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VOL. XVUX-NO. 10.
COLUMBTTS, NEB., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 1887.
WHOLE NO. 894.
-t
COLUMBUS
STATE BANK.
COLUMBUS, NEB.
Cash Capital
$75,000.
DIKECTOKH:
LKANDKlUlKim.VUD. Pr.v't.
OKO. W. HULST. Vie PreVt.
JULIUS A. KF.EI).
K. !!. HENRY.
J. I!. TASKKIt. Cashier.
Raak ef leHtlt IHMtomu
Msl Eicsusre.
Cotlectlema Promptly Nndc
all Polata.
Pay latrreaf Time sh.
It. 27:
COLUMBUS
Savings Bank,
LOAN & TRUST COMPANY.
Capital Stock,
8100,000.
OFFICERS:
A. ANDERSON. Prw't.
O. W. SHELDON. Vict IVw't.
O. T. KOEN, Treas.
ROBERT UHLIG. 8c
o
lWWill roceivu Umo deposits, from $1.00
aud hny amount upwards, and will pay tho cus
tomary rata of latere!.
-WWoparliculnrlj
draw your attention to
our facilities for making l.iaus ii real wtato, Rt
tho lowest rata of interest.
r
tyCity, School and County Bond, find in
di Idual securities Hro bought. lCjuue'f 5y
FOR Tiro
CALL ON-
A. & M.TURNER
Or 3. W. HIItLEB,
''ravelins; Atlmnni.
fJ"Thesa organs are first-class iu every iar
ticular, and mo Kuarantood.
SCHAFFROTH & PLATH,
UXII.1CU3 IN
WIND MILLS,
AND PUMPS,
Buckeye Mower, combined, Self
Binder, wire or twine.
Pimps Repaired en short Holier
tTOns door went of Heints's Drutc Btore, 11th
street, Columbus, Neb. 17uovt-tf
HENRY G-ASS.
TJlDERTATCER !
COFFINS AND METALLIC CASES
AND DBALKK IH
Faraltsra,, Chairs, Bedsteads, Bu-
reams. Tables. Safes. Loaagse,
Jko.. Plctmre Frames and
Mouldings.
IWMepairing of all kinds of Uphol
etery Goods.
t-t COLUMBUS, NEBRASKA.
PATENTS
CATE1 Tft, TnilE I1EKS iM CIPVIICITS
Obtaiatd. and all other business in the U. 8.
at USuw attended to for MODERATE
OvoSmla opposite the U. 8. Patent Office,
sss1 ws osa obtain Patents in to time than these
imoU from WASHINGTON.
Smi MODEL OR DRAWING. W advise aa
. tojwtatitability free of chance; and make NO
CHABGK UNLESS WE OBTAIN PATENT.
We refer here to the Postmaster, the Supt. of
MoMOrder Div., and to officials of the U. 8.
meat Ofltoe. Por circulars, advice, terms and
Bees to actual eliesU jb tost owb State or
r.wrnso - r
Smn, WsjaUBttoBTorc
Opposite Palest
WESTERN COTTAQE ORGAN
TILE NORTH STAR.
STOBT OF TDX FOURTH OF JULY, 18GS, HI
THE OLD SOUTH.
Suanlovoy creek is one of tho many streams
which seek the sea through the cotton lands
of Mississippi. It rises somewhere in the
state of Great Waters, flows through dark
ravines, over level lowlands, past broad corn
and cotton fields, through pine wood and
thick undergrowth, taking with it every little
rivulet it crosses. It pours from stream to
stream until it becomes as broad andresist
lesri as a river, then tumbles into the Pasca
youla and rushes into the restless gulf.
Legends fly about this half grown river as
thick as wild turkeys. On the evening of
July 3, 1SG0, in front of the negro quarters of
a cotton plantation, three persons were look
ing at this glittering line of water as it
wound about the low hills in the distance.
They ere slaves, and so ignorant that no
fiction, however much it mutilated the possi
bilities, was beyond their belief. Two were
men specimens of physical perfection, broad
shouldered, muscular straight of limb and
with heads that would Have been the delight
and tho despair of a sculptor. An active
imagination could palm them off upon itself
as black gods masquerading in "crash" and
jeana One was so black be looked as if he
bad been polished. The other had an unmis
takable kinship with the white race, though
tho dark part of his nature was the stronger.
The third member of the group was a girl,
slender and very pretty. She was more than
half white and had the regularity of features
which goes with that degree of mixed African
and whito blood. She was 15 years old, but
singularly childish in manner and expression
for a slave.
Loaning against a magnolia tree, her atti
tudo all grace, she was the single bit of
human beauty which gavo soul to the calm
landscape. Where did she get that litheness
of body and that look of patient sadness in
her face! One was perhaps a freakish gift of
nature; the other came from generations of
repression ana submission practiced by her
dark ancestors.
She wore a drees of faded blue print, of a
holiday gloss and stiffness, and a hat which
reflected the history of several possessors and
gave evidence of long service with each one.
She had endeavored to make terms with
fashion by giving it an extra flare and adorn
ing it with a bunch of wild millet As it
perchod jauntily on tho waves of her dull,
crisp, copper brown hair, as pathetic a cari
cature on fashionable millinery as the world
afforded, it bespoke the feminine fondness for
personal effect, as strong in the slave as in the
sovereign.
If the accident of birth had bestowed upon
this girl tho blessings incidental to self
ownership and civilisation, she would have
been an artist in self adornment. As it was
she was a slave, "damned with tho dower of
beauty,1' with a woman's pride of person and
a chllds mind.
The two men sat on the grass at her feet,
weary and grimy from their day's work.
Their clothing was a mere concession to de
cency; their faces masks of ignorance and
mkrors of interest A slave knows no world
outsido his narrow onvlronments to be in
terested in; he has no literature as food for
thought; no joyous memories to recall His
ekeset friends are the birds and the bees, the
squirrels and wood rats, the pigeons and the
paroquets. He talks to the trees and flowers;
stags to the winds; bears voices in the storm,
and finds comrades In the stars. Shut oat
from nearness to his fellow men, he discovers
a soul in every animate or Inanimate thing.
This it is which makes the negro supersti
tious. His world is peopled with the unseen.
