The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 22, 1903, Page 4

THE SUNDAY CAL crowded up nearer i here wus no escape. courthuuse was cheer shook the build- it may seem T equal cothu friends idence of your ¢ pout.cs. 1r jent son manutact with the o em- of four billy g slaves wil be 1o t South is « et alone by tb and [ ne will become negroes here snt f it of happ rthright of you Be honest, hum nd every white witi over your under yo et t t i at cloth sank, and you will bec people of the South. They will be E id give you every ege you. are prepared to n who tells you that your old masters’ land will be divided among you is a criminal, or a fool, or both. If you ever own land, you will earn it in the eat of your brow, like I got mine.” “Hear dat now, niggers!” cried old Reu- ben “The man who tells you that you are going to be given the ballot indiseri: pately with which masters is a eriminal, or a fool, ‘or It is insanity to talk about the enfra chisement of a million slaves who cal not read their ballots. Mr. Lincoln, who set you free, was opposed to any such neasure. Let me read an extract from a letter Mr. Lincoln wrote me just before the wa The general drew from his pocket a letter in_the handwriting of the President and rea “My Dear Worth: You must hold the South together at all men of the In answer to the que tion yo t the equality of the races 1 a newspaper clip- ping reporting my reply to Judge Doug- s at Charleston September 18, 1858, could not r n more pla Have this red in every per in the South you can get to pri The ge paused and, turning ward t S sten Says Mr. Lincoln: I am not nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races. (Here is marked applause from Northern audience.) 1 am not ver have been in favor of making rs or jurors of negroes, nor of quali- g them to hold office,s nor to inter- marry with white people. I will say in edditiol t there is a physical differer the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality; and in- asmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together, there must be the position of the inferior and superior, and I am, as much as any other man, in favor of having the superior position as- signed to the white race.’ “This was Linc position, and is the Iw sition of nine-tenths of the voters of iis party. It is insanity to belfeve that fhe Anglo-Saxon race the North can ever be so blin can assume ar “Blavery is dead for all time. oIt would have been destroyed whatever the end of I know some of the secrets of omatic history of the Confe General Lee asked the government at Richmond to enlist 200000 negroes to defend the Bouth, which he deciared was their country as well as ours, and grant them freedom on enlistment. General Lee's request was ultimately accepted as the policy of the Confederacy, though to. late to save its waning fortunes. ot only this, but the Confederate govern- ment sent a special Embassador to Eng- land and France and offered them the pisige of the South to emanckate every slave in_return for the recognition of the independence of the Confederacy. But when the Embassador arrived in Europe the lines of our army had been so broken the governments were afraid to interfere. “The man who tells you that your oid masters are your epemies and may try to reinslave you is a wiliful and malicious liar.” “Hear dat, folks!" yelled old Reuben, as he waved his arm grandly toward the crowd. ““io the white people here to-day, I say be of good cheer. Let politics algne for a whi'e and build up your ruined homes. You have boundless wealth in your soil. God will not forget to send the rain and the dew and the sun. You showed your- selves on a red fields ready to die for your country., Now I ask you to do something braver and harder. Live for her when it is hard to live. Let cowards run, but let the brave stand shoulder to shoulder and build up the waste places till our country is once more clothed in wealth and beauty.” The general bowed in ciosing to a round of applause. His soldiers were delighted with his gpecch and his old slaves re- veled in it with personal pride. But the rank and file of the negroes were puz- zled. He did not preach the kind of doctrine they wished to hear. They had hoped freedom meant eternal rest, not work. They had dreamed of a life of ease with government rations three times a day, and old army clothes to last till they put on the white robes above and struck their golden harps in paradise. This message the general brought was painful to their newly awakened imagina- tions. As the general passed through the crowd he met the rovisional Gove: nor, Amocs Hogg. busy with the or- ganizing work of his leagues. “Glad to see you, general,” said Hogg extending his hand with a smile on his leathery face. “Weli, how are you, Amos, since Macon pulled your wool?” Never felt better in my life, general. I want a few minutes’ talk with you.” 1l right, what s 1t?” neral, youre a progressive man. Come, you're flirting with the enemy. The truly Joyal men must get togsther to rescue the State from the rebels who have it again under their heel.” Macon’s a rebel because he licked to every word. iy You know the rebel crowd are run- ning_this State,” said Hogg. vou were the biggest fool nist 1 ever saw, and Macon and stanch Union men. We had to ud nafl. You talk about Why, He Secens i were f:cht you te the truly g i es Lut, t my face turned towsrd the light.” neral, T've repented. T've ‘Yes | s Zut tiat shines in the G vernir's mansicn, I don’t deny it ‘Great men choose ater s‘n<. ambition’s mine.” Come in- th's {nicn movement with me, Worth, Le you the next Governor. u in hell first. 