. Native southern white men who joined 
 the Republican party were generally so des- 
 ignated. 
 
 " Republican rule and administration here 
 were so corrupt and demoralizing, that we 
 who gathered under the Democratic banner 
 and stood for exclusive white supremacy dur- 
 ing the heat and passion of the struggle, held 
 every white man who was against us as our 
 foe and grouped them all under the general 
 term ' scalawag ' ; but, in truth, the designa- 
 tion was as to many of them unjust, and I am
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 117 
 
 desirous not to do any man injustice. There 
 were very few, if any, of the carpetbaggers 
 who were entitled to respect or confidence. 
 No viler crew of conscienceless adventurers 
 ever invaded a conquered and oppressed land ; 
 but there were many southern men who had 
 been faithful to the fortunes of the Confed- 
 eracy and who had been good soldiers, who 
 joined the Republican party. One distin- 
 guished gentleman, and one among the best 
 fighters in the whole Confederate army, is a 
 Republican. The men of this class argued 
 that the Republican party was in power and 
 that we were helpless to resist the legislation 
 directed against the South, termed the Recon- 
 struction statutes, and that they could be able 
 in a large degree to control the ignorant 
 negroes and corrupt carpetbaggers, and miti- 
 gate the evils and horrors of Reconstruction. 
 I was not able, myself, to agree with them, or 
 reconcile their conduct to my standards; but 
 I knew many of them to be honest men, and 
 they kept their hands clean, and I am inclined 
 to think now that they, perhaps, have ren- 
 dered useful services to their people that is 
 to say, at least, some of them have." 
 
 " You asked me, Colonel Marshall, a few 
 minutes ago, if I knew of the conditions that 
 you portrayed, and I desire to say that I cer- 
 tainly did not. I heard of misgovernment 
 here, but was told that it was the complaint 
 of rebels, and gave little attention to it.
 
 ii8 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 " I prefer, Mr. Standwick," returned his 
 host, " to believe that the northern people did 
 not know what we underwent. It would 
 shake my faith in my kind to believe that 
 American citizens living in any section under- 
 stood our situation, and yet upheld at the 
 ballot-box those responsible for it, and who 
 sought to perpetuate such iniquity. How- 
 ever, though the night has been long, the day 
 is beginning to dawn. Slowly and surely the 
 people of the North are coming to learn that 
 they cannot recast or repeal the laws of 
 nature; that they cannot turn back the tide of 
 human progress; that the Ethiopian can no 
 more change his skin or the leopard his spots 
 now than they could two thousand years ago. 
 The truth has dawned upon them that intelli- 
 gence and virtue and patriotism will ulti- 
 mately triumph over ignorance and corruption 
 and barbarism, and that no power in all the 
 earth can keep the white man in subordination 
 to the negro. Intellectually, physically and 
 morally, the white man bears the divine stamp 
 of superiority to men of every race! He is 
 the Heaven-endowed leader of the forces of 
 civilization and progress and Christianity; 
 and judged by ethnological and all other tests 
 and standards, the negro is his inferior and 
 can never rise to his level. There is no bridge 
 that can span the gulf which God has placed 
 between them. The day is coming, though 
 you and I will not live to see it, when the
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 119 
 
 people of the North will cry out for the repeal 
 of every constitutional provision and every 
 statute that gives the negro political equality. 
 Social equality is, of course, impossible. No 
 law can control that, even between people of 
 the same race; and even the suggestion of its 
 possibility between the white man and the 
 negro is so absurd as to provoke impatience 
 and indignation. The irrepressible, uncon- 
 querable racial instinct is a barrier that no 
 social ambition can scale. The white man 
 who attempts to enforce or illustrate social 
 equality will only lower himself without up- 
 lifting the negro. 
 
 " I have said much more than I had in- 
 tended to say, Mr. Standwick, but I trust you 
 will not think that any statement I have made 
 is in the slightest degree inspired by prejudice 
 or ill-feeling, either against the people of the 
 North or the negro. 
 
 " While, of course, the invasion of the 
 South was unnecessary, unjustifiable and cruel, 
 yet the issues involved in the war, and the 
 only ones the war did settle slavery and 
 secession have been settled in that tribunal 
 from the judgments of which there is no ap- 
 peal, and it is folly to discuss barren abstrac- 
 tions, or to mourn over that which cannot be 
 changed or recalled. 
 
 " I gave up two sons to defend a just and 
 righteous cause, and my heart goes out to 
 every northern father who suffered such a
 
 120 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 loss as I suffered, or made such a sacrifice as 
 I made. I gave also a lovely daughter. I 
 say gave her, for she was as directly a victim 
 of the war as if she had fallen in battle. I 
 trust I can forgive, though I can never forget 
 the indignities put upon my family and my- 
 self, by the soldiers of the United States, and 
 negro soldiers at that. 
 
 " I have never turned a white Federal 
 soldier none others applied from my door, 
 whom we could help. I have had during the 
 war sometimes four wounded men in this 
 house at once, and my wife and servants 
 dressed their wounds and watched by their 
 beds. I received them of my own free will. 
 They were not forced upon me, and I did 
 everything in my power for them, forgetting 
 all but that they were fellow-men in distress; 
 somebody's boys whom I watched and tended 
 and gave back to their mothers, alive and 
 well, and not as my boys came to me, straight- 
 ened for the tomb. I tried to display the 
 same spirit which my great countryman, Gen- 
 eral Lee, showed when a poor fellow knocked 
 at his door for help, shortly after the war 
 closed. He relieved his necessities, and when 
 his wife asked if it was ' one of our old boys,' 
 the General replied, ' No, he fought on the 
 other side; but we must not think of that 
 now.' 
 
 " As to the negro, I was born on a planta- 
 tion. My father and his father were slave
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN lai 
 
 owners, just as I was. In lieu of my mother's 
 milk, I drew nourishment from the breast of a 
 slave. The crooning of lullaby songs by my 
 ' black mammy ' soothed me to sleep many a 
 night just as Ned and Hester sang my sons 
 and my daughter to sleep. 
 
 " I have never made a negro who had been 
 my slave leave this place. I have kept them 
 when they were lazy and worthless. I have 
 fed them and housed them and taken care of 
 them when they were well, and buried them 
 decently when death took them. They were 
 most faithful during the war, and I have tried 
 to show my appreciation of their fidelity. 
 They are very improvident and shiftless, but 
 neither my wife nor I ever turned any of 
 them away that were in need. I know their 
 virtues and their faults, and their limitations 
 in intelligence and morals, as you of the 
 North can never possibly know, and I feel to- 
 ward them as do nine-tenths of the people of 
 the South who owned slaves. 
 
 " You know, or perhaps you do not, that 
 between negroes when they were slaves, and 
 since they have been free, and those of the 
 South who owned no slaves, there is and al- 
 ways has been a traditional and unconquerable 
 antagonism. Any honest negro will tell you 
 that his best friends are those who owned 
 slaves, and that negroes never hesitate to ap- 
 peal to their former masters, or any former 
 slave owner whom they know, for help.
 
 122 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 " In the trial of criminal cases, where 
 negroes are defendants, every lawyer capable 
 of trying a criminal case will, so far as possi- 
 ble, try to get on the jury all the men who 
 once owned slaves, or the descendants of such 
 men, and to keep off the jury those of the class 
 which did not own slaves. 
 
 " While this is all true, yet I know, and the 
 people of the South know, that the negro is 
 not fit to exercise the privilege of suffrage and 
 will not be for generations to come, if ever 
 he is. We know, too, that conferring upon 
 him the right to vote was worse than a mis- 
 take; it was the monumental crime of the 
 age. It wrought irreparable injury to the 
 negro and to the nation. It was the very 
 fury and frenzy of political bitterness and 
 prejudice, and the people of the North will 
 some day come to know it." 
 
 " Colonel Marshall," said Mr. Standwick, 
 " it is a great pity that what you say, and what 
 I have seen and heard and believe to be true, 
 could not have been made plain to the people 
 of New England as soon as the war ended." 
 
 " It was impossible, Mr. Standwick. The 
 tide of human passion ran too high then. 
 The roar of the storm of sectional hate which 
 swept over the Republic drowned out all we 
 said and we fell upon evil days. 
 
 " Do you know, my friend, what was the 
 direst calamity that ever befell the South? It 
 was the death of Abraham Lincoln. He was
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 123 
 
 a broad-minded, tender-hearted, patriotic 
 man; and while I can never agree with his 
 construction of the Constitution, or with his 
 views as to the right of the National Govern- 
 ment to coerce a sovereign State, nevertheless, 
 had he lived, such would have been the force 
 of his great character, and the extent of his 
 influence over his party, that we would have 
 been spared the horrible ordeal of Reconstruc- 
 tion. 
 
 ; ' When pigmies tried to perform the task 
 of giants, and partisans took patriot's places, 
 the South was made the victim of the most in- 
 famous and oppressive system of government, 
 or rather of misgovernment, that ever defiled 
 the annals of a nation. Had he not been 
 taken off, every State would have been speed- 
 ily restored to its normal and constitutional 
 relations to the Union, and the restoration of 
 kindly feeling between the people of the two 
 sections would have been much sooner accom- 
 plished." 
 
 ' Your statement, Mr. Marshall, concern- 
 ing Mr. Lincoln, is very surprising to me. I 
 have always believed he was the object of 
 especial hatred to the people of the South." 
 
 ' There is no doubt, Mr. Standwick, that 
 the southern people were greatly prejudiced 
 against him when he was elected President, 
 but as we look back upon his actions as Presi- 
 dent and compare him with those whose coun- 
 sels prevailed after he passed away, we realize
 
 124 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 how much greater and more patriotic he was 
 than any of his contemporaries in his own 
 party. 
 
 ;< We feel sure that if instead of being 
 killed, he had only been wounded, and it had 
 been proposed to arrest Jefferson Davis or to 
 charge him with connection with the deed of 
 the misguided Booth, Mr. Lincoln would 
 have protested against the arrest. He was 
 too just a man, and knew too well the char- 
 acter of Mr. Davis, to have even suspected 
 him of being in sympathy with that deed, 
 which he could have no more encouraged or 
 aided the commission of, than he could have 
 strangled a sleeping babe. 
 
 " The passions born of sectional strife have 
 not entirely subsided, but we can contemplate 
 the character of Mr. Lincoln in a somewhat 
 clearer light, and weigh his deeds in juster 
 scales, and no man that does can deny that 
 his name is entitled to a high place on the 
 roll of great Americans. 
 
 " Dissenting as I must and ever shall from 
 the views of Mr. Lincoln, yet I recognize 
 that he was one of the great men of history, 
 and thousands of my fellow-countrymen of 
 the South agree with me in this regard. He 
 was tender-hearted, sympathetic, and sincere; 
 and he was a great man, if measured by the 
 severest tests and standards." 
 
 " However much we may differ, Colonel, 
 upon other questions," said Mr. Standwick,
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 125 
 
 " I am sure that as to Mr. Lincoln we are in 
 entire accord, and am equally sure we will be 
 concerning another matter of which I desire 
 to speak. 
 
 " During my ride through the country, I 
 noticed where evidently many houses had been 
 burned many tall chimneys are standing even 
 yet. Yesterday I rode in a northerly direc- 
 tion, and I saw evidence of many other houses 
 having been burned, and near the ruins I saw 
 are small, rough, uncomfortable houses, evi- 
 dently meant to be temporary. 
 
 " I was told that every pile of ruins with 
 standing chimney marks where there stood a 
 splendid mansion, or at least a commodious 
 residence, the abode of comfort if not of great 
 wealth, and that every one of these buildings 
 was burned by the Federal army. It is, I 
 suppose, true, but it is as difficult as it is 
 humiliating for me to believe that American 
 soldiers could be guilty of such needless de- 
 struction of private property. I blushed as I 
 looked upon such scenes of destruction and 
 desolation. I had heard that such was the 
 case, but it was so incredible I laughed at the 
 statement." 
 
 ; ' What you have heard, Mr. Standwick, 
 is lamentably true. Not only were houses 
 burned after being robbed, but non-combat- 
 ants of every age and condition were left 
 shelterless, penniless, without food and often 
 only half clad. We had never conceived of
 
 126 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 the possibility of such a warfare of destruc- 
 tion, and of outrage upon the innocent and 
 helpless. My daughter was visiting only a 
 few miles away, and the house she was in was 
 burned at night, and she was left hardly more 
 than half dressed, in a driving rain-storm and 
 utterly without shelter; and only the fact that 
 by the merest chance Captain Charles Stan- 
 wick, who was a Federal captain, passed the 
 place while on duty and placed her on his 
 saddle-horse and wrapped her in his overcoat 
 and brought her home, saved her life. From 
 that night's horror and exposure she never 
 recovered, and she died from the effects of it, 
 combined with grief for one she loved who 
 fell in battle. 
 
 " Do you wonder that we have no respect 
 for the commander of the army which com- 
 mitted such excesses? I have none and pro- 
 fess none. 
 
 " How different was the conduct of the 
 Confederate commander in Pennsylvania. 
 General Lee gave imperative orders that pri- 
 vate property should not be molested and 
 his orders were obeyed. 
 
 " General John B. Gordon told the people 
 along the route of his army that if any mem- 
 ber of his command laid his hand upon the 
 property of any citizen, or molested any man's 
 house or family, and they would point out the 
 offender, they should have his life. 
 
 " How nobly did the conduct of General
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 127 
 
 Grant contrast with that of him who led the 
 army that wrought such ruin here. General 
 Grant did not destroy homes, or wage war- 
 fare on non-combatants. 
 
 " Relentlessly, with bull-dog pertinacity 
 and consummate skill, he pursued the one ob- 
 ject of crushing the worn and weary and half- 
 starved army of his great antagonist and 
 thereby ending the war; but he did not lay 
 waste and desolate the land and leave women 
 and children to starve and freeze. He was 
 too chivalrous, too kind of heart, and too 
 great a soldier to mar a glorious record 
 by deeds of barbarous atrocity. He was 
 matched against him who was not only the 
 ablest military commander of ancient or mod- 
 ern times, but who, in grandeur of character 
 and glory of achievement, in moral and in- 
 tellectual equipoise, and in purity and sub- 
 limity of character, approached nearer to 
 Divinity than any man that ever lived. 
 
 " It is a pleasure to contemplate two such 
 men, for they were two great Americans, 
 whose characters and deeds reflect unfading 
 glory upon this nation. 
 
 " How chivalrously did General Grant 
 treat General Lee in the hour of surrender! 
 What delicacy and consideration for his noble 
 foeman ! He displayed no feeling of tri- 
 umph, he did not gloat over his vanquished 
 antagonist. He did not seek to humiliate 
 him, but treated him with the chivalric court-
 
 128 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 esy so justly due to the knightliest and noblest 
 of men. 
 
 " The lofty and generous conduct of their 
 great commander seems to have made its in- 
 fluence felt upon his men, and when they 
 opened their haversacks and offered all their 
 rations to the hungry Confederates there was 
 presented a scene worthy to have been per- 
 petuated on immortal canvas. 
 
 " Mr. Standwick, whatever may be our 
 opinions relative to the war, its causes, char- 
 acter or results, and however widely different 
 may be our views, we, in common with other 
 men who are capable of appreciating the noble 
 and heroic in human character, will agree that 
 when Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee 
 met upon that battlefield, those who beheld 
 that meeting looked upon two of the sons of 
 men who belong in the Pantheon of the Im- 
 mortals. 
 
 " I am sure you will bear with me a few 
 minutes longer while I recall another incident 
 in the life of General Grant, which enshrined 
 him in the respect and esteem of the people 
 of the South. While he was still in command 
 of the army, some of those in authority at 
 Washington threatened to arrest General Lee, 
 in violation of the terms of his parole. Gen- 
 eral Grant was informed of the purpose at 
 his headquarters in New York. At once he 
 hastened to Washington. Striding into the 
 presence of the conspirators against the free-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 129 
 
 dom of General Lee, he said, ' I gave General 
 Lee his parole, and he has observed it like the 
 honorable soldier and gentleman that he is, 
 and if you lay your hands upon him to arrest 
 him, I will break my sword and throw it with 
 my commission at your feet.' Are you sur- 
 prised that side by side with the picture of 
 General Lee and Jefferson Davis in this room 
 you find the picture of General Grant? " 
 
 " I am not, since I know the opinion you 
 hold concerning General Grant, with which I 
 fully agree ; but I had been led to believe that 
 no southern man, entertaining views which 
 you do as to the war and the rights of the 
 South, holds in such high esteem the man who 
 was victorious over your most beloved com- 
 mander." 
 
 " You will find, my dear friend, that the 
 people of the South are broader-minded and 
 fairer-minded than you think them to be, and 
 I believe I can prove to you of course, mean- 
 ing neither offense nor criticism that they are 
 much more so than are the people of the 
 North. 
 
 " If Mr. Lincoln were alive and were to 
 visit the South to-day, he would be received 
 cordially, entertained hospitably, and treated 
 with all the consideration due him, in view of 
 his great distinction and his exalted character. 
 He would be as safe from discourtesy or in- 
 sult as he would be in Illinois, and he would 
 be at liberty to speak his honest convictions
 
 130 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 with perfect freedom. That this is true, 
 there is not a shadow of a doubt. 
 
 " Now, suppose Jefferson Davis should 
 visit New England do you believe he would 
 be entertained by your best people, or be al- 
 lowed to speak his honest convictions without 
 interruption, or even be treated courteously? 
 It is, judging by the tone and temper of the 
 northern press, practically certain that he 
 would not. 
 
 " I feel sure you would not yourself vouch 
 for his safety, at least you would not guar- 
 antee him courteous treatment. You cannot 
 find now in a southern paper a single word of 
 unkindness toward Mr. Lincoln, while the 
 northern press has exhausted the vocabulary 
 of abuse in denunciation of Mr. Davis. Yet, 
 Mr. Standwick, Jefferson Davis is in every 
 respect as worthy of the admiration and con- 
 fidence of his fellow-men as was Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " Both obeyed their convictions, and Mr. 
 Davis endured the horrors of a dungeon and 
 faced indictment and threatened trial, and is 
 yet denied the rights of citizenship, and is set 
 apart from his fellow-men in the isolation of 
 political martyrdom, and ' arch-traitor ' is a 
 favorite phrase applied to him by the north- 
 ern press and northern politicians. 
 
 ' That he was not a traitor any intelligent 
 man knows. His conviction of the crime of 
 treason was absolutely impossible, and this 
 great government, with all its power, though
 
 NED: NIGGER AN 1 GENTMAN 131 
 
 it had procured him to be indicted in a court 
 presided over by the Chief Justice of the most 
 august judicial tribunal on earth, dared not 
 try him. 
 
 " Mr. Davis was not one whit more guilty 
 than was I, or millions of others of his coun- 
 trymen, and for my sentiments and actions as 
 regards the ' war of the rebellion,' as our 
 northern neighbors are pleased to term it, my 
 conscience is void of offense toward God or 
 man. 
 
 " I have seen Mr. Davis painted in the 
 northern press as a conspirator and murderer 
 and ruffian, an arrogant, domineering, resent- 
 ful, bitter foe of the Union and the northern 
 people, while the truth is and I know him 
 well he is a courteous, Christian gentleman, 
 the greatest master of the English tongue on 
 this continent, a statesman, an orator, a 
 soldier, and a man of unswerving fidelity to 
 his convictions. 
 
 " He has never since the war given utter- 
 ance to a word of abuse or unkindness toward 
 the northern people, but has always urged 
 upon the people of the South obedience to 
 law, respect for the powers that be, and hon- 
 est effort to restore good feeling between 
 brethren long estranged. 
 
 ' You know, of course, Mr. Standwick, 
 how brilliant and gallant was his conduct dur- 
 ing the Mexican war, when he shed his blood 
 under the stars and stripes; and that he was
 
 i 3 2 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 Secretary of War in the only Cabinet that has 
 ever remained unchanged for four years since 
 the foundation of this government, and with 
 what conscientious fidelity and consummate 
 ability he discharged the duties of that high 
 trust? Yet his successors in that great office, 
 with unpatriotic and malignant purpose, con- 
 trived means whereby to hoist a workman 
 high in the air, in order that he might cut out 
 of the granite where it had been graven in 
 honor of Jefferson Davis, his name which 
 appeared on a great public structure erected 
 during his term of office. 
 
 " I put down much of this to the bitter- 
 ness and passion born of war, but there is no 
 excuse or justification for abuse and misrep- 
 resentation of a man who is one of the most 
 illustrious of Americans. I should be 
 ashamed to speak or even think of Mr. Lin- 
 coln or General Grant in such terms as mil- 
 lions of your northern neighbors speak of 
 Jefferson Davis yet neither of these great 
 men was, or is, one whit worthier than is he." 
 
 " I must confess, Colonel, that northern 
 people do not entertain a very kindly feeling 
 for Mr. Davis. Indeed, they seem disposed 
 to hold him responsible for secession, and the 
 war in great measure; yet, I can readily see 
 that he was not logically, or in fact, more so 
 than were thousands of others." 
 
 " When you know us better, Mr. Stand-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 133 
 
 wick, you will be better able to appreciate our 
 actions and our motives, and will find that we 
 have been cruelly maligned." 
 
 " I have, sir, found that out already. I 
 am abundantly assured of the error of many 
 views which I have long held, and northern 
 man and Union man that I am, and strong in 
 the conviction that secession was not constitu- 
 tional or justifiable, as I expect ever to be, 
 I have no language to express my abhorrence 
 of him or those who are responsible for the 
 fearful destruction and devastation I have 
 seen here." 
 
 " The northern people," said Colonel Mar- 
 shall, " I trust and believe will learn the truth 
 yet, and do us justice, and I pray God that 
 they may because peace will come only when 
 men on both sides of the line accord each to 
 the other integrity of purpose, and fidelity to 
 honest conviction." 
 
 " It is late," said Mr. Standwick, " but 
 there is one incident, an occurrence of which 
 Ned has given me some intimation, which has 
 greatly interested me, and that is the tragedy 
 with which Captain Alston was connected and 
 the cause of it; and if you have no objection 
 I would be pleased to hear more of it. It 
 presents a phase and reflection of public senti- 
 ment here which is as interesting to me as it 
 is surprising." 
 
 " 1 have no objection to telling you of every
 
 134 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 incident connected with the matter preceding 
 the actual tragedy. What occurred after 
 that, it would be more becoming in me to let 
 others tell you of, and Ned will do that in his 
 own way, I have no doubt. So it is unneces- 
 sary for me to go beyond, or even as far as 
 the tragedy itself.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 " I AM sure, Mr. Standwick, you have formed 
 a favorable opinion of Captain Alston. No 
 man with even the most casual acquaintance 
 could fail to do so." 
 
 " I certainly have," said Mr. Standwick. 
 " Unless I know absolutely nothing of human 
 character, he is a man in every respect admir- 
 able honest, kind, courteous, brave, and 
 gentle. I feel greatly drawn toward him, the 
 more especially because I feel sure he has suf- 
 fered some sorrow which has wrung his 
 heart." 
 
 ' Your conclusions are correct. Captain 
 Alston is a gentleman by breeding, instinct 
 and education. I am his senior by more than 
 twenty years, and have known him since he 
 was born. He never harbored a dishonor- 
 able or even questionable thought or purpose. 
 
 " In the army, as a cavalry commander, he 
 displayed not only courage of the highest 
 type, that was a matter of course, but 
 marked aptitude for command and the execu- 
 tion of daring and dangerous achievements, 
 and he rode and fought like the very genius 
 of battle incarnate. His men were devotedly 
 attached to him, and he to them, so closely 
 135
 
 136 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 that he time and again refused promotion and 
 served with his original company to the end. 
 
 " He was and is as gentle and tender as he 
 is brave and honorable, and like all of his 
 breed and blood, he is the soul of courage and 
 of honor. 
 
 " His wife died when Jean was born, and 
 upon his motherless daughter he lavished all 
 the affections of his noble and tender nature, 
 and she grew into lovely girlhood and young 
 womanhood almost as one of my children, 
 and her love of her father was well nigh 
 idolatrous. 
 
 " When he returned from the war of course 
 his financial condition was greatly changed for 
 the worse; but Jean adapted herself to the 
 situation with uncomplaining cheerfulness, 
 and the two were more like brother and sister 
 than father and daughter. 
 
 " I had no idea of the cause of Jean's de- 
 cline. I saw her fading and failing day by 
 day, and was almost as deeply distressed as if 
 she had been my own daughter; but there 
 never came to my ears hint or intimation of 
 the cause and indeed my wife did not know 
 or hear of the vile rumors and slanderous re- 
 ports until a few days before death released 
 the innocent young sufferer. 
 
 " Had the slanderer's name been revealed 
 to me, I think I would have killed him as I 
 would have killed a mad dog. When I heard 
 of them, when it was made clear to me that
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 137 
 
 a sweet and lovely young woman had been 
 slain by the shafts of slander, I was filled 
 with rage, and my first impulse was to see 
 her father and let him know the truth. It 
 may have been that had I reflected I would 
 have acted differently; but I am by no means 
 sure that I would, and I do not mean to be 
 understood as expressing or even intimating 
 regret for my action. It seemed to me then, 
 and the passing years have not changed my 
 views, that it was my duty to Alston as his 
 friend to let him know the truth. 
 
 " I drove to his house, with Ned, of course. 
 It was only a few days after the funeral of 
 Jean. Alston was sitting in a large arm- 
 chair before the fire in the reception-hall, the 
 walls of which were covered with family por- 
 traits on both sides, beginning with his re- 
 mote ancestors and reaching down to his wife, 
 and down to a portrait of Jean just as she 
 was entering her teens. 
 
 " He was the picture of loneliness and des- 
 olate grief, but he rose and greeted me with 
 an effort at cheerfulness and cordiality. His 
 face was pale, and those piercing black eyes 
 looked at me through the mists of tears, and 
 there was a pathetic tremor in his voice. 
 When we were seated I said: 
 
 " 'Alston, I am your friend, as you know 
 a friend upon whom you can always call and 
 always rely.' 
 
 " He looked up with an expression of sur-
 
 i 3 8 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 prise, and he seemed to feel that it was pre- 
 liminary to some other statement in which 
 he would be deeply interested, but he replied 
 in his sincere and gentle tones: 
 
 " ' I know it, Marshall. I am proud of 
 your friendship.' 
 
