the railroad which passed through w—— was only a branch of the main route leading to charleston, and consequently there were but two passenger trains each way per day; and as mr. delafield’s great object now was to reach charleston before the boat in which rose was to sail should leave the landing, it seemed impossible for him to wait until night, for not until then was the next train due. suddenly he remembered that the express train left augusta about four o’clock p. m. it was now ten, and he could easily reach it in time for the cars, provided there had been no change in the time table. to ascertain this, therefore, he hastened to the dépôt, where to his dismay he learned that the train left augusta at two.
but with him to will was to do. flying rather than walking back to his house, he called out bill, his coachman, startling him with the inquiry as to whether it would be possible, with his best horses, a span of beautiful dappled greys, which were valued at a thousand dollars, to drive to augusta in less than four hours.
besides being naturally lazy and unwilling for exertion of any kind, bill was also remarkably tender of said greys, who were his pride, and whom he had named fred and ferd. on hearing his master’s inquiry, therefore, he looked perfectly 336aghast, and diving both hands into his matted wool, by way of illustration undoubtedly, replied, “mighty tough scratchin’, i can tell you, mars’r. them ponies hain’t been driv, only what i’ve ex’cized ’em for health, for better’n a month, and to run ’em as i’d hev to run ’em, would kill ’em stone dead. no, mars’r, can’t think on’t for a minit,” and as if this were conclusive, and his word the law, bill stuffed his hands into his bagging trousers, and was walking quietly away, when mr. delafield stopped him, saying, “i shall try it at all events. so get out the carriage immediately, and mind you are not over five minutes doing it. ask some one to help you, if necessary—ho, jack,” and he called to a ragged mulatto boy who was doing nothing, and bade him assist bill in harnessing the horses.
rolling his white eyes in utter astonishment at what seemed to him the folly of his master, bill began to expostulate, “lor, mars’er, you kill”——
“silence, and do as i bid you,” said mr. delafield, in a tone which bill thought best to obey, and sauntering off to the stables, he brought out the ponies, who pranced and pawed the ground, while he admired their flowing manes and smooth shining coats.
then seeing jack standing near, ready to help, he haughtily ordered him away, saying, “nobody but myself is fit to tache these critters. they’d know in a minit if a low-lived nigger like you came a near.”
nothing loth, jack walked off, while bill proceeded leisurely to harness the beautiful animals, talking to them as if they were intelligent beings, and telling them, “never to fear—they wan’t a gwine to be druv to gusty in two hours, and no sich thing. bill sot on the box, and ’twas nothin’ to mars’r, who was lollin on the cushions inside.”
at this point he was startled by the voice of mr. delafield, 337who, having hastily packed a few articles in his portmanteau, and written a line to his sister, had come out to superintend in person the movements of his servant, whose peculiarities he perfectly understood.
“so ho,” said he, “you mean to cheat me do you?” at the same time signifying his intention of having the horse go as fast as he liked.
“the lord help fred and ferd then, for bill can’t,” was the mental ejaculation of the negro as he saw the fire in his master’s eye and knew he must be obeyed.
still he managed to be as slow as possible, insisting that “ferd allus had to drink two buckets and a half, or he wan’t wuth a dime,” adding in a conciliatory tone, that “with two buckets and a half in him he’d run like lightnin’.”
very impatiently mr. delafield waited for the disappearance of the requisite amount of water, consulting his watch, counting the minutes, and at last remarking that it took ferd a wonderful while to drink.
“that’s ’case he’s sich a ’strordinary beast every way,” answered bill, who for some little time had been holding an empty bucket to the horse’s mouth.
he was going to replenish a third time when his master ordered him back, telling him he could wait no longer; with another glance at his watch, he entered the carriage, while bill, loudly lamenting the half bucket, without which ferd would surely die, mounted the box, where he spent quite a while in comfortably disposing of his long, lank limbs and in adjusting his palmleaf hat.
“go on, you rascal,” shouted mr. delafield, beginning to lose his temper; and gathering up the reins, bill whistled to the spirited animals, who dashed off at a far greater speed than their driver thought was at all conducive to their well being.