'No. Amos, <l'ng 1o the same breed. You o5 long am 1 meis “cold When the people had misled were being overwhelmed ruin, and it no pa.d, you ed aud became Now you're or- rucs, deserters, and sceret oath-biunud men when the war cam fought on one or the otner, becau: a .nion mau was a n, not a cownrd. if he feit h alioe h.s ftirst sol he g together cowards, longer and comm were pe It's a weak lic win.” urged H " the general ¥ turned on ius heel he ‘wheeled suddenly, anorted, and an- Betore leavi fuced Hogg a with fool societ & the wind. There'll be a liv i i am organizing too. I'm or ganizing a cotton mill, rebwidiing our Gurned factory, borrowing money from the Yansecs who licked us to buy hinery and give employment to thou- s of « i, Thats the way to save the = ‘ve got wate power envugn Lo teru the whees of the in the fight with a protectior replied H muct ilent a moment his fist Hogg's tace ething. When [ Uil to headquar morey in my wmiis and get more if I need You lay - dircy ciaws on them and I'll break neck. u sor THE MAN OR BRUTE IN EMBRYO. Two months later (zeneral Worth, while re ing his mills at I -rved on him @ summc appear the = nt of the Freedman's at Hambright and swer the of using “abusive language” to The particular freedman who desired have his fee oothed by law was lazy ung bout sixileen years whom the al had ordered ped and sent 1 the stables into on sion during the Evi- don't beat the devil!” ex- med the general. What is it?" asked the foreman. I've got to leave my work, ride on an old freight train thirty miles, pu through twenty more miles of red mud a buggy to get to Hambright, ard | four days, to answer such a charge as that before some little wizen eved sisunk of a Bureau agent. My God, il's enough to make a Union man remember Seces- on with regrets My stars, general, we can't get without you now when we are this machinery in place. Send a le growled the foreman. ‘Can’t do it, John—I'm charged a crime.” “Well, I'll swear “Do_the best you can; I'll be back in four days, if I don’t kill a nigger!” said the general with a smile. “I've got settlcment to make with the farm ha anyhow.” There was no help for it. When the court convened, and the YOUng negro saw face of his old master, red with wrath, his heart falled him. He fled the town and there was no accusing witness. ‘The general gazed at the agent with contempt and never opened his mouth in answer to expressions of regret at the fiasco. A few moments later he rode up to the gate of his farmhouse on the river hills about a mile out young fellow of 1 with irst rate, general. 'We're glad to see you, but we didn't make half a crop, sir; ihe niggers were always in town loafing aroiind that Freedman's Bureau, holding meetings all night and going to sleep in the fields.” “Well, show me the books,” sald the general as they entered the house. he general examined the accounts with are and then looked at young Allan Mc- Leod for a moment as though he had made a discovery. Young man, ‘you've done this well.” 1 tried, sir. If the niggers disputed any- thing, 1 fixed that by making the store- pers charge each item in two books, one on your account, and one on an ac- nt kept separate for every nigger.” Good enough. They'll get up early to et ahead of you.” I'm afrald they're going to make trou- at the bureau, sir. That agent's be holding Union League me ; week work growled the gen- general, 1'd like to jump on him and t the life out of him next time he comes out here!” The general frowned. “Dor’t you touch him—any you would a polecat. st now."” I could knock the mud out of him In two minutes, if you say the word,” said Ailan eager’ s, 1I've no doubt of it.” The gen- eral looked at him thoughtfuily. He wes a well knit, powerful youth, just turned his fifteenth birthday. He had red Liair, a freckled face and florid comple jon. ' His features were regular and piea ing, and his stalwart, muscular figure gave him a handsome look that impressed ¢ne with indomitable physical energy. His lips were full and sensuous, e Lrews stralght, and his high f. spoke of brain’ power as well pcwer. He had a habit of licking hi ng his tongue around in more than I've trouble enough lips and de of lus anything that pleased him from Intellectual in its suggestiveness. When he did this one could not help feel- irg that he was looking at a young well fed tiger. There was no doubt about his being alive and that he enjoyed it. His boisterous voice and ready laughter em- phasized this impression. ‘Allan, my boy,” said the general when hs had examined his accounts, “if you do everything in life as well as you did these books, you'll make a -success. “I'm going to do my best to succeed, general. I'll not be a' poor white man, I'll promise you that.” ‘ “Do you go to church anywhere?” “No, sir; Maw's not a member of any