The Bondwoman

  CHAPTER XIV.

  Gertrude promptly assured old Nelse that the plantation needed noextra caretakers just then, the work was progressing very well sincetheir return. Nelse swept the jockey cap over his feet in a profoundbow, and sauntered around the house. The mistress of Loringwood askedEvilena to see if he had gone to his canoe. She did so, and reportedthat he had gone direct to the stables, where he had looked carefullyover all the horses, and found one threatened with some dangerousailment requiring his personal ministrations. He had announced hisintention of staying right there until that horse was "up an' doin'again." At that minute he was seated on a half bushel measure as on athrone from which he was giving his orders, and all the young niggerswere fairly flying to execute them.

  "It is no use, Gertrude," said Mrs. Nesbitt, with a sigh; "as soon asI saw that vest and your grandfather's coat with the brass buttons, Iknew Nelse had come to stay a spell, and stay he will in spite ofus."

  Which statement gave the man from Dublin another sidelight on the racequestion!

  One of the servants announced a canoe in sight, coming from up theriver, and anticipating a probable addition to their visitors, Delavenescaped by a side door, until the greetings were over, and walkingaimlessly along a little path back from the river, found it ended at agroup of pines surrounded by an iron railing, enclosing, also, thehigh, square granite and marble abodes of the dead. It was here Nelsehad pointed when telling of Tom Loring's sudden death and burial.

  He opened the gate, and as he did so noticed a woman at the other sideof the enclosure. Remembering how intensely superstitious the coloredfolks were said to be, he wondered at one of them coming alone intothe grove so nearly darkened by the dense covering of pine, and withonly the ghostly white of the tombs surrounding her.

  He halted and stood silent beside a tree until she arose and turnedtowards the gate, then he could see plainly the clear, delicateprofile of the silent Margeret. Of all the people he had met in thisnew country, this quiet, pale woman puzzled him most. She seemed tocompel an atmosphere of silence, for no one spoke of her. She movedabout like a shadow in the house, but she moved to some purpose, forshe was a most efficient housekeeper, even the pickaninnies from thequarters--saucy and mischievous enough with any one else--were subduedwhen Margeret spoke.

  After she had passed out of the gate he went over where he had seenher first. Two tombs were side by side, and of the same pattern; afreshly plucked flower lay on one. He read the name beneath theflower; it was, _Thomas Loring, in the thirtieth year of his age_; theother tomb was that of his wife, who had died seven years earlier.

  But it was on Tom Loring's tomb the blossom had been laid.

  Was it merely an accident that it was the marble on which the fragrantbit of red had been let fall? or--

  He walked slowly back to the house, feeling that he had touched onsome story more strange than any Evilena had asked him to listen to ofthe old days, and this one was vital, human, fascinating.

  He wondered who she was, yet felt a reluctance to ask. To him sheappeared a white woman. Yet an intangible something in Miss Loring'smanner to her made him doubt. He remembered hearing Matthew Loring onthe voyage complain many times that Margeret would have arrangedthings for his comfort with more foresight than was shown by hisattendants, but when he had reached Loringwood, and Margeret gavesilent, conscientious care to his wants, there was never a word ofpraise given her. He--Delaven--felt as if he was the only one therewho appreciated her ministrations; the others took them as a matter ofcourse.

  He saw old Nelse hitching along, with his queer little walk, comingfrom the direction of the stables. He motioned to him, and seatedhimself on a circular bench, backed by a great, live oak, and facingthe river. Nelse proved that his sight was good despite his years, forhe hastened his irregular shuffle and drew near, cap in hand.

  "Did the canoe from up the river bring visitors?" asked Delaven,producing one cigar which he lighted, and another which he presentedto the old man, who received it with every evidence of delight.

  "I can't even so much as recollect when I done put my hands on one o'these real Cubas; I thank yo' kindly, sah. We all raise our ownpatches o' tobacco, and smoke it in pipes dry, so! an' in course bythat-a-way we 'bleeged to 'spence with the julictious flavor o' theCubas. No, sah; ain't no visitors; just Mrs. McVeigh's man, Pluto,done fetched some letters and Chloe--Chloe's cook, heah--she tell meshe reckon Miss Gertrude try get Mahstah Matt to go up there fo' good'fore long, fo' Mrs. McVeigh, she comen' home from Mobile right away,now; done sent word. An' Miss Lena, she jest in a jubilee ovah theletter, fo' her ma gwine fotch home some great quality folks avisiten'. Judge Clarkson, he plan to start in the mawnen' forSavannah, he gwine meet 'em there."

  "And in the meantime we can enjoy our tobacco; sit down. I've been somuch interested in your stories of long ago that I want to ask youabout one of the present time."