One of these men, the one with the yellow
skin, was the girl's brother at least they had
had the same mother. Julius belonged with
his sister at Boyer's plantation, three miles
down Suanlovoy, but was hired out "up to
BusleyV for the summer. Once a week
Janey brought his allowance of clean clothes
a colored shirt and pair of cotton trousers.
This was the cause of her presence that even
ing. She swung a dingy basket The branches
of evergreen, the bunches of poppy mallow
and cmquassia leaves which were woven in
its willows and tied to its handle told tales of
a slow trip. It did not matter. She was not
an overworked slave. Indeed, she scarcely
worked at all The afternoon was her own,
and she could go home by moonlight
Janey's brother loved her better than any
thing else upon earth. Indeed, the earth held
so littlo that was beautiful to him it knot
strange that she was first, best and dearest
always, oho was the only soul united to him
by ties of blood and affection, and being
younger by a dozen years, she was liko a
daughter more than a sister. Their mother
bad long been dead, and a black mammy had
kept them both under her wing for a dozen
years.
Janey's weekly visit to Julius was an event
in her life, as well as in her brother's. It was
even more to Christopher, the coal black
member of the trio. It was a glimpse of
heaven.
Looking at her lie forgot the dull despair of
his dreary days. Thinking of her he remem
bered not his degradation. Dreaming of her
he envied not the angels. He hod no hopo of
possessing her. Ho simply loved her. "What
she said, how she looked, the lightness of her
step and the music of her voice were tho pre
cious possessions of memory which could not
be taken from him. Her image sweetened
toil for him and could have sweetened death.
He knew none of the beautiful ways of love
which are spontaneous with its existence in a
cultivated atmosphere. The very intensity of
his feeling made him dumb and shy.
And she! Had she been a belle instead of a
slave and Christopher a gentleman, one
glance of bis worshipful eyes would have re
vealed his secret As it was, she no more
the symptoms of love than she
the approach of a comet
She turned her eyes toward Christopher, as
he cat on the hillside, from time to time, as
she talked, as calmly as she would have
looked at a bird or a friendly dog.
In honor of Janey's visit Julius had brought
his and Christopher's supper from then cabin
and spread it on the hillside. The bill of fare
eoMprhed corn bread, bacon and a water
salon, whose adventures by water and land
it would be neither polite nor wise to investi
gate too closely ; and Janey bad contributed
wild berries, gathered on her way down. Mea
ger as the feast was, more than one of the jaded
black souk who passed ap the hillside path
leading to the slaves' quarters envied the
three their little picnic.
After the meal was finished Janey remem
bered that she bad news to tell
"Jmias," she said, "dey catcbed Eph yk
terdy. He'd bees gone seven days."
"HoWd they git Isaf
Mssmderthoande.
The
As faces of
both asm saddealy lowered.
vStm
Christopher asked, "Was he hurtr
"A good deal, mammy said; and that may
be be wont live; dey beat him so after dey
brung him back," she added, with a look of
pity in her big, dark eyes.
"An', Julius," she continued, "Bells' Caro
line's gouo, and some say she's drownded in
Swanlovey. Jake Jmkins says he seed bar
ghost, all thin and white like, welkin' right
on de top ob de water down by de riber road
croasm', and she had de baby dey sold away
from her in her arms. An', Julius, de ole
preacher's only been dead two weeks aad he's
been seen free times, settin' in de church door,
plntln' with his finger to de norf. Jake
Jinklns says it "-means sampm'; dat all de
dead people 'ata been seen lately are pinUn'to
de norf or de norf star. Uncle Zees says de
angel obde Lord k soon to come from de norf
to set ns all free; but be never speaks it oat
load. He jkt whispers it"
Both Janey s hearers listened to these start
ling stories with profound interest and with
out a flash of incredulity in their eyes. The
supernatural was as real to them as their own
bodies, the ground they walked upon, or the
cattle grazing in the meadows. They were
strangers to the specter of doubt They not
only believed what they saw and esmprs -
bended, but what they fancied and could not
understand.
Julius gased long and earnestly northward
with a far away look ia bis eyas.
"An'. Julius," Janey continued, "they ssy
de day after to-morrow the Foth e July.
Some o'Middleton's folks goin' into town to
see it An they'll roast things and make
lights at night aud have a big time. Whatk
Fo'th Julyr
"It's de day to make a joll'flcation and a
noise over Independence and Freedom,' an
swered Julius.
"What k in'pendence and freedomr ques
tioned Janey; while Christopher's eyes showed
that be, too, was quite in the dark on these
subjects.
"They means fur nobody to own ye, nobody
to sell ye nur to buy ye, nobody to lick ye,
nobody to make ye work and take yer yem
ins; they means fur ye to be free."
"But Fo'th July isn't our day," said Chris
topher. "We isn't free. We never will be
free," and ho sighed.
No, we isn't free," said Julius, sadly; "but
I hopes for freedom. I dreams of it some
times, and it's like heaben. Nobody to buy
ye, nur to sell ye. Every fellah a ownin' of
himself," and he, too, sighed.
Then Janey told varioas little Incidents of
plantation life at Boyer's; how sick the mas
ter had been; how long "young meats? had
been gone; bow it was whispered that Joe,
the stable boy, was going to run away, and
all the talcs, true and fictitious, which were
flying through the colored mouths at "Boy
er's." Christopher and Julius repaid ber so
ciability byjtelliug the occurrences of the week
in their narrow, work ridden lives. Chris
topher gave a literary coloring to the conver-sation-by
relating a dream in which a wild
cat, two alligators and the ghost of a dog fig
ured prominently. Janey looked suddenly
down the road, and the hand that held the
flower trimmed basket trembled and grew
cold. Christopher and Julius saw the same
sight simultaneously, anditbeir magnificent
bodies seemed to shrink as though a wither
ing blast had swept over them; but they said
nothing.
