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OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 A NOVEIL 
 
 BY 
 
 SUTTON E. GRIGGS, 
 
 AUTHOR OR " I MPERI UM IN IMPERIO. 
 
 NASHVILLE, TENN.: 
 
 THB ORION PUBLISHING Co. 
 
 1901. 
 
COPYRIGHTED 
 
 SUTTON E. GBIGGS 
 1901. 
 
DEDICA TION. 
 
 To the Memory of 
 
 ALBERTA, 
 
 Who, in the absence of this her oldest 
 
 brother, crossed over the dark stream, smiling- 
 
 as she went, this volume is most 
 
 affectionately dedicated by 
 
 THE A UTHOR. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 The task assigned to the Negroes of the 
 United States is unique in the history of man- 
 kind. 
 
 He whose grandfather was a savage and 
 whose father was a slave has been bidden to 
 participate in a highly complex civilization on 
 terms of equality with the most cultured, ag- 
 gressive and virile type of all times, the Anglo- 
 Saxon. 
 
 The stupendous character of the task is ap- 
 parent when it is called to mind that the civili- 
 zation in which they are to work out their re- 
 spective destinies is fitted to the nature of the 
 Anglo-Saxon, because he evolved it ; while, on 
 the other hand, the nature of the Negro must 
 be fitted to the civilization, thus necessitating 
 the casting aside of all that he had evolved. 
 
 This attempt on the part of the infant child 
 of modern civilization to keep pace with the 
 hale and hearty parent thereof, has served to 
 contribute its quota of tragedies to the count- 
 less myriads that have been enacted under the 
 sun, since the Cosmic forces first broke forth 
 
 out of night into light, and began their up- 
 
 (5) 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 ward, sightless, or shall we rather say, full 
 visioned tread in quest of the "music of the 
 spheres" and the higher purposes of the GREAT 
 
 BEJYOND. 
 
 What part in the great final programme these 
 Cosmic forces have assigned to the attempt of 
 the Negro to journey by the side of the white 
 man, none are yet able to say, the situation 
 being still in process of unfoldment. 
 
 While we watch with becoming reverence 
 and muse thereon, we catch up our lyre to sing 
 to the memory of those slain in their name, if 
 not by their order. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER. PAGE. 
 
 I. A Girl Perplexed 9 
 
 II. The Cause Revealed but not Removed 15 
 
 III. Other Actors 20 
 
 IV. A L/ady who did not know that she was 
 
 a L/ady 31 
 
 V. What a Kiss Did 47 
 
 VI. Up to Date Aristocracy in a Negro Church. . 55 
 
 VII. Rev. Josiah Nerve, D. D. S 61 
 
 VIII. He Narrowly Escapes 73 
 
 IX. The Pit is Dug- 82 
 
 X. The Victims 91 
 
 XI. Murder 97 
 
 XII. The Visit of a Policeman 106 
 
 XIII. Backward, then Forward Ill 
 
 XIV. As Least Expected 116 
 
 XV. An Awful Resolve 124 
 
 XVI. A Political Trick 129 
 
 XVII. Paving the Way 139 
 
 XVIII. John Wysong Confesses 144 
 
 XIX. Added Sorrows 147 
 
 XX. Speaker L/anier 152 
 
 XXI. The Hanging 160 
 
 XXII. Worse than Death 167 
 
 XXIII. Full of Joy 178 
 
 XXIV. Opposing- the Wedding 183 
 
 XXV. Erma and an Assassin 191 
 
 XXVI. Name the Chapter After you Read It 197 
 
 XXVII. The Funeral.. 205 
 
PROEM. 
 
 A farmer who is planting' corn in a fertile 
 fieldj halts beneath the shade of a huge oak to 
 rest at noon. 
 
 Accidentally a grain of corn drops from his 
 bag, finds lodgement in the soil, and in time be- 
 gins to grow. 
 
 The grains that fell in the field will have 
 their, difficulties in reaching maturity. 
 
 There is the danger of too much water, of 
 the drought, of the coming svorms. 
 
 But the grain that came to life under the oak 
 has its peculiar struggles. 
 
 It must contend for sustenance with the 
 roots of the oak. 
 
 It must wrestle with the shade of the oak. 
 
 The life of this isolated grain of corn is one 
 continuous tragedy. 
 
 OVERSHADOWED is the story of this grain of 
 corn, the Anglo-Saxon being the oak, and the 
 Negro the plant struggling for existence. 
 
 To be true to life, the story must indeed be a 
 sombre one. 
 
 So, OVERSHADOWED is a tragedy a story of 
 sorrow and suffering. 
 
PROEM. 
 
 Yet the gloom is enlivened by the presence 
 of a heroic figure, a beautiful, noble girl, who 
 stands unabashed in the presence of every ill. 
 
 OVERSHADOWED does not point the way out 
 of the dungeon which it describes, but it clearly 
 indicates the task before the reformer when he 
 comes. 
 
 If you have time and inclination for such a 
 recital the curtain rises and the play begins. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A GIRL, PERPLEXED. 
 
 To-and-fro, to-and-fro, with hurried, rest- 
 less tread, Erma Wysong walked her parlor 
 floor, forgetful of the young- man who sat in a 
 corner and gazed at her, with all of his powers 
 of sight apparently doing double duty. Her 
 hair, slightly coarse of thread, glistening as if 
 in pride of* its extreme blackness, was combed 
 away from a brow that was exceedingly pretty 
 and formed a part of a head that forewarned 
 you to expect the possessor thereof to have an 
 intellect of a very high order. A few unruly 
 locks of her glossy hair had escaped from the 
 grasp confining the others backward, and were 
 hanging forward as if to peep into her tender 
 brown eyes so full of soul ; or, to tantalize a 
 very prettily formed nose ; or, to tempt a bite 
 from a row of pearls even and gleamingly 
 white ; or, to nestle upon a cheek the tenderness 
 and ruddiness of which were standing invita- 
 tions for gentle pressure. 
 
 (9) 
 
10 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Erma, nearly tall, a happy medium between 
 the plump and the lithe, the perfection of sym- 
 metry, her whole frame a series of divinely fash- 
 ioned curves, paced to and fro, her beautiful 
 face wearing a look of mental perplexity. First 
 her right hand and then her left tossed back 
 with a nervous jerk the straying- locks. 
 
 Astral Herndon, a tall and exceedingly hand- 
 some young 1 man, who was paying- her a call, 
 sat in an armchair in a corner of the small 
 room, and, with body bent forward, was looking 
 intently at Erma, as has been stated, his entire 
 soul ablaze with curiosity to know what had 
 so operated upon the mind of the erstwhile win- 
 some, laughing, merry Erma, as to cause her 
 to break off abruptly an ordinary conversation 
 and beg-in her restless journeying-s to-and-fro 
 across her parlor floor, vouchsafing- to him not 
 a word of apology or explanation, and appar- 
 ently oblivious of his presence. The transition 
 from the lively gay to the deathly sad, was so 
 quick, so queer, so utterly inconsistent with all 
 that he had hitherto known of Erma it was so 
 far from anything warranted by the rather 
 commonplace conversation in which they had 
 been engaged, that he was very naturally in 
 the depths of wonderland, staring with all his 
 might. He saw her thin, red lips quiver, as if 
 with deep emotion. He saw repressed by a 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 11 
 
 would-be secret bite of the lips, an entire flood 
 of tears, save a truant one, that would steal its 
 waj 7 down anyhow. He saw a clasping*, a grip- 
 ing- of the hands as though the fair one was 
 being hurried to the verge of despair. He 
 could, as it were, trace in her actions the 
 progress that her mind was making toward a 
 precipice, reluctant to go and yet impelled by 
 some irresistible force. 
 
 Astral Herndon sat watching her, his sur- 
 prise and curiosity deepening into concern and 
 anxiety. At length, when he could bear it no 
 longer, he arose and said in a low, sweet voice 
 that trembled with emotion, "Erma!" Some- 
 thing in his voice went straight to Erma's 
 wandering soul, and, as though not of herself, 
 she turned slowly around and mechanically' 
 lifted her gaze to meet the dark, glowing eyes 
 of Astral Herndon. She felt her soul leave her 
 with a rush and run to embrace a mate that 
 was coming forth from the eyes before her, and 
 she cried, "Oh ! I see ! Oh ! I see ! Oh ! I see !" 
 and unconsciously stretched out her arms to- 
 ward Astral as if to receive him. Astral ad- 
 vanced toward Erma, but this movement on his 
 part broke the spell and she shrank away from 
 him and sat down. 
 
 Astral was now more mystified than ever. 
 He vaguely felt that somehow he was inter- 
 
12 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 mingled with Erma's thoughts, but as to how 
 it had come about, or as to what was the nature 
 of her thoughts regarding him, he was in abso- 
 lute ignorance. Erma, now fully conscious of 
 how she had been acting, vainly sought to re- 
 deem herself by an endeavor to conduct an an- 
 imated conversation, not offering, however, to 
 Astral any explanation of her seeming rudeness 
 to him. But after a heroic struggle to keep up 
 the conversation, she blurted out, all of a sudden, 
 " Mr. Herndon, do you not, can you not see that 
 I am in the deepest sort of trouble ? Why do 
 you not get up and go home?" Saying this, 
 she fell to sobbing violently, burying her face 
 in her hands. Astral arose and got his hat and 
 went on tiptoe to the door. Just before he went 
 out, he cast a look of deepest love at the weep- 
 ing girl. If he had only gone to her and lifted 
 her to a resting place on his bosom but the 
 UNSEEN power that ordains that two souls shall 
 journey through earth together, also chooses, 
 it would seem, the hallowed spot ; chooses the 
 precious and never to be forgotten moment 
 when soul is unveiled to soul ; chooses the exact 
 degree of the development that shall exist in 
 each at the hour of the mating. 
 
 So, the UNSEEN sent Astral forth and not to 
 Erma's side. As he stepped out upon the door- 
 step, the queen of the night wrapped his noble 
 brow with her silver cords in wanton playful- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 13 
 
 ness. The city clock was striking* the hour of 
 ten, rather dolefully, he thought. He slowly 
 wended his way toward his home, stopping 
 ever and anon to cast a look of love, mingled 
 with perplexity, in the direction of Erma's 
 residence. k ' Strange, sweet girl," he mur- 
 mured softly to himself, *' I thought that I 
 knew her." Time and again he stopped, and, 
 looking in her direction, repeated this mono- 
 logue. At last he reached home, and through- 
 out the sleepless night uttered the self-same 
 words. 
 
 As for Erma, she sat in the exact attitude in 
 which he left her. The hours of the night, 
 aided by the light of the moon, groped their 
 way through a sleeping world. At length the 
 birds, ere they went forth in quest of their daily 
 bread, held their morning praise service, as if 
 to rebuke the prayerless man. Prom their lit- 
 tle hearts and throats quivering with joyous 
 emotions, they told the God of the sparrow 
 how glad they were that they were yet allowed 
 to flit about in his glorious world. The sun, 
 remembering his many unfinished tasks of the 
 previous day, and suspicious ever of the work of 
 the night, came bolting upward and hurled his 
 myriad pointed spear to strike down the morn- 
 ing mists that sulkily obscured his vision. The 
 awakened world came rushing forth from the 
 land of sleep and dream. 
 
14 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 But E}rma, beautiful morning- glory, bruised 
 over night and failing to respond to the greet- 
 ing kiss of the returning Sun, began the per- 
 formance of her duties, perplexed in mind, sad 
 at heart, weary from much thinking, despond- 
 ing of a solution of the problems that fretted 
 her spirit. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CAUSE REVEALED BUT NOT REMOVED. 
 
 The scene of the opening- of our story was 
 Richmond, Va., the far famed capital of the ill- 
 fated Southern Confederacy. To all intents 
 and purposes, Erma Wysong was an orphan. 
 Her mother, a Negro woman, was now dead, 
 having- passed away two years since. Though 
 her parents had been silent on the subject, 
 Erma now knew from the color of her skin and 
 the texture of her hair that her father must 
 have been white. As to who he was or where 
 he was, whether living 1 or dead, she did not 
 know, and had no means of ascertaining". A 
 few years after Erma's birth her mother mar- 
 ried a very worthy Negro man, who generously 
 overlooked the previous sin of his wife, never 
 once in all their wedded life alluding- to it. 
 Upon a foundation of repentance and forgive- 
 ness this Negro family, like unto many others, 
 had its beginning*. Unto this repentant wife 
 and forgiving* husband a son was born whom 
 they named John. This son, now about eight- 
 een years of age, is the only support left to 
 
 Erma, her stepfather having" gone to his 
 
 (15) 
 
16 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 grave shortly after the demise of his wife. So 
 Erma was practically an orphan girl, alone in 
 the world, relying for support and protection 
 upon her brother John, who dearly loved his 
 "Erm," as he called her. He was working at 
 the machinist's trade in the Bilgal Iron Works 
 of Richmond, Va., and was receiving two dol- 
 lars and a half per day ; and with this was sup- 
 porting himself and sister and laying- by money 
 to lift the remainder of the mortgage encumber- 
 ing their modest little home. Erma was a stu- 
 dent of exceptional brightness when in school 
 and had been graduated at an early age from 
 the Richmond Colored High School, carrying 
 off the highest honors of her class. After 
 graduating* from the high school at Richmond 
 she went to the Tuskeg-ee Industrial Institute 
 at Tuskegee, Alabama, whence she was re- 
 called by the death of her mother. You now 
 have her history, briefly told, up to the time of 
 the opening of our story. 
 
 Astral Herndon had been a schoolmate of 
 hers in the Richmond public schools, graduat- 
 ing in the class immediately preceding- her class. 
 These two had from childhood, a fondness for 
 the society of each other, though for a long 
 time neither Astral nor Erma stopped to ana- 
 lyze this feeling-. Astral was the first to 
 awake to the real situation as it concerned him- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 17 
 
 self, and in his shy, untutored way had sought 
 to arouse in Erma emotions similar to his own ; 
 but she did not understand life as yet, (for a 
 knowledge of love is a knowledge of life) and 
 Astral remained the same " Astry " to her. 
 
 Astral finally decided that his constant asso- 
 ciation with Erma ever since childhood was a 
 bar to his progress toward winning her love, 
 and he had decided to go away and spend a 
 number of } 7 ears in school, free from Erma's no- 
 tice. He had determined to obtain a thorough 
 college education and return to woo as a com- 
 parative stranger, the heart of Erma. In the 
 midst of an ordinary conversation he had men- 
 tioned to Erma his proposed going away, and 
 the rude shock had awakened the sleeping love 
 of her heart. Not knowing the meaning of that 
 strange fire in her bosom, she leaped to her feet 
 and began her restless journeying with which 
 we found her engaged in our opening chapter. 
 Her mind kept saying, "Astral, going away ! 
 He will be a college graduate ! He will be a 
 learned man ! He will be far above me when he 
 conies back ! He may not come back at all ! 
 But what difference does it all make to me?" 
 Over and over she revolved these thoughts in her 
 mind, her perplexity growing deeper and deeper 
 and her heart aching more and more. When 
 Astral called her and she looked into his eyes, 
 
 2 
 
1 8 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 she stood revealed to herself; her love had broken 
 its chrysalis. " But what of Astral ! Does he 
 love me? " she asked herself and shrank away 
 from him instinctively. She did not wish for 
 him to come to her again as the Astral of old. 
 Her soul craving- for solitude to contemplate its 
 new found joy, and fearful of giving- its pre- 
 cious secret away too soon, she dismissed As- 
 tral. When he was gx>ne, Cupid went busily to 
 work in her mind, weaving- a web, every cord of 
 which was a string- from her heart a web to 
 catch and hold fast her soul's one mate. These 
 thing's were certain: Astral was g-oing- away, 
 would advance in studies, would occupy a more 
 exalted station in life than she. It was her 
 task to maintain an equality of station between 
 them ; how she was to do it was the great ques- 
 tion, she being- a moneyless orphan. But, hav- 
 ing- discovered the full extent that her very ex- 
 istence was wrapped up in Astral, she was de- 
 termined to surmount all obstacles of whatever 
 nature determined to find a way to keep pace 
 with him in training-, to prepare ever for com- 
 panionship with him, to hold herself throug-h 
 all the years of waiting-, pure, noble, undefiled, 
 a worthy queen for her glorious king- her As- 
 tral! 
 
 She knew that she would never openly seek 
 his love ; never knowingly reveal her passion ; 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 19 
 
 but Love ever feels that he has the right of 
 way through the earth ; that all thing's will 
 move at his beck and call ; and Erma firmly 
 trusted this subtle might of Love to accompany 
 Astral on his long journey, and doubted not but 
 that it would bring him back to her. 
 
 Satisfied on that score, Erma undertook the 
 task of self-improvement. Poor, poor girl ! 
 Could she have caught sight of the large, the 
 cruel, the unfeeling thorns in her pathway ; 
 could she have felt for a brief instant but a 
 small fraction of the mountain-like burden or- 
 dained for her shoulders ; could she have but 
 dipped her tongue into the bitter gall poured 
 out for her ; could she have but dreamed of the 
 nameless sorrows that were to plow wide fur- 
 rows in her storm-swept and tempest-driven 
 soul, how she would have trembled and shiv- 
 ered and groaned at the awful prospect before 
 her. Yet, being a woman and being in love, 
 she would have gone forth just the same, 
 foreseeing all. Wonder not that God refused 
 to make woman out of dust. 
 
 If 3"ou can so master your feelings as to be a 
 spectator to a fight between a poor, beautiful, 
 motherless Negro maiden and an array of foes 
 that would warrant Michael in sending for rein- 
 forcements before giving battle, we can safely 
 ask you to follow our narrative. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 OTHER ACTORS. 
 
 ' Two g-iants, clad in the full panoply of war, 
 have met and are battling* with each other for a 
 kingdom. The struggle, while" "fierce, fast and 
 furious, is conducted with infinite wariness on 
 the part of each combatant, for previous 
 battles between these foemen, fought with 
 varying successes in every clime of earth, have 
 taught them to respect the skill and prowess of 
 each other. 
 
 The domain for which these two g-iants are 
 battling- is the mind of a young- white man of 
 high social standing*, a member of a family of 
 great renown. The name of one giant is "Love 
 of self," and of the other, "Love of others," or 
 Eg-oism and Altruism, respectively. The battle 
 has been raging- for many months and is now 
 entering- upon its final stag-es. 
 
 The door of the young- man's room is locked, 
 the window shutters closed, the curtains drawn. 
 He is sitting- in a chair in a sprawling- attitude, 
 his chin resting- upon his bosom, his hat pulled 
 low over his brow, his eyes closed, his hands 
 clasped behind his head, a pained expression 
 
 (20) 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 21 
 
 upon his handsome face. One hand slowly de- 
 scends to his vest pocket, from which he ex- 
 tracts a richly bejewelled watch. 
 
 " Only nine o'clock. The night is young yet. 
 Three full hours more of this agony ! Then I 
 must act. Well, let me employ the intervening- 
 time in a full review of the case." 
 
 So saying, he began the following soliloquy: 
 
 "Beauty of face, of form, of mind, when 
 found in woman, exact homage of all men. 
 That woman, whose peculiar combination of the 
 attributes of loveliness, pleases a man's inher- 
 ent taste in a manner such as no other can that 
 woman, becomes his queen. 
 
 "I have met the queen of my heart, but I 
 dare not breathe her name into mortal ear ! I 
 dare not ! I dare not ! It is not because I 
 think her charms open to debate that I thus 
 guard her name. . No, no, no ! None can gain- 
 say those eyes, so full of soul ; none that grace 
 of carriage ; none that beautiful form, granted 
 by mother nature in a moment of unwonted 
 happiness. But, she is only one-half Caucasian ! 
 
 " That does not grate so harshly on my ear ! 
 I find it in my heart to ignore that fact alto- 
 gether, so I do, sol do.. If left to myself now, 
 let only God, my Creator, hear what I have to 
 say if left to myself, I would marry that girl 
 and count myself highly favored of Heaven for 
 the privilege. 
 
22 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 "But society tells me I shall not marry her ! 
 On what do they base their objections? Not, I 
 am sure, upon the emotions of this tumultuous 
 heart of mine, for every heart throb is a cry of 
 love. Why, then, may I not claim her for my 
 own? 'For the benefit of the species,' they 
 say, * We must preserve our racial identity. 
 There must be no mesalliance. Our own glory, 
 the cause of civilization, the good of the world, 
 demands that Anglo-Saxon blood be not con- 
 taminated with the blood of inferior races.' 
 This is the social dictum. Do you see how that 
 I, the individual, am . left out of that pro- 
 gramme? The individual, then, is to have no 
 consideration, I suppose. I have only the one 
 life, tragic in its brevity, beset with many ills 
 at best ; and yet the philosophers and ethical 
 writers crowd about me and tell me in insist- 
 ent tones that I am to surrender the best part 
 of that life for the sake of the species. 
 
 "Well might Tennyson, in the night of his 
 sorrow, sing : 
 
 ' Are God and nature then at strife 
 That nature lends such evil dreams? 
 
 So careful of the type she seems 
 So careless of the single life. ' 
 
 "Society, I yield to your mandates! I will 
 not ask you to sanction, through legal forms, 
 that which would be for my individual good, 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 23 
 
 but would, you say, result in your injury. I 
 will not marry the girl ! " 
 
 Thus far society seems to have won. Altru- 
 ism seems to have triumphed over Egoism. But 
 not so ; Egoism returns to the struggle. The 
 young man resumes his soliloquy. 
 
 4 'Is society sincere in its demand? There 
 are in the United States nearly two million 
 people mulattoes, begotten contrary to the 
 written code. There must be an unwritten 
 code that permits individuals to ignore the de- 
 mands of society and mate according to choice. 
 Shall I avail myself of the provisions of this 
 unwritten code ? Shall I, or shall I not ? Shall 
 I ask that pure girl to go counter to the re- 
 quirements of all civilized communities and en- 
 ter a union devoid of legal sanction ? Shall I, 
 or shall I not ? Shall I, or shall I not ? " Over 
 and over the young man asks himself the ques- 
 tion. At last he cries out, "These intermin- 
 able codes and counter codes ! To the deuce 
 with them all! ERMA shall be mine ! " So say- 
 ing, he sprang to his feet, Egoism in triumph, 
 Altruism put to inglorious rout. 
 
 He glances at his watch, arranges his toilet, 
 secures a mask with which he covers his face, 
 steals forth from the home of his parents, as 
 the hands on the clock are nearing the hour of 
 midnight. Choosing dark and less frequented 
 
24 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 streets and alleyways, he proceeded ' on his 
 journey, arriving-, at length at a very handsome, 
 two-story brick building-. He looks about him 
 with quick, hurried glances and then gives a 
 slight knock, thrice repeated in rapid succes- 
 sion. He is evidently expected, as the door 
 opens at once and he is ushered into a long, 
 dark hallway. Thence he is led into a large 
 parlor in the far end of which a gas jet is dimly 
 burning, giving a weird, ghostly appearance to 
 everything. The woman who had opened the 
 door for him, bade him to be seated, she taking 
 a seat at some distance from him. 
 
 The woman in question was a Negro, brown 
 of skin, with a fat, round face, small eyes, very 
 corpulent, and short of stature. 
 
 The young man begins : 
 
 "Mrs. Smith (Dolly Smith is her name): you 
 have been highly recommended to me as a party 
 fully capable of attending to delicate matters." 
 
 " Many thanks to my unknown sponsor," re- 
 marked Dolly Smith, her little eyes, accustomed 
 to the dark, making a close scrutiny of the 
 young man's features, he having removed his 
 mask in the belief that the darkness of the 
 room would suffice to conceal his identity. 
 
 The young man continued, " You will under- 
 stand, of course, that our relations are confi- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 25 
 
 dential and whatever is done is to be without 
 prejudice to the good name of any one con- 
 cerned." 
 
 " Pardon the uncouthness of the remark, but 
 please bear in mind that I am no butcher. Rep- 
 utations that could not stand a whiff of the 
 air of suspicion have been entrusted to my 
 care, and neither my skill nor integrity in pre- 
 serving them have ever been called into ques- 
 tion. Remember, too, if you please, that I am 
 a woman of standing in my own race, and it is 
 of great personal interest to me to be discreet 
 in all my doings," was Dolly Smith's spirited 
 rejoinder. 
 
 "It pleases me much, Mrs, Smith, to hear you 
 discourse thus. The affair which I wish for 
 you to conduct for me, concerns a young wo- 
 man of high standing in your race and I do not 
 desire that any understanding which she and I 
 may reach shall affect her status with her own 
 people," added the young man. 
 
 " Have no fear on that score. A number of 
 girls in this very city are even now leading the 
 double life to which I presume you to be refer- 
 ring. Owing to the fact that the social life of 
 the two races is distinct, you may be the low- 
 est strata in the one and the very highest in 
 the other, without so much as occasioning a sus- 
 picion. If there be no objection on your part, 
 
26 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 I should be pleased to have you state specific- 
 ally what brings me the favor of your visit." 
 
 "Thank you for the hint to come to the 
 point. I desire that you be of service to me in 
 forming the acquaintance of one Erma Wy- 
 song." 
 
 A look of pain passed over the sensual fea- 
 tures of Dolly Smith and her hands clutched her 
 chair convulsively. Her lips breathed a soft 
 exclamation, " My God." The darkness of the 
 room prevented the young- man's detecting- these 
 sig-ns of excitement. 
 
 In a voice that trembled slig-htly with sup- 
 pressed emotion Dolly Smith enquired, " How 
 far have you proceeded in the matter yourself?" 
 
 The young- man thoug-ht that he detected a 
 faint note of anxiety in the question, but it was 
 not sufficiently pronounced to make a distinct 
 impression. He answered ; 
 
 "Oh, I have not so much as spoken to the girl. 
 In company with a number of other white peo- 
 ple I attended the exercises of, the High School 
 on the evening of her graduation. On that oc- 
 casion, dressed in a snowy white garment, her 
 hair tastefully decorated with a few choice ro- 
 ses, she sang liks a nightingale and read a 
 graduating essay that revealed a mind of sin- 
 gular beauty, culture and strength, yet pos- 
 sessed of that distinct charm which man asso- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 27 
 
 ciates with woman. From that hour I have 
 been her slave, though no one save myself has 
 known it. The time that has elapsed since her 
 graduation, I have spent in earnest combat 
 against the powerful current that has been 
 bearing me upon its bosom to an unknown 
 port. You may judge the strength of my at- 
 tachment." 
 
 This speech had a reassuring effect on Dolly. 
 She thought within herself, "I will get his 
 money and save Erma as well. If I have to 
 choose between money and Erma, I pity poor 
 Erma. The integrity of Negro girls stands 
 but a poor chance for life in the presence of 
 such wolves as myself . But heaven forfend that 
 I be reduced to such a choice. For money I 
 must have, money I must have ; for my enemy 
 nears his grave unscathed by my revenge." 
 Such were the inward reflection of Dolly Smith. 
 
 To the \ T oung man, Dolly replied, " I suppose 
 you know 7 that the inveiglement of a g'irl of Er- 
 ma's stamp requires time, pa-tient and skillful 
 handling, and often much expense," the last 
 tw r o words being pronounced with considerable 
 emphasis. 
 
 "Mark Anthony surrendered a throne for 
 voluptuous Cleopatra. Surely virtous Erma is 
 entitled to the small pittance of a few thou- 
 sands if there be need." 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Dolly Smith could scarcely refrain from 
 bounding- from her seat as a result of uncon- 
 trollable joy produced by the speech of the 
 young 1 man, whom she now set apart in her 
 heart as her gold mine to be thoroughly ex- 
 ploited. 
 
 The young man arose and approached Dolly 
 Smith, handing to her a one hundred dollar 
 note, saying as he did so, " This is but an ear- 
 nest of my good intentions toward you. Do me 
 faithful service and you shall be happy. You 
 shall know me as Elbridge Noral. Address 
 me at P. O. Box 40. I trust that you will 
 have pleasant news for me soon." 
 / "Rely upon me to do my best, Mr. Noral." 
 
 Mr. Noral, as we shall call him until better 
 informed, now left the parlor, followed by 
 Dolly. She opens the street door and Mr. No- 
 ral goes forth from the house where he has 
 formed the first unholy alliance of his life. 
 When the door was closed on his retreating- 
 form, Dolly Smith threw the one hundred dol- 
 lar note upon the floor and danced around it a 
 gay, voluptuous dance. 
 
 " There, there, I am forgetting- myself ! " 
 So saying she darted into a secret closet in the 
 side of the hallway, quickly stuffed herself into 
 a larg-e pair of pants, put on a vest and a coat, 
 seized a large hat and plunged into the street 
 to follow Noral. The arrangements of the 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 29 
 
 streets in that neighborhood furnished but 
 one outlet from Dole's house, for some distance, 
 so Dolly had no trouble in pursuing* him. 
 Though very corpulent, Dolly was strong and 
 active and by alternately walking and trotting, 
 puffing and blowing, she soon came in sight of 
 Noral, whom she followed at a safe distance, 
 he and she both keeping as much as possible in 
 the dark. Noral took such a course as led him 
 by Erma Wysong's little home. Here he 
 paused and gazed long and lovingly at the little 
 cottage in which Erma lay dreaming of Astral. 
 Dolly was an interested spectator of this night 
 scene which Noral supposed to be enacted only 
 in the sight of the silent stars, sympathizing 
 angels, and an All wise Creator. Even the cal- 
 lous heart of Dolly Smith was momentarily 
 touched, and she muttered to herself : 
 
 " Poor fellow ! It is indeed a tragedy of the 
 soul that that young fellow is denied all honora- 
 ble approach to that girl and must resort to me, 
 vile woman. Ha! Ha! Dolly Smith, the trusted 
 emissary of a love in its original form as pure 
 as any that ever took root in the human heart \ 
 Tut, tut, a few more ennobling reflections and 
 I would be a good woman, which thing is man- 
 ifestly an impossibility." 
 
 Noral moved on, reached the fashionable part 
 of the city and, to Dolly's utter amazement, en- 
 
30 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 tered the home of occupants well known to her. 
 She recalled the features of her visitor and said: 
 
 "I mig-ht have known it! I mig-ht have 
 known it ! Have I struck the right trail at 
 last? If I have, oh, Satan, prince of Evil, I 
 crave your help." Knitting- her brows she 
 shook her clinched fist in rag~e at the house into 
 which the young 1 man had gone. Having- done 
 this to her satisfaction, she started home at a 
 rapid pace arriving 1 there in an exhausted con- 
 dition. As soon as she was sufficiently recov- 
 ered from her exhaustion to permit it, she 
 danced a wild, joyous sort of dance, uttering- a 
 succession of savag-e like shrieks of delig"ht. 
 
 Sleep, the tender nurse in the employ of na- 
 ture, soon folded Dolly Smith in her arms and 
 lulled her to rest as soothingly as she did the 
 innocent g-irl Erma, who now became the 
 storm center of the elements. Let us not find 
 fault with nature because she will not become 
 a party to these human strifes of ours. She 
 but follows the behests of the great Unknown, 
 whose ways are past finding- out. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A LADY WHO DID NOT KNOW THAT SHE WAS 
 A LADY. 
 
 44 Ellen ! Ellen ! Oh, Ellen ! Ellen Sanders !" 
 Ellen Sanders, a belle in Negro society, had 
 just sat down to partake of a 10 :30 A. M. 
 breakfast when she heard this call. She arose 
 hastily and rushed to the dining-room door that 
 opened into the yard, and saw Margaret Mars- 
 ton, another Negro society belle, leaning 1 over 
 the fence that separated her home from that 
 of Ellen. Marg-aret was holding- a newspaper in 
 one hand, one arm being- thrown over the pal- 
 ing- to hold her up, as she was standing- with 
 her feet upon the lower railing- to which the 
 paling's were nailed. THe look of her eye, the 
 appearance of her face, the shaking- newspaper, 
 and her almost hysterical shrieks for Ellen, all 
 betokened a high degree of excitement. 
 
 44 Pray, Marg-aret! what on earth can be 
 the matter ? Why, you f rig-htened me nearly to 
 death, g"irl. What on earth is it?" 
 
 4 'Ellen, do just come here. There is some- 
 thing- in this paper that is just too awful for 
 anything-." 
 
