The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-02-18

49, --s-F
vo,, fn-get if answered Tom with quiet
emphasis. Tim walked away Laughing.
Tom eteDucd out OF the house. anu
with his wooden leg marked = deao inc
around the house about Ten feet from
each corner. To the crowd that stooa
near he said in & clear ringing voice as
he stood up in the
..Ill sill The first niger that crosses
that line"
There WAS no attempt 10 cross il. Tney
ala moi like the look OF Toms face as
he sat there pale and silent. And they
ccnId bea~ the sobs of his Wife inside.
The sale was q brief formality- There
vas hnr one bidder. the Honorable Tim
shelby. II was knocked down 10 Tim
for the sum of eighty-fiye dollars. the
.exacr amount of the tax levy. which Lf-
gree and his brigands had fixed.
Tim was not buying on his own &C
co,nt He was the purchasing agent of
he subsidiary ring. which Legree had
organized 70 hold the real estate for
fcited for taxes until a rise in value
would bring ten millions Of pront. They
mad stolen from the State Treasury the
money to capitalize this company. Where
il was possible TO exact . cash ransom
they always took it and cancelled the
tax order, preferring the certainty of
good gold in their pockets 70 the uncer-
~tainties of politics.
They tried their best TO get a cash
ransom OF ten thousand dollars for the
town Of Hambright. But the ruined peo-
pie could not raise a thousand. So the
Hon. Tim Shelby, as the agent OF the
Union Land and Improvement Com
d., m \ - baaop ,o tho aN,ucr of farm after
farm and home after home.
II was a vain hope that relief could
come from any quarter. The red flag OF
the sheriff's auctioneer fluttered from
two thousand three hundred and twenty
doors in the county! This was over wo-
thirds OF the total. Those who We're
saved, just escaped by the skin OF their
teeth. They sold Did jewelry or plate
that had been bidder in the war, or they
| sold their corn and provisions, trusting
10 their ability TO live on dried fruit.
berries. walnuts. hickory nuts and such
winter vegetables as they could raise IL
their gardens.
The preacher secured for Tom a
tumbled-doWn log cabin on the outskirts
OF town, with q half acre of poor red hill
land around it, which his wife at once
transformed into a garden. She took up
the bulbs and flowers that she had tend
ca SO lovingly about the door Of their
old home and planted them with tears
around this desolate cabin.
Now and then she would LOOK down at
the work and cry. Then she would go
/ brAVely back TO il. AS nobody occupied
her old home. she Went back and forth
until she moved all the jonQuil and
sweet pinks from the borders o. the
garden walk, and reset them in the new
garden. She moved then her
ries ana raspbarries. and gooseberries,
and set her fall cabbage plants. In three
| weeks she had transformed a desolate
red clay lot into a smiling garden. She
had watered every plant daily, ana Tom
had watched her with growing wonder
and lo-e.
"Ole woman, you're an angel" he
cried. Of God had sent one down from
the skies she couldn't nave 1one any
more"
The problem which pressed heaviest Of
all on the preachers heart in this crisis
was how to save Mrs. Gaston's home.
IF that place is sold next week, my
dear" he said to his wife, she Will
never survive
q know it. She is sinking every day.
1t breaks my heart to look at her"
What can we do"
I'm sure / can't tell. We've given
everything we have OF earth except the
clothes on our back. I haven't another
piece Of jewelry, or even an old dress
The tax and the costs may amount 20
a hundred and seventy-fve dollars.
There isn't a man in this county y,ho
has that much money or I'd borroN i
if I had to mortgage my body and .Jli
TO do it"
IN tell YOU what You might do his
Wife suddenly exclaimed: Telegraph
your old college mate in Boston that you
viii accept his invitation to supply his
pulpit those last two Sundays in August.
They will pay you seventy-tive dollars"
Yes, but it will cost half that for a
ticket. There will be nothing left
You may meet some generous man
+! who will loan YOU the money. I'd die
before I'd ask a Yankee for it for
myself, but I could beg for Mrs. Gas
ton"
1T may be possible, but where am I 70
get the money for a telegram and q
ticket?"
Surely 0 can borrow some here"
i don't know a man in the county
who has IL"
Then go to the young commandant
of the post here. Tell him the facts,
Tell him that a widow Of a brave Con-
federate soldier is about to be turned
out Of her home because she can't pay
the taxes levied by this infamous negro
government. He knows it's corruption az
we'll as you do. Ask him to loan YOU
the money for the telegram and the
ticket"
III do it,"
The preacher seized his nat and made
his way as fast as possible TO the camp.
The young captain heard his story with
grave courtesy.
certainly, DOCTOR" he said, "Iu loan
You the forty dollars with pleasure.
wish I could do more to relieve h dis
|treSs of the people. Believe ne SIR the