  The smile of Nelse broadened. He felt he was appreciated by MissGertrude's guests, even though Miss Gertrude herself was notparticularly cordial. He squatted on the grass and waited whileDelaven took two or three puffs at his cigar before speaking again.

  "Now, in the first place, if there is any objection to answering myquestion, I expect you to tell me so; you understand?" Nelse noddedsolemnly, and Delaven continued:

  "I have one of the best nurses here that it has ever been my luck tomeet. You spoke of her today as in someway deprived of her senses fora long time. I can't quite understand that, for she appears veryintelligent. I should like to know what you meant."

  "I reckon o' course the pussen to who you pintedly make reference isRetta," said the old man, after a pause.

  "You are the only one I've heard call her that--the rest call herMargeret."

  "Humph--yes, sah; that Mahstah Matt's doens, I reckon! not but whatMarg'ret alles was her real sure-'nough name, but way back, whenMahstah Tom was a liven', no one evah heard tell o' her been' calledany name but Retta; an' seem like it suit her them days, but don'tquite suit her now so well."

  Delaven made no reply, and after another thoughtful pause, the old mancontinued:

  "No, sah; I've been thinken' it ovah middlen' careful, an' I can'tsee--considerin' as yo's a doctah, an' a 'special friend o' thefamily--why I ain't free to tell you Retta's story clean through; an'seen' as yo' have to put a lot o' 'pendance on her 'bout carryen' outyou ordahs fo' Mahstah Matt, seems to me like a bounden' duty fo'_some_ one to tell yo', fo' theah was five yeahs--yes--six of 'em,when Retta wasn't a 'nigh this plantation at all. She was stark,raven, crazy--dangerous crazy--an' had to be took away to some 'sylumplace; we all nevah knew where; but when she did come back she wasjest what you see--jest the ghost of a woman, sensible 'nough, seemlike, but I mind the time when she try to kill herself an' her chile,an' how we to know that fit nevah find her again?"

  "She--killed her child?"

  "Oh, no, sah; we all took the baby; she wan't but five yeah ole, fromher, an' got the knife out o' her hands; no, no one got hurt. But Ireckon I better go 'way back an' tell yo' the reason."

  "Very well; I was wondering if she was really a colored person,"remarked Delaven.

  "Retta's an octoroon, mahstah," said the old man, with a certainsolemnity of tone. "I done heard old Mahstah Jean Larue swear that iffolks are reckoned as horses are, Retta'd be counted a thoroughbred,'cause far back as they can count theah wan't no scrub stock in herpedigree.

  "Long 'bout hundred yeahs ago folks come in colony fashion from someislands 'way on other side the sea. They got plantations in Florida,an' Mahs Duke he knew some o' them well. I only rec'lect hearen' oneo' the names they was called--an' mighty hard some o' them was tosay!--but the one I mind was Andros, or Ambrose Lacaris, an' he was aGreek gentleman; an'--so it was said--Retta was his chile; his nat'raldaughter, as Mahs Larue call it, an' she was raised in his home jestlike as ef she gwine to be mistress some day."

  Delaven's cigar was forgotten, and its light gone out. The pedigreewas more interesting than he had expected. A Greek
! All the beauty ofthe ancient world had come from those islands across the sea. Theromances, the poems, the tragedies! and here was one living through atragedy of today; that flower on the tomb under the pines--itsuggested so much, now that he heard what she was.

  "Mahs Lacaris, from what I could heah, was much the turn o' my MahsDuke, but 'thout Mahs Duke's money to back him; an' one day all hisbusiness 'rangements, they go smash! an' sheriff come take all hislan' and niggahs fo' some 'surance he'd gone fo' some one. Well, sah,they say he most went 'stracted on head o' that smash up; an' 'specialwhen he found they took stock o' Retta, just like any o' the fieldhands. But theah wan't no help fo' it, 'cause Retta's mammy was aquadroon gal; jest made a pet o' the chile, an' was so easy goen' henevah took a thought that anything would ever change his way o'liven'.

  "Mahs Tom, he jes' got married to Miss Leo Masterson an' took her downFlorida fo' wedden' trip; that how he come to be theah when all MahsLacaris' belongings was put up fo' sale. Seem like Mahs Lacaris hadhope he could get mo' money back in his own country, an' he was allplanned to start, an' he beg Mahs Tom to buy his little Retta an' keepher safe till he come back.

  "_Now_, Mahs Tom was powerful good-hearted--jest like his daddy. So hetotes the chile home, an' I know Hester (Miss Leo's maid) was ragen'mad about it, 'cause she had to wait on her the whole enduren' triphome, fo' seem like that chile nevah had been taught to wait onherself.