 (31) 
 
32 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 "Ivet me see it," said Ellen, running- to 
 where Margaret stood. " Is somebody dead ? " 
 she asked in anxious tones. 
 
 " Worse than that," said Margaret. 
 
 "I don't see anything-, Margaret," said El- 
 len, scanning the paper with the haste born of 
 eagerness and excitement. 
 
 " L/ook up there at the top of the column 
 headed, " Situations wanted," at the very first 
 advertisement. Oh Ellen, it is just dreadful," 
 said Margaret, as though her heart was about 
 to break. 
 
 Ellen read the piece pointed out to her. The 
 paper fell from her hand, and without saying a 
 word, she staggered backwards until she reached 
 the porch to the dining room from which she 
 had come. She dropped down upon the floor of 
 the porch in a sitting posture, as though what 
 she had read had robbed her of all strength, 
 and had shattered her nervous system. Finally, 
 drawing a long breath, she said : 
 
 "Well, well, well, did you ever! But I al- 
 ways did tell you that Erma Wysong would 
 come to some bad end. And just think ! you 
 used to like her so well, too." 
 
 " Yes, I did, Ellen. But I am done now. 
 Just think ! she was the head of our class 
 when we were graduated at the High School, and 
 thus she brings disgrace upon our entire class. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 33 
 
 Ah, me ! It is just too dreadful to think about. 
 It has actually made me sick. I really fear 
 that I shall have to go to bed from the shock," 
 remarked Margaret. 
 
 " I don't feel like eating another mouthful of 
 breakfast,'.' said Ellen. " But it may be that it 
 is not our Erma," she continued. 
 
 " Yes, but it is ! Don't you see that the ad- 
 vertisement refers you to her street, number 
 and all," replied Margaret. 
 
 ** Well, all that I can say is, she is disgraced 
 forever ; and as for my part, I don't purpose to 
 ever speak to her again ! " 
 
 ' ' Speak to her ! Of course not ! If- we rec- 
 ognize her, that will make us as bad as she is 
 '-particeps criminis,' 1 the Latins would say. I 
 just wish I could see her so that I could pass 
 her and turn away my head without speaking. 
 I could go five miles out of my way, just to 
 catch her eye and then look away from her in 
 disdain," said Margaret. 
 
 44 Have you told your mamma?" queried 
 Ellen. 
 
 " No," said Margaret, " Give me the paper. 
 I had forgotten that. " 
 
 Ellen arose, walked to the paper, picked it 
 up from the ground and handed it over the 
 fence. Margaret took it and hurried around 
 the house to the place where her mother was. 
 
34 ' OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 As fast as she goes, let us precede her there, 
 and find out what we can of Mrs. Marston. It 
 is now about eleven o'clock in the day, and Mrs. 
 Mollie Marston, Margaret's mother, is stand- 
 ing* before a washtub, with huge piles of dirty 
 clothes all about her. A piece of white cloth 
 is tied about her head ; her sleeves are pushed 
 beyond her elbows, and she is wearily rubbing 
 away at the clothes, a settled look of pain being 
 upon her fast wrinkling face. She is now fifty- 
 five years of age, and her whole life both the 
 part that lies in the time of slavery and the 
 part that has come afterwards her whole life 
 has been one long day of toil, with no prospect 
 of a sunset and an hour of rest before the com- 
 ing of the eternalsleep. By 4 'taking in washing" 
 from wealthy white people, she had aided her 
 husband in his attempts to own a little home. 
 When Margaret was old enough to go to school, 
 she had sent her, and had managed to keep her 
 there, well clad and supplied with books, only 
 by the hardest sort of toil. Before day 
 dawned on a Monday morning, and while night 
 yet frowned his blackest on Saturday night, 
 she was found either at the washtub or iron- 
 ing board, striving to make her "pints meet." 
 She had denied herself all ornamentation and 
 pleasures of whatever sort involving the expen- 
 diture of money. The barest necessities of life 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 35 
 
 were all that she allowed herself. Thus we 
 find her at work when Margaret rushes around 
 and says, 4t Mamma, mamma, let me read some- 
 thing- to you in the morning- paper." Mrs. 
 Marston straightened up as though the effort 
 gave her pain ; she had been bending- over the 
 tub in one position so long-. With a smile of 
 admiration on her face, she turned toward Mar- 
 g-aret and prepared to listen. Margaret, know- 
 ing her mother's pride in her accomplishments, 
 cleared her throat in order to read in her most 
 pleasing- and effective voice the statement that 
 had so horrified her and her classmate : 
 
 "SITUATIONS WANTED FEMALE HELP. 
 
 " A young Negro woman, Erma Wysong, 
 desires a position as cook, washerwoman, 
 nurse or housemaid in a white family. The 
 best of references. Address 202 Sylvanus 
 Street." 
 
 4 'Now, mamma, did you ever think THAT of 
 Erma Wysong ? After her poor mamma and 
 papa, both of whom are now dead, worked so 
 hard to educate her, she is going to throw that 
 education away in the washtub, in the kitchen, 
 or rolling some white woman's baby about. If 
 her dead mother only knew how Erma was 
 about to disgrace her education, she could not 
 rest easy in her grave. Of course there is no 
 other kind of work open for her to do just now, 
 but if she had only held herself up for two or 
 three years, she might have gotten a school to 
 
36 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 teach when some of the other teachers died or 
 got married. But as it is, she has just gone 
 and ruined herself forever. Well, mamma, I 
 promise you faithfully that while you are alive, 
 and after you are dead, I'll starve before I 
 bring disgrace upon the education which you 
 and papa have, worked so hard to give me. I'll 
 never throw my education away by bending 
 over a washtub or by moving about in a white 
 man's kitchen. No, indeed ! depend upon that, 
 mamma, you dear, kind mamma," said Margaret, 
 with many an emphatic toss of her head. She 
 gave her mamma a resounding kiss, and leaving 
 the much overburdened woman in the midst of 
 huge piles of clothes, she went to renew her 
 gossip with Ellen. 
 
 4 * What does your mamma think of it, Mar- 
 garet," asked Ellen. 
 
 "Oh, mamma was just so struck that she could 
 not say a word. It is just dreadful. Why, it 
 will have a tendency to stop parents from educa- 
 ting their children, if they are to act like that," 
 remarked Margaret. 
 
 " Yes," joined in Ellen, " and it might make 
 some of our weak-minded parents think that we 
 educated girls ought to cook and wash clothes 
 and scrub floors at home," 
 
 " That would be too horrid. Why, we would 
 then be no higher in life than our slave time 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 37 
 
 mothers who did such work. White girls oc- 
 cupying 1 the social station in their race that we 
 do in our race would suffer themselves to be 
 carried out of their homes dead before they 
 would perform such menial tasks. And, Ellen, 
 we must hold up our race just as they do their 
 race. Why, just think, if we educated girls go 
 to work, it can be truthfully said that our race 
 has no first-class society." 
 
 " Marg-aret, the more I think of what Erma 
 has done, the worse I feel. Let us gx> out and tell 
 all the other educated girls about it before any 
 of them chance to meet Erma and speak to her as 
 cordially as ever. She is the first Negro girl that 
 has disgraced her education by offering- to g-o to 
 work, and we must all pounce down upon her 
 so fast and hard that she will be the last ; all 
 of our set must snub her rigfht and left. It may 
 bring- her to her senses, too." 
 
 " That is a capital idea, Ellen ! Let us g-et 
 ready at once." 
 
 So saying-, they went to their respective 
 rooms, dressed themselves in the finest articles 
 of wear in their wardrobes, and sallied forth to 
 spread everywhere the news of the disgrace, as 
 they termed it, of their classmate. 
 
 As Mrs. Marston said nothing- to Marg-aret 
 let us not follow these girls in their crusade, 
 but rather let us ling-er to catch a glimpse of 
 
38 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 her simple but honest mind and heart. As soon 
 as Margaret had gone the dear old woman, pre- 
 maturely aged by excessively hard toiling, 
 stopped work, took up her pipe and sat down 
 to smoke, as was her wont whenever she had a 
 knotty problem to solve. Erma Wysong's case 
 was troubling her exceedingly, for she had been 
 a favorite girl with her. On her way from 
 school, Erma would always stop in to see 
 44 Dear Aunt Mollie " and have a gay chat. 
 Thus, she had learned to love her. As Erma 
 grew older, her modest, lady-like bearing the 
 more deeply impressed Mrs. Marston, who 
 sought in every way to cement the tie of 
 friendship between her daughter and Erma, 
 knowing that continued association with her 
 was a decided gain for Margaret. In all of Er- 
 ma's life Mrs. Marston had never known her to 
 be guilty of a wrong, or indiscreet, act, and we 
 put it mildly when we say that she was shocked 
 over the news just imparted to her concerning 
 Erma. As the advertisement was just out, she 
 felt sure that she could find Erma yet at home, 
 and might after all succeed in preventing her 
 from taking the contemplated step, so fatal to 
 her standing in 's'iety.' With such thoughts 
 coursing through her mind she took the white 
 rag from her head, pulled down her sleeves, put 
 on a stiff white apron and a broad brimmed 
 straw hat and went forth to save Erma. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 39 
 
 Heroic soul! Perhaps no monument will ever 
 be reared to those noble Negro women who, 
 emerging- from slavery, were at once enslaved 
 again by their children and bore their heavy 
 burdens uncomplainingly, in a vain attempt to 
 build up upon their poor bruised shoulders an 
 aristocracy such as they had left behind, their 
 educated children to be the aristocrats. Their 
 like will hardly be seen on earth again ! 
 
 Mrs. Marston, on reaching Erma's home 
 found her singing gaily and moving about the 
 room dusting and setting things aright. Erma 
 received her so joyfully that she felt a lump 
 rise in her throat each time she attempted to 
 state the purpose of her visit. At length she 
 said, "Miss Erm, whut erbout all dis awfil 
 news gwine 'round 'bout you ? " 
 
 Erma's smile died away suddenly, her breath 
 came quick and fast and she began to tremble 
 all over. She said in tones that showed great 
 anxiety, " I have not heard any bad news about 
 myself, Mrs. Marston. What can it be?" 
 
 44 Thar now ! I had my doubts 'bout it frum 
 de fust. Wyde pore chile doan nonuthin 'bout 
 it," poured forth Mrs. Marston. 
 
 Erma felt a chill creeping over her frame, 
 she was so full of fear as to the nature of the 
 charge against her. Some children that have 
 not been burned dread the fire. If the charge 
 
40 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 involved anything" sinful she knew beforehand 
 t.hat she was innocent ; but it was a terror to 
 her pure soul to have to even contemplate the 
 passing* within the limits of the shadow of 
 wrong-. She awaited Mrs. Marston's further 
 utterances with a nervous twitching" of her 
 thin, beautiful lips. 
 
 "Wai, Miss Erm I mus 'call you Miss, es you 
 is now er young 'oman ; but I knowed }^ou wen 
 you wuz er tiny gfal I allus lubbed you pow- 
 erfil much, yes, powertil much, Miss Erm. Yer 
 niammy which is dead, wucked hard ter g^it } T OU 
 an edification an den dide, pore soul. 'Do I ain't 
 been tellin whut wuz runuin' in my min', I hez 
 been stud'in' 'bout you fir de long-is', puzzlin' 
 my pore noddle ter try ter help you. But I hez 
 been hard prest myself. You see, Miss Erm, 
 Margie is a 'siety young" 'oman now, and hez de 
 doctors and lieyers and skule teachers ter cum 
 ter call on her ; and it wucks me powerfil hard 
 ter dress her fit ter gfo in 'siety and look es good 
 es eny udder 'siety gal, white er black. Den, pi- 
 anners is all de rage now, and me and m} 7 old 
 man has gx>t her one ub dem. Den she has ter 
 g*o off fir vakashun ub summers lack de white 
 'siety belles. All dese ting's, Miss Erm, makes 
 it powerfil hard fir me ter make buckle and 
 tongaie meet. You see her daddy and me am 
 bof g-ittin' ole and kain't wuck lack we uster. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 41 
 
 My back is kinder stiff an' weak an' I had ter 
 quit washin' fir Mrs. Mayo las' week caus' I 
 hed too much ter do fir my present strenf. Ef 
 it wuzn't fir all dis I wuz tinking powerfil hard 
 ub 'doptin you fir my own gal ter hab wid me. 
 My Margie ain't so steddy as she mout be, and 
 you would be sich good soshasun fir her. But 
 more'n one 'siety gal on my hans just now ? ud 
 be more'n I could, stan' up ter. Howsomever, 
 I hes lubbed you jes' de same an' I is powerfil 
 g'lad, powerfil glad it ain't so whut I hearn 
 read." Thus spoke Mrs. Marston, about as 
 much to herself as to Erma, her head bent 
 forward, her eyes cast down and her hand to 
 her cheek, as if lost in deep meditation. 
 
 In trembling tones, Erma said, "But, Mrs. 
 Marston, you have not told me what was being 
 said against me." 
 
 "Ain't I? Laws a in ussy on my furgitful 
 soul. 'Skuse me. I hes bin stud'in' so pow- 
 erfil hard. Wai, Miss Erm, dey tole me 
 min' you, I ain't said whut dey dey tole me 
 you wus gwine ter hire out ter white folks ter 
 scrub an' wash an' i'ne an' nuss babies an' 
 do all sich disgracefil tings for an edicated 
 'siety lady." 
 
 "Is that the crime that is alleged against 
 me ? " asked Erma, drawing a good long breath 
 after her prolonged suspense. 
 
42 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 "I doan' know 'bout bein' 'leged agin' you, 
 whutsomever dat mout be. But dey is sayin* 
 dat whut I hez tole you is so, and dey is sayin' 
 it powerfil strong". An' dat is 'zactly whut 
 brung 1 me here fir ter see you." 
 
 With a joyful laugh, Erma sprang- over to 
 Mrs. Marston and well nigh smothered her 
 with an avalanche of kisses. Sitting 1 on one of 
 Mrs. Marston's knees, with an arm thrown 
 fondly about her neck, Erma spoke as follows : 
 
 " My dear Aunt Mollie, because our race has 
 borrowed the white man's language, manner of 
 dress, religion, ideas of home, philosphy of life, 
 we have apparently decided that everything 
 that the white man does is good for us to imi- 
 tate. We do not stop to think that the white 
 race has deep, ingrained faults as a race ; and 
 thus we proceed to imitate faults and virtues 
 alike, indiscriminately and instinctively. We 
 unhesitatingly adopt even those erroneous traits 
 in the white man's character that have op- 
 pressed us. Now, Aunt Mollie, one of the most 
 baneful evils that slavery has left us is the idea 
 that physical labor is a badge of disgrace, and 
 that a condition of luxurious idleness is the most 
 exalted, the most honorable, the ideal existence. 
 The Southern white people are the parents of 
 the idea that physical labor is disgraceful, and, 
 being such an imitative people, we have accepted 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 43 
 
 without question, their standard of what is hon- 
 orable. Aunt Mollie, the insidious influence of 
 that idea is what makes the rising" gener- 
 ation of Negro youths so idle and so averse to 
 physical labor. They are imitating- the wealthy 
 young- white man, who cites the fact that he 
 does not have to work as proof positive that 
 he is a g-entleman. The young- Negro decides 
 that he can and must be a g-entleman like the 
 young- white man. This idea that work is dis- 
 graceful is destined to ruin thousands of Negro 
 girls who are going- to try to play 4 lady ' and 
 abstain from employment. No, no, Aunt Mol- 
 lie, labor is not in the least degree degrading, 
 even if the white people do seem to think so. 
 Believe me, Aunty, there is no disgrace con- 
 nected with the doing of any work that is hon- 
 est. Work, hard, hard work, has not stained 
 your soul, dear Aunt Mollie. You are as much 
 a true woman as any queen, as much a lady as 
 that woman who has never deigned to stoop 
 to tie her own shoe." 
 
 Mrs. Marston shook her head as though Er- 
 ma's way of looking at things was beyond her 
 comprehension. 
 
 But Erma continued, coming nearer home in 
 her argument : 
 
 " If Margaret were to take her place by your 
 side day by dav and do what vou do it would 
 
44 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 not corrupt her soul any more than it has cor- 
 rupted yours. And so long" as the soul is pure 
 God loves you, and who dares despise what God 
 loves? God loves an honest heart, even when 
 the frame that contains it is bending- over the 
 washtub. It would be so grand, Aunt Mollie, if 
 you could get Margaret out of that false notion 
 of life, borrowed from white people in the South. 
 She would be so much help to your overbur- 
 dened frame. I could scarcely repress my tears 
 as you told me how you, an aged, feeble woman 
 labored so hard for that young-, strong- and vig- 
 orous g-irl to sustain her in a false notion of life. 
 Yes, yes, Mrs. Marston, lam going to hire out. 
 There is a little mortg-ag-e on our home that 
 must be paid. Then, too, I wish to earn money 
 enoug-h to enable me to finish my education. 
 These ends being- honorable and desirable, I am 
 willing- to perform any task that is honorable, 
 thoug-h menial to attain them. Now, Aunt 
 Mollie, I have an engagement at four o'clock 
 and must leave you. Pray for me, for I shall 
 be most viciously assailed by my own people 
 who feel that the stand they take against me 
 has a parallel in the white race where the com- 
 mon laborer is shut out from social recognition 
 by the well-to-do element. And you know how 
 hard a Negro will throw a stone at another if 
 he feels that he has the sanction of the white 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 45 
 
 people. Nevertheless, I shall strive in my 
 humble way to prove that labor is not inimical 
 to ladyhood." 
 
 ' ' Pray for you ! God bless yer pew soul ! Dat 
 I will, Erm, dat I will, " said Aunt Mollie, brush- 
 ing" away with her horny hands the tears from 
 her eyes. She continued, "Disgrace or no dis- 
 grace, dere is po werfil few lack you, Erm, power- 
 fil few. Ef you eber needs a home, come to 
 your Aunt Mollie Marston's. Good day. So 
 long-, chile, God bless you." 
 
 Mrs. Marston walked homeward, musing- 
 over Erma's sayings. "Wai, I hez notused 
 dat dem northun wimmin es cums doun here 
 doos wuck. I 'specks dese Suverners hes g-ot us 
 blevin' wrong 1 ter tink dat a washtub spiles yer 
 ladyship. Mebbe arter all I hez been a lady 
 and didunt know it all dis whiul. Been cheated 
 outen my standing- in life foolin' arter dese Suv- 
 erners ! 1 declar' it beg-ins ter peer ter me dat 
 Erm is rig-ht, 'do I 'fess I didunt ketch on ter 
 all de pints in her arg-ifikashun. One pint she 
 made 'prest me power fil much. It mout not 
 hurt Marg-ie so much ef she would help her ole 
 mammy er bit. It is g-itting- hard fir me ter liff 
 and tote dem big- tubs like I hez ter do, fir dey 
 shuah air heavy. I uster help my mammy ter 
 liff hern. Marg-ie mout do a little ub de cookin' 
 and i'nin' and let her pore mammy rest some. I 
 
46 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 been wuckin so hard all my days and I hez 
 nebber had no rest. But I ain't here fir much 
 longer. Prum de way my rheumatis feels, Je- 
 sus will be callin' me soon." Thinking- thus, 
 she went back to her work. As she labored, 
 the sweet face and tender brown eyes of Erma 
 were peeping up through the soapsuds and 
 the sight thereof made her happy and her task 
 the lighter. Strange to say, and perhaps not 
 strange after all, her mind did not once go out 
 to her own daughter, who, in company with 
 Ellen Sanders, was stirring up the entire city 
 against an orphan girl whose only offense was 
 that she had decided to obey theBible injunc- 
 tion to labor six days in the week. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 WHAT A KISS. DID. 
 \ 
 
 We are within the folds of night, and El- 
 bridge Noral is once more a visitor at the home of 
 Dolly Smith. We have the same dimly lighted 
 room and the same parties to the conversation. 
 
 " Mrs. Smith," began Noral very excitedly, 
 "I come to ask you in the name of heaven to 
 prevent a catastrophe and to unravel a puzzle 
 that racks my brain. I wish for you to prevent 
 Erma Wysong from becoming a servant girl ; 
 and I further beg of you to tell me why she 
 seeks to become one." 
 
 " Explain, Mr. Noral, wherein becoming a 
 servant girl is such a catastrophe. Is not work 
 honorable?" asked Dolly, in evident astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 ' Yes, yes, but ah ! the atmosphere surround- 
 ing the Negro service girl ! She is away from 
 her own people, not allowed social contact with 
 the family of her employer, and usually resides 
 in solitude in a little house in the back yard, 
 with alleyways as the only approach. Such a 
 state of affairs puts a premium on male com- 
 panionship, which may be ever so frequent, or 
 
 (47) 
 
48 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 at improper hours, without the fear of any ad- 
 verse comment thereon, and, in fact, without 
 its being* known. This condition of thing's, 
 as mig-ht reasonably be expected, generates a 
 great deal of immorality. While there are 
 service g"irls of sterling" worth, a bad odor at- 
 taches to the calling-. If Erma goes into serv- 
 ice in such fashion, the very atmosphere will 
 breed insults for her. White youths will feel 
 that she has no further claims to respectability, 
 and will proceed to deal with her accordingly. 
 So much for the catastrophe. The puzzling* 
 thing- to me is as to wh} 7 Erma should contem- 
 plate such a course." These remarks were de- 
 livered by Noral with unwonted energy. 
 
 "Well, Mr. Noral, Erma simply needs money, 
 I presume, to supply her natural wants and 
 satisfy reasonable and legitimate desire. Such 
 stations as her talents peculiarly fit her for are 
 denied to her because she is a Negro g-irl. 
 There is no honorable course open to her save 
 the one, that she has pursued. Away g-oes the 
 puzzle. As to the catastrophe, Mr. Noral, opin- 
 ions may differ, according- to the view point. I 
 fancy that I see in her determination to enter 
 service the surest means to the accomplishment 
 of your purpose." 
 
 Noral's face betokened a wrathful storm ; his 
 voice g-ave sign of its coming-. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 49 
 
 "Mrs. Smith, do I understand you to intimate 
 that I am such a sensual degenerate that I am 
 willing" to see Erma degraded by others as a 
 sort of preparation for me ? " 
 
 " Be calm, Mr. Noral. My meaning- was far 
 from that, as you will soon discover. My plan 
 of action is as follows : Now that Erma is de- 
 termined to enter service, you select a place 
 where } r ou may become a frequent visitor and 
 can contrive to see Erma without exciting- her 
 suspicions as to your ultimate purposes. Erma 
 is one of the purest girls in the world, and you 
 must first establish yourself in her good graces 
 as a necessary prelude to my part of the work. 
 If you can inspire reg-ard, I will g-ive the nec- 
 essary downward turn." 
 
 " A capital idea, Dolly, a capital idea ! Now, 
 let me see where Erma mig-ht gx>." 
 
 "How about Mrs. Turner who lives adjoin- 
 ing- you ? " 
 
 *' What ! " said Noral, rising- to his feet hur- 
 riedly. "Where do I live? Who told you 
 where I lived? " he said, retreating- from Dolly 
 as he spoke, and adjusting- his mask to his face. 
 Dolly saw at once that she had committed a 
 monstrous error, and was much perplexed, for 
 a moment, as to how to extricate herself. 
 
 " To tell you the truth, Mr. Noral, I have 
 known who you were from the very first." 
 
50 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 " Known me from the first ! Have you had 
 spies tracking* me, you she devil? " 
 
 44 She devil, heh ! she devil!" hissed Dolly 
 Smith in a tone that was full of venom. Her 
 head shaking" with violent emotion, she walked 
 up to Noral and said : "She devil, did you say? 
 But who made me a she devil ? Who destroyed 
 my soul ? Who first started me on the damnable 
 mission of polluting* the entire stream of the vir- 
 tue of my race ? Who did this ? Will you tell 
 me ? say, will you tell me ? Oh, you don't know, 
 do you ? Well, you shall know, James Benson 
 Lawson ! Yes, you shall know ! " 
 
 L/awson's anger disappeared in his surprise 
 at the torrent of invective that Dolly Smith 
 poured upon him. He answered not a word, 
 but stood with folded arms, looking at Dolly 
 Smith. He discovered that he had a tigress to 
 deal with, and that at the bottom of the heart 
 of this cold-blooded, callous schemer there were 
 fires as hot as those of the reputed lower re- 
 g-ions, and it did not take much fanning to 
 cause them to blaze up. Then, too, her remarks 
 seemed to have been intended for him individ- 
 ually, and were not mere ravings against the 
 world at large. The more he thought, the 
 more puzzled he was. Dolly Smith, after this 
 violent outburst, grew very calm, and inwardly 
 chided herself for having allowed her temper 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 51 
 
 to perhaps frighten away from her hook a fish on 
 whose capture all the soul that she had was set. 
 She summoned all of her adroitness and cunning* 
 in an endeavor to regain lost ground. Pushing 1 
 open the folding- doors, and disappearing- in the 
 adjoining- room, she returned shortly, bearing 
 in her hand a photograph. She broug-ht it to 
 Lawson and said, "Here is the spy that tracked 
 you. Go look at it." Lawson took it to the 
 gaslight and, turning- on the light, examined 
 the picture. 
 
 44 You see that it is a picture of your father. 
 As Governor of this State, he was more popu- 
 lar with the colored people than any other gov- 
 ernor before or since his time. True, he is a 
 Democrat, but the colored people love him, and 
 his picture is in almost every Negro home. As 
 soon as I saw you the other night, thoug-h the 
 room was dark, I recognized the likeness. I 
 knew where you lived, as the papers have been 
 printing- pictures of the old Lawson Mansion 
 as it has been repaired to receive your father, 
 just returned from his post as minister to Ger- 
 many. Now, that is the sort of spying I have 
 done. Don't mistrust me, Mr. Lawson. Your 
 honor is safe in my hands. I hold some of the 
 most terrible secrets of your most noted fami- 
 lies in this city, and they are as safe with me 
 as though they were in the grave, locked in the 
 bosom of the dead." 
 
52 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Dolly Smith eyed Lawson keenly as she 
 talked, trying- to discern the impression that 
 her words were making. She saw that she had 
 not succeeded in reaching- the main current of 
 his thoug-hts and she planned another effort. 
 
 " The vigor of my remarks a while ag-o nat- 
 urally astonished you. Well, I was once a pure 
 g-irl and not wholly uneducated. Nor was I 
 homely, either. This corpulence has come 
 from drinking* excessively. Well, a white wo- 
 man encompassed my fall. She taug-ht me to 
 drink. She was such a great white lady, I 
 thoug-ht that if she could drink I could do so as 
 well. I g"ot drunk in public and was for- 
 ever disgraced. She g-ot drunk frequently, 
 but the newspapers always said that she fainted 
 or was attacked with nervous prostration. Her 
 wealth allows her to maintain her social stand- 
 ing-, among* her people, while I am an outcast 
 among- mine. She started me in this business. I 
 hate her, thoug-h I confess I g-et a great deal of 
 fun, excitement and money out of my profession. 
 I know I am a she devil, but when one calls me 
 that, I g-et angry from thinking- of that woman. 
 All of this occurred when I lived in another ci-ty. 
 My previous history is unknown here." 
 
 Lawson was profoundly interested in Dolly 
 Smith's recital. He had not dreamed that a 
 woman so depraved ever allowed her mind to 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 53; 
 
 wander back to the days of purity. In fact, 
 he did not conceive of her ever having" had such 
 days. Thus, with these adroitly constructed 
 fabrications, she lulled Lawson's suspicions to 
 sleep. 
 
 "Dolly Smith, I beg" your pardon. Don't 
 you know, I always supposed people of your 
 type were born destitute of moral nature. But 
 I begin to believe that humanity at its worst is 
 not as bad as it seems." 
 
 Dolly Smith now saw that she had recaptured 
 him. 
 
 " All rig-lit, Dolly, quarrelling- aside, let's 
 g-et down to business. Let me see ; where 
 were we," says Noral. 
 
 " My idea is that some way oug-ht to be 
 found to have Erma Wysong- in the employ of 
 Mrs. Turner, your next door neig-hbor. She 
 has no male member in her family," put in 
 Dolly. 
 
 "Yes, but she has a servant," replied Law- 
 son. 
 
 " And you have money. The servant went 
 there for money, and will come away for money. 
 Pay her a few months' wag-es in advance. Ask 
 her to g-et Erma Wysong- and take her to Mrs. 
 Turner's to fill her place, and the work is 
 done," said Dolly. 
 
54 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 " Oh, you are a daisy," said Lawson, and in 
 his excess of joy at the prospective success of 
 his scheme, he seized Dolly Smith about the 
 waist and kissed her. That kiss awakened 
 every demon in Dolly's nature. It took her 
 mind back to the days when the blue of her sky 
 was interwoven with the blackest of clouds, 
 and the lig-htning-s of trouble flashed forth there- 
 from, ripping- open her every vein, and spilling- 
 beyond recall all the blood of her life. And she 
 pledg-ed in her soul, shaking like a decayed and 
 tottering- building- in the grasp of the wind, to 
 crush James Benson Lawson in her fall. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 UP TO DATE ARISTOCRACY IN A NEGRO 
 CHURCH. 
 
 Erma Wysong* was now happily located at 
 Mrs. Turner's, little dreaming", innocent soul, 
 of the motives and midnight plotting's that had 
 brought her there. Ignorant of all this, she 
 was giving- God thanks for having- secured for 
 her such an ideal place of service. In this 
 happy, joyous, light-hearted frame of mind, she 
 clads herself in her most lovely apparel on the 
 Sabbath and g-oes forth to church. While she 
 is on her way there, let us acquaint ourselves 
 with the preparations made to receive her. 
 
 The fact that Erma Wysong-, a graduate of 
 the High School, had entered service, shocked 
 the Negro population of the city. Educated 
 members of the race, the school teachers, 
 the doctors, the lawyers and the recent g^irl 
 graduates were eimply enraged, Ellen Sand- 
 ers and Margaret Marston had canvassed the 
 whole city and had persuaded the entire circle 
 of educated colored persons in the city to come 
 out to Erma's church to aid them in giving- her 
 such a snubbing as had never as yet been ad- 
 
 (55) 
 
56 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 ministered to a mortal. This was their ambi- 
 tion's end just now, the complete snubbing-, 
 crushing 1 of Erma for " throwing 1 away her ed- 
 ucation in a most shameful and disgraceful 
 way by going to work." Their plan was to 
 have the educated and professional people 
 to sit together in that section of the church 
 where Erma usually sat ; and she was to be 
 thus forced out of her seat and out of their 
 midst. If by any means she got a seat near them 
 they were to get up in a bodv and move to an- 
 other part of the church. So, on Sunday morn- 
 ing this group was out early and in full force. 
 As the hour of the service drew on they grew 
 restless from thinking over the stinging rebuke 
 that they were about to administer to Erma. 
 Ellen Sanders had turned her head and should- 
 ers completely around from facing the pulpit 
 and her large flashing eyes were keeping guard 
 on the door so that she might see Erma when 
 she first appeared in the doorway. 
 
 "There she is," said Ellen, flopping herself 
 around, assuming an attitude apparently as 
 stiff and immovable as a granite cliff. 
 
 All turned to look and then snatched their 
 eyes away in disdain. Erma came forward un- 
 suspectingly, a sweet smile upon her lovely 
 face. Her glistening black hair nestled in 
 lovely coils on her queenly head. Her brown 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 57 
 
 eyes, resting complacently beneath lovely eye- 
 brows, sparkled with a quiet glow and a ten- 
 derness known only to the innocent and happy 
 at heart. Her dress was a flawless fit and 
 brought out all the graces of her divinely 
 moulded form. This pure, blushing", aspiring", 
 orphan girl went up the aisle of her church and 
 stopped opposite her accustomed seat, expect- 
 ing" the occupants to make room for her. In- 
 stead of doing" this, they g"ot closer together. 
 
 Erma, astonished, looked about her, and the 
 angry, scornful looks cast at her caused a sting- 
 ing sensation in her face as thoug"h it had been 
 stuck by so many sharp needles. In her con- 
 fusion she mechanically tried to enter seat after 
 seat, but was barricaded out. Finding" it to be 
 their intention to prevent her from sitting any- 
 where in that section of the church, she went 
 forward to the "Amen corner," and finding a 
 vacant seat there, she sat down. 
 
