The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-03-06

books, and were entirely ignorant of the
fairy stories on which the children of civil
cation are brought up. They had an idea
that Yankees were fierce, cruel animals
from which they would run on sight, for
they had killed the y father. Their ideas
of religion were vague and would horrify
an orthodox Sunday school. They firmly
believed in ghosts, and Min, the girl, as
Srred US, with much sincerity in her voice
and awe il her big gray eyes, that one
night, when she was searching for COW
in the "harrican" she saw two ghosts,
and they looked inst like Yankees or dew
lis" She was very sure that in the heart
of the swamp there lived a rabbit "a heap
sight bigger'n boss, and he don't never
come out, 'cept when some ones gwine to
die Eff it's old pusson he crawls kinder
slow, an eff it's young one he skips round
powahful lively, an wouldn't think nothin
of jumpin clar ovah de harrican."
Min further informed me that she was
"goIn to git married. when she was nigh
bout sixteen, eff so be the Yankees don't
kill of all the men," And she seemed quite
com orted wnen l told her that l had no
wife, and that | might come down to see
her again when l got my best clothes and
she nigh bout sixteen" Since that time
l have played with the children OF the Nav
aioes, Utes and Mojaves in their own vii
lagos, and found them quite as enlightened
as these interesting little white savages of
the South Carolina pine lands.
Late in the afternoon Mr. billiard re-
turned, bringing writing materials and also
a butternut coat, which in addition to being
several sizes too large had seen service be-
fore. That night two men, who looked
enough like Mr. billiard to be his twin
brothers, came to the house, and we found
them like our host very much down on
/ the Yankees, and still more bitterly OPP
posed TO the war and the men VINO brought
it on. They had vague stories about great
battles in Georgia ana Virginia, and a man
over at Allendale had told Mr.. billiard that
Lincoln was killed. This information was
thought to be reliable, as the man who told
! it had seen it with his own eyes" in q
! Columbia paper.
| One of these men was decidedly original
1 in his way, anG be gave US an idea which
we subsequently carried out to our great
advantage. He seemed 10 have particu-
! lar hatred for the men who had been eX-
empted from army duty because OF theil
negroes.
tEf so ben he said, as near as can re
! cal, 81 was a maxim fo' the Blue Ridge,
wouldn't go neah no large towns like
! 'Gusta, fo' thems chuck tull of teller,
playin sojers. I'd stick to the country. II
find out what plantations had the bes
, bosses or mules, and as [ prefer TO ride
rather tlan 10 Walk. la 40 as mOSL S01er
do, an that is take a crltter when l wanted
one. Of course it wouldn't be wise to hans
on to the same critters. but change of
every chance.
This man was regarded by his friends a
a great traveller. He had been down tn
river to Savannah, and he had also made
trip in his younger days ''way out to Pick
ems" which was the extreme northwestern
corner OF the state. We talked far into tn
night, and the next morning Bell and my
self, in excellent health and spirits, bad
farewell 20 Mr.. billiard and his interesting
family.
We had rude map of the roads leadin
to Aiken, and we were assured by Mr.. Dill
lard and his friends that if we kept on tn
tracks indicated and did not put up at tn
larger plantations that we might trust tn
poor whites, so they was our own kind c
folks" This advice was certainly goot
and acting on it we passed through Aiker
Edgefield and into the Abbeville distric
We met many deserters on the way, an
the men with whom we spoke were all COZ
WINGED that the south was whipped. If tn