338“hold on dar, ferd! stop dat foolin’, will you, fred! easy dar, both on you, for you come mighty nigh histin’ me off de box!”
this last was said quite loud for the benefit of mr. delafield, who, perceiving that their speed had slackened, for they were well trained and readily obeyed bill’s voice, called out, “drive faster, i tell you. give them the ribbons, and let them run.”
“lor’ a’mighty,” answered bill, now coming to a dead halt in order that his master might be better impressed with what he said. “you don’t understand hoss flesh. at this rate you kills ’em in less than no time. ferd never ‘ill stan’ it with them two buckets of water, ’case you see how shakin’ him up dis way dey’ll get bilin’ hot and nobody can live with bilin’ water in ’em.”
provoked as he was, mr. delafield could not repress a smile at the subterfuges of bill to spare his horses, but he bade him drive on, saying, however, that he need not drive them at the top of their speed immediately, as they would be more likely to give out, “but after a mile or two,” he continued, “put them through with the whip if necessary.”
“lor’ mars’r,” answered bill from the box, without moving an inch, “i never tache them with a whip in de world. fred would jump clar out of his skin. all dey want to make ’em kill deyselves is a loose rein and a whistle—so.”
suiting the action to the word, he whistled long and loud, whereupon the horses started forward as if a volley of artillery had been fired at their heels, while mingled with the roll of the wheels, mr. delafield heard the distressed bill, saying. “whoa, dar, ferdinand, can’t you whoa when i tell you. think of the bilin’ water, and keep easy. come frederic, you set him a ’xample. that’s a good boy, no ’casion for all dis hurry, if we misses one train we catches another. 339all de same thing. we ain’t chasin’ a runaway gal’ as i knows of.”
after a little he succeeded in stopping them, and for the next ten or fifteen minutes they proceeded on rather leisurely, and bill was beginning to think his master had come to his senses, when he was startled with the stern command, “let them run now as fast as they will. don’t check them at all until we reach the dépôt.”
accordingly, for a mile or so the horses rushed on at headlong speed, bill sympathizing with them deeply and mentally promising himself “to tend ’em mighty keerful to pay for this.”
at last, when he thought it safe to do so, he held them in, taking the precaution, however to say aloud, “get along dar, ferd—none your lazy tricks here when mars’r’s in sich a hurry. can’t you get along dar, i say. an’ you fred, wake up yer bones to de merits of de case.”
but if in this way he thought to deceive the resolute man inside he was mistaken. perceiving that their speed was considerably slackened, and hearing bill loudly reproach the horses for their laziness, mr. delafield softly opened the carriage door, and leaning out, learned the cause of the delay. bolt upright upon the box, with his brawny feet firmly braced against the dash-board so as to give him more power, sat bill, clutching the reins with might and main, for the horses’ mettle was up and it required his entire strength to keep them from running furiously! all this time, too, the cunning negro kept chiding them for their indolence in moving so slowly!
“bill,” said mr. delafield, sternly, “stop the carriage instantly.”
“lord a massy, mars’r,” exclaimed the frightened bill. “you almost skeered me off de box. ferd won’t get along no how. i tells him and i tells him how you’r in de hurry—don’t 340you mind how i keeps telling him to get along, i reckons he wants dat t’other half bucket of water.”
“i understand you perfectly,” said mr. delafield, alighting from the carriage, and to the utter astonishment of bill, mounting the box and taking the reins in his own hands. “i understand your tricks, and for the rest of the way i shall drive myself!”
rolling his eyes wildly in their sockets, the crest fallen bill folded his arms and resigned the horses to their fate, saying mentally, “i shall war mournin’ for ’em, i shall, and he may help hisself.”
over rough and stony places—over smooth and sandy roads—over hills, over plains—through the woods, through the swamps, and through the winding valleys, on they sped like lightning, the excited horses covered with foam, their driver stern, silent and determined, while poor bill, with the perspiration streaming down his shining face, kept up a continued expostulation, “now, mars’r, for de dear lord’s sake, stop ’em ‘fore dey draps down dead. look at de white specks all over ferd’s back—he’ll never stan’ it without dat t’other half bucket. you kills ’em sartin, and dar goes a thousand dollars, smack and clean.”