 The fact that Erma Wysong, a servant, had 
 taken an "Amen corner" seat in the Leigh 
 Street Church stirred the group to fever heat. 
 Ellen gave a faint shriek of horror- one about 
 the size to express righteous indignation in a 
 Christian church on the Sabbath day. A Negro 
 doctor got up and went to two of the ushers 
 and said, " Sirs, I appeal to you ! The dignity 
 of this church is outraged ! Look yonder 
 
58 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 where that servant girl sits ! The idea ! This 
 is the most aristocratic Negro church in this 
 city and yet you allow that girl to sit there !" 
 
 " We didn't know that she was going to sit 
 there," said an usher, obsequiously. 
 
 " Well, now you know it, sir ! Do you think 
 that the white folks would allow a white serv- 
 ant girl to sit on the front pew in their 
 church ? We shall never amount to anything 
 as a race until we learn to do as white people," 
 said the indignant doctor. 
 
 ** Well, what would you say do, doctor ? " in- 
 quired the same obsequious usher. 
 
 "What do! what do! Why, what would 
 white people do ? Put her out ! Put her out ! " 
 exclaimed the doctor. 
 
 The ushers nearly tumbled over each other 
 to get to Erma to do what they supposed white 
 people would do to a white servant girl under 
 similar circumstances. Between these two ush- 
 ers, Erma was escorted out of the church, her 
 face burning with shame. They did not turn 
 her loose until she was full on the sidewalk, 
 when they -left her, returning to worship the 
 God of the Nazarene carpenter lad. 
 
 Erma looked up and down the street in a lost 
 sort of way. A single pair of tears came into 
 her eyes and a sob was forced out of her throat 
 by her throbbing heart. Thoughts of her 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 59 
 
 lonely, unprotected condition in the world 
 crowded upon her ; visions of her departed 
 mother floated before her eyes ; the thought of 
 being- ejected from God's house in seeming- dis- 
 grace came down upon her with terrific force 
 and the poor girl sobbed bitterly, burying her 
 face in her handkerchief. She felt an arm steal 
 around her neck and heard a voice murmur, 
 "Pore chile, pore chile." It was the arm and 
 voice of Aunt Mollie Marston, who had followed 
 Erma out of the church. 
 
 She said, '* I hearn dat nig-gah doctah tell em 
 ter put you out kase white folks would hab dun 
 it. Now, I 'grees wid you fully, Miss Erm. 
 We is lettin dese white folks teach us too much. 
 Our church hez dun away wid dem good ole 
 soul-stirrin' himes in which my soul jes' 'peared 
 ter float right up ter God, and now we hez g"ot 
 a choir whut sings de himes which gibs de feel- 
 in'sof white people's souls which ain't alluslack 
 ourn. An' our elder is done quit preachin' an' 
 g-wine ter readin' de Gospil ter us, an' de Speerit 
 hes firsaken him. An' dey hez been tellin' us 
 ter do lack white folks an' let our feelin's stay 
 damned up, wen it do feel so g-ood ter let um 
 out. An' chile, bless yer soul, dey doa'n' let me 
 shout at church fir fear white folks would 
 laugh at 'urn, an' fir fear dey would lose de 
 name* ub ' 'Ristocrats.' But, bless yer soul, 
 hunny, I shouts at home." 
 
60 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 So saying-, Aunt Mollie drew her arm tighter 
 about Erma's waist, and these two religious 
 outcasts went marching- home, Erma crying- 
 and Aunt Mollie sing-ing- all the while, 
 
 " De ole time relijun, 
 De ole time relijun, 
 De ole time relijun 
 Am good ernuff firme." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 REV. JOSIAH NERVE, D. D. S. 
 
 Erma Wysong was sitting" in her own home 
 on the following" evening* (her employers, Mrs. 
 Turner and daughter, having- left the city for 
 a vacation of a few days duration), lost in a 
 reverie, musing 1 over her experience on the Sun- 
 day just gone, when she heard a sort of hesita- 
 ting- knock at her door. She went to the door, 
 opened it, and found standing before her a very 
 dark man, low of stature, of medium size, 
 dressed in a "Prince Albert" coat and vest 
 that had "seen better days." His bow legs 
 were incased in a pair of linen breeches that de- 
 sired to pass for white, and were very much 
 wrinkled. A broad grin, that showed nearly 
 all of his teeth and well nigh shut up his small 
 eyes, was upon his face. He opened his eyes 
 slowly to take a full look at Erma, and the 
 grin depreciated in value about fifty per cent (if 
 its value depended upon its size). Satisfied 
 with the result of his inspection, the grin, like 
 the cat, came back, and the eyes again took up 
 their abode in the "partial eclipse." After 
 grinning at Erma a length of time sufficient, 
 
 (61) 
 
62 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 as he thought, to impress her with his genial- 
 ity, he was ready to announce himself. 
 
 "Huh," he grunted ; tx you-don't-know-me, 
 do-you?" said he in the deep guttural, roll- 
 ing tone so generally affected by a certain class 
 of Negro preachers. 
 
 "Oh, yes," replied Erma, "I have heard you 
 preach on several occasions." 
 
 " Huh," he grunted again. With a yet 
 broader grin than his greeting one, he asked, 
 in that tone which was never known to for- 
 sake him (his wife states that he even snores in 
 that tone), " What-is-my-name ? " 
 
 41 Really, I have forgotten that." 
 
 "Huh," he grunted, " my-name-is-Rev.-Jo- 
 siah-Nerve,-D.-D.-S." His grin increased in 
 anticipation of the effect the information just 
 imparted was to produce. 
 
 " Will you not come in, Rev. Mr. Nerve?" 
 
 " Huh," said Rev. Josiah Nerve, still grin- 
 ning broadly and walking in, lifting his feet in 
 his walk a little higher than do ordinary mor- 
 tals. 
 
 " Take a seat, please." 
 
 He sat down, taking infinite pains, with all 
 due deliberation, to arrange his coat tails so 
 that he would not rumple them as his pred- 
 ecessor in the ownership of them had already 
 evidently done overmuch. Holding his hat in 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 63 
 
 his hand, he sat staring- at Erma, alternately 
 lessening his grin so as to look, and his look so 
 as to grin, as his grin ordinarily closed his 
 eyes nearly, and as a full look materially reduced 
 his grin. His white teeth and red gums man- 
 aged to keep in sight, however, during the 
 fiercest of the fight between the grin and the 
 look. Having allowed sufficient time for his ami- 
 ability to become thoroughly apparent through 
 these facial g3*mnastics, he began : 44 Miss-Wy- 
 song,- 1- have - come - to - sympathize - with - you, 
 huh." 
 
 4 'Thank you, Rev. Mr. Nerve. On account 
 of what am I to be favored with your sympa- 
 thy ?" 
 
 '* Huh,-on-account-of-what-them- blue - vein, 
 educated-niggers-did-to-you^esterday . ' ' 
 
 44 Let me understand you, please." 
 
 ' ' Huh. In-that-church - out - of - which - you 
 were-put - yesterday, - all - of - the - mulattoes, 
 whose-skins-are- such - that - their -blue - blood 
 shows, -have-decided-to-form-an-aristocracy. If 
 you-are-yellow-and-don't-work- any-with -your 
 hands, -you-are-all - right. That - is - condition 
 number-one. If-you-are-black-and-don't-work 
 any-with-your-hands-and-are-smarter-than-the 
 whole-lot-of-them-blue - veiners - put - together, 
 you-will-be-accepted-until-they-get - something 
 on-you. That-is-condition-number-two. You 
 
64 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 were-light-enough-for-them,-but - you- worked 
 with-your-hands. I- did - not - work - with - my 
 hands, -but-I-was-not-smart - enough. So, - be- 
 ing-black, -they-put-me-out." 
 
 " Put you out ? " queried Erma. 
 
 " Huh, -yes, -miss. Before-you- was -born, - I 
 was-pastor-of-that-church. That-blue-veined 
 crowd-dumped-me,-huh." 
 
 11 1 fear that you are prejudiced against 
 them and judge them harshly," interposed 
 Erma. "Surely a people who have been so 
 sorely oppressed on account of their color would 
 not dream of drawing the color line among 
 themselves." 
 
 * ' Huh, -huh, - miss, - you - don't - know. The 
 color-line-is - drawn - tighter - within - the - race 
 than-ever-it-was-on-the-outside,-and-the - origi- 
 nal-bony-fidy (bona fide) - members - of - the - race 
 don't-draw-the-line. It-is-the- first-time - that - 1 
 ever-knew-of-a-people-who-slipped - into - a - race 
 through-a-back-door-sitting-on-the- front - piazza 
 and-hollowing-to-the-honest-born-chaps- to - stay 
 in-the-kitchen. Well,-it-is-like-a-prison,-I - sup- 
 pose. The - rascal - who-gets-in-there-for-com- 
 mitting-the- worst - crime-is-the-leader-and-hero 
 of-the-prison. 
 
 " I am sure that you are sour over some un- 
 pleasant experiences with certain light-skinned 
 people, and it has so warped your judgment 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 65 
 
 that you pass a severe sentence upon the entire 
 class, which is manifestly unjust. Pardon me, 
 but I would much prefer the discussion of some 
 other topic." 
 
 ' * Huh, - excuse-me-then. Huh, -both - of - us 
 having--been-put-out-by-that-blue- vein -crowd, 
 I-had-a-f ellow-f eeling-. Miss- Wysong-, - I - want 
 your-aid-in-a-little-matter. " 
 
 "I shall be pleased to serve you in any way 
 that lean." 
 
 44 Huh, -thank-you, -miss. My-congreg-ation-is 
 made-up-of-all-the - shouting- - sisters - from - all 
 the-other-churches,-who-have-been-driven-away 
 by-manuscripts, -which-thing-s-they - hate-worse 
 than-the- Apostle-Peter- hated - the-rooster - that 
 crowed-and-told-on-him. I-preach-to-them-in-the 
 g-ood-old-time-way. I-have-never-quit-spreading- 
 a-g-ood-supply-of-the-gravy - of -feeling- - on - the 
 g-ospel-biscuits-which-I-hand-down-every - Sab- 
 bath. Because-I-won't-grieve - the Spirit - by 
 setting'-him-aside-for-a - manuscript, - the - other 
 preachers-are-mad-at-me, -and- won' t-let-me -g-et 
 D.-D.,-which-my-people-want-me-to-have." 
 
 44 Pardon me, but I understood you to say 
 that you were the Rev. Josiah Nerve, D. D. S." 
 
 4 4 Huh,-you-don't-understand ;-D.-D.-S.-is-not 
 D.D. ,as-I-shall-presently-make-plain. My-people 
 kept-on-growling--about-my-not-having--a - title. 
 Of-course,-I-had-no-learning-. I-can - only - talk 
 
 5 
 
66 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 straight-by-calling-one-word-at-a-time, - as - you 
 must-have-noticed-already,-and-even- at - that - it 
 is-as-much-as-I-can-do-to-keep-my - tongue - from 
 twisting-back-to-the - old - time - nigger - dialect 
 which-I-spoke-for-thirty-years,-with-much-more 
 pleasure-than-I- do - this. My - people - kept - on 
 growling, -and-asking-me-if- there - was - nothing 
 they-could-do. One-day -when-a-number- of - us 
 preachers-were-visiting - the - High - School,- the 
 teacher-asked-a-little-girl-to-conjugate-the - verb 
 to-be- in-Ivatin,-showing-off-before-us. She-be- 
 gan-like-this : "Sum,-es, - est." I - am - good - at 
 catching-on, -but-to-be-sure, - I-stood-around - the 
 street-corner, -near-th is- little - girl's - home - and 
 Waited-until - she - came - from - school, - when - 1 
 asked-her-what-did-^ra-mean. She-said-it-was 
 the-Latin-verb-fo be. I-then-called -my - church 
 together,-and-told-them-that-there- was - a - title 
 Lhat-they-could-confer-upon-me. By-a-unanimous 
 vote,-my-church-conferred-upon-me - the - degree 
 of-D.-D.-S. That-is-D.D.,-/o-&?. Now-I-often 
 think-how-true-that-Scripture-is-which-says, * 'A 
 little-child-shall-lead-them. ' ' 
 
 H}rma could not repress a smile of amusement 
 at the novel and ingenious way in which the 
 Rev. Josiah Nerve came in possession of the 
 coveted title. 
 
 ''Huh," continued the parson, " I-have-a-fine 
 plan-for-getting-my-full-honors. You-can-help 
 me. I-want-to-have-the- 4 S. '-dropped. ' ' 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 67 
 
 44 1 am sure you do not expect me to give you 
 the degree ? " 
 
 44 Huh, -no-no. But-you-can-teach-me-English 
 grammar, -geography, -and-the-alphabets-of - the 
 Greek, -L/atin-and - Hebrew - languages. With 
 these-things,-I-can-wear-my-degree-with-dignity 
 when-i t-comes. I-have-got-my-plan-laid-to-bring 
 it. You-see,-I-know-what-it-takes - to - scoop - a 
 D.D.-from-the- very-best-nigger-colleges. I-know 
 one-preacher - who - got - his-degree-by-buying- a 
 barrel-of-salt-herrings-for-a-nigger-college,- and 
 sat - on-the-barrel-in-the-front-yard, -threatening 
 to-take-the-barrel-of-herrings-home-in -case - the 
 trustees-did-not-give-him-the-degree. My-plans 
 are-more-dignified-than-that. I've - got - them 
 laid-and-I-want-you-to-help-me-to-be- prepared 
 for -my-coming-honor . ' ' 
 
 44 Rev. Mr. Nerve, I am very sorry to be com- 
 pelled to tell you that your ambitions are in the 
 wrong direction. The mere attaching to your- 
 self the degree will not make you the equal of 
 the white preachers whom you are seeking to 
 imitate. For one, I very much question the 
 wisdom of the system of degreeing preachers, 
 though practiced by all of the leading white in- 
 stitutions of learning. Oh ! Mr. Nerve, as I 
 have had occasion to remark before, we must 
 learn to quit accepting customs as good and 
 grand, simply because the white people have 
 
68 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 adopted them. They are but human and can 
 err, even in a body as a race. Aside from my 
 convictions as to the uselessness of a title in 
 your case, my time is so much taken up with 
 other duties that I would not have the time to 
 instruct you. But let me impress this one fact 
 upon you. Your ambition should sink deeper 
 than merely to appear and be esteemed wise and 
 learned. Degrees, mere outside appendages, 
 would do you no good." 
 
 4 'Huh, miss,-you-are- young--yet. Our-race 
 has-been-so-severely - criticised - that-it-has-de- 
 veloped -the - f aculty-of - appearing-. Our-f oiks 
 will - f org"ive - you - for -not - being 1 - up-to - white 
 folks, but-a-man-that-can't-put-up-a-boldyro?^ 
 has-no-f orgiveness. The-word-now-is, 4 Be-what 
 you-please,-but-don't-let-the- white-folks-know 
 it. ' You-just-look-about-you-and-see-if-the-crit- 
 icisms-of-the- white-people, of ten-unjust, are-not 
 developinof-the-f acult y -of -deception-and- white- 
 washing, - just- like-the - child-that -is- whipped 
 the-most-for-its-f aults - learns-to-hide-them-far 
 quicker - than-to - correct - them . No, -no, - Miss 
 Wysong-, -a-covering'-will-do-for-me. Nigg-ers 
 can't-pull-off-the-covering-and-look-at-my-filthy 
 rag's- of -knowledge - because - they don't-know 
 enough ; - and - white - people - can't, - because -I 
 ain't- gxring- - to- let -them - g-et -close - enoug-h -to 
 peep - under-my - covering-. I-agree - with - you 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 69 
 
 that-it-is-bad-that-our-people- want-every thing- 
 just-like - white- people. That-is - what-makes 
 me-have-to-hustle-to-get-D. -D. And-if-I-don' t 
 g-et-it-somehow-bef ore-too-long', -my-people-will 
 dump-me-just-like-them-blue-veiners-did. ' ' 
 
 " Oh ! the blue veiners, then, are not the only 
 colored people desiring- to be like white people. 
 The most of your people are pure blacks and 
 they are trying- to be like white people, too, I 
 understand." 
 
 "Huh, of-course. That-is-what-makes-the 
 blue-veiners-so-proud . They-see-that-they-are 
 near-and - nearing--the-place - where-the- blacks 
 are - almost - dying-- to - g-et-to. Nowadays-you 
 never-hear-of-two-coal-black -persons-marrying- 
 each- other. The - black - man-is - pushing- - the 
 black- woman-aside-to-grab-the-yellow-woman ; 
 and-the-black- woman is-pushing-the-black-man 
 aside-to-grab-the-yellow-man. I-know-a-num- 
 ber- of- black - mothers - with - black - daug-hters 
 that-have-s worn-they - will-poison-their-daugh- 
 ters-if-they-attempt-to-marry- black-men. Be- 
 sides- don' t- black- women - with-short- hair-rob 
 horses'-tails, -billy- goats-and- graveyards -to-get 
 hair-like-that-of - white-folks. I-wish-a-sensible 
 girl-like - you - would- join- my - church-and - stop 
 white-folks-ideas - f rom-cropping- - in-faster-than 
 we-f ello ws-can-keep -up- with-them . They-have 
 g-ot-me- out - now-hunting - for-a- D.-D. , - just -like 
 
70 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 white- folks,- when - neither - me-nor-them- know 
 any-more - about - what-D.-D. - means - than-Sam 
 Smith's-old-mule." 
 
 "Seriously, Rev. Mr. Nerve, might I join 
 your church ? I feel that I owe my race an 
 apology for having" somewhat deserted them. 
 Because their language was broken and their 
 customs crude and queer, I, tog-ether with other 
 members of my race, have not mingled with 
 them as much as we should have done. I as- 
 sure you that my failure to do so was not due to 
 pride nor to color prejudice. It was due simply 
 to a lack of similarity of tastes, ideals, habits, 
 customs, manner of speech, etc. I think that a 
 great amount of what you class as color preju- 
 dice may be reduced to that, after all." 
 
 '* Huh, -huh, -huh, -Miss- Wysong,- jcw-are-all 
 right. I- have- been- watching- - you-for- years. 
 You- always -speak -to- us- blacks - politely -and 
 never- snub-us. But-don't - you- tell- me- about 
 them-other-blue-veiners. I-knows-um,-I-know 
 them- thar- now, -see- how-my- tong-ue- g-its,-my 
 tongue-gets-to-slippin',-to-slipping-some-times. 
 It-is -nothin'- but - plum - nigger - foolishness -to 
 keep -me - cramped - down- to-all- this- grammar 
 talk-I-am-doing. If- my- people- did- not-insist 
 upon-me-using-language-just-like- white-people 
 I- would- go-back - to- the- plain - nigg-er - dialect 
 just-suited-to-a-big-mouth-and-stiff-tongue-like 
 mine." 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 71 
 
 "You have failed to answer my question, 
 Rev. Mr. Nerve. May I join your church ? " 
 
 " Huh,-bless-God,-}-es. My-people-are-black, 
 yet, -as- 1 - have- made- plain, - they -like -yellow 
 folks. You- are- not- exactly-yellow ; - you- are-a 
 pretty-brown-skiii, -a-mighty-pretty-brown-skin. 
 I-really-think- what-makes- blue- veiners-so-aris- 
 tocratic- is-that-we- blacks-like- them,- the- white 
 folks-like-them,-and-they- like-themselves ;-leav- 
 ing-nobody-to-like-us-blacks. If- we- ever-turn-to 
 liking- - black - faces - it - will- only - be - after - the 
 whites-turn-that-way. The- whites-regulate-all 
 of -our - tastes - even- to- telling- us - who- are- our 
 greatest -men -among- - us. We - just- won't - ac- 
 knowledg-e-a-man-is- great-until- the-whites-have 
 done- so. Our- slave- mammies- had -no- thought 
 f rom-morning--till-nig"ht, -year-in and - year - out, 
 except - the - thought - of - pleasing- - master - and 
 mistress. I-g uess-that-is-how-doing--every thing 
 to-please-white-people-became- ingrained- in - our 
 nature. You-will-know-more - about- this- when 
 you-get- to-be-a- married- woman-like- I-am,-huh, 
 huh. 
 
 * ' Good- day,- Miss- Wysongv good -day, - I-see 
 you- are-restless-and- tired -of-an-old- man's-gab. 
 Remember-that-I- have -not-promised- you-that-I 
 would - not- be-a-D. -D. My- plans- are- all -laid. 
 Remember- you-are - to- join -my- church. Good 
 day. I-did-not-promise -that-I- would- not- be -no 
 D.-D.,-huh,-huh-huh." 
 
72 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Bowing- and grinning- and grunting-, Rev. Jo- 
 siah Nerve, D. D. S., backed out of the door 
 and out of the g-ate, and, hat in hand, went 
 strutting- proudly down the street, not forg-et- 
 ting- that in walking 1 , his feet should come up a 
 little hig-her from the ground than do the feet of 
 plain every day human being's. Poor deluded 
 soul, contented to grasp with a death clutch at 
 the shadow of Anglo-Saxon civilization. His 
 brethren are many. In due time the whole city 
 came out to view the first step of Rev. Josiah 
 Nerve, D. D. S., toward becoming- Rev. Josiah 
 Nerve, D. D. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HE NARROWLY ESCAPED. 
 
 Fire ! fire ! ! fire ! ! ! Lurid flames leaping- in 
 their mad fury through the roof of a huge 
 frame church building- situated on Laurel 
 Street had attracted the attention of a Negro 
 woman who had a basket of clothes on her head. 
 Putting- the basket of clothes down on the side- 
 walk and expanding- her chest, she had thrown 
 her shoulders back and was screaming- as fast 
 and as loudly as she could ; for it was the edi- 
 fice of the church of which' she was a member 
 that was afire. She was a poor, unlettered wo- 
 man, but next to God, she loved her church. 
 Having- to labor incessantly from before day- 
 light Monday morning- until late Saturday 
 nig'ht, and having neither a nice dwelling- nor 
 costly dresses, about her only pleasure was go- 
 ing- to church on Sunday. She felt that here 
 she heard directly from God out of that myste- 
 rious book on the stand, doubly dear to her, be- 
 ing- shrouded in mystery and containing- glow- 
 ing promises of coming- joys. Imag-ine then the 
 horror, excitement, pathos, despair, astonish- 
 ment that this Negro woman threw into her 
 
 (73) 
 
74 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 screams on that midday. No one who heard 
 those screams ever forgot them. Soon the 
 street was thronged with excited spectators. 
 As fast as the colored "sisters " came in sight 
 of the burning- building they would break forth 
 into loud piercing screams. 
 
 " Good Laws a mussy, de Lawd am lettin' de 
 house ub God burn up," said one, her hands 
 akimbo on her hips, her eyes bleared, her very 
 soul lost in amazement at such a sight. 
 
 " My Lawd, judgment muss shuah dun cum. 
 You had better pray, sinners ! " shouted another 
 over and over again in a loud voice. 
 
 The " sister " who had first screamed ran to 
 the front door and threw herself violently 
 against it. It gave way and she dashed down 
 the aisle. She thought she saw a long tail coat 
 disappearing out of a rear window. She had 
 no time to think of that, however. Her mind 
 was intent on getting the pulpit Bible. She 
 snatched this from the altar and started for the 
 door. A burning rafter fell, barely missing her 
 head and striking her on the shoulder, disloca- 
 ting her arm. The Bible was knocked out of 
 her hands. One of the firemen who had now 
 arrived on the scene, hearing that a woman was 
 in the burning building ran in, in order to res- 
 cue her. He caught her by the dislocated arm 
 and was pulling her along, giving her ex- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 75 
 
 eructating* pain. She said to the fireman, "Lem- 
 me go. Git de Bible. Save de Wurd ub God. 
 Savede Wurd." 
 
 "The Wurd be blanked," said the irate fire- 
 man. Come along or you will burn up, old wo- 
 man." The oath from the lips of the fireman 
 erased every thought of the fire from her mind. 
 She forgot the Bible. Her excitement was all 
 gone. She was wondering- to herself how a 
 human being- could speak so slightly about the 
 Bible. 
 
 "Dese white folks is er sight. I kain't see 
 how dey ken eber 'speck to git ter hebun. Dat 
 feller done 'saulted my rebrunce fur de Bible. 
 Dey is enuf ter spile eny body's 'ligion. Ef nig- 
 gers stay heah in dis country wid dese cole 
 hearted white folks we woan hab no 'ligion 
 'tall." Such were her inward musings, and that 
 too, without a knowledge of the higher critics. 
 The fire had no more interest for that "sister." 
 She was thinking of that other and hotter fire 
 sure, as she thought, to get the irreverent fire- 
 man who could "cuss a Bible in a burnin' 
 church." 
 
 The crowd swelled, the "sisters" screamed, 
 the fire raged, the firemen worked valiantlv but 
 all to no avail. The flames, glad at being turned 
 loose in the world once more, refused to release 
 their grasp and insisted on licking up into their 
 
76 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 million insatiable little mouths every piece of 
 timber. Just before the walls crumbled Rev. 
 Josiah Nerve, D. D. S., came dashing into the 
 crowd. The " sisters " all gathered around the 
 parson for he was their "parster." He put 
 his handkerchief to his eyes as though the 
 sight was too sad to behold. With his face 
 buried in his handkerchief, his lips were mov- 
 ing, giving voice to the sentiments of his heart. 
 "Thank God! ThankGod! or the devil even!!" 
 
 The excitement over, the crowd dwindled 
 down, leaving the ashes to the parson and the 
 "sisters," the brethren being at their work. 
 
 "Elder Nerve, look at de bottom ub yer 
 pants' leg." The parson looked down and saw 
 a large rent made in his pants and a wide- 
 spread stain. 
 
 "Dat surely is kerosene oil," said another 
 "sister." 
 
 Parson Nerve now exhibited an unwonted de- 
 gree of confusion. The "sisters" attributed it, 
 however, to the embarrassment of the parson 
 at having his spick and span attire disarranged 
 by a snag and an oil stain. 
 
 " Whar did you git it?" said another " sis- 
 ter," stooping to look at it. 
 
 1 ' Huh, ah, -I- could - not - say, - ay, - Sister 
 Jones," said the parson, again on his dignity. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 77 
 
 " Whar wuz you wen our house got kotched 
 ^r fire, Elder ? " The parson's dignity suffered 
 a considerable collapse again. "Huh!- Ah'! 
 Huh,- huh,- let- me- see. Why, - sister, -I- am- so 
 troubled - about - our - house - of - worship - that 
 my - memory - is - sort - of - affected - that - quick. 
 Huh! -ah! -huh ! Don't-think-about-me, -sisters, 
 think-of-your-church ! What-are-we-to-do-about 
 that?" Much to Parson Nerve's relief the 
 "sisters" turned to the discussion of that theme, 
 the greatest on earth to them. They began 
 thus early to lay plans for their future. 
 
 Parson Nerve soon found a way of absenting 
 himself from the group and repaired to his 
 study where he secluded himself. " Ha !-ha ! 
 ha ! " laughed he in his deep resounding voice. 
 * ' I- have -got- them- on- the - hip - now. I've- got 
 them, -ha !-ha !-ha ! I-have-been-a-sly-slick-duck, 
 sure. There - are - now - forty - four - fine - brick 
 churches-owned-by-Negroes-in-this-city. They 
 are-very-fine, -but-mine-shall-be-finer, -finer, finer, 
 ha !-ha !-ha ! I-have- been-a- slick- duck. The 
 other-preachers- thought-I- couldn't- build, -but-I 
 was- waiting- until- the-last- of- them - built, -so-I 
 could- beat- them-all. Oh !-I- knew -I- would-get 
 old-Spalding. I- will- show- him- what-Old-Man 
 Nerve-can-do. Won't -he- rave-when-he- sees-my 
 church- going-up- finer-than- his ? He- beats-the 
 balance, -but-I'll-beat-him. Not-only- will-I-beat 
 
78 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 tne-nig-g-ers,but-I-shall-also-beat-the- white-folks. 
 I-shall-then -have- the-finest- church- house-in-the 
 city,-white-or-colored. Ninetvthousand-dollars 
 will-be-the-cost. Then,- Good- God ! Then-I'll 
 g-et-my-D.-D. Not-a-nig-g-er-colleg-e-in-the- world 
 will - refuse-me-D.-D.,- when-I- finish -a- building- 
 that-costs-that- much. Oh,-I-knew- 1- would-get 
 old-Spalding-. He-is-only-a-B.-D. But-I- will-be 
 a-D.-D.,-Rev.-Josiah-Nerve,-D.-D. No-more-'S.' 
 Well, -I- deserve-it. Few- men- would- have- had 
 the-grace-to-wait- until-all- the-other- chaps-were 
 done. And,-then,-think-of- the-risk-I-ran-in-g-et- 
 ting--that-old-house-out-of-the-way. Let-me-look 
 at-that-statute-ag-ain. " 
 
 Going- to his desk the parson opened a code of 
 criminal laws and turned to the desired place. 
 ' 4 Arson - from- 1 wo-to - twenty - years - in-the 
 penitentiary, -two-to-twenty, -two-to-twenty. 
 Now,- who -on- earth- would-say- that- a- man 
 who-would -run -such-a-risk -for-a- house-for 
 God-oug-ht-not-to- have-D.-D. ,-D. -D. ,-D.-D. , 
 Rev.-Josiah-Nerve,-D.-D, 
 
 " Come in," said Parson Nerve, in response 
 to a knock at his study door. 
 
 A policeman stepped into the parson's study. 
 The parson dropped into a chair quickly and 
 hid his torn pants' leg- behind the other, that 
 grin of his entirely g-one for once. The police- 
 man failed to observe the parson's hiding- one 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 79 
 
 leg- behind the other. He began, "Parson, 
 somebody burned your church house down. We 
 know that you and your people are much 
 grieved about it and would like to apprehend 
 the scoundrel. I came to tell you that we are 
 on his track." The parson looked at the po- 
 liceman but could not speak. He saw a gulf 
 opening its yawning* jaws to receive him and he 
 could not even hollow. He stole a glance at the 
 open code. 
 
 44 Yes," continued the policeman, <4 we shall 
 get him before night. They are measuring- his 
 tracks now from the rear window of the church 
 out of which some one caught a glimpse of him 
 jumping. A bloodhound from a near by city 
 will be brought over on the five train and he 
 will certainly run him down." The policeman 
 looked over to Rev. Josiah Nerve to hear him 
 express sentiments of gratification at the vigi- 
 lance of the police and the bright prospect of 
 the early capture of the criminal. The Rev. 
 Mr. Nerve looked at the policeman stupidly, 
 frozen with fear. 
 
 " See here !" said the policeman, drawing a 
 bit of torn cloth from his vest pocket and hold- 
 ing it up to view. "This is a piece of his pants' 
 leg. When he is found this will identify him 
 beyond question. We found this hanging to a 
 nail in a fence by which he must have run in 
 
80 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 making* his escape." Rev. Josiah Nerve 
 neither spoke nor moved. He pressed the torn 
 pants' leg* harder against its protector. 
 
 The policeman, anxious to secure some ex- 
 pression of elation from Rev. Josiah Nerve, and 
 disappointed that he had not thus far secured 
 such, said, " Prom the way the people are 
 talking", if the scamp is caught he will be 
 lynched. The white people like you and your 
 church. Yours is the only congregation in 
 town that has not joined the craze to have 
 churches finer than those of the white people. 
 Thus they think well of you and are sorry for 
 your misfortune. I am a policeman sworn to 
 uphold the majesty of the law, but I will join a 
 mob to help lynch the scoundrel that burned 
 your church down. Well, I see you are too 
 grieved to discuss the matter. Good day, par- 
 son," said the policeman, rising" to gx>. 
 
 Rev. Josiah Nerve felt a little strength re- 
 turn and he manag-ed to say to the policeman, in 
 a husky tone, "Good day," and sotto voce, 
 11 Good by." The policeman walked away 
 musing 1 to himself, ** Surely nig-g-ers must have 
 an immense amount of relig-ion or of something-. 
 Now, that darkey preacher is so grieved about 
 that plag-uy barn, that he can't talk." 
 
