METHODS OF CULTURE IN THE SOUTH; ^ 



m 



But Saturday is the culminating period of the week. The •- 

 huge plantation has been gone over closely and carefully, - 

 for the morrow is Sunday, on which day the birds are the 

 only pickers. Around the office, crate manufactory, and 

 paying booth were gathered over a thousand people, — a 

 motley and variegated crowd, that the South only can pro- 

 duce. The odd and often coarse jargon, the infinite variety 

 in appearance and character, suggested again that humanity 

 is a very tangled problem. The shrewdness and accuracy, 

 however, with which the most ignorant count their tickets 

 and reckon their dues on their fingers, is a trait characteris- 

 tic of all, and, having received the few shillings, which mean 

 a luxurious Sunday, they trudge off to town, chattering 

 volubly, whether any one Hstens or not. 



But many cannot resist the rollicking music back of the 

 paying booth. Three sable musicians form the orchestra, 

 and from a bass viol, fiddle and fife they extract melody 

 that, with all its short-coming, would make a deacon wish 

 to dance. Any one, white or black, can purchase the privi- 

 lege of keeping step to the music for two cents, or one 

 strawberry ticket. Business was superb, and every shade of 

 color and character was represented. In the vernacular of 

 the farm, the mulatto girls are called " strawberry blondes," 

 and one that would have attracted attention anywhere was 

 led out by a droll, full-blooded negro, who would have made 

 the fortune of a minstrel troupe. She was tall and willowy. 

 A profusion of dark hair curled about an oval face, not too 

 dark to prevent a faint color of the strawberry from glowing 

 in her cheeks. She wore neither hat nor shoes, but was as 

 unembarrassed, apparently, in her one close-fitting garment, 

 as could be any ball-room belle dressed in the latest mode^ 

 Another blonde, who sported torn slippers and white stock- 

 ings, was in danger of being spoiled by much attention. 