church, and it's so far to town I don't &o. “Well, you must go. You must go to Bunday school, too, and get acquainted with all the young folks. I'll speak to Mre. Durham and get her to look after you. “'All right, sir, I'll start next Sunda Allan was feeling just then in a good hu- mor with himself and all the world. The compliment of his employer had 8o elated him, he felt fully prepared to enter the ngu:hu-y if the general had only suggest- ed it The following day was appointed for a settiement of the annual contract with the negroes. The agent of the Freedman's Bureau was the judge before whom the general, his overseer and clerk of account end all the negroes assembled. If the devil himself had devised an in- strument for creating race antagonism and strife he could not have improved on this bureau in its actual workings.. Had clean handed, competent agents been pos sible it might have accomplished good. These agents were as a rule the riff-raff and trash of the North. It was the su- preme opportunity of army cooks, team- sters, fakers and broken down preachers who had turned insurance agent§. They were lifted from penury to affluence ana vower. The possibilities of corruption and downright theft were practically limitless. The agent at Hambright had been a preacner in Michigan who lost his church becavse of unsavory rumors about his character. He had eked out a living as book agent, and then insurance agent. wax a man of some education and had £lil,_tongue, which the negroes readily teok for inspired eloquence. He as- sumed greut dignity and an extraordinary sudicial tone of voice when adjusting ac- counts. Sereral Worth submitted his accounts ard ihey showed that all but six of the fifty negroes employed had a little over- drawn their wages in provisions and clothing. 1 think there is a mistake. general, in 2ese accounts,” said the Rev. Ezra Per- tins, the agent. What?" thundered the general A mistake in your view of the con- tizcts.” answered Esra in his ofliest tone, The ucgroes began to grin and nud cre another, amid exclamations of “Dar, ucw!" “‘Hear dat!"” “What Gu vou mean? The contracts are plain. There can be but one interpreta- tion. | agreed to furnish the men their supplies in advance and wait until the nd of the year for adjustment after the crops were gathered. As it is, 1 will lose over five hundred dollars on the farm." “he general paused and lovked at the azent with rising wrath. It is uscless to talk. I decide that un- Cer this contract you are to furnish sup- plies yourseif and pay your peopie their renthly wages besides, ‘1 have figured it out that you owe them a little over fif- tren hundred do ra" “ifteen hundred dollars! You fhief -1"il commit you for con- tempt of court!’ The general turned on his heel without rang on his horse, and in a few minutes alighted at the hotel. He en- sistant agent of the bu- on the step: i to see me, general?” he looking for a man—a Union oldier<not a turkey buzzard!” He dashed to the clerk’s desk. s Major Grant In his room?” sir.” Tell him T want to see him.” What can I do for you, General Werth?” asked the major as he hastened to meet him. “Major Grant, I undecrstand you are a lawyer. You are a man of principle. or you wouldn't have fought. When I meet a man that fought us I know I am talk- ing to a man, not a skunk. This greasy sanctified bureau agent had decided that 1 owe my hands fifteen hundred dollars. He knows it's a lie. But his power is absolute. I have no appeal to a court. He has all the negroes. under his thumb and he is simply arranging to steal this mone I want to pay you a hundred dol- lars 2 retainer and have you settle th the Lord's anointed, the Rev. Ezra Perkins, for me.” “With pleasure, general. And it shall not cost you a cent."” “I'll be glad to pay you, major. a decsic Such enforced against me now would »solute ruin. I can’t borrow an- “Leave Ezra with me.” ‘“Why, couldn’t they put soldlers into bureau if they had to have it, in- stead of these skunks and wolves?’ snorted the general. ““Well, some of them are a little off in the odor of their records at home, I'll admit,”” sald the major with a dry smlile. “But this is the day of the carrion crow, general. You know they always follow the armies. They attack the wounded as well as the dead. You have my heartfelt sympathy. You have dark days ahead! The death of Mr. Lincoln was the most awful calamity that could pos- sibly have befallen the South. I'm sor- ry. I've learned to like you Southerners, and to love these beautiful skies and fields of eternal green. It's my country and yours. I fought you to keep it as the heritage of my children.” The general's eyes filled with tears and the ;wu men silently clasped each other’s hands. ““Send in your accounts by your clerk. 