Dennk Magruder, accompanied by hk body
guard of blood hounds, wss riding ap the hill
There was not a slave, big or little, within a
radius of twenty miles who would not shud
der with dread at that spectacle. Magruder
was a local despot among the slaves a '-nigger
trainer" and "nigger whlpper." He had
been invested with unlimited power over the
blacks, and be used it mercilessly. All rebel
lious slaves in bk section were sent to him for
chastisement, a recreation in which he took
unalloyed delight He had a regular whip
ping house on hk grounds, furnished with all
the implements of torture and subjugation
which hk inventive mind could devise. One
of hk original ways of administering punish
ment was to slap the naked bodies of the
slaves with the broad side of a long and flexi
ble handsaw until the exposed skin was a
solid blister, and then to abrade it with the
teeth of the saw drawn rapidly over it as
many times as there was space to operate on.
He kept an overflowing kennel of -bloodhounds,
seven or eight of which always ac
companied him as he rode to and from hk
milk and over the country. One of hk favor
ite freaks was to ride through the negro
quarters of the neighboring plantations at
midnight, the deep, mellow bass of the bay
ing dogs and the clattering of hk horse's well
shod hoofs sending terror to the hearts of the
slumbering slaves.
Great as was the negro horror of Satan,
they who knew Magruder feared him more.
And this monster was a native of the north.
The same state which produced Wendell Phil
lips was responsible for hk existence.
He came up the hill at a jaunty pace, hk
horse's feet flinging the red sand in a spirit of
defiant delight It was a handsome horse,
black and glossy, with a proud head and an
eye as ugly and evil as bk master's. Hk
rider was almost a model as to physique, and
his f aco was less coarse than hk character.
It was only in his cold blue eyes that hk
hateful spirit betrayed itself. He was dressed
with a dandyish niceness, even to a high silk
hat, new and glossy a rare object in that
part of the cotton country then. Mr. Ma
gruder was particular as to hats and gar
ments. If hk soul had been as shapely and
as clean as hk body and hk clothes he never
would have figured in this story.
He drew rein before the little group on the
hillside, and said to Julius sad Christopher,
in the deliberate, decisive voice which inspired
greater fear than would a thunderous torrent
of wrath from another:
"I want you to be at the mill an hour
earlier to-morrow morning."
Tea, masea," they faltered,
Then he looked at Janey. ItwasasTgnltV
cant look and well calculated to inspire alarm.
Dennk Magruder never honored any save hk
victims with so much attention. The girl
could not comprehend it, bat she feared it
Half sick with terror she put one arm around
tho tree she was leaning against and tried her
best to appear unconcerned. Christopher
saw the whits mans peculiar glance and the
girl's deadly fear, and hk heart almost broke
in its dumb sngukh. It wss a moment when
it was peculiarly bitter to be a slave.
It pleased Mr. Magruder to prolong hk
dialogue with the two negro men. The hounds
trotted idly about, going up on the hillside and
saluting the two men in the friendliest manner.
One went dose to Janey and sniffed at her
basket, which she instantly let drop in sa
access of terror. Yet the brutes, like their
master, looked less ferodoas than they were.
It was only in their bloodshot eyes that tboir
gory tastes were indicated.
Persons who have never seen the blood
hound and have read of hk fierce attacks
upon the objects of hk prolonged pursuits,
aad seen him in pictures with hk broad nose
ekse to the ground, and heard him described
ss f oUowiag the scant "with deep opeaiag
aiouththatBiakestMwelstetreaibK'Uuak
of hkaas ia a chronic state of fury. Yet
sot on hanttaf duty hs kthe sMStasai-
JdeW' -
able ot his race, wttn an expression as mildss
the face of a stage soldier.
The seven which escorted Dennk Magruder
loitered in polite patience about bk horse's
feet and on the hillside by the slaves while
their master talked, their dark backs and
tawny legs glistening in the light of the dying
sun.
In a few minutes the despot tamed to
Janey again, and said: "Where do you be
longf "At BoyerV she answered, without raising
her eyes.
"Then it's time you were going home," he
"Tso 'lowed to stay till 10 o'dock," she mur
mured. Sensible of the terror he Inspired in these
helpless creatures, and glorying ia it as mean
minds always glory in tyranny, he whistled
to the dogs and rode away.
Aa be disappeared down the bill Janey sank
to the ground as though no longer able
to stand, and Julius turned hk eyes north
ward, while hk face wore an expression which
was a prayer. No one spoke. Christopher's
soul was a sea of commotion. In a moment
the death's bead bad entered hk dream and
would grin there forevennore.
Fate k fond of grouping together the peo
ple it has designs upon just before it scatters
them with its sweeping hand. It bad just
made a striking sketch, and three of its vic
tims, at least, felt it in some strange, inex
plicable way. If any of the shadow which
Dennk Magruder left behind followed him
as be rode whistling down past tho open wood
and up the level road which followed the
creek for a mile, no one ever knew it
The trio on the hillside sat silent Each
felt a sense of change, indefinable, but awful
The day faded out of sight, and one by one
the stars came forth and looked down upon
the old earth, tenderly, pityingly, as tboy
have looked ever since there was a world to
look upon. The moon rose from behind tho
pine fringed horizon and wrapped everything
iu the cold glory of her light How still the
scene was, aud how beautiful! The low mur
mur that came from the slaves' cabins had
died away. Not a footfall echoed from the
ground. A mocking bird which had been
crying from the bent sycamore at the foot of
the hill grew tired of the sad splendor of the
scene and flew southward on slow and weary
wings. It was such a night as "one could al
most feel the earth swinging through space."
Julius sat looking at the northern sky,
thinking of the hopelessness of slavery; and
of tho vision of the ghost of the old preacher
sitting in the door of the empty church and
pointing with hk finger to the north. Was
there an angel coming from that land of tra
ditional justice to set them all free? Musing
on the figure be sang iu a low monotone:
"How long, how long, how long, O Lord,
Befo we see his flauiin' sword"
He thought the north star uever burned
with such glorious brightness before. Every
slave knew the north star, that beacon of
freedom, tho "Lord's lantern," as they often
called it, though all other knowledge of as
tronomy was unreveoled to them. Julius
fancied that it tried to talk to him, it had
such a human look upon its face. Iu imagi
nation ho was beneath it among the free
people who soon would celebrate tho anniver
sary of their freedom with the booming of
cannon and much merry-niaking.
