Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1897-10-14
THE WHITE
MANS GARDEN.

vi AN ~ UAxCDGINs
When Jonathan Marston died he left
his estate, real and personal, to Selma,
his Creole wife. Rumor had it that the
said Selma was originally slave,
bought by Jonathan to do the cooking
for his establishment. Rumor may
have been right or wrong, but when
the Creole widow came into her in
heritance she held everything with a
tight hand, and the slaves Of her cot
ton plantation soon felt the change.
Marston himself, whatever his faults
may have been. never stinted the
slaves in corncakes or objected to
breakdowns when occasion seemed to
demand them; but his widow changed
all that. She could tell to nicely how
much corn it took to keep the soul
alive in the body of "brack" fellow,
and her ideas Of slavery were of the
most cogent kind.
Peter Davis, bondman forever to the
Creole, could not understand the
change. Certainly, Mrs. Marston had
always carried her head very high,
even in her husbands days, perhaps
because she wished to be thought pure
white. If any one knew the Creoles
history Peter did, for he was slave
of Jonathan when she was bought and
married by her master. Pete said moth
ing; he was discreet, for he valued his
position as a sort Of overseer on the
plantation. Why Mrs. Marston hated
him from the first he never troubled
to inquire, but when he fell into her
hands the first acts she performed
were to give him all the most difficult
and disagreeable tasks she could find.
From being the most hOnored slave,
Pete soon became the drudge of the
Others. When he pleaded for more
corn, Mrs. Marston promptly sent him
to the public whippers with a small
sum to pay for sound flogging.
After the disgrace which fell upon
him Pete was changed man. He
ceased to laugh and sing in the cotton
rows, and shook whenever Mrs. Mars
ton was close by. If it had not been
for Dinah, the slave of the next plan
tation, he would nave made dash for
liberty. Pete was in love with Dinah,
and many a time had the moonlight
fallen upon the two as they stole pre-
cious hour from the night to wander
through leafy ways together. iona
than Marston had promised Pete his
freedom; but, somehow, he never
found the Opportunity to sign the need
full papers-and now the Creole widow
reigned in his stead. Pete's love chap
! ter seemed about to close.
There was one thing about all the
change of circumstances which Pete
could not endure-hunger. He had a
very fine physique, but before long he
grew noticeably thin. 1t may have
been worry that affected Pete in this
| way, but worry was not in his vocab-
! ulary. Consequently. Pete thought the
| whole question out, and the conclusion
! to which he came was that Mrs. Mars
| ton was morally bound to find him
food. Having come to this definite
, conclusion, Pete stole out the same
night from his little nut, which he had
still to himself, and when he returned
he drew from under his ragged jacket
q plump chicken. Fear made Pete
! suspicious, so he kept his secret all to
himself, as well as the chicken.
The theft passed unnoticed, and
Pete. embroidered by success, repeated
| 1t. Out of about hundred and fifty
fowls, nearly thirty had gone to sup
ply the place of the corncakes which
the Creole widow stinted Pete of.
| On the thirteieth occasion Pete, to
his infinite dismay on discovering it,
made a blunder. The night was a
dark one, and the fowls, quiet rs Pete
was, cackled, SO the thief hastily took
the nearest, wrung it's neck, ana made
all haste back to his hut. There, by
the aid of fire he had kindled be-
meath a pot waiting to cook the chick
en- in, Pete discovered that the slain
chicken was yellow and not black. The
yellow chicken was the only one Mrs.
Marston possessed Of that color; all
the rest were black, and this particu-
lar chicken, Pete knew, would be miss
ed when the Creole widow fed them
next morning.
Pete was almost in despair; only the
odor Of well-boiled fowl brought him to
sense Of his physical needs. All that
Pete left ss the yellow hen was the