 While the policeman was thus musing- as he 
 walked along-, Rev. Josiah Nerve was packing- a 
 
OVERSHADOWED, gl 
 
 valise. In the middle of that afternoon, some 
 farmers not far distant from the city, saw a 
 man wearing* a long" tail coat, which was slap- 
 ping- at the wind, his hat in one hand and a va- 
 lise in the other, making- for the woods at a 
 rapid rate. Rev. Josiah Nerve, D. D. S., was 
 not heard from in Richmond ag-ain. Perhaps he at 
 last succeeded in dropping- the despised "S," 
 and lost his identity in the numerous throng- of 
 the veneered. 
 
 The tragic, not the humorous in the experi- 
 ences of Rev. Josiah Nerve, appealed to Erma. 
 Had she even then a premonition that she, too, 
 had been sing-led out by the wheels of the Jug-- 
 g-ernaut ; that she, too, was to be the epitome 
 of all that was trag-ic in the attempts of the 
 Negro and Ang*lo-Saxon to journey side by 
 side on the terms elected ? 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PIT IS DUG. 
 
 Night again, and at the home of Dolly Smith. 
 Dolly Smith and James B. Lawson, alias El- 
 bridge Noral, feel that they know each other 
 now, and the gas jet is turned full on. The 
 room is supplied with furniture of a most 
 costly and gorgeous sort. Lawson, fresh from 
 a home of magnificence, is dazzled by the splen: 
 dor of Dolly Smith's parlor. 
 
 " Dolly, you are certainly finely fitted up, 
 finely ! I must say that I have not seen better." 
 
 " It ought to be fine, Mr. Lawson. It is the 
 price that was paid for the virtue of my race. 
 How are matters progressing with you and 
 Erma now ? 
 
 "Slowly, Dolly, slowly." 
 
 " Have you gotten an opportunity to speak 
 to her yet?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I see her and converse with her 
 nearly every day." 
 
 " Do you call that progressing slowly ? " 
 
 "Yes, and dangerously slow. You see, my 
 excuse for calling at Mrs. Turner's is to see 
 Pranzetta Turner, her daughter, while my 
 
 (82) 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 83 
 
 reason is to catch a glimpse of Erma. Now, if 
 I keep on going* to see Miss Turner as regu- 
 larly as I have been, why, I will just have to 
 propose marriage to her. There will be no 
 way for me to back out. And I did not bar- 
 gain for all that. So, you see, I am interested 
 in matters coming to a crisis for a twofold rea- 
 son. First, my soul is lost to Erma Wysong, 
 and will never be found until I have her love 
 and devotion. Secondly, I am not overanxious 
 to fall into the clutches of Old Maid Pran- 
 zetta." 
 
 " How did you happen to get so many con- 
 versations with Erma ? Explain the situation 
 to me fully, so that I may know the next step 
 for you to take," Dolly Smith said. She now 
 concentrated her soul in her sight and ears. 
 The realization of her life's purpose depended 
 upon the depth of the passion of the man before 
 her. As L/awson's evil genius would have it, 
 he chose this woman of all other people on 
 earth to whom to tell the story of his love. 
 
 L/awson ran his hands through his gold col- 
 ored locks of hair, bowed his head as if in med- 
 itation, and began his recital, more as a man 
 musing to himself than as one talking to an au- 
 ditor. Therefore he held nothing back. 
 
 "Well, Dolly, it was this way. A few days 
 after Erma Wysong went to Mrs. Turner's, I 
 
84 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 called over there, ostensibly to see Miss Fran- 
 Zetta Turner, but in reality to catch a glimpse 
 of Erma. I spoke to Miss Turner in the midst 
 of our conversation as follows : 
 
 " ' Miss Turner, my barber tells me that your 
 servant girl is a belle in Negro society, and 
 has occasioned about as much ado among* her 
 people by becoming" a servant girl as your en- 
 tering- a factory to work would do among- us.' 
 
 "'Is that true, Mr. Lawson? If she is 
 a belle, she is a worthy one. I would g-ive a 
 million for her form. It is symmetry itself.' 
 
 "'You underrate your own charms, and 
 overrate those of your servant,' is the unpar- 
 donable lie that escaped from my lips, after 
 sticking 1 to my throat for a century, it seemed. 
 
 "'Oh, don't attempt to flatter me by any 
 such outrag-eous comparisons, Mr. Lawson. 
 For beauty, I am not to be mentioned in the 
 same breath with that girl.' This expression 
 was so true that, upon my word, I could not 
 dispute with my tongue that which my heart 
 acknowledged with every throb. I sat in si- 
 lence, eager for more words of praise of Erma. 
 * And, strange to say,' she continued, 'the girl 
 is so charming in mind and manner. She has a 
 smile that somehow reveals all the sweetness 
 there is in her soul.' I cursed my soul for that 
 luck that had robbed me of one of those smiles. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 85 
 
 1 She has so many ways of arranging- that 
 glossy, black -hair. Every way she changes 
 it makes her appear more beautiful. Of course, 
 the thread of her hair is a little coarse.' I 
 could have slapped Miss Franzetta for even 
 intimating that coarse hair, such as Erma 
 had, was a defect. ' And the girl plays su- 
 perbly.' I could stand it no longer. I should 
 have been destroyed by the process of spontane- 
 ous combustion if I had not said, ' Invite her in 
 and let her play.' 
 
 " Miss Turner looked at me inquiringly, to 
 see if I really intended that she should call the 
 Negro girl to entertain us. Intend it ! Of 
 course I intended it. Was not that why the 
 girl and I both were there ? I repeated my re- 
 quest, hiding my emotion, of course. The 
 greatest currents of the human heart, whether 
 good or bad, seek subterranean passages. Miss 
 Turner rose to call Erma, and, wretch that I am, 
 I actually muttered a prayer of thanks to God. 
 Erma followed Miss Turner into the room, 
 and smiling such a smile as actually lighted 
 that whole room, she made me forget every- 
 thing else. I arose to be introduced. Erma 
 looked just as much at home and as unembar- 
 rassed as though she had been accustomed to 
 such scenes all her days. 
 
 "'Mr. Lawson, let me present to you Miss 
 Erma Wysong.' 
 
86 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 444 The son of the popular Ex-Governor of 
 our State ? ' asked Ernia of Miss Turner. 
 
 44 4 It is he/ was the reply. 
 
 44 Erma then came toward me and gave me 
 her hand. Her touch thrilled me, and I actu- 
 ally could not return her greeting 1 , 4 I am 
 pleased to know you, Mr. Lawson.' 
 
 44 4 Mr. Lawson wishes you to play some for 
 us, Erma.' 
 
 44 Erma looked at me, and I nodded slowly, 
 as I did not care for her to lift those tender 
 brown eyes away from me too soon. Seeing- 
 that it was my wish, Erma went at once to the 
 piano. Erma did not play. No ! such music as 
 she g-ave was not playing. She just dropped 
 bits of her heart and soul on that keyboard, 
 and the keys cried out in sympathetic tones, and 
 we sat and listened in awe. Since that time I 
 have wondered why people can say play music. 
 Music is too serious a matter to be called play. 
 
 44 Dolly, that g-irl has a load of some sort on 
 her heart ! Lover-like, I took it to be the cry 
 of a bird for its mate, and I said all through 
 the piece, 4 Here am I.' When she was throug-h, 
 she politely bowed and left the room without 
 a word. I did so much wish it had been Miss 
 Pranzetta to g-o out. After that day I had Miss 
 Pranzetta to call Erma in as often as I could 
 without arousing* suspicion. Often Miss Pran- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 87 
 
 zetta would have occasion to leave the room on 
 some errand or other, and then Erma would 
 have to talk to me. I would just sit and listen 
 to her talk and gaze into the depths of her soul- 
 ful eyes. 
 
 " Now, Dolly, that is as far as I have ever 
 gotten. It seems to me that all unholy thoughts 
 die in her presence. There is something- in the 
 very atmosphere around her that has the effect of 
 destroying the very germs of evil. I have been 
 told that white men have no hesitancy about 
 making improper approaches to just any col- 
 ored woman, as there is no way for insults to 
 be avenged. For, if a Negro murdered a white 
 man of standing for any such cause as insult- 
 ing a Negro woman, he would be tynched. Not- 
 withstanding this immunity of the white man 
 from punishment and the protection of the mob 
 spirit accorded him, I would like to see the 
 white man with the smallest instinct of the 
 gentleman who could wrongfully approach that 
 girl. You won't find the man this side of the 
 lower regions that can look into those tender, 
 brown eyes, and feel the loving warmth of the 
 pure soul that they bring forth, and then part 
 his lips in an attempt to besmirch such inno- 
 cence. The way for a woman to keep pure 
 is to be pure. It is an atmosphere that man 
 knows not how to enter. 
 
88 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 44 By heavens, Dolly, I can't, I can't. I just 
 can't say the word. And yet, love for that 
 girl is consuming my soul. If I could only get a 
 word of love ! If she would only kiss me once ! 
 If she would but stroke my hair tenderly but 
 ah, Dolly, I am a lost man ! " 
 
 Lawson buried his face in his hands, and his 
 frame shook with the violence of his emotions. 
 Dolly Smith stood over him and looked the ti- 
 gress that she was, about to spring upon her 
 prey. She repressed all these feelings of exul- 
 tation, and taking a seat, said, " Cheer up, Mr. 
 Lawson. I have discovered a sure plan of ac- 
 tion." 
 
 Lawson remained in the same despondent at- 
 titude, saying, "Dolly, I can't carry out the 
 plan after you propose it." 
 
 ** You won't have to carry it out," replied 
 Dolly. 
 
 ** Who, then, will?" said Lawson, raising 
 his head quickly, and flashing fire from his 
 eyes. 
 
 44 Be cool Mr. Lawson, be cool. Erma shall 
 be your friend and the friend of none other. I 
 am Dolly Smith, and my word never fails. My 
 plan is simply this : If you can't approach 
 Erma, Erma must approach you." 
 
 44 Erma approach me!" bawled Lawson, 
 excitedly. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 89 
 
 4 'Calm, now, calm. Yes, Erma shall ap- 
 proach you." 
 
 " How is that to be, Dolly? I am sure you 
 are crazy, but then go ahead." 
 
 44 We shall see who is crazy. Erma is to be 
 brought to sin through poverty. We must in 
 a most merciless manner drive her to want ; if 
 need be, drive her to the very door of starva- 
 tion. Open but one door for her to walk out, 
 and let that be the door of sin. She will be 
 less than human if she fails to come out. Set 
 riches before her, and there can be no failure." 
 
 44 That would be terrible. I would hate to 
 see the poor girl suffer so." 
 
 44 Very true. But it will be better for her 
 in the end. Your love will sustain her and 
 your money support her while she lives. She 
 well might climb the rugged side of the moun- 
 tain for the sake of the glimpse of glory from 
 its crest." 
 
 44 Well, what is your plan, Dolly?" asked 
 Lawson. 
 
 4 4 I shall present the details to you in a few days. 
 Do not be uneasy. I pledge you solemnly that 
 they shall bring Erma to her knees. Remember 
 that Erma is a woman, and that it is not impossi- 
 ble to get a woman to do as her mother and grand- 
 mother did. She is no angel. Now, all that you 
 are to do for the present is to see Erma alone 
 
90 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 once more if you can, and say to her : ' Miss Wy- 
 song, if ever you need a friend, remember me.' 
 That is all that you are required to do in the 
 matter now. You shall hear from me soon." 
 
 "Well, good night, or day, rather, now, Dolly. 
 This is a terrible business, but I suppose it 
 can't be helped." 
 
 "Goodnight, or day, whichever it is, Mr. 
 Ivawson." 
 
 When Mr. Lawson was gone, Dolly Smith 
 began at once to indulge in her dance of joy. 
 She was more jubilant than ever, and danced 
 until she was thoroughly exhausted and fell 
 down on the floor. Had her exhaustion ended 
 in death, our story would have been different. 
 
 Erma was at Mrs. Turner's, faithfully per- 
 forming her work and ingratiating herself in the 
 heart of her employer. She was happy and 
 prosperous. The pendulum chooses the high- 
 est point of its journey as the proper place to 
 turn back. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE VICTIMS. 
 
 "John Wysong, you will please call at my 
 office at the noon hour." 
 
 The foreman of the Bilgal Iron Works, a 
 white man, addressed these words to John Wy- 
 song', Erma's brother, at work in these shops 
 as you have been told. John's heart gave a joy- 
 ous bound, as he felt sure that he would be in- 
 formed that he had been reported on account of 
 the splendid record he had worked so hard to 
 make. John had received enough of Erma's 
 confidence to guess the remainder of her secret, 
 and he was working doubly hard to make a good 
 record and to receive a promotion so that he could 
 earn money the faster to pay off the mortgage 
 on their little home, sell it, and let Erma go off 
 to school by means of the proceeds of the sale. 
 The mortgage was now overdue, but the holder 
 was a kind-hearted man, well known to John's 
 father and mother, and no uneasiness was felt 
 on that score. But John and Erma were very 
 anxious to pay it off for the reason named above. 
 So John experienced much joy between eight 
 o'clock and twelve, after being spoken to by 
 
 (91) 
 
92 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 the foreman. He was saying- to himself, 
 " After all, it was well for me to have sacri- 
 ficed a literary education in order to learn a 
 .trade, for teaching- is now an overcrowded pro- 
 fession and there is nothing else in that line to 
 do. Now, I think I am about to be promoted 
 and will then get four dollars per day. I know 
 I am gx>ing to be promoted, for there are only 
 two reasons for which men are called to the of- 
 fice as I was, either to be promoted or turned 
 off. I am glad that my record has been such 
 that I know I won't be turned off. That was a 
 bully thing- in me to stand at the head of the 
 list for the last quarter." John went on with 
 his work, whistling and singing and planning- 
 great thing's out of his four dollars per day. 
 
 The noon hour came and John went hurriedly 
 to the office of the foreman. He looked so 
 grave that John had some slight misgiving's that 
 all was not going- to go so well. The fore- 
 man was busy arranging- some papers, and 
 did not speak at once. At length he said, 
 "John, you have been a good faithful work- 
 man and we have all liked both you and your 
 work, you have been so polite, industrious, 
 punctual and painstaking." 
 
 John felt reassured by these words and said, 
 "Thank you. Thank you, indeed. I cer- 
 tainly have striven hard to deserve your good 
 opinion." 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 93 
 
 When John was through, the foreman re- 
 sumed, "But lam very sorry to say that I 
 have bad news for you." 
 
 John's hat, which he was holding in his hands, 
 dropped to the floor and he grew weak from 
 the shock of disappointment. He said to him- 
 self, "I am not promoted. I shall have to work 
 along at the same old figure." 
 
 The foreman paused before delivering the 
 next blow. " The bad news that I have to tell 
 you, John, is that you cannot work for us any 
 
 more." 
 
 "Who has been lying to you on me ? Let 
 me face my accuser," said 'John aroused, ex- 
 cited. 
 
 " No one has spoken ill of you, John. There 
 is not a man in the shop but is your friend. It 
 is not that we find fault with your work that 
 you have to go." 
 
 "What on earth then is it ? " asked John. 
 
 " The Labor Union has ordered us to dis- 
 charge you." 
 
 "The Labor Union! I thought that the 
 Bilgal works belonged to Messrs. Morrison 
 and Brown." 
 
 " They do, John, they do. But it is this way. 
 The Labor Union will order all of its members 
 throughout the country to quit working for any 
 shop that will employ any man to work who is 
 
94 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 not a member of the Union. All of the men in 
 our shop, except yourself, belong" to the organi- 
 sation, and it has sent us word that they will 
 be called out on a strike unless you are dis- 
 charged. You see you are not a member and 
 they will not let their members work with non- 
 
 union men.' 
 
 "Is that all there is to the matter ? Why, I 
 will just join the Union, then ; that will settle 
 the whole matter." 
 
 The foreman smiled a sad sort of smile, say- 
 ing", " I wish you could, John, I wish you could. 
 But you cannot. You are a colored man." 
 
 John dropped into the seat nearest him 
 and he felt his heart rising- up into his throat as 
 thoug-h to choke him. He said in a husky sort 
 of voice, " I suppose you will g"ive me a recom- 
 mendation, will you not? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, John, with tne seal of the firm af- 
 fixed. But it will do you no g-ood to have it. 
 This Union controls all the shops in the land, 
 and what you meet here you will meet every- 
 where." 
 
 John struggled to his feet and, picking- up 
 his hat, pulled it down over his eyes and ran 
 his hands into his pants' pockets. He then 
 looked upon the foreman like a lion at bay. He 
 said in a voice that creaked with the emotion 
 of desperation, " Must I finish the day? " 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 95 
 
 " No, John," said the foreman. " We were 
 ordered to get rid of you before one o'clock to- 
 day. We put it off till the last moment. John, 
 before you go, let me inform you of something-. 
 For some cause or other you have a powerful 
 enemy somewhere a white man. Our men did 
 not report you. They all liked you and were 
 sorry that you were reported. But we cannot 
 help ourselves. Good day, John. Watch that 
 
 enemy." 
 
 John walked moodily homeward and when he 
 arrived, found Erma there. This astonished 
 him as it was about the hour for her to be busy 
 at Mrs. Turner's. Forgetting 1 all about 'him- 
 self, he said, "Erm, how is this, darling, I 
 find you at home ? ' 
 
 " John, I have been discharged ! " said Erma, 
 falling on his shoulder and bursting into tears. 
 Erma, sobbing, said, " Mrs. Turner drove 
 me out of her house as though I was a dog. 
 She dared me to apply for employment any- 
 where else in Richmond ; and she would not 
 even tell me why I was discharged. And I was 
 doing so well, too. Fransetta was aiding me 
 so much in my studies." 
 
 John did what he could to soothe Erma. As 
 soon as he thought it was safe, he told her of 
 his own misfortune. They sat upon the sofa 
 with their hands clasped, silent. The road of 
 
96 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 life was becoming- rugged. The mail man's 
 whistle blew T and Erma went to the door and 
 was handed a letter which, upon being opened, 
 told of the foreclosure of the mortgage on their 
 home. Erma looked at John and John looked 
 at Erma. 
 
 Dolly Smith was carrying out her promise. 
 
 A party had approached the orignal holder of 
 the mortgage with a view to the purchase 
 thereof. The mortgagee disposed of his claim 
 after being assured that the purchaser would 
 deal leniently with John and Erma. This 
 pledge was unscrupulously broken and John 
 and Erma were soon turned adrift upon the 
 streets, penniless and homeless. Erma remem- 
 bered Aunt Mollie's invitation and went to 
 dwell with her. John went to a lumber yard 
 for shelter at night. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MURDER ! 
 
 It is Labor Da}^. Business houses are closed, 
 buildings are decorated, excursionists are pres- 
 ent by the thousands from neighboring cities, 
 the roads leading from rural districts are alive 
 with buggies, wagons and carts, all full of 
 people, crowding into Richmond. As a con- 
 sequence, Richmond is all agog with excite- 
 ment. There is to be a grand parade of all 
 the local Labor Unions, together with delega- 
 tions from Unions in neighboring cities. 
 
 To add zest to the occasion, the Master 
 Workman of the Labor Union of the United 
 States is present and will make a speech that 
 all are looking forward to with burning inter- 
 est. The day's celebration is to wind up 
 with a banquet, which is to rival in brilliancy 
 any that the South has ever known. The ex- 
 citement of the people of Richmond is keyed 
 to the very highest pitch. 
 
 A carriage drove up to the hotel door, where 
 the Master Workman was stopping, and he 
 and the Mayor of the city got in, to be driven 
 to the starting point of the parade, to ride at 
 
 7 (97) 
 
98 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 the head of the procession. John Wysong- was 
 the driver of this carriage. Being* shut out 
 from all of the departments of skilled labor on 
 account of his color, he had been forced to join 
 the larg-e army of unskilled laborers, grabbing- 
 here and there in a desultory manner at every 
 little job of work that appeared, having 1 no 
 steady employment. The greater part of his 
 time he was idle, the labor market among- the 
 colored men being- glutted. On account of the 
 abnormal demand for carriag-es on this occa- 
 sion, scores of men were pressed into service as 
 drivers. Thus John happens to be a carriage 
 driver on this day, and the Master Workman 
 of the Labor Union and the Mayor are to 
 occupy the carriag-e which he drives. 
 
 Surely, there must be somewhere in the uni- 
 verse a powerful, conscienceless being-, who de- 
 lig-hts in bringing- tog-ether the two being's who, 
 more than any others of the millions of the earth, 
 oug-ht to be untold miles apart, and bring-s them 
 tog-ether at that moment which of all others 
 in the cycle of time is the most inappropri- 
 ate. Either that, or there is a Providence who 
 permits this disastrous meeting- of uncong-enial 
 spirits, in order that out of the collision, evil in 
 itself, there may come a spark of lig-ht, as when 
 a negative pole meets a positive, and the elec- 
 tric spark results. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 99 
 
 Pit or unfit, John Wysong- is the driver of 
 the carriage of the Master Workman of the 
 Labor Union. Thus the chief officer of an or- 
 ganization whose hand had fallen heavier upon 
 the head of John Wysong than upon any other 
 individual in Richmond, filling* his heart with 
 a brood of vipers, to be fed and kept alive 
 by continued misfortunes, is committed to his 
 care. 
 
 The parade commences and winds from street 
 to street, the Master Workman and the Mayor 
 riding at the head of the procession. Finally, 
 they came to a magnificent brick edifice in the 
 course of erection. The Mayor pointed over to 
 the building, and said, "Now, Master Workman, 
 that building is a potent example of how well 
 we have the labor situation in hand in the South. 
 That church edifice is one of the very finest in 
 the city, and is being erected by a congregation 
 of poor Negroes, and yet, not a brick is being 
 laid, nor a nail being driven by a Negro. Our 
 Labor Union controls exclusively the work of 
 the race to which it belongs and has just as 
 absolute control of the work of the other race. 
 Our factories make their shoes, our tailors their 
 clothes, our machinists their stoves, our brick- 
 layers build their houses. Our clerks sell them 
 supplies, and at the same time we exclude them 
 from all such employment." This remark 
 
100 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 precipitated a discussion of the relation of the 
 Labor Union to Negro labor, and as to why the 
 Negroes were debarred. 
 
 The Master Workman, a Northerner, the 
 honored guest of a Southern city (an honor rare- 
 ly accorded to men of the North), riding* with 
 an ex-General of the Confederate Army, the 
 Mayor, out-Heroded Herod in his denunciation 
 of Negroes, and expressed unalterable opposition 
 to their ever being- allowed to enter the Unions. 
 He said, '* The home, the fireside, is the dear- 
 est spot to the Anglo-Saxon, and in his family 
 all his pride centers. Through centuries the 
 Anglo-Saxon has been evolving- his ideals and 
 sentiments concerning 1 home life and the place 
 it should occupy socially in the congregation 
 of other homes. In order to sustain these 
 ideals a larger amount of money is needed than 
 is needed to sustain the home life of the Negro 
 with his ideals at their present stag-e of evolu- 
 tion. Hence, we cannot afford to enter into 
 competition with the Negro. For it would not 
 be a question of dollars. It would be a question 
 of home ag-ainst home. So we of the Labor 
 Unions have decided that either our homes 
 must be crushed out or the Negro. And you 
 know what the Anglo-Saxon does to a weaker 
 foe that does not accept his standard. He sim- 
 ply destroys him." 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 101 
 
 Here he paused for an instant, and then re- 
 sumed, " But the greatest objection we have to 
 the Negro is that his nature does not seem to 
 have in it the seditious element to any appreci- 
 able degree. He will move along patiently, 
 enduring evils and debating his right actually 
 his right to rebel against oppression. He has 
 an abnormal respect for constituted authority. 
 He does not admit to himself the inherent 
 right to throw off the hand of an oppress- 
 on He stands and looks pleadingly at him, 
 waiting for the time to come when the bet- 
 ter sense of the oppressor will assert itself. 
 He really expects for the tyrannous spirit 
 to develop forces within that will overthrow 
 itself. Ignorant of history, he does not know 
 that the spirit of oppression will yield only 
 to force or the fear of it. The Anglo-Saxon 
 has never gotten anything for which he did not 
 fight, or impress the party concerned that he 
 was ready to fight for it. 
 
 " Now, our Union wants it distinctly under- 
 stood that what we labor for WE MUST 
 HAVE. We shall have it if we ignore all 
 laws, defy all constituted authority, overthrow 
 all government, violate all tradition. Our end 
 MUST be attained, at whatever cost. If a foe 
 stands in our way, and nothing will dislodge 
 him but death, then he must die. That is the 
 
102 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 dictum of the Anglo-Saxon. The Negro, lack- 
 ing* this spirit, has no place in our ranks." 
 
 John Wysong* had heard every word of the 
 conversation up to this point, but his mind 
 could g-o no further. It was in a whirl. Over 
 and over ag-ain the words of the Master Work- 
 man rang- in his ears: " If a foe stands in our 
 way and nothing* will dislodge him but death, 
 then he must die." The clatter of the horses' 
 hoofs seemed to say this ; the revolving wheels 
 of the carriage seemed to repeat it over and 
 over, and the hum and noise of the city seemed 
 to be but a loud echo of the sentiment that had 
 fallen into Wysong-'s already disordered brain. 
 Time and ag-ain he had to be hallooed to by the 
 policemen to keep in the line mapped out for 
 the parade. His hands trembled with nervous 
 excitement, and his eyes were red and wild- 
 looking-. 
 
 At leng-th the parade was over. The Mayor 
 sug-g-ested that the Master Workman g-o to the 
 City Hall and enter the tower, rising- two hun- 
 dred feet in the air, so that he could have a 
 view of the entire city. John Wysong- heard 
 the suggestion and it made him tremble all the 
 more violently, his heart thumping- loudly the 
 while. *' If a foe stands in our way and nothing- 
 will dislodg-e him but death, then he must die," 
 kept ring-ing* in his ears. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 103 
 
 The Reception Committee, in a carriage fol- 
 lowing- that of the Master Workman, went with 
 him to the City Hall. They entered that mag- 
 nificent building and went from floor to floor, 
 John Wysong following them, unnoticed. They 
 entered the tower and ascended to the small, 
 dark room at the very top, having a large 
 window with a low window sill, through which 
 window a person looking out could command a 
 view of the city. The news spread that the Mas- 
 ter Workman was going to the tower, and crowds 
 of holiday loungers gathered about to cheer 
 him when he appeared at the tower window. 
 Others gathered to find out the meaning of this 
 crowd, so the throng swelled and swelled. The 
 Master Workman and his group are now in 
 the small tower room. All the members of the 
 group stand back to allow him to look out of the 
 large, open window. When the crowd below 
 sees his stalwart form appear at this window, 
 it raises cheer after cheer. The remainder of 
 the group rush to the window to look out over 
 the Master Workman's shoulders to see the 
 meaning of the noise and the crowd. 
 
 John Wysong, who had stood just outside of 
 the door of the tower, saw the rush to the win- 
 dow, and, the soil being prepared, the seed of 
 murder dropped into his heart. His breath 
 came hot and fast. He stepped 'with the 
 
104 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 stealthiness of a cat toward the group sur- 
 rounding- the Master Workman. They were 
 all intent upon the cheering 1 crowd beneath, 
 and did not notice him. He pressed for room, 
 but those he touched, having 1 their heads out of 
 the window, supposed it to be a fellow commit- 
 teeman, and did not look round. John stooped 
 down and as quick as a flash seized hold of the 
 Master Workman's ankles, and g-ave him a 
 quick, powerful, upward jerk that threw him 
 forward, out of the window. As he went toss- 
 ing- out, a committeeman seized his coat and 
 held him thus for an instant. But it was only 
 for an instant. The committeman pressed his 
 side ag-ainst the window facing- and held to the 
 coat ; but it began to rip, aided by the violent, 
 but fruitless clutching- of the Master Work- 
 man. Slowly but surely the coat was ripping-. 
 Two hundred feet below, the people were 
 paralyzed with horror. They saw the form of 
 the man whom they were so wildly cheering- 
 a moment before suspended in mid-air, sus- 
 tained by a ripping- coat. A thousand hearts 
 stood still ; a thousand voices were mute ; a 
 thousand chills of terror crept over men's 
 shuddering- frames. The coat gave way and 
 the Master Workman started down on his aw- 
 ful journey. The people turned their heads 
 away from the sickening- sig-ht to follow. Fifty 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 105 
 
 feet from the top of the tower the body struck a 
 protuberance, bounded outward, and fell plump 
 upon the iron palings two hundred feet below, 
 and they ran their narrow shaped heads through 
 his body as unconcernedly as though they were 
 stationed there from all eternity to receive him. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE: VISIT OF A POLICEMAN. 
 
 The friends of the Master Workman will 
 take his body and bury it with all the pomp 
 and honor due his exalted station. Requiescat. 
 But we g-o in quest of the young* man with 
 the awful stain of murder upon his soul. John 
 Wysong" was not suspected of the murder. 
 Without stopping- to even debate the matter, it 
 was decided that in the jostle of the committee- 
 men to see below, the Master Workman had 
 been accidently pushed out. There are times 
 when all of the attention of an entire group is 
 focused on a g-iven point and such was the case 
 when the crime just recorded was committed. 
 The Mayor stayed to care for the terribly man- 
 gled form of the Master Workman and John 
 Wysong- drove the carriag-e to the stable, 
 put up, and went home. Early the next morn- 
 ing" he went out and g-ot a newspaper to learn 
 the accepted theory of the death. No thoug-ht 
 of murder was found in the longf thrilling 1 re- 
 cital. John now felt partially relieved. 
 
 Yet, thoug-h undiscovered and apparently safe 
 on the very scene of his crime, John was not al- 
 tog'ether easy in mind. His conscience troubled 
 
 (106) 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 107 
 
 him. He and God were the sole partners in a 
 terrible secret. The world passed him by, igno- 
 rant of his deed. But it seemed to him that 
 the terrible load could be the more easily borne 
 if only some one knew it with him. He could 
 not endure that solitary companionship with 
 God. Whenever he wondered if the crime 
 would ever be known, his mind could not run 
 out variously to this, that or the other possible 
 source of detection. No, it ran straight to God ; 
 and John would not have been surprised to hear 
 God tell the world of his crime any day. If 
 God had had a subordinate, a human being- to 
 tell it, John might have thought that God 
 would not concern himself about making it 
 known. As it was, the responsibility of telling 
 it was with God ; and John looked for it to be 
 told any day. After God did not tell it, John 
 began to think that God was waiting on him to 
 tell it. If he did not tell it he felt that his pun- 
 ishment would be twofold. But fear of his aw- 
 ful fate restrained him. 
 
 Thus, John Wysong wandered hopelessly 
 about the streets of Richmond day and night. 
 He began to grow thin and Erma soon discov- 
 ered that some sorrow was eating away his 
 heart. She did what she could to cheer him, 
 but all to no avail. Erma was still at Aunt 
 Mollie's, " taking in washing " for a living. It 
 
108 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 barely kept Her alive and caused her clothes to 
 be of somewhat inferior quality. John would 
 come to see Erma, and, sitting- in front of her, 
 seeing* her working- so hard, so poorly paid, so 
 poorly clad, would burst into tears. This 
 would unnerve Erma and set her to crying-. 
 She would g-o to John and throw her arms 
 around him and beg- him to cheer up and not to 
 break her heart. Her tears \vould serve to 
 cause John to quit yielding- to his feeling's. 
 