1'll look them over to-night and I've no doubt the Honorable Reverend Ezra Per- kins will see a new light with the rising of to-morrow’s sun.’” And Ezra did see a new light. As the major cursed him in all the moods and tenses he knew, Ezra thuught he smelled brimstone in that light. “I assure you, major, I'm s “the . thing happened. My assistant all the work on these papers. I hadn’t time to give them personal attention,” the agent apologized in his humblest voice, “You're a Mar. Don’t waste your breath.” ‘zra bit his lips and pulled his Mormon whiskers. “Write out your decison now—this minute—confirming these accounts in double quick order, unless you are look- ing for irouble.” Hl}v.nl Lizra hastened to do as he was bidden. The next day while the general was seated on the porch of the little hotel discussing his campaigns with Major Grant, Tom Camp sent for him. Tom took the general round behind his house, with grave ceremony. “What are you up to, Tom?" “Show you in a minute! I wish I could ou a handsomer present, general, to you how much I think of vou. But know ver weakness anyhow. There’'s the finest lot er lightwood you ever seed.” Tom turned back some old bagging and aled a pile of fat pine chips covered rosin, evidently chipped carefully out of the boxed place of live pine trees. he general had two crochets, light- wood and water-power. When he got hold of a fine lot of lightwood suitable for kindling fires, he would ful his closet with it, conceal it under s bed, andl sometimes under his mat- L He would even hide it in his bu- reas drawers and wardrobe and take ft out in little bits llke a miser. “Lerd, Tom, that beats the world!” Afn't it fine? Just smell?” “Rosin on every piece! Tom, you cut every tree on your place and every tree in two miles clean to get that. You couldy't have made me a gift I would ap- preciate more. Old boy, if there's ever a time in your life that you need a friend you know where to find me.” “I knowed ye'd like it!” sald Tom with ‘fom, you're a man after my own Leart. You're feeling rich enough to p.ake your general a present when we are all about to starve. You're a4 man of fuith. So am 1. I say keep a stiff uppar lip and peg away. The sun still shines, the rains refresh, and water runs down hill yet. That's one thing Uncle Billy Sherman’s army couldn’t do much with when they put us to the test of fire. He cculdn’t burn up our water power. Tom, you may not know it, but I do—we've got water power enough to turn every wheel in the world. Wait till we get cur har- ness on it and make it spin and weave our cotton—we'll feed and clothe the hu- man race. Faith's my motto. I can Fardly get enough to eat now, but better times are coming. A man’s just as big as his faith. I've got faith in the South. I've got faith in the goodwill of the peo- ple of the North. Slavery is dead. They can’t feel anything but kindly toward an eremy that fought as bravely and lost all. We've got one country now and it's golng 10 be a great one.” faith's the right, “Tom, you don't know how this gift from you touches me." The ™ general pressed the old soldier's hand with feelilng. He changed his orders from a buggy to a two-horse team that could carry all his precious lightwood. He filled the vehicle, and what was left he packed carefully in his valise. He stopped his team in front of the Baptlst parsonage to see Mrs. Durham about Allan McLeod. ‘‘Delighted to see you, General Worth, 1t’s refreshing to look into the faces of our great leaders, if they are still out- lawed as rebels by the Washington Gov- ernment.” “‘Ah, madam, I need not say it is re- freshing to see you, the rarest and most beautiful flower of the old South in the do¥s of her wealth and pride! And al- ways the sam@” The general bowed over her hand. *Yes, I haven't surrendered yet.” “And you never will,” he laughed. “Why should 1? They've done their worst.” They have robbed me of all. I've only rags and ashes left general, “Things might still be worse, madam.” “f can't see It. There is nothing but svfferivg and ruin before us. Thesé ig- norant negroes are now being taught by peeple who hate or misunderstand us. by can only be a scourge to society. [ am heart-sick when 1 try to think of the future!” lhere was a mist about her eyes that betrayed the deep emotion with which she uttered tue last sentence. She was a gueenly woman of the bru- rette type with fuil face of striking beau- ty. surmounted by a mass of rich chest- nut hair. The logs of her siaves and es- tate in the war had burngd a message ¢f bitterness into her soul.® She had tie ways of that imperious aristocracy of the South that only slavery could nourish. She was still uncompromising upon every jssue that touched the life of the past. She believed in slavery as the only pos- sibie career for a negro in America. The war had left her cynical on the future of the new ‘“mulatto” nation, ‘as she cailed it, born in its agony. Her only child had died “during the_war, and this great sor- 10w had not soitened, but rather hardened her nature. Fier husband’s career as 3 preacher was row a double cross to her because it meant the doom of eternal poverty. In spite of her love for her husband and her determination with all her opposite tastes 6 do her duty as his wife, she couid not get used to poverty. She hated it in her soul with quiet intensity. The general was thinking of all this < he tried to frame a cheerful answer, ,mehow he could not think of anything worth while to say to her. So he chang- ed the subject. t Mrs, Durham, I've called to ask your interest in your Sunday school in a boy who is a sort of ward of mine, young Al- lan_McLeod.” ‘That handsome red-headed fellow that locks like