Charles Aldarondo, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading
Team
BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW
_A Novel_
BY
ALBION W. TOURGEE, LL.D.,
LATE JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA
THIS VOLUME I GRATEFULLY DEDICATE TO
My Wife;
TO WHOSE UNFLINCHING COURAGE, UNFALTERING FAITH, UNFAILING CHEER,
AND STEADFAST LOVE, I OWE MORE THAN MANY VOLUMES MIGHT DECLARE.
TRANSLATION:
[_From an ancient Egyptian Papyrus-Roll, recently discovered._]
It came to pass that when Pharaoh had made an end of giving
commandment that the children of Israel should deliver the daily
tale of bricks, but should not be furnished with any straw wherewith
to make them, but should instead go into the fields and gather
such stubble as might be left therein, that Neoncapos, the king's
jester, laughed.
And when he was asked whereat he laughed, he answered, At the king's
order.
And thereupon he laughed the more.
Then was Pharaoh, the king, exceeding wroth, and he gave commandment
that an owl be given to Neoncapos, the king's jester, and that he
be set forth without the gate of the king's palace, and that he be
forbidden to return, or to speak to any in all the land, save only
unto the owl which had been given him, until such time as the bird
should answer and tell him what he should say.
Then they that stood about the king, and all who saw Neoncapos,
cried out, What a fool's errand is this! So that the saying remains
even unto this day.
Nevertheless, upon the next day came Neoncapos again into the
presence of Pharaoh, the king.
Then was Pharaoh greatly astonished, and he said, How is this? Hath
the bird spoken?
And Neoncapos, the king's jester, bowed himself unto the earth,
and said, He hath, my lord.
Then was Pharaoh, the king, filled with amazement, and said, Tell
me what he hath said unto thee.
And Neoncapos raised himself before the king, and answered him,
and said:
As I went out upon the errand whereunto thou hadst sent me forth,
I remembered thy commandment to obey it. And I spake only unto
the bird which thou gavest me, and said unto him:
There was a certain great king which held a people in bondage, and
set over them task-masters, and required of them all the bricks
that they could make, man for man, and day by day;
For the king was in great haste seeking to build a palace which
should be greater and nobler than any in the world, and should
remain to himself and his children a testimony of his glory forever.
And it came to pass, at length, that the king gave commandment that
no more straw should be given unto them that made the bricks, but
that they should still deliver the tale which had been aforetime
required of them.
And thereupon the king's jester laughed.
Because he said to himself, If the laborers have not straw wherewith
to attemper the clay, but only stubble and chaff gathered from
the fields, will not the bricks be ill-made and lack strength and
symmetry of form, so that the wall made thereof will not be true
and strong, or fitly joined together? For the lack of a little
straw it may be that the palace of the great king will fall upon
him and all his people that dwell therein. Thereupon the king was
wroth with his fool, and his countenance was changed, and he spake
harshly unto him, and--
It matters not what thou saidst unto the bird, said the king. What
did the bird say unto thee?
The bird, said Neoncapos, bowing himself low before the king, the
bird, my lord, looked at me in great amaze, and cried again and
again, in an exceeding loud voice: _Who! Who-o! Who-o-o!_
Then was Pharaoh exceeding wroth, and his anger burned within him,
and he commanded that the fool should be taken and bound with cords,
and cast into prison, while he should consider of a fit punishment
for his impudent words.
NOTE.-A script attached to this manuscript, evidently of later
date, informs us that the fool escaped the penalty of his folly by
the disaster at the Red Sea.