 One day John came to Mrs. Marston's to see 
 Erma. It was now winter and she was in the 
 kitchen washing- out a tub of clothes. She and 
 John were in there alone. Her sleeves were 
 rolled up beyond her elbows, laying- bare arms 
 that were perfectly rounded and that tapered 
 with exquisite beauty. Her long- black hair had 
 become unpinned and had fallen down over her 
 shoulders, allowing- two shapely ears to peep 
 out ; and they seemed content with just that 
 much liberty and just that much bondage to 
 anything- so beautifully black as Erma's hair. 
 Her shirt waist was unbuttoned slightly at the 
 throat, granting- a g-limpse of a neck full 
 worthy of partnership with that charming- face 
 and well shaped, well poised head. Thoug-h 
 at work she was laug-hing- and chatting- and 
 joking- with John, trying to make him lose his 
 moodiness. Suddenly, the kitchen door was 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 109 
 
 unceremoniously opened and a policeman stood 
 in the doorway. His eyes first fell on John. 
 Absolute and unqualified terror seized John 
 and he shrank into a helpless heap on his 
 chair, showing- every sign of guiltiness of a 
 crime. Erma's heart stood still. She saw 
 the look of terror in John's eye and wondered 
 what crime could be laid at his door. Woman- 
 like she vowed to be John's friend to the last, 
 though knowing not his crime. The policeman 
 saw John looking so guiltily that he could 
 scarcely refrain from taking him, though, he 
 came upon another errand. His mission was 
 with Erma. He turned his gaze reluctantly 
 from John's crouching form as though he was 
 losing 4 ' game " rightfully his, as he would put 
 it. He looked Erma full in the face, not a line, 
 not a muscle escaping his bold gaze. As Erma's 
 full beauty dawned upon him, he pulled off his 
 hat, so instinctive is man's homage to beauty. 
 At length, having finished his survey of Erma, 
 he handed her a warrant summoning her to ap- 
 pear in court on the morrow in a case of for- 
 gery, (the State vs. James B. Lawson) as a 
 witness for the defendant, the said James B. 
 Lawson. If her dead mother had stood before 
 her she could not have been more astounded. 
 
 The policeman having fulfilled his errand 
 turned to go. He paused to cast a parting look 
 
110 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 at John, whom curiosity had somewhat bol- 
 stered up, when he discovered that the police- 
 man had business with Erma. But the return- 
 ing* gaze of the policeman made him collapse 
 again, and the policeman never disliked any- 
 thing* in all his professional career so much 
 as he did the fact that he now had to leave that 
 house without John Wysong*. Ever after that 
 when he would see John on the street he would 
 eye him keenly as much as to say, ' ' You belong- 
 to me," and John would slink cowardly away. 
 But we are just now concerned about Erma. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BACKWARD, THEN FORWARD. 
 
 A clear understanding- of the events to tran- 
 spire in the courtroom on to-morrow, necessi- 
 tates the bringing- to lig-ht of some incidents 
 that occurred many years previous. 
 
 One beautiful day two Negro girls, sisters, 
 sauntered forth from home to make the rounds 
 of the dry g-oods stores. It was their custom 
 to g-o from store to store, inspecting- fine gar- 
 ments, whether they had or did not have the 
 mone}* to make purchases. Looking- at the fine 
 displays of g-oods seemed to g-ive these poor 
 girls as much satisfaction as the actual posses- 
 sion of them would have done. Upon return- 
 ing home they would delightedly discuss all 
 that they had seen. As this was about the 
 only novelty of their humdrum existence, the 
 mother, deeply engrossed in aiding her husband 
 supply the necessities of life, never interposed 
 any objection. 
 
 At this time Ex-Governor Lawson was a 
 young- man, and was employed as clerk in one 
 of the clothing stores visited by these two 
 young girls. One of the girls impressed him 
 
 (ill) 
 
112 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 as being more than ordinarily good-looking, and 
 he had some curiosity to know how much her 
 looks could be enhanced by proper attire. He 
 made both of them presents of very elegant and 
 costly costumes on the condition that they 
 should not inform their parents as to the true 
 source of the gift, and he further stipulated 
 that they should return on the morrow clad in 
 the attire given them by him. 
 
 The taste for fine dressing having been 
 whetted to abnormal proportions, the girls, 
 otherwise honest, accepted the gifts and began 
 the first deceptions of their lives. The beauti- 
 ful girl looked like a veritable queen when she 
 appeared the next day. Little by little they 
 were led on and on, until Lawson and the girl 
 that interested him were meeting clandestinely, 
 through the co-operation of her sister. It was 
 not long before public disgrace overtook the 
 erring girl through the birth of a child. That 
 child was Erma Wysong. 
 
 Dotly Smith was the sister that abetted 
 Erma's mother in her sinful course. The dis- 
 grace was too severe a blow for the mother of 
 the two girls, and she soon died of grief. The 
 enraged father drove them away from his 
 house. Cast off, they appealed to the partner 
 in their guilt for help. He spurned them from 
 him, and threatened to have them imprisoned 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 113 
 
 if they besought aid of him again. This action 
 was the occasion of Dolly Smith's vow to con- 
 secrate her whole life to the wreaking of venge- 
 ance on the wrecker of their happiness. 
 
 The clerk rose rapidly in the scale of life, 
 soon was a merchant himself, and later was 
 triumphantly elected Governor of Virginia, and 
 more recently was appointed minister to Ger- 
 many. Dolly Smith never lost sight of him 
 nor faltered in her purpose. Imagine, then, 
 her wolfish joy when his son commits his for- 
 tunes into her keeping. She feels that she can 
 wreck the father through the child. 
 
 We now pass from the father to the son. 
 While Erma was at Mrs. Turner's, young Law- 
 son became familiar with her handwriting, she 
 having aided Pranzetta Turner and himself 
 in addressing invitations on several occasions. 
 Dolly Smith knew of this, and had been faith- 
 fully laboring to imitate Erma's handwriting. 
 She was entirely successful, and could write so 
 that it would require microscopic inspection to 
 distinguish between the two. 
 
 It was a forged letter to young Lawson that 
 caused Mrs. Turner to summarily dismiss 
 Erma from her service, offering no opportunity 
 for an understanding. The imitation was so 
 perfect that both Mrs. Turner and Pranzetta 
 regarded the matter as beyond question. 
 
 8 
 
114 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Now that Erma was lost to Lawson's view, 
 Dolly began to correspond with him, using* 
 Erma's name and handwriting". These letters 
 represented Erma as making advances toward 
 Ivawson, professing* love for him and express- 
 ing* a desire for lifetime companionship. These 
 letters rendered Lawson wild with joy. He 
 felt that the greatest blessing* that the world 
 had in store for him, Erma's love, was at last 
 attained. 
 
 Dolly made Erma to say in these forg-ed let- 
 ters that she desired that he settle upon her a 
 sum of money sufficient to care for her for life in 
 the event that he should die or his affections 
 should wane. Young- Lawson assured her that 
 his love was immortal, and that she did not need 
 insurance ag-ainst the possible loss of that. 
 Yet he deemed it but an act of justice to make 
 ample provisions for her, so that she would 
 never be in want under any circumstances that 
 mig-ht arise. 
 
 Young- Lawsori at this time had only five 
 thousand dollars in his own rig-lit, thoug-h the 
 prospective heir to a great fortune. He desired 
 to settle ten thousand dollars on Erma. He pre- 
 pared a note, forg-ed the endorsement of a well- 
 known firm, had the note discounted, hoping- to 
 save enoug-h from his liberal quarterly allow- 
 ances to redeem the note at maturity. The 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 115 
 
 money was paid over to parties named, Dolly 
 Smith having" most skillfully arranged this part 
 of the programme. This done, the fictitious 
 correspondence with Erma suddenly ceased, 
 and young- Lawson was enraged at what ap- 
 peared to him to be Erma's duplicity. 
 
 Dolly Smith immediately employed a busi- 
 ness agency to institute a secret inquiry into 
 young- Lawson's financial standing-, she being- 
 confident that he would have to resort to irreg- 
 ularities of some kind to raise the sum of ten 
 thousand dollars. This inquiry soon broug-ht 
 to the notice of the firm whose signature was 
 forged, the note of young Lawson, which oth- 
 erwise would have been unmolested until the 
 time of maturity, so high and unquestioned was 
 the standing of all parties concerned in the 
 note transaction. Exposure and the arrest of 
 young Lawson followed, and we are now to at- 
 tend upon his trial. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 AS LEAST EXPECTED. 
 
 Long* before the hour set for the opening- of 
 the court, a great crowd of Richmond's most 
 distinguished people, men and women, had 
 gathered at the door of the court room. They 
 were discussing- from one to the other the al- 
 leged forgery, seeking to fathom the motive 
 thereof, and speculating 1 as to the effect it 
 would have on the family name. 
 
 The attorneys for the defense had g-iven no 
 intimation as to their proposed course, and spec- 
 ulation was rife as to what the character of the 
 defense would be ; what, if any, would be the 
 pleadings in mitigation of the offense. The 
 Commonwealth's attorney was well known to be 
 the bitter political enemy of the Ex-Governor, 
 and it was thought that he might be relied 
 on to do all in his power to see the son suffer 
 according to the requirements of the law. 
 
 The door of the court room was opened and 
 every seat quickly seized upon by the eager 
 throng, those not g-etting- seats content to find 
 standing- room. Court was duly opened and 
 the case of the State vs. James Benson Lawson, 
 
 (116) 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 117 
 
 charged with the forgery of the signature of 
 the firm, Linton & Stern, was called. 
 
 Young Lawson was stationed between his 
 mother and father, on the one side, and his law- 
 yers on the other. In response to a summons 
 from the Judge, he arose and entered the plea 
 of " Not guilty," for the purpose, as was after- 
 wards explained, of having the opportunity to 
 introduce testimony that would provoke sympa- 
 thy, though not disproving guilt. 
 
 The State proceeded to make out its case, 
 submitting the note in question, the real signa- 
 ture of the firm, the testimony of experts, and 
 such other evidence as clearly established the 
 fact of the forgery and the guilt of the defend- 
 ant. Thereupon the State rested its case. 
 
 The defense began its presentation by intro- 
 ducing witnesses to testify to the previous good 
 standing of the defendant. Nothing more in 
 the way of testimonials could be desired, than 
 the tributes paid young L/awson's virtues by 
 these witnesses. The impression created was 
 that some powerful impulsion was necessary to 
 deflect such a worthy young man from the path 
 of virtue. ** The motive, the motive, what was 
 the motive ? " was the query that was engaging 
 the thoughts of all. 
 
 The name of Erma Wysong was called as a 
 witness. A murmur of astonishment ran 
 
118 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 around the court room, "A woman in the case ! 
 A woman in the case ! " The door of the wit- 
 ness room opened and Erma Wysong stepped 
 out of it into the court room, the cynosure of 
 all eyes. Her surpassing- beauty at once stilled 
 the buzzing in the room. Her hair was combed 
 back from her brow as if to demonstrate 
 that that face needed no sort of background 
 to enhance its beauty. A plain but well-fit- 
 ting dress allowed her form to appear in its na- 
 tive beauty and symmetry. Erma's eyes were 
 opened slightly wider than usual, as if in 
 innocent fright. If she had suddenly developed 
 wing's and flown, the transition would have been 
 in keeping with the tenor of the emotions of all, 
 prevailing- for the moment, for she possessed the 
 charm of person which is ever associated with 
 the ang-elic. Erma had not been apprised as to 
 the nature of the case before the court nor as to 
 the part she was expected to play. Unaccus- 
 tomed to court duties of any character, she was 
 ill at ease on this occasion, but her apparent be- 
 wilderment lent interest to her charms. 
 
 The attorneys for the defense were hig-hly 
 gratified at the profound impression that Er- 
 ma's beauty had made. She was escorted to 
 the witness chair. The tenor of the questions 
 asked g-ave the public the first clue to the prob- 
 able course of the defense. Young- Lawson 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 119 
 
 was to be a Mark Antony in the meshes of a 
 Cleopatra. 
 
 Erma was asked to give specimens of her 
 penmanship, which she did readily. She was 
 also asked as to who wrote certain detached 
 words and sentences that were placed before 
 her. She stated that they had every appear- 
 ance of being" her handwriting*. With the way 
 thus paved, the letters which Dolly Smith had 
 written to young* Lawson in Erma's name, were 
 produced. They were masterpieces of ing*enu- 
 ity and were evidently written by a woman who 
 knew all of the inner working's of the heart of 
 man. Erma sat listening* in amazement at the 
 revelation of the adroit effort to capture young* 
 Lawson's heart, she being* designated as the 
 culpable party. 
 
 When Erma's beauty was taken into account, 
 tog-ether with the brilliancy and power of insin- 
 uation found in the correspondence, the auditors 
 were prepared to account for the downfall of 
 young* Lawson. The defense here rested its 
 case. To the surprise of all, the Common- 
 wealth's attorney signified his purpose to offer 
 testimony in rebuttal. He also sug-g-ested to the 
 attorneys for the defense, in a whispered con- 
 ference, that Mrs. Lawson, the wife of the Ex- 
 Governor, be requested to retire in view of dis- 
 closures to be made. The retirement of Mrs. 
 
120 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Lawson brought excitement to the highest 
 pitch, and sensational developments were mo- 
 mentarily expected. 
 
 Dolly Smith is called as a witness and takes 
 her seat. She casts a look of malicious tri- 
 umph in the direction of the Ex-Governor. The 
 Commonwealth's attorney questions her as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " Are you acquainted with one Erma Wy- 
 song?" * 
 
 "No, sir/' was Dolly's reply. 
 
 " Are you acquainted with the young woman 
 who has just left the witness chair ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Well, is not that Erma Wysong ? " 
 
 "No, sir. That is Erma Lawson, daughter 
 of the Hon. Mr. Lawson, Ex-Governor of Vir- 
 ginia, and Ex-Minister to Germany." 
 
 The blood forsook the face of the Ex-Gov- 
 ernor, and he looked first to Dollv and then to 
 Erma in a dazed sort of way. The eyes of the 
 auditors flashed from Erma to the Ex-Gov- 
 ernor and back again, evidently making, com- 
 parisons. The audience was of one mind in be- 
 lieving that Dolly had spoken the truth, only a 
 cursory glance being needed to see, after the 
 suggestion had been once made, that Ex-Gov- 
 ernor Lawson and Erma were father and child. 
 They were astonished that they had not made 
 the comparison on their own initiative. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 121 
 
 " Are you acquainted with the prisoner at 
 the bar ? " resumed the lawyer. 
 
 "lam." 
 
 " State the circumstances under which you 
 formed his acquaintance." 
 
 Dolly now entered into a detailed statement 
 of all her dealing's with Lawson, setting- forth 
 his purposes with regard to Erma. 
 
 " Who wrote those letters read here to-day?" 
 
 "I wrote them. Erma knew nothing* of 
 them until she heard them in this trial." 
 
 "Erma, then, has not been a party to the 
 inveiglement of this young 1 man ? " 
 
 "No, sir. On the contrary, he endeavored 
 to make a victim out of her, and he has been vic- 
 timized." 
 
 " How did young 1 Lawson happen to approach 
 you?" 
 
 " Many years ago I first acted as procuress 
 for his father, my own sister being* the victim. 
 Perhaps information as to \vhat I could do 
 came to him from his exemplary father." 
 
 The Gommonwealth here stated that the evi- 
 dence was all in, and if agreeable to the de- 
 fense, the case would be submitted to the jury 
 without argument. The defense, however, de- 
 sired to make one speech, the prosecution waiv- 
 ing- its right to make reply. The speech as pre- 
 pared by the leading counsel for the defense 
 
122 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 was not delivered. The case of his client was 
 ignored altogether, and a stirring- invective was 
 delivered against Dolly Smith. 
 
 As torrent after torrent of scathing rebuke 
 rolled forth from the lips of the speaker, Dolly 
 Smith writhed as one under the severest phys- 
 ical torture. Peeling unable to longer endure 
 the ordeal, she arose and fled toward the door. 
 As if by a common impulse, the throng of spec- 
 tators surged about her. 
 
 " Tar and feathers ! " some one suggested. 
 
 The cry was taken up, and soon all were 
 loudly clamoring for "tar and feathers ! " Tar 
 and feathers were procured and applied to Dolly, 
 who was now screaming at the top of her voice 
 and striking wildly in the air. She was soon 
 overpowered and, followed by a hooting mob of 
 men and boys, was led to the railway station, 
 where she was placed upon the first outgoing 
 train, with emphatic instructions to never 
 again show her face in Richmond. 
 
 The train went rumbling out, bearing its un- 
 popular burden. While the train was crossing 
 a high bridge a few miles from Richmond,. 
 Dolly rushed upon the platform of the car in 
 which she had been riding, huddled into one 
 corner, and, leaping into the air, descended 
 upon the unyielding rocks at the bottom of a 
 deep gorge, whereupon her soul bade her body 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 123 
 
 an eternal farewell, leaving* it as food for such 
 fowls of the air as should see fit to feed thereon. 
 
 To return to the trial, young- Lawson, after 
 conviction, was solemnly sentenced by the 
 Judg-e to a term in the State prison. The Ex- 
 Governor experienced such a shock from the 
 occurrences that his mind became unbalanced. 
 He went forth from the court room a complete 
 mental wreck, and wandered aimlessly about 
 the streets of Richmond, piteously repeating" to 
 any one who would take time to listen : '* The 
 fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the chil- 
 dren's teeth are set on edg-e." 
 
 It developed that Dolly Smith was the pur- 
 chaser of the home of Erma and John, and, 
 throug-h a provision in her will, it was now re- 
 stored unto them. The storm of life bursting* 
 over their heads experiences a lull. But be not 
 deceived thereby. The Storm King- is crafty. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AN AWFUL RESOLVE. 
 
 Erma is reinstated at Mrs. Turner's. That 
 lady's heart is now drawn to Erma with pecul- 
 iar warmth, as if in atonement for her previous 
 harsh judgment and maltreatment. Mrs. Tur- 
 ner is a firm believer in the transcendant great- 
 ness of the aristocratic blood of the South, and 
 the presence of Ex-Governor L/awson's blood in 
 Erma's veins doubly endeared Erma to her. 
 Thus it came about that Erma was treated more 
 on the order of one under Mrs. Turner's special 
 care than as a servant. Very frequently the 
 white citizens of Richmond called at Mrs. Tur- 
 ner's in order to see the beautiful Negro g-irl 
 that was said to be the daug-hter of Ex-Gov- 
 ernor Lawson. Erma was so clever in conver- 
 sation that all went away admiring- her, but as- 
 cribing- her cleverness to her white parentag-e, 
 an appropriation that is often made whenever a 
 notable performance comes from a person of 
 mixed blood. But amid all this, Erma Wysong- 
 was by no means a happy g-irl. Her brother had 
 at last confessed to her his awful crime and had 
 thus rolled that crushing- stone upon her heart. 
 In addition to her sorrow over the fact that 
 
 (124) 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 125 
 
 John, her John, was a murderer, he had left it 
 with her to tell him what steps to take. 
 
 After his confession to Erma, John's weight 
 on his own heart materially lessened. He had 
 put the matter into the hands of Erma and he 
 felt that Erma's love for him and her love for 
 God would effect such a compromise as to bring 
 him back to favor with God. While naturally 
 deeply concerned as to what Erma was to have 
 him do, yet he felt that somehow all would be 
 well, because ERMA had the matter in charge. 
 Two or three times a week he would visit her, 
 saying nothing of his crime, but hoping that 
 she was ready with her decision. Her lov- 
 Jng heart was touched with this childlike 
 trust on the part of her brother. Erma also 
 felt that the eyes of her mother were looking 
 down upon her from the skies watching every 
 step that she was taking concerning John, 
 whom her mother had commended to her care 
 with her latest breath. " Be faithful to John's 
 soul, Erma," were the last words that escaped 
 the lips of the dying mother. Then, too, 
 Erma felt that the eyes of God were upon her. 
 And yet again she remembered that she was a 
 member of organized society ; was in posses- 
 sion of the knowledge of an awful crime against 
 society and therefore owed something to society. 
 How much ? was the great question. Thus, in 
 
126 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 settling* this terrible matter she had to deal 
 with her own heart full of love for John ; had 
 to deal with John's simple, trusting soul ; with 
 the sacred memory of her mother ; with the will 
 of God ; with the demands of organized society 
 calling* loudly for her guilty brother. 
 
 Sleepless nights, weary tossings, the all- 
 night prayers, the tear-bathed pillows were tes- 
 timonials to the terrific conflict raging- within 
 Erma's bosom. At one time she had about ar- 
 gued her brother innocent to her satisfaction. 
 She reasoned thus: The Labor Union drove her 
 brother from employment at the Bilgal works, 
 debarred him from leaving- the city to find other 
 work of the kind, drove him to the seat on the 
 carriage where he overheard the Labor Union 
 argument which corrupted his soul. Then she 
 argued that the policy of the Union was noth- 
 ing more nor less than a cold-blooded attempt 
 at murder by starvation, as its principles uni- 
 versally applied would result in the starvation 
 of all Negroes. Her brother's blow, then, was 
 a blow in self-defense, a blow to strike down 
 that being that was driving him to the water's 
 edge and threatening to overwhelm him therein. 
 But these arguments were destined to be soon 
 overthrown in her mind. 
 
 Announcement was made that Booker T. 
 Washington, her former teacher at Tuskegee, 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 127 
 
 would lecture in Richmond on the " Race Prob- 
 lem." Erma went to this lecture. Mr. Wash- 
 ington delivered a strong* address showing how 
 the situation of the Negro was not altogether a 
 hopeless one, and showing the audience how the 
 Negro could, if he would, pull up with all the 
 odds against him ; how that there was no need 
 for moping and despondent brooding. This 
 Erma felt was a home thrust for John, for it 
 was just this that had made his soul ripe for 
 his crime. As Mr. Washington drew to the 
 close of his remarks, his voice began to change 
 from the earnest to the passionate. In tones 
 full of the passionate fire of the orator, coupled 
 with the pathos welling up out of a grieved 
 soul, he said by way of peroration, 
 
 " After all, after all, it may be that the Ne- 
 gro has chosen the best weapon for the attain- 
 ment of his rights and privileges. The Nihil- 
 ist of Russia appeals to his bomb of dynamite; 
 the American Indian to his tomahawk ; but the 
 American Negro has dropped upon his knees in 
 his one room cabin and has sent up a prayer to 
 God. After all, may it not be that his anguish 
 torn face and sorrow-laden prayer of faith are 
 better weapons than the bomb of the Russian 
 Nihilist and the tomahawk of the Indian? " 
 
 This one remark determined Erma. As she 
 now saw it, John's error was in adopting the 
 
128 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 motto of that Anglo-Saxon Master Workman, 
 ** If a foe stands in our way and nothing will 
 dislodge him but death, then he must die.'' 
 Then the thought flashed over her mind that the 
 Anglo-Saxon race, whose every advancing foot- 
 step had been planted in a pool of blood, was 
 about to impart its mercilessness to the Negro, 
 a being of another mould. And John was the 
 first victim over whom the bloody shadow had 
 cast itself. She was determined to return John 
 into the ways of his fathers. He was to re- 
 nounce the pathway of blood and have recourse 
 to God. Erma determined to have John Wysong 
 confess his crime and take his chances before a 
 court of justice, trusting to God to befriend her 
 and him. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A POLITICAL TRICK. 
 
 " Hello, Christian, old boy. I am truly glad 
 to see you back." 
 
 4 ' Thank you, friend Stewart, thank you. I 
 confess that I am much more than glad to be 
 back. I would not have missed being 1 here this 
 year for anything 1 . Why, we are to have a 
 Railroad Bill before us and the question of 
 electing a United States Senator, and nobody 
 wants to miss good things like those." 
 
 " You are right. But from the way the pa- 
 pers read, you were having a hot time of it, 
 and we all gave you up as a gone chap, once. 
 How on earth did you pull through? " 
 
 Horace Christian's face took on a serious ex- 
 pression, and he looked around and around anx- 
 iously, and said, "Come with me over to my 
 room, Stewart, and I will tell you the whole 
 story. The thing isn't altogether to my credit, 
 but I can trust a chap like you." 
 
 Such was a conversation that took place in 
 front of the State Capitol at Richmond at 
 the close of the first day's session of the Legis- 
 lature. The sun was just down and flashing a 
 
 9 (129) 
 
130 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 defiant look backward on coming* night. The 
 speakers were two members of the House of 
 Delegates. The time is but a short period sub- 
 sequent to John Wysong's confession to Erma. 
 
 Horace Christian was slightly below the 
 medium in stature, had dark eyes and facial 
 features of the most commonplace type. There 
 was no marked peculiarity about him, nothing 
 that would so impress you that you could 
 point him out again if you saw him in a 
 crowd. The two locked arms and went walk- 
 ing out of the Capitol yard, and over to Chris- 
 tian's room in Ford's Hotel. Once there, they 
 locked the door to his room and took seats at a 
 table in the center of the room. Christian of- 
 fered Stewart a cigar, and taking one himself, 
 lighted it, and leaning back in his chair, threw 
 one leg over the table. Sitting thus, his hat 
 on his head, he began his story, the gloom of 
 evening fast creeping on. 
 
 4 'Well, Stewart, my election came about in 
 this way. You know my district is a very 
 close one, and a fellow's election is determined 
 by a very few votes. On previous occasions I 
 had paid out a little money and bought up the 
 Negro vote to such an extent as to secure my 
 election. But this time the Republicans put 
 up as their candidate an ex-general in the Con- 
 federate Army. An Ex-Confederate who con- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 131 
 
 fesses to the error of his ways and joins the 
 Republicans can always rely on the Negroes 
 killing- the fatted calf for him. So my oppo- 
 nent was just sweeping thing's before him. I 
 began to look upon my candidacy as a forlorn 
 hope, until an idea, which I regarded as a bril- 
 liant one, flashed into my mind. 
 
 "You know, Stewart, the Negro's weak 
 point is gratitude to the white man. That 
 point in the Negro race is over developed. I 
 have noticed that a merchant can keep a Ne- 
 gro's trade forever by merely speaking- to him 
 kindly. The Negro seems to feel that he owes 
 the white man his trade for that friendly 
 greeting-, and he will not quit trading with him 
 to trade with a member of his own race. A 
 smile from a white man will go farther toward 
 getting a Negro's trade than a day's pleasant 
 conversation from another Negro, the Negro 
 feels so grateful for the condescension of the 
 white man. If a white man cuts off a Negro's 
 leg, expresses sorrow for it, and gives him a 
 cork one, accompanied with a kindly pat on his 
 shoulder, that Negro feels under a debt of 
 gratitude to that white man all his days. I 
 reasoned, then, that my only salvation lay in 
 doing something to get the gratitude of the 
 Negro. Just now all the gratitude of the Ne- 
 groes is lavished upon Southern whites who 
 
132 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 denounce lynching". I decided to get an anti- 
 lynching record. But I could not get that rec- 
 ord without a lynching. If I was to get to the 
 Legislature and have a finger in the pie, I must 
 have a lynching. The question had reduced 
 itself to this simple proposition ; no lynching, 
 no seat in the Legislature, or a lynching and a 
 seat in the Legislature. I argued with myself 
 that it would not matter so much with the uni- 
 verse if one more innocent Negro were lynched. 
 Just one more name to the long list of innocents 
 slain would not be such a great addition. Be- 
 sides, I argued, if the lynching spirit goes on, 
 some innocent Negro will soon be lynched and 
 nothing gained, but in my case there is some- 
 thing to gain a seat in the Assembly at a 
 most opportune time. 
 
 "Having toned my conscience dow^n, I began 
 to concoct my scheme. Of course, that was 
 the easiest part of the job. You know that in 
 the chivalrous South whenever a white woman 
 throws out a hint against a Negro, he might 
 as well make his will. I decided to take ad- 
 vantage of this chivalrous feeling and make it 
 serve my purposes. A false charge was 
 trumped up against a Negro, and he was soon 
 in the hands of a mob. According to prear- 
 ranged plans, the Negro was being led forth to 
 the place where he was to be hanged, when I 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 133 
 
 came upon the scene and besought the mob to 
 halt. This they did, and listened to remarks 
 from me, denunciatory of their proposed ac- 
 tions. Only the leaders knew of my true rela- 
 tion to the whole affair. 
 
 " The fury of the mob had been aroused to 
 such a pitch that nothing" could induce them to 
 desist. That Negro did look at me so appeal- 
 ingly, evidently regarding me as his only possi- 
 ble hope. Finally the crowd became impatient 
 at listening to my harangue. They started 
 off with the Negro. I then drew my pistol as 
 if about to kill and be killed for his sake. I 
 was overpowered in short order ; but that one 
 deed, the drawing of that pistol, has made me 
 solid forever. The poor Negro was taken near 
 the scene of the alleged crime and was hanged 
 and riddled with bullets. 
 
 4 'That night I could not sleep. About twelve 
 o'clock I got out of the bed and dressed. The 
 moon was gleaming down upon the earth. 
 Something drew me irresistibly to the scene of 
 the lynching. The. murdered Negro was yet 
 hanging there, and by the light of the moon 
 struggling through the treetops and falling in 
 spangles over his form, I saw a horrible sight. 
 The face was ploughed up with bullets, his 
 eyes were bulging out, his stomach was ripped 
 open and his entrails were visible. On his 
 
134 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 breast there was a placard, and an inward 
 voice seemed to say to me, ' Read ! ' With 
 my hair rising on my head and the strangest 
 feeling I ever had in my life stealing over me, 
 I crept up to the body. I could not see dis- 
 tinctly, so I struck a match and read these 
 words : ' Whatsoever a man soweth, that 
 shall he also reap.' I looked up at the bulging 
 eyes, and they seemed to be trying to speak 
 to me and say, 'Thou art the man.' My 
 strength failed me, and I fell forward, and, 
 clutching at anything to keep from striking 
 the ground, caught hold of the dead Negro. 
 My weight, added to his, broke the rope, and 
 we fell down together, my head getting caught 
 under his mangled form. 
 
 " But, Stewart, the story is too uncanny. I 
 can't go on with it ! " His voice now grew loud 
 and wild. " I would like to tell you about my 
 dream. Oh ! it was awful. But I can't tell it to 
 you ! That queer feeling is stealing over me. 
 My hair is rising now. Don't you hear my teeth 
 chattering ! Light the lamp ! Light the lamp, 
 Stewart!" Christian was now standing up, 
 grasping the table in terror, and shaking like 
 an aspen leaf. 
 
 Suddenly a rap was heard at the door. 
 Christian cried out with the terror of a child, 
 "Oh, don't open that door, Stewart, don't! 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 135 
 
 That nigger will come in ! " Stewart lighted 
 the lamp, and this had the effect of restoring 
 Christian to his normal condition. Christian 
 now went to the door and opened it himself. 
 
 "Why, Speaker Lanier! Come in, Mr. 
 Speaker, come in ; your call does me a signal 
 honor," he said. Mr. Lanier was a large, tall 
 man, of grave aspect, and of a commanding ap- 
 pearance. "Reseated, Mr. Lanier, be seated." 
 Speaker Lanier sat down and let his eyes rove 
 around the room. He caught sight of the grave 
 look on Stewart's face, and inquired the cause. 
 
 " Oh, nothing, Mr. Speaker. A nigger stood 
 in the way of my coming to the Legislature, so 
 I just killed him. I have been telling Stewart 
 about it," said Christian. 
 
 "In cold blood?" asked Lanier. 
 
 " Oh, it's a small matter about the sort of 
 blood," laughed Christian. "Killing a nigger 
 does not amount to anything. A man isn't pop- 
 ular these days unless he kills a nigger. I have 
 got mine." Lanier looked at Christian con- 
 temptuously. The subject was so disgusting 
 that he hastened to discard it at once. 
 
 ''Say, boys," said Lanier. "I have just 
 come from the house of Ex-Mayor Turner's 
 wife, and she has sent me to you all on the 
 queerest mission possible. It comes about in 
 this way. 
 
136 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 "You know she has staying" with her, a Ne- 
 gro girl, Erma Wysong, who is currently be- 
 lieved to be the daughter of Ex-Governor Law- 
 son. This girl has so favorably impressed 
 Mrs. Turner and has so elevated the opinion of 
 the people as to the capabilities of Negroes, 
 that Mrs. Turner has decided to use a number 
 of Negro girls to kill off inimical legislation 
 relative to the Negro race, which legislation 
 threatens them at this session. You know a 
 determined effort will be made to pass a sepa- 
 rate coach bill ; and also a law so dividing the 
 school funds that Negro children shall get only 
 that proportion of school money that conies 
 from taxes paid on Negro property. Of course 
 that means death to the Negro schools. Well, 
 Mrs. Turner wishes to defeat these bills and 
 desires to have the credit of the performance. 
 Here is her idea. She holds that the social tie 
 has been the assuager of all racial antagonisms 
 in history and that what makes the Negro Race 
 Problem so hard of solution is that the social 
 factor is missing and ever shall be. 
 