g tiger, I've seen playing in the streets?” “Yes, I want you to tame him." Well, I will try for your sake, though he's a little older than any boy in my ciass. He must be over fifteen.” “Just fifteen. I'm deeply interested in him. I am going to give him a good ed- ucation. His father was a drunken Scotch- man in my brigade, whose loyalty to me as his chief was so genuine and touching I couldn't help loving him. He was a man of fine intellect and some cuiture. is trouble was ¢rink. He never could get up in life on that account. I have an idea that he married his wife while on onc of his drunks. She is from down in Robescn County, and he told me she was reluted to the outlaws who have infested thay section for years. This boy looks ‘like his mother, though he gets that red hair and those laughing eyes from his father. I want you to take hold of him and civilize him for me.” “Tll try, general, You know, I love beys.! ")\'ou will find him rude and boisterous at first, but I think he's got something in m.” “1'll_send for him to come to see me Scturday.” “Thank you, madam. love to Dr. Durham.” The next Saturday when Mrs. Durham walked Into her parlor to see Allan, the boy was scared nearly out of his wits. He sprang to his feet, stammered and blushed, and looked as though he were going to jump out of the window. Mrs. Durham looked at him with a smile that quite disarmed his fears, took his outstretched hand, and held it trem- biing in hers. “1 know we will be good friends, won't we?" I must go. My essyin,” he stammered. “And you won't tle any more tin cans to dogs, like you did to Charlie Gaston’s little terrier, will you? I like boys full of I'fe and spirit, just so they don’t do mean and cruel things.” 7The boy was ready to promise her any- thing. e was charmed with her heauty and gentle ways. He thought her the niost beautiful woman he had ever seen in the world. As they started toward the door, she gently slipped one arm around him, put ber hand) under his chin and kissed him. “f’ken was ready to die for her. It was the first kiss he had ever received from a woman’s lips. His mother was not a demonstrative woman. He never recalled a kiss she had given him. His blood tingled with the deiicious sense of this one's sweetness. All the afternoon he sat under a tree and dreamed and tched the house where this wonderful thing had happened to him. b4 CHAPTER XIL SIMON LEGREE. In the death of Mr. Lincoln, a grou of radical politicians, hitherto suppressed, saw thelr supreme opportunity to obtain control of the nation in the crisls of an approaching Presidential campaign. Now they could fasten their sche: proscription, confusion and the South. Mr. Lincoln had held these wolves .at bay during his life by the power of his great personality. But the llon was dead, and the wolf, who had snarled and snap- ped at him in life, put on his skin and claimed the heritage of his power. The wolf whispered his message of hate, and in the hour of partisan passion became the master of the nation. Busy feet had been hurrying back and forth from the Southern States to Wash- ington whispering in the wolf's ear the stories of sure success, if only the plan of proscription, disfranchisement of whites, and enfranchisement of blacks were carried out. This movement was inaugurated two years after the war, with every Southern State in profound peace, and in a life and death struggle with nature to pre- vent famine. The new. revoiution de- stroyed the Union a second time, para- lyzed every Industry In the South, and transformed ten peaceful States into roaring hells of anarchy. W : have easily outlived the sorrows of the war. 'That was a surgery which healed the body. But the child has not yet been born whoge children's children will live to see ‘the healing of the wounds from those four years of chaos, when fanatics blind- ed by passion, armed mllions of Ignorant negroes and thrust them into moral com- bat with the proud, bleeding, half-starv- ing Anglo-Saxon race of the South.. Such a deed once done, can never be undone. It fixes the status of these races for a thousand years, if not for eternity. The South was now rapidly gathering into two hostile armies under these in- fluences, with race marks as uniforms— the black against the white. The negro army was under the com- mand of a triumvirate, the carpet-bag- ger from the Neorth, the native scald- Wag and the negro demagosue. Entirely distinct from either of these was the genuine Yankee soldier settler in the South after the war, who came be- cause he loved its genial skles and kind- ly_people. Ultimately some of these Northern set- tlers were forced Into politics by con- ditions around them, and they constl- tuted the only conscience and brains vi ble in public life during the reign of ter- ror which the *“Reconstruction” regime fnaugurated. In the winter of 1866 the Union League at Hambright held a mceting of special importance. The attendance was large and enthusiastic. Amos Hogg. the defeated candldate for Governor in the last election, now the President of the Federation of “Loyal Leagues,”” had sent a special embassador to th!s meeting to receive reports and give instructions. This embassador was none other than the famous Simon Legree of Red River, who had migrated to North Carolina at- tracted by the first proclamation of the President, announcing his plan for re- admitting the State to the Unfon. The rumors of his death proved a mistake. He had quit drink, and set his mind on ter vices. . 