Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-02-24

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"You hare another C1nlt9" ne asserted
rather than Questioned.
The ..oversoer" class of the south in
antebellum days constituted as distinct
a grade as can be found in any country
where birth, not wealth, is the standard
Of re,pectahility. From the higher class
their emplOyers-they We're removed
by ignorance and poverty; from the
lower-their charges-by race instinct.
There was no antagonism between the
] inhabitants of the large house where the
proprietor lived aud the inhabitants of
the small house ip'whlch dwelt his prime
minister, such as appears to exist be-
tween the rich and poor of other sections.
Nor was there any effort on the part of
he upper class to keep the lower down
d to hinder members of it from acquir-
ing knowledge or property. On the con-
5rary, there existed between the two
great amity and friendliness, and in
| some instances, where the tie was of
| long standing between employer and
! employed, Il sort of feudai feeling which
led the one to yield protection and cor
dial liking, and the other an admiring
respect and loyal. if lazy, service.
| 1t Is no uncommon thing even vet in
the south to hear one man say of an
other: I've knowed him all my life.
My father was his fathers overSeer way
back in slavery times They are right
| down clever pee &c. his folks are: we
allus liked 'em.il ,lty we'll" The liking
was generally mJuIl; and that the
"Overseer" class @. tie south remained
80 long. and remain still in great
measure. III a lower position is due partly
to their own willingness, partly to the
| labit of subordina on
Across the ravir, from the Beverley
mansion, beyond u little stretch of
woods, stood q settlement of cabins
which had formerly been occupied by
slaves belonging to the estate Some of
the houses had fallen into partial or to-
tai ruin, but a few were still inhabited
as was shown by the curling smoke as
rending from their chimneys. Above
them, nearer the crest of the hill. stood
the overseers house-a neat building of
hewn logs with rough porch in front,
and still III good state of preservation.
1t had been occupied by family of
white tenants at the time when this por-
ton of the Beverley plantation passed
into other hands: but the LAWYER. in
obedience to instructions received from
the new proprietor, had moved them
out and had the house done up a little.
Not that Ned Anthony cherished any
sentiment cOnncy ed with the house in
which he had been born; on the con-
trary, he considered i emphatically "a
dog hoie;;" but he was practical fellow
and well used to roughing it, and
thought that the 'old shanty' would do
we'll enough to live in for a month or so
while he should run up decent house;
that Is, if he should decide to make any
sojourn III Virginia.
| Anthony stood i'll one of the rooms,
whistling softly and looking about him
one morning about a week after the
night on which he hao renewed his &C
| quaintance (as he thought) with his old
| playfellow through the parlor window.
The next day he had gone down to Rich
mond to order some things he needed for
his temporary establishment and to talk
to contractor about putting up a house
ON the ranch" for year OF so. He was
not a man that ever let the grass grow
| under his feet.
Standing in the middle of the old
room, the past got hold of him some
| how and pushed its way through the
| hard crust of the outer man to the sane
tuary which even the toughest of us
keep somewhere about our anatomy for
the refuge of a few tender associations
our youth. our homes and mothers the
| girl perhaps, whose eyes gave us our first
| heartache.
Old Mrs. Anthony had not been in any
way show figure. She was tall and
| spare of limb, and slow of speech and
! gait; her eyes were sad, and her thin,
sallow face had rather Il mournful ex-
preston. She Wore rough clothes and
kerchief folded cornerwise over her
| grizzled hair, and smoked a corncob pipe
in the intervals of her labors; but she
was good woman, faithful, dutiful
wife and devoted and self sacrificing
mother, kind and gentle and patient,
and indulgent to her offspring, as women
of her class usually are Her son-her
youngest born-had loved her, and it
was of her alone he was thinking as he
stood by the hearthstone and looked at
the corner where her spinning wheel
and her old split bottoined rocking chair
used to stand. Poor old mother! if she
could see him now, standing there,
wealthy, educated, we'll dressed, hon
ored among men and owner of the old
plantation on which they had lived as
servants!
OF the saturnine, long haired father,
and the five lank. slab-sided brothers,
the problem of whose useless existence
it had taken a civil war to solve, he
thought little. He had not cared for
them greatly, and it was no distress to
him to know that they were dead. But
his mother was different. She had been
the one human creature he had loved I'M
selishly-besides little Mary Beverley.
/ IL of Of l.,