 ** She has decided to employ this idea of the 
 power of social influence in dealing with the 
 pending legislation. She wishes to hold at her 
 house a number of fetes at which no one shall 
 be present but about twenty young Negro wo- 
 men of the very purest and highest type in their 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 137 
 
 race, tog-ether with an equal number of the 
 leaders in the Legislature. She wishes to bring- 
 you all together in this secret way for a pur- 
 pose which she regards as lofty, even to the 
 sublime. 
 
 "Of course, as Speaker, I am not supposed 
 to influence legislation too strongly in a parti- 
 san way, so I shall not be asked to the fetes. 
 But you fellows can go to talk with and listen 
 to the g-irls. One thing, coming in contact 
 with the better element of the race, you can 
 form a more correct opinion of it. What say 
 you, boys ? " 
 
 ** Oh, I am in for it, Hon. Mr. Speaker, I am 
 in for it. I need something to divert my mind 
 this session. What do you say, Stewart? " re- 
 marked Christian. 
 
 ' Well, after your weird tale, I need a diver- 
 sion, too. So put me down as all rig-ht. When 
 the music starts, I will be there to dance." 
 
 " One thing, boys, I was asked to say to you, 
 by all means. You are asked to pledge your 
 most sacred honor to me on two things : first, 
 you are not to breathe the matter to your 
 warmest friends ; second, as the honor of Mrs. 
 Turner's house is at stake, you are implored by 
 her to pledge me upon your honor to treat the 
 g-irls as ladies. They come from the best 
 homes, and a misfortune would be a most dam- 
 aging- and blighting affair. Do you promise ? " 
 
138 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 "Oh, yes; we promise you faithfully," said 
 Christian, winking- slyly at Stewart. 
 
 "Well, that is all settled, then," said La- 
 nier. " By the way/' he continued, " you will 
 find that Erma Wysong- a g-em. She is as 
 beautiful as a mermaid and as g-ifted as any 
 girl I ever met. She made a strange request 
 of me just as I was leaving*. She caught hold 
 of my hand and said, excitedly, with a plead- 
 ing- look in her eyes, ' Mr. Lanier, they tell 
 me that you are a great man, a man of wide 
 influence. Will you promise an orphan girl, 
 sorely troubled at heart, that you will use your 
 powerful influence in her behalf if ever she 
 stands in need of it and if such action will not 
 violate }^our sense of rig-ht ? ' A man with a 
 heart of stone could not have resisted such 
 pleading's as that from such a source. I g-ave 
 my most solemn word, and when the time comes, 
 be it soon or late, I shall redeem it. Well, 
 boys, I must hurry away. I have an appoint- 
 ment with the Lieutenant Governor as to some 
 matters to come up in the Senate to-morrow. 
 Remember your pledges. Good night." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PAVING THE: WAY. 
 
 Because Erma Wysongf had found favor in 
 the eyes of the rich white people of Richmond, 
 the colored g-irls were now ready to receive her 
 back with open arms, though in their hearts 
 opposed to her. True, they grumbled about 
 white folks honoring 1 a servant girl and felt 
 that they, the "anti- workers," the brain force, 
 should have been recog'nized as representatives 
 of the highest type of Neg*ro womanhood. But 
 grumble as much as they migfht, they bowed to 
 the decree of the whites exalting* Erma. So, 
 when Erma came to them with Mrs. Turner's 
 proposal concerning* social fetes with the legis- 
 lators, they received her kindly. The clandes- 
 tine meeting 1 with the legislators, though for a 
 most worthy cause, looked decidely shady to 
 these girls, but when they remembered that the 
 widow of the Ex-Mayor sugg-ested it and would 
 be in it throug-hout, they threw qualms of con- 
 science to the winds and decided to embark 
 upon the enterprise. 
 
 The affair was not at all to Erma's liking-, 
 but four thing's influenced her. First, she had 
 
 (139) 
 
140 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 the most implicit confidence in Mrs. Turner, and 
 from experience had learned that her motives 
 were always pure and exalted and her judgment 
 usually sound. Second, she was profoundly 
 concerned about the education of the Negro 
 children and felt that that was a matter that 
 had the right to command any sacrifice not in- 
 volving" the loss of character. Third, she was 
 anxious for the moulders of public sentiment to 
 meet, if not but for the once, the purity and in- 
 telligence of the race, the character of a people 
 being- so largely judged by their women. 
 Fourth, the overshadowing thought that swept 
 away the last vestige of resistance was ICrma's 
 hope that she could use these fetes as a place 
 where she could extend her influence over men 
 of high standing and great influence who could 
 be of service to her and to John when he was to 
 walk at her bidding within the shadow of the 
 gallows. So the affair was launched upon a 
 grand scale, though conducted with the great- 
 est secrecy. The young legislators responded 
 with alacrity to each of the numerous calls that 
 Mrs. Turner made. The girls would attend 
 the Legislature each day, listen to the various 
 speeches, and at the fetes discuss them intelli- 
 gently with the young men. 
 
 Mrs. Turner was delighted with her scheme, 
 and noticed how respectful, deferential and 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 141 
 
 truly gallant were the young" men. No per- 
 sonal appeals were' made to any of them to 
 change their votes, but these fetes afforded the 
 Negro girls the opportunity of putting- the 
 questions from the view point of their race. 
 This could not be done on the floor of the Leg- 
 islature as the Negroes had no representation 
 there. Erma with her quiet, sweet, genial, 
 charming' face moved about among 1 them win- 
 ning the deepest regard of all. Margaret Mars- 
 ton, a girl whom you have met before in our 
 stor}^, was one of the twenty, and distinguished 
 herself by her costly attire. Her costumes 
 were incomparably finer than those worn by 
 any of the other girls. 
 
 At length the day for voting on the two meas- 
 ures came. All Richmond and the State at 
 large were aroused over the question of divid- 
 ing the school fund and the providing of sepa- 
 rate coaches for colored people. The debate 
 waxed warm and furious. Excitement ran high 
 as man after man arose and spoke in ringing 
 tones in denunciation of the measures. When 
 the measures in their turn were submitted to a 
 vote they were defeated by safe majorities. 
 Loud and long was the applause, (especially 
 so in one corner of the ladies' gallery) when the 
 result of the vote was announced. It was con- 
 ceded by all that the speech of the day was de- 
 
142 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 livered by the Hon. Horace Christian. He 
 spoke with so much eloquence and power and so 
 far excelled his every previous effort, that friend 
 and foe united in giving* him unstinted praise. 
 Mrs. Turner gave a fete of extraordinary bril- 
 liancy in commemoration of the fact that her 
 end had been achieved, for she was indeed 
 happy. That was a happy occasion that night. 
 The very atmosphere seemed charged with joy. 
 
 There are spots on the sun. 
 
 In one corner of the room on a divan sat Mar- 
 garet Marston and Horace Christian. Marga- 
 ret's womanly form was wearing its most 
 lovely drapery on this occasion. Her rounded 
 forehead and black curly hair were befitting 
 capstones of this splendid specimen of physi- 
 cal beauty. Margaret's large, lustrous, eyes 
 are now cast down upon her fan, with which 
 she is toying nervously. She is speaking in 
 a somewhat low tone to Mr. Christian. She 
 half murmurs, "Yes, Mr. Christian I have 
 been trying ever so hard to get near you all 
 the evening. I must, Oh I must congratulate 
 you on that speech. It was most masterly." 
 Her manner and her tones, not her words, 
 awakened sinister thoughts in Mr. Christian. 
 He looked down at Margaret, intently, search- 
 ingly. Her eves would not meet his. She con- 
 tinued, " Oh, it was just grand ! I could have- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 143 
 
 could have-just-just kissed you. There, now, 
 it is out." So saying- she arose and casting- a 
 timid look in his direction went to another part 
 of the room and avoided his g*aze the rest 
 of the evening. The party broke up joyously, 
 and happy people went home to peaceful slum- 
 bers. But the serpent had crept into the Gar- 
 den of Eden. These fetes went on during- the 
 entire session, Mrs. Turner fearing- that an 
 attempt mig-ht be made to resurrect the bills 
 and pass them. It was afterwards remembered 
 that on two or three occasions all of the young- 
 women were present but Margaret and that 
 on these same occasions Horace Christian was 
 likewise away. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 JOHN WYSONG CONFESSES. 
 
 The session of the Legislature came to a 
 close, leaving 1 the separate coach law and the 
 bill for dividing- the school funds buried under 
 adverse votes. During- the session Erma had 
 won the esteem and friendship of persons hig-h 
 up in business, social and political life, and she 
 felt that she could rely upon them to do all 
 within their power to give John Wysong- a fair 
 and impartial trial, and felt that they would 
 co-operate with her to secure for him the very 
 lightest sentence possible. 
 
 Erma had John to come to her room. She 
 told him of the long- list of her influential friends, 
 and showed him how each one could be of serv- 
 ice to them in the time of need. She then told 
 him that as he had violated the laws of org-an- 
 ized society, which laws the Bible commanded 
 him to obey, he ought to suffer for his crime. 
 She told him that by g*oing- to the authorities 
 and surrendering- he would commend himself 
 to their sympathy. She felt, too, that the 
 Master Workman's treatment of John, if 
 brought out in court, would serve to mitig-ate 
 
 (144) 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 145 
 
 the heinousness of the offense in the e} T es of the 
 jury. Thus John, willing* to suffer many years' 
 imprisonment for a crime which his soul had 
 so long- since repudiated, hopeful of a merciful 
 sentence, having- faith in Erma and her friends, 
 trusting- in God, went down to the police sta- 
 tion and electrified the nation with the full con- 
 fession of his crime. He was placed under ar- 
 rest and remanded to jail for trial. 
 
 At first the tone of the daily press was some- 
 what sympathetic ; and thereupon the various 
 Labor Unions became enraged. The printers 
 belonging- to the Unions and working- for 
 these newspapers refused to set up articles cal- 
 culated to create sentiment in John Wysong-'s 
 favor. They even threatened to strike and 
 boycott the papers showing- friendliness to the 
 Negro that had murdered their Master Work- 
 man. The newspapers, finding- the current of 
 public sentiment too strong- to breast, turned, 
 and their columns began to be filled with inflam- 
 matory articles. Even the vicious element of 
 the city was aroused and Erma's group of 
 personal friends became powerless. Mr. La- 
 mer, the Speaker, worked like a Trojan in a 
 quiet way, but his efforts were of no avail. 
 The case drifted into a race question and not one 
 of justice and mercy, a happening- that so often 
 occurs where two distinct races live tog-ether. 
 10 
 
146 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 At length the day for the trial of John Wy- 
 song came. He was duly arraigned, tried and 
 convicted of murder in the first degree, the 
 jury (nine of them being Union men and all 
 being white) not leaving its seat. The pen- 
 alty was assessed at death on the gallows 
 and sentence was duh 7 passed that John Wy- 
 song, thirty days from that date, be hanged by 
 the neck until dead. 
 
 Poor Erma. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ADDED SORROWS. 
 
 Gentle reader, we could not if we would, and 
 we would not if we could, lead you through the 
 darkened chambers of Erma's soul on the days 
 succeeding- the trial and sentence of her brother. 
 The aching- of the cords of love that bound her 
 to John, the fear of the reproach of her dead 
 mother, the jubilation of the mob, the seeming" 
 abandonment of her by Providence, were too 
 much for her human frame, and she fell danger- 
 ously ill, adding- bodily to spiritual afflictions. 
 It was ang-uish to those whose duty it was to 
 sit by her bedside at her home. One day when 
 Errna was resting- a little more quietly than 
 usual, those in attendance upon her handed her 
 a sealed letter, the envelope being- one of mourn- 
 ing-. Erma looked at the letter fearfully, and 
 turned her eyes, now full of tears, up to God, 
 as if in reproach of the way he was allowing 
 the millstones to grind her to powder. Erma 
 was trembling as she tore open the letter and 
 sought first of all for the signature. The let- 
 ter was from Margaret Marston. It read thus : 
 
 (147) 
 
148 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 "MY DEAR ERMA: 
 
 "Our family physician came to see me this 
 morning", and he tells me that I am a ruined 
 girl. 1 know only too well that all he says is 
 true. So I am going to New York to do I 
 know not what. I write you this letter to beg 
 you to forgive me for a wrong which I perpe- 
 trated against you long since. You will re- 
 member that our doctor, who was here to wit- 
 ness my disgrace this morning, had you put 
 out of church because you went to work. I 
 was the one who worked up that sentiment 
 against you and caused your ejection. I, 
 the one who was above work, trying to act 
 like the white society girl, should have 
 been thrown out instead of yourself. It was 
 my idleness, my failure to earn money, my 
 attempt to keep up with the fashions set 
 by the wealthy that has wrought my ruin. 
 Horace Christian, whom we met at Mrs. 
 Turner's fete, won my love. My love of him, 
 coupled with my desire to dress, my poverty, 
 my failure to seek such work as abounded, my 
 idleness and that peculiar influence which a 
 distinguished man of a distinguished race exer- 
 cises over a poor girl too appreciative of what 
 appears to her a condescension these things 
 were forces too powerful for me to resist, and 
 so I fell. Erma, never allow Mrs. Turner to 
 bring our girls into such contact ag-ain, as a 
 young white man has nothing on earth to deter 
 him from wrecking our homes. There is no 
 penalty for his offense before the law nor in 
 society. No sort of ostracism overtakes him any- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 149 
 
 where for taking" advantage of the weaknesses 
 of Negro girls. How free the young white man 
 feels under existing social conditions to prey 
 upon our morals ! Our families are so filled 
 with contempt over our disgrace that the}* seek 
 not to avenge our fall. So, I go on my down- 
 ward journey, and Mr. Christian moves up- 
 ward to the highest places within the gift of 
 his people. Do what you can, Erma, to see 
 that a similar fate overtakes not another girl. 
 Farewell. 
 
 " MARGARET." 
 
 44 Let me up! Let me up!" cried Erma, 
 springing from the couch on which she lay. 
 
 Despite the protests and the determined resist- 
 ance of her attendants, Erma was soon dressed 
 and walking rapidly toward Mrs. Turner's. 
 Her attendants, thinking that the shock had 
 perhaps cured Erma of her troubles, which 
 were more mental than physical, contented 
 themselves with following her at a distance. 
 She entered Mrs. Turner's home, and said, 
 " Mrs. Turner, I trusted your word that 
 you were introducing us to gentlemen. Now 
 behold the work of Horace Christian." She 
 thereupon handed Mrs. Turner the letter, and 
 waited anxiously for her comment. 
 
 Mrs. Turner's face flushed with anger as 
 she read of the baseness of Horace Christian. 
 She said, "Erma, I cannot recall Margaret 
 
150 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Marston to a pure existence, 'tis true, but I shall 
 see to it that the same punishment is meted 
 to that scoundrel Christian that would befall 
 him if Margaret were my own daughter Pran- 
 zetta. The honor of my home is involved, and 
 be assured that we have come upon one white 
 man, the despoiler of a Negro home, that shall 
 not escape unpunished. Trust that to me. 
 Ah, Erma ! I fear that the social factor must 
 be ever missing in the solution of your race 
 problem. Wherever and whenever, in other 
 countries, race problems have arisen (and there 
 have been many such to arise), the softening 
 influences of the marriage tie and social inter- 
 mingling have acted upon the icebergs of race 
 prejudice like a southern sun. But my efforts 
 prove that this factor must ever be missing. It 
 is sad, sad, sad, but it is inevitable. The mar- 
 riage tie we do not want. All social functions 
 gravitate in that direction, we see ; the two 
 cannot be disassociated. As we do not desire 
 the one, we must not tolerate the other, I find at 
 so sad a cost." I wash my hands of the attempt. 
 God knows that my heart was true. But, Chris- 
 tian ! Christian ! Tremble, wretch, wherever 
 you are ! Stay, Erma, I wish to call up Mr. 
 Lanier." She went to the telephone and called 
 up Mr. Lanier, urging him to come to her 
 house at once. He came, and Erma retired to 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 151 
 
 another room while they talked. They were 
 thus eng-ag-ed for about three hours. Finally, 
 they called in Erma. There was a happy, re- 
 lieved look on Mrs. Turner's face, and a -grave 
 one on Lanier's. 
 
 Mr. Lanier said, "Miss Wysong", Mrs. 
 Turner has told me all. By the heart of my 
 sainted mother, and upon the honor of my vir- 
 g-in sister, I swear to you that Marg-aret Mars- 
 ton shall be aveng-ed. Ag-ain, let me say that, 
 to my mind, your brother is entitled to mercy, 
 and he shall not hang*." 
 
 Erma sprang- to Mr. Lanier's side, grasped 
 him by the arm and looked searching'ly into his 
 face, but he said no more. Bidding- the two 
 adieu, he left, haunted by Erma's beautiful 
 face, where all the sorrow of the world seemed 
 to have taken up its abode. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SPEAKER LANIER. 
 
 Lanier walked forth from Mrs. Turner's 
 house an enraged man. Horace Christian's 
 slighting reference to his (Christian's) having 
 killed a Negro came back to him now. Chris- 
 tian's utter disregard of the solemn promise 
 made to him relative to treating the Negro 
 girls as ladies intensified Lanier's contempt for 
 his moral nature. Before taking any action he 
 decided to find out all about each of these 
 crimes of Christian, the killing of the Negro 
 and the betrayal of Margaret Marston. 
 
 Christian had not gone away from Richmond 
 as yet, though the Legislature had adjourned. 
 Lanier called to see him and at first engaged 
 him in a conversation on subjects of minor 
 importance to throw him off his guard. Later 
 he found it convenient to address him as fol- 
 lows : 4i By the way, Christian, you have never 
 told me about that frolic you had with that 
 Negro. You were telling Stewart about it 
 when I called to see you at the first of the leg- 
 islative session just closed." 
 
 (152) 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 153 
 
 Christian said, "Excuse me, Mr. Lanier, but 
 the deed was too cold-blooded to be mentioned. 
 The darky had never done me a bit of harm and 
 I have never gotten over what I did." 
 
 "I suppose that that is what made you so 
 gay this session. I have heard of your little in- 
 trigue with Margaret Marston." 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha ! Have you heard of that ? I did 
 not know it was out. I suppose there will 
 soon be a young African calling me daddy. 
 Ha! Ha! Ha! " 
 
 Lanier was so disgusted with Christian that 
 he could hardly repress manifestations of his re- 
 pugnance. He found some way of excusing 
 himself and went to his own room. He locked 
 himself up in his room and walked to and fro. 
 He had two great problems on his hands. One 
 was to save John Wysong from the gallows, the 
 other was to kill Horace Christian. At length 
 a plan suggested itself to him, and he grasped 
 his hat to examine into its feasibility. He went 
 down to the jail in which John Wysong was 
 incarcerated, and being an intimate acquaint- 
 ance of the jailer, he was allowed to visit John 
 privately in his cell. In fact, the jailer owed 
 his appointment to Lanier's influence. Lanier 
 had John Wysong to stand up. He eyed him 
 closely from head to foot. He then had John to 
 turn his back to him, which Lanier examined 
 
154 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 thoroughly. He next examined his hands and 
 his feet. He reached in his vest pocket and 
 drew out a tape line with which he measured 
 John accurately and thoroughly, taking a rec- 
 ord of the measurements. Having obtained the 
 information he desired he started to leave, when 
 he caught sight of a burned place behind John's 
 ear. He stopped and looked at that closely. 
 He then said to John, " If the jailer seeks to 
 cut off your hair you must not let him. Plead 
 with him to the very last. Your life depends 
 upon it." So saying he gave another scruti- 
 nizing look at John and then left. From the 
 jail he w T ent to the tailor shop where a number 
 of the legislators always had their clothes 
 made. He took the book in which the tailor 
 kept the measurements of his regular customers 
 and on the pretence of copying his own meas- 
 urements, copied those of Christian. He now 
 took these to his room and placed them before 
 him, by the side of those of John Wysoug. He 
 was astonished at how the two ran together, 
 only differing by half and quarter inches. He 
 paid Christian a visit and while they indulged 
 in ordinary chat he noticed every feature of 
 Christian's face. John Wysong's lips were 
 larger than those of Christian, while their noses 
 were about the same size. There was just a 
 shade of difference in the color of their eyes. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 155 
 
 Christian's cheeks were not quite as full as 
 those of John. Other than this, if Christian 
 were black there would be scarcely anything* 
 to distinguish him from John, as John was a 
 Negro of the most common place type as to 
 features and Christian was a white man of 
 the same mould. Of course there was a world 
 of difference as to their hair. Lanier was now 
 convinced that shrewd management would en- 
 able him to carry out his plans. 
 
 Knowing- where the jailer's mother lived he 
 boarded a train and went to that place. La- 
 nier found a person suited to his purpose and left 
 in his possession a telegram to. the jailer in- 
 forming' him that a dying 1 mother desired to see 
 him. This telegram was dated the day before 
 John Wysong- was to be executed and was to 
 be sent on that day in time for the jailer to 
 catch the afternoon train leaving 1 for his moth- 
 er's home. By another device he so arranged 
 as to get the death watch who had had special 
 care of John out of the way. He next bought 
 a quantity of a solution which is said to be used 
 by burglars and criminals in general of the 
 white race, who at anv time desire to pass for 
 Negroes. The secret of the compound was 
 guarded so closely that Lanier experienced con- 
 siderable difficulty in getting hold of it. But he 
 secured a large quantity of it, as well as the 
 
156 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 counter solution enabling- him to cleanse himself 
 quickly and thus become white again. He now 
 goes to Christian on the day before John Wy- 
 song was to be hanged and said : 
 
 " Christian, let us have a little frolic to- 
 night ; let us get our hair cut real close, paint 
 ourselves black all over, using a solution which 
 I have. I have another solution which will 
 cleanse us immediately. Let us go among the 
 darky belles and have a good time." 
 
 " Bully, Lanier, bully. I am in for it. Since 
 Margaret left I have had the blues. I want a 
 little fun. But say, you are a sly chap. With 
 your grave looks we would not have thought 
 anything like this was in you. Yes, I am in 
 for it. What time will you be here ? " 
 
 "At about ten o'clock. Don't fail me, now," 
 replied Lanier. 
 
 ** I won't. I wish it was night now," said 
 Christian. 
 
 Lanier listened out for the news from his tele- 
 gram. It came in and the jailer went speed- 
 ing out of town, but not before Lanier had got- 
 ten a permit to see John Wysong at any time. 
 Thanks to his other device the regular death 
 watch was out of the way also. That night 
 at Christian's room Lanier and Christian trans- 
 formed themselves into "Negroes" and went 
 forth. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 157 
 
 Lanier said, " Christian, if we happen to get 
 drunk to-night and are put in the lockup you 
 must not squeal. You must play " darky " to 
 the last or our enemies will get hold of it and 
 we will be done for politically." 
 
 44 Don't be afraid of my squealing-. I'll play 
 darky all right. I won't mind getting arrested 
 and pa} 7 ing a fine, for the sake of the novelty 
 of experiencing just what a darky does go 
 through." 
 
 " All right ; now, Christian, be merry. Play 
 your part like a man." 
 
 The two go to a house of ill -fame, where 
 Christian gets beastly drunk. Lanier slips out 
 and goes to a place for which he had arranged 
 beforehand. He undresses, applies his solution 
 and is white again. He grasps a valise in 
 which he has a number of things and returns 
 to where he left Christian. He gets him by 
 the arm and leads him until he comes to the 
 jail in which John Wysong was incarcerated. 
 He aroused the substitute jailer and, showing 
 him his pass, was allowed to come in. He told 
 the jail officials that he brought along a fellow 
 who was going to do a kindly act for John's 
 sister. The two, Lanier and Christian, were 
 allowed to go into John Wy song's cell. Lanier 
 left Christian in a drunken stupor in the cell 
 and took the jailer and death watchman pro 
 
158 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 tern aside and supplied them with whiskey to 
 drink. It was drugged and they were both 
 very soon unconscious. L/anier seeing that they 
 were sound asleep returned to John Wysong's 
 cell. He took out a pair of clippers and soon 
 had all of John Wysong's hair clipped off to 
 the scalp. He got from his valise a wig made 
 of Negro hair just like John's, and carefully 
 adjusted it to Christian's head. He took out a 
 syringe and 'injected a poison in Christian's up- 
 per lip which caused it to swell slightly. He 
 looked from Christian to John to see how the 
 likeness grew. He next injected a small quan- 
 tity of the fluid into each of Christian's cheeks 
 and they came out. He was astonished himself 
 at the resemblance Christian now bore to John. 
 He had omitted to fix the lower lip which he 
 now did and stood off and surveyed his work. 
 Mr. Lanier and John together then undressed 
 Christian, putting Christian's clothes on John 
 and John's clothes on Christian. I/anier now 
 examined the wig again and saw to it that it 
 was so closely connected with the scalp that 
 only the most rigid examination would reveal 
 that it was a wig. He observed that the rep- 
 resentation of the scar behind John's neck was 
 in exactly the right place, in the adjustment of 
 the wig to Christian's head. Christian's feet 
 were somewhat smaller than John's, but shoes 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 159 
 
 were exchanged anyway, John cutting 1 Chris- 
 tian's open to get his feet into them. John 
 did all of this without question, Erma having 
 so often praised Mr. Lanier and having led 
 him to believe that he would be largely in- 
 strumental in saving him. How little did she 
 dream of the way in which it was to be done. 
 Lanier now goes back to the drunken jailer and 
 watchman, takes his seat as though he had 
 never moved and finally arouses them from their 
 slumber, joking them about being able to stand 
 only a little drinking. After awhile he sig- 
 nifies his intention of leaving. John Wysong*, 
 acting as drunken Christian had acted on 
 coming in, sat in the jail corridor waiting for 
 Lanier. The jailer, watchman and Lanier 
 walked down the corrider, glancing into Wy- 
 song's cell as they passed. The jail door was 
 opened and Lanier and John Wysong walked 
 forth, leaving Christian in the cell of the 
 doomed to die. The death watchman drowsily 
 took his seat by the side of the cell in which 
 Horace Christian was sleeping his last sleep on 
 earth. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 THE HANGING. 
 
 On the night preceding- the day set for John 
 Wysong's execution. Erma did not retire to 
 rest. She paced to - and - fro, wringing- her 
 hands in despair. She accused herself of hav- 
 ing- needlessly murdered her own brother, of 
 having- cast him into the midst of ravenous 
 beasts, destitute of conscience and of feeling. 
 She felt that Lanier had treated her shame- 
 fully to hold out to her a ray of hope, only to 
 snatch it away and make the darkness all the 
 more dark. She had not seen him nor heard 
 from him since the day he made her such a 
 faithful promise at Mrs. Turner's residence, 
 whither she had gone concerning- Margaret. 
 This broug-ht Marg-aret to her mind. She ac- 
 cused herself of being responsible for that poor 
 child's ruin, in that she had allowed herself to 
 be drawn into those social fetes in the hope of 
 saving her brother. Instead of saving him, she 
 had lost him, and destroyed that girl as well, she 
 thought. As the night wore on, her agony be- 
 came more and more intense. 
 
 Despair ! despair ! despair ! Night of the 
 soul. At the bottom of the pit of sorrow, mil- 
 
 (160) 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 161 
 
 lions and millions, deep, Erma crawled about, 
 bitten by vipers put there, eyeless, to bite all 
 the children of men whom God, for any cause, 
 sends to them. Upward from the bottom of 
 this pit Erma lifted her eyes, but the darkness 
 was so intense that even nig-ht would have been 
 swallowed up and lost therein. Yes, though in 
 her room, Erma was nevertheless in this pit. 
 
 Eventually, and without apparent cause, a 
 calm stole over Erma, her burden rolled away. 
 As to why this was the case, she could not tell 
 and did not know. All that she knew was, 
 the burden had gone, and a calm had settled 
 down upon her soul. She opened her front 
 door and let the night air sweep down and 
 kiss her fevered brow. 
 
 The moon, one-quarter full, was now half- 
 way between the zenith and the horizon. The 
 morning star was near at hand, evidently en- 
 deavoring* to outshine its queen. The moon, 
 not fearful of her throne, shone on in unpro- 
 voked beauty, and the stars were watching- the 
 contest, forgetful of the fact that the sun was 
 soon to come forth. At length the sun burst 
 upon the scene ; the unfinished battle was de- 
 ferred until the coming 1 night, as more tragic 
 scenes were to be enacted. 
 
 If you wish, gentle reader, you may stay in 
 
 Erma's company on the day of the execution, 
 11 
 
162 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 but we prefer to hasten away. Early in the 
 morning, the newspaper reporters gathered at 
 the jail in great numbers. They were allowed 
 inside, and stationed themselves where they 
 could see through the bars of John Wysong's 
 cell. At length Horace Christian awoke from 
 his drunken stupor, and gazed blankly around 
 him. At first he did not know what to make 
 of his surroundings. Glancing at his hands, 
 he noticed that they were black. Then it all 
 came to him, how that he was playing "darky" 
 on the night previous. In all likelihood he 
 had gotten into a drunken brawl, and had been 
 arrested, he thought. He decided to play 
 "darky" all the way through. He looked 
 through the bars and saw the group of report- 
 ers gathered there, but he did not know how 
 to account for their presence. Happening to 
 rub his hand over his head, it came in contact 
 with hair, and he remembered distinctly of 
 having cut his off. He now felt that Lanier had 
 put that hair on his head while he was drunk, as 
 a joke, and having escaped himself, had sent 
 the reporters down in order to play a prank of 
 some sort on him. He decided that nothing 
 should induce him to betray his identity, pre- 
 ferring to take a somewhat severe penalty first. 
 The joke of sending the reporters was not ex- 
 actly to his liking, but he was in it, and 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 163 
 
 would stick. He chuckled to himself as he 
 thought of the antics he was going to play, 
 and the witty sayings that he would throw 
 out in the police court at his trial that 
 morning. 
 
 " Have you any message to give to the world 
 through our paper ? " asked a reporter. 
 
 "Yes, tell 'em dat you saw me, but you did- 
 unt see me saw." 
 
 "Can you talk with such levity on an occa- 
 sion like this ? " asked another. 
 
 *' Boss, I don't know nuthin' 'bout yer levity. 
 But I knows erbout dese erkasions mos' much. 
 De police court air my headquarters." 
 
 Breakfast was brought in, and it was such a 
 splendid repast that Christian now knew that 
 Lanier was playing him a joke. The jailer 
 pro tern., acting in the place of the real jailer, 
 gona to his mother, brought in a new suit of 
 clothes. Knowing that ordinary prisoners 
 were not treated thus, Christian feared that 
 his identity had been disclosed, and that they 
 were treating him with such marked courtesy 
 on account of his distinction. One thing puz- 
 zled him. He could not tell where he got that 
 suit which he had just pulled off to put on the 
 new one brought by the jailer. After a while he 
 was handcuffed and marched out of the jail, the 
 reading of the death warrant having been dis- 
 
164 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 pensed with. Here he met a throng-, numbering 
 well up in the thousands. He begfan to curse 
 Lanier inwardly, thinking 1 he had put an ac- 
 count of the episode in the papers, and that, as 
 a consequence, all Richmond was out to see the 
 Hon. Horace Christian. He bit his lip and in- 
 wardly defied any man to make him acknowl- 
 edge that he was white. He would defy Lanier 
 himself. They started on their march, and 
 when they got to the corner where, turning one 
 way, they could go to the Police Court, much 
 to Christian's surprise, they turned in an op- 
 posite direction, the crowd following them. 
 
 Christian said, " Say, boss, you air gwine to 
 de police coat by a roundabout way." The 
 jailer looked at him contemptuously. They 
 soon came in sight of an open field, in the 
 center of which there was erected a large gal- 
 lows. People stood about it on every side as 
 far out as the eye could reach. A clearing had 
 been kept open so that the jailer and his ward 
 might go through to the gallows uninterrupted. 
 Christian now felt an uneasy sensation in his 
 bosom, that mysterious monitor that wafts to 
 our ears the notes of the death knell even be- 
 fore they are struck. Christian walked in the 
 direction of the gallows hesitatingly. 
 