but bill’s entreaties were all in vain, and his distress was at its height, when fortunately his thoughts were diverted in another channel. at a sudden turn of the road a gust of wind lifted the old palmleaf from his woolly head, and carried it far away. “now, dear mars’r,” said bill, laying his hand on that of mr. delafield, “you’ll sartin let ’em breathe while i picks up my hat, ’case you see how’ll you look gwine into town wid a barheaded nigger. in de lord’s name, stop,” he continued, as he saw in his master no signs of relenting.
glancing over his shoulder mr. delafield saw the hat away 341over the fields, and quietly taking a bill from his pocket and placing it in the negro’s hand, he replied; “that will buy you five such hats.”
“yes, but de hosses, lor’ a mighty, de hosses!” exclaimed bill almost frantically, “don’t you see ferd is gwine to gin out?”
mr. delafield feared so, too, and more to himself than to his servant, he said, “perhaps the cars will be behind time, they usually are.”
without considering the consequences, bill answered, “no they won’t; case i hear how they hired a tarin’ yankee for an engine, and he drives all afore him—gits ahead of de time and all dat.”
the next minute he repented a speech whose disastrous effects he foresaw, and he was about to deny it as a fabrication of his own brain, when his master, who really saw signs of lagging in the nervous, fiery ferd, said, “bill, you have a peculiar whistle with which you spur up the horses—make it now; ferd has run himself almost down.”
“de lord have massy on us,” groaned bill, wiping away a tear; then, as mr. delafield repeated his order, he said, in a whining tone, “can’t, mars’r, no how; case you see my throat is dreffle sore, ridin’ barheaded so in the breeze which you kicks up—can’t, no how.”
“but you must,” persisted mr. delafield.
bill still refused, until at last, as they approached the town, they heard a heavy, rumbling sound. it was the roll of cars in the distance, and starting up, mr. delafield seized the negro by the shoulder and in thunder tones called out, “whistle.”
“lord, mars’r i will, i will,” gasped bill, terrified at the fiery gleam of his master’s eye, and from his mouth there issued a most unearthly sound, which mingled with the 342shriek of the fast coming engine, urged on the jaded horses to one more desperate effort.
a few more mad plunges and they reached the dépôt, covered with foam and frothing at the mouth, just as the train was moving slowly away. with one pitying farewell glance at his dying greys, mr. delafield exclaimed, “cut the harness instantly,” and then with a bound sprung upon the platform, which he reached just as bill called after him in mournful accents, “ferd’s dead, mars’r, ferd is,” while, mingled with the roar of the machinery he caught the faint echo of something about “t’other half bucket of water!”
but little cared he for that. rosa lee was to be overtaken, and to accomplish this, he would willingly have sacrificed every horse of which he was owner, even were they twice as valuable as the dappled greys.
so, wishing him a successful journey, and leaving him on the same seat with a yankee peddler, who saw him when he came up and “guessed he was after a runaway nigger,” we return for a moment to bill, who with tears streaming from his eyes, patched the struggles of fred until the noble animal was dead, bringing him water which he vainly coaxed him to drink, while the bystanders, who crowded around, asked him innumerable questions as to why they drove so fast and where his master was going.
to the first bill could not reply, but to the last he promptly answered, as he patted the remains of the departed ferdinand, “gwine to the devil, in course! whar you spect a white man to go, what treats hosses in dis kind of style, won’t let ’em hev all the water dey wants and drives ’em till dey draps dead in der tracks.”
the story of the half bucket was duly rehearsed, bill firmly believing that if ferd had drank it, he would undoubtedly have lived “dis minit and been as spry as a cricket. 343but now he’s dead and fred, too,” continued the negro, as the latter ceased to move. “sich another span of hosses, that ain’t in all georgy,” and laying his black face upon the neck of the insensible ferd, the negro cried like a child.
“there is one comfort, at least, my boy,” said a gentlemanly looking man, who stood near and who knew mr. delafield, “your horses didn’t suffer, for they were too much excited.”
this in a measure consoled bill, who, wiping his eyes, asked what he was to do with them, saying he “never could dig thar grave.”