 " ' Alston, do you know what killed Jean, 
 whom I loved as I did my own daughter ? ' I 
 said. 
 
 " ' No, Colonel, I do not,' he replied. * The 
 doctors were unable to tell me.' 
 
 " ' No,' I said, ' they did not, because they 
 did not know. The cause of her death was 
 beyond the reach of learning and scientific 
 skill. Your daughter was killed by poison.' 
 
 " ' What! Poison? It must have been a 
 most mysterious, slow, and subtle poison to 
 defy the skill I bought to save her.' 
 
 " ' I do not mean she was poisoned in her 
 body, but in her heart and soul poisoned, 
 too, by the tongue of a damned slanderer.' 
 
 " Alston, in an instant, from a half-reclin- 
 ing position in the deep chair, sat upright, and 
 fixing his eyes upon me said, ' What do you 
 mean, Marshall? ' 
 
 " 4 1 mean that a foul and lying tongue 
 coupled her name with impurity and killed 
 her as certainly as if the slanderer had driven 
 a dagger through her heart.' 
 
 "'Oh, no, Marshall; oh, no. You are 
 mistaken,' and he smiled a pathetic, incredu- 
 lous smile, and shook his head as if to say,
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 139 
 
 ' What you say cannot possibly be true.' ' I 
 have read that there are those so base that 
 they delight to revile and slander the pure in 
 heart, but there is not upon the earth no, 
 Marshall, there cannot be found in the realms 
 of the damned, one fiend who could conceive a 
 purpose so vile as to say that which could even 
 for an instant have cast a shadow upon the 
 surface of her stainless soul. Her life was 
 too pure, too gentle, too free from earthly 
 dross or taint to give even blackest malice 
 ground to say evil of her.' 
 
 " * I know that, Alston, yet she did not 
 escape calumny. Would to God she had. 
 A man whose offer of marriage she refused 
 has filled this county with the poison of vile 
 slander, and her life was destroyed by its 
 falseness and foulness.' 
 
 ' 'Oh, no, Marshall; none but gentlemen 
 have sought her hand in marriage, I am sure, 
 and what you say must, of course, be impos- 
 sible.' 
 
 ' Perhaps she did not tell you, but there 
 was one not a gentleman who dared ask her 
 to marry him.' 
 
 "'Who was it?' 
 
 " ' Jack Harper.' 
 
 " Alston sprang to his feet and grasped 
 the back of a chair standing near. He looked 
 at me till it seemed as if those piercing eyes 
 would look me through. Blended expressions 
 of astonishment, incredulity, and rage passed
 
 i 4 o NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 over his face. He breathed deep and hard. 
 His face was as white as the handkerchief 
 he held to his lips, and after what seemed 
 to me an hour, but was doubtless but a mo- 
 ment, he said, ' Jack Harper ask my daughter 
 to marry him? The son of an overseer, a 
 plebeian cur, ask in marriage the hand of the 
 daughter of an Alston? Iknew she and he 
 had been, as little tots, schoolmates in the 
 country school, and that out of the very sweet- 
 ness and kindness and gentleness of her na- 
 ture she did not wound his feelings by repel- 
 ling him when he presumed to cross the 
 threshold of my house, but I did not know 
 that he had dared offer her such an insult and 
 indignity, and it is well I did not. But there 
 must be some mistake ! ' 
 
 " ' No, Alston, there is no mistake. Jean 
 refused Jack Harper's offer, and then and 
 there he threatened her with revenge, and he 
 took revenge in its foulest, basest, most cow- 
 ardly, most damnable form. There is no 
 doubt of it. It is in the very air. My wife 
 told me of it, hundreds can repeat and by their 
 testimony prove it. You and I alone did not 
 know, had not heard it. He has coupled her 
 name in dishonor with his own and has used 
 it in ribald jest.' 
 
 " ' Marshall, for God's sake say you do 
 not mean that it cannot be! God would 
 not permit a wretch so vile to poison the air ! ' 
 
 " ' Alston, my friend,' I said, * I cannot
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 141 
 
 lie to you what I have said is true. I would 
 give my right arm to have it otherwise.' 
 
 " Alston's eyes flashed, his form became 
 almost rigid. His face grew paler, if that 
 were possible, and releasing his hold upon 
 the chair he staggered to the mantel and 
 rested against it. I never saw such anguish 
 depicted on a human face. After a few min- 
 utes, in which his breath came quick and hard, 
 he said: 
 
 " ' Marshall, on these walls are the por- 
 traits of my ancestors for generations la- 
 dies and gentleman all. No taint or stain 
 ever rested upon the name of one of them. 
 There you see the angel face of my wife, 
 who gave me Jean at the price of her own 
 life. I have never seen that woman who 
 could take her place in my heart and home, 
 and in large measure my life has been a 
 lonely one. I have dared danger, I have 
 known sorrow. I have felt the sting of at 
 least comparative poverty. I have bowed in 
 anguish unutterable above the grave of my 
 Jean, but dishonor has never crossed the 
 threshold of my house. 
 
 ' No man ever impugned the honor or 
 good name of an Alston and lived to repeat 
 the slander after an Alston knew it.' He 
 paused and seized a photograph of Jean 
 which sat before him and which had been 
 recently taken, and holding it in his left 
 hand, which partially rested on the mantel,
 
 I 4 2 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 while he was unconsciously opening and clos- 
 ing the other rapidly as it hung by his 
 side, he bent his eyes close upon the pic- 
 ture and spoke to it in soft, caressing tones. 
 ' Oh, my darling, your face is so much like 
 your sainted mother's so pure, so sweet, so 
 lovely ! You were the dearest child that ever 
 brightened a home or gladdened a father's 
 heart. The angels around the throne of God 
 are not purer in heart and purpose than were 
 you, my sweet child, and yet the slanderer 
 did not spare you. With the venomous shafts 
 from his vile tongue he took your life, but 
 you shall be avenged ! I will wipe out your 
 wrong in his accursed blood ! ' 
 
 " Then turning to me he said, ' Marshall, 
 here and now I call upon you, and invoke the 
 spirit of my ancestors to bear me witness 
 while I swear by the honor of the Alston 
 name, by the memory of my dead wife, by 
 the love I bear my daughter, and by the duty 
 I owe to womanhood to still the tongue of 
 the slanderer of defenseless innocence and 
 purity. I swear that Jack Harper shall not 
 live to see the sun go down ! ' 
 
 " ' Alston, do not be rash,' I said. * Re- 
 member, conditions have changed here. The 
 " old regime " has for a time passed away. 
 The very foundations of the ancient social 
 temple have been uprooted. Ignorant and 
 corrupt judges disgrace the bench. The jury 
 box is filled with ignorant negroes, and if you
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 143 
 
 keep your oath it is impossible that your act 
 will be passed upon by a jury of your peers, 
 and it may be that by sheer force of corrupt 
 power, wielded by those who are utterly un- 
 able to comprehend or appreciate the spirit 
 and meaning of the higher and " unwritten 
 law," you will be sent to prison or to the gal- 
 lows.' 
 
 " He raised his head quickly and with 
 flashing eyes he said : ' There are not between 
 the oceans enough of the vile crew that makes 
 a mockery of justice and defiles the temple of 
 the law to send me to a prison or to the gal- 
 lows. Now, Marshall, go! I love you, my 
 friend, but go and leave me to myself and my 
 sorrow ! ' 
 
 " His tone was imperative, and pressing his 
 hand in silence, I withdrew. Ned will tell 
 you the rest." 
 
 Mr. Standwick listened intently to the re- 
 cital of Colonel Marshall, and after several 
 moments of silence said, 
 
 " Colonel, I have intended to ask you one 
 question in connection with what you have 
 just told me but I will ask you at another 
 time. It is already later than I thought, and 
 I will retire." 
 
 " Very well," said Colonel Marshall. " I 
 will at any time freely and frankly answer 
 any question germane to the matter," and 
 with this the two gentlemen separated for 
 the night.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 IN the morning Colonel and Mrs. Mar- 
 shall returned to town, pursuant to a promise 
 made to their son, and renewed upon the in- 
 sistent demand of their young grandson. Af- 
 ter they had gone and Ned had finished his 
 chores, Mr. Standwick reminded him that he 
 had promised to tell him the rest of the story 
 as to the tragedy of which Captain Alston 
 was, as Colonel Marshall had intimated, the 
 central figure. 
 
 " Ve'y well, sah. I tol' you how t'other 
 day he b'en thu' de fi'y fu'nace uv 'flickshun, 
 an' I gwine tell you bout him an' all w'ut 
 happen." 
 
 " Colonel Marshall has told me about the 
 visit he made to Captain Alston when you 
 drove him, and when he told Captain Alston 
 of the slanders upon his daughter's character, 
 and he told me about the death of Mrs. Als- 
 ton and how Miss Jean was raised almost in 
 his family." 
 
 " All right, den, boss, I gwine tell you de 
 res'. Hester an' me sot a sto' by her an' 
 Miss Lucy, an' dey was jes' lak sisters. Dey 
 go ter de neighborhood school an' ter de big 
 school tergedder, an' erlong 'bout de middle 
 144
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 145 
 
 er de wah dey was mos' grown, an' Miss 
 Lucy, wid her ha'r lak sugar candy, an' Miss 
 Jean wid hern lak crow's fedders, jes' need 
 wings ter be angels. 'Twan't no use, dough, 
 fer nobody ter be settin' up ter Miss Lucy, 
 'ca'se she done gib her lub ter de fines' young 
 man w'ut ebber was in dese parts, Cap'n Ar- 
 thur Stan'ick, de 'Fedrit cap'n on our side. 
 
 " Miss Jean 'pear lak she don' keer much 
 'bout none er de young men, but one day a 
 man fin' her heart dat she ain't speak ter, 
 an' dat she didn't want ter fin' it, an' dat man 
 was Cap'n Chawles Stan'ick; but sho' ez you 
 bo'n she ain't never let on ter dat refec' twell 
 he b'en kilt in de wah den it was er s'prise 
 ter mos' ev'ybody; but lub don' pay no 'ten- 
 shun ter wah ner de color ob mini forms, but 
 it jes' strike whar it please. 
 
 " Howsomebber, I cain't tell you 'bout all 
 dese matters at one time, so I tell yer now 
 'bout de trubbel w'ut riz over a man foolin' 
 erlong er Cap'n Als'on. 
 
 " We'n de wah stop, ev'ybody was pow'ful 
 po'; dey didn' had no money ner much er 
 nothin' else; dat is, all 'ceptin' Marster he 
 ain't never b'en broke. He done al'ays had 
 money lak his daddy befo' him. He hab 
 dis big plan'ashun an' 'bout two hunderd 
 niggers, an' he lib lak a gent'man dat he is; 
 but he was a farmer fer true, an' he put erway 
 money fer a rainy day. Cap'n Chawles sabe 
 his house an' er lot er cotton, lak he sabe
 
 146 NED: NIGGER AN* GENT'MAN 
 
 Cap'n Als'on's house too. De Cap'n hab 
 plenty ter eat an' er good farm, but he ain't 
 had much money, an' ain't rich, lak he was 
 befo' de wah, an' Miss Jean couldn't dress 
 so mighty fine, but she was jes' as purty. 
 
 " Dat man Harper w'ut you stay wid 
 t'other night, he made lots er money, 'ca'se he 
 wu'k his niggers pow'ful hard, an' feed 'em 
 scan'lous light, an' befo' de wah he was rich, 
 an' lak I tell you t'other day, he got his start 
 oberseein'. 
 
 ' You notice he was kind er lame, an' he 
 ain't go ter de wah; an' w'en de wah broke 
 out his son Jack, his onlies' chile, was at 
 school some'r's in de Norf, whar his daddy 
 come f'um, an' he stay dar twell de war eend. 
 
 ' You see, when de Yankee army come 
 thu' heah de old man claim he b'en a pusse- 
 cuted Newnyun man, an' he put a Newnyun 
 flag ober his house an' sabe hit an' er big lot 
 er cotton. W'en de boy come back he was 
 grown, an' his daddy gib him er plan'ashun 
 an' plenty er money, an' Jack tu'ns big poli- 
 tishuner an' got to be cap'n ob a nigger mer- 
 lisher comp'ny, an' de niggers dey call him 
 Cap'n Jack. 
 
 " Befo' he gotter mixin' wid de scalawags 
 an' niggers he come ober here an' wanter 
 mek a soshul call on Miss Lucy, 'ca'se he 
 b'en to de neighborhood school wid her w'en 
 dey was chilluns; but no, sah, no oberseer's 
 son fer her, ef he got a bar'l er money; so
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 147 
 
 she treat him so col' he ain't come no mo'. 
 Den he 'cide he go ter see Miss Jean an' try 
 ter cut er shine erlong er her, but she soon let 
 him know he barkin' up de wrong tree. 
 
 " He ain't nebber been b'long in her class, 
 ob co'se, but 'ca'se dey b'en schoolmates she 
 treat him perlite; an' he see she be po' 'count 
 er de wah, an' he talk 'bout bein' rich, an' he 
 up an' axes her ter mah'y him. Den he heerd 
 f um her. She come right ober here, an' I 
 was in de settin'-room making a fiah, an' I 
 heerd her tell Miss Lucy 'bout it, an' seed 
 her show Miss Lucy how she done when he ax 
 her. She got up an' tek hoi' ob one side her 
 skirt 'twix' her thum' an' fus' finger, an' pull 
 it 'way roun' lak she tryin' ter miss sumpin' an' 
 den she bow an' say, ' Mr. Harper, I'm not 
 for sale. De daughter ob er Als'on nebber 
 will marry er oberseer's son.' You orter see 
 her toss dat purty haid er hern twell de black 
 curls hang down mos' to her shoul'ers, an' 
 she curl her purty red lips an' lif her thur- 
 rerbred nost'ils in de a'r, an' sweep outen de 
 room, showin' Miss Ma'y how she lef Jack 
 Harper an' den she bus' out cryin'. 
 
 " 'Cord'm' ter Miss Jean, dat man got sho' 
 mad. He all de time strut an' swagger an' 
 w'ar westcuts wid big stripes on 'em, an' Mar- 
 ster say he was a ' swashbuckler ' w'utebber 
 dat is; an' I know he didn't no mo' b'long in 
 de same class wid Marster an' Cap'n Als'on 
 dan er plow-mule b'long in de same class er-
 
 i 4 8 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 long er Marster's saddle-hoss. Jack Harper 
 sayed he gwine mek her an' her 'ristercrat 
 daddy sorry when she heah f'um him ergin. 
 She so sweet an' kin', she don' wanter bring 
 on no 'sturbance, so she ain't tell her daddy 
 'bout how dat feller talk to her, 'ca'se she 
 know ef she do, Jack Harper gwine ter see 
 trubbel. 
 
 " I tell you, boss, dese quality gent'men 
 down in de Souf is de bes' men in de worl', 
 but de man dat is dis'especkful to a lady er 
 'suits her, gwine ter heah f'um 'em sho' ez 
 you bo'n. 
 
 " I 'spec' Marster done tol' you mos' er 
 w'ut happen, but mebbe he ain't tell you w'ut 
 he say w'en Miss Ma'y tol' him 'bout de 
 slan'ers ob Jack Harper. Marster riz an' 
 stretch hisself twell he look lak he 'bout eight 
 foot high, an' spite er his bein' er big 'Pisker- 
 pul member an' er Chrischun, he lak ter for- 
 got, 'ca'se w'ut he say shock Miss Ma'y pow- 
 'ful. Den Marster, who think she de queen 
 er de yearth, bow ter her an' say, ' I beg par- 
 don, my dear; I spoke too quick an' too 
 rough; please 'scuse me.' De king couldn't 
 er b'en no perliter ner graceful-lak. 
 
 " W'en Cap'n Als'on riz an' staggered ter 
 de fireplace, as I sho' Marster done tol' you, 
 I swunk back an' got outen dar. 'Fo' Gawd, 
 I jes' leabe meet er g'os' in de swamp at mid- 
 dle de night ez ter see sich er look on his face 
 ergin.
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 149 
 
 " Atter while I sorter crope back, an' I 
 heahed de Cap'n say, ' Jack Harper shan't 
 live till de sun go down.' Den I say ter 
 mahse'f, ' Good-by, Jack Harper; you'se er 
 goner, sho' ez de sun set in de wes'." 
 
 " The Colonel told me all that he said," 
 interrupted Mr. Standwick, " and what Cap- 
 tain Alston said up to the time the Colonel 
 left." 
 
 " Ve'y well, boss, den I'll tell yer de res'. 
 Marster went back home ter dinner, an' atter 
 dinner he hab me drive him ter town, 'ca'se 
 he 'speck, lak I did, dat Cap'n Als'on gwine 
 dar, an' we bofe know ef he do dey better 
 look out; but Marster ain't say a word ter 
 me 'bout what he 'speck, ner me ter him. 
 When we got ter town, Marster went over ter 
 de bank w'ut mos' b'long ter him, an' I went 
 on up town whar I see a crowd er free niggers 
 scramblin' an' grabbin' atter sumpin' on de 
 groun', an' hollerin' an' raisin' er pow'ful 
 racket. 
 
 " You see, de sucket cote was in town, an' 
 dar was a big crowd, mos'ly niggers; fer you 
 know, boss, er nigger lub ter go ter cote mos' 
 same ez he do ter er fun'al. De jedge was 
 er carpetbagger an' de pussecutin' 'torney der 
 same, an' Jack Harper an' a big lot er udder 
 scalawags an' 'Publicans was in town. Jack 
 was full er licker, an' was flingin' coppers an' 
 nickels ter de niggers roun' him, an' dey was 
 scrappin' ter beat de ban*.
 
 150 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 " To' I b'en dar long, I see Cap'n Als'on 
 walk slow up de aige er de crowd, an' jes den 
 a big nigger say, ' Cap'n Jack, t'ought you 
 was gwine ter marry dat 'ristercrat darter w'ut 
 lib yonder by de Marshall plan'ashun.' 
 
 : ' Jack Harper 'ply back, winkin' his eye 
 an' twissin' his haid, ' Oh, I don' marry dat 
 kin' ; 'tain't no use ter marry her, you onner- 
 stan'.' 
 
 " Den Cap'n Als'on say, ' You niggers 
 stan' 'side.' De niggers b'en so busy scrap- 
 pin' fer coppers an' nickels an' drinkin' licker 
 dat dey ain't notice Cap'n Als'on; but w'en he 
 speak dey got outen de way, an' dat quick. 
 
 " Den de Cap'n say, speakin' slow an' 
 plain, ' Jack Harper, you slandered my daw- 
 ter to her grave, an' you got ter answer ter 
 me.' 
 
 " I t'ink Harper mus' er b'en drunk, fer 
 sho'ly he wan' big 'nuff fool ef he was sober 
 ter tetch his pistil w'en er Als'on be talkin' 
 ter him, an' dat's what he done. 
 
 " Now, onnerstan', boss," and Ned leaned 
 over and lowered his voice, " 'twix' you an' 
 me, de tetchin' er his pistil didn' mek de mat- 
 ter no diff'unt f'um w'ut it would er b'en, 
 'ca'se Harper done b'en 'lected ter git jus' 
 w'ut he got. He done bre'k de gent'man's 
 law in dis kentry, an' slan'er er lady, an' his 
 time done come. 
 
 " Well, ez I was er savin', he tetch his 
 pistil, an' dat was de las' er him. Bang,
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 151 
 
 bang, bang! Cap'n Als'on's pistil went, 
 quicker 'n er cat could wink her eye, an' 
 ebber' bullet hit Jack Harper an' ary one on 
 'em would er kilt him. He dropped double 
 up wid his pistil in his han' an' dem niggers 
 scatter' lak pa'tridges." 
 
 " Stop," said Mr. Standwick, speaking ear- 
 nestly and excitedly. "What do you say? 
 Do you mean to tell me that Captain Alston 
 killed the man? " 
 
 " Yes, sirree; dat's w'ut I sayed; fer he sho' 
 did kill him deader 'n er mack'rel." 
 
 "You do not mean that Captain Alston, 
 who spent the night with me, Colonel Mar- 
 shall's friend, the soft-spoken, courteous gen- 
 tleman, whose society I so much enjoyed? " 
 
 ' Yes, sah, I means dat ve'y man." 
 
 " Great God, Ned; it's horrible! You say 
 Harper was rich ; then why didn't he sue him 
 for damages? " 
 
 " Do w'ut, boss? Please 'scuse me, sah, 
 but I don' onnerstan' w'ut you say." 
 
 " I said, why didn't he sue Harper for 
 damages ? I mean, why didn't he go to court 
 and get a judgment and make Harper pay 
 damages; and if he did not pay, levy on his 
 plantation and sell it and collect the money." 
 
 " W'ut he gwine ter do wid de money arter 
 he git it?" 
 
 " Why, take it to pay the judgment he got 
 for damages." 
 
 " Does you mean, boss, dat Cap'n Als'on
 
 152 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 gwine ter tek money fer ter pay him fer his 
 dawter bein' slan'ered?" 
 
 " Yes, that's what I mean ; there are many 
 such cases. If he got damages, that would 
 prove the slander and the innocence of his 
 daughter." 
 
 Ned looked hard at his white friend and 
 then took hold of his own chin and lower lip 
 with his left hand, with his elbow resting 
 against his side, while he ran the fingers of 
 his right hand gently through his white and 
 kinky locks, and as he held his head far to 
 one side and half closed his left eye, in a tone 
 of soliloquy, said, 
 
 " I gwine ter go back ter de fus' er de mat- 
 ter an' try ter figger it out. Now, le's see. A 
 gent'man got a purty dawter dat he lub mo'n 
 all de worl'. A low-down white man w'ut's 
 rich come er co'tin' ob her an' ax her ter 
 mah'y him, but she 'fuse him sco'nful-lak, 
 'ca'se he ain't b'long in her class. Den de 
 white man slan'er her all ober de kentry an' 
 p'isen her soul twell she die; den er gent'man 
 ax me de queschun, ' Huccome her daddy ain't 
 sue de white man w'ut slan'er his dawter, an' 
 mek him pay money fer de slan'er, an' let 
 de low-down white man go on libbin' ? ' No, 
 dat's too much fer me. I cain't comprehen' it 
 'tall. I ain't nebber heerd er no sich case in 
 de cote-house in dis kentry." 
 
 " Such things must happen here at times, 
 and what do men do in such cases ? "
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 153 
 
 " Dey does w'ut Cap'n Als'on done ; dey 
 kill de man w'ut slan'er er lady." 
 
 " Is that the law of this State? " 
 
 "Well, no, sah; I don' reckon it's 'zactly 
 de law, 'ca'se I heerd Marster say dat it ain't 
 de law writ in de law book; but all de same 
 hit's de law w'ut gent'mens follers." 
 
 " Do you tell me that Captain Alston didn't 
 try to get an apology, or get a confession and 
 a settlement for money out of Harper before 
 he shot him? " 
 
 " Dat's jes' w'ut I say, boss. No man 
 cain't 'polergize fer dat kin' er devilment; an' 
 ef Cap'n Als'on had er tuk money f'um Jack 
 Harper, er had er sued him ter get money, 
 he would er los' stan'in' 'mong de peepul; 
 Marster wouldn't er spoke ter him. I tell 
 you, boss, dese folks is proud, an' dey b'liebes 
 lak I does in good blood, an' de onner ob er 
 man's fambly; an' ef any man slan'er dey 
 wife er dawter or mistreat or 'ceive any dey 
 wimmin-folks, dey ain't gwine ter no cote- 
 house atter money. Dey gwine atter blood, 
 an' dey inginurly gits it; an' w'en dey gits thu' 
 dere ain't no need fer a doctor, but dey needs 
 a curiner ter hoi' de inques'." 
 
 ;' Well, it's fearful." 
 
 " Well, boss, it all 'pens, you know. It's 
 'cordin' ter how folks is fotch up an' w'ut 
 dey's usen to. You t'ink dat way, but ef you 
 libbed heah, you'd tek notice dat it's mighty 
 seldom dat er man lets his tongue loose 'g'inst
 
 154 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 a lady's keracter, an' dat ginurly a man keeps 
 often his neighbor's home diggin's. 
 
 " No, sah, boss, quality-folks lak my Mars- 
 ter an' Cap'n Als'on nebber hunts no money 
 w'en dey onner er de onner er dey fambly is 
 tetch." 
 
 " I must say, Ned, that Colonel Marshall 
 and Captain Alston seem to be two as fine 
 men, as fine gentlemen as I have ever met." 
 
 " You'se right 'bout dat, boss. Dey don't 
 only seem dey is. Dar ain't no finer in de 
 worl'. Dar ain't a drop er scrub blood in 
 dey veins. Dey's thurrerbred f'um top ter 
 toe, sho's yer bo'n." 
 
 " Well, when I interrupted you, you had 
 just said that Harper fell dead and the ne- 
 groes scattered. What happened then?" 
 
 " W'en Marster heerd de shootin' he come 
 right ober dar, an' he went right up ter Cap'n 
 Als'on an' put his arm aroun' him, an' de 
 Cap'n glance down at Harper lyin' dar, an' 
 he say, ' Colonel, my darling is Venged,' an' 
 den he lay his haid on Marster's shoul'er 
 an' cry same ez er baby; an' right den an' dar 
 Marster tell Cap'n Als'on he will 'fen' him 
 in de cote." 
 
 " What, do you mean Colonel Marshall is 
 a lawyer?" 
 
 " Yes, siree ; de bigges' lawyer dey is. Dar 
 ain't none er de res' er de lawyers in his class 
 'tall. He kin beat any man pleadin' you eber 
 heerd in yer life. He ain't practise no law
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 155 
 
 in er long time. He don't hab to. He quit 
 'fo' de wah. An' sides all dat, he won't prac- 
 tise 'fo' dese carpetbag an' scalawag jedges 
 an' nigger juries w'ut cain't read, nuther 
 write." 
 
 " I see, Ned, you talk about the colored 
 persons like I have often heard the southern 
 people did; but of course you know as a fact 
 that you never saw a colored man on the 
 jury who could not read or write." 
 