 "Come along, John, come along. You must 
 die game, you know," said the jailer, urging 
 him along. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 165 
 
 "Hold on, jailer," said Christian; "what 
 does this mean ? " 
 
 " There is where you are going* to be hanged, 
 John. Cheer up. Don't be uneasy. Die 
 g-ame." 
 
 " Hanged ! hanged ! what in the name of God 
 are you going to hang me for ? Do you hang a 
 fellow for a little midnight fun? " asked Chris- 
 tian, thoroughly aroused and terrified. 
 
 "John, that is why you are going to be 
 hanged. You looked upon murder as a matter 
 of fun." 
 
 The picture of the Negro tramp whose mur- 
 der he had caused for political purposes, 
 crowded before his gaze. He shook trem- 
 blingly and began to stagger. "Say," he 
 gasped, " who told on me ? " 
 
 " Why, you told on yourself, John." 
 
 " I was a blamed fool for telling it. I must 
 have been drunk. But say," he continued, 
 " are they going to mob a white man for kill- 
 ing a nigger tramp? " 
 
 " You mean, are they going to mob a nigger 
 tramp for killing a white man." 
 
 " I am no Negro; I am a white man" ex- 
 claimed Christian. 
 
 " That's enough. Come on." They were 
 now at the foot of the gallows, and Christian 
 was the very embodiment of abject terror. He 
 
166 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 attempted to cling to the railing" on the steps 
 leading- up to the platform of the gallows. He 
 was whining piteously, saying, "I am a white 
 man, I killed a nigger ; I am a white man, I 
 killed a nigger." 
 
 His complete breakdown filled the people 
 with disgust, and they howled in derision. 
 
 " It took a cowardly wretch to commit a 
 crime like his," said a member of the throng. 
 The trembling man was hurried to the trap- 
 door, the noose was adjusted, the black cap 
 put on, the trap sprung, all as quickly as pos- 
 sible, the victim kicking, scratching, clawing, 
 the little that he could, and bellowing, "I 
 killed a nigger ! I killed a nigger ! " As his 
 body shot down, his last words were "O God, 
 
 I killed a ." The sentence was finished in 
 
 the other world. A few convulsive jerks, and 
 the murderer of an innocent fellow being and 
 the despoiler of virtue had gone to his reward. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 i/ 
 
 WORSE THAN DEATH. 
 
 The astounding- fact brought to light in our 
 foregoing chapter, the successful substitution 
 of Horace Christian, a white man, for a Negro, 
 John Wysong, would not, perhaps, have been 
 so easy of accomplishment, if its sole reli- 
 ance had been the likeness which Lanier had 
 created and the circumstances already set forth. 
 There were other factors that contributed to 
 the success of the scheme, which factors we 
 shall now mention in order that so remarkable 
 an occurrence may be the more fully under- 
 stood. 
 
 As a result of the Civil war, four million Ne- 
 groes who had not been permitted individual 
 self-management or family management, who 
 had been rigorously prevented from develop- 
 ing and using collective wisdom four mil- 
 lion illiterate Negroes of this description were 
 practically given control of State Govern- 
 ments that called for a high degree of self-mas- 
 tery on the part of the units of the governing 
 force ; that demanded ability to legislate in a 
 manner that could command the respect of the 
 
 (167) 
 
168 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 collective wisdom of an antagonistic group, rich 
 in examples of exalted statesmanship. 
 
 The outcome of the situation was a wedding* 
 between Thomas Jefferson and Charles Dar- 
 win, the truism of the household thus formed 
 being-, ** All men are created equal, but the fit- 
 test survive. " In order to dislodg-e their former 
 field hands who were sitting* in the seats 
 formerly occupied by Thomas Jefferson and 
 John C. Calhoun, the more scrupulous among- 
 the whites were allowed to take back seats, while 
 the less scrupulous resorted to violence and 
 fraud to restore the government to the hands 
 of its former rulers, a result well pleasing* to 
 all of them. 
 
 It can readily be seen that conditions were 
 propitious for the exercise of talents not any- 
 where, in normal times, considered as desirable. 
 With the hig-hest needs of a communit}^ appar- 
 ently calling- for lawlessness and knavery ; with 
 virtue stating that she would be forever de- 
 stroyed without the protection of vice under 
 such conditions, in some sections of the South, 
 the reins of government fell into the hands of 
 evil men and the taint of party politics affected 
 everything" that these men touched. 
 
 In this period of transition even the judiciary 
 was sometimes honeycombed with politics. 
 The same blig-hting- shadow cast itself over the 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 169 
 
 prison system where appointees were selected 
 with regard to their " political pull." This 
 state of affairs will account to } T OU for the lati- 
 tude allowed to the successful politician, Lanier, 
 a product of his times, in his dealing- with the 
 condemned Negro, John Wysong. 
 
 Another factor in rendering the substitution 
 so successful, was as follows : Under the sys- 
 tem of slavery, the whites, being interested in 
 the Negroes from many points of view, habitu- 
 ally scrutinized their features and were adepts 
 at distinguishing one Negro from another. 
 When freedom came, the necessity for close in- 
 spection passed away. The altered demeanor 
 of the former slave begat a species of contempt 
 in the former master. Thus, while self-in- 
 terest under slavery led the white man's eyes to 
 the Negro, contempt for what he regarded as 
 insolence led his eyes away from him after the 
 coming of freedom. The white woman who 
 coined the phrase, "All niggers look alike to 
 me," is. but an illustration of what is here set 
 forth. 
 
 Inasmuch as that the white people generally 
 were indisposed to give close scrutiny to Negro 
 countenances and were consequently deficient 
 in ability to readily distinguish them, Lanier, 
 knowing these things, felt confident of carrying 
 out his plan of substituting Horace Christian 
 for John Wysong. 
 
170 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 There was one other thing- that he had to 
 fear, but the situation contained a remedy for 
 that, he thought. He realized that Christian 
 upon finding 1 himself on the way to the gal- 
 lows, would seek to inspire in the minds of the 
 jail officials, a doubt as to his being- the proper 
 victim. But L/anier knew that the populace 
 would reg-ard it as a mere ruse to gain time and 
 would take the prisoner and hang him forth- 
 with, should the officials hesitate. 
 
 Due to the foreg-oing- circumstances, L/anier's 
 jail delivery was eminently successful. He had 
 at last redeemed his pledge to Erma and had 
 executed his vow to mete out punishment to 
 Horace Christian. But his work was not yet 
 complete. He had to make some disposition of 
 John Wysong*. His first step was to remove 
 John as far as possible from the scene of the 
 crime, and, in keeping- with this desire, he and 
 John Wysong- took a train for Florida the 
 same night of the jail delivery. 
 
 Arriving at a city in the central part of Flor- 
 ida, Lanier repaired to a hotel, carrying John 
 Wysong with him as a servant, under an as- 
 sumed name. He went to the room assigned to 
 him, accompanied by John. Lanier lighted 
 a cigar, took a seat near a table on which he 
 rested his crossed legs. This was a favorite 
 attitude with him when endeavoring to solve a 
 peculiarly knotty problem. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 171 
 
 "I have a miniature race problem on my 
 hands," was his first reflection. " What must 
 be done with John Wysong-?" With that as a 
 starting* point his thoughts ran as follows : 
 
 44 John Wysong has taken human life. There 
 was no personal ill will between him and his 
 victim. He regarded the Master Workman as 
 the embodiment of a principle that narrowed 
 his horizon ; that turned his face from the hope 
 of prosperity in the direction of starvation. His 
 attack was directed at the principle and not the 
 human being- embodying- it. This much in ex- 
 planation of his crime. His error lay in appro- 
 priating- to his own use the very principle from 
 the effects of which he believed himself to be 
 suffering-. On account of the color of his skin 
 and the attendant delimitations begotten there- 
 by, he felt that other avenues for redress were 
 closed and that he must have recourse to revo- 
 lution. 
 
 "In view of all the circumstances surround- 
 ing the murder, I feel called upon to do full jus- 
 tice to society and yet exercise clemency in the 
 case of this youth, holding in especial view the 
 fact that he regarded the act as committed in 
 self-defense." 
 
 44 John," said Lanier to the former, who was 
 sitting in a corner of the room, 44 1 have saved 
 you from the gallows, yet you must suffer in a 
 
172 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 manner commensurate with your offense. The 
 penalty which I am to affix must affect your 
 whole life. The murderous instinct is not a 
 part of your being-. It is merely an accretion 
 that has come to you because of your environ- 
 ments which you were too feeble to alter. You 
 are not fit for the rigfors of civilized life in 
 America. The pace is too swift for you. I de- 
 cree your banishment from civilization and re- 
 quire you to spend the remainder of your days 
 in Africa, a punishment not lacking- in severity 
 to one who has had a taste of civilization. To 
 Africa you shall g*o." 
 
 The look of terror that overspread John's 
 face at this announcement could not have been 
 greater had Lanier decreed that he was to be 
 burned alive at the stake within the next five 
 minutes. His ag-ony was so apparent and in- 
 tense that Lanier was touched. 
 
 He said, "John, you do not seem to like my 
 verdict." 
 
 "I shall do what you say," said John, in 
 tones of utter despair, dropping- his head upon 
 his chest/' 
 
 44 Strang-e ! strang-e ! strang-e ! I thoug-ht 
 that the one point of cheer in my verdict would 
 be love of his fatherland," mused Lanier, who 
 had now arisen and was g-azing- upon the pic- 
 ture of woe before him. " But love of the fath- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 173 
 
 erland is all gone, all gone. His love is for a 
 soil where he must run an unequal race and 
 where divers persecutions and injustices must 
 necessarily befall him," thought L/anier, as he 
 continued to gaze upon John. Aloud he said, 
 "Well, John, what would be more to vour lik- 
 ing?" 
 
 A ray of hope shot through John's darkened 
 soul, and with a face lighted up with joyous ex- 
 pectancy, he cried, "Arrange it so that I can 
 go to the penitentiary for a long, long term of 
 years. I do not wish to leave this country. I 
 must not put an ocean between me and 
 Erma." 
 
 " Ah," replied Lanier, " but you must never 
 see Erma again. She does not know of your 
 escape from the gallows nor the method thereof, 
 and because of this latter fact you and I both 
 had better beware. The dear girl is so deuced 
 conscientious." 
 
 " Just let me stay in this country ! Send me 
 to prison for as long a term of years as you 
 will." 
 
 " How can you manage that? " inquired La- 
 nier. 
 
 " Manage it ! " exclaimed John, " That's so, 
 you have never been a Negro. Why, it is the 
 easiest thing imaginable for a Negro to get into 
 the penitentiary." 
 
174 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 "Well, John, you shall have your way. 
 Change your name. Never allude to your past 
 life. When and how shall you start? " 
 
 " To-night," was John's prompt reply. 
 
 That night John was caught by a policeman 
 while in a feigned attempt at burglarizing a 
 store. He was arraigned, duly tried, convicted, 
 and sentenced to ten years in the Florida pen- 
 itentiary. He was taken to the city not far 
 away, where there was what is known as the 
 "Stockade." Here he found three hundred 
 Negro men, women, boys and girls chained to- 
 gether, with an iron ring around each neck and 
 a pick around the ankle of each. John was 
 added to the gang. They were awaiting the 
 convict " auction day." 
 
 The day came and capitalists from all over 
 the South poured into the city to bid on the lot 
 of convicts. A syndicate that operated turpen- 
 tine forests in Florida was the highest bidder 
 and the convicts were turned over to it. They, 
 were marched down to the train and crowded 
 into cattle cars and borne into the swamps of 
 the turpentine establishments. They were put 
 in charge of white bosses, who had been se- 
 lected because of their known cruelty, on the 
 hypothesis that it took such characters to keep 
 in subjection a colony of Negro convicts. 
 
 Necessarily a series of hardships followed, 
 but amid all, John was happy, for he was not in 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 175 
 
 Africa and was in the same land with Erma. 
 Notwithstanding Lanier's prohibition, he in- 
 tended seeing* his sister again, feeling assured 
 that it could not possibly result in any harm to 
 any of the parties concerned. Sustained by 
 this hope he witnessed and endured all manner 
 of hardships. He saw women of his race forced 
 to labor side by side with men hardened in 
 crime. With these same hardened criminals the 
 small boys and girls, present in the convict 
 camp for their first offenses, had to labor. The 
 Negro women were sometimes the victims of 
 outrages committed by their white bosses. Il- 
 legitimate offsprings born in prison were taken 
 possession of and doomed to perpetual slavery. 
 Men, women and children slept together like 
 a herd of cattle, as many as sixty being crowded 
 into a room eighteen feet square, with a ceiling 
 seven feet high, there being no ventilation what- 
 ever. After hard days' work the convicts had 
 to cook their own food, fat bacon and corn 
 bread, on small fires made on the ground. A 
 downpour of rain would not induce the bosses 
 to allow the convicts to quit work and seek 
 shelter. Slight offenses were punished by bru- 
 tal whippings ; and one aged Negro, in the 
 prison for stealing food for a starving family, 
 was beaten until he died ; beaten because he ex- 
 pressed an opinion as to the decency of the con- 
 
176 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 duct of one white boss toward a Negro woman, 
 his niece, in the penitentiary as accessory to his 
 crime. 
 
 Whenever showers of rain drenched the entire 
 lot of convicts they did not have changing gar- 
 ments, but had to wear and even sleep in their 
 wet clothing until they dried upon them. 
 When the few small houses were filled to their 
 utmost capacities, a tent was spread and all 
 fresh comers were assigned to sleep beneath 
 this on the bare ground. If some convict, more 
 adroit than his fellows, made his escape, the 
 bloodhounds would soon be on his trail and ere 
 long would have their fangs buried in his quiv- 
 ering flesh. 
 
 Pilth abounded on every hand, vermin covered 
 everything in the convict quarters, and sanita- 
 tion was a thing unheard of. Disease walked 
 boldly into their midst and bade Death mow down 
 with his scythe twenty out of each hundred, 
 this being the proportion of those who died.* 
 Consumption took up its abode in John's bosom 
 and began to eat away his life. John dwelt 
 amid all these sickening, these blood-curdling 
 
 % 
 
 * It would be nothing- short of a crime against human- 
 ity for an author to allow his imagination to create such 
 a picture as is here drawn, unless the portraiture was true 
 to life. In simple justice to himself, the writer cites as 
 his authority the July, 1899, issue of " The Missionary 
 Review of the World." 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 177 
 
 horrors with death gnawing at his own vitals. 
 But through it all, a smile of joy was ever upon 
 his face, hope was alive within his bosom. The 
 thought that he might one day see Erma again 
 was his sun that beat back the shades of eternal 
 night that were seeking to engulf the vital 
 spark left within him. How incomplete would 
 have been the soul of man, how powerless to 
 cope with this mysterious thing which we call 
 life, were it not that its soil is never impervious 
 to the growth of that fragrant flower, which 
 sends pleasing odors even into the nostrils of 
 the dying, Hope ! immortal Hope ! 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 FUIvL OF JOY. 
 
 Astral's school life is now over, and he is 
 homeward bound. During- all the years of his 
 separation from Erma he has stifled with great 
 effort the cry of his heart to make a bold dec- 
 laration of love to her. But now the courage 
 of desperation seizes him and he has made a 
 solemn vow to declare his passion immediately 
 upon his arrival at Richmond. The train that 
 bore him on to Richmond, Astral was ready to 
 swear before a notary public, was no faster 
 than the slimy animal known as the snail. He 
 grew to hate the brakeman who persisted in 
 calling' the name of every station save Rich- 
 mond. Having- once resolved upon making- his 
 declaration and ascertaining- his fate, any per- 
 son that would have sug-g-ested that patience 
 ever possessed a virtue would have been in 
 dang-er of incarceration in the insane asylum, if 
 Astral's ardent wish could have accomplished 
 that result. The train reaches Richmond at 
 last. As soon as properly attired, he proceeds 
 toward Erma's home, having- given her due no- 
 tice of his coming- to see her. 
 (178) 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 179 
 
 Since the day of the intended hanging* of her 
 brother John, Erma has lived continuously at 
 her own little home. Aunt Mollie Marston, 
 who has now lost her husband, dwells there 
 with her, and Erma has taken the place in her 
 heart left vacant by Margaret's dropping* out. 
 Erma has told Mrs. Marston the secret of her 
 love and informed her of Astral's intended 
 visit. The dear old soul has done her best at 
 dressing- Erma for this occasion, and has re- 
 tired to a back room to pray, while Erma sits 
 in her cosy little parlor to receive Astral. 
 For a while she indulges in a reverie, her mind 
 going- back over her past life. The thoughts 
 are too sombre, however, and she dismisses 
 them. 
 
 The twilight of a mild summer eve creeps 
 over the earth. The evening star peeps above 
 the horizon, in order to see and report as to 
 whether the sky is clear of the sun, so that the 
 timid moon may rise. Erma's parlor window, 
 commanding a view of the street on which her 
 home fronts, is thrown open, and Erma is sta- 
 tioned there ; and, with her beautiful hands, is 
 holding apart the thick-clustered vines, so that 
 she may catch a glimpse of Astral when he 
 reaches her gate. Erma is clad in black, which 
 is only relieved by a lovely white ribbon about 
 her neck, vying with her face as to beauty, 
 
180 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 but doing 1 nothing 1 more than enhancing" the 
 beauty of the face, by affording- it this oppor- 
 tunity to triumph over such a lovely foe. 
 Her hair was rolled in coils, and sat in gran- 
 deur on the rear of her head. A portion of her 
 hair, cut short, was allowed to bend forward, 
 as if threatening- to hide her pretty, rounded 
 forehead. This hair, standing- g-uard over her 
 bewitching- eyebrows, was parted on one side, 
 and added delig-htfully to the charm of Erma's 
 face. Sitting- sideways to the window, bend- 
 ing- slig-htly forward, her small foot, incased in 
 a low-quarter shoe, protruded slightly from 
 her black silk skirt. 
 
 It was thus that Erma sat awaiting- the com- 
 ing- of the man she loved so dearly, and to be 
 worthy of whom she had suffered so much and 
 toiled so hard. A slig-ht cry escaped her lips. 
 Astral is at her g-ate. He is chang-ed, and for 
 the better. His handsome face, a shade darker 
 than that of Erma, has a splendid set of side- 
 burns, something that was not the case when 
 he went away. On his upper lip there rests 
 a mustache that comports well with a set of 
 thick eyebrows. The form is tall and manly. 
 He is clad in a suit of beautiful black, and 
 a brown felt hat rests on his full, larg-e 
 head. His look is more grave than when 
 we last saw him. Astral's heart is beat- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 181 
 
 ing- a wild, tumultuous wedding- march, and 
 he cannot calm it, try as much as he may. He 
 is now about to meet Erma, and thoug-h he has 
 been planning- his little speech for the occasion 
 for years, it is now all g-one from him, and he 
 is trembling- with excitement and abusing" his 
 mind for going to pieces just at the wrong 
 time. Erma has arisen from her seat, and'is 
 walking about her room nervously, wondering 
 how Astral is going to meet her, and what she 
 is going to do and say. 
 
 How a painter would have gloried to have 
 caught sight of this bundle of beautiful confu- 
 sion ! Astral rapped on the door, and his heart 
 stood still. Erma opened it and stepped back 
 to let Astral in. He looked at Erma and his 
 heart gave a bound, as though to leave his 
 body. Erma cast at Astral a timid glance 
 which comprehended his entire frame and being 
 in a flash, and her soul was satisfied with the 
 verdict. Turning- her head away somewhat 
 bashfully, she said, "Walk in, Mr. Herndon." 
 Astral followed Erma into the parlor. Erma 
 had walked to the further side of the room, 
 and was now turned with her face toward As- 
 tral. Poor girl ! Her soul was in her eyes. 
 She knew it, but could not avoid it. She tried 
 to keep from looking at Astral, but she could 
 not do that, either. Instead of sitting down, 
 
182 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Astral started over toward Erma. With every 
 step that he took his heart grew bolder, until 
 when he came to the spot where she was, he 
 threw an arm around her waist, strained her 
 to his heaving bosom, and bent down to press 
 a kiss upon her willing- lips, and the years of 
 waiting- were over. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 OPPOSING THE WEDDING. 
 
 News of the betrothal of Astral and Erma 
 was not slow in finding" its way through the 
 city, as society is well supplied with couriers 
 that delight to inform mankind whenever two 
 individuals conclude to form a home, the unit of 
 civilisation. On a matter of such fundamental 
 importance, society reserves the right to freely 
 express its opinion. 
 
 The comment on the proposed marriage was 
 quite varied in character. As to the worthi- 
 ness of the two contracting parties all were 
 agreed, but from that point onward there was 
 much divergence of opinion. Astral's complex- 
 ion was not as light as that of Erma, so some 
 were of the opinion that she was making a 
 slight mistake on that score. 
 
 Astral was criticised by some on the score 
 that he had chosen a wife of mixed blood when 
 there were so many girls in the city of pure 
 Negro extraction. Others insisted that he had 
 acted wisely, on the theory that each succeeding 
 generation should be as far removed as possible 
 from the original color which had so many ills 
 
 (183) 
 
184 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 chargeable to it. Still another group was 
 found that bitterly opposed the union on the 
 ground that -class distinctions were highly es- 
 sential to the welfare of the race, which distinc- 
 tions Astral's course was calculated to oblit- 
 erate, in that he, who was to earn his livelihood 
 by mental exertion, was to marry a girl who 
 had deserted that pathway and resorted to 
 menial labor. 
 
 Opposed to these were those who agreed 
 with Burns in his teachings, to the effect that 
 
 " Rank is but the guinea's stamp; 
 A man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 Thus the conflict of sentiment raged, eventu- 
 ating in no action, however, save in the case 
 which we are now about to record. 
 
 Ellen Sanders, true to her conception of lady- 
 ship, had declined all employment that involved 
 physical labor. Time after time she had made at- 
 tempts to be elected teacher in the city schools, 
 but some one else of the great number of ap- 
 plicants had always secured the prize. Re- 
 peated failure had somewhat dampened her 
 hope, but had not altered her determination to 
 44 cling to her ladyship to the last." Of late 
 she had been turning her attention to the sub- 
 ject of marriage as a possible solution. One by 
 one the professional men of the city had been 
 favored with her smiles, but all to no avail thus 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 185 
 
 far, though her smiles had grown to have the 
 appearance of artificiality from such faithful 
 and constant service. There was one last 
 string" to her bow, upon which she relied to 
 bring her success ; and as her case was growing 
 desperate, she had decided not to allow mere 
 formalities to stand in her way. 
 
 The hope that had survived, had Astral for 
 its basis. She had been his schoolmate, had 
 received some slight attention from him in 
 those days, and now felt that the friendship of 
 childhood could be easily transformed into love. 
 She had not known of Astral's attachment for 
 Erma and consequently apprehended no oppo- 
 sition from that source. Imagine her chagrin 
 and dismay when the news that Astral and 
 Erma were to wed reached her ears. The first 
 effect was to rob her of all inclination to act, but 
 this feeling of stupefaction was succeeded by a 
 grim determination to win at all hazards. Her 
 first move was to bring influences to bear on 
 Astral to dissuade him from the contemplated 
 step. In the city there were a number of 
 young men who could not be said to follow any 
 vocation, who were without visible means of 
 support, and yet dressed well and lived in idle- 
 ness. There was much speculation as to how 
 they were maintained, but no positive evidence 
 on hand. There was a well-defined suspicion to 
 
186 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 the effect that they received their meals through 
 the rear windows of kitchens where Negro girls 
 were in service to white people, and their 
 clothes, which were good but never new, were 
 supposed to come from the same source. As to 
 where they lodged, it would perhaps not be well 
 to state, though here and there rumors were 
 afloat to the effect that they were seen jumping 
 over back fences into alleyways in the early 
 hours of the morning. Though these social 
 Melchizedeks were involved in much mystery 
 they were greatly in evidence and ready for 
 any scheme that seemed to promise any money, 
 provided always and only that no physical ex- 
 ertion was involved. 
 
 Such a personage was E. Moses Smith, Esq., 
 and to him Ellen Sanders now resorts. He 
 readily accepts the money which Ellen brings 
 him and agrees to undertake the work of in- 
 fluencing Astral against Erma. On divers .oc- 
 casions he intrudes himself in Astral's com- 
 pany, seeking to win his friendship. 
 
 Astral is now pleased with all the world be- 
 cause he has Erma's love, and E. Moses Smith 
 Esq., very naturally fell into the mistake of 
 supposing himself deeper in his graces than he 
 really was, so cordially was Astral receiving 
 him. Eventually he concluded that he was far 
 enough advanced in Astral's favor to begin the 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 187 
 
 task assigned him. He had charge of an office 
 consisting- of two rooms, which office a white 
 lawyer, then on a tour of Europe, had commit- 
 ted to his care. To this office he invited As- 
 tral, with a view to approaching him on the 
 subject of his contemplated marriage. 
 
 Ellen Sanders being informed of the plan 
 begged to be allowed to occupy the rear room 
 so that she might overhear the conversation and 
 know how to gauge her hopes. 
 
 At the appointed hour Astral stepped in and 
 was received in a most effusive manner by the 
 young man. Ellen's eye was to the keyhole 
 and her heart gave a bound as she looked upon 
 Astral's handsome face and noble form. 
 
 "Mr. Herndon," he began after the usual 
 exchange of greetings, "you are a much dis- 
 cussed man in our town." 
 
 Astral understood the reference to be to his 
 approaching marriage and smile'd his thanks. 
 
 Ellen saw the smile and grew faint ; it be- 
 tokened so much happiness in the heart of As- 
 tral. " Ah me ! " she sighed. 
 
 The young man resumed, " Never in years 
 has a proposed marriage been so much dis- 
 cussed as this one." 
 
 "The people do me a signal honor, I am 
 sure," was Astral's reply. 
 
188 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 " Yes, but not in the way that you suppose, 
 Mr. Herndon," was his response. 
 
 " The comment is unfavorable to me, then, I 
 presume," Astral remarked. 
 
 The young 1 man felt that his time had arrived 
 so he reared back in his chair and closed his 
 eyes preparatory to the delivery of his speech 
 which Ellen had helped him to compose. 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Herndon, the comment is decid- 
 edly against you. Society confers upon all 
 men certain blessings otherwise unattainable. 
 What would any man's life be worth without 
 the blessings which societ}* confers ! In return 
 for these blessings society establishes certain 
 laws and customs which all are expected to 
 obey." 
 
 Here he slightly opened his eyes to see the 
 effect his argument was having on Astral. 
 Noting nothing decisive he closed them again. 
 
 Ellen murmured to herself, " Good ! Go 
 on!" 
 
 The young man resumed, "Some of its re- 
 quirements society enacts into laws and compels 
 obedience thereto. Others are left to the in- 
 fluence of public sentiment. Every true mem- 
 ber of a community, I hold, is in duty bound to 
 yield to every demand of enlightened public sen- 
 timent." 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 189 
 
 A scowl now appeared on Astral's face as he 
 perceived the drift of his remarks, but the lat- 
 ters' eyes being* closed, he did not see it. 
 
 The young" man continues, '* Especially is 
 this true on the question of matrimony, as from 
 the home, society draws material for its con- 
 struction. My opinion is that no man should 
 enter a marriage contract over the vigorous 
 protest of society." 
 
 Astral was now a very angry man and none 
 too safe to deal with. 
 
 Ellen saw that there was danger ahead and 
 was anxious for E. Moses Smith, Esq., to open 
 his e} r es so that he might take note of the gath- 
 ering storm and seek for shelter by a change of 
 course. She had no means of communicating" 
 her fears without discovering- her own presence, 
 so the young 1 man remained unwarned. 
 
 Continuing, he said, "You, Mr. Herndon, 
 are a very worthy man, but Erma Wysong 
 
 " Say it, you cur ! " thundered Astral rising 
 and drawing himself to his full height, wrath- 
 ful indignation depicted on every feature. 
 
 The astounded E. Moses Smith, Esq., opened 
 wide his eyes and one glance at Astral explained 
 the situation, whereupon in great terror, he fled 
 precipitately to the room in the rear, Ellen 
 having opened the door to readily receive him. 
 
190 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Having locked the door, he thought himself 
 safe, and proceeded to conclude his remarks 
 through the keyhole. 
 
 " Mr. Herndon, you are unduly angry, sir. I 
 was not going* to say anything derogatory of 
 Erma Wysong, further than that she had been 
 a service girl and as a consequence, was un- 
 worthy of so grand a man as yourself." 
 
 When Astral heard the word unworthy ap- 
 plied to Erma he proceeded to the door and 
 with one kick wres.ted it from its hinges. The 
 young man, wfo had seen him approaching, 
 had jumped behind Ellen, with a view to keep- 
 ing her between the irate Astral and himself. 
 But the frightened girl tore herself from his 
 grasp and ran through the aperture, a thick 
 veil concealing her identity. When Astral en- 
 ter-ed the room in quest of the young man he 
 found society's advocate coiled on the floor, 
 making oft repeated pleas for mercy, inter- 
 spersed with cries of fire, murder, robber, and 
 such other words as, in his frenzy, he thought 
 would bring others to the scene. Astral looked 
 down upon him in contempt and strode out of 
 the room, leaving him unharmed. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ERMA AND AN ASSASSIN. 
 
 The purpose of Ellen Sanders was by no 
 means altered by the defeat of her plans ; to 
 the contrary, she was rendered the more deter- 
 mined. She saw that there was no prospect of 
 estranging Astral from Erma; in fact, no pros- 
 pect of drawing him into a discussion of the 
 subject. She decided to address her attention 
 to Erma. Her knowledge of Erma led her to 
 the firm conclusion that it w r as needless to at- 
 tempt the use of argument in her case. Yet 
 she must be gotten out of the way, was Ellen's 
 unalterable determination. Aside from the 
 fact that she desired Astral for her husband, 
 she possessed no love for Erma, who had been 
 an object of contempt ever since the moment 
 she had entered service. 
 
 Self-interest and hatred are two powerful 
 forces when operating in the bosom of a 
 woman rankling with disappointment. Ellen 
 determined upon Erma's murder. When Ellen 
 was a very young child, her parents had as 
 a neighbor a widow whose name was Corella 
 Ross, the mother of seven children, the oldest 
 
 (191) 
 
192 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 of whom was called Sam. Mrs. Ross went 
 about doing* housework for various white fam- 
 iles and left her children at home to take care 
 of themselves as best they might. Sam, being- 
 the oldest, roamed the city at will, returning 
 in time to be on hand at night when his mother 
 arrived, contriving- by bits of candy and direful 
 threatening-s to maintain the silence of his little 
 brothers and sisters on the subject of his mean- 
 dering-s. Thus left to himself, he became a 
 youth of vicious character. But he was ever 
 fond of Ellen, and carried his affections with him 
 in undiminished force in his downward drift. 
 
 Ellen decided upon employing- Sam Ross to 
 put Erma out of her way. One dark nig-ht, 
 soon after the incidents described in our last 
 chapter, Ellen thickly veiled her face, threw a 
 large shawl about herself so as to conceal her 
 form, and thus attired, made her way to a sec- 
 tion of the town known as "Hell's Half Acre." 
 This settlement contained numerous saloons, all 
 conducted by white men and sustained by Ne- 
 groes. 
 
 Knowing of the extraordinary value that a 
 certain class of Negroes attached to social con- 
 tact with white men, some white saloon keep- 
 ers utilised this sentiment to foster their busi- 
 ness. By a pat on the shoulder, a friendly tus- 
 sle, an exchange of jokes, or some such mark of 
 
OVERSHADOWED* 193 
 
 fellowship, numbers of the more ignorant Ne- -\ 
 groes were held in bondage to these resorts. ^ 
 Sam Ross was one of these victims, and Ellen 
 is on her way to his favorite resort in the hope 
 of finding him there. When she reaches the 
 place she opens the door a little to see if Sam is 
 in there. There he was in the middle of the 
 floor, dancing what is known as the clog dance, 
 keeping time to the music of a fiddle in the 
 hands of another Negro perched upon an empty 
 whiskey barrel in the corner. Sam's dancing 
 was eliciting much applause from the motley 
 crowd of debauchees who were present in great 
 numbers. 
 
 "Sam!" called Ellen. 
 
