"Yas, sah."
"Ephraim," the Colonel said, turning to the old preacher, "put this man on the payroll as a field hand, beginning from to-morrow, but don't send him to the field for a couple of weeks. Behave yourself," he added, turning to the peonage victim, "and you'll be all right here."
The negro thanked him profusely, and went out, his wretched frame showing up miserably in the strong sunlight as he passed by the window of the dining room.
"But that's worse than any slavery I ever heard of," burst out Hamilton indignantly.
"Peonage?" answered the old veteran. "Oh, yes, much worse."
"And it still goes on?"
"There were several hundred stockades in operation last year," was the reply, "and that's a fair sample of their work."
HOW MOST OF THE NEGROES LIVE. Type of shack usually seen in Southern States, though the owners are not always in poor circumstances.