586 
FOREST AND STREAM 
May 10, 1913 
1 should kill him ef I did. 1 prayed de Lord 
to help poor Anne in her trouble, an' tried to 
cotch de bosses an’ hurry away out of bearin’ 
afore I got into mischief, but de Lord ordered 
it different. Afore I could get away I heerd 
Anne give a screech, an’ den I shook like I had 
de ager, but I wouldn't go dar, ’cause you see 
’twon’t do for a slave to strike a white man, 
an’ I thought mebbe she’d get away from him 
arter all, but she didn’t. 1 heerd her screech 
two or three times arter dat, an' den she made 
a kine of smoderin’ noise as ef he had his han’ 
ol)er her motif or was a chokin’ her. I railly 
can’t tell what happened arter dat. De fust I 
knowed arterward, ’bout a dozen ob ’em was a 
holdin’ me an’ massa was a docterin’ de ober- 
seer. He was pounded up mighty bad, was de 
oberseer. A piece of his ear was gone, an’ one 
eye was clean knocked out ob his head. He 
looked awful bad, an’ dey said I done it. Ef 
I did, I didn’t know it, but dey tied me han’ 
an’ foot an’ den went arter de doctor for de 
oberseer. For two days an’ nights dey kep’ me 
in an ole log stable, an’ when de oberseer got 
well enough to ’tend to me, dey had some 
more gen’l’men from Richmond an’ 'round de 
neighborhood to see what should be done wid 
me. Some of ’em was for giving me up to de 
law, an’ some was for whippin’ me an’ sellin’ me 
down South. I wanted ’em to sen’ me to jail 
an’ let me be tried, but dey wouldn’t hear nuf- 
fin’ I had to say. Dey agreed to let de ober¬ 
seer whip me an’ den sell me for what I’d fetch; 
’twouldn’t be much, I knew dat mighty well. 
De next mornin’ I was tied up in dat ole log 
stable an’ de whippin’ was begun. De oberseer 
did it. He had much as twenty cowskins an’ 
gads, an’ he took his coat off an’ rolled up his 
sleeves jes’ as calm like he meant to do a day’s 
work, an’ he ’lowed he’d see my backbone afore 
night. Den I knowed he meant to flog me to 
death, an’ I begged of massa to shoot me right 
on de spot, for ’t ’peared as ef I couldn’t stan’ 
sech torment no wa3^ but massa he’d turned 
ag’in’ me an’ dere wan’t no hope nowhar. All 
de forenoon dat debil ob an oberseer whipped 
me by spells. He’d whip me from de neck 
down till he got tired, den he’d rest an’ take a 
drink ob whiskey, den he’d begin an’ whip up 
awhile, an’ den take anoder drink. When he 
knocked off for dinner an’ washed me down, 
dere wan’t a spot on my back as big as your 
thumbnail but was raw, an’ de wust was to come 
3'et. I prayed an’ agonized wid de Lord to take 
me right away afore I could suffer any more, 
but I wasn’t to die yet. After dinner dat ole 
debil come back ag’in, an’ he was so drunk he 
couldn’t even flog decent. He took one of de 
gads an’ come at me like a mad bull; he hit me 
over de head, on de arms an’ legs an’ every¬ 
where he could. I kep’ my face away from 
him, but he marked me awful.” 
Here the poor fellow showed a number of 
ugly welts on his less, arms and head, after 
which he continued the simple recital of his 
wrongs. 
‘‘He got tired ob dat arter awhile an’ went 
off to de spring to wash his face an’ sober up a 
little, an’ when he come back I see he meant 
mischief. He took off his coat an’ went to whip¬ 
pin’ slow an’ stiddv. like he did in de mornin’, 
only dis time he picked out de bigges’ gad an’ 
struck all de time in de - same place. ‘Now, 
damn you. I’ll cut your heart out.’ Dat’s what 
he said, an’ he meant it true an’ airnest. ’Pears 
as do people couldn’t know how wese made to 
suffer or dey’d rise up ag’in’ it. Ebery blow 
dat debil give me it seemed as ef it went right 
fro’ to my breas’ bone, but jes’ when I was 
mos’ gone, de door was bust open an’ missus 
come in. She’d bin talkin’ to Anne an’ got at 
de whole trufe o’ de matter an’ her ambition 
was up awful. She pulled de gad out o’ de 
oberseer’s ban’s an’ jes’ laid it ober his face an’ 
eyes beautiful, an’ when massa come in wid her 
brudder an’ two more gen’l’men an’ tried to 
pacify her, she talked to ’em like a preacher. 