 " Good Gawd, boss, you sho' is mistooken 
 on dat p'int. Why, sah! dar's five hunderd 
 niggers in dis county w'ut's b'en on de jury 
 dat don't know * b ' f 'urn * bullfoot.' Right 
 yander in dat cote-house dar's niggers on de 
 jury dat wouldn't know er vuddick f'um er 
 mile-pos'. I heerd Marster say lots er times 
 dat heap er dese carpetbag jedges nebber was 
 lawyers nowhar; an' it's er fack dey wan't. 
 
 " Boss, ef you b'en lib heah lak we is, you'd 
 er seed some er de s'prisenes' things dat ebber 
 is happen. Lemme tell you somepin' dat was 
 sho' funny, an' w'ut's mo', it's de truf. De 
 Yankees bu'n de cote-house endurin' er de 
 wah, an' dey was er hol'in' cote in er ole stoah 
 an' had er ole war'house fer er jury-room. 
 Well, one day, all twelbe er de jury was nig- 
 gers an' nary one couldn't read er write. De 
 carpetbag jedge say, ' Gent'men, go out an' 
 fin' yo' vuddick,' an' de twelbe niggers 
 march out wid de nigger sheriff, w'ich was 
 struttin' lak a bahn-yard bantam. 'Twuz
 
 156 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 pow'ful hot, an' dem niggers was gone 'bout 
 er hour, an' w'en dey git back dey was sweat- 
 in' lak a plow-hoss, an' puffin' an' pantin' lak 
 lizzuds an' dey han's was dirty an' dey clo'es 
 full er dus', an' de jedge say, ' Gent'men, is 
 you foun' er vuddick? ' Den one nigger say, 
 ' No, sah, Mr. Jedge, we ain't fin' no vuddick 
 'tall. I doan' b'liebe dar's any vuddick in dat 
 house. We done s'arch ebber'whar. We tuk up 
 de flo' an' look on de plates an' de sills an' de 
 j'ists, an' didn' fin' nary sign er a vuddick.' 
 Den ebber'body in de cote-house buss' out 
 laffin'." 
 
 " Now, Ned, such a tale is hard to believe, 
 but your Master vouches for your truthful- 
 ness." 
 
 " Oh, it's er sollum fack. I was dar w'en 
 de twelbe niggers march in ; an' ebb'ry one un 
 'em orter b'en in de cotton patch dat minnit. 
 Dat was a purty come-off, er lot er co'n-fiel' 
 niggers w'ut couldn' tell by er mile-pos' how 
 fer 'twas ter town, settin' on er jury. But I 
 am done got offen de track erg'in. 
 
 " Ez I was gwine on ter say, Cap'n Als'on 
 say he much erbleeged ter Marster fer his of- 
 fer ter 'fen' him; an' jes' 'bout dat time de 
 nigger shur'ff he come runnin' down dar ter 
 urres' de man w'ut done de shootin'. You 
 see, w'en Jack Harper b'en shot, some nigger 
 run up to de cote-house an' holler dat some- 
 body done kilt Cap'n Jack, an' he bein' a 
 'Publican, de jedge holler out, * Mr. Shur'ff,
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 157 
 
 go down an' urres' de man w'ut kill Cap'n 
 Harper.' 
 
 " De man w'ut tol' de jedge dunno who 
 'twas done de shootin', so de nigger shur'ff 
 come er runnin', an' jes' 'fo' he got dar he 
 holler, ' Whar dat white man w'ut done dat 
 shootin'? You jes' watch me urres' him.' 
 Now, dat nigger shur'ff b'long ter Cap'n Al- 
 s'on 'fo' de wah, but he lit out soon ez de 
 Yankee ahmy come erlong, an' de scalerwags 
 an' carpetbaggers had him 'pinted shur'ff. 
 
 " He ain't had no idee dat de jedge sont 
 him to urres' his oP Marster, so w'en he turn 
 de cornder an' see Cap'n Als'on leanin' kinder 
 keerless an' graceful-lak erg' in' a tree wid a 
 pistil in his han', dat was de s'prizedest an' 
 skeerdest nigger ebber I see since I was bo'n. 
 Soon's he see Cap'n Als'on he tuk off his hat 
 an' bow an' say, ' Good evenin', Cap'n Als 
 er er Marse Angus.' He 'member his 
 manners an' say ' Marse Angus,' when he 
 'ten' ter say * Cap'n Als'on.' Den he say, 
 * Kin you tell me, Cap'n er Cap'n er 
 Marse Angus, who 'twas shoot dat man w'ut 
 was kilt? ' De Cap'n look at him right hard 
 an' den he say, ' Yes, I did. Did you come 
 to urres' me?' 'Yes, sah; de jedge sont me 
 to urres' de man w'ut done de shootin' ; but I 
 didn' had no idee 'twas you, an' I ain't gwine 
 ter try ter urres' you, 'ca'se I know you ain't 
 go let no nigger do dat.' Den de Cap'n say, 
 1 Now, you go back an' tell dat jedge dat a
 
 158 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 gen'man don't let a nigger shur'ff ner er car- 
 petbag jedge urres' him, an' dat nigger lef in 
 er trot 
 
 " Now, dat shur'ff had a depperty, a black 
 nigger, w'ut was in de Yankee ahmy, an' he 
 c'd sorter read an' write, an' w'en he heerd 
 Cap'n Als'on done de shootin' dat nigger 'gin 
 ter swell roun' pow'ful. He say one er dem 
 'ristercrats done de shootin' an' he gwine 
 down dar an' show him how er 'Publican cul- 
 lud ossifer kin 'scort er 'ristercrat ter jail. 
 He walk up tolurbel close ter Marster an' de 
 Cap'n an' say, ' Is yo' name Als'on ? ' Atter 
 er while Cap'n Als'on say slow an' cool, ' Yes, 
 dat's my name. Is you goin' ter urres' me? 
 Is you got er wahunt? ' De depperty say, 
 ' No, but I'm de depperty high shur'ff.' Den 
 de Cap'n kinder squinch his eyes up close ter- 
 gedder an' sorter bite his un'er lip, an' dat 
 nigger 'gin ter turn ashy. I tuk a kinder 
 glancin' look at de Cap'n an' den I say, ' Nig- 
 ger, does you wanter eat yer supper in hell? 
 Ef you don' you better lef dis place quick.' 
 
 " Dat nigger 'gin ter trimble, an' den de 
 Cap'n speak erg'in, an' ev'y wu'd come out 
 lak er bullet outen er gun. ' You damned, 
 imperdent black scoundrel, ef you don' move 
 in er seccun' I'll teach you some sense an' 
 some manners ! ' an' he kinder 'gin ter finger 
 wid de trigger er his pistil, an' sho' as yo 
 bo'n dat nigger bu'n de win' gittin' erway 
 f'um dar.
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 159 
 
 " Now, Cap'n Als'on didn' 'ten' ter shoot 
 dat nigger sho' 'nuff. He knowed de nigger 
 gwine ter le'be. Cap'n Als'on nebber did 
 shoot er man, 'cept Jack Harper. Dat nig- 
 ger come f'um de Norf an' he was sho' de 
 boss fool ef he t'ink a quality white man lak 
 Cap'n Als'on gwine let any nigger shur'ff 
 urres' him. 
 
 " Atter de depperty gone, Marster an' 
 Cap'n Als'on went down ter whar er conster- 
 bul, er white man, was stan'in', an' Marster 
 say, ' Consterbul, Cap'n Als'on s'renders ter 
 you, an' you tek him right ter de jestis ob de 
 peace.' An' dey all walk down to de jes- 
 tis' office. 
 
 " De jestis riz an' bow w'en Marster come 
 in, an' de consterbul make some kind er 'plaint 
 'g'inst Cap'n Als'on an' swored ter it, an' de 
 jestis writ somepin' in his book; den Marster 
 ask whar was de county pussecutin' 'torney, 
 'ca'se he knowed de deestnck pussecutin' 'tor- 
 ney was at de big cote-house. De little pusse- 
 cutin' 'torney come in an' Marster say, ' Dis 
 'fendant is ready ter give bond.' Den de 'tor- 
 ney say, ' I don' know ez dat he is 'title' ter 
 bon's.' But Marster ain't pay no 'tenshun 
 ter him; but he tu'n to de jestis an' sayed, 
 ' Under de law when er man don't ax fer 
 'zaminin' trial, an' dar ain't no proof 'gin' 
 him 'cept dat he kilt er ahmed man, he 'title' 
 ter bon'.' 
 
 " De jestis, who was proud ter have Mars-
 
 i6o NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 ter practise in his little cote, bowed an' sayed, 
 4 Dat's de law, Gunnel Marshall.' Dat jes- 
 tis lib in one er Marster's houses, an' owed 
 him right den 'bout six mont's rent. Den de 
 jestis say, ' How much bon' kin de 'fendant 
 make?' Marster say it didn't mek no dif- 
 f'unce, mek it ten thousan'; an' de jestis say 
 all right, an' Marster sign it ez s'curity, an' 
 er whole lot er quality-gen'man's say dey 
 wan' put dar names on it, an' de jestis say 
 all right, an' den he proob ob de bon', an' 
 dey turn Cap'n Als'on loose. 
 
 " Den de sucket jedge ax Marster ef he 
 was de man w'ut went 'fo' de jestis an' mek 
 him let de mudderer loose on bon'. Marster 
 say he was de 'torney w'ut toF de jestis w'ut 
 de law was, an' he 'beyed it, an' let er gen'- 
 man loose on bon,' and dat it was a lawful 
 purceedin'. 
 
 " Den dat carpetbag jedge say sorter sco'n- 
 ful an' s'kastic-lak, ' I let you know dar's er- 
 nuther lawful purceedin'. I will mek de 
 
 fran' jury 'dite de ristercrat mudderer an' 
 '11 try him nex' day.' 
 
 " Marster look at him hard fer a minnit, 
 an' den he say, ' You as de jedge got no right 
 ter speak ob er 'fendant dat way, an' it mout 
 be well dat you 'member dat. You ain't in 
 de cote-house settin' as jedge all de time, w'en 
 you talk about er gen'man.' 
 
 " Dat carpetbag sucket jedge sho' was 
 mad, an' he say he gwine mek de gran' jury
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 161 
 
 Mite Cap'n Als'on right erway, an' try him 
 nex' day fer muddah. Den w'en Marster 
 was 'dressin' de jedge 'bout de case, de jedge 
 ax Marster ef he be'n a lawyer. Marster 
 stretch erbout a foot an' say, ' )e records ob 
 dis cote show dat I was a prac'sin' law 'fo' 
 you was bo'n.' 
 
 " Den dat jedge swell up lak a frog an' 
 say, ' Be keerful, sah, er I'll fine you hund'ed 
 dollars an' sen' you ter jail fer contempt ob 
 cote.' 
 
 " Marster say, ' Ugh ! Ef you fine me in 
 p'ortion ter de contemp' I got fer you, you 
 better mek it er millyun.' An' den Marster 
 say he wanter ast who gwine ter colleck de 
 fine an' tek him ter jail, an' de jedge say, ' De 
 shur'ff ob dis cote, ob co'se ! ' Den ev'ybody 
 in de cote-house mos' die laffin', an' de jedge 
 got so mad he kin skasely see, an' he beat on 
 de table wid er mallet, an' holler, ' Order in 
 cote ! ' But de folks cain't stop laffin', 'ca'se 
 de idee ob er nigger shur'ff er puttin' his han' 
 on Gunnel Hamilton Marshall, my Marster, 
 wuz so 'dickerlus. Dat shur'ff ain' no mo' 
 gwine ter urres' Marster dan he gwine try 
 ter pick de teef ob er rattlesnake wid er pine 
 straw. 
 
 " Jes' den de gran' jury come er marchin' 
 in an' han' de jedge er paper, an' he han' it 
 ter de clu'k er de cote, an' say, ' De 'ditement 
 ob your ristercrat fr'en' is done file', an' he 
 be tried in de morninV Den Marster say,
 
 1 62 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 ' De law gib us two whole days, but we wabe 
 our rights an' we be ready w'en you say de 
 wu'd.' 
 
 " Den de jedge say dar won' be no con- 
 tin'ence ner puttin' off, an' Marster say, 4 We 
 doan' ax none.' Den de jedge say, ' De 'fen- 
 dant b'en 'dited an' dat bon' ain't good no 
 mo,' an' he tol' de shur'ff ter put Cap'n Al- 
 s'on in de jail. 
 
 " Dat nigger shur'ff walk up bowin' an' 
 scrapin' an' er trimblin', an' Marster heerd 
 w'ut de jedge say, an' he an' Cap'n Als'on 
 sorter smiled, an' dey walk down ter de jail 
 an' in one doah an' out t'udder, an' den go on 
 out ter Marster's house. Den de shur'ff go 
 back an' tell de jedge he put him in jail, an' 
 de jedge ain't know no bettah. 
 
 " De nex' day, sho' 'nuff, de trial bergin. 
 It look lak mos' ev'y man in de worl' was 
 dar. Jack Harper's daddy done 'ploy er big 
 'torney w'ut was a 'Publican an' er scalerwag 
 an' lib in ernudder county, ter help de State's 
 'torney pussecute de case. Eb'y 'torney in 
 de county want ter help Marster 'fen', an' he 
 perlite an' say ve'y well, but he was de boss 
 lawyer, an' do de big pleadin'. 
 
 " Atter er while dey 'mence ter call fer 
 jurymens, an' you nebber seed sich a lot er 
 niggers in all yer life 'nirymens, I b'liebe 
 dey call 'em. Is dat right, boss? " 
 
 ' Yes, veniremen ; that's what they call 
 men summoned for jury service."
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 163 
 
 " Well, sah, hope er may die, ef dar was 
 ary quality white man in dat bunch; but dar 
 was 'nuff niggers ter pick twenty bale er cot- 
 ton dat day, an' dat's w'ut dey orter b'en er 
 doin'. Dar was a few scalerwag white men 
 w'ut Marster wouldn' let sleep in his buggy- 
 house, an' dat was de kin' er crowd dey gwine 
 ter pick er jury f'um ter try a quality-gen'- 
 man fer shootin' er mizzurbul scalerwag 'bout 
 slan'er'n' er lady. Now, is yer ebber heerd 
 de beat er dat? 
 
 " Onnerstan', boss, I ain't 'busin' er blam- 
 in' de niggers. Dey don' know nuttin'. Dey 
 ign'unt, an' dey want de money w'ut de jury- 
 mens gits; but it sho' was onjes' ter dem ter 
 put 'em whar dey ain't fittin' ter be. Dey 
 ain't had no 1'arnin' fer dat kin' er bus'ness. 
 
 " Dey 'gun ter s'leck jurymens, an' dat 
 State's 'torney ain't know much 'bout de nig- 
 gers er de white men, an' dat lawyer w'ut 
 ole man Harper 'ploy ter h'ep pussecute ain't 
 lib in dis county an' didn't know nuttin' 
 but you bet Marster knowed ev'y nigger in 
 de county. 
 
 " De las' jurymans de clu'k call was name' 
 Simon, a liT twis'-leg nigger black as cha'- 
 coal. De State's 'torney say, * W'ut your 
 name? ' He say, ' Simon.' ' Simon what? ' de 
 'torney say. ' No, sah,' de nigger say, ' Simon 
 Als'on.' De 'torney say, ' None er yer smart- 
 ness. Did you 'long ter de 'fen'ant 'fo' de 
 wah?' 'I dunno no 'fen'ant. Who he?'
 
 1 64 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 'I mean Cap'n Als'on.' 'No, sah; never is 
 b'long ter him.' ' Kin you try dis case fa'r 
 an' hones' an' right? ' ' Yes, sah; dat I kin.' 
 Now, de 'torney ain't wan' ter tek dat nigger, 
 but he done 'jeck ter all de jurymens de law 
 'low, so he cain't he'p hisse'f, but had ter tek 
 him, an' Marster tuk de nigger fer er jury- 
 man. 
 
 " I was leanin' on de railin' close ter de een' 
 er de las' row er jurymens, an' dat liT black 
 nigger come roun' mum'lin', talkin' ter his- 
 se'f an' kinder growlin', an' say, ' Co'se I 
 gwine try him fa'r an' nones'. I gwine do 
 'zactly w'ut Marster say, an' he gwine say de 
 hones' thing. Dat liT 'torney was'in' his time 
 talkin' ter me.' An' he sho' was, 'ca'se dat 
 nigger b'en b'long ter Marster an' was bo'n 
 on dis plan'ashun. 
 
 " At las' dey got 'leben niggers an' er white 
 man fer jurymens, an' dey call erbout er hun- 
 'erd witness', de mos' ob em niggers ; but dey 
 couldn't get a nigger ter sw'ar he see Cap'n 
 Als'on had er pistil er shoot na'y time. Dey 
 mem'ry done fail 'em 'tirely, an' de jedge 
 was sho' mad. 
 
 " Atter er while de State's 'torney call 
 Chloe Marshall, an' 'way back in de cote- 
 house Chloe holler, ' Heah I is, w'ut you 
 wan' long er me?' Boss, does you know 
 Chloe? Aun' Chloe, ev'ybody call her?" 
 
 " No," said Mr. Standwick, smiling. " I 
 have not that pleasure."
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 165 
 
 " 'Scuse me, boss, I done fergit you ain't 
 lib heah. Ef you did you sho' would er 
 knowed Chloe, fer she's er case an' er caw- 
 shun. She black ez er pot, an' mos' ez big 
 ez er hogs'ed, an' ain' erfeered er nobody; but 
 she's good-natured an' ev'ybody laks her, an' 
 she's de outlaffinest nigger tubbesho', an' de 
 funnies' nigger ebber yer seed. 
 
 " De State's 'torney say, ' Tek de witness 
 stan',' an' w'en Aun' Chloe step 'roun', he say, 
 ' Have er seat in dat cheer.' Den dem two 
 had er time fer sho'. 
 
 " She say, ' How dat? How kin I tek de 
 stan' an' set in de cheer at de same time? ' 
 
 " Den de jedge say he was er carpetbag 
 jedge sharp-lak, ' Set down, maddum.' Den 
 she sot down, an' tek off her sun-bonnet, mos' 
 ez big ez er waggin-kiver, an' 'mence ter laff, 
 an' she laff twell she shuk lak a tub er hog- 
 foot jelly. 
 
 " Den de jedge say, ' Come ter ordah ! 
 W'ut you laffin' 'bout? ' but she kep' on laf- 
 fin' an' er sayin', ' Maddum, maddum w'en 
 I got ter be maddum?' an' she sayed de dum 
 part de hardes' an' de longes'. 
 
 " De jedge say, * Ain't you a mar'd 
 'oman? ' 
 
 " ' No,' she say, ' I'se er nigger 'oman an' 
 er widder 'oman. Dar's mah Marster right 
 dar, Cunnel Ham'ton Marshall, an' he ain't 
 nebber call me no maddum f 
 
 " Den de jedge say snappish ez yer please,
 
 166 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 1 1 wan' you to onnerstan' dar ain't no mo' 
 marsters in dis kentry; ev'ybody's free.' 
 
 " * Huccome I ain't got no marster? ' 
 Chloe say. ' I lak ter know w'en I los' him. 
 I thank Gawd I'se got him. Ef I ain't had 
 him I done starbe ter def er die wid de ru- 
 mertiz.' 
 
 44 Den de jedge say, mad ez er hornit, 
 4 Gawn wid de 'zammernashun.' Den de 
 carpetbag State's 'torney r'ar back an' say sor- 
 ter slow-lak, 4 W'ut is yo' name? ' 
 
 44 Aim' Chloe stre'ten up an' de cheer 
 screech, an' she say, 4 W'ut fer you ax me dat 
 fool queschin? Yer knows mah name good 
 ez I know yourn. Ain' I b'en sellin' yer ap- 
 puls an' aigs an' all sich ebber since yer b'en 
 comin' heah ? ' 
 
 44 4 Yes,' he say, 4 I know yo' name; 
 but ' 
 
 44 4 But, nuthin',' she say, 4 ef ye know it, 
 w'ut fer you ax me w'ut my name is? ' 
 
 44 Den de 'torney say, 4 Well, how oP is 
 you? ' 
 
 44 4 Dat ain' none er yo' bus'ness fer ez I 
 kin see, but I jes' 'bout ol' lak Marster.' 
 
 44 4 1 doan' know yer marster ner no udder 
 marster, an' de jedge tol' yer dar ain' no 
 marsters no mo', ol' lady,' de 'torney say, 
 sco'nful-lak. 
 
 44 Den de ol' lady 'gin ter git hot fer true. 
 
 44 4 Dat's er fac'. You don' know my Mars- 
 ter, 'ca'se he don' mix 'long er yo' kin'. He's
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 167 
 
 quality-folks fum erway back, an' dc likes 
 er you a in' never gwine ter git inside er his 
 house. He kin tell yer, dough, how ol' I is 
 ef yer so bad off ter fin' out.' 
 
 " Den de jedge put in, an' say, c You tell 
 yer name so de gen'mans in de jury-box '11 
 know.' 
 
 " ' But whar is a'y box, an' whar is a'y 
 gen'man, I lak ter know? ' Chloe say. 
 
 " De jedge say, stiff an' dignerfy-lak, 
 ' Dose twelve gen'mans ober dar is jurymans 
 in de jury-box.' 
 
 " * Dar ain' no box dar 'tall an' dar ain' no 
 gen'mans dar, nuther. Dar's some ol' cheers 
 an' benches, an 'leben niggers an' er san'il! 
 po'-tack. Ef you calls de lak er dem gen'- 
 mans, I hope yer won' never pick no gen'mans 
 fer me. Ef yer wan' ter see white gen'mans 
 sho' 'nuff, look at Marster an' Cap'n Als'on 
 dey's quality gen'mans fer true.' 
 
 " ' Stop! ' de jedge say; * I won' hab any 
 mo' er dat. Dose jurymens is cullud gen'- 
 mens, not niggers cullud gen'mens, I say.' 
 
 " I don' see but one nigger gen'man in 
 dis cote-house, an' dat's Ned, Marster's ker- 
 ridge-driver, leanin' dar 'g'inst de railin'. He 
 been wid quality-folks so much an' wait in 
 der big-house so long dat he's er gen'man. 
 I see Brudder Parker, too. He's de pastur 
 er mah chu'ch, an' de out-prayin'is' an' out- 
 preachin'es' nigger preacher you ebber heerd. 
 
 " * Stop ! ' de jedge say, gettin' madder an'
 
 1 68 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 madder. ' Nobody wan's to heah nuthin' 'bout 
 yo' pastur an' his prayin', nur anythin' 'bout 
 yo' marster. Yer ain't got no marster no 
 mo.' 
 
 " ' I tell yer, ef I ain't had er Marster 
 an' er Miss Ma'y I done starbe sho', er died 
 wid de rumertiz. Say, Mr. Jedge, is yer 
 ebber had de rumertiz ? ' an' ev'ybody bus' 
 out laffin'. 
 
 " Den de jedge beat on de table wid his 
 mallet an' fa'rly holler, ' Stop, stop ! Rumer- 
 tizum got nuthin' ter do wid me er you er dis 
 case.' 
 
 " * It done had heap ter do wid me' sho's 
 you bo'n, an' ef it git hoi' er you, you gwine 
 t'ink it got somepin' ter do wid you too. Ef 
 it do git hoi' er you, you jes' git some yearth 
 wu'ms fish baits, you know an' mix er li'l' 
 tuppentine an' sweet ile wid 'em, 'an' rub yo' 
 j'ints, an' ' 
 
 " But de jedge kep' beatin' an' er holl'in', 
 ' Stop, stop ! I'll fine you an' sen' you ter 
 jail.' 
 
 " l How kin yer fin' me w'en I ain' los' ? 
 I'm right heah, bless yer soul, Mr. Jedge, 
 whar dat nigger shur'ff tol' me ter come. I 
 am heah ter tell de truf an' yer swored me ter 
 tell it, an' de fus' thing I heerd atter I got 
 heah was a fool queschin an' er lie. Dat li'l' 
 State's 'torney ax me w'ut's mah name, an* 
 he know mah name good ez he do his'n; an' 
 den yer tol' me I mus' tell it ter de gen'mans
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 169 
 
 in de jury-box, w'en dar ain' no gen'mans 
 ner no jury-box nuther. Now you got it.' 
 
 " Den de jedge say, ' Ef yer don' answer 
 de queschins I'll sen' you ter jail.' 
 
 " ' Ain' nobody ax no queschin 'cept w'ut's 
 mah name, an' de man w'ut ax dat know mah 
 name an' dem nigger jurymens knows it. Den 
 w'ut de use er mah tellin' er dem w'ut dey 
 know 'fo' dey ax me?' 
 
 ' I tell you I'll send you to jail.' 
 
 " ' I lak ter ax yer, Mr. Jedge, who gwine 
 tek me ter jail? ' 
 
 " Den de jedge look down at de ol' nig- 
 ger an' squinch his eyes an' grit his teef an' 
 say, ' De shur'ff er dis cote '11 tek you.' An' 
 dat jedge sho' was hot in de collar. 
 
 " Den Aun' Chloe fa'rly double up an' hol- 
 ler, an' grab up her sun-bunnit an' beat it on 
 de flo' an' on her lap, an ' rock backurds an' 
 foruds, an' laff twell she cry, an' say, ' Der 
 shur'ff er dis cote! Lorsy mussey, Mister 
 Jedge, dat li'l' yaller nigger cain't tuk me 
 now'eres 'tall. I'll jes' set down on him an' 
 sqush de life outen him; den yer won't hab 
 no shur'ff 'tall.' 
 
 " By dis time de jedge fin' out gittin' mad 
 ain't do no good, so he say, c Let her tell it 
 her own way.' 
 
 " Den Aun' Chloe say, ' Now yer talkinY 
 an' de jedge laff twell he shuk. 
 
 " Den de State's 'torney say, ' Now, Aun' 
 Chloe '
 
 170 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 " ' Eh, eh, eh, eh ! ' she bre'k in. ' I tol' 
 yer dat yer know mah name, an' sho' 'nuff 
 yer does.' 
 
 " Den de 'torney say, ' Gawn an' talk ter 
 de gen'mans ob de jury.' 
 
