Tom made a Clerk.
Freed-Boy in Alabama. Page [49].
So Tom read aloud the month’s report of the number of hands employed, the wages of each, the amount of work performed and the expenses of the place. It was all correctly done, and then the two fell to work—the master arranging the books for Tom’s future work, and the boy copying. There was nothing very elegant about the writing, but it was a round, even hand, very plain and distinct. Yet as he wrote Tom was troubled. He wondered if his Master knew that these business affairs were all fully understood by him. Mr. Sutherland’s books were very simple, and, with Tom’s late knowledge of arithmetic, very easily understood. He wondered if his master realized that one of his field hands comprehended all the business of the plantation.
By and by, when for a few minutes both came to a standstill, Tom spoke:
“Mr. Sutherland, do you know that I understand all this work I am copying.”
“Do you mean to tell me you understand the losses and gains during the month?”
“Yes, sir.”
Mr. Sutherland looked annoyed and perplexed, and his wife laughed and remarked that he had better take her advice and send the boy back to his cotton.
“I would not care, Bertha,” he replied, “if I were only sure I could trust the boy.”