He wondered if tho flaming sword which
was to sever the bonds of his race would
como from the star of freedom. Again the
stillness of the night was broken by the same
pathetic appeal to the God he never doubted,
though his life had been lived outside of the
range of hk mercies:
"How long, bow long, how long, O Lord,
Befo' we soe hk flamin' sword f
Already the angel had troubled the waters;
but he knew it not The "flaming sword" would
soon be glancing over the hilltops, flashing on
the highways and gleaming by the sea, borne
by nearly 2,000,000 of men. It was coming
swift and certain. It would cut out Justice,
though the rivers ran red with blood. Al
ready tho spirit of freedom was surging like
a rising tempest far to the northward and
would roar southward in a tornado of terror.
Justice, which k "immaculate, immutable and
immortal," was coming to the raco long for
gotten by it The angel of freedom had be
gun hk flight toward the land of sorrow.
"How beautiful were hk feet upon the moun
tains! How glorious hk face in the valleys 1"
The night was so still that the three sad
souk who longed for him might have almost
heard tho rustle of hk wings.
Somewhere Julius, who had the musical
spirit of hk race strong within him, bad
picked up a song which breathed the desire of
hk heart, and thk be sang while the others
listened in silent sympathy. It could only be
sung when no master was nigh, for it told of
discontent and the hope of freedom, two pos
sessions forbidden a slave:
O, norf star, shinin' o'er de f reelan'.
Tell us de glories dat ye see.
In de country ob de Canaan
Canaan, de Ian' ob de free.
O, norf star, lead us out o' bondage.
Like Hoses o'er de ole Red sea
Led all ob Isr'els weary chillun.
To Canaan, de Ian' ob de free.
O, norf star, ye'z de fl'ry pillar.
Bright, blazin' in de sky for me;
If yer light I could but f oiler,
I'd rest on de Ian' ob de free.
O. uorf star, ye'z do torch of hebben,
Fo' which de shadders all flee;
If I can row my boat up near ye,
I'll anchor in de harbor ob de free.
Janey's brother and Christopher walked
with her to the turn of the road when she
started home, and the walk was a memorable
one, as walks taken under invisible douds
always ore.
Julius' song had opened the gates of fancy
for hk sister, and her poor little untaught
mind was picturing the "glories of the free
land." What was it like that country
wnere everybody was free! In imagination
she was already there, dressed in prettr
clothes and walking with a proud step. She
forgot Dennk Magruder and the nameless
dread he had cost upon her; forgot every
thing in the splendors of fancy which un
folded under the light of the "Lord's lantern."
"Goodby, Julius. Goodby, Chrissfer," she
called to them as she went on her road alone.
"Goodby, Janey, goodby," echoed back.
The two comrades started homeward slowly.
As they passed down the slope of hill there
was a quick rustle by the wayside, and a
rabbit or wood rat bounded across the road
in front of them like a flash. Their teeth
chattered with superstitious dread. Julius
was the first to confess hk fear.
"Criss'fer,"hesaid, "I feel like somebody
was walkin' ober me grave. I knows dat
was only a varmint; but I'so cold all ober.
An' I had a cur'us dream last night I dremp
you an' me was tangled in a great snarl o'
rope a snarl so big it reached to de sky
above an' to de bindin' where de earth an'
sky meet below. Fas' as we'd try to unkeoyl
out ob it Massa Magruder 'd fassen us in it
agin. All de niggers an' all de white folks
was lookin' on; but dey didnt help us to get
loose. At las', jkt as we thought we'd be
smashed by de weight ob it, Janey come
right down f rue do clouds an' scattered de
tangles ob de rope like dey was ravelins, an'
everybody dk'peared even Massa Magruder
faded out like a streak o' lasses wid a piece o'
soap after it Spec Massa Magruder's goin'
to lick us 'fore long."
Then, after a brief silence aud a glanco at
hk own and Christopher's brawny body, be
said, reflectively: "We's bof pow'ful strong,
ain't we, Chriss'feri No one man, ef ' he k
white, ort to lick us."
"Yes, we k strong," said Christopher,
glancing appreciatively at hk stalwart
figure. "If you or me hit a man he'd be apt
to fall"
"If I hit a man an' he didn't fall I'd go
roan' behiu' him to see what was proppin'
ini up," said Julius.
Janey walked on southward tfll she reached
a point where the road turned away from
the stream. Suanlovey, grkftening m the
sBOoalight, was like a companion, and she
hated to leave it Going dose to the waters
eage xor a parting lootc sue spied a little boat,
with a pair of oars lying within it, tied
loot-ely to a tree with a badly worn rope. It
was feeble, dingy little craft a slave's boat
Thinlfeig to paddle awhile near the shore, she
untie! the rope and got in.
&
Her brother's song had been echoing
through her brain, filling her soul with fair
visions of freedom. Softly she sang:
"O norf star, ye's de torch ob hebben,
Fo' which de shadders all flee;
If I can row my boat up near ye,
ril anchor in de harbor ob de free"
She repeated the refrain again and agaia,
and tho spark of hopo that was in it set her
brain on fire, now far was it to the free
land She wished she had asked Julius. It
surely couldn't bo so very, very far. Just
over the hills, beyond the woodlands a day's
journey, perhaps. Was it straight under the
north star? Couldn't she reach it? How
glorious it would be to row on and on until
tho "Lord's lantern" bung above her bead
and she rested "iu the baibor of the freel"
Tho littlo boat lolled like a leaf on the water
while tho girl hesitated at tho turning tide of
her doom. Neur her, invisible but irresisti
ble, hovered the genius of her destiny.
Suddenly both oars flashed like sabers and
the loat turned and shot north word. Tho little
slavo girl was rowing toward freedom by the
light of tho "Lord's lantern."
How sbo sped through the water! It was
nothing that tho current was against her;
nothing that the "torch of heaven" was so
far am ay. She was going towards it She
would surely reach it Like glances of light
her slender paddles rose and fell Like a bird
uiioii the wing the narrow boat flew up the
river. On, on in tho still night it sped. On,
on, ist dark swamp lands; past bountiful
cotton fields, around hills, under bridges,
through lonely forests on, on in the moon
light shot tho little whito boat
By and by her arms grew weary. The oaro
bad become, heavy and unmanageable. With
a child's trust she pushed her boat to the
shore till its keel stuck in tho sand, thinking
to rest a little while and then go on toward
tho "fi'ry pillar," which snrely.niust bo nearer
now. Drawing her oars into tho boat she
curled down beside them with her head on
her bit of faded shawl and fell asleep.
