Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1859-03-12
istellanepus.
ONE OF THE IF. F. vs..

Ah III WIN u BeHtleuihu " " We "c't
as to the decay OF antilles with great nance, he
mentioned a ~neighbor Of his by way of illustrationi
and on my expressing a curiosityt to see GO marked
nm instance of oblivious life, he kindly offered
while my companions were called elsewhere, to
be my guide, as well as to furnish the excuse for q
visit. OF course, in describing an incident Of this
hind, / can give neither place nor name, so | will
merely designate the object of our curiosity as
Mr.. X, and my ~obliging guide as Mr.. a.
Furnishing ourselves with sticks as a defence
against the savage dogs that were known to guard
the premises, we left the public road and took our
way across several rudely fenced lots, the only ac-
cess to his dwelling being 10y thus climbing the
rails and striking a bee line for the distant cbim'
ncy. OF the cd family estate we we're thus cross
ing, and which consisted OF a hundred acres or
more, no reasonable sum would probably buy any
portion. The present tenant and holder OF the
name lone of the most aristocratic) manages, after
his fashion, to live upon it and oil he wants, Of
the remainder Of creation, is to sell just so much
Of the yearly produce Of the estate as will furnish
him with what he requires Of the un.gotforn moth
iDg-ables of life-cofee, sugar, Niskey, etc, etc.
Coming first to a lettering old moss.covered
barn, VIC rounded one Of its leaning corners, and,
in the %cow'yard beyond stood a ragged litsle dried
up man, of perhaps fifty years of age. with his
HANDS in his pockets, looking on while a couple Of
negroes counted out some potatoes. He hardly
gave US a glance over his shoulder as he sluggish:
ly returned our salutation but, on Mr.. AS in
curing whether Mrs. X. had any dried apples to
spare (which my friend knew was her bank of
pin'money, and which be had made our ostensible
errand, SO as to get a sight of the interiorl, we
were briefly told that we should find her at the
house the slow eyes, perfectly satisfied with this
halflook at bis n~eighbor, returning then to the po-
satee heap.
There had once been a mansion on the place If l
understood rightly, but it had long ago tumbled
down and served for "kindling". There were no
signs Of it remaining-or none, at any rate, that
our 6ghs with a large black dog, as we neared the
smoking chimney. allowed us time to OBSERVE
The hut that we were now approaching was one OF
three or four, standing together, and built OF logs,
plastered in the crevices with mud. Ii was orig
inally, probably one of the slave cabins Of the
estate. The door was open, and, as it served also
for the only window, the picture within was at first
rather imperfect. / could see, however that a
woman sat upon her heels in the middle of the
floor, and, as my friend reached the Threshold,
she said walk in"-not rising, however, and go'
lug quietly Vi win neT u VI tOEtluR u uthp u
vegetables which lay before her.
By the time l had looked around for a seat (for,
from the lowness Of the roof, ! could not stand
~upright), the old man had followed US in and, as
he stirred up the smouldering logs, in a fire place
which occupied one wi ole side OF the hut, l be-
gan to sec more clearly. An old .fashioned brass,
mounted cabinetbureau, with a shoping top, two
or three remaipders Of chairs, and a cofee,mill
nailed On the inside of the FIRE. place. were all the
furniture visible; the double bed in the corner be.
ing only a bundle of rags. and a rough board
bench, near the door, holding a most unclean va
riety of cooking utensils. Up against the wall,
near the head of the bed, was a Pile of c~abbages,
and there were two or three separate heaps of po-
tasoes and turpips lying around. from which it
seems to be the old woman's task Of the afternoon
to make an assortment. One lifted board of the
aoor showed a hole, two or three feet deep, and in.
to this she emptied her basket, from time to time,
without rising from her squatting posture. Hers
seemed to be all tie energy Of the establishment
for, as she repeated her commands to the old man
to 90 out and bring in an armful of pine'tassels to
overlap the vegetables in the hole, his remcnst-a'
tive "lOok year child !" (the word here. south Of q
certain latitude, being commonly pronounced like
year,, and his lingering unwillingness to leave the
fire, were very expressive. you never was yea'
before" he said to me, as he gave me O most in
quisitive look, in passing cut upon his errand.
With ,he opening Of the subject of dried apples
Mrs, X. rose for the first time to her feet, and
saw that she was quite q tall, straight woman, Of
perhaps forty years of ugc. She walked to the
bsd and pulled APP the eoverlid, drew out o lopl
dirty meal'bag, united the mouth of it, aud, pro
ducinp n handful of tho cOmmO1ifv- offered ne
taste. Had the first apple been presented by 81
uaclean a hand, our FIRST parent, l venture to say
would never have fallen! Yet, as she held GU
the dirty fingers to me, she stood facing tho door
where l could see her very distinctly, and l wa
surprised to see how fine were her features an
how large and really beautiful were her eyes,
The look Of q born lady" was unmistakable.-
But the dirt on that well moulded face was
cracks and seams. and it was evident that waite
was habituslly a stranger to it! She had a quill
ed hood of greasy locking brown calico tied unde
her chin, and a high 'neeked dress made of a SOL
of tow. cloth, which looked as if it might hav
been for years the cold 'victual bag of q beggar.-
And with all this dis6guring drapery and dirt,
could not but be impressed with the entire al
sence of plebianism in her air. Taken and VI
Herculaneumed from her dirt. put through
Turkish sbampoonipg or two, dressed like a duel
ess, and standing just as she stood when handin
me those dried apples, she would have looked tn
title! Tie wiihered face of the dry little old mai
A'so, showed features that had once been reguls
and delicate. though they were ludicrously carlo
tHred by the narrow trimmed hat which be wore
dress beaver which had been gradually RACED till
was about the depth of a soup plate. while the to-
sewed in with coarse thread, let his hair throug
at the cracks. His other clothes seemed 10 hs'
been condemned to 10 worn till they should 70, o
and were very near the end Of their purgatory.
We left the howell at the close of q bargain, b
tween my friend and the old woman, for "a bush