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


box long enough to contain an infant,
the man spade. Not far from the
house is Il plot of ground in which the
borcS of the AShicys 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 hcadstone is erected bear
ing the name Alexander Ashley, aged
eight months and seven days.
Twenty years pass. Leonard Hunt,
man Of thirty, is in possession of the
Ashley estate. He is the son of Camil-
Ia Hunt, me- 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 nrighborhood because he will brook
no Will but his own and enforce his ar
rogHnt demands at the mouth of the
pistol.
One afternoon Il rear door of the
Ashley manor opened, and Leonard
H"u,, followed by three others, stepped
Out on to the vcranda and walked
hastily toward Il bit of ground sur
rounded by trees There was q hard look
on his face. for lr was bent Oh putting
OUT Of his WAY ,hr man next behind
him. young HARRY BcckWitl, who had
como IetWcn. h.m and the woman he
woisa ma&p Lis WIFE, Tho men had
met FIR g.. hi enjoyment at Ashley
MaMrr, and I.,ut had deliberately in
sul,el his ~as~t. The two principals
were -piu@ to apI.o their affair." the
two g,hor mra. Uri,'loy and stone. to
net rs @ocon.+ CridIcy carried Il small
box containing pistols and as soon rs
the Ground WAS reached he and Stone
paced off the distance Then the com
batuntS were placed in position ana the
signal given Eocl,with fired into the
branches of a tree above his antago-
nist's head and received a bullet in his
breast.
Tie party were bending over him,
stanching the blood. when an old negro
woman came out of the manor house
and made her way hurriedly to the
group. When she saw Reckwith living
on the ground in pool of blood she
began to wiring her hands and wall:
"Sha' d missy make me sw'ar I'd
never tell till he was twcnty-one? And
TO think he'd IA been twcntv-one mex
month, heard y0', Mars Hunt: heard
yo' callin him names no gentleman
would bear to hear. And he yo' guest,
VIVA I'LL the Ashlcys think to know
one Of 'em killed a guest, and they the
most hospitahle men in the s'uthr
"Wnat's the matter with YOU. Liz
gie:" growled Hunt. Il couldn't lc!p
it that the quarrel arose in my house"
"Yo' killed him because Missy Agnes
loved him. and yo know it,"
You Internal Niger. shut uD,"
"Yoll have Il hard time shuttin' me
up, Mars Hunt, and now if il is too
late I'm goin' to speak. D. yo' see that
grave over there? Yo' think little
Alex Ashley lies there? He don't; no
such thing. He lies there"-ponting
to Beckwth. Il put the coffin in the
ground myself. | was Missy Ashley's
maid. Colonel Ashley got a 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.
ana my man put some stones in Il
chlldS coffin and buried it, givin' out
that Alex was daid, while his mother
carried i'iili on ut night ana he WAS
Drou%i' up pI her uii'ie, Mars Harvey
be'h"ilh' us HIS own son.
1ou lying nag. yeiied Hunt Have
you gone h!aa
II 70 want 10 ma out 70 go Jig
up the comm ana see.
lhereS hothlhS put art there aitcr
so long purlal' sald hunt. terror
stricken lest the Womahs story WAS
true
missy thought of that, and she had
1t put in metal box
Meanwhile the two seconds, unmind-
f.,1 10, H. -.