3 In his face were the features of the dis- tinguished ruffian whose cruelty to his slaves had made him unique in infamy in the annals of the South. He was now pre-eminently the type of the ‘“truly loyal.” At the first rumor of war he had sold his egroen and migrated nearer the border land, that he might better ayold service In either army. He succeeded 'n es of revengt on doing this. The last two years of the war, however, the enisting officers - ed him bard, until finally he hit on 2 Lrilliant scheme. < He shaved clean and dressed as 4 Ger- mun emigrant woman. He wore dresses fur two years, did housework, midked cows and cut wood for a good natured 0id German. He paid his board and pass- ed for a sister, just from the oid coun- try. Wher the war closed, he resumed male attire, became a violent Union man, and swore that he had beea hounded and per- secuted without mercy by the secession- ist rebels. 2 He was looking moie at ease now than cver In his iife. He wore a silk hat and a new sult of clothes made by a fashion- able talor in Raleigh. ke wus a littie o:der looking than when he kuled Uncle Tom on his farm some ten years before, Lut otherwise unchanged. He had th- same short muscular body, round bullet Lead, light gray eyes and shaggy eye- Lrows, but his deep chestnut bristiy hair had been trimmed by a barber. His coarse thick lips drooped at the corners of his mouth and emphasized the crook in his rose. His eyes, well set apart, as of old, were bod, commanding, and flasned with the cold light of glittering steel. His teeth that once were pointed like the fargs of a woif had been filed by a den- tist. But it required more than the flle of a dentist to smooth out of that face the ferocity and eruelty sthat years of d.ssolute Labits had fixed. He was only 42 years oid, but the flabby fesh under his e d” his enormous square-cut jaw made him look fully 3. It was a spectacle for gods and men, to see him harangue that Union League in the platitudes of loyaity to the Union, and to watch the crowd of negroes hans Lreathless on his every word as the in- spired gospel of God. The only notable changé In him from the old days was in his speech. He bad hired a man to teach bim grammar and pronunciation. He had Ligh ambitiohs for the future. “Be of good cheer, beloved!" he sald to the negroes.. “A great day is coming for you. You are to rule this land. Your old masters are to dig in the fields and you art to sit under the shade and be gentlemen. Old Andy Johnson will be kicked out of the White House or hung, and the farms you've worked on so long will be divided among you. You can rent them to your old masters and live in ease the balance of vour life. “*Glory to God!" shoulted an old negro. “I've just been to Washington for our great leader, Amos Hogg. I've seen Mr. Sumner, Mr. Stevens and Mr. Butler. I have shown them that we can carry any State In the South, if they will only give you the ballot and take it away from encugh rebels. We have promised them the votes in the presidenttal election, and they are going to give us what we want.”” “Hallelyjah! Amen! Yas Law The fervent exclamations came from every part of the room. After the meeting the negroes pressed arcund Legree and shook his hand with eagerness—the same hand that was red with the blood of their race. When the crowd had dispersed a meet- Ing of the leaders was held. _Dave Haley, the ex-slave trader from Kentucky, ‘who had dodged _back and fcrth from the mountains of his native State to the mountains of Western North Carclina and kept out the armles, was there. He had settied in Ha bright and hoped at least to get the postoffice under the new dispensation. In the group was tle full biooded negro, Tim Shelby. He had belonged to the Shelbys of Kentucky, but had escaped through Ohio into Canada before the war. He had returned home with great expectations of revolutions to follow in the wake of the victorious armies of the North. He had been disappointed in the programme of kindliness and mercy that immediately followed the fall of the Con- federacy; but he had been busy day and night since the war organizing the ne- groes, in secretly furnishing them arms and wherever ‘possible he had them grouped In military posts and regularly drilled. He was elated at the brilliant propects which Legree's report from Washington opened. h.;‘celor!mlxs neWs you bring :!.Lzruther:" xclaimed as slappes the back. 2 A58 s & “'Yes, and it's straight.” ‘Did Mr. Stevens tell you so?