E
Dennk Magruder was always astir early.
Tyrants usually rise with tho lark. They are
economical of time. They can't get a full
measure of cruelty into a short day. On the
following morning he was earlier at the mill
than usual. The day had scarcely begun. The
sun himself had just risen.
One by one the slaves who worked at the
mill came from odd paths through the thick
wool Mr. Magruder walked about with a
brisk step. Suddenly he saw something of
interest out on tho dam above the mill. It
was a boat, small and white, but it had no
oarsman. It drifted, floated, whirled round
and round and rocked idly. Yet there was
something in it something which looked like
a human figure. Mr. Magruder ejected a few
oaths, called hk hounds and sent them into
tho water to fetch the boat
They started with a long, loud, deep, melo
dious howl, their lean, narrow heads protrud
ing from tho water and their eyes blazing.
The fury of pursuit was upon them. As they
neared the boat they uttered in chorus tn
other long, loud, mellow note of savage joy.
Though the sleep of the slave k almost as
deep as the sleep of the grave, thk awful
reveille roused the figure in the boat, and she
sat upright She who bad gone to sleep
dreaming of lands of beauty and peace, and,
as she thought, far on her way toward free
dom, awoke to find herself surrounded by
baying bloodhounds.
She looked shoreward and saw Dennk Ma
gruder and a group of terror stricken slaves,
and knew that no help would come from that
quarter.
The dogs were close upon tho boat The
breath from their expansive nostrils almost
scorched her. Their bloodshot eyes were
glaring into her face, and from their loose
and hanging lip? foam was flying. One,
bolder limn the rest, flung one of bk legs on
the edge of the boat and began to clamber in.
The girl trimmed the boat and tried to shake
blm loose, while upon her childish face set
tled a look of voiceless terror. Gentle, timid,
unassertive as she was by nature, in the su
preme hour of danger she was heroic She
grnsped one of the oars which had lain idle
while she floated down the stream, and, rais
ing it with all her strength, she brought it
down on the head of the attacking brute,
which was already over the edge of the boat
There was a sound of crunching bone, and
with a horrible gurgle In hk loose throat the
brute rolled over in a death struggle and
disappeared beneath tho water. Then Janoy
stood upright, and with a cry of anguish so
awful, to hears rending that all who heard it
never ceased to hear it, sbo flung herself into
the water and souk out of sight
A
Tho dogs understood that something terri
ble had happened and swam silently back to
thrt shore.
Dennis Magruder ordered some one, any
one of the slaves who witnessed the tragedy
to swim after her, but none of them obeyed.
Just as tbo little figure rose to the surface
the second time after her disappearance Chrfo
topher and Julius emerged from a forest
path.
They say that love is blind; but in moments
of extreme peril he sees with more than mortal
sight Christopher saw the empty boat rock
ing on the stream, the paralyzed group on
the shore, the outline of the girl's figure
floating on the water, and in a moment be
struck out into the dam. After many vain
efforts he clutched ber in hk arms and took
her to the shore; but it was only a dead body
that be carried up the path to the mill yard.
Her soul had anchored "in the harbor of the
f reo." Tho race which had begun but a few
hours before was already 'won, though the
victory was only gained by pyirfng through
the gates of death.
Julius clasped the pulseless body in hk
arms and broke into lamentation. Christo
pher, though bk love was the greater,
clinched hk hands and stood mutely by. Hk
heart was benumbed. It was as though hk
soul had been torn from hkbody, leaving
life, but no feeling. Then a sense of the aw
ful injustice which had made" such a tragedy
passible began to burn within him, and be
,- . A." '
I M5SsfcsSBBSas.SBSBi mSaJV 1 1 5Bm
. MS f 11 jN &
questioned hk braked soul to know u there
was a God.
Suddenly the deep whir of the sawmill be
gan, and Magruder came up and ordered the
two mourners to go inside and go to work.
"Oh, massa!" wailed Julias, She's my sk
ter, my little Janey; the only soul I tubbed
on ea'th. She'll soon be put out o my sight
anyway; let me be near her a little while
longer. Til work all night, ebry night or as
early in de moniin' ss ye want me to to mV
op for it Lot mo take her home."
Magruder was in the worst possible humor.
The girl had foiled him iu the most unex
pected way. He was inwardly furious at the
shape events had taken, and was meaner than
ever in consequence.
"I'll have no snivelln' over dead niggers
here. The little yellow idiot drowned herself.
She doesn't deserve sny pity. Go in and go
to work."
The strong black man trembled with ago
ny; but be obeyed. A life of servility had
taught him submission. He held Janey close
in hk arms for an instant, while hk giant
frame shook with sobs. Then he laid her ten
derly on the rough pine boards and turned
away. Christopher passed hk hand over her
face in farewell, and together they entered
the mill
Janey's slender body lying so still on the
pine boards was not a pleasant sight to Den
nk Magruder as he moved about giving or
ders, and after he had eudured it two or
three burs he sent her home. Julius and
Christopher heard the rumble of the wagon
which did duty as hearso and guessed the ser
vice it was performing; but they only worked
the harder and said nothing.
After the day's toil was done and they had
returned to their cabin at "Massa BusleyV
they got permission to go down to Massa
Boyer's and help to bury Janey.
In tho rudest portions of the cotton coun
try, in the days of slavery, the negroes buried
each other at night Daylight hours were
too valuable to tho money making cotton
rakers to be wasted in "nigger funerals." A
slave's burial was a brief ordinance any time,
aud Janey's obsequies were like all the rest
She was carried out in the moonlight and
lowered Into a grave iu a little spot of earth
already populous with the dead. The negroes
of the plantation stood around with awed
faces. A tottering old man mumbled a
prayer, a hymn was sung and the grave
filled up.
Julius and Christopher walked homo in
silence, thinking of Uie awful record the day
had made.
