St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-03-18
BLACK RATES. DEVOTION.
How an Old Dominion Darkey Saved
His Mistress.
PLOT OF THE ovERsEER.
Merry Making at an 0ld-Time Virginia
Wedding Cut Short by a
TRAGEDY.


dolph were busy at work on the high
way one August day repairing the
broken places and evening up the
Lynchburg road, as customary with all |
the planters who preferred paying their |
taxes by deed rather than by money. |
Not that the road was especially bad, |
for as Virginia roads 60 it was in
tOlerably fair condition for a locality |
where even yet one meets more travel
ers on horseback than in vehicles, |
mt the taxes had to be worked out,
and the darkies shoveled and dug in the
perfunctory way common to all human
beings who do not feel the anlmuS OF |
pay or recompense to reward their
efforts. AS they worked they kept time
with the cadenceS OF song or chant.
Who that has heard that wild. weird
work song of the Southern slave can
ever forget it? Without words, without
meaning, rising in stentorian accents
an anon sinking into mellow tones,
always changing, yet ever the same, the
uncouth lips frame the sounds uncon-
sciously. and to the listening ear, not
unpleasantly. To-day, as the noOntide
hour drew near, the men ceased their
labors at the voice of the OverSeer,
and sat down by the wayside to
eat the food brought from the dis
tant huts by boy. Their master, unlike
his OverSeer, was not harsh, and had al
ways permitted the men to have an III
terval of rest at midday. Now they
threw themselves fiat on their backs,
and without even their hats to protect
them from the burning sun, went fast
to sleep, careless and with that abandon
which cl aracterizes men without pur-
pose. Even the tramp of hoofs did not
arouse them, and when the riders drew
near only the Overseer and the county
supervisor were awake to greet them.
The travellers were youth ard lady,
the former handsome. proud and re-
fined-the persOniticatiOn of the gentle
man of the Old Dominion-the girl
Shapely and fair glowing with the eX-
erclse of the gallOp from which they
Lad Just refined their horses.
The girl nodded to her fathers over
seer, the young man cast a careless
glance to the idlers, aud, touching up
their horses, the twain disappeared
| down the road in the direction of the
mansion. For a moment neither of the
men spoke. Then the supervisor said,
mighty pooty gal. that
Eyes, and by c." calculated the
| other. 'as vain and stuck up as pretty.
| That fellow with her, the hound, has
turned her silly head. See here, Sam,
| I'm list about tired of this, and I'm
| goin' to leave the locality, but when l
| 90 reckon to even up with the old man
! and take some one with me-"
! The two became deeply absorbed in
| low conversation, in which the over
seer did most of the talking, apparently
| striving earnestly to persuade his com
| pani0n to agree with his views. In
! their preOccupatiOn they forgot entirely
the presence of the colored people, and
| il was only when the OVerseer, provoked
| at some remark of his companion, made
| load. angry reply they recollected their
| surroundings and glanced uneasily at
| the recumbent figures. The darkieS
were apparently all asleep, and, with a
sigh of relief, the overseer drew a
whistle from his bosom and blew a
shrill blast, which brought every
| one to his feet in an instant.
The slaves had learned by sore
| experience not to delay when
| the signal was heard. Cursing rOundly
| at their hardness. the overseer set them
at their task some distance away, and
resumed conversation with his compan-
| ion. The slaves recommended their
wailing chant, but one stalwart negro
did not join in the refrain. He fingered
near the white men, laboring by the
roadside doggedly and to appearances
obliviOus of all but his occupation. His
| eyes, bent downward, flashed, however,
and his muscles twitched, as he list
| ened unbeknOWn to the plot being con-
| cocted between the worthless near by.
"Biack Rafe." as he was called far and
wide, on account of his intensely dark
skin, was no more fav0rite of the
oUorCoar than fhn white ta SE master was
| of the slave.
Sharp, the overseer, was well aware
| of the cause of the Negroes stubbOrness
| and ill-concealed vindlctiveness toward
| him. and while he laughed Scornfully
! at the warnings of his associates, he
nevertheless felt insecure when alone
with the giant negro, although
he hid his fears under
cloak of redoubled harshness and
| i'll treatment. He knew that
Rafe had sworn to avenge the wrongs of
the slave girl Mary, and on this account
he had frequently endeavored to per-
suade the planter to sell Rafe to some
Alabama or Mississippi dealer, so
that he might forever be rid of his pres
ence. Noone but Sharp had any fault
to find with Rafe. and his master
had flouted the idea of parting
with him. To all but Sharp Rafe was
kind. gentle and Obedient Among the
darkies' cabins Rates was the one at
which the men and women loved to
meet in the evening, and the slaves be-
lieved in him to the uttermost. Rates
influence was strong among the slaves,
as Sharp we'll knew, and the OVerSeer
had on a number of occasions deemed it
discreet to be somewhat less severe
upon his despised foe when seeing the
glitter in the eyes of the others.
So until the distant farm bell sounded
the evening summons for their return
the negroes toiled on the road, and the
white men schemed and plotted by the
wayslde, the Sullen Nemesis lettering
not far away eagerly drinking III every
word ne could hear.
There was a grand party at the man.
sion. Old Virginia hospitality was be-
ing OutpOured upon friends and neigh
bors of the Fairdolphs in honor OF the
daughter, Anita. For days the prepare
lions had been going on: all the female
slaves had been called to the house, and
the old black nanny who had charge
OF the kitchen was in glory OF pies,
cakes, roasts and fruits. When Anita
trespassed upon the domain of the cook
she was gently and firmly, albeit re-
Spectfully, pushed out of the door, amid
the snickering OF the plckanlnnies and
the wide grins of their elders. But now
: the day of the great event had come,
and from the middle of the afternoon
| until dusk quaint old carriages had
, been rolling up the drive and deposit
ing their loads of blooming maidens and
beaming matrons upon the stOop, while
gallant brothers, lovers and husbands,
on their favorite steeds, accompanied
them. AS the old fiddler and his as
, sistants entered, smiling and scraping,
what hum of expectancy ran through
the assemblage! The youths and
: the maidens gathered in knots, the
, children came trooping in from the
1 kitchen from the tatfy-pull, and even
: the old folks twisted around in their
: seats, the better to enjoy the music.
r Swift ran the hours away amid such
l scenes! The whirl of the dance, the
: animated conversation, the babble of
: the little ones, filed the house with a