Wright American Fiction

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SEE PAGE 67.

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TO THE
HON. J. D. B. DE BOW,
THIS WORK IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY
Inscribed,
AS A MEMORIAL OF THE
AUTHOR'S PERSONAL REGARD AND GRATITUDE FOR MANY FAVORS CONFERRED;
AS A TESTIMONIAL OF
HIS UNFLINCHING PATRIOTISM, HIS STERN INTEGRITY,
HIS UNTIRING PERSEVERANCE UNDER DIFFICULTIES APPALLING TO OTHERS;
HIS NOBLE AND UNSELFISH PHILANTHROPY;
BUT, ABOVE ALL,
HIS MANLY INDEPENDENCE, AND DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE OF THE SOUTH,
WHOSE INTERESTS HE HAS SO LONG AND SO
FAITHFULLY ADVOCATED.

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PREFACE.

MAY the reading of these pages touch the heart of the reader, as the writing of the largest portion of this work touched mine, so that my eyes were often blinded by my tears. And the reason why my own heart was so deeply affected, kind reader, is because the facts herein recorded are so true, and so near home. For there is scarcely a chapter written of either of these three books, which does not contain a great fact. The whole book is, in truth, a compilation of facts, many of them disconnected, it is true, which the author has attempted to interweave as artistically as the delicate nature of the circumstances would admit. This work may, therefore, more properly be considered a history than a fiction.

It is true that names of persons and places, of dates and scenery, have all been altered or suppressed, for obvious reasons, but these alterations do not affect the value of the truths themselves, nor should they, because they are tangible facts, touch less deeply the reader's sympathetic heart.

Kind reader, bear with the faults of the work, whatever in your opinion they may be, and look only at the good which is intended. For although it may be regarded as an attempt to represent the inner life of page: viii-ix (Table of Contents) [View Page viii-ix (Table of Contents) ]Switch to Image ModeCLOSE Page viii-ix (Table of Contents) the slave and the slaveholder, and the infamous character of some or most of those who have operated secretly at the South as engineers upon the so-called "Underground Railroad," yet the author has had a higher and a grander object, that of representing the Christian's faith in times of tribulation and distress, and to show that God "will not always chide, neither will He keep his anger forever," but He "tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." It strives also to inculcate the truth that God is his avenger. Why then, should he himself seek to avenge his own wrongs, since God will "bring him out of all his troubles."

As a politico-religious work, therefore, I lay this book, with an humble heart, but a hopeful spirit, as an offering—the one part upon the altar of my country—the other, upon the altar of my God.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

BOOK I.

• CHAPTER I. COLONEL SHELTON—His character—Mrs. Shelton—Ella and Langdon Shelton—The Deer-hunt—Old Toney—Sad intelligence. 13
• CHAPTER II. The bank-agent—Causes of Colonel Shelton's ruin—The Rothschilds' agency in the North. 27
• CHAPTER III. The dinner-party—Colonel Shelton's determination to sell off his large property, all but Old Toney and his family—Old Toney's grief and his joy—Mr. Herbert's wooing of Ella Shelton—Sudden interruption. 42
• CHAPTER IV. Langdon Shelton's departure for Savannah—Superstition of the "saltwater" negro—His impromptu songs—Old Toney's narrative of the alligator, and his narrow escape—Arrival at Savannah—Langdon goes to Mr. McPherson's—Mr. McPherson's prophecy. 60
• CHAPTER V. Langdon's return—"The Jasper Spring "—Alarm—Old Toney's horse frightened, and running away—His return to the spring—Signs of blood—The bloody pool—His grief at not discovering his young master—The storm—Returns to the city—Old Bob—Mr. Hartwell—The hard constable—Old Toney sent to jail unjustly—His overwhelming sorrow, and his returning superstition. 75
• CHAPTER VI. Old Bob going for Colonel Shelton—The Colonel's indignation—Arrival at Savannah—Meeting between the old soldier and his body servant—Scene in the jail—Old Toney's reflections upon his unjust treatment—His prompt liberation by Colonel Shelton—Old Toney's farewell to the city of Savannah.89
• CHAPTER VII. Colonel Shelton's new home—Employments and comparative enjoyments of the family—Ella Shelton looking for wild flowers—Her new acquaintance—Fetie, the blind girl—Fetie's visit to Ella—Discovers a new talent—Fetie is an improvisatrice—Song of the blind girl. 97
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• CHAPTER VIII. Fetieplaysan impromptu song—Impromptu song upon the harp—History of the song—Lucy's little infant—Ella Shelton's great love for the little slave, whose name is Little Ella—Ella Shelton tries to paint her portrait—Her failure, and her grief at seeing the infant pining away—Sends for a portrait painter—Arrival of Mr. L——, the artist—Rapture and rhapsodies of the little Frenchman, who fails also—Death of Little Ella. 112
• CHAPTER IX. Little Ella's grave—Colonel Shelton's protracted grief and failing health—Insult of Mr. Pollywog, and Colonel Shelton's treatment of him—Pollywog is restored to life by the kind attentions of Mrs. Shelton and her daughter—Colonel Shelton found by the roadside by his daughter—His great prostration—His gloomy forebodings and premonitions. 130
• CHAPTER X. Colonel Shelton making his will in bed—He prepares for his last battle—Old Toney taking leave of his dying master—Singular death—Mr. Thomas Shelton looking through the pages of the old family Bible. 152
• CHAPTER XI. Fetie at the harp improvises a song to the old chieftain's memory—Her surprise and agitation—Herbert and Ella amazed by a sudden fall in the library—Old Toney found in convulsions—Colonel Shelton's funeral—Episcopal service—Masonic burial—Old Sampson's funeral service—Old Toney's comparison of the three modes of burial—Old Toney's and Old Sampson's separation at the grave of Colonel Shelton. 164
• CHAPTER XII. The friends of Mrs. Shelton—The Episcopal clergyman—Reading of the will—Interrupted by Old Toney—Old Rinah on her knees—They reject their freedom, but Old Toney accepts the gold watch and money—His remarks about free negroes—Mr. Herbert's departure for Charleston. 139

BOOK II.