Ou tho brow of the hill where they had
stood the evening before and watched Janey
out of sight thoy paused. Tho night was as
holy, the calm as perfect, the scene as beauti
ful as though death was unknown. Yet its
grandeur was hateful to them. Tho old earth
had suddenly become unsightly to their eyes.
All that they loved had gone out of it
Had a day or a year gone by since they
stood there last in the moonlight! Hours iii
which we suffer much seem like eternities in
memory.
Julius looked again to the north star, littfe
dreaming of the part it had played in his sis
ter's destiny, and thought of the promised
angel of 1'YctxIoiu aud marveled at his long
delay. He seemed further off than ever to
the sore heart of the slave. Lifting his hands
heavenward he murmured:
"How long, how long, how long, O, Lord,
Befo1 we see his flamin' s-nr.l"
IIL
On the afternoon of the 4th of July Dennk
Magruder sat in the door of hkmill, whistling
and beating time with hk foot He was rest
less. It was 2 o'dock in tho afternoon and
the day was warm. He had bon up to the
Cross Roads, down below tho turpentine
forest and at Williams' plantation, and still
there wero two or three hours on his hands
that he didn't know what to do with. He
went iu and out of the mill, dowu to tho shore
ot the dam and came back and sat down un
der a tree iu front of the wide mill door. Hk
dogs were scattered round iu shady places,
panting as though existence in such heat was
an intolerable burden. Their tongues pro
truded over their loose lips, and their flabby
throats pulsed painfully.
"It's a long day a dismally long day." said
Magruder aloud.
After wondering what he could do to moke
time swifter on the wing, it occurred to him
that it would bo finishing out tho day appro
priately and satisfactorily to "lick a nigger."
"Haven't licked a nigger for a week," he solil
oquized. (He had killed one, hut he didn't
count that) There was inspiration iu tho
thought His face brightened at it like the
earth under the spring buu. Better still, he
would "lick two niggers."
He had no trouble hi selecting victims to
administer upon, either. Since Janey's death
Julius aud Christopher had made him fed
uncomfortable. The Inexpressible loathing
which they carried in their simple, sorrowful
hearts made itself fdt through tbo mute sub
mission of their manner. Thoy wero as hum
bly obedient as ever and outwardly as re
spectful They were not even sullen. They
were too sad for that Deep as was the sense
of injury and in justice in their hearts they
entertained no hopo of revenge or redress.
As well might they dream of striking back at
the lightning. They said, "Yes, massa," and
"No, massa," as humbly and gently as though
hk brutality had not robbed them of all they
loved.
Nevertheless Mr. Magruder felt uncom
fortable in their presence. The cure for that
would be to make them still more uncom
fortable. The suggestion developed into a
plan in the despot's mind, and he rose and
went into the mill
Not for from hk home, and a mile or more
from the mill, Magruder had what he called
a "music room," otherwise a bouso of torture,
and thither ho ordered the two slaves to pro
ceed. He mounted hk horse and followed close
upon their heels so close he could have heanl
what they said had they cared to talk, which
they did not It was wonderfully suggestive
of cattle driving. The hounds started to fol
low, but ho forbade them and ordered them
kenneled until hk return.
How jauntily ho rode! He whistled snatched
of long forgotten tunes and hummed a frag
ment of a jolly soug. Hk spirits were rising.
Ho was on. tho track of a littlo divcrnion.
Really, it wasn't such a tedious day to get
through after all, if it was tho Fourth of
July a day ho always hated.
The two chattels walked on in silence. Once
only did Julius' lips move, and four words
came forth, to which his coniMiuioti re
sponded by a single glance. Had their driver
heard the words and seen the answer which
flashed back hk buoyant spirits might have
fallen a degree or so.
Mr. Magruder's "music room" was an old
house in the depths of the lowland forest
Isolated in location and dilapidated in appear
ance, it was lonely as the grave. It had
several comportments, all furnished in accord
ance with their intended uso. It pleased him
to spend hk leisure hours there sometimes.
The "music room" proper was a marvel of
diabolical ingenuity. 8aws, clubs, ropes,
straps, and other implements of torture were
ranged on the wall in ghastly precision, and
two stout posts, bristling with rings, stood in
the middle of the floor.
They entered the house, and Magruder
locked the door, and put the big, rusty ky iu
hk pocket Theu he took down some ropes
and a long, limber saw, and ordered Christo
pher to strip and Julius to fasten him to one
of the posts. As he gave the command he
took from hk pocket a bugs revolver and
toyed with it Such a thing as a slave revolt
ing against punishment was unheard of in the
cotton country. Mr. Magruder never dreamed
of needing the revolver, although he bud two
strong men to deal with; but he enjoyed the
terror it Inspired.
Julius moved as if to obey ami, and Chris
topher came a step nearer There was a
signal from eye to eye, and m aa instant a
pistol shot rang through the lonely forest.
Magruder lay upon the floor, and tho two
desperate slaves stooped over a dead man.
Looking at him as be lay stained with hk
own blood, ther taoaoht ef hk seeds of
crueity, the torture, the tyranny and murders
which cried out against him, aad their wrath
rose to insane fury. Death was not enough.
They would put that cruel face out of sight
forever. They would leave him a headless
wanderer in guostland until the day of judg
ment With revengeful energy they chopped
hk head from hk body and dropped it into a
disused well under the old porch, and care
fully fastened the boards over it again. In
their superstitious souls they believed that hk
wretched spirit would search vainly for its
missing head until the resurrection.
Then they went to their hut at "Massa Bus
ley's." They knew what the consequences of
their act would be, and made ready to ac
cept them. Hope of escape there was none.
Magruder was dead, but hk bounds were not
Canada, the modern Canaan, was far away,
and the path beset by obstacles and perils.
That was a night to remember through all
eternity. They knew that the morrow would
bring their doom, and they waited for it with
a calmness that would have made a distin
guished martyr immortal
They saw the rockets which were sent up
from the village to celebrate the Fourth of
July. Thoy looked again and again at the
starlit landscape the bit of thk beautiful,
sad world which environed them and talked
of the stars, the Lord, the dead man iu the
house in the forest anil of Janey, and won
dered what life meant, and how it would
seem to be dead, until with their arms
around each other, they fell asleep for the
last time ou earth.