* ““He's the man that told m. “Well, you can tie to him. He's the master now that rules the country,” sald Tim with enthusiasm. “‘You bet he’s runnin’ it. He showed me his bill to conflscate the property of the rebels and give it to the truly loyal and the niggers. It's a hummer. You ought to have seen the old man's eyes flash fire when he julled that bill out of his desk and read-it to me?" \ “'\then will he pass it?" ' “Two years; yet. He told me the fools up North were not quite ready ?ur it; and that he had two other bills first, that would run the South crazy and so fire the North that he could pass anything he wanted and hang old Andy Johnson besides."” “Praise God,” sho e N uted Tim, as he arms around L. hugged him. boari T ey Tim kept his kinky hair cut close, and when excited he had a way of wrinkling his scalp so as to lift his ears up and down like a mule. His lips were big and thick, and he combed assiducusly a tiny mustache which he tried in vain to puil out in N)l:n;lg?nlc style. e worked his scalp and ears vigorously as he exclaimed, “Tel : 1 as he 1 us the whole plan, he plan’s simple,” said Legree. “Mr. Stevens Is going to give the nigger the ballot, and take it from enough white men to give the niggers a_majority. Then he will kick old Andy Johnson out of tne White House, put the gag on the Supreme Court.so the South can't appeal pass his bill to confiscate the property of the rebels and give it to loval men and the niggers, and run the rebels out.” And .e beauty of the plan is,” sald Tim with unction, “that they are going to allow the negro to vote to give him- self the ballot and not allow the white an to vote against it, h 2 @ ca_‘l‘li a L‘l{'ud sure thing." S e m drew himself up, a sardon revealing his white teeth from ear Ilctn i;‘:’ and burst into an impassioned harangue to the excited group. He was endowed with native eloquence, and had graduated from a college in Canada under the pri- vate tutorship of fits professors. He was well versed In English history. He could hold an audience of negroes spell :f:‘::‘;;:i :ndthtl's, a;dladcny commanded the on of e boldest whi them iy ite man who gree, Perkins and Haley ch, Ta utterances and urged im ‘?:.}2.?1: @ paused as though about to st when Legree, evidently surprised and dz? nglg}éd at h's powers, sald, “Go on! Go n “‘Yes, ga on,” shouted . o %one‘wfllh rknc.e eor ey 02 reamy look came to Tim's e he Ocnnunued: gt “Our proud white aristocrats South are in 2 panic, it seems. Th:;' tfi: the coming power of the negro. They fear their Desdemonas may be fascinated again by an Othello! Well, Othello's day has come at last- If he had dreams in :]he Dast tongue dared phot speak, the ay is fast coming w 1§ A AR “The Sou as not paild the penalt ot her crimes. The work of fi:e cz}le: queror has not yet been done in this land. Our work now is to bring the proud low and exalt the lowly. This Is the first duty of the conqueror. “The French revolutionists establisheq a tannery where they tanned the hides of dead aristocrats into leather with which_they shod the common people. This was France in_the eighteenth century rlth a thousand years of Christian cul- ure. “When the English army conqu Scotland they hunted and xm.a“csifig fugitive to a man, tore from the h-mes of their fallen foes their wives, stripped them naked, and made them follow the army begging bread, the laughing stock and sport of every soldier and camp follower! This was England in the meri- dian _of ' Anglo-Saxon intellectual glory, the England of Shakespeare who was writing Othello populace. say t0 my people now in the uage of the inspired word, ‘All thirg yours!' I have been _drilling . teaching them through the Uni.n Leaguc the young and old. I have told the old men that they will be just as useful as the young. If they can't carry a musket they can apply the torch wanen the time comes. And they are ready Now Lv answer the call of the Lord! They crowded around Tim and wrung his hand. Early in 1867, two y Thaddeus Stevens p: gress his famous bill governments of the S dividing them into military franchising the whole neg aisfranchising one-fourth ot The army was sent back to the South tc enforce these decrees at the point of the bayonet. The authority of the Supreme Court was destroyed by a supplementary act and the South denied the hi of appeal. Mr. Stevens then introduced his bill to confiscate the property of the white peopie of the South. The negroes lald down their hoes and plows and began to gather in excited meetings. Crimes of violence increased daily. Not a passed but that a burning or home wrote its message of anarchy on the black sky. The negrces refused to sign any con- tracts to work, to pay rents, or vacate their houses on notice even from the Freedman's Bureau The negroes on General Worth's plant tion, not only refused to work, or mov but organized to prevent any white man trom putting his foot on the land General Worth procured a speeial order from the headquarters of the Freedman's Bureau for the district located at Inde- pendence. When the officer appeared and attempted to serve this notice, the negroes mobbed him. A company of troops were ordered to Hambright, and_the notice served again by the bureau official accompanied by the captain of this company. The negroes asked for time to hold a meeting and discuss the question. They held their meeting and gathered fully five hundred men from the neighborkood, all armed with revolvers or muskets They asked Legree and Tim Shelby to tell them what they should do. There was no vncertain sound in what Legree said. He looked over the crowd of eager faces with pride and consclous power. “Gentlemen, your duty is plain. Hold your land. It's yours. You've worked it for a lifetime. These officers here tell you that old Andy Johnson has pardoned General Worth and that you have no rights on the land without his contract. 