The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-06-27
CHAPTER XXIII.

As was stated IN a previous chapter,
Captain Wyle'e company, along with
others, had been returned to the valley
and placed under the orders of General
Imboden. LIE Baxter and the others
captured at Kernstown had rejoined the
company when exchanged. Ike felt
more than ever that Royal Kenton was
an enemy he must get rid Of, and Cap
tain Wyle encouraged this feeling in
various ways, though never openly and
directly committing himself. On two
occasions Ike had been granted leave of
absence to visit his wife. Both times
he had met her secretly.
The spirit which animated this hum
BILE twain will surprise only those who
have never encountered the poor
whites" of the south. Nine out of ten
Of the bloody and long continued feuds
we read of in southern communities
begin among the poor and ignorant.
The cause is generally of trifing char
acter. The poor white may be hum
bled by the law, but outside Of the
courtroom he hates with an intensity
hard to realize. He is persistent, cum
ming, merciless. Ike G..xter had never
had an ambition in his life up to the
hour be enlisted. He could barely read
and write, was naturally lazy and in
different and felt no pride in anything
except the fact that he was better than
niger. . When he found that ccr-
porals and sergeants were looked up to
and respected. there came queer teel
ing in his heart. He could not credit
it at first, but Captain Wyle aided him
in his mental struggle. The day came
when Ike had an ambition and burn
ing desire. It was to be corporal or
sergeant. In his wild dreams Of glory
he did not stop there. He determined
to go higher and become lieutenant or
captain. AS soon as he was given to
understand that Royal Kenton stood in
his way it was but natural with one Of
his nature to determine to remove the
obstacle by any means possible.
Before the war the Yankee" both
as man and as the representative Of a
section of the republic, had few friends
in the south. He was supposed to be
hostile to ell southern institutions.
The more igncrant the southerner the
more heartily be hated and despised the
citizen of the north. He believed what
the fire eating politicians pretended to
believe and often asserted. The John
Brown raid upon slavery in Virginia
and the events in Bleeding Kansas
served to intensity the sectional hate of
the poor whites. y Thus it was that
Ike Baxter, picking up his crumbs Of
history and his bits of information on
current events at the doors of the livery
stable or around the stove of the bar
room, was something of local cham
pion in the matter Of Yankee hating. If
Kenton had not stood between him and
military glory, he would still have felt
a bitterness toward him as man born
in the north. Uncle Ben's cautious ap-
preach to the house en- this night had
reference only to Mrs. Baxter. There
was another man stealing through the
darkness and making noiseless ap-
proach at the same ti,ne-Ike Baxter.
Neither Cncle Ben nor Marian Percy
caught sightsof him, but he noticed
their every movement and drew his own
conclusions. The gun which the old
man had been told to secure was in his
room in the little house. He had de-
parted from Rest Haven without being
seen or his absence noted by the wom-
an, but his return aroused her, and her
sharp eyes were upon him as he carried
away the frearm and loaded himself
with the bundles Marian had prepared
and brought to the door. She was dress