The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-21

on my wrist, Il owe you an apology. I had no idea any one was opposite me-"
 He was G5, if day: gray. with heavy well-trimmed mustache, strong chin and nose, with fine determined lines about the mouth. A man in per feet health, his full throat Drowned with many weathers showing above a low collar caught together by a loose black cravat--a handsome. rather dashing sort of a man for one so old.
 T say it Is a shame, sir"' he con- tinued. "the way they are lynching the negroes around here. Have you read the Extra?" passing 1t over to me-"Another this morning at Cramp- town. It's an internal outrage. sir,"
 I had read the extra" with all its sickening details, and so handed 1t back to him.
 T quito agree with you" said: but this man was brute"
 No doubt of it sir. We've got brutal negroes among us, just as we've got brutal white men. But that's no reason why we should hang them without a triali we still owe them that justice. When we dealt fairly with them there was never any such trou- bie. There were hundreds of planta- tions in the south during the war where the only men left were negroes. We trusted our wives and children to them, and yet, such outrages as these were unheard of and absolutely inn possible. I don't expect you to agree with me, of course: but I tell you, sir did the slave was in robbing him of his home"
 Were you a slave owner?" I asked not wishing to dispute the point.
 NO. sir; but my father was. He had fifty of them on our plantation He never whipped one of them, and he wosldn't let anybody else strike them, either There wasn't one of them that wouldn't have come back if we had had a place to put him. The old ones are all dead now, thank God!- all except old Aleck; he's around yet
 one of your fathers old slaves did you say?'
 "Yes: he carried me about on his back when was so high" and he measured the distance with his han l :. "Aleck and were boys together. was about eight and he about 15 wbtn my father. got him.
 My companion paused. drumming on the leather covering of his chek'.
 "I was a little fellow then. running around barefooted. but remember meeting Aleck just as If it were yes terday He was holding the horse while my father and the overseer stood talking on one side. They were planning his work and where he should sleep. I crept up to Bok at him. | had heard he was coming and that he was runaway slave.
 Whats your name?' l asked,
 "'Aleck.' he said; an' what's your name. young marsterT
 Sammy | said.
 That's the way it began between us. and it's kept on ever since. I call him 'Aleck' and he calls me Sammy never anything else, even today"
 He calls you Sammy I said in astonishment. The familiarity was new to me between master and slave.
 Yes always. There isn't another person in the world now that calls me Sammy"
 My travelling companion stopped for a moment, cleared his throat and con- tinued
 "Aleck didn't do thing but look after me. We fished together and went swimming together; and we hunted eggs and trapped rabbits; and when I got older and had gun Aleck would go along to look after the dogs and cut down the trees when we were out for coons.
 What Aleck had in those days had, and what I had he had; and there was no difference between us till the war broke out
 q was grown then. and Aleck was six or seven years older. We were on the border line, and one morning the union soldiers opened fire. and all that was left of the house, barns, outbuild- fngs and negro quarters was heap of ashes.
 That sent me South. of course. feel ing pretty ugly and bitter and don't know that I've gotten over 1t since. My father was too old to go. and he and my mother moved into the village and lived in two rooms over my Ia ther's office.
 In few months they had drafted Aleck and carried him off.
 Three years after that my mother fell i'll and I heard of 1t and came back in disguise, and was arrested as a suspicious. character as I entered the town. I didn't blame them. for l looked like a tramp and intended to. The next day I was let out and went home to where my mother and father were living. As I was opening the garden gate--it was night-Aleck laid his hand on my shoulder. He had on the uniform of United States sol dier. I couldn't believe my eyes at first. I had lost track of him. and, as I found out afterwards. so had my father. We stood under the street lamp and he saw the look In my face and threw his hands up over his head as negro does when some sudden shock comes to him.
 Don't turn away fom me, Sammy. he cried, please don't, Sammy. Faint my fault I got on desc clo'es. deed ii ain't. Dey done fo'ced me. I heared you was here an I been tryin' to gil to ve all day Oh, so glad to git hold ob ye. Sammy so glad. so glad He broke out into sobs of crying. I was near it myself, for he was the first one from home 1 had seen. and there was something in his voice that went | through me.
 in his pocket, pushed something into my hand and disappeared in the dark. ness. When I got inside and held fl | ont to the light. he had given me two | five-d dollar greenbacks!
 II was sitting by my mother the next night about 10 o'clock-she wouldn't let me out of her sight--wher there came a rap at the door and Aleck came | in. I knew how my rather would fee about seeing him in those clothes. didn't know till afterwards that they were all he had and that the poor fel- low was as bad off as any of us.
 Father opened upon Aleck right away. just as l knew he would. with out giving him a chance to speak. HC upbraided him for going Into the army told him to take his money back and showed him the door. The old gen. tIennan could be pretty savage when he wanted to. and he didn't spare Aleck T bit. Aleck never said word-just lis tened to my fathers abuse Of him bie hands folded over his cap his eyes on the two bills lying on the table 1 , r.,. f,ther had thrown them