'Not exactly that. My father made him overseer about thirty years ago, but the law requires a white man in that situation; and when I took charge of the plantation, the neighbors made a clamor about my having a black. The result was, I 'whipped the devil round the stump,' by hiring a white distiller, and calling him 'overseer.' I let Joe, however, 'oversee' him, as you have seen to-day.'
A rap came then at the door, and master Joe, springing up, ushered the subject of our conversation into the room. He held his hat in his hand, and had under his arm a couple of account books.
'This is Joseph the First,' said the lad, taking the black by the coat-tail, and bowing gravely to me.
'And you are Joseph the Second, eh?' I said, laughing.
'Yas, sar, he'm dat 'stinguished gemman,' replied the negro, stroking affectionately the lad's head; 'and he don't dishonor de name, sar. He'm de true blue, dyed in de wool.'
'He was named for Joseph,' said the lady, smiling kindly on the black. 'Bring up a chair, Joseph.'
'Tank you, missus,' and the negro seated himself by the fire, between Preston and me.
'You have brought the documents, I see, Joe; let me look at them,' I said, reaching out my hand for the books.
'Yas, sar, and dey'm all written up till a week back. I reckon you kin pick 'em out, Mr. Kirke, dough master Robert he say he don't understand my way ob keepin' 'em.'
I opened the books, and any man of business will appreciate my surprise to find them kept by 'double entry.' Cotton, corn, and turpentine had each its separate account, and at a glance I could see how much had been made or lost by the production of each staple. The handwriting was plain and bold, and the general appearance of the ledger compared favorably with that of a much larger one I knew of, which was the pride of an experienced bookkeeper.