While- they slept on the edge of a dreadful
doom, the white peoplo all over the country
celebrated tho anniversary of the birth of
freedom, the dawu of independence.
Late that night Dennk Magruder's horse
reached home, riderless and trembling with
terror; but not until morning was the dee
pot's headless body found in hk house of tor
ture. No time was lost hi disposing of Chrbtopher
and Julius. Law was a luxury never wasted
upon slaves in that section of country. There
was no quibbling as to the degree of their
guilt; no such preliminary nonsense as a
trial When asked if they had killed Ma
gruder they said they had.
Before midday they wero dead hautced be
tween two corn cribs. All the slaves within
call were commanded to witness the banging
that they might see how costly a thing self
defense was. Though they acknowledged
having killed Magruder they refused to tell
where they had put hk head
As Julius looked for the last time upon the
earth, he said: "It'll oidy set me free to hang
me; an I neber could o' got free no odor way."
It was the same thought uttered by a fair
young parricide of the sixteenth century
around whoso memorv romance has woven
an immortal fame: "You bind my body for
destruction, but you free my soul for immor
tality." Christopher, whose nature was self con
tained as a god's, met bk death in silence.
Dennk Magruder wsut buried without hk
head, a fearful thing from the slavo's super
stitious standpoint and a shameful thing iu
tho opinion or the white part of the popula
tion. He at once took rank as the most ter
rifying and unappeasable ghost that over
haunted tho shores of Suanlovey, and in con
sequence kept tho slaves almost as much in
terror when dead as when alive. Chilling
tales of his headless spirit having been seen
night after night by the mill andon tho road
that led to the bouse in the forest were told
anil retold, and are still told.
Since then the "flaming sword" which Julius
longed to see has swept over the southland,
leaving a trail of blood down to the waters of
the great gulf, but washing away the curse of
slavery forever.
Suanlovey seeks the sea as steadily as of old,
and the headless ghost of Magruder still lin
gers on its banks. The story of hk hateful
life and awful death k told o'er and o'er
again by the elderly uegros to their free
grandchildren. On the evening of the 4th
of July uot one of them will venture near tho
forest where he was killed, for oa that night
ob iiouuu iu ue seen.
And they whisper another tale which makes
the eyes of the listener circular and serious.
It is thut sometimes on mooulit nights a little
white boat without an oarsman floats down
Suanlovey, and when opjosite the ruins of
Magruder's mill a slender g'rl ri.sfs suddenly
from within it, and with a long, loud wsil cf
anguish flings herself into the water.
Gkbtrude Uaiuuscm.
SENATOR FAiROFl NEVADA.
One of the Big Stories He Told on His
Tour Around the World.
Perhaps Fair never distinguished himself
in the way of Munchausen stories as ho did
when taking hk tour around the world. Ho
was in company with a select party from
San Francisco, mostly busines men off for
a jaunt Fair was tho central figure, as in
spito of hk lack of carl educational advan
tages he had more general information than
any of the others, and hk wealth was then
supposed to bo almost unlimited. Ho went
into foreign travel with tho zest of a boy
on a vacation. He was a delightful travel
ing companion, as he was full of all manner
of stories, which he knew how to embellish
with an infinite variety of picturesquo effects.
Tho peculiarity of hk imagination was that
it made him the center, the hero of nearly
every experience he related, no matter how
wonderful it might bo. Hk companions were
constantly treated to a succession of stories
of adventure which would liave made the
fortune of a sensational novelist
One of hk greatest exploits in thk line oc
curred in China. The party was invited to
spend a day or two at the sugar plantation
of a wealthy Englishman, who had made a
delightful place ou tho shore of one of the
great rivers of China. He took hk guests
over hk plantation, showed them with much
pride hk hundreds of acres of growing cano
and hk machinery for converting it into
sugar. Now, it happened tliat Fair had
once spent a month on the Hawaiian islands,
and, according to hk custom, had made an
exhaustive study of tho production of sugar.
He had pumped every ono connected with
one of the great plantations of Spreckles.
Ho knew sugar through and through. One
of hk peculiarities is a memory which never
gives up anything it has once acquired.
When the talk turned on sugur he amply
brought out hk old information acquired on
the islands. He paralyzed his friends by
suddenly saying in response to some of the
Englishman's remarks:
"Yes, I have a small jmtcli of sugar cano
myself In southern California a mere baga
telle of 25,000 acres."
And then ho went ou with a wonderfully
lucid explanation of the amount of sugar ho
secured from tho various joints of tho cane,
the processes he adopted in refining, etc. In
fact, ho showed such -lerfect familiarity with
the minutest details of the business that the
Englishman was amazed, and despite the fact
that.no amount of sugar was known to be
produced in thk state, he was forced to bo
lievo tho Californian's realistic story. Fair
completely staggered him by finally saying:
"But thk little plantation k only a begin
ning. I propose next year when I return to
put in ir0,000 acres. Then home consump
tion will be distanced and California will
take her proper place in tho markets of tho
world as a sugar producing state."
When ho had left the room tho English
man asked hk companions if it could possibly
bo truo that sugar cano grew with such
luxuriance in California. Fair's friends as
sured him that there must be somo exaggera
tion in their companion's talk, but that ho
had so many business ventures that he might
havo a sugar plantation without their knowl
edge Son Francisco Cor. GIole-Democrat
Kuiperor and Orgau Grinder.
His majesty Doni Pedro of Brazil was re
cvntly much amused ou landing nt San Paulo
by being received by an Italian gentleman
with a hand organ, who played tho national
air. Tho emperor listened with gravity to
the musician and then asked him in French
to play "L'Air pour I'ltalie." Tho musician
did not know it, but proposed to play the
Brazilian air over again. And the emperor
listened to the repetition with apparent de
light. Chicago Tribune.
Mrs. Eben Brown, of Chesterfield Factory,
N. H., has in ber possession a woven cover
let that has been in use over 200 years and
k still in good condition.
National Bank!
OF
COLUMBUS. NEB.
-HAS AN-
Authorized Capital of $250,000,
A Surplus Fund of - $20,000,
And tho largcet Pisl in Cash Capital of
nnr bank in this art of the State.