“my negroes shall do it for you,” answered the stranger, and in a short time several stalwart men were busy in an adjacent field making a grave for the dappled greys, which they carefully buried, while on a stump, with his head resting on his knees, sat bill as chief mourner.
“i wish i knew a prar,” he whispered to himself, “for if ever hosses ’sarved it they do;” but the rude african had never prayed since he was a little child, and thinking himself too old to begin now, he rose up from the stump, just as his companions, having finished their task, were beginning to ridicule his bare head, telling him he must have an unkind master, judging from his own appearance and the sad fates of the horses, while one of them advised him to run away.
this was touching bill in a tender point, for though he had loved the horses much, he loved his master more, and he would not hear him censured; accordingly he retorted petulantly that “thar warn’t a better master in all georgy than mars’r dick, nor a richer one neither,—and ’twan’t nobody’s business if he killed five hundred horses—he could afford it—’twan’t as though he was poor and owned nothin’ but a few low trash like the ’gusty niggers!”
344this insinuation the “gusty niggers,” chose to resent as an insult, and a regular negro fight ensued, in which bill, being the weaker party, came off rather badly beaten, his face being scratched in several places, while his pants received a huge rent, which in no wise tended to improve his personal appearance. matters being at last amicably adjusted, the victorious party returned home, while bill, who had frequently been in augusta with his master, wended his way to a hatter’s shop, where he soon made himself the owner of a second-hand beaver, which at his request was ornamented by a weed of crape as a badge of mourning for his favorite steeds. then seeing that the carriage was safely stowed away, he started on foot for home, stopping at the negro quarters of almost every plantation to relate his wonderful adventures. as he was perfectly trusty and faithful, he was always allowed to carry a pass by his good natured master and thus he found no difficulty in his journey, which he took quite leisurely, never reaching sunny bank until the close of the second day after the one on which he had left it.
in the meantime mr. delafield, with closely knit brows and compressed lip, his usual look when he was in deep thought, sat musing of the time when rosa lee would be his wife, while at his side the yankee peddler, with his basket of essence carefully stowed under the seat, was casting curious glances at his companion, whose history he was desirous of knowing. but there was something in mr. delafield’s appearance which forbade familiarity, so for once the loquacious yankee was silent.
they were now about half-way between augusta and charleston and going at great speed, when suddenly at a short curve there was a violent commotion—the passengers were pitched forward and backward, while the engine 345plunged down a steep embankment, throwing the train from the track and dragging after it the baggage car, which in some way became detached from the rest. the new “yankee engineer” was a daring, reckless fellow, who at the north had been discharged for carelessness, and had come to try his fortune at the south. fortunately no one was seriously hurt except mr. delafield, whose injuries were simply mental, as he knew this accident would probably detain them for many hours. in a perfect storm of excitement he stalked up and down the track, asking the conductor every few minutes how long it would probably be before they could go on, and at last growing so dark in his face that the yankee, after looking over his essence basket and finding but few of his bottles broken, ventured to say, “now, squire, don’t git mad at a feller for askin’ a sassy question, but i raley du want to know if there ain’t a little atom of black blood in you?”
“very likely,” answered mr. delafield; while the yankee, now that the ice was broken, continued to ply him with questions, which, though very annoying to the haughty southerner, tended to relieve in a measure the tediousness of waiting.
the sun had long been set and the stars were shining brightly ere they were able to proceed, and it was after midnight when they at last reached charleston. driving immediately to the lauding, mr. delafield to his great joy found that the steamer bound for new york still lay at the wharf and would not start until morning. but was rosa lee on board? that was a question which puzzled him, and as there was no way of satisfying himself until morning, he sat down in one of the state rooms and rather impatiently awaited the dawn of day.
