Mr. Baron knew he was being ruined, but
since it was in behalf of his friends, he maintained remarkable
fortitude, while his wife, with her thin, white, set face, honored
every requisition.
Some of the negroes, sighing for what seemed vanishing freedom,
sought to reach the Union force, but were stopped at the picket line
by which General Marston masked his retirement from the field. The
majority of the slaves, however, were kept at work indoors and out,
under the eyes of the Confederates, who quickly showed themselves to
be savage toward any disposition to shirk orders.
There was one who would have received short shrift if hands could
have been laid upon him--Chunk. None knew this better than he, yet
he was as fearless as he was shrewd. Scoville had already won from
him unlimited devotion--bought him, body and soul, with kindness and
freedom. When he found his new master had not returned from the
final charge, Chunk questioned one and another until he learned that
Scoville had been seen to go down and then disappear in the gloom.
Pages:
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324