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LOG LOO. 249
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Scene I.
_& xi & looking up , as if expecting praise for his performances . The traveller availed himself of this season of quiet to renew
ids inquiries . '' Well , " said Mr . Jackson , " I reckon we can accommodate ye .
Whar ar ye from , stranger ? " Mr . Noble having stated " whar " he was from , was required to
tell " whar" he was going , whether he owned that " bit of horseflesh" and whether he wanted to sell him . Having answered all
these , interrogatories in a satisfactory manner , he was ushered into the house .
The interior was rude and slovenly , like the exterior . The doors were oened by wooden latches with leather strings , and sagged so
_^ much void the p on difficulty their -wooden of shutting hinges , them that . they Ouns were and usuall fishing y left -tackle open were to
on the walls , and the seats were ¦ wooden benches or leather-bottomed _chairs . A tall , lank - woman , with red hair , and a severe aspect ,
was busy mending a garment . When asked if the traveller could be provided with supper , she curtly replied that she " reckoned so ;"
and , without further parlance or salute , went out to give orders . 44 Immediatel You gal ! put aft the erw fixens ard , her on the shrill table voic . " e was heard calling out ,
The " gal , " who obeyed the summons , proved to be the sylphlike child that had guided the traveller to the house . To the
expression of listlessness and desolation which he had previously noticedthere was now added a look of bewilderment and fear .
He . thoug , ht she might , perhaps , be a step-daughter of Mrs . Jackson ; but how could so coarse a man as his host be the father of
such gentleness and grace ? While supper was being prepared , Mr . Jackson entered into
_conversation with his guest about the usual topics in that region , — the prices of cotton and " niggers . " He frankly laid open his own
history and prospects , stating that he was " fetched up" in Western Tennessee , where he owned but two " niggers . " A rich uncle had
died in Alabama , and he had come in for a portion of his wild land and " ni ; " so he concluded to move South and take possession .
Mr . Noble ggers courteously sustained his share of the conversation ; but his eyes involuntarily followed the interesting child , as she passed
in and out to arrange the supper-table . " You seem to fancy Leewizzy , " said Mr . Jackson , shaking the
ashes from his pipe . " I have never seen a handsomer child , " replied Mr . Noble .
" Is she your daughter ? " " No , sir ; she's my nigger , " was the brief response .
The young girl reentered the room at that moment , and the statement seemed so incrediblethat the traveller eyed her with
scrutinizing glance , striving in , vain to find some trace of colored ancestry .
" Come here , Leewizzy , " said her master . " What d ' ye keep
VOL . II . T
Log Loo. 249
LOG LOO . 249
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1858, page 249, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121858/page/33/
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