 ' Ain' I tell yer dar ain' no gen'mans on 
 de jury? All un 'em 'ceptin' Brudder Parker 
 is co'n-fiel' niggers. But I gwine talk ter 'em 
 f 'um der shoul'er. Dar's Tom Annerson ; he 
 b'en out de pen'tenshy 'bout three munt's, 
 whar dey sont him fer stealin' Marster's 
 yearlin'. Dar's Bill Simmons, an' he's de 
 outdashuses' an' de beatenis' scoun'el in de 
 county; an' dar's Jim Banyin, w'ut's er 'zor- 
 ter an' er hyme-singer an' er shouter f'um de 
 forks er de creek but sho' ez you bo'n, 
 chickens bettah roos' on der top pole w'en 
 he's gwine f'um camp-meetin'. Den dar's 
 liT twis-laig Simon, I lak ter not seed him. 
 He's er fine jurymans, he is! Say, Mr. 
 Jedge, does yer know huccome Simon' laig ter 
 be twissed lak it is? Well, I tell yer. You 
 know Marster had er ol' mule name Jane, an' 
 she was a sho'-'nuff debbul. Well, Simon he 
 'low ez how he kin ride any kin' er mule- 
 brute, an' he jump on Jane, an' she hump up 
 her back an' fling him over er stake an' rider 
 fence, an' bre'k his laig, an' de doctor got it 
 crooked, an' ' 
 
 " But de jedge holler, ' Never min' 'bout 
 Simon an' de mule. Tell 'bout dis case.' 
 
 " ' Well den, w'ut yer wan' me ter tell ? '
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 171 
 
 " Den de State's 'torney say, ' Does yer 
 know de 'fen'ant at de bar? ' 
 
 " ' I ain' seen no bar. Ef yer got a bar 
 fer de witness' w'ut come heah, I sho' lak 
 ter hab er toddy right now.' Den de jedge 
 laff out loud. 
 
 " ' Do you know Cap'n Angus Als'on? ' de 
 'torney say. 
 
 'Know Cap'n Angus Als'on? Co'se I 
 knows him. Ain' I b'en knowin' him sence 
 he was bo'n? W'ut de use er yer axin' me 
 sich queschin lak dat? ' 
 
 ' Did you see Cap'n Als'on shoot Cap'n 
 Harper? ' de 'torney say, short ez pie-crus*. 
 
 'W'ut Cap'n Harper dat? I ain' know 
 any sich pusson 'tall.' 
 " ' Cap'n Jack Harper.' 
 " ' Eh, eh! W'en he got ter be er cap'n? 
 W'ut he cap'n ob? ' 
 
 " ' Dat none er yo' bus'ness,' de 'torney 
 say; ' but he was cap'n in de State merlisher.' 
 
 ' Lors er mussey ! Does you call er white 
 man cap'n w'ut strut 'roun' 'fo' er lot er nig- 
 gers wid er red kalliker sash 'roun' his wais' ? 
 Ef you wanter see er sho'-'nuff cap'n w'ut fit 
 lak er cattermount, dar he is right dar Cap'n 
 Als'on.' 
 
 ' I ask you did you see Cap'n Als'on shoot 
 Jack Harper? ' 
 
 ' How I ken see fru' all dem niggers? I 
 heerd a pistil shoot, an' seed Jack Harper on 
 de groun', but I dunno huccome him dar.
 
 172 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 Dey say a bullet kilt him. I don' know dat, 
 'ca'se I ain't see no bullet.' 
 
 " Well, sah, boss, dey bull-rag an' cross 
 talk dat ol' nigger 'bout er half er day, but 
 dey ain't nebber got outen her dat she see any 
 er de shootin'. At las' de jedge say, ' You 
 kin go; nothin' kin be got outen you.' Den 
 she say, * Much erbleege, Jedge ; an' I hopes 
 ef you got de rumertiz yer won' fergit de 
 yearth wu'ms an' de tuppentine an' de sweet 
 ile, 'ca'se it sho' is er gran' remerdy fer de 
 rumertiz.' An' ez fer ez dey heerd her she 
 was still er gwine on talkin'. 
 
 " Dey kep' er callin' niggers fer witness', 
 but dar ain' na'y one sw'ar he see Cap'n Als'on 
 shoot er single shot; but atter dey done keep 
 on 'zamernin' de shur'ff an' de depperty, dey 
 say dey heah Cap'n Als'on say he shot de 
 'ceased man; an' atter er while Marster say, 
 sco'nful like, ' We don' 'ny dat de 'fen'ant 
 kill him.' 
 
 " Den de State's 'torney say, * We res' ; an' 
 he sho' look lak he was tyud ob dat job. Den 
 Marster call witness' ter proob dat Jack Har- 
 per slan'er Cap'n Als'on dawter. Den de 
 State's 'torney an' de man w'ut ol' man 
 Harper 'ploy to he'p pussecute, jump up an' 
 objeck an' r'ar an' scotch an' read er lot er 
 books, an' den Marster say he got er right to 
 proob it, en' he read books, an' say he got er 
 hun'erd witness' ter proob dat Jack Harper 
 slan'er er puah young lady scan'lous; an' he
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 173 
 
 argerfy an' tell w'ut de witness' gwine sw'ar 
 twell de jurymen done heerd it all. 
 
 " Den de jedge say, * De 'jection ob de 
 State is 'stained.' Den Marster say, ' Ve'y 
 well, ef we cain't proob de truff, we trus' to 
 Goddermighty an' de jury.' Den de pleadin' 
 bergin. 
 
 " De li'l' State's carpetbag 'torney he pitch 
 an' snort an' holler an' sweat, an' tell de jury 
 ter hang Cap'n Als'on. But dat jury waitin' 
 ter heah f'um Marster, an' atter er while 
 Marster bergin. Boss, I wish you'd heerd 
 dat speech. Hit sho' was a speech f'um taw. 
 Dar ain' nebber b'en no sich pleadin' heerd 
 in dat cote-house. De State's 'torney say 
 Cap'n Als'on rich an' kin buy de bigges' 
 loryur in de State; but Marster say, ' I let yer 
 know I don' tek money f'um my neighbor an' 
 my fr'en'. I 'fen' him 'ca'se it am w'ut he 
 orter done.' Dem niggers knowed who was 
 er talkin', an' dat dey better lis'en. 'Bout 
 half un 'em b'long ter Marster 'fo' freedom 
 come in rotashun, an' de res' un 'em all b'en 
 he'p' by him wid money en s'plies, an' de 
 white man lib on one er his san'ill fahms an' 
 allers behin' wid his rent. Marster sho' did 
 retch out atter dem niggers. 
 
 " Sometimes we'n Marster don' be nowhars 
 'roun', I morks him an' meks dat speech fer 
 de white gen'mens. You ort ter see dem nig- 
 gers w'en he say, ' De Bibul say, you mus' do 
 lak you wanter be done by, an 'ef you don' do
 
 174 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 dat way you gwine ter hell an' bu'n furebber 
 an' furebber. Ef you was bein' tried an' 
 Cap'n Als'on was on de jury, you would wan' 
 him ter let yer go free; den, 'cordin' ter de 
 Bibul, you got ter 'quit him, dat mean you got 
 ter let him go free; an' ef you don't, at de 
 Jedgment Day de Great Jedge gwine ter pull 
 de Bibul on yer, an' you gwine ter hell ter 
 roas' thu' 'ternity, 'ca'se de Bibul de highes' 
 law.' An' Marster ben' down an' talk 'way 
 d-o-w-n in his chis', an' shuk his finger at dem 
 niggers, an' say, ' I tell you ter 'quit Cap'n 
 Als'on! Ain't yer gwine ter do it?' Den 
 hope I may swaller my shoe ef ev'y nigger on 
 dat jury ain't done nod he haid good ez ter 
 say, ' Yes, Marster; we gwine tu'n him loose.' 
 I jes' lean over an' lis'en ter Marster twell I 
 fergit whar I was. He jes' lif me up in de 
 a'r, an' I fergit 'bout de jedge an' de cote- 
 house, an' holler, 'Hooray fer Marster!' 
 Jes' den de jedge happen ter be er lookin' 
 to'rds me, an' he say, ' I fine you ten dollars 
 fer 'temp ob cote.' Marster riz an' say, 
 ' Dat's my kerridge-driver. I pay his fine,' 
 an' he flung er ten-dollar bill ter de clu'k er de 
 cote, jes' lak he mean ter say ef he pay fer 
 all de 'temp he feel 't would tek all his cotton 
 crap. 
 
 " Well, sah, boss, w'en you git ter talkin' 
 sollum ter er lot er niggers 'bout hell an' de 
 jedgment you got 'em gwine, an' Marster sho' 
 had dem 'leben faded.
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 175 
 
 " Dat loryur w'ut was he'pin' ter pussecute 
 made de las' speech, an' he sho'ly did split 
 de a'r. You could er heerd him er mile an' 
 er half but he b'en was'in' his bref. 
 
 " Wen he quit de jedge 'mence ter read er 
 gre't long paper, but 'fo' he start he say, 
 ' Gen'men ob de jury, now I'll charge you.' 
 Den twis'-laig Simon say, * Mr. Jedge, I 
 t'ought we gwine ter git pay fer settin' heah 
 'stid er chargin' us fer it.' An' den ev'ybody 
 jes' laff twell dey cry. De jedge say, * Set 
 down, sah,' an' Simon drap back lak he was 
 shot. Den de jedge read a gre't big paper. 
 He jes' well b'en er readin' ter er daid mule, 
 'cause dem niggers ner dat white man nei- 
 der wa'n' gwine ter do nuthin' 'g'inst w'ut 
 Marster tell 'em. 
 
 " Wen de jedge done readin', de nigger 
 shur'ff start down de sta'rs ter tek de jury ter 
 de room whar dey gwine stay twell dey 'gree 
 on er vuddick. Jes' ez dey was er gwine down 
 de sta'rs dar was two white men right behin' 
 'em, an' one un 'em say ter t'other, * W'ut you 
 think 'bout de case? ' De other man say he 
 think dey will 'quit Cap'n Als'on er it '11 be er 
 hung jury. De las' nigger in de line er jury- 
 mens was a bow-leg, bandy-shank, mongul 
 nigger, an' he heerd dat white man say it 
 mout be er hung jury, en' w'en he got ter de 
 bottom er de sta'rs he lit out right to'rds de 
 creek bottom. De nigger shur'ff hollered fer 
 him ter come back, but dat nigger keep gwine.
 
 176 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 Purty soon he struck er stump an' fell ker- 
 flummux, en' de shur'ff cotch him, an' say, 
 ' Whar you gwine? W'ut you runnin' fer? ' 
 De nigger was blowin' an' pantin' an' he say, 
 4 1 er er er heerd er white man say er 
 er er ef de jury don' 'quit Cap'n Als'on de 
 jury gwine ter be hung. I's fer 'quittin' him, 
 but I dunno w'edder all dem jurymens is 
 gwine ter 'gree ter dat er no, an' I ain' gwine 
 ter be hunged fer na'y man in de worl', not 
 dis nigger, no, sah ! ' De shur'ff 'splanify ter 
 de fool nigger an' he go 'long wid de udders. 
 
 " 'Bout er hour dey come back, an' de white 
 man done sorter writ er vuddick dat Cap'n 
 Als'on ain't guilty an' orter go free lak 
 Marster say. Whoopee! de peepul sho' did 
 holler an' fling up dey hats, an' de jedge was 
 mad thu' and thu'. 
 
 " Marster an' Cap'n Als'on git up an' lif 
 dey hats ter de jedge an' walk out er de cote- 
 house ahm in ahm, an' de bigges' trial ebber 
 was in dis county come ter er een'." 
 
 Mr. Standwick had listened with deep in- 
 terest to Ned's recital of the tragedy and the 
 trial, and when Ned said the verdict was not 
 guilty, he exclaimed, "What! do you mean 
 to say they acquitted Captain Alston entirely 
 did not fine him or send him to jail or to 
 the penitentiary? " 
 
 " Co'se not, boss. Cap'n Als'on, he's er 
 quality gen'man, an' down in dis kentry dey 
 don' sen' no man lak dat ner fer dat matter,
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 177 
 
 no udder man ter no pen'tenshy fer shootin' 
 a low-down man w'ut slan'er er lady. 
 
 " Den, boss, dem nigger jurymens an' dat 
 white man know which side dey bread 
 buttered." 
 
 " With such a jury no verdict would have 
 been surprising." 
 
 " Dat didn' mek no diff'unce 'tall, boss. 
 Ef dar had b'en twelbe er de qualityes' men 
 in de county on dat jury 'twould er b'en de 
 same way. I heerd Marster say it's de law 
 w'ut ain't writ in no book, but it's in de hearts 
 er men. An', boss, mos' mens, 'speshully 
 niggers, follow dey hearts rudder dan dey 
 haids." 
 
 " The facts you relate," said Mr. Stand- 
 wick, " are remarkable, and 1 am puzzled. 
 Up where I live, Captain Alston would have 
 been convicted, maybe he might have been 
 hanged; but I know he is a gallant, honorable, 
 pure-hearted gentleman, and a most lovable 
 man." 
 
 " Dat's so, boss; I done tell you dat. You 
 fin' him true blue ebb'ry time. He perlite ter 
 white an' black, he good ter niggers, he lub 
 chillun but no man mustn't fool erlong er 
 him er his fambly, er tetch him whar he's 
 proud."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 AFTER dinner Mr. Standwick took a restful 
 afternoon nap, then wrote a short letter. 
 Then, feeling sure that in no way could he 
 be better entertained or more interested than 
 by talking with Ned, or rather in hearing Ned 
 talk, he reminded him that he had promised 
 to tell him how the Captain saved the house. 
 
 " Now, boss, dat's a tolerbul long story, an' 
 I hab ter start back a good ways ter mek you 
 onnerstan' it. 
 
 " Well, you see de night de Feddul so'gers 
 bu'ned de house whar Miss Lucy was visitin', 
 Cap'n Chawles Stan'ick, de Feddul cap'n, 
 happen' ter be passin' dat way; but he got dar 
 too late ter stop de fiah, an' he was sho' mad. 
 He fin' Miss Lucy stan'in' in de rain an' col' 
 in de night jes' 'fo' day, an' he pow'ful perlite 
 an' ax her whar she lib; but she bein' a sho'- 
 'nuff rebbul, ez you call 'em, she don' wan' talk 
 erlong er no Yankee; but she say she Cunnel 
 Marshall's dawter an' tell him whar she lib. 
 
 " Den he tuk his obercoat an' ax her ter 
 put it on. Soon's she see him whar it was 
 good light she mos' faint, 'ca'se she think it 
 was Cap'n Arthur, he look so much lak him; 
 but atter er while she see de diff'unce. 
 178
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 179 
 
 " He fas'en his hoss an' fin' her saddle-hoss 
 in de big lot, an' ketch him an' put her saddle 
 on him, an' he'p her up an' 'scort her home. 
 He ain't sot his foot in de house, but he jes' 
 rid up ter de big gate an' lif his hat an' bow; 
 an' bein's how she was a high-bo'n lady, ob 
 co'se she bow an' thank him kin'ly an' he rid 
 away. 
 
 " When she come ter de house an' tell 
 Marster all 'bout her 'sper'ence an' tell him 
 how a Feddul cap'n rid home wid her an' ain't 
 speak a w'ud ter her, an' ain't try ter fo'ce his 
 'tentions on her, Marster say, ' Thank Gawd, 
 dar's one gent'man in de Yankee ahmy.' You 
 see his chile, de ve'y idol ob his heart, b'en 
 most bu'nt to death fust an' freeze nex', an' 
 he was sho' mad. 
 
 " She tell her pa dat de Feddul cap'n was 
 so much lak Cap'n Arthur her eyes could 
 sca'sely tell de diff'unce, but her heart tol' her. 
 'Cordin' ter Marster, Cap'n Chawles hadder 
 kin' er innerpen'ent comp'ny, sorter scoutin' 
 comp'ny, an' he tuk it whar he please, an' mos' 
 er de time he stay to'rds de hin' een' er de 
 Feddul ahmy, to look out fer dem niggers 
 w'ut was stealin' an' bu'nin'. 
 
 " Er big part er de ahmy camp mos' er 
 week jes' b'low heah, an' de way dem nigger 
 so'gers steal an' bu'n an' 'buse peepul was 
 scan'lous. 
 
 " One day er bunch un 'em go ter Cap'n 
 Als'on's house. Dey heerd he wuz in de ahmy
 
 i8o NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 on our side, an' dey 'ten ter rob his house an' 
 den bu'n it. Dar wa'n' no pusson dar 'cep'n 
 Miss Jean an' her aunty an' de brudder w'ut 
 b'en shot in de Fed'rit ahmy, an' he was on 
 cru'ches. 
 
 " Dem nigger so'gers jes' walk right in an' 
 'gin ter grab silber an' smash picters an' hunt 
 fer watches an' rings an' de lak, an' de two 
 po' ladies an' de crippul so'ger cain't he'p 
 deyse'ves. Jes' de day befo' Cap'n Chawles 
 had rid up an' got 'er drink er water, an' he 
 see Miss Jean; but she ain't speak ter him, 
 'ca'se, boss, dese young quality white ladies 
 did sho' 'spise de Yankee so'gers. He tell de 
 nigger gal w'ut han' him de water ter tell her 
 mistiss he gwine ter sen' some er his men ter 
 guard de house. 
 
 ' Well, nex' day he was ridin' up ter de 
 house wid ten er his men, an' was gwine ter 
 le'be de guard, w'en he see dem niggers ober 
 dar an' he know dey up ter some debilment, 
 so he an' his men wen' down dar in a gallop 
 jes' in time ter see a big nigger gittin' erway 
 wid silberw'ar an' julery, an' ernudder one 
 mek lak he gwine shoot de crippul young man 
 'ca'se he don' tell whar he got money hid, an' 
 ernudder one was jes' 'bout ter git hoi' er 
 Miss Jean, an' de low-down white ossifer was 
 'bout ter set fire ter de house. 
 
 " De Cap'n's men b'liebed in him thu' an* 
 thu', an' dey didn' 'noy women-folks, ner rob 
 houses ner bu'n 'em.
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 181 
 
 " Wen dey see de nigger so'ger atter de 
 crippul young man, an' ernudder one atter 
 Miss Jean, dey pull down on 'em an' drap 'em 
 both daid as er doah nail, an' den de balluns 
 un 'em an' de low-down white ossifer bre'k 
 out er dat house an' run lak skeered rabbits; 
 but de Cap'n's men tuk a pop at de ossifer 
 an' drap him too, thank Gawd. 
 
 " Dem niggers w'ut 'scaped done gone an' 
 tell de colonel ob de rig'ment dat de rebbuls 
 ober dar 'tacked 'em, an' de colonel lit out 
 ober ter Cap'n Als'on's house, an' w'en he see 
 de two daid niggers an' de daid ossifer he ax 
 who kilt 'em, an' Cap'n Chawles lif he cap 
 an' s'lute an' say, ' My men, sah'; an' he tell 
 de cunnell dem niggers an' de white man was 
 'sultin' an' robbin' ladies an' er crippul so'ger, 
 an' tryin' ter bu'n de house, an' de cunnel say, 
 ' Good, Cap'n; wish you'd er kilt 'em all.' 
 
 " When Marster heerd dis he say, ' Thank 
 Gawd, dar's two gent'men in de Yankee 
 ahmy.' Marster mighty seldom speak onkin' 
 er say hard wu'ds, but he was mad fer true. 
 
 " Den Cap'n Chawles say, * Five ob you 
 men stay heah an' perteck dis house twell I 
 tell you ter quit. De res' ob you go wid me 
 ter de udder big house on de udder hill 'bout 
 er mile; I know who lib dar.' Den he lif 
 his hat an' say, ' I will 'scort you ladies an' dis 
 crippul gen'man ter Cunnel Marshall's ef 
 you wish.' 
 
 " Den Cap'n Als'on's son say he thank him,
 
 1 82 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 but he an' his aunty will stay ef he le'be some 
 er his men ter guard de house ; but he be ve'y 
 glad ef he tek Miss Jean. Her ridin'-hoss 
 was in de hoss-lot. Miss Jean ain't say er 
 wu'd, 'cept she say sorter low ter her brudder, 
 1 De Cap'n jes' lak Cap'n Arthur; I kin mos' 
 b'liebe it's him.' 
 
 " In er few minnits Miss Jean's high-step- 
 pin' black was saddle' up, an' she tuk him an' 
 led him ter de mountin' block, an' hop on, an' 
 she 'ten' she ain' see Cap'n Chawles, an' rid 
 off. She ain' 'ten' ter be imperlite, but she 
 cain't fergit she suddern and he Yankee 
 so'ger; but dat ve'y minnit she was hopin' ez 
 how he was gwine ride erlong side her. 
 
 " De Cap'n ain' tek no 'fense, but he an' 
 five er his men 'scort her ter de big gate, an' 
 den all un 'em lif dey hats, an' she rid in; 
 but she lady bo'n lak Miss Lucy, an' she tu'n 
 an' bow pow'ful graceful, an' smile an' say 
 she ve'y much 'bleeged, an' very much 'debted 
 ter 'em, an' she thank 'em ve'y kin'ly, an' den 
 she rid off; an' dem so'gers think she de 
 purties' thing dey ebber see in dey lives; an' 
 der wa'n' nothin' purtier 'ceptin' Miss Lucy, 
 an' 'twas nip an' tuck 'twix' dem two which 
 was de purties' an' de sweetes'. 
 
 " Cap'n Chawles he ain't tek his eyes off'n 
 her twell she out er sight, den he say, ' She's 
 a proud an' purty liT rebbul ' ; an' his heart 
 was gwine pitty-pat right den. 
 
 " Miss Jean b'en jes' much at home here
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 183 
 
 ez she b'en at Rose Hill, dat's Cap'n 
 Alston's place, an' she 'mejutly bergin ter 
 tell how de Cap'n sabe de house an' de silber, 
 an' how orful 'twas ter see men kilt, ef dey 
 was robbers, an' all 'bout de turribul time; 
 an' den w'ut you reckon she say, boss? " 
 
 " I am sure I don't know," said Mr. Stand- 
 wick, " and I will not undertake even to guess 
 what a charming young lady would say under 
 such circumstances." 
 
 " Well, boss, wimmen folks sho' is cur'us, 
 an' dar ain' no 'countin' fer 'em, 'speshully 
 w'en er good-lookin' man wid brass buttons 
 en er swode is cavortin' 'roun' 'em. 
 
 " Now you rickerleck, her house b'en rob', 
 her silber b'en stole, she b'en 'suited, an' dey 
 hatter kill er couple er niggers an' er white 
 man ter sabe de house f 'um bu'nin' ; but soon 
 she done tellin' 'bout all de ruckshun ter her 
 house, she clap her han's an' twis' her haid de 
 cokettis' kin' er way, an' say, ' Oh, Lucy, he 
 is jes' ez han'some ez he kin be, an' jes' ez 
 graceful, an' got de lublis' eyes an' de sweetes' 
 smile! O, I jes' wish he wa'n't er old miz- 
 zurbul Yankee ! ' an' she kept er gwine on 
 dat er way. I says ter mahse'f, ' He do be 
 Yankee sho' 'nuff, but he's er gen'man ' ; an' 
 I see de symptum ob trouble ob de heart fer 
 a young 'oman. 
 
 " Now don' dat beat de Jews ! Robbin', 
 an' bu'nin', an' killin', an' er man save her 
 home an' 'scort her ter er safe place, an' she
 
 1 84 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 won' speak ter him, an' soon he gone she 
 'mence ter ca'y on ober his han'someness an' 
 his lubly eyes an' his sweet smile. 'Tain' no 
 use talkin' 'bout Vidin' lines an' flags an' 
 nuniforms w'en er purty 'oman git her glance 
 fas'en on er good-lookin' man, an' er so'ger 
 man at dat. 
 
 " Miss Jean stay here 'ca'se she was lak 
 one er Miss Ma'y's chillun, an' de nex' day 
 dar sho' was lots er trubbel an' 'citement right 
 heah on dis place, an' de Feddul ahmy los' er 
 few mo' nigger so'gers, thank Gawd. But, 
 boss, you hab ter 'scuse me 'bout er hour 
 twell I kin go ter de cotton-patch an' fling my 
 eyes fer a li'l' w'ile on dem free niggers. I 
 'speck right now dey 'sputin' 'bout polerticks 
 er 'ligion, an' dey don' know nuttin' 'bout 
 neider one; but dey let de cotton be los' w'ile 
 dey stan' dar an' squabbul." 
 
 Ned returned promptly, and resumed his 
 story of how the Captain saved the house. 
 
 ' You 'member, boss, I tol' you 'bout seein' 
 a li'l' yaller nigger in N' Yawk, an' dat I had 
 to lef him quick 'fo' I stomp him in de yearth 
 fer sayin' he comin' down Souf, an' gwine call 
 on mah young Mistiss, de imperdent half- 
 breed dat he was. An' I tol' you I done see 
 him ergin." 
 
 " How did you happen to see him, and 
 where?" 
 
 ' Well, you see, boss, dat de bigges' part 
 ob de Feddul ahmy ain' go right by dis house,
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 185 
 
 but go 'way back er de plan'ashun, an' dar 
 wa'n' but mighty few so'gers stragglin' cr- 
 roun' twell de ahmy camped down b'low heah. 
 
 " I was down dar lookin' atter de fences, 
 w'ich wa'n' 'sturbed, ''ca'se w'en de ve'y fust 
 Fedduls corned in dese parts de 'mander ob 
 'em was er man w'ut he'p Marster fight de 
 Mex'kins 'fo' dis las' wah, an' he come right 
 ter dis house an' lef er order wid Marster dat 
 de udder Fedduls 'spected fer a long time, 
 twell nigger so'gers 'mence ter 'pear in dese 
 parts. 
 