CONTENTS
I. TRI-NOMINATE
II. THE FONT
III. THE JUNONIAN RITE
IV. MARS MEDDLES
V. NUNC PRO TUNC
VI. THE TOGA VIRILIS
VII. DAMON AND PYTHIAS
VIII. A FRIENDLY PROLOGUE
IX. A BRUISED REED
X. AN EXPRESS TRUST
XI. RED WING
XII. ON THE WAY AY TO JERICHO
XIII. NEGOTIATING A TREATY
XIV. BORN OF THE STORM
XV. TO HIM AND HIS HEIRS FOREVER
XVI. A CHILD OF THE HILLS
XVII. GOOD-MORROW AND FAREWELL
XVIII. "PRIME WRAPPERS,"
XIX. THE SHADOW OF THE FLAG,
XX. PHANTASMAGORIA,
XXI. A CHILD-MAN
XXII. HOW THE FALLOW WAS SEEDED
XXIII. AN OFFERING OF FIRST-FRUITS
XXIV. A BLACK DBMOCRITUS
XXV. A DOUBLE-HEADED ARGUMENT
XXVI. TAKEN AT HIS WORD
XXVII. MOSES IN THE SUNSHINE
XXVIII. IN THE PATH OF THE STORM
XXIX. LIKE AND UNLIKE
XXX. AN UNBIDDEN GUEST
XXXI. A LIFE FOR A LIFE
XXXII. A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS
XXXIII. A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
XXXIV. THE MAJESTY OF THE LAW
XXXV. A PARTICULAR TENANCY LAPSES
XXXVI. THE BEACON-LIGHT OF LOVE
XXXVII. THE "BEST FRIENDS" REVEAL THEMSELVES
XXXVIII. "THE ROSE ABOVE THE MOULD,"
XXXIX. WHAT THE MIST HID
XL. DAWNING
XLI. Q. E. D.
XLII. THROUGH A CLOUD-RIFT
XLIII. A GLAD GOOD-BY
XLIV. PUTTING THIS AND THAT TOGETHER
XLV. ANOTHER OX GORED
XLVI. BACKWARD AND FORWARD
XLVII. BREASTING THE TORRENT
XLVIII. THE PRICE OF HONOR
XLIX. HIGHLY RESOLVED
L. FACE ANSWERETH UNTO FACE
LI. HOW SLEEP THE BRAVE?
LII. REDEEMED OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE
LIII. IN THE CYCLONE
LIV. A BOLT OUT OF THE CLOUD
LV. AN UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER
LVI. SOME OLD LETTERS
LVII. A SWEET AND BITTER FRUITAGE
LVIII. COMING TO THE FRONT
LIX. THE SHUTTLECOCK OF FATE
LX. THE EXODIAN
LXI. WHAT SHALL THE END BE?
LXII. How?
BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW.
CHAPTER I.
TRI-NOMINATE.
"Wal, I 'clar, now, jes de quarest ting ob 'bout all dis matter
o' freedom is de way dat it sloshes roun' de names 'mong us cullud
folks. H'yer I lib ober on de Hyco twenty year er mo'--nobody but
ole Marse Potem an' de Lor', an' p'raps de Debble beside, know
'zackly how long it mout hev been--an' didn't hev but one name in
all dat yer time. An' I didn't hev no use for no mo' neither, kase
dat wuz de one ole Mahs'r gib me hisself, an' nobody on de libbin'
yairth nebber hed no sech name afo' an' nebber like to agin. Dat
wuz allers de way ub ole Mahs'r's names. Dey used ter say dat he
an' de Debble made 'em up togedder while he wuz dribin' roun' in dat
ole gig 'twixt de diff'ent plantations--on de Dan an' de Ro'noke,
an' all 'bout whar de ole cuss could fine a piece o' cheap lan",
dat would do ter raise niggers on an' pay for bringin' up, at de
same time. He was a powerful smart man in his day, wuz ole Kunnel
Potem Desmit; but he speshully did beat anythin' a findin' names
fer niggers. I reckon now, ef he'd 'a hed forty thousan' cullud
folks, men an' wimmen, dar wouldn't ha' been no two on 'em hevin'
de same name. Dat's what folks used ter say 'bout him, ennyhow.
Dey sed he used ter say ez how he wasn't gwine ter hey his niggers
mixed up wid nobody else's namin', an' he wouldn't no mo' 'low ob
one black feller callin' ob anudder by enny nickname ner nothin'
ub dat kine, on one o' his plantations, dan he would ob his takin'
a mule, nary bit. Dey du say dat when he used ter buy a boy er
gal de berry fust ting he wuz gwine ter du wuz jes ter hev 'em up
an' gib 'em a new name, out 'n out, an' a clean suit ob close ter
'member it by; an' den, jes by way ob a little 'freshment, he used
ter make de oberseer gib 'em ten er twenty good licks, jes ter make
sure ob der fergittin' de ole un dat dey'd hed afo'. Dat's what
my mammy sed, an' she allers 'clar'd dat tow'rd de las' she nebber
could 'member what she was at de fus' no more'n ef she hed'nt been
de same gal.
"All he wanted ter know 'bout a nigger wuz jes his name, an' dey
say he could tell straight away when an' whar he wuz born, whar
he'd done lived, an' all 'bout him. He war a powerful man in der
way ob names, shore. Some on 'em wuz right quare, but den agin
mos' all on 'em wuz right good, an' it war powerful handy hevin' no
two on 'em alike. I've heard tell dat a heap o' folks wuz a takin'
up wid his notion, an' I reckon dat ef de s'rrender hed only stood
off long 'nuff dar wouldn't 'a been nary two niggers in de whole
State hevin' de same names. Dat _would_ hev been handy, all
roun'!