 Sam danced around until he faced the door, 
 and nodded to the veiled face that showed itself 
 therein. 
 
 " Sam, I would like to see you," said Ellen. 
 
 Much to the delectation of the spectators, 
 Sam danced all the way to the door, performing- 
 some of his most notable feats. Reaching the 
 door, he bowed profoundly, and stepped out, 
 amid shouts of approval from his fellows, 
 
 The appearance of a woman for Sam did not 
 excite any unusual attention, such occurrences 
 in the case of others being very frequent. 
 
 "Sam," said Ellen, "come with me ; I want 
 
 you to do me a kindness." 
 13 
 
194 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 " Is that you, Ellen ! Whut on earth brung- 
 you here ? " said Sam in great astonishment. 
 
 "I have an enemy, Sam, that is seeking" to 
 do me great injury, and I need your help." 
 
 "All right, Ellen ; I'm your man. I'll kill 
 any nigger that does you harm," said Sam. 
 
 " Don't say that, Sam, unless you mean it," 
 said Ellen. 
 
 " Try me," was Sam's laconic response. 
 
 "Well, we'll see. Sam, my enemy is a 
 
 woman.' 
 
 " A woman ! I don't like the idea of killing- 
 a woman, but if you say so, I'll do it. I've 
 done many a shady thing, but I ain't come to 
 that yet." 
 
 " I thought you would back out, Sam." 
 
 "Back out! who said I'd back out? Not 
 this chap. Of course, I'll kill the gal ; but a 
 fellow has got a little conscience, and has to 
 feel bad a little bit. Who is she ? " 
 
 "Come with me. I will show you where 
 she lives, and stand there until you are through. 
 There is no one in the room with her, and you 
 are not in the slightest danger." So saying-, 
 she led the way until at length they arrived at 
 Erma's house. After assuring- themselves 
 that there was no one else near, they entered 
 the yard, and very stealthily approached the 
 window to Erma's room. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 195 
 
 Sam had had previous experience in house- 
 breaking- and soon had the blinds removed and 
 an opening- made in the window. He noise- 
 lessly clambered into Erma's room, having" his 
 long-, keen knife in his hand. The lamp was 
 dimly burning- on a stand near the head of the 
 bed. By the side of the lamp was a bouquet of 
 beautiful flowers which Astral had given Erma 
 that evening-, and which she had placed where 
 she could see them in the nig-ht if she should 
 awake. She also desired that they should be 
 the first object on which her eyes should fall 
 on awaking- the next day. 
 
 Sam drew near the bed with uplifted 
 knife. 
 
 There Erma lay in all her beauty, a lovely 
 smile upon her face, even in her sleep. Her 
 hair was lying- carelessly about her brow, and 
 caused her to present the appearance of wild 
 loveliness. 
 
 Sam halted, so beautiful was the imag-e be- 
 fore him. His arm descended to his side, and 
 he continued to gaze. He said to himself, " If 
 I kill that girl, it will have to be w T ith my eyes 
 shut." He closes his eyes and creeps closer to 
 the bedside. He lifts his hand again to strike, 
 and opens his eyes to note the spot where a 
 blow delivered would reach her heart. Again 
 Erma's beauty charms him. 
 
196 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Sam mutters to himself, " Ellen told me she 
 wanted me to kill a woman, and, dad gum it, 
 this is an angel." So saying, he turned around 
 and got back out of the window. 
 
 "Is she dead ? " asked Ellen, eagerly. 
 
 " Naw, dad gum it, she ain't dead. And 
 another thing, if ever any harm befalls that 
 girl, I'll tell about this night's work, and I'll 
 kill you besides." So saying, he walked away, 
 carrying in his mind a picture of the beautiful 
 Erma. 
 
 Ellen, thoroughly dejected and full of fear 
 as to the revelations that Sam might make, re- 
 turned to her home. 
 
 When, some weeks later, word was brought 
 to her that Erma Wysong had passed away, and 
 that it was happy Erma Herndon now ; when 
 word came that Astral Herndon had declared 
 himself in favor of building a monument to the 
 skies in honor of Cupid for having brought him 
 so g'lorious a prize when these facts were 
 brought to her ladyship, Ellen Sanders, she re- 
 membered Sam Ross and said nothing. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 NAME THE CHAPTER AFTER YOU READ IT. 
 
 Eternity has clasped a few more of her romp- 
 ing- children, the mad galloping- years, to her 
 eag-er bosom since you last gazed upon the 
 countenances of the principal actors in our little 
 drama. Winter, the frozen love of God, is upon 
 its annual visit to earth, and Astral and Erma 
 Wysong- Herndon are spending- the winter eve 
 in their cosy, modestly furnished home before 
 a grate full of live, glowing- coals, while little 
 Astral Herndon, Jr., a pretty, precocious child of 
 seven summers is astride his fond papa's knee, 
 gazing thoug-htfully out of his pretty brown 
 eyes into the fire. Erma, yet wearing- black for 
 her brother John, has grown more beautiful 
 with the years and, her rounded, matronly 
 form presents fresh beauties to Astral's eyes 
 each time he looks in her direction, which be as- 
 sured is not seldom. She is now holding a 
 book before her face and is supposed to be read- 
 ing, but in reality she is furtively watching 
 her boy, and notes, with a heaving bosom, the 
 manlike sobriety on his face. 
 
 There were strang-e experiences connected 
 
 with the birth of that child. It was on this 
 
 (197) 
 
198 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 wise : When Erma knew that God would 
 bless her with an offspring she besought As- 
 tral to allow her to leave Richmond and stay 
 until her child was born. She asked to be sep- 
 arated from him and from the world until God 
 had iutty wrought upon the human being whom 
 he was shortly to introduce into the world 
 through her. The volcanic eruptions that had, 
 from time to time, hurled forth their smoke and 
 lava upon Erma's soul, had left huge craters in 
 her heart so deep as to be unfathomable by 
 means of mortal measuring lines ; so wide that 
 human ken could not span from side to side. 
 Astral knew and felt this and learned to look 
 upon his wife as a being in an especial sense the 
 handmaid of God. So, while not understand- 
 ing the full meaning of Erma's request, he 
 stood ready to grant it. Erma, escorted by 
 her husband, hied away to the mountains of 
 West Virginia and took up her abode on Nut- 
 all's Mountain. Here Astral left her, to spend 
 those great days with the plain and simple folk 
 of the mountain fastnesses, honest and sturdy 
 and fearless. 
 
 At the foot of Nutall's Mountain, a few miles 
 distant from the crest, lies the Kanawha 
 River, whose waters quarrel as they tumble 
 over the rocks in the river bed on their way to 
 the sea. The path downward from the moun- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 199 
 
 tain crest to the river, followed alongside of 
 a deep canyon, that wound its way serpent- 
 like around the mountain side, piloting- the 
 mountain streams to their common mother, the 
 Kanawha River. As long 1 as health would per- 
 mit, Erma would rise in the morning', just be- 
 fore daybreak, and descend this long-, winding-, 
 rocky pathway to the river, delighting to look 
 through the green foliag*e of the trees rising- up 
 from the sides and bottom of the deep gorge men- 
 tioned. Sometimes she would sit upon a huge 
 boulder near at hand, and, surrounded on all 
 sides by the green foliag-e, drink in the wild, 
 untamed beauty of the mountains, and com- 
 mune with the Spirit of recklessness and fury 
 that evidentl} 7 makes the mountain his favorite 
 resort. Also, at nig-ht time Erma would steal 
 forth, and, hunting- the hig-hest mountain peak, 
 would stand and look by the light of the moon 
 from silent, sullen range to silent sullen range, 
 and marvel at their stillness. At these times 
 Erma's soul seemed to feel the magnetic sweep 
 of the queenly moon as this lovely woman of 
 the skies, gathering her robes about her, sped 
 swiftly but noiselessly along. The ears of her 
 soul caught the far-off patter of the footfalls of 
 the tiny stars as they journeyed silently on to 
 God. The purpose of these protracted com- 
 munings with the sublime side of nature, Erma 
 
200 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 never disclosed to mortal, and as soon as Astral 
 Herndon, Jr., was born and she was able to 
 travel, she yielded herself to the yearning- arms 
 of her husband, who was now present to carry 
 her home. 
 
 Erma watched her child as it grew, with 
 more than a mother's interest and noticed with 
 eagerness every expression upon the child's 
 face and every utterance from its childish lips. 
 Astral soon discovered this preternatural in- 
 terest in the child and contented himself with 
 watching- Erma while she watched the child. 
 Thus it is to-nig-ht : the child g-azes, Erma 
 watches it, and Astral watches Erma. A 
 fierce snowstorm is rag-ing- without. The mad 
 heavens seem determined to whiten the black 
 earth, nothing- daunted that all. previous efforts 
 in that direction have ended in the slushy mire ; 
 something* of the fate that has sometimes atten- 
 ded the efforts of reformers to whiten the civic 
 life of humanity. The winds, seemingly, would 
 deter the snowflakes from their fruitless task 
 of whitening- the earth, catching- them just be- 
 fore they reached the ground and whirling- them 
 around and around until the snowflakes, nimbly 
 twisting- out of the hands of the wind, fall ex- 
 hausted upon the earth to learn from experi- 
 ence the treatment often accorded those who 
 would do g-ood. The snowstorm continues, the 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 201 
 
 child muses, the mother watches. Astral is an 
 onlooker. The look of earnestness on the child's 
 brow deepens and deepens, and Erma's bosom 
 heaves, her lips move as if in prayer, and the 
 book trembles in her hand. By and by the 
 child opens its lips to speak, Erma leans for- 
 ward, her eyes aglow with strange fire. As- 
 tral feels the fever rising in his veins and some- 
 how regards himself as face to face with a cri- 
 sis in two souls. He realizes that soon his wife 
 and her child shall stand revealed unto each 
 other, and a feeling of awe creeps over him. 
 
 " Papa," says the child, ** what do you want 
 me to be when I am a man ? " 
 
 Astral can say nothing. Erma's soul is in 
 lier eyes and her heart is thumping as though 
 it would come out. The child lifts its eyes and 
 gazes at the burning orbs of its mamma. In 
 its simple way, it said, quietly : 
 
 " Mamma, I am going to be what you want 
 me to be. I can tell that that is what you are 
 looking at me so for." 
 
 With a scream of joy Erma sprang over to 
 her husband and clasped her boy to her bosom, 
 while she nestled her throbbing temples on As- 
 tral's shoulder. The soul of the mother had 
 met that of the child and each had discovered 
 its true inward self to the other, and Erma felt 
 her every prayer answered and her every wish 
 attained. 
 
202 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Erma said, " Astral, it now makes no differ- 
 ence to the world how soon I leave it ; and God 
 may take me at any time." 
 
 A feeling- of terror, that caused his innermost 
 soul to shudder, stole over Astral as he heard 
 these solemn words come forth from Erma's 
 lips words that foreshadowed her untimely 
 end. Verily, verily, coming" events cast their 
 shadows before them. 
 
 A loud knock at the door, succeeded by a dull 
 thud as of a falling* body, caused Astral and 
 Erma to spring- to their feet. Taking a lamp 
 in his hand, Astral went out into the hallway 
 and to the front door. He opened the door and 
 a g-ust of wind blew off the lamp chimney and 
 put out the lig-ht, the chimney falling to the 
 floor and breaking-. Lighting- a lantern he saw 
 the form of a man half buried in the drift 
 of snow before his door. Astral, being- a man 
 of considerable streng-th, stooped down, lifted 
 the man into his arms and bore him into the 
 room where his wife and child stood in open- 
 eyed astonishment. 
 
 The man was unconscious and Astral lay 
 him in the middle of the floor and soug-ht to re- 
 store him to consciousness. The man had on a 
 long- rubber ulster, which was buttoned from 
 top to bottom. This Astral unbuttoned and 
 made the exciting- discovery that the man was 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 203 
 
 dressed in the striped clothes of a convict. 
 This drew Erma to him, and she now aided As- 
 tral in the work of resuscitating him. At 
 length the man opened his eyes and languidly 
 fastened his gaze on Erma, who experienced 
 a strange thrill as she looked into the eyes 
 of this nearly frozen convict. The longer she 
 looked, the more and more her feelings be- 
 gan to assume definite form, and a sensation of 
 terror crept over her until she had to get up 
 and move away. The eyes of the convict 
 followed her and continued to affect her 
 strangely. 
 
 Astral did not take note of his wife's discom- 
 fiture. He asked the man, " Where did you 
 come from ? " 
 
 He replied in husky tones "I have come 
 from Hell and am going to Heaven." The man 
 made an effort to rise and Astral aided him. 
 He asks, "Is that your wife and child?" 
 Astral nodded assent. 
 
 "Send them out of the room or take me out, 
 as I have something to say to you." 
 
 Erma grasped up Astral Herndon, Jr., and 
 went up stairs, leaving the convict to talk with 
 her husband. But a deep conviction was set- 
 tling upon her mind and she could not stay 
 there. She put her boy down and crept down 
 stairs, drawn by an indefinable something to 
 
204 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 the room where the convict was. She did not 
 enter but paced restlessly to and fro in the cold 
 hallway. 
 
 Soon Astral came out with the look of a man 
 thoroughly dumfounded. He grasped Erma by 
 the hand and led her upstairs to her bedroom. 
 They sit down and stare at each other. As- 
 tral does not know how to break the news to 
 Erma. At length he says, "Erma, your 
 brother was never hanged. He is downstairs 
 
 now.' 
 
 With a mad leap Erma broke out of the 
 room, rushed downstairs, crying, " John ! 
 John ! ! John ! ! ! " When she neared his seat 
 she stopped suddenly, her voice ceased abruptly. 
 John's head lay limp upon his bosom, for his 
 soul had forsaken his body. Becalmed by a 
 more than human power, Erma knelt before 
 his chair in which sat the lifeless form and pas- 
 sionately kissed the mute lips that had passed 
 under the ban of eternal silence. 
 
 " Oh ! " she gasped, clapping- a hand to her 
 heart. She attempted to rise, but fell forward, 
 her head finding a resting place on her dead 
 brother's knee. Erma's beautiful eyelids closed, 
 opened again as if to give a last view, and then 
 closed, alas, forever. Her heart ceased to beat, 
 and her soul stole noiselessly out of her body 
 to return no more. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE FUNERAL. 
 
 Death, the subtle, crafty, relentless foe of 
 human life, who lurks within the gloomy shad- 
 ows which fringe the borderland where time 
 fades away into eternity ; Death, who, burst- 
 ing* from his sunless home, mouldy with the 
 dew of darkness, springs upon the unwary trav- 
 eler, and bears him swiftly to the spirit land 
 this Death, walking with ceaseless tread along 
 his dismal pathway, has a strange and, to us, 
 uncanny taste for music. When he has borne 
 his victim away, he returns to the homes of the 
 bereft, wearing a mystic veil, plucks with wild 
 abandon at the heart strings of the sorrowing ; 
 and with avidity and in ecstasy drinks in the 
 plaintive notes, the time beat of which is kept 
 by the steady, perpetual fall of drops of blood 
 from the heart. However terrible the wail, 
 however loud the cry, it is but sweet music to 
 the ear of death. 
 
 But surely, surely, soulless Death, for once 
 in his awful journeyings, had even his unholy 
 taste for the music of agony fully satisfied, as 
 with his ear to Astral's throbbing heart he 
 drank in its anguished notes and heard that 
 
 (205) 
 
206 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 overburdened thing 1 of grief make its futile at- 
 tempts to burst through the walls that con- 
 fined it. Added to and intensifying his feeling 
 of blighting personal loss, his soul was charged 
 with the thought that fate had so needlessly 
 reared a ladder to the unspotted blue of his 
 sky, and climbing there, had fanned out the 
 sun of his firmament, leaving in its stead the 
 sombre shadows, the inky hues, the gruesome 
 forms of the dread midnight. 
 
 Stunned, bewildered, dazed, Astral cast a 
 look of anguish upon the lifeless form of Erma 
 and turned away petrified with sorrow. He 
 staggered out of the room into the hallway and 
 to the door opening upon the street. This he 
 managed to open, and stood with bared head, 
 facing the storm and welcoming the fury of 
 the elements. Motionless, speechless, gazing 
 into the dark abyss beyond, Astral stood as if 
 rooted to the spot, the fury of the skies uncon- 
 sciously affording congenial association to the 
 wild ragings and frozen sorrows within. Sulk- 
 ily the night rolled onward. The snowstorm, 
 as if grieved to longer beat upon the brow of 
 one in the iron grasp of fate, gradually ceased. 
 A hush fell upon the winds, and they began to 
 speak in whispers, afterwards not at all. 
 
 The remaining hours of the night, hearing the 
 ever approaching footfall of the coming dawn, 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 207 
 
 leapt over the bars of time and sank into eter- 
 nity. The dawn came, cold and cheerless. 
 The sun struggled from behind an embank- 
 ment of clouds, and feebly cast a few sickly 
 rays of ligfht over the snow-covered earth, and, 
 as if ashamed of the feebleness of the effort, 
 quickly lifted the clouds to again hide his face. 
 And yet Astral stood in the doorway, as mo- 
 tionless as a stone statue, silent as the Sphinx. 
 
 An officer of the law, clad in blue, and wear- 
 ing the insignia of his office, came trudging 
 along on his way to his " beat." When he came 
 opposite to Astral, he cast a look of earnest 
 inquiry upon the snow-covered man in the door- 
 way. The gaze of the policeman, in keeping 
 with the well-known hypnotic influence of the 
 human eye, had its effect upon Astral. Sud- 
 denly casting his eyes upon the policeman, As- 
 tral sprang toward him, grasping him by the 
 shoulder. 
 
 " Sir !" cried he, " Enter my home ! Enter, I 
 say, and see the havoc which living side by side 
 with your race has wrought ! Enter, enter, I 
 say!" 
 
 The startled policeman tried to extricate 
 himself from Astral's grasp, but he continued 
 to drag him to his door. The policeman drew 
 his pistol, but Astral took no notice of this 
 action. 
 
208 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 Perceiving from Astral's repeated exhorta- 
 tions that he really desired him to see something- 
 and intended him no harm, the policeman ceased 
 resisting- and allowed himself to be pulled to 
 the door of the room where the dead lay. When 
 his eye fell upon the rig-id body of the convict 
 on the chair and beheld the form of the beauti- 
 ful Erma -it, too, rig-id in death in terror at 
 the sig-ht, he beg-an to struggle to g-et out of 
 the house. Astral seemed equally determined 
 to have him drink in the horror of the situation 
 fully. The policeman, now completely terror- 
 stricken, raised the cry of " Murder ! murder !" 
 and struck Astral a violent blow on the head. 
 As if robbed of life, Astral fell unconscious 
 upon the floor. The noise of the struggle, and 
 the cries of the policeman drew a larg-e crowd 
 to the house. News of the trag-ic scenes en- 
 acted in that little home spread to the remotest 
 quarters of the city. All this while Astral lay 
 unconscious on the floor. Friends now bore his 
 body to his room. 
 
 A coroner's jury was summoned and an in- 
 quest was held. John Wysong-'s emaciated ap- 
 pearance soon removed all doubt as to what 
 had caused his death. The absence of all. 
 marks of violence upon Erma, the calm, sweet 
 look upon her face, even in death, predisposed 
 the jury to look for natural causes for her de- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 209 
 
 mise. Before entering" upon the task of find- 
 ing- the cause of her death, they all stood and 
 gazed long- at her loveliness and a hush of awe 
 fell upon them. When at length the doctor had 
 made the necessary examination, and pro- 
 nounced her death due to heart failure, the jury 
 filed out. Before going, each juror had cast a 
 parting 1 look at the departed queen of beauty, 
 and the last of the official dealings of the An- 
 glo-Saxons with Erma were over. 
 
 Friends of Astral now took charge of affairs 
 and began to arrange for the interment, he be- 
 ing- yet unconscious. Upon his recovery from 
 the swoon, he was wildly delirious. When 
 made aware by the attending- physician that a 
 protracted illness was likely to ensue in As- 
 tral's case, friends saw that it was unwise to 
 delay the funeral services and interment until 
 he could attend. 
 
 As is well known to the reader, Erma had an 
 unusually large number of friends among- the 
 white people of Richmond, and these friends 
 petitioned that an opportunity be given them to 
 publicly manifest their esteem. In deference 
 to their wishes, the funeral services were held 
 at the Tabernacle, a mammoth structure built 
 for interdenominational use and for union gos- 
 pel meetings. White and colored people by 
 the thousands flocked to the Tabernacle to wit- 
 
 14 
 
210 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 ness the exercises over the remains of Ernia. 
 The services proceeded in the usual way, trib- 
 utes of the very highest nature being* paid to 
 the character of the deceased. Resolutions of 
 respect, signed by one hundred of Richmond's 
 truest white women, were read, extolling the 
 name of Erma Wysong Herndon. 
 
 The last words had been said, the organ was 
 playing the final funeral march, the pall-bearers 
 were half-way down the aisle bearing the coffin 
 to the hearse, when, lo, a loud, commanding 
 voice cried, " Halt," and the tall form of Astral 
 was seen standing in the doorway. ''Bear 
 that coffin back to the front, gentlemen," said 
 he, and with icy clearness. All recognized his 
 rights in the matter, and the coffin was borne 
 to the front again. Astral, wild-eyed, fresh 
 from a bed of affliction, followed with head 
 bowed and with measured tread, mechanically 
 performed. Taking a position in full view of 
 the entire audience, he spoke as follows, in a 
 clear, calm manner, but with a calmness ev- 
 idently produced by the suppression of powerful 
 emotions : 
 
 "Ladies and Gentlemen : On such an occasion 
 as this, only the language of the heart should be 
 heard, and it is my purpose to deliver to you a 
 message from my innermost self. First of all, I 
 wish to give audible expression to the thankful- 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 211 
 
 ness that I feel over the tribute of respect paid 
 to my deceased wife by this vast outpouring* of 
 citizens of both races. 
 
 4 'It is your purpose, I perceive, to bear her 
 remains to your cemetery, where her body will 
 obey the summons of nature to return unto the 
 dust whence it came. Before I can give my sanc- 
 tion to this step, there is a question that must 
 be disposed of in a thoroughly satisfactory 
 manner. Erma Wysong Herndon was brilliant 
 and true as a girl, devoted and worthy as a 
 wife and mother, seeking to alter none of your 
 cherished customs, aspiring ever and only to 
 live out that life which her soul taught her to 
 be the best. Yet she suffered countless ills. 
 Her heart, unable longer to bear the strain, 
 gave up the struggle and ceased its pulsations 
 while her feet were yet treading that portion 
 of life's pathway that lies within the summer 
 of man's existence. I utter not these words by 
 way of reproach, believe me. I but recall facts 
 well know r n by you to be such, that you may 
 grasp the full purport of what I am now to lay 
 before you. 
 
 * You now desire that her body shall go to 
 enrich this soil. Should I allow you to proceed, 
 will this land which her dust would help to 
 compose will this land render to the son of 
 another mother more than it will to the son 
 
212 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 that she leaves behind, though the two be 
 equal in virtue, in intelligence, in thrift, in all 
 that goes to comprise vigorous and aggressive 
 manhood ? I pause for an answer." 
 
 The silence was oppressive. Astral re- 
 sumed : " By your silence I understand that 
 you are unable to assure me that her son shall 
 not be confronted with the same unequal con- 
 ditions that she so often encountered. Under 
 these circumstances, ladies and gentlemen, as 
 much as I love this land, I must refuse to allow 
 my wife to be interred therein. I bid it an 
 eternal farewell." 
 
 He ceased speaking, and, strong man that he 
 was, fell upon Erma's coffin, his face buried in 
 his hands. One mighty sob forced its way 
 through the bars that held the others back. 
 Making a supreme effort at self-control, he 
 arose and gave notice to proceed. The pall- 
 bearers lifted their burden again and moved 
 slowly out of the building, followed by Astral 
 and his son. 
 
 The great audience continued in silence, so- 
 berly pondering over the strange and solemn 
 scenes. When the hearse had been driven off, 
 and the sound of the hoofs of the horses had 
 died away in the distance, the people arose and 
 silently left the building, departing to their 
 several homes. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 213 
 
 Twilight had come, and the dusk of the 
 evening' soon enveloped the city, drawing" 
 closer and closer the curtains of nig-ht. 
 
 That nig-ht, Astral, watched by the blinking- 
 stars, exhumed the body of John Wysong-, and 
 carried it to his home, placing- it by the side of 
 Erma. With the room dimly lighted, Astral 
 took a seat between the two coffins, to await 
 the coming- of day. In the middle of the nig-ht, 
 he heard a tapping- at the window shutters of 
 the room in which he sat, keeping- company with 
 the dead. He arose, opened the window, and 
 bade the party tapping- to enter. The invita- 
 tion was accepted, and in stepped a larg*e, tall 
 white man, of very commanding- aspect. 
 
 " As I expected," the man remarked in a low 
 tone. Aloud, to Astral, he said : " Mr. Hern- 
 don, you are not acquainted with me, but your 
 wife was. At one time she committed a very 
 grave trust to me, and I was faithful thereto, 
 but under such circumstances that I dared not 
 to g-ive an account of my stewardship. Will 
 you let me see the face of this dead man whom 
 you have by her side ?" Astral assented, and 
 Lanier, for it was he, stepped to the side of the 
 coffin and g-azed long- at the features before 
 him. He said to himself, as he continued to 
 look : " Yes, yes, yes ; that is John. I cannot 
 be mistaken. One more secret that by his death 
 
214 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 is now assuredly reserved for the Day of Judg- 
 ment." Heaving* a sigh of relief, he turned 
 away and dropped into a chair. 
 
 Astral had resumed his post between the 
 dead. Ivanier now addressed him. 
 
 4 'Mr. Herndon, this is indeed an ill-chosen 
 occasion on which to approach you on a sub- 
 ject uppermost in my mind. Yet, I must do so 
 now, if at all ; for it is with a view of prevent- 
 ing an action that you contemplate in the near 
 future. You propose leaving us, I learned at 
 the funeral to-day." 
 
 ''Your impression is correct," was Astral's 
 response. 
 
 " For the sake of your wife's son, hear me 
 for a moment," L/anier requested. 
 
 "Proceed. I shall give you such attention 
 as is possible for a man in my situation," As- 
 tral replied. 
 
 44 Mr. Herndon, with all its faults, this coun- 
 try is by far the greatest on earth. You are 
 not now in a condition to decide upon a matter 
 involving your future and the whole life of your 
 child. I, therefore, make a personal appeal to 
 3^ou to abide here and flee not to ills that are 
 certainly worse." Here he paused, but as As- 
 tral gave no reply he resumed. 
 
 "Your status here is but due to conditions in- 
 herent in the situation. Why not bow to the 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 215 
 
 inevitable, accept conditions as you find them, 
 extract from life as much g-ood as can come 
 from well-directed efforts, and beyond this 
 point have no yearnings ? Develop charac- 
 ter, earn money, contribute to the industrial 
 development of the country, exercise your won- 
 derful capacity for humility, move continu- 
 ously in the line of least resistance and, some- 
 how, all will be well." 
 
 Astral now lifted his head and, gazing ear- 
 nestly at Lauier, said ; 
 
 "I am very grateful to you, kind sir, for 
 your solicitude. One of the most oppressive of 
 the 'conditions, inherent in the situation/ you 
 say, is the fact that one must ever be listening 1 
 to a sermon on his condition. We cannot be 
 glided by the lig'ht of our own genius, but are 
 the subjects of unending* advice. The absence 
 of the rig^ht of choice a rig"ht which your pres- 
 ence here to-nig*ht denies is irksome, so irk- 
 some. 
 
 ** You, kind sir, have solved the problem of 
 life to your own satisfaction ; let me do the like, 
 will you, especially when I seek not to alter 
 your conditions but to abandon them ? With- 
 out the least purpose or desire to be discour- 
 teous, may I regard our interview at a close ? " 
 Astral's very soul was in these words and were 
 delivered in such a manner as to startle Lanier 
 into greater admiration. 
 
216 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 "No, sir, Mr. Herndon, not until I state that 
 your remarks have won my most profound re- 
 spect. I appreciate the desire of your soul for 
 silence, which, in your case, amounts to a need. 
 I abandon the purpose of my visit. In what- 
 ever direction you may go, my good-will follows 
 you," Ivanier said most feelingly. So saying", 
 he arose, extended to Astral his hand and bade 
 him a cordial adieu. 
 
 Astral resumed his solitar}^ watch with his 
 dead. When day came, he began his projected 
 journey, accompained by his son and the bodies 
 of his wife and her brother. He went to New 
 York, with the purpose of boarding an outward 
 bound vessel. 
 
 "Are you returning to your fatherland?" 
 anxious friends, gathered at the pier, in- 
 quired. 
 
 Astral replied, "It, too, is overshadowed. 
 Aliens possess it." 
 
 "Where, then, are you going ?" Astral faintly 
 smiled as if in farewell, but gave no reply. He 
 hurried aboard the vessel and was soon speed- 
 ing away from the land of his birth. 
 
 When in mid-ocean, he summoned his fellow 
 passengers about him to participate in a burial 
 service. The caskets containing- the remains 
 of the two departed were gently lowered into 
 the depths of the ocean and committed to the 
 keeping of the waves. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 217 
 
 Astral then stationed his son upon a chair in 
 the center of the deck of the ship, and, standing- 
 by his side, with solemn mien and head uncov- 
 ered, made the following- deliverance in the 
 presence of the assembled passeng-ers, who had 
 heard previously from his lips the story of 
 Erma's life: 
 
 " My son," said he, "your mother has been 
 buried in these domains, because here there 
 abides no social group in which conditions 
 operate toward the overshadowing- of such 
 elements as are not deemed assimilable. And 
 now, I, Astral Herndon, hereby and forever 
 renounce all citizenship in all lands whatsoever, 
 and constitute myself A CITIZEN OF THE 
 OCEAN, and ordain that this title shall be en- 
 tailed upon my progeny unto all generations, 
 until such time as the shadows which now 
 envelope the darker races in all lands shall 
 have passed away, away and away ! " 
 
 EPILOGUE. 
 
 A LAY TO THE COMING KING. 
 
 Erma is dead, and disconsolate Astral is 
 adrift upon the ocean. 
 
 We who have followed their fortunes, lo, 
 these many days, are loth to leave them until 
 our minds can fasten on some circumstance 
 
218 OVERSHADOWED. 
 
 external to our being-, to confirm the thought 
 that perennially rises within and bids us be- 
 lieve that their lives have not been spent in 
 vain ; that " somehow good will be the final 
 goal of ill." 
 
 Those who seek for assurance of this hope 
 would do well to recall the romantic circum- 
 stances attendant upon the birth of Erma's 
 son ; recall how that on the last night of 
 Erma's abode on earth the spirits of the mother 
 and son went forth to meet and stand revealed 
 unto each other. 
 
 These circumstances are pregnant with hope 
 and kindle within one the spirit of prophecy. 
 
 The spell is upon us ! We don the garb of 
 the seer, wrest the veil from the face of the 
 future and read in her countenance tokens of 
 the irrevocable decrees written by her in the 
 book of fate. 
 
 We behold that she hath decreed that Astral 
 Herndon, Jr., shall not long abide on the ocean; 
 that he shall, ere long, make a landing and 
 give evidence that the mountain-imbued son of 
 a handmaid of God is a genius one of those 
 few colossal, immeasurable spirits that have 
 been permitted, from time to time, to dwell 
 among men for a season ; whose presence is 
 made manifest through the trembling of the 
 frail earth beneath their ponderous tread. 
 
OVERSHADOWED. 219 
 
 Under the influences which this child of des- 
 tiny shall generate, the Negro shall emerge 
 from his centuries of gloom, with a hope-em- 
 blazoned brow, a heart freighted with courage, 
 and a chisel in his hand to carve, whether you 
 will or not, his name in the hall of fame. 
 
 4 'Verily I say unto you, that this generation 
 shall not pass, till all these things be done." 
 
 In this hope we calmly abide the coming of 
 Erma's son, Astral Herndon, Jr. In that day, 
 pleasing thought, Erma shall live again in the 
 wondrous workings of the child whom she has 
 brought to earth. All hail to Erma ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
PS3S/3 
 
 OT