Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-12-23
HOW THE PROPERTY
WAS SAVED
lOriginal.l

ed up to the town and the inhabitants
had fed. Our mother, looking out
Of the window Of an upper story, saw
them coming, and. running down
stairs shouting ''The Yankeesw we all
rushed pellmell from the house. No
one stopped to take up single piece
of jewelry or silverware.
At nightfall we reached Colonel Wig
gins plantation and were so tired that
we could go no farther The colonel
kindly took us in and sent several Of
his: cOlored men, on whom he could de-
pend, back to watch the roads and give
us warning if the Yankees were COM
ing. AS soon as we got settled we call
ed the roll and found all were present
except Kathleen O'Rourke. Kathleen
was mothers maid. How she had
drifted from Ireland to South Carolina
no one knew. Mother picked her up in
Charleston and, taking fancy to her,
put her quadroon maid into the kitchen
and installed Kathleen in her place.
We stayed at Colonel Wiggin
week, and since the Yankees die not
follow us our fright gradually left us
and we began to think that we had
acted unwisely in not staying on the
plantation and trying to protect our
property. 1 proposed to return and see
how things were going, but mother
would not hear of it. She said that no
daughter of hers should place herself
in position to be insulted by north
ern vandals However, l determined
to go and one morning stole away ON
my little mare.
When l reached the house l saw Off
GERS coming and going, while sentinel
paced before the front door. In the
cotton field across the road were hun
dreds of white tents. I was going in
to our own home, mind you-when the
detestable sentinel blocked the way. l
asked to see the officer in command,
and he called, Orderly" A soldier ap-
peared and said the staff were at din
ner. Walking into the he through an
l.
seated around table, and to my as
constituent who should be at one end
but Kathleen. She saw me and in an
other moment joined me.
ooh, Miss Camilla" she said, falling
on my neck in order that she might
whisper in my ear, "what'll Oh do?
Olive been tellin' 'em that Dim the
daughter O. the house-that Dim you!
DIVE held on to all the jewelry and all
the silver and"-
The officers, having finished their
meal, rose from the table and came
into the hail.
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 my skin is, I
admit, dark enough for an octoroon,
but for this fair skinned Irish girl to
Introduce me as her maid-I thought I
should faint. However, what she had
told me about the jewels and the silver
restrained me, and 1 fell in with her
plan. The officers on seeing me were
about to greet me deferentially, but
on hearing Kathleen's story they pass
ed on without a word.
Well, it dawned upon me that Kath-
leen was very bright girl and had
acted very bravely. 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 I confess looked very pref
ty and stylish as we'll. I remained in
the house as her maid and was greatly
amused by the way she had got half
dozen men by the ears. 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 a servant had a general
for her slave l had only captain.
Louis Written, an aid-de-camp, was
attracted to me from the moment he
saw me. Supposing me to have negro
blood in my veins, he sought me only
clandestinely. l confess that the hap
piest moments in my life were in
watching him suffer, thinking he loved
one whom he must not marry. l told
him to go and make love to my mis-
tresS, but it was he wanted, and the
gulf between us 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,
I was panied to see him suffer.
For months we were obliged to keep
uR deception which Kathleen had
commenced. We were afraid that if we
confessed the protection afforded by
the good will Of the general would be
withdrawn and the property given over
to 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 | 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
4.