 " De Feddul ahmy kep' er marchin' by an' 
 er marchin' by, twell it look lak dere was er 
 millyun so'gers. 
 
 u Long to'rds de hin' een' dar was er lot 
 er niggers wid white cap'ns, an' one comp'ny 
 stop an' de men all lay down ter res'; but a 
 liT yaller nigger corp'ral er some sich ossifer 
 kep' er lookin' at me, an' at las' he say, ' Ain' 
 I seen you befo' somewhar? ' I say mebbe 
 so, I b'en dar. Den he say, * You needn' git 
 smart. Ain' I seen you in N' Yawk? ' Den 
 I say, ' Mebbe you is. I b'en dar befo' de 
 wah'; an' den I see some lakness ob de liT 
 yaller hotel waiter, an' sho' 'nuff 'twas him. 
 
 " He had some kin'er valler stuff on de 
 sleebe er his coat, an' er li'l cap 'bout big ez 
 er jay bird nes' dat set on one side his haid, 
 an' he say, ' So you see I'se here. I tol' you 
 I was er comin', an' we gwine ter camp not 
 ve'y fer f'um heah; an' ef it ain' too fer ter
 
 1 86 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 whar you lib, I think I call on dat purty young 
 lady you call Miss Lucy. Is you still libbin' 
 wid dat ol' man you call Marster?' 
 
 "I say, 'Yes, he my Marster yit; an' he 
 lib ober yander 'bout fo' mile,' Den he say, 
 'I be ober soon ter see yo' young Mistiss; 
 an' I say ter mahse'f, ' Nigger, you sho'ly ain' 
 'low ter go back whar you come f'um; you 
 breedin' er scab right now.' ' 
 
 " But you were going to tell me how the 
 Captain saved the house," said Mr. Stand- 
 wick. 
 
 " I'se gwine ter do dat ve'y thing, boss, an' 
 I'm er gittin' to'rds it now; an' you gwine ter 
 see de 'nexshun 'twix' w'ut I b'en er sayin' an' 
 de sabin' er de house. I lef dat nigger, but 
 I ain't had no idee he gwine be big 'nuff fool 
 ter come ter my Marster's house sho' 'nuff; 
 but I wanter debbul Hester, an' see her git up 
 an' tu'n herse'f loose, so w'en I git home I tell 
 her how I see dat liT yaller nigger w'ut we 
 bofe see in N' Yawk, an' she say, ' Tubbesho' 
 you didn't ! ' an' I say, c I sw'ar I see him. 
 An', Hester, he say he gwine come ter call on 
 Miss Lucy.' 
 
 " Den Hester stop sweepin' de settin'-room, 
 an' she lean on de brum an' look at me hard 
 fer a long time, an' I bergin ter git nervyus, 
 wid her got er good holt on dat brum; but 
 atter er while she say, ' G'long 'way f'um 
 heah, you ol' fool Ned, 'fo' I gib you a swipe 
 wid dis brum. You know dar ain' na'y nig-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 187 
 
 ger in de worl' bigger fool 'nuff ter come ter 
 call on my Mistiss' dawter. You know dat 
 de riches', qualitis' young white gen'mens is 
 proud ter ride' long er side er her, an' when 
 Marster was in Congiss at Washin'ton de 
 Queen' son was pow'ful hope up 'ca'se he was 
 'lowed ter dance wid her; an' now you stan' 
 dar talkin' 'bout er HT yaller Yankee nigger 
 so'ger callin' on her. Ugh! You sho' is 
 gone plum crazy! ' 
 
 " Den I say, ' 'Tain' me gone crazy, it 
 mus' be dat li'l' whipper-snapper nigger, an' 
 I b'liebe it is.' * Well,' she say, ' he mout 
 come; but I don' b'liebe dar ebber was a nig- 
 ger but w'ut got mo' sense 'an ter come ter 
 call on mah young Mistiss. De Lawd have 
 mussey! De idee! A nigger talkin' 'bout 
 settin' up in Marster's parlor 'long er side er 
 Miss Lucy w'ut am de worl' er comin' to? 
 I jes' soon 'speck ter see Marster's ridin'-hoss 
 leadin' er de 'tillyun at de next Christmas 
 dance. But ef he do come, Ned, an' you see 
 him 'fo' he gits heah, you jes' lem me know, 
 an' I boun' I 'ten ter him. I bet you w'en I 
 git done wid him he b'en los' a lot er dat 
 imperdence he got now.' 
 
 De ve'y nex' day was er Sadday, an' 
 Hester was er cleanin' an' er scourin' de house 
 f'um top ter bottom. You onnerstan', boss, 
 she ain't doin' wu'k herse'f, 'ca'se she sco'n to 
 bemean herse'f 'nuff ter scour; but she mek 
 two co'n-fiel' niggers f'um de quarters do de
 
 1 88 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 wu'k w'ile she super'ten. Hester pow'ful fer 
 ter super'ten. She hab great big tub er soap- 
 suds an 'er mop in it, an' she done mek de two 
 niggers fling saf lye soap all ober de hall an' 
 de po'ch an' de steps. 
 
 Jes' 'bout dat time I see a nigger ridin' 
 down de road, an' hope er may die ef it wa'n' 
 dat III 1 nigger so'ger f'um N' Yawk. I tol' 
 Hester he was er comin' an' she say, ' I 
 wouldn't er b'liebe dar was sich er fool nigger 
 in de whole worl'. You sho'ly mus' be er 
 jokin', Ned.' Den I say, ' You jes' look 
 outen de doah an' you kin see him.' She 
 flung up her han's an' say, ' De Lawd he'p us ! 
 Dat sho'ly is de outbeatines' an' imperdentes' 
 nigger ebber I seed. But I'se ready fer 
 him.'" 
 
 The old negro paused and sat in silence for 
 a moment, looking hard at Mr. Standwick, 
 as if to make his words more impressive, and 
 then said slowly, " Boss, is you ebber heerd ob 
 any imperdence ekal ter dat ob a nigger corn- 
 in' ter call on mah young Mistiss? " 
 
 Mr. Standwick did not seem very much 
 impressed. " He was quite bold even for a 
 soldier in the army, if he was a soldier. He 
 had never been introduced to the young lady, 
 and she did not know whether he was a 
 gentleman." 
 
 " Gen'man ! He was er nigger so'ger an' 
 er yaller nigger at dat; an' ez fer him bein' 
 interjuce ter my young Mistiss, ef he lib twell
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 189 
 
 he be so ol' dat Methuserlum was a baby 
 'long er side er him, he ain' gwine ter be inter- 
 juce ter her nuther." 
 
 " Why," said Mr. Standwick, " we have 
 very few colored people up where I live; but 
 worthy young colored men sometimes walk 
 with young white women and call on them, 
 and the young soldier may have proved agree- 
 able to your young Mistress as a visitor." 
 
 The old negro made no immediate reply, 
 but rose and stepped back a step or two, and 
 gazed fixedly at Mr. Standwick, his face ex- 
 pressing perplexity and amazement. 
 
 He had heard a white man, a gentleman, 
 who spoke with evident sincerity, make state- 
 ments which revealed sentiments and condi- 
 tions that to him were absolutely incompre- 
 hensible. When he had somewhat recovered 
 himself he stepped quickly toward Mr. Stand- 
 wick, near enough to touch him, and said, 
 
 1 'Scuse me, boss, I don' mean no disre- 
 speck, but it seem lak you don' comperhen' 
 w'ut I mean. I say dat a nigger, an' er yal- 
 ler nigger at dat, say he gwine call on my 
 young Mistiss, an' I'm sartin' you ain't neb- 
 ber heah de lak er sich imperdence." 
 
 " As I have said, Ned, it was hardly proper 
 for him, a stranger, to do so, unless he had 
 been invited by some of the family." 
 
 This statement was made with evident sin- 
 cerity, but it was more than Ned could stand. 
 
 " Goddermighty, boss ! " he exclaimed,
 
 igo NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 and in his surprise and excitement he took 
 hold of the wrist of Mr. Standwick with a 
 tight grasp; but he immediately released it, 
 and bowed low, apologizing humbly for his 
 impulsive action. " Please 'scuse me, boss; 
 I was sho' 'cited; I couldn't 'spress myse'f 
 so's ter mek you onnerstan' mah feelin's w'en 
 I think er dat nigger's imperdence. 
 
 " 'Vite by de fambly; dis fambly? My 
 iMarster Vite dat nigger? Tubbesho', boss, 
 you cain't onnerstan'. My Marster, Gunnel 
 Marshall, de riches' man in de county, an' 
 de smartis' man, an' de gran'es' man, an' de 
 bes' man in de worl', an' a quality gen'man 
 f'um de groun' up, lak his daddy was befo' 
 him, Vite a nigger, an' er yaller nigger at dat, 
 an' furdermo' a Yankee so'jer at dat, ter call 
 on his dawter. I sw'ar, boss, you could 
 knock me down wid a fedder. 
 
 " Boss, dar ain' na'y nigger bo'n since de 
 fus' nigger Ham 'rived w'ut could go inter 
 Marster's house ter mek a soshul call on mah 
 young Mistiss, long ez I got two ahms an' 
 dar's a club layin' erroun' anywhar handy; 
 an' dat nigger didn' go, nuther." 
 
 'Why, you didn't club him, did you?" 
 
 " No, sah, I ain' club him; but ha, ha, ha ! 
 boss, I wish you could er seen dat nigger w'en 
 he lef dar. He got down an' hitch he hoss, 
 an' he had dat same li'l' cap stickin' on one 
 side his haid over his yeer, an' he got boots 
 on wid spurs, an' a swode, an' he come step-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 191 
 
 pin' quick an' short, lak a stringhalt hoss, er 
 a chicken er walkin' on a hot stove lid; an' I 
 slip 'hin' dat big tree dar an' he ain' see me, so 
 he ma'ch up dese ve'y steps to dis po'ch, an' 
 lif up de knocker an' fetch it down hard on 
 de doah dat Hester done shet. 
 
 " Hester come to de doah, an' dat nigger 
 streten up an' tech his swode an' say: ' Is Miss 
 Marshall in ? ' Hester look at him up an' 
 down an' back erg'in, an' den she quirl her 
 upper lip twell hit mos' retch ober de een' er 
 her nose, and she say, ' Dat's none er yo' bus'- 
 ness; but I'se here.' An' she jes' lif de mop 
 outen de soap-suds an' fetch it right down on 
 dat nigger's face. His cap flew up in de a'r, 
 an' he tu'n ter run, an' he step on a big daub er 
 saf soap, an' he fell head fo'mos' down dem 
 steps, an' when he totch de groun' I jes' tuk 
 him by de scruff er de neck an' de laig er his 
 britches an' flung him right in dat fount'in 
 whar de 'teshun well runnin', an' w'en he riz 
 he snort an' cough an' look lak a drownded 
 rat, an' de way he got ter dat hoss an' lit out 
 was a cawshun. 
 
 " W'en he outen retch of a club he holler 
 an' say, ' I gwine ter git even wid you ! ' An' 
 I say, ' All right; '11 be dar w'en you come ! ' 
 An' den me an' Hester jes' lay down an' laff 
 an' holler an' shout twell I mos' bust de buttons 
 off my britches. 
 
 " I say, ' Hester, don' you say nuttin' ter 
 Marster 'bout dat nigger er comin' ter call on
 
 i 9 2 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 his dawter, 'ca'se ef you do dere gwine ter be 
 trubbel ef he gotter tackle de Yankee ahmy.' 
 So Marster ain 1 know it 'tall, fer jes' as good 
 luck happen, all de fambly b'en upsta'rs on 
 de back gall'ry, an' ain' see de li'P nigger 
 comin' er gwine. Well, sah, dat nigger did 
 sho' try ter git eben, an' he come mighty nigh 
 er doin' hit, too. 
 
 " Some days atter dat a white sujjunt an' 
 th'ee er de blackes' niggers ebber you seed, an' 
 two yaller niggers come heah to dis house, 
 an' hope I may die ef one un 'em wa'n' dat 
 same liT yaller nigger, an' de udder one was 
 wusser 'n him. 
 
 " Er nigger-trader come erlong heah jes' 
 'fo' de wah an' had dis udder yaller nigger 
 fer sale, an' de nigger 'seech Marster ter buy 
 him, 'ca'se he say dat nigger-trader gwine sell 
 him ter dat man Harper w'ut you stop wid 
 t' other night, er some udder mean man. 
 Marster already got mo' niggers den he got 
 any use fer, but he feel sorry fer dat cock- 
 eyed yaller scoun'rel, an' he bo't him an' den 
 toP de man w'ut sol' him ter move off, 'ca'se 
 Marster jes' nach'lly did 'spise a nigger- 
 trader. 
 
 " Dat was de nappies' nigger you ebber 
 seed; he fa'rly dance wid joy; but jes' ez soon 
 ez he heerd of er Yankee ahmy he lit out, 
 an' de nex' time I seed him he was right heah. 
 An' w'ut you reckon he come fer? He come 
 ter he'p rob an' bu'n dis house."
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 193 
 
 " Oh, no ! You do not mean that a ser- 
 
 geant and five men came here to rob this 
 ouse and then burn it?" 
 
 " Yes, sah; dey 'lowed ter bu'n dis house. 
 Dey come here ter bu'n dis house whar Mars- 
 ter an' Miss Ma'y an' Miss Lucy an' Hester 
 an' me all done nuss lots er sick an' wounded 
 Yankee so'gers an' ain't charge na'y one un 
 'em er cent, jes' 'ca'se we feel sorry fer dem in 
 dey suff'rin'. De sujiunt he was de meanes'- 
 lookin' white man an de lowes'-down-lookin' 
 white man you ebber see. He say, soon as 
 dey rid up, ' Go in an' get de silber an' de 
 watches an' whatebber money de damned oP 
 'ristercrat got, dat you kin fin', den we'll ten' 
 ter de house.' 
 
 " Now, Marster an' Miss Ma'y an' Miss 
 Lucy an' Miss Jean was in de settin'-room an' 
 de curt'ins was down, an' dey ain' seen de nig- 
 gers an' de ossifer ride up, so Hester she went 
 'roun' de back way ter tell Marster she heerd 
 de sujjunt tell de niggers ter rob de house, 
 an' Marster start ter go out; but Miss Ma'y 
 ain't let him, an' lock de door ter keep him in 
 de room. 
 
 " Dem niggers ain't pay no 'tenshun ter 
 me 'tall, 'cept dat li'P yaller nigger w'ut I 
 th'owed in de fount'in, an' he say, ' You see, 
 I done come back, an' I gwine ter 'ten' ter 
 you an' yo' 'ristercrat white folks.' Dat ud- 
 der nigger keep lookin' roun' lak he feered 
 he gwine see Marster, an' atter er while he
 
 194 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 went 'roun' whar dem udder niggers was. 
 Den de liT yaller nigger pull de blin's open 
 an' see Marster an' Miss Ma'y and Miss Jean 
 an' Miss Lucy an' Hester, all in de settin'- 
 room, an he say, * Here she is. I reckon I 
 kin call on her now.' Marster got er big 
 six-shooter in his han' an' he start ter bus' 
 out er dat winder an' git at dat nigger, but 
 Miss Ma'y say he musn't go, 'ca'se he cain't 
 do no good, an' he be kilt an' not perteck 'em, 
 eider. He ain't skeered er nuttin' on de 
 yearth, but he cain't do no good 'g'inst so 
 many. None er dem ladies ain' scream er 
 cry, 'ca'se dey ain' been dat kin'. Miss Ma'y 
 an' Miss Jean an' Miss Lucy an' Hester done 
 drap on dey knees an' pray ter de good Lawd 
 ter 'liver 'em f 'um de gre't danger. 
 
 " Dem udder niggers an' de sujjunt done 
 gone 'roun' de house an' put er ladder up, an' 
 one er dem niggers shin up it lak a squ'r'l, an' 
 'gin ter fling down silber an' silk dresses an' 
 julery f'um whar dat nigger-trader nigger 
 know dey was. 
 
 " Ez dey was flung down, dat sujjunt an' 
 dem niggers put de things in bags twell dey 
 soon had mos' a waggin load. Den de sujjunt 
 say when de corp'al call on his lady fr'en' 
 erwhile dey'll jes' drap a little fiah under de 
 house, an' see de 'ristercrats get out. Den one 
 er dem niggers say, ' I gwine drap a little fiah 
 right now.' 
 
 " Now, I gotter go back a li'l' ter get ev'y-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 195 
 
 thin' straight. You see, one er de sills w'ut 
 de flo' in de big hall 'twix' de settin'-room an' 
 de dinin'-room res' on, done rot out, an' Mar- 
 ster was er habin' his carpenter ter put in er 
 new sill, so de flo' was tuk up an' we had ter 
 go 'cross de openin' on er plank, an' dar was 
 er lot er chips an' shavin's an' sich-like fell on 
 de groun' un'er de hall, an' hope I may die ef 
 one er dem niggers dat yaller nigger w'ut 
 Marster bo't, ain' fling some paper an' shav- 
 in's an' de like right un'er de hall, an' de fire 
 riz in er hurry; but Hester grab a bucket er 
 water an' fling it on de fiah, an' dat kinder 
 squinch it er liT; but it keep er bu'nin', an' it 
 look lak it gwine ter tek de house ; but Hester 
 an' Marster fling mo' water on it. Jes' den 
 dat liT yaller nigger so'ger 'gin ter fa'ly dance 
 an' say, ' Oh, you see I done come, an' yer 
 fine young lady got ter git outen dar now, an' 
 I gwine put my ahm 'roun' her,' an' he snap 
 his finger in my face. Den, boss, I riz up. 
 I was younger dan I is now, an' was er man 
 'mongst men an' I jes' tap him a jolt on de 
 p'int er de jaw an' he fall lak er beef; an' you 
 know w'ut I done den? " 
 
 " I certainly have no idea," said Mr. Stand- 
 wick. 
 
 " Well, sah, I jes' cotch him by de hin' laig 
 an' flung him thu' de hall doah, w'ut open on 
 de gall'ry inter dat fiah un'er de hall. He 
 holler an' scratch an' scatter fiah lak cats er 
 fightin', an' den dat udder yaller nigger come
 
 i 9 6 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 er runnin' an' seed dat so'ger nigger rollin' 
 out, an' he say, ' Who done dat? ' an' 'fo' I kin 
 answer Marster start outen de winder on ter 
 de gall'ry, an' de cock-eyed scoun'el start 
 to'rds Marster an' say, ' OF man, I glad you 
 open de winders; I gwine step in an' see dem 
 white wimmins w'ut so proud.' 
 
 " Boss, you orter seed Marster. He 
 stretch er foot, an' his eyes flash, an' he start 
 ter shoot, an' jes' den Ned tuk a han' in de 
 'formance. I ain' had no gun, but I had er 
 ax, an' dat nigger never retch Marster, 'ca'se 
 I tap him on de burr er de yeer wid de butt 
 een' er de ax an' down he went; an' I tossed 
 him over in de coals an' de cinders an' kindlin' 
 whar his side-podner wen' fus'. 
 
 " 'Member, boss, dat all dis time dat white 
 sujjunt an' dem th'ee niggers was down 'hin' 
 de house Vidin' de plun'er, an' dey was 'lowin' 
 dat cock-eyed yaller nigger a sheer. Wen dey 
 heered de fiah poppin' an' seed de smoke an' 
 seed Marster an' Hester fightin' de fiah, dat 
 low-down sujjunt say, ' Let 'er bu'n ; we got 
 de stuff.' An' jes' den de s'prisin'es' thing 
 dat ebber I has done see sence I was bo'n 
 happen. 
 
 " Up de road I hear hosses er runnin', 
 bookety-book, clipperty-clip, lipperty-lip, right 
 to'rds dis house, an' fus' thing you know, er 
 Feddul cap'n an' ten Feddul so'gers was er 
 comin' lak der win'. De cap'n was in de 
 lead, an' w'en he got tolerbul close I look at
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 197 
 
 him, an' I like ter drap, an' I holler, ' Good 
 Gawd ! Is Marse Arthur done tu'n Yankee ? ' 
 Fur it sho' mus' be him, er his twin, er his 
 ghos'. 
 
 " He rid right up ter de steps wid his men, 
 an' w'en he see de fiah he call ter his mens, 
 ' We mus' put out dat fiah ! ' an' he an' his 
 mens jump right down an' stomp out de fiah 
 an' scatter de trash an' bu'nin' planks, an' dey 
 soon had de fiah put out. 
 
 " Den de cap'n say to Marster, * Is yo' 
 house been rob'? ' An' Marster say he don' 
 know. Den I say, * Yes, sah ; de white suj- 
 junt an' th'ee niggers done rob it, an' dey say 
 dey gwine bu'n it. Er yaller nigger w'ut use' 
 ter b'long ter Marster sot it erfiah in dar whar 
 you jes' put it out.' 
 
 " Den de cap'n say, ' Gunnel Marshall, you 
 an' de ladies an' yo' surbunts jes' stay in de 
 house an' you'll be safe. I'll put a guard 
 'roun' it.' Den Marster thank de cap'n an' 
 Vite him ter one er de rooms in de wing er 
 de house ter wash his han's, an' while he was 
 gone, dat sujjunt came er bouncin' up de back 
 steps an' open de back doah ob de hall an' 
 holler, ' Who put out dat fiah ? ' De cap'n's 
 newtenant was dar, an' he say, ' I an' my men 
 put it out.' Den de sujjunt say, ' I had it 
 sot erfiah, an' you ain' got nuttin' 't all ter 
 do wid it. You don' b'long ter my corn- 
 man'. I al'ays set rebbul houses erfiah, an' 
 you better do de same.'
 
 i 9 8 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 " De newtenant say, ' I let you know I'm 
 a gen'man, an' I don' bu'n houses er mek war 
 on ladies an' old gen'mens.' Den de suj- 
 junt say, ' I'm a gen'man too, an' I bu'ns 'em 
 all.' Den de newtenant say slow an' plain, 
 ' You is a damn guttersnipe an' 'senyerary 
 an' coward! An' I tell you now ef you set 
 fiah to dis house hit'll be de las' house you 
 ebber gwine set erfiah, an' de nex' fiah you an' 
 dem niggers see will be hell-fiah ! ' But de 
 sujjunt man mus' sho'ly nab b'liebe de new- 
 tenant was er bluffin', 'ca'se I hope I may miss 
 he'ben ef he an' dem niggers didn' go out 
 dar an' stick fiah ter de hin' part er de house; 
 but 'fo' dey do it de cap'n done come back 
 an' his newtenant tol' him w'ut de sujjunt 
 say, an' de cap'n tell de newtenant ter tek his 
 men an' watch dat scoun'el. 
 
 " De newtenant tuk his men an' go 'roun' 
 de back way, an' jes' den dat sujjunt an' 
 dem niggers was settin' fiah ter de house, an' 
 it was 'mencin' ter bu'n, an' den trubbel br'ek 
 loose. 
 
 " Quicker 'n a sheep kin shake he tail, de 
 guns went bang, bang, bang, bang! an', boss, 
 sho's a boss got a tail, dat sujjunt an' dem 
 th'ee niggers was pile' up lak hogs 'roun' de 
 hot water bar'l in hog-killin' time, an' de 
 cap'n's men run an' put out de fiah. 
 
 " De cap'n run 'roun' dar w'en he heerd 
 de shootin', an' w'en he see de sujjunt an' de 
 niggers pile' up, an' see de fiah, he ain' ax
 
 NED: NIGGER AN* GENTMAN 199 
 
 no queschun, but he say, ' Dey won' do no 
 mo' robbin' er bu'nin'.' 
 
 " Den de white so'gers fin' all de silber 
 an' julery an' han' it ter de cap'n, an' de cap'n 
 tuk it, an' bow, an' say he proud to comman' 
 gen'mans w'ut don' bu'n er steal; an' den he 
 go in de house an' lif' his cap an' s'lute Mars- 
 ter an' ax him ter deliber de silber an' julery 
 to Miss Ma'y wid his comp'ments. An' den 
 a surpriziner thing happen dan de 'rival er 
 de Feddul cap'n an' his mens. 
 
 "Jes' as der cap'n an' his men git back 
 'roun' ter de front er de house, an' on de 
 gall'ry erg'in, all we-uns heerd mo' hosses run- 
 nin', bookety-book, clipperty-clip, lipperty-lip, 
 comin' f'um de udder een' er de road, 
 an' de Feddul cap'n grab dem big double- 
 bar'l telerscope an' look down dat way ter see 
 who 'twas comin'; an' quicker 'n er minnit I 
 seed er cap'n in de lead, an' bless Gawd ! who 
 was it 'ceptin' Marse Arthur Stan'ick, de 
 cap'n on de 'Fed'rit side. 
 
 ' Wen de Feddul so'gers see dem w'ut was 
 comin' was 'Fed'rit so'gers, dey grab dey guns 
 an' pistils; but de Feddul cap'n tell 'em ter 
 put 'em down, an' den w'en dey look at Marse 
 Arthur sorter close, dey look at him, an' den 
 at dey cap'n, an' den at Marse Arthur erg'in, 
 an' ob all de s'prised an' 'plexed mens you 
 ebber see, dey took de lead, an' dey fergit 
 erbout de 'Fed'rit so'gers er foll'in' Marse 
 Arthur,
 
 200 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 " Wen Marse Arthur' men ride up an' see 
 Feddul so'gers dey 'pear lak dey gwine ter 
 shoot; but jes' den Marster say, ' Gen'mens, 
 dis n'ut'al groun',' I b'liebe dem his wu'ds." 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Standwick, " the house 
 of a mutual friend is neutral ground." 
 
 " W'ut I 'lowed was, dey gwine ' 'clar 
 truce,' ez Marster say, er ' play quits,' ez I 
 say, long ez dey be on Marster's groun' ; an' 
 Marse Arthur moshun ter his mens ter put 
 dey guns an' pistils down. 
 
 " Marse Arthur jump off de hoss at de 
 foot er de steps, an' he had on er Yankee 
 obercoat, an' it look lak dey was two Yankee 
 cap'ns; but he flung back his obercoat, an' I 
 see his 'Fed'rit nuniform, an' I say, ' Howdy, 
 Marse Arthur? 'For' Gawd, I b'liebe dis 
 good Yankee cap'n is your own deah brud- 
 der.' An' den he stop an' look at de Yankee 
 cap'n, an' dey stan' an' look an' look at one 
 'nudder, but ain' say na'y word, but dey eyes 
 'gin ter git wet, an' dey wink um fas'; den 
 all ob a suddent dey flung dey ahms 'roun' 
 one 'nudder, an' sich er cryin' an' er huggin', 
 an' er huggin' an' er cryin', I nebber seed 
 befo' sence I was bo'n; an' Marster he cry, 
 an' dem fightin' so'gers cry, an' de Feddul 
 an' de 'Fed'rit so'gers fergit dey be enner- 
 mies an' be fightin' ebb'ry day, an' dey flung 
 up dey caps an' holler, an' laff an' sorter cry, 
 an' sich er time I nebber see. 
 