J$f"Deoili received and interest aid on
time dciKKtiti.
JS'-Drnftrt on the principal citieit in this coun
try aud Kuro(ie boutdit mid mld.
CRTolltction and all other luiMnt-fa given
Irouit and careful attention.
'j.ii-
MTOOKHOLDEHS.
A.ANDEHBON.lrw't.
HK11MAN P. H.OE1ILKIC1I.
VicePreH't.
O.T.UOEN.'iuthier.
J. P. HKfKKK, IIKKMAN OKHLKICH.
(l.SCHUrriC W. A. MoALIJOTElt,
JONAS WELCH, JOHN W. KAIUjY.
l'.ANDKKSON. (J. ANDEKBON.
ltOBKKT V HI JO. CAUL KE1NKE.
AprSt-'ftUf
business $:zrds.
D.T.Mautix.M. 1.
F. J. Scuro. M. D.
Bra. MARTYN & SCHUG,
U. S. Examining Surgeons,
I.ocol Surxonni, Union Pacific, O., N. X.
li. U. and II. .V M. K. Uh.
Concultation in (ieruinn and EukHhIi. Tele
phone at otlico aud renidencets.
tfOllico on Olive Mreit, next to Hnxlfueh
rer'a Juwelry Store.
COLUSIBUS, ... NEUKA8KA.
f-'-y
H
ANILTOK nKADi;.TI.IM
rilYSICtAX AXl SUKGEOX,
Platte CfiitT, Xelirnxka. U-y
Xy M. COKiKI.IIJM.
Z,iir AND COLLECTION OFFICE.
Upstairs Ernot building. 11th street.
OIll.l.lVAK Ac liKKUKK,
A TTOKXEYX A T LA IP,
Othio over First National Hunk, Columbus,
Nebraska. WMf
1 1. KVA1.S IU. !.,
PHYSICIAX AX1 SCRGEOX.
fcOHic nnd rooniH, Gluek building, 11th
ctroft. TuIephoiit communication. t-y
jljcALIJMTEK 1SKOM.,
-1 TTOHXEYS A T LA II', -
Ofcico up-stair in Henry's building, corner of
Olive and lit!. Mrtvt-. W. A. McAllixter. No
tary Ihiblic.
jOfli; 1:1 s:,
c i .'at r set: i wic you.
l'aiti,' dririuK btinejiui; done chu nd-drt-SH
mo Ht (olumlm. Neb., or call at my ollico
uHourt Hoiim'. !umStf.y
!mi: ' i'a:,ies:jc..
W. H. Tedrow, Co Supt.
1 will be nt my oliiet. in tlieCo.ut l.'..nw tlio
third Saturday of each month for !. txjuniim
tiou of ttairl.erti. 2U-tf
1)
it. J. ii am. ii.a.s.
DKUTfeKJI I KJi A RZT.
t'ohimbuK, NVbrarka.
f r!ip- Jlth Strtt. ConMilti.tiVrm in F.u
kIihIi, V r,-ucii aud (,'inniui. ZimarSJ
JOHN'C.IIIiKilNS. C..I. HA I: LOW.
Cotlictioii Attorney.
HIGGINS GAKLOW,
ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW,
SiH-cialty mwle or ''ollectioiiM by C. J. Harlow.
31-in
V. B-'. ItlAlKK, il. 1
HOMCEOPATHIST.
Chronic Tiiscnscs and Diseases ef
Children a. Specialty.
J5TOti;ceu OKicttrut. thrro doors north of
HrM NMiouM Ibttik. V-ly
ip i.Etrsc-cii:,
llth St., opposite Lindcll Hotel.
J Si. 3kA4 lAKLAAIr.
A1TOl:NEY AND N'OTAHY PUBLIC.
LAW xM C0LlK HON 0FFKE
OK
J. M. UffACr-AKIAKD,
Coliiinbos. N hrar-ka.
K. C. BOYD,
- MAMlrMCTl'UKH O!'-
Tin and Sheet-Iron Ware !
Job-Work, Hoofing and Gutter
ing a Specialty.
2T Shop on Olive ctrot, 'J doors north of
lirixlfut Iimt'b Jtwelry tjtoi. Si-it
A.J.AKN0LD,
DK4LEIC IN
DIAMONDS,
FINE WATCHES,
Clocltw, .I-wt-lry
AND
SILVERWARE.
Strict attention jriv.n to ii hiring of Watch.-
Red JiwiJry. Is; Will u t it undereoid by
aiij !ody."fe;
NesJlvenue, Oppofcito CI other Hoase.
YOU
can live at home, aud make raoro
money at work for us. than nt any
thing elfeV in tho -world. Cnnit.-il not
needed: you aro Ftnrtcd free. Both
seses; all atfe. Anoncnn do the work. Laro
pariiinfH sun from rirst Hart. Costly outfit and
terms f rt. Better not lielav. Costs von nothing
to send us yonr addrew and find out; if you aro
wik you will do so at once. H. H allett A Co.,
Portland. Maine. dec22-'Wy
Wewspapsr
A book of KO page.
'FliMlM.at Hsiatlr fimj
SflU Hnrnif-e. Knddb f-, (ol!in. Whips, Dtaiikrts,
liny Cun-I.?. l'nli, h. (miiky. voIim. I.ui'cy
to., u'rliii m-, iMni:i'f trn uui.us. Ac. i.t tie
low. r-l .i-i-i!!i. print,. I., f'.irn promptly at
( ixlnl to.
iff?! ! ii iii i...t-..- to con-
iWVEitTISING8alt u' ne eiiH-ri-
nff sisjn i iwirsq , , or otncrwi3e
Itcontains lists of newspapers and estimates
of tho cmtof advertising. The advrrtiserwho
wants to spend one dollar. Amis In it the In
formation lie requires, while for htm who wilt
invest ou hundred thousand dollars in ad
vertising; a scheme is Indicated which will
meet his every requirement, or can be wuuls
to do so bftlighl changes tattly arrival at bycor
rtspoiulence. 149 editions have been issued.
Sent, post-paid, to any address for 10 cents.
Write to GEO. P. BOWELL ft CO..
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING BUREAU.
(l89pruas4t.PriaUagHQossS4.), New York.
