The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-02-11

sa,rlers we're forced into politics By con-
ditions around them. and they consul
/ tuJed the only conscience ana brains
visible in public life during the reign o,
terror which the DEMONSTRATION re-
| gime inaugurated.
In the winter OF 1866 the Union League
a, Hambrisht held q meeting OF special
Importance. The attendance was iafge
and enthusiastic.
Amos Hogg, the defeated candidate lot
Governor in the last election, no" the
President % the Federation o. Losai
Leagues had sent a special ambassador
10 this meeting TO receive reports ana
give instructions.
iris ambassado. was nom other than
| the famous simon Legree o. Red River.
who had migrated 10 North Carolina at
tracteI by the first proclamation o. the
President announcing his plan for read
hitting the state to The Union. The rd-
mors OF his death proved 2 mistake. lie
had Quit drink. and set his mind on
greater vices.
In his face were the features Of the
distinguished ruhien whose cruelty 10 his
slaves had made him unique ia inIany
In the annals OF tho South. He was now
pre-eminantly the type o: the "truiy
loyal At the first -1Imor Of war ne mad
sold his negroes ard migrated nearer the
border land. that he might the better
ayoi! service in either army. He sue
oseded in doing this. The LAST two years
o. the war. however, the en!isting officers
pressed him hard. until finally he hit on
4 brilliant scheme.
He shared clean. and dressed as a Ger
man rmigrant woman. He wore dresses
for two years, dil rouse work, MIXED
the cows and cut wood for a good ma
tured OH German. He paid him for his
BOARD, and passed for his sister Just from
the old country.
WnCu The war closed, he resumed male
attire, became a ,iolsnt Union man, and
swore that ne haG been bounded and
perseCuted without mercy by the Seces-
siOniSI rebels.
He WIS looking mCle at easa low than
ever il his life. lie wore q silk hat and
a new suit Of clothes made by 4 fashion,
able tailor IN Raleigh. II" was . littlo
older looking than when he KILLED Cncie
Tom on his farm some ten years before,
Lut otherwise unchanged. He had the
same short muscular body. round bullet
head. light grey YES ara shaggy eye
browS but his deep chestnut briStiy hair
had been trimmed by 4 barber. His
coarse thick lips cropped at The corners
o. his mouth AMI emphasized the crook
III MIS- nose. HIS eyes, we'll SET apart, as
OF old, were bold, commanding. and
flashed with the cold light Of gIittering
steel. His teeth that once were pointed
like the fangs of 4 wolf had been filed
|, by a dentist. But il required mere than
The file OF Il dentist To smooth out Of
that face the ferOcity and cruelty that
years Ut dissolute habits had fixed.
He was only forty-two years Old, but
the fabby flesh under his eyes ami his
enormous Square-cut jaw made him look
fully dfty.
! II was a spectacl, Tor Eols ani men TO
| see him E2rangue that tnicn League in
) the platitudes Of loyalty 20 the Union,
!. ana TO watch the great crowd OF negroes
/ hang breathlcss on his every WORD as the
( Inspired gospel Of God, The only notable
change in him from the old days was in
his speech. He had hired a man 10 teach
t him grammar and pronunciation. He
lad high ambitions for the future.
BE of good cheer. Beloved he sat1 TO
5 the negroes. "A great day is coming for
) you. You are To rule this land. Your
| old masters are TO Dig in the fields and
, you are TO sit in the shade and be gen
tiemen. Old Andy Johnson viii be
kicked out OF office or hung and the
= farms you've worked on SO long will be
. divided among you. You can rent them
j to your old masters and live III ease the
balance OF your life
, Glory to Cod shouted an old negro.
I II have Just been 10 Washington for
/ cur great leader. Amos Hcgg. I've seen
Mr.. sumner, Mr.. stevens and Mr.. But
{ Ter. / have shown them that We can
| carry any State in the South. If they will
$ only give you the ballot and take it away
r from enough rebels. We have promised
.l11<1 L. - C4,,~ - -
South in the Presidential election, and
a they are going to give US what we want
'HHallelujah, Amen, Vas, AVID The
fervent ordinations came from every
pert of the room.
After the meeting the negroes pressed
around Leeree and shook his hand with
Ieagerness-the same hands that We're red
D with the blood Of their race--yet they
: bailed his coming as a prophet OF God!
y When the crowd had dispersed a meet
c ing Of the leaders was held.
| Dave Haley, the e~x-slave trader from
Kentucky who had lodged back and
5 forth from the mountains Of his native
State to the mountains Of Western North
Carolina and kept out OF the armies. was
[ there. He had settled in Hambright and
s hoped at least to get the pOStoffice under
8 the new dispensation.
u III LnlS group Was the 1uil DlOOueu ne
gro, Tim Shelby. He had belonged TO the
Sfclbys of Kentucky. but had escaped
through Ohio into Canada before the war.
He had returned home with great expec-
tationS Of revolutions to follow in The
d wake of the victorious armies OF the
: North. He had been disappointed in the
e program of kindliness and mercy that fol.
n lowed the fail of the COnfederacy: but
he had been busy day and night since the
5 war in organizing the negroes, in secret
~ furnishing them arms and wherever
o possible he had them grouped in military
posts and regularly drilled. He was
e clated at the brilliant prospects which
Legree's report from Washington opened
Glorious news you bring US, brothert'
he exclaimed as he slapped Legree on the
back.
o Yes, and it's straight"
Did Mr.. Stevens tell you so?"
{ Hes the very man that told me"
"NFalt Won an ITO 10 hin, j.