 " Den Cap'n Chawles say, c Gunnel Mar-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 201 
 
 shall, I am a Feddul so'ger, but I hope I am 
 a gen'man. You an' yo' family is safe; I 
 will le'be a guard 'roun' yo' house.' Den 
 Cap'n Arthur say, ' Gunnel, dis is my brud- 
 der; an' dough we be fightin' on diff'unt sides, 
 he's a gen'man.' Den Marster say, ' So long 
 ez you is in dis house, er in dis ya'd, you an' 
 yo' mens mus' 'member dis is n'ut'al groun', 
 an' atter dis, ef you brudders meet heah, it 
 mus' be jes' lak you was un'er a flag er truce,' 
 I b'liebe dem's de wu'ds he say." 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Standwick, " that is most 
 likely so. When soldiers meet under a flag 
 of truce they are friendly and peaceful as if 
 they had never fallen out." 
 
 " Well, dat's de way de two cap'ns meet 
 seberal times atterwa'ds right on dis place. 
 Atter de two cap'ns let one nudder loose, 
 Cap'n Arthur ax Marster whar Miss Ma'y 
 an' Miss Lucy was, an Marster say, ' Come 
 heah, an' I show you,' an' Marster run de 
 big winder up, an' Cap'n Arthur see Miss 
 Ma'y, an' nex' ter her Miss Lucy, an' 
 nex' ter her Miss Jean, an' den de las' was 
 Hester; an' Cap'n Arthur jes' jump right in, 
 an' 'fo' all de company, cotch up Miss Lucy 
 an' kiss her twell she blush red mos' lak er 
 strawb'ry, an' den he tek Miss Ma'y in his 
 ahms, an' say thank Gawd, dey's all safe. 
 
 " An den de Feddul cap'n he come in an' 
 'proach sorter slow an' onsart'in-lak, ez ef 
 he am' sho' he be welcome; an' he HP his hat
 
 202 NED: NIGGER AN 1 GENT'MAN 
 
 an' bow ve'y perlite, an' say he ve'y glad he 
 hab de privilidge er perteckin' 'em, an' ob 
 sabin' de house; an' den he offer his ahm ter 
 Miss Jean; but she sorter draw back, 'ca'se 
 she ain' nebber tetch de han' ob a Yankee so'- 
 ger; but Marster look at her sorter 'proach- 
 ful-lak, and she r'aley wan' ter git her han' 
 on dat ahm, an' she tuk it, an' Cap'n Arthur 
 gib Miss Lucy his ahm, an' Miss Ma'y tek 
 Marster's, an' dey all gin' ter march out to'rds 
 de gall'ry, an' den I say, ' Bein's you gwine ter 
 hab er persession, an' dar's ernudder lady in 
 dar, I gwine jine in.' So I steps in an' bow 
 lak de white folks, an' gibs Hester mah ahm, 
 an' march out behin', steppin' high, an' ev'y- 
 body buss' out laffin' ez we come. An' dat's 
 de way de cap'n sabe de house." 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Standwick, "that was 
 indeed a terrible time; but I am inclined to 
 think those who lost their lives deserved their 
 fate. I am curious to know two things : how 
 the ladies stood seeing dead men around, and 
 what was done with the bodies? " 
 
 ' Well, you see, boss, dar was so many so'- 
 gers passin' an' so many big guns to be heerd, 
 an' so much shootin' eroun' de neighborhood, 
 dat in de 'citement ob de fiah de ladies ain' 
 pay no tenshun ter de shootin' er de sujjunt 
 an' de niggers, an' dey ain' nebber see de daid 
 carcasses 't all, 'ca'se we put 'em on de flo' er 
 de kerridge-house." 
 
 " There's another thing I want to ask be-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 203 
 
 fore I forget it. What became of the two 
 men you tossed in the fire? " 
 
 " Now, boss, I tell you fus' 'bout dem car- 
 cusses; but I gwine ax you, w'ut you reckon 
 Marster done wid 'em? " 
 
 " Really," said Mr. Standwick, " I could 
 hardly form an idea what a man would do 
 under such extraordinary circumstances." 
 
 " Well, I tell you w'ut I'd er done ef it 
 had b'en lef ter me. I'd er tuk dem four 
 carcusses an' put logs on 'em, an' er bu'nt de 
 las' bone un 'em up, an' den I'd er tuk a club 
 an' finish dem two yaller niggers, an' er flung 
 dey carcusses on de same pile. 
 
 " I mout not do dat now ef it was all ter 
 be done ober, but I sw'ar I would er done it 
 den, 'ca'se I was sho' mad. But I tell you 
 w'ut Marster done. He done w'ut na'y man 
 but a Chrischun man would er done. He tuk 
 dem niggers an' dat sujjunt, an' he tell his 
 carpenter ter mek fo' coffins, an' fix all de 
 carcusses decent-lak an' put 'em keerf'ly in 
 de coffin an' haul ter de nigger grabeyard 
 in his hack an' two-hoss waggins. An' hope 
 I may see dem niggers erg'in ef Marster 
 ain' stan' dar an' read ebber so much Scripter 
 outen de 'Piskerpul pra'rbook, an' den he tol' 
 his nigger preacher, who'd rudder preach dan 
 ter eat, dat he mus' 'ten' ter de res' er de 
 fun'al. 
 
 " Boss, dat nigger was sho' happy den, an' 
 him an' de udder niggers had de gre'tes' time
 
 204 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 you ebber heerd of. A nigger radder go to er 
 fun'al 'an ter go fishin'. Dey al'ays hez er 
 big time ef dey got jes' one ter put in de 
 groun', an' w'en dey got fo' dey counts dat 
 er juberlee. OP Ab'um, de preacher, he hilt 
 'em in pra'r er spell fer sho', an' you mout er 
 heerd him two mile; an' den he preach twell 
 mos' night, an' den all de niggers sung : 
 
 " ' Hark f'um de tomb a doneful soun', 
 Mine years atten' de cry.' 
 
 " Dey boun' fer ter sing dat chune at er 
 nigger fun'al, 'ca'se er nigger don' b'liebe it's 
 er fun'al 'tall 'ceptin' dey do; an' think de 
 nigger ghos' gwine come back ef dey don' 
 sing it. 
 
 " I stan' erwhile an' lis'en, an' I say ter 
 mahse'f, ' It's all right fer Marster ter read 
 pra'rs an' fer dat nigger ter pray twell he 
 sweat, but 't ain't no use, 'ca'se dat bunch dey 
 prayin' ober b'long to de Debbil, an' he gwine 
 roas' 'em in hell lak I roas' er 'tater in de 
 chimbley cornder." 
 
 " Now, Ned, don't say that ; you don't be- 
 lieve anybody is actually roasted in hell-fire 
 sure enough ? " 
 
 'Yes, sah; I do, boss; it's 'bleeged ter be 
 so. Dar lakly ain't many er dat kin', but 
 dey boun' ter be a hell fer sich a gang ez dem 
 niggers was er puttin' in de groun'. 
 
 ' W'ut you gwine ter do wid er lot er nig-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 205 
 
 gers an' er wuss white man, w'ut try to bu'n 
 Marster's house, an' 'suit my Mistiss, an Miss 
 Lucy, an' Miss Jean, an' mos' skeer mah 
 wife to def de onlies' wife I ebber is had? 
 Oh, dar's boun' ter be er hell fer dat sort; but 
 I sorter hope dey git outen hell atter er while. 
 I b'liebe de mussey er de Lawd hoi' out even 
 fer dem; but it gwine be strain' pow'ful. 
 
 " Now, ez ter dem two yaller niggers I 
 flung in de fiah, lemme tell you somepin'. 
 Dey orter wu'k fer Miss Ma'y long ez dey 
 lib. I tell de Feddul cap'n 'bout 'em, an' 
 he say he gwine sen' 'em ter de camp an' dey'll 
 be 'ten ter ve'y quick; but dey was er moanin' 
 an' er groanin', an' Miss Ma'y heerd 'em, an' 
 stidder lettin' me tek Marster's pistil an' 'ten' 
 ter 'em, w'ut mus' she do? Hope I may drap 
 daid dis minnit, ef she ain' tek Hester an' fix 
 some cotton battin' an' sweet ile an' lime wa- 
 tah, an' dressed dem yaller whelps' ahms an' 
 han's whar dey b'en bu'nt. Den she ax de 
 cap'n dat he don' have 'em shot. 
 
 " I was jes' gwine ter ax him ter hab 'em 
 bof shot soon he git outen sight er de house, 
 but Miss Ma'y make me shame er mahse'f, 
 she sich er Chrischun. I won'er huccome 
 Gawd ain' tek Miss Ma'y ter heaven wid de 
 res' er de anguls, 'ca'se she sho' is er angul 
 on de yearth."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 AFTER he had finished his recital Ned asked 
 to be excused so he could make another trip 
 to see how " dem free niggers was wu'kin'," 
 but before he left he saddled Redbird and 
 hitched her to the rack, and said, " Boss, ef 
 you lak ter tek er ride, I le'be dis snipshus 
 little mar' fer you. I sho' you done fin' she's 
 a saddle-nag fer true." 
 
 " Delightful ! One of the finest I ever 
 saw, and I shall enjoy another ride. My own 
 horse will be so pampered and spoiled he will 
 object to being ridden at all, I fear. You 
 ought to have brought him out." 
 
 " Oh, no, sah ; Marster always lets de vis'- 
 ter's hoss res'. He's er gues' in de stable, lak 
 you is in de big house." 
 
 "I am much obliged; certainly hospitality 
 has reached its limit when it extends to the 
 stranger's saddle-horse. These are great 
 people you live with, Ned." 
 
 " Now you talkin', boss; dey's mah peepul 
 an' I 'spec' ter lib an' die wid 'em. I 'spec' 
 'gin' you gits back f'um yer ride, Marster an' 
 Miss Ma'y '11 be gittin' back f'um town." 
 
 Mr. Standwick rode a long distance in a 
 different direction from that taken on previous 
 206
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 207 
 
 rides, and on every side he saw evidences of 
 devastation, but saw also proof that the peo- 
 ple were bravely struggling to rebuild their 
 homes and restore their waste places. 
 
 The fields were white with cotton, a boun- 
 tiful crop of corn had been gathered, and such 
 orchards as had escaped destruction had 
 borne heavy crops of fruit. 
 
 At many points where it was evident large 
 residences had once stood, structures evidently 
 meant to be temporary had been erected, and 
 those who once lived in mansions were living 
 in them. 
 
 Mr. Standwick met and conversed with 
 men of evident education and culture who 
 were working as common laborers, yet seemed 
 cheerful and hopeful, and he returned to meet 
 Colonel and Mrs. Marshall on their return 
 from town, deeply impressed with what he 
 had seen. 
 
 After supper was finished and they were 
 seated in the sitting-room, Mr. Standwick 
 said, " Ned has related to me some most in- 
 teresting incidents to-day. He has a wonder- 
 ful memory and deals with details with evi- 
 dent accuracy. And as you have told me, he 
 was truthful. I was greatly impressed by 
 his recital of the tragedy which followed your 
 interview with Captain Alston, as told by him, 
 and the tragic incidents which accompanied 
 the attempt to burn the house were most dra- 
 matic."
 
 ao8 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 " They were, indeed," said Colonel Mar- 
 shall, with a smile, " and to me who was one 
 of the actors, almost too dramatic; but really 
 the meeting of two brothers, one an officer 
 in the Federal and the other in the Con- 
 federate army, under such circumstances, es- 
 pecially considering the relations existing be- 
 tween them and two of the ladies present, 
 was both dramatic and romantic, and full of 
 noble sentiment. There were some facts 
 which perhaps Ned did not fully explain to 
 you, which give additional and profound in- 
 terest to the events of that day." 
 
 " Mr. Standwick," said Mrs. Marshall, 
 " if you and Colonel Marshall will excuse me 
 I will retire. I am much fatigued and a re- 
 cital of the events of that awful day is har- 
 rowing. I am glad to know that the day 
 was lightened by the noble conduct of two 
 gallant young soldiers; and though they were 
 arrayed on opposing sides, and one was in 
 the ranks of the North, we cherish tenderly 
 the memories of both ; and it may be that the 
 fact that they bore your name, or so nearly 
 the same name as yours, has added to the 
 
 fleasure your stay as our guest has given us. 
 could wish you no higher honor than that 
 you might have claimed them as kindred." 
 
 ' I am sure," replied Mr. Standwick, " I 
 should have been honored by such relation- 
 ship; but unfortunately I have no sons, and 
 have never had. It may have been that they
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 209 
 
 belonged to a branch of the family who have 
 dropped the d from the name, and since I 
 have thought more on the subject of their 
 identity I am inclined to think I shall be able 
 very soon to tell you who they were." 
 
 " It is only the name that reminds us of 
 you. They bore no facial resemblance to 
 you that is discernible. If it should prove 
 that they were bound to you by the ties of 
 blood, we shall be glad. Good night." 
 
 " Yes," continued Colonel Marshall, " they 
 were gentlemen and heroes, and sealed their 
 devotion to their convictions with their 
 blood." 
 
 " Just here, Colonel, permit me to ask the 
 question which I intimated I would ask when 
 you told me of your visit to Captain Alston. 
 Now after years have passed, and the passions 
 of the hour have subsided, and the dead are 
 dust, and the matter can be weighed calmly, 
 what do you think of the action of Captain 
 Alston?" 
 
 Without a moment's hesitation, Colonel 
 Marshall replied, "He did exactly right; he 
 could have done nothing else." 
 
 Mr. Standwick sat for a considerable time 
 in silent thought, surprised and perplexed. 
 He knew that the man who had so responded 
 to his question was an educated, cultured, 
 Christian gentleman; a peaceable, law-abiding 
 citizen; a man who lived according to the 
 loftiest ideals, and who was respected and be-
 
 310 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 loved by all who knew him; yet he, with 
 earnestness and unmistakable sincerity, had 
 declared without qualification that his neigh- 
 bor, likewise a gentleman of the highest per- 
 sonal character, did right in taking the life 
 of his fellow-man, under circumstances which 
 would, had the deed been committed where 
 the guest lived, have been pronounced murder 
 by law and public sentiment. 
 
 Colonel Marshall seemed to understand 
 what was passing through the mind of his 
 guest, and slowly repeated his reply, " He 
 did exactly right; there was no other recourse 
 for a gentleman. He acted in obedience to 
 the impulse of honor and pride, and his act 
 was demanded and justified by the ' unwritten 
 law,' the only law applicable to the situation." 
 
 " It seems to me," said Mr. Standwick, 
 " that he might not only have vindicated the 
 character of his daughter, and proved the 
 baseness of her traducer, but have punished 
 him in a manner which would have made the 
 punishment to him most severe ; that is, finan- 
 cially, by bringing action against him for 
 damages for slander. I am sure that remedy 
 would have been invoked where I live." 
 
 " And I am sure," replied Colonel Mar- 
 shall quickly, and with some warmth, " it was 
 not invoked here; and so far as I know, has 
 never been invoked in this State. The docket 
 of no court in this State, or so far as I know, 
 in any Southern State, has ever been defiled
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 21 1 
 
 by a suit for damages as a salve for wounded 
 honor. No man who would bring an action 
 to recover damages of the traducer or de- 
 baucher of his daughter, or for the alienation 
 of his wife's affections, would ever again be 
 recognized or socially tolerated. If I were 
 at the bar I would drive from my office a man 
 who would offer me such a case. I cannot 
 contemplate or imagine Angus Alston resort- 
 ing to such a course; but had he done so, I 
 would never have spoken to him again or per- 
 mitted him to cross my threshold." 
 
 " There is one fact," said Mr. Standwick, 
 " which cannot be gainsaid or denied, and 
 that is, the act of Captain Alston was a 
 palpable violation of the law as set forth in 
 the statutes." 
 
 " That," said Colonel Marshall, " is by no 
 means certain, because the statutes do not at- 
 tempt to set forth every combination of cir- 
 cumstances which justifies homicide. They 
 only prescribe and define certain causes, which 
 are merely illustrative and which serve to 
 guide in determining other cases resting upon 
 like principles of reason and justice; and by 
 analyzing, it is not impossible to evolve justi- 
 fication for Alston's act out of the statutes 
 themselves, and upon well recognized prece- 
 dent. However, I shall not bore you by such 
 an argument, because the cold letter of the 
 written law has nothing to do with such a 
 case.
 
 212 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 " The protection of the honor of wife and 
 daughter and the good name of an honorable 
 family is a duty which no man can delegate, 
 but must discharge himself. No statute has 
 ever been drawn to meet such a case ; the legal 
 vernacular is not adequate to the framing of 
 such a law. 
 
 " Human statutes have no application to 
 that which involves the good name of a 
 woman, or the honor of a wife or family, and 
 over such a case no human tribunal has justly 
 any jurisdiction. The ' unwritten law ' only, 
 to which every gentleman and man of honor 
 should yield obedience, controls in such a case, 
 and it is supreme here. 
 
 ' Nowhere on earth are the home and the 
 family so carefully guarded and shielded as 
 they are in the South, and nowhere are the 
 standards of womanly propriety and virtue so 
 high; and whatever may be our faults, we are 
 not grasping or sordid, and with us no * jing- 
 ling of the guinea helps the hurt that honor 
 feels.' 
 
 " Brutus won deserved immortality by slay- 
 ing Tarquin, the defiler of his wife. Vir- 
 ginius killed his lovely daughter to prevent 
 her debauchment by a lecherous libertine. An- 
 gus Alston followed a noble example, you see. 
 
 " Here in our own country, a member of 
 Congress, who has since won fame as a 
 soldier, killed the trespasser upon his family 
 honor, and a jury of his peers with their hands
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 213 
 
 on their hearts declared him not guilty. In 
 that case one of the great lawyers of America 
 defended and vindicated the application of 
 the ' unwritten law,' upon sound legal prin- 
 ciple and precedent in a most masterful 
 speech; but we have even higher authority 
 and precedent. 
 
 " I am no theologian or exegete, nor do I 
 claim either skill or accuracy in scriptural in- 
 terpretation, but when Shechem, the son of 
 Hamor, the Hivite, defiled Dinah, the daugh- 
 ter of Jacob, the brothers turned deaf ears to 
 every proposition of marriage and pf com- 
 promise or commercial compensation or sat- 
 isfaction. With their good swords they 
 avenged the dishonor of their sister, and when 
 their old father reproached them for their 
 haste and pointed out to them how they had 
 put him and all his people in peril, their reply, 
 in substance, was, ' Well, suppose that is true, 
 and they do slay us and despoil us of our 
 possessions and wipe out our tribe ; yet should 
 the prince of the land deal with our sister as 
 with an harlot? " This was their only reply; 
 they had slain the defiler and were ready to ac- 
 cept the consequences. And I find that same 
 Jacob, the father of the sons who slew the 
 debaucher of their sister, in that royal line 
 wherein was David, from whom descended 
 the Son of God. 
 
 " No, Mr. Standwick, there was no other 
 recourse. Whether my interpretation of the
 
 2H NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 Scripture be correct or not, there were many 
 illustrious precedents for the act of Angus 
 Alston. You, of course, can take the cold, 
 literal statute and condemn him ; but the letter 
 killeth while the spirit giveth life, and the 
 spirit of the law, as it is interpreted instinc- 
 tively by honorable men who cherish those 
 feelings of pride which are inseparable from 
 the character of every gentleman, not only 
 justifies, but commends his action. The 
 slanderer of a pure and innocent woman is a 
 foe to universal womanhood and to organized 
 society, and to slay him is as justifiable as is 
 the slaying of a rabid dog. 
 
 " But to return to our story about the Stan- 
 wick brothers. Arthur Stanwick, directly 
 after his graduation, came South, and re- 
 sponded to my advertisement for a tutor for 
 my children. When he came to my house he 
 seemed so youthful, and really he was only a 
 few years the senior of my eldest, I hesitated 
 to engage him; but his good manners and his 
 manifestly thorough education led me to ac- 
 cept him and I afterward rejoiced that I did. 
 His services proved eminently satisfactory, 
 and the Massachusetts Yankee, as we laugh- 
 ingly called him, he said he was from Mass- 
 achusetts, became rapidly southernized. 
 
 " He intimated rather than directly said, 
 that his father was greatly prejudiced against 
 the South, and southern people, and was 
 especially extreme in his views concerning the
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 215 
 
 condition of the negro, not only in relation to 
 his being held in slavery, but to the denial to 
 him of equality upon his merits, regardless of 
 his color; and Arthur frequently remarked 
 that he felt sure that if his father could live 
 awhile in the South, as he had done, his views 
 would be revolutionized. 
 
 " Never once did he manifest the slightest 
 inclination to recognize or treat the negro as a 
 social equal; indeed, he became as intense in 
 his opposition to that impossible condition as 
 were and are we natives to the manner born, 
 but he was invariably kind and considerate in 
 his treatment of them; and Ned and Hester 
 and Dinah, the cook, and indeed every negro 
 who came in contact with him, were devoted 
 to him. 
 
 " I concluded from the general tone and 
 tenor of his conversation that his father 
 strongly objected to his coming South, but 
 that he insisted, assigning as a reason that it 
 was necessary to seek a milder and more genial 
 climate; and I inferred that his action some- 
 what estranged his father, though the son 
 never referred to him but in terms of deep 
 affection and profound respect. 
 
 " He read law while he lived with us, and 
 something like two years before the State 
 seceded, was admitted to the bar and moved 
 to the county-seat and opened his office, but 
 always referred to this as his ' home.' 
 
 " He was a young man of engaging man-
 
 216 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 ners, and of exceptionally brilliant intellect, 
 and was endowed with that ' divine afflatus ' 
 which is as distinctly the gift of the orator 
 as of the poet, and was a most eloquent and 
 persuasive speaker, speaking with that fervor 
 and fire which seems to be specially charac- 
 teristic of southern speakers. Unlike most 
 young lawyers, he served no apprenticeship, 
 went through no ' starvation period,' but 
 stepped in a few months to a high position 
 at the bar. 
 
 " When Mr. Lincoln issued his first call for 
 troops, Arthur came out here at once, and as 
 soon as the usual greeting was over, he said, 
 * Colonel, the die is cast. War is inevitable 
 between the North and South, and I must go.' 
 I inferred from the tone in which he spoke 
 that he meant that he was going back to the 
 North, and said, ' Well, Arthur,' for so he 
 insisted from the first I should call him, { I 
 cannot blame you. You were born in the 
 North and reared to manhood there, amid 
 environment and influences and under train- 
 ing in political thought, the effects of which a 
 few years' residence in the South cannot be 
 expected to overcome. So when you leave, 
 you will carry with you our respect, affection, 
 and best wishes.' 
 
 " I shall never forget the expression on his 
 face when I had finished speaking. ' Why, 
 Colonel, you astound me! Do you really 
 misunderstand me? This has been for five
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 217 
 
 years my home, and is, I feel, yet, my home, 
 and the South is my adopted land. I have 
 studied the Constitution and the history of its 
 formation, and the question of the rights of 
 the States, and I believe as strongly as you 
 do in the rights of the Southern States to 
 withdraw from the Union, and I know it is 
 the duty of her people to resist invasion, and 
 I am going to stand with them. A cavalry 
 company has been organized in town, and I 
 am proud to say I have been elected captain 
 and have accepted ' ; and he drew himself 
 to his full height, looking every inch the 
 gentleman that he was, and the soldier he 
 proved to be. 
 
 " I took the young fellow in my arms, and! 
 said, * God bless you, Arthur I ' and I suspect 
 a tear dropped on his raven locks. 
 
 " He then said, ' Colonel, you know the 
 relations existing between Miss Lucy and my- 
 self. I have loved her from the time I knew 
 her first, and have made no secret of my affec- 
 tion; but I cannot ask her to be my wife until 
 the war is over. But if I survive it and bear 
 myself as becomes a southern soldier, and she 
 remains of the same mind, you will, I trust, 
 not withhold your consent to our marriage.' 
 
 ' I will not, my boy,' I said, ' and God 
 grant you may return as victor, and a general, 
 and in all the vigor of your splendid manhood.' 
 
 ' I thank you sincerely, Colonel ; and you 
 do not know how happy I feel that there is
 
 3i 8 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 no conflict between my love and my conviction 
 of duty. I would freely give my life for your 
 daughter were it necessary, yet if I felt con- 
 strained by conscientious convictions to es- 
 pouse the Union cause, I should do so, even at 
 the price of the loss of her love and her. 
 
 " ' That you would do so, Arthur, I firmly 
 believe,' I said, ' and the fact of my belief 
 in the integrity of your purpose and the un- 
 selfishness of your action, but increases my 
 respect and affection for you.' 
 
 He sat in silence for some time, and then 
 said, slowly and with evident feeling, ' Colonel, 
 you know I have a twin brother in the North. 
 He opposed my coming South and would then 
 not himself leave father, though he has since 
 gone to the Northwest to make his home. 
 Though we have long been separated, my af- 
 fection for him has never abated, and it was 
 my purpose to soon visit him and my father. 
 He is high spirited, sympathizes strongly with 
 the views of our father, and being a young 
 man of pronounced convictions, I have but 
 little doubt that he will enlist on the northern 
 side, and possibly we may meet in battle. If 
 we should, I trust Heaven will so shape events 
 that we will not be brought into personal con- 
 flict, for I had far rather be killed than to 
 kill my brother.' 
 
 " He proved the soldier I expected him to 
 be. He had an independent command and 
 was bold and daring, yet tactful and discreet,
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 219 
 
 and his men idolized him and followed his 
 leadership with unquestioning devotion, and 
 when he and his brother met on the gallery 
 of this house and stood linked in each other's 
 arms and sobbing like children, Federal and 
 Confederate soldiers alike lifted their hats 
 and shouted, while tears coursed down their 
 rugged cheeks, cheeks that had never blanched 
 with fear amid the deadliest fighting. 
 