  "Well, sah, Massa Lacaris, he nevah did come back; that ship he wentin nevah was heard tell of again from that day to this, an' theahwan't nothin' fo' Mahs Tom to do but jest keep her. He did talk aboutsendin' her 'way to some school, fo' she mighty peart with books, an'then given' her a chance to buy herself if so be she wanted to. ButMiss Leo object to that, flat foot down; she hadn't no sort o' use fo''ristocrat book-learned niggahs.

  "Hester, she heard Miss Leo say them words, an' was mighty glad totattle 'em! Hester--she was Maryland stock, same as Cynthy. Well, sah,they worried along fo' 'bout a yeah not deciden' jest what to do withthat young stray, then Miss Gertrude she come to town an' it did'ntake no time to fine out what to do with her, _then_!

  "Miss Gertrude wan't no 'special stout chile, an' took a heap o' carean' pamperin' an' when none o' the othahs could do a trick with her,Retta would jest walk in, take her in her arms, an' the wah was endedfo' that time! Fust time Mahs Tom see that performance he laughhearty, an' then he say, 'Retta, we jest find out what we do need youfo'; yo' gwine to be installed as governess at Lorinwood from thistime on.' An' Retta she was powerful pleased an' so happy, she alles alaughen' an' her eyes a shinen'.

  "Long 'bout a yeah after that, it was, when Miss Leo die. Mahs Tom, hewent way then fo' a long spell, cause the place too lonesome, an' whenhe come back, Retta, she ovah seventeen, an' she jest manage the wholehouse fine as she manage that baby, an' all the quality folks whatcome an' go praise her mightily an' talk 'bout how peart she was.

  "Then Mahs Matt, he come up from Orleans, whah he been cutten' a wideswath, if all folks told true, an' fust thing his eyes caught was thatgal Retta, an' he up an' tole Mahs Tom what a fool he was not to sellher down in Orleans whah she'd fetch mo' money than would buy six nussgals or housekeepers.

  "Mahs Tom cussed at him powerful wicked when he say that! I heard thatmy own self--it was down at the stable an' I was jest putten' a saddleon fo' Mahs Tom, an' then right in the middle o' his cussin' an'callen' names he stopped short off an' says--says he: 'Don't you evahopen youah mouth to me 'bout that again so long as yo' live. If Rettatakes care o' my Gertrude till she ten yeahs old, I made up my mine togive her freedom if she want it, that gal wan't bought for no slavean' she ain't gwine to be one heah--yo' un'stan'? You un'stan' if yougot any notion o' stayen' at Lorinwood!' An' then with some moremighty uncivil sayen's he got in the saddle an' rode like Jehu, an' Idon' reckon Mahs Matt evah did make mention of it again, fo' they got'long all good 'nough so long as he stayed.

  "Well, sah, haven' to take her part a-way made him think mo' 'bout thegal I reckon; anyway he say plain to more'n one that he sure gwinegive Retta her freedom.

  "He gwine do it jest aftah her chile was bawn, then theah was some lawfusses raised 'bout that time consarnnen' Mahstahs freen' slaves, an'Mahs Matt was theah then, an' he not say a word again _freen'_ her,only he say, 'wait a spell, Tom.'

  "Retta, she wan't caren' then; she was young an' happy all day longwhile her chile that was jest as white as Miss Gertrude dar be.

  "Things went on that-a-way five yeahs, her chile was five yeahs olewhen he start fo' a business visit down to Charleston, an' he say fo'he start that Retta gwine have her freedom papers fo' Christmas gift.Well, sah, he done been gone two weeks in Charleston when he starthome, an' then Mahs Larue persuade him to stay ovah night at hisplantation fo' a fox hunt in the mawnen'. Mahs Matt was theah, an'some othah friends, so he staid ovah an' next we heard Mahs Matt sentword Mahs Tom killed, an' we all was to be ready to see aftah therelations an' othah quality folks who boun' to come to the funeral.

  "An' now, sah, you un'stan' what sort o' shock it was made Retta loseher mind that time. She fainted dead away when she heard it, but thenshe kind o' pulled herself togethah, as a horse will for a spurt, an'she looked aftah the company an' took Mahs Matt's orders 'bout'rangements, but we all most scared at the way she look--jest awatching Mahs Matt constant, beggen' him with her eyes to tell her'bout them freedom papers, but seems like he didn't un'stan', an' whenshe ask him right out, right 'long side o' dead Mahs Tom, he informher he nevah heah tell 'bout them freedom papers, Mahs Tom not tolehim 'bout them, so she b'long to the 'state o' Loring jest same as shedid afore, only now Miss Gertrude owned her 'stead o' Mahs Tom.