She tole ’em dat slavery was a cuss an’ a dis¬ 
grace to' de Souf, dat it made brutes of de 
mas’rs, an’ de slaves, too, an’ dishonor’d deir 
wives an’ darters. She said dat me an’ my wife 
wid twenty more ob de sarvants b’longed to 
her, an’ she called her maker to witness dat 
she’d free us afore six months was gone ef she 
lived. She tole massa dat him an’ de oberseer’d 
murdered me in de face an’ eyes ob right an’ 
jestice, an’ she made ’em all clar out, massa 
an’ all. Den she got some ob de stoutest ban’s 
an’ had me carried to my own cabin an’ tole 
Anne she needn’t do any more work, but jes’ 
tend me till I got well,- 
[concluded next week.] 
Beneath a hemlock grim and dark. 
Where shrub and vine are interwining, 
Our shanty stands, well roofed with bark. 
On which the cheerful blaze is shining. 
The smoke ascends in spiral wreath. 
With upward curve the sparks are trending; 
The coflfee kettle sings beneath 
Where sparks and smoke with leaves are blending. 
And on the stream a light canoe 
Floats like a freshly fallen feather, 
A fairy thing, that will not do 
For broader seas and stormy weather. 
Her sides no thicker than the shell 
Of Ole Bull’s Cremona fiddle. 
The man who rides her will do well 
To part his scalp-lock in the middle. 
— From “Woodcraft” by Nessmuk. 
There are two great sources of power— 
wealth and brains.—Herbert Kaufman. 
An Echo from the Past. 
Boston, Mass., April 25.- — Editor Forest and 
Stream: One of my young joys was that series 
of fishing yarns known to us as ‘‘The Camps of 
the Kingfishers.” In those days I hunted for 
that first before settling down for my enjoyment 
of Forest and Stream, and if it contained an 
instalment, my happiness was complete. Old 
Knots, Sam and the rest were living friends to 
me, regardless of the fact that I never met them 
in the flesh. 
Now, a whole generation has come up since 
then, including, I believe, part or all of the 
editorial staff. All this condensed happiness is 
locked away in the pages of the past, and these 
\'0ungsters know it not. At this late date I have 
no idea how much page space it would take to 
reproduce it, and perhaps it might be well to 
edit out some sections; nevertheless, wouldn’t 
it be worth while to make some issue of Forest 
.\nd Stream a special number, and give us a 
reprint of them under one cover? What if it 
does necessitate a double number. I, for one, 
would be glad to pay my twenty-five or fifty 
cents if need be for that special. What does 
the Old Guard say? (I suppose they’ll let me 
into their ranks now when I claim to have been 
townsman and friend of J. G. Rich, mighty in 
bear slaying). Let’s all send a postal to the 
editor about it and let him count noses and see 
if it would pa\-. Send jmurs, brother; yes— 
yours. John Preston True. 
A New Protection Organ. 
Game News is the title of an interesting 
club organ issued monthly by the Erie County 
Societ}’ for the protection of birds, fish and 
game. It is published from Buffalo, N. Y., 
under editorship of A. R. Smith. The field 
covered by this little bulletin is wide, in that 
it discusses proposed legislation as well as sug¬ 
gesting improvements in game and fish laws al- 
read}' in force. Its present big agitation, and a 
most worthy one, is reclamation for the fisher¬ 
men of Niagara River and Lake Erie. Success 
to this little publication and the greater cause. 
“Traveling” with Nessmuk. 
Providence, R. L, April 19. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: I want to congratulate 3’ou on 
being able to give us something new from the 
pen of “Nessmuk,” as I do congratulate myself 
that I am to be able to peruse the same. I have 
traveled over much country with “Nesmuk”—on 
paper—and he has seemed very much like an 
old friend to me and was mourned as such when 
he passed over the Great Divide. 
Samuel B. Burnham. 
Wyoming, Ohio, March 19. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: I have been a Forest and Stream 
subscriber for years on and off. Have been 
“off” some time and now got “on” again. Used 
to write letters on gun matters, and i'ou pub¬ 
lished them, too, without kicking as far as I 
know. Am an archer also and twenty-nine 
years ago made a record at Chautauqua, N. Y., 
at the annual tournament of the N. A. A., which 
has never been equalled before or since. Hence 
I am interested in archerjc and as you have 
lifted Forest and Stream up to that first class 
sport. I am with you again. Wm. A. Clark. 