 " Shortly after that, Captain Charles inter- 
 cepted another squad of marauding negroes 
 bent on burning this house. Only their pro- 
 testations of innocence, which were all lies, 
 saved them from the fate which the four met 
 on the previous occasion. After he had 
 driven the villains away under threat of in- 
 stant death, he entered the house, and assured 
 the ladies I chanced to be absent that he 
 would send a guard at once if they desired him 
 to do so. 
 
 " Dinner had just been announced and 
 Mrs. Marshall invited him to dine. He 
 frankly said, ' Mrs. Marshall, I know a 
 Federal soldier has never been seated at your 
 table, and I fear you have felt constrained to 
 invite me by reason of the peculiar circum- 
 stances under which we meet, and I cannot 
 take advantage of the position in which I find 
 myself. I know that not a few wearing this 
 uniform, which in my eyes is the badge of 
 honor, have forced themselves rudely to the 
 tables of many of your neighbors, but before
 
 220 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 I would do so I would starve. I am deeply 
 grateful for your courtesy, but trust you will 
 excuse me.' 
 
 " ' Captain Stanwick,' Mrs. Marshall 
 replied, no circumstances can justify a viola- 
 tion of the customs and traditions of genera- 
 tions. I invite you to become my guest in 
 obedience both to the imperative obligations 
 of hospitality and of gratitude, and further- 
 more, for the sake of your brother.' The 
 young man yielded, and for the first time a 
 Federal soldier in Federal uniform sat at my 
 table with my wife and daughter, and the 
 daughter of my friend, Captain Alston. 
 
 4 Thrice had he come to the rescue of my 
 daughter and Miss Alston, and had saved my 
 house from burning, and my wife and daugh- 
 ter and their friend from God only knows 
 what horrible fate ; and had I been at home I 
 should have been proud to welcome him to 
 my house, because he was a brave, chivalrous 
 gentleman, who neither burnt houses nor per- 
 mitted them to be burnt, nor waged war on 
 non-combatants. 
 
 '* I do not believe there was ever any en- 
 gagement in the full sense of the term between 
 Captain Charles Stanwick and Miss Alston, 
 or Jean, as I called her, nor, indeed, do 
 I know in fact that she ever acknowledged or 
 confessed for him other feeling than that of 
 admiration and gratitude; but that she loved 
 him with all the fervor of her affectionate,
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 221 
 
 frank, honest nature, I think there is no 
 doubt. 
 
 " You understand, Mr. Standwick, that the 
 prejudice against Federal soldiers was most 
 intense on the part of the women of the 
 South. They seemed to resent the cruelty and 
 injustice of the invasion and devastation even 
 more bitterly than the men, because in fact 
 they were, and are, the greatest and most 
 direct sufferers by reason of the war, and it 
 would have taken a young woman of extraor- 
 dinary moral courage to confess her love, or 
 admit she had plighted her vows to a Federal 
 soldier; yet that her heart's promptings were 
 in that direction, I think is certain. 
 
 " Love recognizes no barriers. It laughs 
 at geographical and political lines. It takes 
 no heed of fightings, and as amazing as it 
 may sound to you, and it certainly astounded 
 us, the chivalry and courage and consideration 
 and knightly bearing of Charles Stanwick 
 commanded the admiration and compelled the 
 love of the daughter of as gallant and de- 
 voted a Confederate captain as ever flashed a 
 sword. 
 
 " I do not believe she ever admitted to her 
 father the feeling she had for Captain Stan- 
 wick, but the son of the Puritan won the heart 
 of the daughter of the Cavalier. 
 
 " Arthur bore himself as I knew he would; 
 but most fortunately, he and his brother never 
 met in battle until after they met here, nor, as
 
 222 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 I learned, did either know positively that the 
 other was in the army until they met here 
 under the extraordinary conditions of which 
 you have heard. 
 
 " That day, by mutual consent, and moved 
 by the common and noble purpose to prevent 
 robbery, arson, and God only knows what 
 other fearful outrage, truce was for the time 
 being declared, and several times later the two 
 brothers met at this house or came separately, 
 always coming unaccompanied; and by mutual 
 consent, this was neutral ground. 
 
 " The last time I saw the two brothers it 
 was under totally different and most distress- 
 ing circumstances. I heard of a sharp and 
 bloody engagement some distance south of 
 this, between the advance guard of the ad- 
 vancing army and the rear guard of the re- 
 treating army, and we heard that Arthur's 
 command was engaged. Taking my ambu- 
 lance or hack, equipped with bandages, 
 mattresses and food, Ned and I drove to the 
 scene of the battle. When I reached the 
 field, the men of the two companies, under a 
 flag of truce, were burying the dead and car- 
 ing for the wounded. I hoped both of the 
 young captains had escaped unharmed and 
 that my search would prove it so, but I sent 
 Ned along the line of the Federal wounded, 
 while I went where most of the fallen ones 
 appeared to be our men. 
 
 * I had not proceeded far before I recog-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 223 
 
 nized the voice of Arthur calling me as I 
 passed near him. He was resting against a 
 tree, desperately wounded, and the pallor of 
 death was on his face. As I bent over him, 
 he said, ' Colonel, I have not long to live. 
 Where I am was the front of the fighting. 
 Tell Lucy I loved her to the last, and believe 
 we will meet again where we shall never part. 
 Tell her the thought of her lingered last on 
 my mind and her picture rests over my heart. 
 Now, Colonel, I believe my brother led a 
 company on the other side. Each of us was 
 on the right of his command and did not meet 
 directly, but I feel sure I saw him a long 
 distance away before the fighting was hottest. 
 You will do your dying friend, your almost 
 son, a favor if you will find him, if he is alive, 
 and bring him to me, or carry me to where 
 he is." 
 
 " I said I would find him, and I started, 
 but met Ned almost immediately. Ned said 
 that he had found Captain Charles badly 
 wounded, and he wanted to see his brother, 
 and that he had made the identical request of 
 Ned that Arthur made of me. I directed Ned 
 to hurry up the ambulance, and Arthur said, 
 ' Carry me to him ; I will live till I see him.' 
 We laid him tenderly in the ambulance and 
 drove to where his brother was lying. He 
 said, ' Take me out and lay me beside him.' 
 We did so. The pale faces of both lighted 
 with a faint smile, and as we laid Arthur
 
 224 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 close by his brother, he placed one of his 
 hands in that of Charles's, and motioned me 
 to lift his brother's head that he might put 
 his arm around his neck. 
 
 " * Colonel Marshall,' said Charles, ' we 
 will not be here long. I did my duty as I 
 saw it. Please tell her, you know who, that 
 I loved her till death came, and the thought 
 that she loved me dwelt last in my memory 
 and lighted my pathway to the grave.' 
 
 "'Tell Lucy,' said Arthur, 'that in the 
 bloodiest fighting my thoughts were upon her, 
 and that her picture stained with the life- 
 blood that I gave for her and the South will 
 be buried with me.' 
 
 " ' Good-by, Colonel ; good-by, Ned,' said 
 Charles. ' It is growing dark. Lie closer, 
 brother,' and Arthur pressed his cheek against 
 that of his brother, and both looked upward 
 to the blue sky which arched that field of 
 blood, and then looked at me, and I knelt 
 there by the side of the two dying heroes and 
 lifted my voice in prayer for their parting 
 souls, and as I ceased to pray a quiver passed 
 through the frames of both, their eyelids 
 dropped, and two more knightly spirits passed 
 up to God. 
 
 " I brought them both home and placed 
 them in the same coffin in my parlor, and with 
 the solemn and impressive ceremonies of the 
 church, we laid them to rest in my family 
 burying-ground, close by where my sons and
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 225 
 
 Tom sleep. You can almost see the spot 
 from this end window by the glorious light of 
 this autumn moon." 
 
 Mr. Standwick stepped to the window and 
 stood in silence for several minutes looking 
 out toward the resting-place of the victims of 
 fratricidal war, and Colonel Marshall, seeing 
 that his guest was deeply moved, suggested 
 that it was perhaps time to retire. Mr. 
 Standwick bowed his assent and bade his host 
 good night.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE next morning was Sunday, and Mr. 
 Standwick expressed the intention of leaving, 
 but Colonel Marshall objected. 
 
 " No, you must not go to-day. Ned will 
 tell you that if you do you are bound to have 
 bad luck; then we want you to drive with us 
 to town to attend church and see and hear the 
 saintly man of God from whose hands the two 
 young captains, whom I cannot but feel must 
 have been in some way related to you, took 
 their last communion. If you do not go with 
 us, you will deprive Ned of the inexpressible 
 pleasure of driving you with his mistress and 
 myself to church, he occupying the driver's 
 seat in his Sunday rig, with Hester at his 
 side." 
 
 " Well, Colonel, that is a combination of 
 temptations I cannot resist. To see the ven- 
 erable rector I feel were almost a duty, and 
 to disappoint Ned would be unpardonable." 
 
 Colonel Marshall directed Ned and Hes- 
 ter to get ready in their Sunday clothes, and 
 told Ned to bring the carriage to the door 
 and drive his mistress, Mr. Standwick and 
 himself to town, telling Hester she could, if 
 she wished, ride on the elevated driver's seat 
 226
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 3*7 
 
 with Ned, a privilege to which she was ac- 
 customed and of which she was very proud. 
 
 Ned was overjoyed at the directions given 
 him. " I much obleeged, boss, dat you gwine 
 stay ober Sunday, an' dat I git ter drive you 
 ter town wid Marster an' Miss Ma'y. You 
 gwine ter see a gent'man's nigger an' a nigger 
 gent'man drive his Marster's kerridge to-day, 
 an' his wife on de driver's seat wid him, an' 
 you ain' gwine see him notice a'y common nig- 
 ger 'twix' heah an' town an' back." 
 
 In about an hour the carriage appeared, 
 drawn by two large, beautifully formed ma- 
 hogany bays that stood champing their bits 
 and impatiently pawing the gravel in the car- 
 riageway. 
 
 The carriage, in shape and style, belonged 
 to the " before the war " period. The 
 driver's seat was high, the body of the vehicle 
 capacious, the rear springs wide and almost 
 circular, the axles and running-gear strong, 
 but it had been painted and trimmed recently, 
 and was not only impressive in appearance, 
 but there was about it a most becoming state- 
 liness and dignity. 
 
 The colorings of the carriage and the trap- 
 pings of the horses were brilliant and tasteful, 
 and Hester, with a black silk dress and white 
 embroidered collar, a pair of white gloves 
 and a bonnet of generous proportions and 
 somewhat out of style, made a picture in keep- 
 ing with the surroundings.
 
 228 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 No lady could have borne herself with more 
 dignity, or an air of more perfect satisfaction 
 with her toilet and her environment; but 
 horses, carriages, and Hester all " paled their 
 ineffectual fires " before Ned. 
 
 He was arrayed in his " bro'dclof " suit. 
 His three-story hat towered far above his 
 white locks; his boots were polished to mirror- 
 like perfection, and his " blue silk neck hank'- 
 cher " spread out in generous expanse over 
 the lapels of his vest and his shirt front. No 
 monarch ever held his scepter, emblem of his 
 royalty, more proudly than Ned carried his 
 carriage whip, and no courtier could have 
 borne himself with more dignity. 
 
 As Colonel and Mrs. Marshall and their 
 guest approached the carriage, he bowed low 
 and lifted his " three-story hat," then let down 
 the steps of the carriage and touched one arm 
 of his mistress, while her husband held the 
 other. After she had been seated, Colonel 
 Marshall bade his guest enter the carriage. 
 As Mr. Standwick seated himself by the side 
 of Mrs. Marshall, Ned bowed, and when 
 Colonel Marshall stepped into the carriage, 
 he transferred his hat to his whip hand and 
 closed the door with a profound obeisance. 
 
 After hosts and guest were seated, Ned 
 turned to Hester and bowed and said, " Now, 
 Missiz, Hester Marshall, I'll 'sist you up ter 
 de driver's seat, an' yer husban' gwine git up 
 dar 'long side er you, an' den dis heah kerridge
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 229 
 
 gwine ter p'amberlate to'rds town lak a 
 streak." 
 
 Hester was soon seated on the left-hand 
 side of the elevated driver's seat, and Ned 
 sprang up by her side with wonderful agility, 
 considering his age. Gathering up the lines 
 taut and grasping the whip, he said to the 
 stable boy who stood holding the bits, " Tu'n 
 'em erloose. Dey gwine ter go now lak er 
 shot outen er shovel," and the noble animals 
 made good the forceful illustration. 
 
 It was a lovely Sunday morning. A 
 brighter, fairer one never dawned. A bluer 
 sky never arched the earth, nor more glorious 
 sunshine ever flooded it with dazzling radi- 
 ance. 
 
 If all the forces and elements of Nature 
 had conspired to create a day of brightness 
 and beauty, of which every breath was a tonic 
 draught and when the hearts of men re- 
 sponded to Nature's wooings, they could not 
 have made a day of rarer loveliness. The 
 air was crisp and cool, and the rays of the sun 
 falling out of a cloudless sky tempered the 
 breath of the north wind, which blew softly 
 in gentle warning that winter was coming 
 again to assume dominion; and the lungs 
 eagerly drew in the life-giving draughts which 
 came with cheer and thrill and healing on 
 their wings. 
 
 A day so fair, so full of beauty, uplifted 
 the souls of men, stirred their hearts with
 
 230 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 gratitude and reverence, and drew them as by 
 one impulse to the house of God, and Colonel 
 and Mrs. Marshall and their guest looked for- 
 ward with pleasure to the service in which 
 they were soon to take part. 
 
 With such horses and upon such a morn- 
 ing, the drive to town was short, but every 
 moment was a delight to Ned. He looked 
 neither to the right nor the left, and faithfully 
 kept his pledge not to notice " a'y common 
 nigger " ; but he bowed politely to every white 
 person he knew among those he saw as he 
 drew near the town. 
 
 Everybody seemed to know Colonel and 
 Mrs. Marshall, and that they were admired 
 and respected by all who knew them was most 
 evident. Mr. Standwick noticed with pleas- 
 ure that both spoke courteously and in the 
 kindest tone to every negro who spoke to 
 them, and as the speed of the team was low- 
 ered in going up a long, gradually sloping hill, 
 Colonel Marshall observed a very old negro 
 walking slowly and with apparent difficulty 
 in the footpath which ran beside the main 
 road, and he ordered Ned to stop, and got out 
 of the carriage. 
 
 When the old negro saw him, a smile 
 lighted his wrinkled face, and he removed 
 his dilapidated hat and bowed low, scraping 
 his foot back as he did so, and saying, " Good 
 mawnin', Marse Cunnel; de top er de mawn- 
 in' ter yo\ Yo' sho' is lookin' fine. How is
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 231 
 
 de Mistiss? She is de purties' white lady, 
 tubbe sho'." 
 
 " I thank you," said the Colonel; " she is 
 very well. How are you ? " 
 
 " Only tolerbul, Marse Gunnel. I b'en 
 po'ly all de fall." 
 
 " You must ride the rest of the way," 
 Colonel Marshall said. " Get up here on 
 this good broad seat between the springs." 
 
 The old negro had difficulty in reaching 
 the seat, but Colonel Marshall assisted him 
 and saw him safely located, and then re- 
 entered the carriage and directed Ned to 
 drive on. 
 
 Ned was opposed to taking the wayfarer 
 lest it detract from the glory of his entrance 
 into the town, but he said nothing, except in 
 an undertone to Hester, " Now, don' dat beat 
 you? Marster stop de fines' kerridge an' de 
 fines' bosses an' de fines' dress' nigger in dis 
 country ter pick up a common co'n-fieP nig- 
 
 gsr an' gib him er ride? Dat jes' lak him. 
 f it wa'n't fer him, 'bout half de niggers in 
 dis county would starbe ter def; but dis is 
 chu'ch day, an' de Good Book say dat yer 
 mus' look atter de poh, so I ain't say nuttin'. 
 " I'se willin' ter haul de old feller ter town, 
 'ca'se he b'en a fait'ful ole serbunt to some- 
 body an' he gittin' to'rds de een' er his days. 
 I glad Marster pick up de ole nigger w'ile de 
 norden gent'man be ndin' wid him, 'ca'se it 
 gwine show him dat a quality-gent'man is kin'
 
 232 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 an' good ter white an' black all de same. Ef 
 Marster didn' be quality-gent'man, he wouldn' 
 pay no mo' 'tenshun ter dat ole nigger dan he 
 would ter er terrypin er crawlin' 'long dat 
 road. 
 
 " De quality ob peepuls is sho'ly in dey 
 h'arts. Dey acts diff'unt f'um de scrubs. It 
 seem' lak dey jes' nachu'lly knows how ter do 
 de right thing, an' jes' 'bleeged fer ter dp it." 
 
 By the time Ned had finished his estimate 
 of his " Marster," and his reflections on the 
 incident, the carriage drew up at the gate of 
 the residence of Hamilton Marshall, Jr., who 
 with his wife was at the gate ready to greet 
 their guests. After most affectionate greet- 
 ing to their parents, both the younger Mar- 
 shall and his wife gave Mr. Standwick a 
 gracious and cordial welcome, and he was im- 
 pressed by the striking resemblance between 
 the father and son. 
 
 The younger man was stalwart and erect, 
 and his eyes had the same frank and kindly 
 expression that made his father's face so at- 
 tractive. The empty left sleeve bore silent 
 testimony to the fact that he had stood in that 
 long, thin, gray line of warriors whose deeds 
 challenged the admiration of mankind, and 
 had been an actor in that mighty drama 
 which with a continent for a stage and a world 
 for an audience for four years enchained the 
 attention of civilized humanity, and Mr. 
 Standwick could not for a moment doubt
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 233 
 
 the integrity of conviction and action of the 
 magnificent specimen of manhood who had, 
 with such evident sincerity, welcomed the 
 Puritan stranger to his home, and who bore 
 upon every lineament of his countenance the 
 indefinable stamp which God and Nature puts 
 upon the gentleman. 
 
 After the greetings were over between the 
 parents and their guest and their hosts to be 
 during the day, Colonel Marshall said, " My 
 son, Annie and you must not forget Hester 
 and Ned." 
 
 " No danger, father," said the son, " that 
 we will do that," and both he and his wife 
 greeted " Mammy " and " Uncle Ned," and 
 shook hands with them and inquired after 
 their health. 
 
 Both replied that they were " tolerbul, 
 thankee, young Marster," and Ned eagerly 
 asked, " How is little young Marster w'ut 
 b'en so sick? We is pow'ful oneasy 'bout 
 him." 
 
 " Oh, he is all right now. You see him 
 yonder on the gallery able to be up, and clap- 
 ping his hands in delight." Colonel and 
 Mrs. Marshall had lingered as if to give their 
 guest the opportunity to witness the meeting 
 between the old negro and their " young 
 Marster." 
 
 Perhaps without a conscious purpose, Ned 
 gave the northern guest full opportunity to 
 understand conditions and relations as they
 
 234 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 were, for when he saw Hamilton Marshall, 
 the third, he said, " Dat's er fack, yon'er he 
 is, tubbe sho'," and lifting his hat and bow- 
 ing, said, " Marster, de liT young Marster 
 'minds me er Marse Hamilton when he was 
 er chap. He sho' was er buster." 
 
 At this point Hester took part in the con- 
 versation. " Time do sho'ly go er scootin'. 
 It 'pears lak on'y jes' de udder day w'en 
 Marse Hamilton was Miss Ma'y' baby an' 
 my baby. He sho' was de fines' boy dis ken- 
 try ebber seed up ter dat time. We done 
 watch him grow up an' seed him w'en he was 
 er settin' up ter de young gals, an' was gay 
 an' lif his foot cl'ar lak a co'tin' man; an' 
 now he bigger 'an Marster, an' done got er 
 wife an' er liT Hamilton er his own, an' b'en 
 ter de wah an' los' his ahm, an' I kin ska'sely 
 b'liebe it all." 
 
 " I mighty glad," said Ned, " little young 
 Marster done got well, 'ca'se he very 'portant 
 young man. He got ter keep de Marshall 
 name er gwine, an' it's er gran' name fer sho'. 
 It's er quality-name, an' quality-folks w'ars 
 it, an' he jes' keep up de fambly record, 
 he be all right. He got de blood an' de 
 breedin', an' dey gwine tell jes' same ez dey 
 do in hosses. Mr. Stan'ick, I glad you see 
 all mah white folks, an' glad you gwine ter be 
 in mah young Marster's house, an' glad you 
 rid behin' dese two thurrerbreds I got hoi' ob 
 right now."
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 235 
 
 " Thank you, Ned," said Mr. Standwick. 
 " I am just as glad as you are, and I am 
 greatly pleased to have the privilege of being 
 just where I am, for I am learning much." 
 
 As the party moved off toward the house, 
 Colonel Marshall said, " Ned, you can put 
 the horses in the stable; we will walk to 
 church." 
 
 " Marster," said Ned, " is you got any 
 'jection to mah drivin' 'roun' de cote-house 
 squar', so dese town peepuls kin see de ker- 
 ridge an' dese thurrerbred hosses?" 
 
 " Oh, no," replied Colonel Marshall, " if 
 it will give you any pleasure." 
 
 " Thankee, Marster. Now dese peepuls 
 gwine see de fines' kerridge an' pa'r er hosses 
 dat ebber mek tracks in dis town," and Ned 
 drove in state around the town. He bowed 
 profoundly to every " quality-gent'man," but 
 utterly ignored every negro. One elderly one 
 got almost in the way of the wheels and 
 called, "Howdy, Ned?" but Ned's only 
 reply was, " G'long, nigger; don' bodder me. 
 Don' you see um drivin' Marster's kerridge, 
 an' I ain't got no time ter fool 'long er de 
 likes er you." 
 
 As they proceeded toward the house, 
 Colonel Marshall said laughingly, " You see, 
 Mr. Standwick, whatever the rest of the 
 world may say of the clan Marshall, it is 
 certain to have two champions as long as 
 Ned and Hester live; but I fear they are
 
 236 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 hardly impartial enough to give their opin- 
 ions much value. There is no doubt, though, 
 of their sincerity, nor of their love for my 
 son. They nursed him and rocked him in his 
 cradle, and often when he was a baby kept 
 him all night, and their pride in him was and 
 is intense." 
 
 " Colonel," returned Mr. Standwick, " the 
 unmistakably sincere devotion of your negro 
 servants to you and your wife and your son 
 and to the memories of your dead children, 
 is to me as beautiful as it is surprising. I 
 know of no feature of social and domestic 
 life here that is so remarkable to me. I would 
 not have believed it had I not seen it." 
 
 As they entered the house, Hester said: 
 " Miss Annie, is you got er cook ter-day? 
 De las' Sunday we was heah, one er dese miz- 
 zerbul new free niggers done quit yer col' 
 bedout any notice 'tall, an' yer would er had 
 ter do de cookin' ef I hadn't come." 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Mrs. Marshall, Jr., " I 
 have a kind of a cook; not one like you or 
 Dinah." 
 
 " Dat's de truff, Miss Annie, sho' ez you 
 bo'n. Cooks lak me an' Dinah is ska'se; an' 
 bein' 's you ain't got er sho'-'nuff cook, I gwine 
 in an' tek er han', 'fo' I go ter chu'ch." And 
 Hester at once assumed charge of the kitchen, 
 first informing the regular cook, " My white 
 folks got a nordern gen'man fer comp'ny, 
 an' dey wants a scrumpshus dinner." And she
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 237 
 
 proceeded to arrange for a dinner that would 
 fulfill that description. 
 
 The party walked to church, Ned and 
 Hester bringing up the rear, and after their 
 " white folks " had been seated, they entered 
 and took the rear pew on the right, in which 
 they had often sat. 
 
 The venerable rector took for his theme 
 one of that octave of beatitudes wherewith 
 the Man of Galilee began the memorable 
 discourse to his disciples and the multitude 
 on the mountain side " Blessed are the 
 peacemakers, for they shall be called the chil- 
 dren of God." His sermon was an earnest, 
 heartfelt, and appropriate plea for peace 
 between the two sections, for forgiveness of 
 injuries, for blotting out of bitter memories, 
 and for restoration of brotherly feeling be- 
 tween those who so recently met in deadly 
 combat, and for building up and welding in 
 indissoluble bonds of patriotism the two sec- 
 tions of a common country; and Mr. Stand- 
 wick afterward expressed to Colonel Mar- 
 shall his appreciation of the spirit and text 
 of the discourse. 
 
 The communion service followed the ser- 
 mon, and after all the white communicants 
 had partaken, Mr. Standwick could scarcely 
 conceal his astonishment when he saw Ned 
 and Hester approach and kneel at the chancel 
 rail where a few moments before he and their 
 master and mistress had knelt, and saw them
 
 238 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 take the symbol of the eucharist from the 
 same hands from which those who preceded 
 them had received it. 
 
 When the services were ended and the wor- 
 shipers had been dismissed, following the 
 custom which yet prevails in many churches, 
 the members of the congregation lingered and 
 exchanged greetings and salutations, and 
 Colonel Marshall and his wife presented 
 their guest to many of their acquaintances and 
 friends. His presence as a guest in the Mar- 
 shall home had become known, and there was 
 a general desire to meet him, especially as his 
 political convictions and his views relative 
 to slavery and the war had been much dis- 
 cussed. 
 
 Since the close of the war the number of 
 those coming from that section wherein Mr. 
 Standwick lived who were worthy to receive 
 or did receive social recognition at the hands 
 of the ladies and gentlemen of that or any 
 other similar community was very small, and 
 Colonel Marshall was desirous that his guest 
 should see that he would be received and 
 treated according to his merits, regardless of 
 the place of his nativity or his political 
 opinions. 
 
 Mr. Standwick found this true, for that 
 he was a gentleman was always apparent, and 
 he was received with the utmost cordiality, 
 and the wish was expressed by a number that 
 he would prolong his stay so they might have
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 239 
 
 the pleasure of having him as their guest. 
 He was struck with the ease of manner and 
 good breeding and familiarity with social 
 usages and requirements of all those whom he 
 met. 
 