346the hurry—the confusion—and the excitement of starting was over. we were out upon the deep blue sea, and from the window of my state-room i watched the distant shore as it slowly receded from view, and felt that i was leaving the land of sunlight and of flowers. notwithstanding the fatiguing journey of the previous day, i was better this morning than i had been for many months before, for i had slept quietly through the night.
an hour or two after breakfast charlie came to me with a very peculiar expression on his face and asked me to go upon deck, saying the fresh breeze would do me good. i consented willingly, and throwing on my shawl and a simple leghorn flat which had been of much service to me at cedar grove, and which mr. delafield had often said was very becoming, i went out with charlie, who led me to the rear of the boat, where he said we were not so liable to be disturbed. seating me upon a small settee he asked to be excused for a few moments, saying i should not be long alone. the motion of the boat produced a slight dizziness in my head, and leaning my elbow upon the arm of the settee i shaded my eyes with my hand and sat lost in thought until i heard the sound of a footstep.
“it was charlie,” i said, so i did not look up, even when he sat down by my side and wound his arm around me, wrapping my shawl closer together, oh, so gently! “charlie is very tender of me since my sickness,” i thought, and much i loved that he should thus caress me. it thrilled me strangely, bringing back to my mind the night when i sat in the vine-wreathed arbor, where i should never sit again.
for a moment there was perfect silence and i could hear the beating of charlie’s heart. then leaning forward and removing my hand from my eyes, he pressed a kiss upon my lips and whispered as he did so, “my own rose!”
347once, when i was apparently dying, the sound of that voice had called me back to life, and now with a cry of joy i sprang to my feet and turning round, stood face to face with richard delafield, who, stretching his arms towards me, said, “come to my bosom, rose. henceforth it is your resting-place.”
the shock was too much for me in my weak state. a faintness stole over me, and if i obeyed his command, it was because i could not help it!
when i returned to consciousness, richard’s arms were around me, and my head was resting upon his bosom, while he whispered to me words which i leave to the imagination, as i dare not give them to the world, lest he (uncle dick i call him) should be angry in his way, and i have learned to be a very little afraid of him since that morning when on board the steamer delphine we sat and talked together of the past.
wonderingly i listened while he told me how long he had loved me—how once he had thought to tell me of his love, but the manner in which i answered his leading question disheartened him, for he feared his affection was not returned—how it had filled his heart with bitter grief when he saw me about to marry another—how his sister had deceived him or he should have spoken to me then—and how in a moment of temptation when he stood over my pillow he had asked that i might die, for he would far rather that death should be his rival than a fellow man. then as he thought how near i had been to the dark valley he shudderingly drew me closer to his side and told me how he had wondered at dr. clayton’s leaving me so abruptly and how sometimes when a ray of hope was beginning to dawn upon him, it had been chilled by my manner, which he now understood.
“you cannot conceive,” said he in conclusion, “what my 348feelings were yester morn when i bade you adieu, nor yet can you comprehend the overwhelming delight i experienced when i read that letter and felt that you would at last be mine.”
when he had ceased to speak i took up the story and told him of all my own feelings, and that nothing would ever have induced me to think for a moment of becoming dr. clayton’s wife, but the belief that he was engaged to ada, a story which i told him his sister affirmed when i went to her for counsel.
“and so angeline played a double part,” said he, sighing deeply; “i never thought she could be guilty of so much deception, though i have always known she was averse to my marrying any one.”
of ada he said that never for a moment had he been engaged to her. “she is to me like a sister,” said he, “and though i know she has many faults, i am greatly attached to her, for we have lived together many years. she was committed to my care by her father and i shall always be faithful to my trust. and if, dear rose, in the future, circumstances should render it necessary for her to live with us, shall you object? she cannot harm you now.”
he had talked to me much of his love, but, not a word before had he said of my sharing his home at sunny bank, so i rather coquettishly answered, “you talk of my living with you as a settled matter, and still you have not asked me if i would.”
a shadow for a moment darkened his face, and then with a very quizzical expression he made me a formal offer of himself and fortune, asking me pointedly if i would accept it—and—and, well, of course, i did what my readers knew i would do when i first told them of the dark man at the theatre—i said yes, and promised to return with him to 349sunny bank as soon as my health would permit, which he was positive would be in a very few weeks, for he should be my daily physician, and “love,” he said, “would work miracles.”
thus you see we were engaged—richard and i!
