The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1877-07-20
Married on Horseback,

did not give occasion for half so much
attention and trouble as her only daugh-
ter, Kate.
The mother was vigorous specimen
of her sex, broad and ruddy, used to
being up early of mornings, with a
voice which could be heard and felt
from "the grit house." as the mansion
of the white folks was called, to the
quarters" where the blacks lived. 1t
was little her slaves cared for their
overseer in comparison. For cole Miss
Kate''-the mothers name being the
same as the daughter's-theyd did care.
She was the highest ideal of energy of
which they could form any conception,
and of sleepless watch also, so far as
smoke-house, corn-crib, poultry-yard,
eOtton-gin, press or field was concerned.
Pallas Athene was vaporous phantom
to the Athenians as tutelary deity, in
comparison to Mrs. Ryle in the eyes of
her subjects. She was their supersti-
ton. If she did not see everything,
know everything, hear everything, do
everything on the plantation, it was
impossible for the whitest-headed old
Cudjo on the place to suggest the excep-
tion. Never sick herself, never off the
grounds, apparently never asleep, she
worked harder than the hardest-worked
''the smartest boy" of them all in "the
rush of the season." when the last
handful of cotton was to be got in and
the last bale of the crop to be pressed.
She was present at every birth among
the blacks, doctored all their sick, cut
and had made under her own eyes all
their clothes, saw in person to all their
food, directed the least details of every
funeral. Any idea of a Providence be-
yond "ole Miss Kate" on their part
was vague to the last degree.
But Kate, the daughter-and she had
no son-was ten times the trouble to her
of all her place and people. At eighteen
the lesser Kate gave assurances of fill
ing up, in fullest measure, and in due
time the utmost outlines of the older
and larger Kate. 1t was her having
neither husband nor son to do it for her,
which had so developed the mother,
compelled to manage her large property
herself
Now, Kate the younger had gradually
secured to herself the exclusive care of
so much of the possessions of her mother
as came under the head of "the stock"
A serious charge it was, requiring and
wonderfully developing all the energies
of this duplicate of her mother. The
plantation rolled its acres, upon one
side, along "river-bottom," the waxy,
black soil of inexhaustible fertility for
cotton and corn, wherever the pecan
trees, with their wagon-lOad of nuts in
the season, had been girdled or cut
down for the crops. On the other side
of "the grit house." which stood upon
a ridge above chills and fever the sur
face spread in billows, as of the heav-
ing sea, to the horizon, one wide wealth
Of hn nd +
grass, over which roamed at will the
horses and cattle. This was the undis-
puted domain of Kate Ryle the younger.
Every spring she saw to the ingathering
and branding of the calves and colts,
hundreds at a time. The milking and
making of butter and cheese at the
spring-hOuse, where water was abund-
ant, were her cares. All this demanded
early rising, to say nothing of being al
most always in the saddle and on the
slope" 4. e., a long gallOp, over the
prairies after willtul cows or wandering
mares and colts. Very little time had
Miss Kate for French or novels. She
had piano, but did not open it once a
month. Her knowledge of crocheting
was as vague as her dates in history,
but then she was splendid sight to see
on horseback, with her floating hair
and glowing cheeks and radiant eyes;
for oh, there is nothing in the world so
delightful as the open air and the green
grass, and the swift riding of that para
disc of climate.
But Satan entered into this paradise
also. Tom Raffies was the son of a
neighboring planter. Seeing what
came of it in the end, do not know
how it could have been helped. The
growing of the grass, the frisking of the
calves, the wild careering of the colts
with flying names and tails in the ex-
hilarating sun and wind was not more
an inevitable process of nature. Hav-
ing to care for his stock, very often
Obliged to separate his and hers, when
their "brands'' got mixed up on the
open prairies, it was impossible that
Tom and Kate should not often meet,
and meeting, it was impossible they
should not have loved. The brilliant
atmosphere made it wholly impossible
that their spirits should not have
foamed and sparkled in it like cham
pagne; being so happy together, very
often Looping side by side in search of
strayed cattle, too, it was utterly impos-
sible, insist, that what followed should
not have followed.
Kate herself told me all about it,
"How could Tom help our men mar
rylng among his women z" she said to
me. "MOther got mad, because she
hated to have our hands going off to
their wives houses on his place; but I
wonder if their men were not coming to
their wives houses on our place ?
Mother told Tom he must stop it, but
how could he? She has got so used to
telling the people on our plantation
what they must and must not do, and
being minded, that she thinks the very
stars must do as she says"
And that was the way Kate happened
to spend those three winter months
with US. We lived in a town a days
journey distant from the plantation,
and had spent many delightful day
under Mrs. Ryle's hospitable roof; and
without word to us she sent Kate to
be our guest, so as to get her away from
Tom. 1t is amazing to me that so SEN
sible a woman should have been so stu
pid. True, Tom never entered the
house, but then l got letters for her all
the time out of the office; and why Kate
was so fond of long walks almost every
afternoon I never knew, beyond her
telling me that she was so accustomed
to exercise in the open air that if she
did not go out she would die. have
an impression that the mother thought
that my being a minister was remedy
for her daughters malady-that there
mos n nrfra 81,