• CHAPTER I. The Willistons at Washington—Hon. Julius Sanford—His unfortunate love and its consequences—Mr. Sanford insulted by Mr. Williston on the floor of Congress—Calm dignity of Mr. Sanford. 209
• CHAPTER II. Mr. Sanford insulted still more grossly in the streets of Washington—The challenge—The duel—Fatal to Mr. Williston—Strange conversion of Mr. Sanford on the field of battle. 232
• CHAPTER III. The State of Massachusetts—Alfred Orton as a boot-black in college—Rev. Alfred Orton, the Abolitionist—His propensities. 235
• CHAPTER IV. The lonely widow—Alfred Orton's concubine—His poor wife—Little Johnny, the bastard—Treatment of him by Mrs. Orton—Interference of Irish girl, Margaret—Mr. Orton's subsequent passion and cruelty to little Johnny—Puts out his eye—Honest indignation of the Bostonians. 240
• CHAPTER V. The lonely widow again—Her efforts to support herself and little Willie—Cold, very cold—Works on through all that cold night—Finishes her work—Takes it to the tailor—Her return home through the snowstorm—Met by Rev. Alfred Orton, who assists her home with her bundle—Orton insults the widow very grossly—She repels his advances as an empress—Alfred Orton slanders the widow—His slanders prove a blessing. 225
• CHAPTER VI. Sabbath-bells, and what they sing—The widow going to church—Her surprise and agitation—Mr. Sanford and his sermon—Great excitement of the congregation, but especially of the widow. 269
• CHAPTER VII. The widow's sickness—Mr. Sanford meets little Willie going for Dr. Boring—Meeting between Mr. Sanford and Mrs Williston—Dr. Boring's visit—Mr. Sanford marries the beautiful young widow. 283

BOOK III.

• CHAPTER I. Old Toney's song—Surprised by Alfred Orton—Old Toney surprises him in turn—Mr. Orton's horse—Old Toney's curiosity—His love of a fine horse—How Orton got that horse—The horse-jockey jockeyed—The Yankee dentist—Old Toney's regrets when he found out that he had insulted a preacher—The negro's reverence for a minister of the Gospel. 297
• CHAPTER II. Rev. Alfred Orton at Mrs. Shelton's—His proffered insult to Ella Shelton—Poisons the mind of Fanny and her brother George, who flee with him to Philadelphia. 312
• CHAPTER III. Alfred Orton, no longer a reverend, lives in adultery with Fanny—Gambles and drinks—Pursued by Mrs. Orton, who attempts to shoot him, but kills herself—Fanny's flight into the cold and sleet—Fanny's death in the portico of the church at Philadelphia. 320
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• CHAPTER IV. Orton's return to South Carolina—Attempted rape baffled by sudden insanity of Ella Shelton—Finding of Ella Shelton in the forest—Her singular delusion—Old Toney pursues Alfred Orton with dogs—Catches him at the house of Timothy Pollywog—Conference as to what disposal they should make of him—Timothy's proposition of "tar and feathers"—Young Toney's proposition of "ducking in the horse-pond"—Old Toney's plan of "whipping to death"—Arrival of George from Philadelphia—George's fourth proposition—All four about to be attempted—Arrival of Old Sampson, and Orton's release by the African preacher. 328
• CHAPTER V. Mr. Thomas Shelton's family pride—Fetie's grief—Strikes against the harp accidentally—Her surprise and terror—Mrs. Shelton almost heart-broken—Her wonderful self-control—Fetie's surprise at feeling no tears upon her cheeks—Lucy's insult to her mistress at the breakfast table—Mrs. Shelton's mild rebuke, and its effect. 342
• CHAPTER VI. Description of Stephen Stevens, the robber-chieftain, by one who knew him—Death-bed scene of Mrs. Stevens, the wife of the Land-Pirate. 351
• CHAPTER VII. Mr. Herbert almost a maniac—Goes to Europe—Thinks of suicide—Return home—Conversion on board the vessel—His arrival at Philadelphia—Visits the asylum—Restoration of Ella Shelton—Her own account of her horrible imaginations during her insanity—The superintendent, and Ella, and Herbert—All upon their knees together—Touching and interesting picture for an artist. 359
• CHAPTER VIII. Ella and Herbert's return home—Sickness of Fetie, who has been adopted by Mrs. Shelton—Her clairvoyance—Her sudden restoration to sight while dying—Her death and her grave. 369
• CHAPTER IX. Alfred Orton's remorse—He remembers the words of Old Sampson—His suicide—His body found in Lake Michigan—Capture of the LandPirate—His execution—The author's detestation of lynch law, but admits its propriety in this particular instance—Arguments. 379
• CONCLUSION. Willie Williston marries Mr. Herbert's daughter—Love for the Union, if it could only be preserved and perpetuated as happily as was that of the lovers—Old Toney's employment in his old age—He has not forgot "alligator"—Death-bed of the brave and negro—His funeral—The "big platoon" fired over his grave—Joyous return of the soldiers—The author's hope for himself and his readers. 390