"When dat come, though, old Mahs'r's plan warn't nowhar. Lor' bress
my soul, how de names did come a-brilin' roun'! I'd done got kinder
used ter mine, hevin' bed it so long an' nebber knowin' myself by
any udder, so't I didn't like ter change. 'Sides dat, I couldn't
see no use. I'd allers got 'long well 'nuff wid it--all on'y jes
once, an' dat ar wuz so long ago I'd nigh about forgot it. Dat
showed what a debblish cute plan dat uv ole Mahs'r's was, though.
"Lemme see, dat er wuz de fus er secon' year atter I wuz a plow-boy.
Hit wuz right in de height ob de season, an' Marse War'--dat was de
oberseer--he sent me to der Cou't House ob an ebenin' to do some
sort ob arrant for him. When I was a comin' home, jes about an hour
ob sun, I rides up wid a sort o' hard-favored man in a gig, an' he
looks at me an' at de hoss, when I goes ter ride by, mighty sharp
like; an' fust I knows he axes me my name; an' I tole him. An' den
he axes whar I lib; an' I tole him, "On de Knapp-o'-Reeds plantation."
Den he say,
"'Who you b'long to, ennyhow, boy?'
"An' I tole him 'Ole Marse Potem Desmit, sah'--jes so like.
"Den he sez 'Who's a oberseein' dar now?'
"An' I sez, 'Marse Si War', sah?'
"Den he sez, 'An' how do all de ban's on Knapp-o Reeds git 'long
wid ole Marse Potem an' Marse Si War'?'
"An' I sez, 'Oh, we gits 'long tol'able well wid Marse War', sah.'
"An' he sez, 'How yer likes old Marse Potem?'
"An' I sez, jes fool like, 'We don't like him at all, sah.'
"An' he sez, 'Why?'
"An' I sez, 'Dunno sah.'
"An' he sez, 'Don't he feed?'
"An' I sez, 'Tol'able, I spose.'
"An' he sez, 'Whip much?'
"An' I sez, 'Mighty little, sah.'
"An' he sez, 'Work hard?'
"An' I sez, 'Yes, moderate, sah.' "An' he sez, 'Eber seed him?'
"An' I sez, 'Not ez I knows on, sah.'
"An' he sez, 'What for don't yer like him, den?'
"An' I sez, 'Dunno, on'y jes' kase he's sech a gran' rascal.'
"Den he larf fit ter kill, an' say, 'Dat's so, dat's so, boy.' Den
he take out his pencil an' write a word er two on a slip o' paper
an' say,
"'H'yer, boy, yer gibs dat ter Marse Si War', soon ez yer gits
home. D'yer heah?'
"I tole him, 'Yes, sah,' an' comes on home an' gibs dat ter Marse
Si. Quick ez he look at it he say, 'Whar you git dat, boy? 'An' when
I tole him he sez, 'You know who dat is? Dat's old Potem Desmit!
What you say to him, you little fool?'
"Den I tell Marse War' all 'bout it, an' he lay down in de yard
an' larf fit ter kill. All de same he gib me twenty licks 'cordin'
ter de orders on dat little dam bit o' paper. An' I nebber tink o'
dat widout cussin', sence.
"Dat ar, now am de only time I ebber fault my name. Now what I
want ter change it fer, er what I want ob enny mo'? I don't want
'em. An' I tell 'em so, ebbery time too, but dey 'jes fo'ce em on
me like, an' what'll I do'bout it, I dunno. H'yer I'se got--lemme
see--one--two--tree! Fo' God, I don' know how many names I hez got!
I'm dod-dinged now ef I know who I be ennyhow. Ef ennybody ax me
I'd jes hev ter go back ter ole Mahs'r's name an' stop, kase I swar
I wouldn't know which ob de udders ter pick an' chuse from.
"I specs its all 'long o' freedom, though I can't see why a free
nigger needs enny mo' name dan the same one hed in ole slave times.
Mus' be, though. I mind now dat all de pore white folks hez got
some two tree names, but I allus thought dat wuz 'coz dey hedn't
nuffin' else ter call dere can. Must be a free feller needs mo'
name, somehow. Ef I keep on I reckon I'll git enuff atter a while.
H'yer it's gwine on two year only sence de s'rrender, an' I'se got
tree ob 'em sartain!"
The speaker was a colored man, standing before his log-house in
the evening of a day in June. His wife was the only listener to
the monologue. He had been examining a paper which was sealed and
stamped with official formality, and which had started him upon
the train of thought he had pursued. The question he was trying in
vain to answer was only the simplest and easiest of the thousand
strange queries which freedom had so recently propounded to him
and his race.