CHAPTER XXXVIII.
The railroad track had advanced considerably, and in the Fall of the year, 1866, had reached Bartow, No. 11. My partner for some time had taken charge of the team while I attended to the store. Once he came home badly bunged up and a knife cut on his cheek. I said, What has happened? He said he had some difficulty with the Agent and they double teamed on him. So I remarked, Well, you can send Perry without you going. I wrote to the agent asking him to deliver to the bearer, Perry, a load of my merchandise then in his possession, to check off the same and send me a list. We had at that time two car loads on the track for the firm. When Perry returned he failed to bring the list, his wagon being loaded with corn and every sack ripped more or less. I said, How come you to accept merchandise in that condition. He answered, the sacks were allright when I took them out of the car, it was after they were loaded one of them fellows, a white man named Smith, run around the wagon and cut the sacks and I spilled lots of corn. I picked up some of it and put in that sack, indicating a sack ¾ full. I said, Do you know the man; would you recognize him again if you were to meet him? Oh yes, Marse Ike. Saturday morning I took charge of the team and my partner remained at the store. I took dinner and fed my mules at my friends' Mr. B. G. Smith, to whom I stated the facts as told to me. He said, be careful, don't be too hasty. I said, Right is right and I don't want anything but my rights, and those I am going to have before I return.
We arrived at our destination about four o'clock p. m. The Sherman contingency had burned the warehouse as they did all the others along their march. Consequently the railroad Company used passenger cars on the side track to transact their office work, while freight cars served as a warehouse until discharged of their contents. As I entered the office car a young man met me. I remarked, Are you the agent? He said, No, Mr. Mims is at Parson Johnson's house. What is your name? My name is Smith. Then you are the scoundrel that mutilated my goods, and I advanced. He run out of the door and slammed it to with such force that he shattered the glass panel into fragments. When I came out to where Perry was, he said, That's the fellow that cut the sacks, there he goes. Well Perry build a little fire by the side of this car for here we will camp until some one returns to deliver us the freight. The sun had set below the horizon and it had begun to get night, when Mr. Tom Wells, an acquaintance of mine, approached me. He was an employee of the railroad company also. Well Ike, old fellow, how are you getting along? All right Tom, how are you? I am all right. What brought you here, said he? I said business, I have goods here if I can find an agent to deliver them. I heard you came here for a difficulty, said he. I remarked, It seems I am already in a difficulty, I can't get any one to deliver me my goods. Well, I will tell you, Mr. Mims is a perfect gentleman. I am glad to hear it. Do you know him? No, I have never seen him, but up to now I can't have the same opinion of him that you have. I have not been treated right and I came here for justice. He said, Well, let me tell you; there are about forty employees here, hands and all, and they will all stick to him, right or wrong. I said, I came here to see Mr. Mims and I intend to stay here until I do see him, if it takes me a week. Well Ike, if you promise me that you will not raise a difficulty I will go after him and introduce you to each other. I said, Tom, there are other ways to settle a difficulty without fighting if men want to do right. Well I will go for him; I know Mr. Mims is going to do what is right, and you too. Mr. Mims came presently, and a whole gang following him. I said, Mr. Mims, it seems you and my partner had a difficulty. I do not know the cause and I do not care to know. He said you fellows double teamed on him and he got worsted in the fight. To avoid a recurrence of the difficulty I sent my driver to you and a note. You ignored my note and sent me a load of corn with all the sacks ripped open, more or less, with a knife in the hands of one of your employees. I berated my man for accepting goods in that condition and he stated to me how all of it was done. I am now here to see what can be done about it. I have never done you any injury to be treated in that manner. He said, Mr. Hermann, I am sorry it happened. I will see that it will not be done again. I said, Have you discharged the fellow who did it? He answered, No, not yet. I said, Well, I demand that it be done now. And what about the damage I sustained. He remarked that the road would run to Tennille by next Wednesday, a distance of 25 miles, and he would forward my two car loads of freight free of charge from Bartow to Tennille. I said that was satisfactory. I wanted to load my wagon; he said, we do not deliver goods at night. I answered that if he had been at his post of duty on my arrival I would have had plenty of time to load and be on my way back, and I wished to load up at once for the morrow being Sunday I did not want to be on the road. He delivered the merchandise and Perry and I passed Sunday with my friend B. G. Smith, who was glad matters passed off as they did. Monday morning we took an early start and by twelve o'clock I was at home. That was my last trip as a wagoner, but not as a soldier, as the sequel will show.