The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1905-11-24
HOW THE PROPERTY
WAS SAVED
lOriginal.l

our Giu--i.Ition, ten ll.i'S from bclU-
fort, did not know that they had steam.
cd up 10 the town and til, Inhabitants
had fed. Our mother. looking out
of the window of an upper story, saw
them coming. a&j. running down
stairs shouting Tie Yankcca." we all
rushed pclllncll from the house. No
one Stripea to t%kc rp Il single piece
Of jewelry or silycrwarc
At nightfall we reached Colonel Wig
gins plantation al Were - tired that
We could 80 no farther. The colonel
kindly took us III ana sent several of
his colored men, oil whom he could d..
pend. back to watch the road and give
us warning il the Yankees vCrc com.
ing. AS soon nS We got settled we call
ed the roll ana found all were present
except Kathleen O'Hourlic. Kathleen
WAS mothers maid. How. she had
driftcd from Ireland to South Carolina
no one knew. Mother picked her up in
Charleston and taking Il f.incy to her.
put her Quadroon maid into the kitchen
and installed Kathleen in hcr place.
We stayed at Colonel Virgins Il
week. and since the Yankees did not
follow us our fright gradually left Us
and We EcGan to think that wc had
acted unwi5ely in not staying OH the
plantation and trying to protect our
property. proposed - return and see
how things were going. but mother
would not Lear Of il. She said that no
daughter of hers should place her self
in n po:irion TO be inSultcd by north
crn vandalS However. | determined
to go ana one morning stole away on
my little mare.
When | reached the house ! SAW ofi-
GERS coming and going. while Il sentinel
paced before the front door. In the
cotton field across the road were hun
dredS OF white tents. ! was going in
to our own home. mind you-wlcn the
detestablc sentinel blocked the way. |
asked TO sec the officer in command.
and he called. "Orderly" y soldier ap-
peared and said the staff were ut din
ncr. Walking into the hall through an
open door, ! saw half Il dozen officers
seated around Il table. and to my as
tonishmcnt who should bc ut one end
but Kathleen. She saw me ana in an
other moment joined me.
oh. Miss Camilla" she said. falling
OH my neck in order that she might
whisper in my ear. "whatn Oi do?
Owe been tcllin' 'cm that Oi'm the
daughter O the house-that Orm YOU.
Oi've held Oh to all the jewclry and all
the silver and
The officers. having finished their
meal, rose from the table and came
into the hall.
General" said Kathleen, "thiS is me
maid that has come back to be with
me again."
Did YOU ever hear Of such impu-
dence? My ancestors have lived so
long in the south that 10y skin j..
admit, dark enough for an octor0on.
but for this fair skinned Irish girl to
Introduce NE as her maid-I thought !
should faint. However. what she had
told me about the jewels and the silver
restrained me. and / fell in with her
plan. The officers on seeing me were
about TO greet me deferentially, but
on hearing Kathlccn's story they pass
ed on without Il word
Well, il dawned upon me that kath-
leen was very bright girl and had
acted very bravcly. She had told the
officers that she had been educated
abroad, in order TO account for her
accent. She was wearing my best
clothes and l confess looked very prct-
ty and stylish rs we'll ] remained in
the house rs her maid and was greatly
amused by the way she had got half Il
dozen men by the cars. The general
was in love with her, and. since his
authority was supreme, at least in this
locality, everything in the house WAS
perfectly safe.
But while Il servant had Il general
for her slave I had only II captain
Louis Whitten. an aid-de-camp. WAS
attracted to me from the moment lie
saw me. Surprising me to have negro
blood In my veins, he sought me only
ciandeStinely. | confess that the hap
plest moments in my life We're in
watching him suffer, thinking lie loved
one whom he must not marry. | told
him to go and make love to my mis-
fress, but it was I he wanted. and the
gulf between lis bid fair to drive him
crazy. At first augmented his torture,
but at last, becoming myself as deeply
in love with him as he was with me.
was panied to see him suffer
For months we were obliged to keep
up deception which Kathleen had
comm anced. We were afraid that II we
confessed the protection afforded by
the good will of the general woul1 be-
withdrawn and the property given over
10 be plundered. When the Federal
troops went up to fight at Pocotaligo
those in our neighborhood went with
them. The evening before they march
ed I told Kathleen that / would make
my true self known to Captain Whit
ten. Kathleen made the confession
herself The look Of relief on his face
when saw him again was replaced by