1 tell you old Andy has no right to pardon a rebel, and that he will be hung before znother year. Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and B. F. Butler are running th! country. Mr. Stevens has never failed on anything he has set his hand. He has promised to give you the land. Stick t it. Shake your fist in old Andy John- son's face and the face of this bureau and tell them so.” “Dat we will!"” shouted a negro woman, as Tim Selby rose to speak. § “You have suffered,” sald Tim. “Now let the white man suffer. Times have changed. In the old days the white man sa to please the warlike rs after the war, el through Con destroy uthern Stat ‘John, come black my boots!” “And the poor negro had to black his toots. I expect to see the day when I will say to a_ white man, ‘Black my Loots!" ~ And the white man will tip his hat and hurry to do what I tell him."” “Yes, Lawd! Glory to Goc Hear dat now “We will drive the white men out « this country. That is the purpose of o friends at Washington. If white me want to live in the South they can be come our servants. If they don't lik: their job they can move to a more ¢ genial climate. You have Congress o your side, backed by a million bayonets. There is no President. The Supreme Court is chained. In San Domingo no white man is allowed to vote, hold office, or hold a foot of land. We will make this mighty South a more glorious San Domingo."” A frenzied shout rent the air. Tim and Legree were carried on the shoulders of stalwart men in triumphant procession with 500 crazed negroes yelling and screaming at their heels. The officers made their escape in the confusion and beat a hasty retreat to tewn. They reported the situation to Leadquarters and asked for lmstructions. CHAPTER XIL RED SNOW DROPS. The spirit of anarchy was in the tainted air. The bonds that held society were lccsened. Government threatened to be- come organized crime instead of the or- ganized virtue of the community. The report of crimes of unusual horror among the ignorant and the vicious be- gan now to startle the world. The Rev. John Durham on his rounds among the poor discovered a little negro boy whom the parents had abandoned to starve. His father had become a drunk- en loafer at Independence and the Freed- man’'s Bureau delivered the child to his mother and her sister, who lived in a cab- in about two miles from Hambright, and* ordered them to care for the boy. A few days later the child had disap- peared. A search was Instituted, and the charred -bones were found in an old ash heap in the woods near this cabin. The mother had knocked him op the head and burned the body in a drunken orgle with dissolute companions. The sense of impending disaster crush- ed the hearts of thoughtful and serious people. One of the last acts of Governor Macon, whose office was now under the control of the military commandant at Charleston, South Carolina, was to lssue a proclamation, appointing a day of fast- irg and prayer to God for deliverance from the ruin that threatened the State under the dominion of Legree and the ne- groes. It was a memorable.day In the history of the people. In many places they met in the churches the night before and held all-night watches an5 prayer meetings. They feit that a pestilence worse than the black death of the middle ages threaten- ed_to extinguish civilization. The Baptist church at Hambright was crowded to the doors with white-faced woAxgmta;t)d sol{ro:tul men. ou o'clock in the morning, o and haggard from a sleepless u‘;h!"c‘;t prayer and thought, the preacher arose to address the people. The hush of death fell as he gazed silently over the audi- erce for a moment. How pale his face! They had never seen him so moved with passions that stirred his inmost soul. His first words were addressed to God. He @id not seem to see the people befors him. “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. “‘Before the mountains wers brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even téom everlasting to everlasting thou art The people instinetively bowed their heads, fired by the subtle quality of in- tense emotion the tones of his voice com- municated, and many of the people were elready in’ tears, “Thou_turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men. b o knowest the power of thine an- ger? “Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. “‘Beloved,” he continued, “it was - mitted unto your fathers and mxm and children to dip for their country. You must live for her in the black hour of de- spair. There will be no roar of guns, no long lines of gleaming bayonets, no duh of pageantry or martlal musie to stir your souls. “You are called to down, man, alone, naked and unarmed in oy blackness of night and fight wi xm;m of helll lo; y'i.‘j" mwu'unon.m Ao “You must look this ques in the face. You ate fo b;’o;‘u:'q z‘f,""x’.: supreme test. You are to stand at the judgment bar of the ages and make good your right to life. The attempt {s to be deliberately made to blot out Anglo-Sax- f;:n society and substitute African barbar- Continued Next Week,