 He was, too, specially impressed by the 
 courteous and cordial greeting extended by 
 Colonel and Mrs. Marshall to all whom they 
 met. There was an unaffected sincerity in 
 their manner, and it seemed as if Mrs. Mar- 
 shall especially sought out those who by rea- 
 son of their plainness of dress, or their pov- 
 erty, or other causes, kept in the background, 
 and to each and all she gave a hearty, cheery 
 greeting; and it was evident that she was not 
 only respected, but greatly beloved. 
 
 As the party were returning home, Mr. 
 Standwick said, " Surely no stranger ever re- 
 ceived a more kindly welcome or met those 
 who were more evidently ladies and gentle- 
 men. I am able to testify that in at least one 
 place in the South, social distinctions do not 
 rest on a financial basis. I am sure many 
 whom I met to-day were by no means rich, 
 and indeed must be in a money sense poor, yet 
 they bear the outward and visible sign of that 
 inward and nobler nature which is the pos- 
 session of only gentlemen and gentlewomen; 
 and I am sure you and Mrs. Marshall did not 
 pay the slightest attention to the financial 
 standing of those presented to me." 
 
 " Indeed, we did not," said Colonel Mar-
 
 240 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 shall, " and you met those to-day as our 
 friends who, impoverished by the war, are de- 
 pendent upon their daily labor to earn a live- 
 lihood, and too often a precarious one, yet 
 who in point of culture and character and ac- 
 complishments would be at ease in a queen's 
 drawing-room. They were not very rich be- 
 fore the war; they are poor now; but they 
 were then, as they are now, ladies and gen- 
 tlemen by instinct, inheritance, and associa- 
 tion." 
 
 " Something new, Colonel Marshall, is re- 
 vealed to me every day, and the most surpris- 
 ing thing I have yet seen was the approach of 
 Ned and Hester to the communion altar ; and 
 you will pardon me for saying that I could 
 not help but wonder if it was usual for them 
 to do so, or were they permitted to come 
 because a stranger from the North was 
 present." 
 
 ; ' Why," said Colonel Marshall, " that was 
 not thought of; though I am glad that their 
 participation and your presence were coinci- 
 dent. They have done the same thing hun- 
 dreds of times. Religion with the average 
 negro is a mixture of ignorance, superstition, 
 fanatical excitement, and emotion, which has 
 absolutely nothing to do with his daily life, 
 and which in nowise moves upon his moral 
 nature, and Ned and Hester will have noth- 
 ing to do with negro churches. 
 
 4 They were baptized and confirmed as
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 241 
 
 Episcopalians, and while they cannot read, 
 they know the creed and the Lord's prayer, 
 and follow the service with wonderful accu- 
 racy and interest, and they always partake of 
 the communion. 
 
 " By their lives and characters they set ex- 
 amples that even the best of whites may well 
 imitate, and they are worthy to bow at the 
 shrine where the exalted and the humble meet 
 in the democracy of a common faith and the 
 consciousness of a common weakness and de- 
 pendence." 
 
 Mr. Standwick found in the house of the 
 younger Marshall the same gracious hospital- 
 ity which had been extended him in the house 
 of the elder; a hospitality free from ostenta- 
 tion, but full of gentleness and delightful cor- 
 diality. 
 
 After dinner Ned came to inquire at what 
 hour his master desired to start home, and 
 was instructed to have the carriage at the door 
 at four o'clock, until which time he and Hes- 
 ter were at liberty to go where they wished. 
 
 " We don' keer nuttin' 'bout gwine no- 
 whars, thankee, Marster. Dar ain't no nig- 
 gers in dis town dat Hester an' me 'soshates 
 wid. Ef you please, we'd rudder set here on 
 de steps an' heah our white folks talk." 
 
 " All right," said the younger Marshall, 
 " you can tell Mr. Standwick something about 
 the Reconstruction times. He says you have 
 told him some remarkable stories."
 
 242 NED: NIGGER AN 1 GENTMAN 
 
 " I ain't toP him na'y thing w'ut ain't so, 
 sho' ez you bo'n, young Marstcr; an* cf I 
 was ter tell him all de devilment an' c'rupshun 
 dem carpetbaggers an' scalerwags done in 
 dis kentry, 't would tek me all er nex* week; 
 but I kin tell him *bout de jestis er de peace 
 what fotch on so much trubble an' mbdn' up, 
 wid de Vorcements he gib niggers promisk'us 
 
 roun 
 
 " Good," said Mr. Standwick, " I shall be 
 delighted to hear it." 
 
 " It may add interest to the recital, Mr. 
 Standwick," said Colonel Marshall, " to know 
 that it is true, absurd as it sounds to hear it; 
 but it is in keeping with what we have 
 endured here for weary, wearing, horrible 
 years," 
 
 " You see," said Ned, " de carpetbag Gub- 
 ner 'p'inted dat nigger jestis er de peace, an' 
 at de same time he 'p'inted er low-down car- 
 petbagger clu'k er de county cote, an' de 
 clu*k had ter sell de lisunce ter folks w'ut 
 wants ter mah'y. UT while atter dat, de 
 carpetbag legislatur' done mek a law dat all 
 de niggers w'ut was libin' tergedder ez man 
 an' wire at a suttin time shell be count ez ef 
 dey b'en mah'y reg'lar lak white folks. 
 
 "Lots er dem niggers ain't lak dat 'tall, 
 'ca'se dcy ain't lak no kin' er law w'ut gwine 
 keep 'em f ran changin' dey wifes w'en dey 
 got tyud un 'em; so dey 'gin ter sku'mish 
 'roun' how ter git loose. You see, Mr. Stan'-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 243 
 
 ick, dey don' know nuttin' 'bout dis Vorce- 
 ment bus'ness it's new in dese parts. 
 
 " I nebber heerd er but one er two Vorces 
 in all mah life 'fo' de war 'mongst white 
 folks, an' when peepul spoked 'bout dem dey 
 done it in er whisper; but dat clu'k an' dat 
 jestis sot Vo'ces ergwine de quickes'. 
 
 " De clu'k tol' de fool niggers dey could 
 go ter cote an' git er Vo'ce, an' den mah'y 
 er new wife, an' de niggers ain't had no bet- 
 ter sense dan ter go ter de jestis' cote, an' de 
 jestis an' de clu'k done fix up a scheme sich 
 ez I bet you ain't nebber heerd ob. 
 
 " He know mos' ebber' nigger b'liebes in 
 ' hoodoo ' and ' voodoo ' an' sich, so de cl'uk 
 tol' de niggers w'ut want to git 'vo'cement 
 papers dat de sperits gwine er put er cha'm 
 some'r's 'bout de cabin er in de yard ob ebber' 
 nigger w'ut de law 'low ter git Vo'ce. Den 
 he, unbeknownst ter de niggers, got er big lot 
 er glass stoppers, an' red flannin, an' ha'r out 
 en hoss tails, an' wrop de stoppers in de flan- 
 nin' an' tie de hoss ha'r 'roun' 'em ; an' den he 
 got er slick young yaller nigger depperty clu'k 
 w'ut come neah wid him w'en he fus' come 
 down dis way wid his carpetbag, ter put de 
 cha'ms in de cracks er de niggers' cabins, an' 
 in dey yard or under dey steps, an' den de 
 clu'k tell de niggers he will sen' his depperty 
 ter see ef de sperits sont any cha'm, an' ob 
 co'se de depperty kin fin' de cha'm quick, an' 
 den de nigger go an' tek. it ter de jestis ob de
 
 244 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 peace an' ax kin he gib folks Vo'cement pa- 
 pers. 
 
 " De jestis r'ar back an' say, ' Co'se I kin. 
 Ef I kin mah'y folks, don' it stan' ter reason 
 dat I kin onmah'y urn? W'ut I jine I kin un- 
 jine, cain't I? ' 
 
 " Den de nigger say, ' How much does you 
 chawge fer Vo'cement papers? ' De jestis 
 say, ' Bein's ez peepul in ginerul is twice anx- 
 'usher ter get unmah'd dan dey is ter git 
 mah'yd, I charges two dollars ter onmah'y 'em 
 an' one dollar ter mah'y 'em.' An' dat nig- 
 ger sho' done a lan'-offis bus'ness, an' de cluk 
 done de same er sellin' lisunsis. 
 
 " Some days he sell twenty pa'r, an' mos' 
 ebber' nigger in de county got Vo'cement pa- 
 pers f'um dat nigger jestis. He gin de man 
 an' de 'oman both er paper w'ut he done writ 
 on dat he sutterfy dat he done gib de nigger a 
 Vo'cement, an' dat he done stomp his seal on 
 de paper. Jes' soon ez ebber' nigger man 
 got his Vo'cement papers he brek fer de 
 clu'k's offis ter git er pa'r er lisunsis ter mah'y 
 ernudder nigger, an' so dey jes' swap wifes 
 lak folks swap hosses county-cote day. 
 
 " Dar was de wuss' changin' an' mixin' 
 up ebber you see, twell de quality-folks done 
 riz an' tek chawge ob de gub'ment an' 'lect a 
 quality gent'man an' lawyer fer jedge, an' den 
 de gran' jury 'dite de whole bunch er nig- 
 gers fer biggermy. I b'liebe dat's w'ut dey 
 call it."
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 245 
 
 " Yes, that's right," said Mr. Standwick. 
 
 " Well, sah, dey nebber was sich er time 
 er 'ditin' an' 'res'in' sence de worT bergin. 
 It look lak dey gwine ter put ebber' nigger in 
 de county in de pen'tenshy; but Marster tuk 
 er han' 'bout dat time. He tol' de jedge dat 
 de niggers ain' 'tend ter brek de law, dat er 
 low-down white man done deceibe de po' 
 fools, an' 'duce 'em ter do dat w'ut was 
 'g'inst de law, an' it would be er shame ter 
 put de ig'unt niggers in de pen'tenshy. So 
 de jedge, bein' a good man an' er fa'r man, 
 w'ut use' ter hab plenty er niggers, he nul- 
 squash all de 'ditements an' flung de cases out 
 en de cote-house; but he tol' all dem niggers 
 dey mus' tek de wifes back w'ut dey had fust; 
 an' I sw'ar dem niggers b'en swappin' wifes 
 ebber sense, an' dey ain' ska'sely got straight 
 yit. 
 
 " Some er dem nigger men 'd rudder go 
 ter de pen'tenshy dan tek dem same 'oman 
 back w'ut dey had at fust, so dey lit out an' 
 lef heah, an' ain' nebber come back yit." 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Standwick, " did you 
 patronize the justice of the peace and clerk 
 and get you a new wife, Ned? " 
 
 Ned glanced at Hester, who was appar- 
 ently listening intently for his answer, and 
 said sotto voce, with an amusing grimace, 
 "No, sah; I look eroun' er li'F bit, but I 
 'eluded I better hoi' on ter de one I got. You 
 see, boss, Hester an' me b'en mah'y lak qual-
 
 246 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 ity-folks. We mah'y in Marster's house, an' 
 de 'Piskerpul preacher w'ut you heerd ter-day 
 'form de sur'mony. I was skeered, an' it 
 look ter me lak he gwine say de whole pra'r 
 book; but he jine us too close fer any nigger 
 jestis ter onjine us, so I didn' git mix up wid 
 dem common niggers an' dey hoodoos an' 
 voodoos." 
 
 The ride home was short and delightful. 
 The splendid horses were eager to go, and 
 Ned went the farthest way through the town, 
 so, as he expressed it, " All de peepuls could 
 see how a gent'man's nigger kin drive his 
 Marster's kerridge wid his Marster an' his 
 Mistiss an' dey g'ess' in it." 
 
 The carriage had hardly stopped at the 
 foot of the front steps before a stable boy 
 was at the heads of the horses, and Ned was 
 at the carriage door, hat and whip in one 
 hand and the handle of the door in the other, 
 ready to open it and let down the steps. As 
 each one in the carriage stepped out, he 
 bowed, and when all were safely on the 
 ground he said, " Dar, now, we-all's b'en ter 
 town an' ter chu'ch an' got back safe, thang 
 Gawd. We seen Marse Hamilton an' Miss 
 Annie an' li'P young Marster, an' Mr. Stan'- 
 ick done see dat Ned's er driver fer true w'en 
 he gits his bro'd clof suit on an' his stovepipe 
 hat an' his blue silk neck-hank'cher; an' he 
 done rid behin' de two fastes' hosses, an' de
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 247 
 
 fines' in dis county; an' de peepul all seed Ned 
 er drivin', too proud ter look at common nig- 
 gers, 'ca'se he was drivin' his Marster an' his 
 Mistiss an' dey g'ess'; an' he mus'n't fergit 
 his onlies' wife w'ut rid wid him, an' wus 
 pow'ful hope up 'ca'se she did." 
 
 When supper was announced, Colonel 
 Marshall said, " Mr. Standwick, we will give 
 you a cold supper to-night, with the exception 
 of tea and coffee. We follow an immemorial 
 custom in our family, and in a large majority 
 of southern families, in never eating hot sup- 
 pers on Sunday night. Sunday afternoon 
 and night belong to the servants, especially 
 the cook, according to usage reaching back 
 beyond my memory." 
 
 "Well," replied Mr. Standwick, "I am 
 sure no apology is necessary, Colonel; and 
 then, you see, I have learned something more 
 that is new, and that is contrary to what I 
 heard and believed before I came South, when 
 I see such consideration for servants." 
 
 After supper Mr. Standwick talked at 
 length and with manifest sincerity of the 
 events of the day; the delightful hospitality 
 at the home of the younger Marshall; the im- 
 pressive service and sermon; the scene of Ned 
 and Hester at the altar of the church ; the cor- 
 diality and courtesy extended him, a stranger, 
 by all to whom he had been presented; the 
 interest of Ned and Hester in " de liT young 
 Marster," and their solicitude about him, and
 
 24 8 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 the delight and pride of Ned in his role of 
 driver of his " Marster's " carriage, and 
 every incident and feature of the day had, he 
 said, been both delightful and instructive. 
 
 The conversation, participated in by both 
 Colonel and Mrs. Marshall, continued until 
 near the time for retiring, when Mr. Stand- 
 wick said, " Colonel, it is a glorious moon- 
 light night I have rarely seen one more 
 beautiful, and as I purpose beginning my 
 return journey in the morning, I will be 
 greatly obliged if you and Mrs. Marshall will 
 go with me to the burying-ground where the 
 two young captains and your sons and daugh- 
 ter and Tom are resting." 
 
 " Certainly, we will be glad to have you 
 go, and will go with you ; and in all likelihood 
 we will find Ned and Hester there." 
 
 " I should never have supposed," said Mr. 
 Standwick, " from what I have heard of ne- 
 gro superstition, that they would ever be 
 found near a graveyard at night." 
 
 " Ordinarily they would not, and I am 
 sure they would not go to any other grave- 
 yard; but it seems to be a case where perfect 
 love casteth out fear, for there are but few 
 moonlight nights when they do not go there." 
 
 The Colonel excused himself and soon re- 
 turned, accompanied by Mrs. Marshall, and 
 the three walked slowly over to the burying 
 ground. Simple headstones marked each 
 grave, the only inscription on the single stone
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 249 
 
 at the head of the grave of the two captains 
 being 
 
 "CHARLES STANWICK, U. S. A. 
 ARTHUR STANWICK, C. S. A. 
 God Will Judge Betwixt Them." 
 
 Walking to the head of the grave, the 
 three stood for a few moments silent and un- 
 covered in the moonlight, for Ned and Hes- 
 ter were kneeling by the grave of Tom. 
 
 A mocking-bird which, as the three ap- 
 proached, was pouring forth a torrent of me- 
 lodious notes till the air was vibrant with his 
 song, ceased to sing and fluttered softly up 
 and rested a little higher in the elm which bent 
 over the graves. 
 
 Mr. Standwick stood very near to Colonel 
 Marshall, his hand resting on the arm of the 
 latter, who felt a convulsive movement of 
 the hand, which caused him to look into the 
 face of his guest, whom he perceived was 
 quivering with emotion. Suddenly Mr. 
 Standwick dropped on his knees, and resting 
 his head on his hands, which grasped the top 
 of the gravestone, cried out, 
 
 "Oh, my sons! my sons! I have found 
 your resting-place at last! Thank God, you 
 bore yourselves like soldiers and gentlemen. 
 May the peace of God be upon you, and His 
 blessings upon those who laid you to rest 
 here."
 
 250 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 Colonel and Mrs. Marshall looked at each 
 other in profound surprise, but stood uncov- 
 ered and with tear-dimmed eyes till Mr. 
 Standwick rose. When he had recovered his 
 self-control he said, 
 
 " My friends, I have not deceived you. 
 They were not my sons, but they were the 
 sons of my brother, who died in Connecticut, 
 where I formerly lived, before they were 
 born; and their mother died at their birth. 
 From that hour they were as my children and 
 called me father, though I had indeed never 
 legally adopted them; but not until last night 
 did I feel sure, or at least know, that the two 
 captains were my beloved foster-sons. Hes- 
 ter, in rearranging my room, as she did every 
 day, placed a picture of each of the brothers 
 on my writing-table for the first time. I 
 have no language to express to you the grati- 
 tude I feel for what you did for my living and 
 for my dead. Both of us have laid price- 
 less offerings on the altar of duty, and may 
 well blend our tears." 
 
 As he spoke, Ned and Hester drew near, 
 and when he had finished, Ned said, " Boss, 
 Hester an' me is sho' sorry fer you, 'ca'se we 
 gin our boy up, too our onlies' boy an' he 
 res' heah, too. I b'en er keepin' de grave 
 ob Marse Arthur an' Cap'n Chawles jes' lak 
 I kep' dose ob Marse Alf'd an' Marse Will- 
 yum, an' I gwine keep on keepin' ob it. An', 
 boss, please 'scuse me, I jes' a po' ig'unt nig-
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 251 
 
 ger, but I trusses in de promises ob de Lawd, 
 an' I know I gwine see mah boy erg'in." 
 
 " Ned, I have the same faith, and I thank 
 you for your fidelity." 
 
 " You's welcome, boss, an' but, 'scuse 
 me erg'in, sah, please; but all dem w'ut resses 
 heah gwine ter rise at de las' day, 'ca'se Mars- 
 ter read me whar de Good Book say so; an' 
 I feel lak w'en dey come, yo' boys an' Mars- 
 ter's boys an' mah boy will all be wash white 
 in de blood er de Lam'." The old negro's 
 voice grew tremulous and he bowed his gray 
 head on the shoulders of his faithful wife, 
 and his stalwart frame shook with sobs. 
 
 " Colonel Marshall," Mr. Standwick said, 
 " incidentally you spoke the other day of the 
 last communion of the two brothers. Will 
 you please tell me of it ? " 
 
 ' Yes, as we stand here by these graves 
 this lovely moonlight night I want to tell you 
 of it and of the scene I witnessed the last time 
 the two brothers were at my house. Both had 
 come alone and both were going to leave after 
 dark the same night. Both had what were 
 in a large measure independent commands, 
 and they were able by reason of that fact to 
 leave camp oftener than otherwise they could 
 have done. 
 
 " While Jean said nothing that would re- 
 veal the true state of her feeling, but even 
 struggled to resist the promptings of her 
 heart, yet that she loved Charles Stanwick
 
 252 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 was a fact she could not wholly conceal; and 
 as to Arthur, we recognized him as the ac- 
 cepted lover of our daughter. I had ridden 
 to town and was returning by the road which 
 runs near the small Episcopal church which 
 stands under the splendid oaks a short dis- 
 tance from here on the road to town. That 
 church was built before the war, when nearly 
 all who lived in this neighborhood were Epis- 
 copalians, and were people of independent 
 fortunes; and there are few churches the 
 stained windows and the inside finishings of 
 which are more impressive or artistic. 
 
 " As I drew near the church, I saw Ar- 
 thur and Lucy and Charles and Jean ap- 
 proaching from the direction of the house. 
 The church intervened and they did not see 
 me, and I waited till they reached the church 
 and entered. 
 
 " They walked slowly and talked in low 
 tones, and there was something of deep rev- 
 erence in their steps as they passed into the 
 quiet interior of the church. I dismounted 
 and followed them, and found they had gone 
 straight to the seat immediately in front of 
 the chancel, where the aged rector, as I found 
 afterward, by prearrangement, awaited them 
 to hold a specially arranged service. 
 
 " He has been the rector of the church in 
 town and of the church here for more than 
 half a century. He had in the same chancel 
 held in his arms both Jean and Lucy and
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 253 
 
 signed them ' with the sign of the cross.' He 
 is, as you saw, tall and slender, and his gray 
 hair reaches to his shoulders, and a life of 
 consecrated piety and stainless purity has 
 given to his face an almost saintly expression. 
 Just as I entered he began to read in clear, 
 musical, earnest tones that glorious composi- 
 tion, the Litany, the most expressive, eloquent, 
 and spiritual deliverance ever set forth in 
 human speech. 
 
 " The sun was just sinking from sight be- 
 hind the high hills in the rear of the church 
 and its last rays lighted the altar and rested 
 like a halo of glory upon those who knelt and 
 him who served. 
 
 " The voice of the rector seemed to grow 
 stronger as he read, and when he reached that 
 glorious passage ' By thine agony and Bloody 
 sweat, by thy Cross and Passion, by thy pre- 
 cious Death and Burial, and by thy glorious 
 Resurrection and Ascension,' there was a ring 
 of confident, exultant, triumphant Christian 
 faith in his tone; and when he had finished 
 reading that sublime service the two couples 
 approached the chancel and knelt the two 
 young women and the two soldiers, the one in 
 blue, the other in gray and there together 
 they partook of the broken body and the shed 
 blood of Him who said, ' I am the resurrec- 
 tion and the life.' 
 
 " It was a scene of wonderful beauty and 
 impressiveness, and as I stand here and think
 
 254 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 
 
 upon it I rejoice in that faith which Ned has 
 expressed in his childlike way." 
 
 When Colonel Marshall ceased speaking, 
 all the party, as if by common impulse, started 
 toward the gate, Ned and Hester walking a 
 respectful distance in the rear. 
 
 As they moved slowly away the mocking- 
 bird resumed his carol in low soft notes of 
 surpassing sweetness, which blending with the 
 moaning of the pines on the nearby hillsides 
 floated out upon the air like a requiem for 
 the souls of those who there awaited the res- 
 urrection morning.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 NEXT morning after breakfast Mr. Stand- 
 wick said, 
 
 " Colonel Marshall, I shall take my leave 
 this morning. I am loth to go, but my en- 
 gagements make it necessary. My mission 
 has ended successfully. Doubt and uncer- 
 tainty have been removed. I know now 
 where my loved ones rest, and language fails 
 me to express my gratitude to you and Mrs. 
 Marshall. God bless you both. It seems 
 to me that the events of well-nigh a lifetime 
 have been crowded into these few days. I 
 have learned much; and where I fear I har- 
 bored prejudice and distrust, I have learned 
 to admire and love. 
 
 " We have both drained sorrow's chalice 
 to the dregs. You gave two sons, and, I 
 may say with entire truth, a daughter to the 
 cause in the justice of which you believed ; and 
 you know my sacrifice. 
 
 " Each of us can yet hold to the political 
 faith we have always professed, and it is not 
 necessary that either you or I should renounce 
 our convictions or indulge in self-reproaches. 
 As long as life lasts I shall cherish the mem- 
 ass
 
 256 NED: NIGGER AN' GENTMAN 
 
 ory of your great kindness and your cordial 
 and gracious hospitality." 
 
 Ned had already gone after Mr. Stand- 
 wick's horse, and now brought him to the 
 door saddled and beautifully groomed, and 
 stood holding the splendid animal, while Hes- 
 ter and Dinah stood near, waiting to bid the 
 guest good-by. 
 
 " And," said Mr. Standwick, when he saw 
 the three, " I am also deeply indebted to 
 these faithful black people, and with your 
 permission I will give each of them a token 
 of appreciation," saying which he went down 
 the steps and advanced to where Ned, Hester 
 and Dinah stood, and bade them good-by, 
 leaving a generous gold piece in the palm of 
 each. 
 
 Ned removed his hat and bowed low re- 
 peatedly, Hester and Dinah curtsied, and 
 Ned said, " We much erbleege, boss, but we 
 didn' want no pay. We al'ays glad to wait 
 on Marster's comp'ny. You needn' er give 
 us dis gol' ter 'member you by, 'ca'se you'se 
 sho' quality-folks lak M^rster, an' we sorry 
 ter see you go. We ain' gwine fergit you, 
 an' we gwine keep de grave green an' de 
 flowers er growin'." 
 
 '* Thank you, Ned, and I'm going to do 
 something for you to which I know Colonel 
 Marshall will not object. I am going to 
 have a larger stone put at the head of your 
 boy's grave than is there now, and have an in- 
 scription put on it."
 
 NED: NIGGER AN' GENT'MAN 257 
 
 " Does you mean, boss, dat you gwine ter 
 hab some writin' cut in de stone? " 
 
 " Yes, exactly that." 
 
 " Den, boss, may I ax you ter put some 
 writin' on it w'ut I'd lak? " 
 
 " Certainly, Ned, I will be glad to have 
 carved on the stone anything you wish." 
 
 " Den, please, sah, jes' cut on de stone, 
 
 "Tom, 
 
 Ned an' Hester's boy. 
 He promise his Miss Ma'y, 
 An' he kep" his wu'd." 
 
 " I will have just those words put on the 
 stone." 
 
 ' Thankee, boss, an' God bless you. An' 
 boss, please, sah, don' fergit he kep' his wu'd. 
 Dat's de p'int." 
 
 Colonel and Mrs. Marshall had descended 
 the steps and stood near where Mr. Stand- 
 wick was ready to mount, and he turned and 
 shook hands with them, holding the hand of 
 each long in his grasp. Then he mounted 
 and started to ride away, but turned and said, 
 
 " Ned, I am younger than you are and may 
 outlive you, and if I do I intend to have a 
 stone put above your head with an inscription 
 on it, and will put on the stone whatever you 
 wish." 
 
 " Thankee, boss, you ve'y kin'," and with- 
 out hesitation or pause he added, " Jes' hab 
 it on de stone, please, sah, 
 
 " Ned : Nigger an' Gent'man."
 
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