Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1868-09-10
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. The old housekeeper-shen thetpop Of, 9eR
gels" departed-xas rejoicsd in finding ths houss
once more deaf II hos6le soldiers They had beer
q terror to her, and she felt that she had escaped
hanging, at their hands by the skin Of her teeth.
She had BEEN reared UP u the belief that there
was nothing piler Or more 10 be Stunned than q
yankee" There was snesil odor about the very
name that caused the gorge Of the old woman to
rise wheneverthe word was heard She had been
more than once cheated BY yankee peddlers, and
her anathemas had been freely and oftea poured
out upon the whole tribe. Itswas q Fundamental
part of her creed that no one could have any deal
ings with them and prosper in either SOUL body OF
estate. Some years before, one Seth Robinson, a
yankee peddler, had imposed upon her sundry ar
tcles that upon actual trial failed, most signay,
to justify his glowing encomiums, and greatly dis
appointed the sanguine expectations of the old
housekeeper. The bright hues Of his cottonh&nd-
kerchiefs-in which she had made liberal invest
ment, with the intention Of converting them INTO
head gear for gala days, which should outshine all
around her-upen the frst application Of soap and
water, faded into dingy brown that went TO her
heart. His tin pans failed to stand single baking
of chicken pie, aud the first rainy day, his shoes
went into a state of dissolution, leaving behind
them fragments Of leather and highly sized brown
paper, upon which she looked with absolute dis
may. From this time the term yankee, in the vo-
cabulary of the old. .housekeeper, was the synonym
of everything that was vile and hateful She
never heard of battle in which the enemies OF
the Confederacy were beaten, without blessing her
stars for the good news, and uttsrng afervent hope
that Seth may have been there to get his share OF
the AageIlation. She had been the nurse Of her
present owner, and when Colonel Tom Danvers was
brought back to the old family mansion upon q lit
ter, wounded and unable to stir, her hatred Of the
yankee name was intensified. Previously to this
time, she would have contented herself with bera-
ting race who went about selling handkerchiefS
that would not wash, and shoes with sols of brown
paper badly pasted together, but since the misfor-
tune that had befallen s'young mass Tom, . as she
continued to call him, nothing short of hanging
and quartering the objects Of her hate, would have
served her turn The events Of the. night had
shown the yankees" in new character. For the
first time they inspired her with terror as well as
hatred. Theirinsolence and rudeness IN the house,
while "Mass Tom was lying there unable to turn
himself in bed, astonished as much terrified her,
Every closet, chest, and trunk was rumsged, and
the contents tumbled about on the floor in thewid-
est disorder She was overwhelmed at the confu-
sion in which she found the house on their depart
ure, but like diigent and orderly housekeeper,
she went promptly to work to set things to rights
at once. ,r.. --..'.. -.. --.-;..... :z ..s. ..
We have said that every closet had been searched,
yet in good truth, there was one which, somehow
or other, had been passed by unnoticed- Lying
between the rooms on the front md those on the
rear of the house, it opened upon the passagezby
door that had nothing to distinguish it from the
wall around, save the mere hole through whichthe
key found an entrance into the lock. 1t occupied
a space between the two bedrooms below, equal to
the thickness of the huge double chimney that
limited its length. Demjohns, of rare wines and
old liquors, were ranged on the floor under the
shelves, and jars of choice pickles, fruits preserv-
ed in sugar, and other such dainties, crowded the
well filed shelves. A wel-browned turkey and an
old ham, which had been taken from the dinner
table almost untasted, had been consigned to the
ample shelves of this closet to be brought into re-
QUESTION again on the morrow. o:@ --. =
Being the one place in the house which had es-
capped visitation and search, old Hannah felt dis
position to relieve her troubled thoughts by aview
Of its orderly shelves, which might remind her Of
the halcyon days Of domestic quiet and order when
it seemed in her eyes species Of proclamation, te
suffer even chair to stand displaced, or scrap
of cloth to rest on the floors of the neatly kept a.
partments. With candle in hand, she selected 9
key from her pocket, and throwing open the door,
stood surveying, with complacent satisfaction, the
one portion of her realm in which no disturbance
had occurred. "
'sBress de Lord all safe here yet r. calculated
old Hannah, in the fnllness of her gratitude "Jus'
as I leave EN- If de lying and cheating yankees
been find dis closet, they wouldn't ner lef enuf te
bait rat trap De Lord make 'em blind, and dc
Aamin' sword keep dem back from comm in
Dere's de turkey roasted 50 brown, and dere's d.
ham dat young Mass Tom hardly taste for dinner
all ready for tomorrow. De pickles and de pre-
serves all here too Bless de Lord, We amt quite
broke up yet"
While the old woman still stood at the open doc
Of the closet, complacently contemplating the vel
filed Shelves the sudden firing Of musketry, at tn
head of the avenue, fell upon her startled ears, AM
came near causing her to let the candle fall from
her trembling hands Without taking the ke!
from the lock, or even closing the door, she hasti
lyretreated to the rear of the passage, and enter
ing bed chamber on the right hand, deposited
her lamp upon table and covered down in COZ
ner until she was summoned, by Nellie, to th'
chamber of Colonel Danvers, to aid Victor in put
ting off his disguise. On her return, she seatet
herself on the steps at the foot Of the stairway
and not deeming herself quite safe even there, sh
passed through the back door of the passage int
porch, on the rear of the house.
The old woman was alarmed by the recent firing
and not wishing to be caught if theyankees shoul'
again return-for her experience Of their visit wa
bitter one-she descended the steps Of the porcl
and finally took refuge under thesteps themselves
Minute after minute went by, and with every sount
+bot roocbod her aars tho beart If the nld womaI