As they neared the group of labourers they had passed before, the
colonel saw four Negroes, in response to an imperative gesture from
the overseer, seize one of their number, a short, thickset fellow,
overpower some small resistance which he seemed to make, throw him
down with his face to the ground, and sit upon his extremities while
the overseer applied the broad leathern thong vigorously to his bare
back.
The colonel reached over and pulled the reins mechanically. His
instinct was to interfere; had he been near enough to recognise in the
Negro the object of his visit, Bud Johnson, and in the overseer the
ex-constable, Haines, he might have yielded to the impulse. But on
second thought he realised that he had neither authority nor strength
to make good his interference. For aught he knew, the performance
might be strictly according to law. So, fighting a feeling of nausea
which he could hardly conquer, he ordered Sam to drive on.
The coachman complied with alacrity, as though glad to escape from a
mighty dangerous place. He had known friendless coloured folks, who
had strayed down in that neighbourhood to be lost for a long time; and
he had heard of a spot, far back from the road, in a secluded part of
the plantation, where the graves of convicts who had died while in
Fetters's service were very numerous.
_Twenty-six_
During the next month the colonel made several attempts to see
Fetters, but some fatality seemed always to prevent their meeting.
Pages:
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245