The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1905-01-07
THE LITTLE
......GR AVE
. [Original.1

box long enough to contain an infant,
the man Il spade. Not far from the
house is IA plot of ground in which the
borcS of the Ashlcys for generations
lie buried. The two go to this spot; the
man digs Il grave, the coffin is lowered
and the earth thrown back. In due
time Il small headStone is erected bear
ing the name Alexander Ashley, aged
eight months and seven days.
Il
Twenty years pass. Leonard Hunt,
man of thirty, is in possession of the
Ashley estate. He is the son of Camil-
la Hunt, nee Ashley, and the planta-
ton passed into his hands, his uncle
Charles Ashley dying childless. Leon
ard Hunt has inherited whatever is
bad in the Ashleys. They are high
strung race, made domineering by the
possession OF slaves, and in Leonard
this feature is abnormally eXaggerat-
ed. lie is feared by the planters in
his ncghborhood because he will brook
no Will but his own and enforce his ar
roGant demands at the mouth of the
pistol.
one afternoon rear door of the
Ashley manor opened, and Leonard
HUu,, followed by three others. stepped
out ON TO the ycranda and woIked
hastily toward = hit Of pr,rnl s,r-
rouudc by frees There was q hard I,,r,
on Aia face, for he was bent Oh putting
out of his way The man next behind
him. Young Harry Rccl;with who had
conc iptwcou him ANA the woman hn
would make Lis wife rho mon had
met rsr social clfogmcnt at Ashley
Manor ana Iluut had deliberately in
suite his g!rst. Tho two n-inrtnala
were .,lfu., TO sns,n tl,cir orr,ir tbn
two n.her u,ru. Gri.1lnv ana Stone f,
act RS seconds. Gridlcy carried n small
box containing ristol;. and nc soon os
the Ground was reached he and Stone
paced off the distances Then tho com
batants worp nlacaI in nositi,n ana tho
signal given Epckwith fired into the
branches of tree above his antogo.
nist's head and received n hulIct in his
breast
Tho nortv ,voro bendin,, ovor hin,
stanchinp the hIood yhon an old nocro
woman came out of the manor house
md made lcr wov burriadIv to tho
group. When she saw RecLwith Ivinr
on the ground in u nool of HOOD sho
began to wiring hor hands and vol.
"Wha' d. missy make mo sw,or ia
never toll fin hc was twontv-,no2 And
10 think hc'd ~, hcnp tuont,,-ono my,
month, hoard va. NIors IJunt.Ibo,rd
yo' calliu, hin, uomos M ,,ontlonon
would heor IN hr,r And Lo va, ,,,,,,t,
VIVA all the Ashlcvs tbinl, to kn,v,
one of 'eIn killed , ",ost and tbo,, tho
most hosnitohIa mon in tho s.rth;..
"Wnot's fine motter with Won I;z.
giet'' erowlod Hunt 81 couIdn,t holm
It that the quarrel arose in my houso"
"Yo' killed him bcrouso Missy ,gnes
loved him, and yo' know If"
"You informal nirror shut NM"
"Y0W loye II hard timo sb,tti,. me
I'M Nors Hunt and norv 70 - +. tno
grave over there? Yo' think little
Alex Ashley lies there? He don't: no
such thing. He lies there"-pointing
to Beckwith. Il put the coffin in the
ground myself | was Missy Ashley's
maid. Colonel Ashley got divO'ce
and married again. Missy was afraid
his new wife would get rid of little
Alex to make sure of the estate fo' her
own son. | told her 'twasnt any use.
TO little Tommy was sickly and died
soon after. But she would have it, /
and my man put some stones in Il
child's coffin and buried it, givin' out
that Alex was daid, while his mother
carried him off ut night, and he was
brought up by her uncle, Mars Harvey
BeckWlth. as his own son"
You lying hag.' yelled Hunt. ''Havc
you gone mad:'
IF yo want to find out yo' go dig
up the coffin and see"
"There's nothing but dirt there after
so long burial" said Hunt. terror
stricken lest the womans story was
true.
missy thought of that md she had
it put in metal box"
Meanwhile the two seconds unmind-
- g.. a.