  "That when she tried to kill herself, an' try to kill the chile;didn't know anybody, she didn't, I tell yo' it make a terrible'miration 'mongst the quality folks, an' I b'lieve in my soul MahsMatt would a killed her if he dared, fo' it made all the folksun'stan' jest what he would 'a tried to keep them from.

  "An' that, sah, is the whole 'count o' the reason leaden' up to thesickness whah she lost her mine. We all sutten sure Mahs Matt sell herquick if evah her senses done come back, but she really an' trulyb'long to Miss Gertrude, an' Miss Gertrude, she couldn't see no goodreason to let go the best housekeeper on the plantation, an' that howcome she come to stay when she fetched back cured by them doctors. Sheain't nevah made a mite o' trouble--jest alles same as yo' see her,but o' course yo' the best judge o' how far to trust her 'bout specialmedicine an' sech."

  "Yes," agreed Delaven, thoughtfully. He arose and walked back andforth several times. Until now he had only come in contact with thepleasant pastoral side of life, given added interest because, justnow, all its peace was encircled by war; but it _was_ peace for allthat--peace in an eminently Christian land, a land of homes andchurchly environment, and made picturesque by the grotesque featuresand humor of the dark exiles. He had only laughed with them until nowand marveled at the gaiety of the troops singing in the rice fields,and suddenly another window had been opened and through it one caughtglimpses of tragedies.

  "And the poor woman's child?" he asked, after a little.

  "Mahs Matt done send her down to Mahs Larue's Georgy plantation, an'we all nevah seen her no mo'. Mahs Larue done sold that Georgyplantation 'bout five yeahs back an' move up fo' good on one his wifeown up heah. An' little while back I hear tell they gwine sell it,too, an' flit way cross to Mexico somewhah. This heah war jest brokethem up a'ready."

  "And the child was sold?--do you mean that?"

  "Deed we all nevah got a sure story o' what come o' that baby; onlywhen Retta come back Mahs Matt tell her little Rhoda dead long timeago--dead down in Georgy, an' no one evah heah her ask a word fromthat day to this. But one Larue's niggahs _tole me_"--and the voiceand manner of Nelse took on a grotesquely impressive air--"they doneraise a mighty handsome chile 'bout that time what was called Rhoda,an' she went to ferren parts with Mahs Larue an' his family an' didn'tnevah come back, no mo', an' Mahs Matt raise some sort o' big row withMahs
Jean Larue ovah that gal, an' they nevah was friends no mo'. Tobe suah maybe that niggah lied--_I_ don't know. But he let on as howMars Larue say that gal gwine to fetch a fancy price some day, an' Ithought right off how Mahs Matt said Retta boun' to fetch a fancyprice in Orleans; an' taken' it all roun' I reckoned it jest as wellRetta keep on thinken' that chile died."

  Delaven agreed. From the house he could hear the ladies talking, andEvilena's laugh sang out clear as a bird's song. He wondered if theyalso knew the story of the silent deft-handed bondwoman?--butconcluded it was scarcely likely. Mrs. Nesbitt might know something ofit, but who could tell Tom Loring's daughter?--and Evilena, of course,was too much of a child.

  "I should like to see the picture you spoke of," he said at last, "thesmall one the painter left."

  "I reckon that picture done sent away with little Rhoda's things. Iain't nevah heard tell of it since that time. But it don't look a mitelike her now. All the red gone out o' her cheeks an' lips, all theshine out o' her eyes, an' her long brown hair has mo' white thanbrown in it these days. This woman Marg'ret ain't Retta; they jest asyo' might say two different women;" then, after a pause, "any othahthing you want ask me, sah? I see Jedge Clarkson comen' this way."

  "No, that is all; thank you, old fellow."

  He left Nelse ducking his head and fingering a new coin, while hesauntered to meet the Judge.

  "How much he give you, Uncle Nelse?" asked a guarded voice back of theold man, and he nearly fell over backwards in his fright. A large,middle-aged colored man arose from the tall grass, where he has beenhidden under the bank.

  "Wha--what you mean--yo' Pluto? What fo' you hide theah an' listen?"

  "I wan't hiden'," replied the man, good naturedly. "I jest lay to gosleep in the shade. Yo' come 'long an' talk--talk so I couldn't helphear it all," and he smiled shrewdly. "I alles was curious to know thetrue way 'bout that Marg'ret--I reckon there was a heap that wan'ttold to neighbors. An' reason why I ask you how much he give you fo'the story is 'cause I got that picture you tole 'bout. I married MahsLarue's Rosa what come from Georgy with them. She been daid ovah ayeah now, but it's some whar 'mongst her b'longings. Reckon thatstrange gentleman give me dollar for it?--the frame is mightypretty--what you think?"