An Arkansas Planter
BY
OPIE READ,
AUTHOR OF
"A Yankee from the West," "The Waters of Caney Fork," "Mrs. AnnieGreen," "Up Terrapin River."
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK:
RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY,
PUBLISHERS.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XXI.
CHAPTER XXII.
CHAPTER XXIII.
CHAPTER XXIV.
CHAPTER XXV.
CHAPTER XXVI.—CONCLUSION.
AN ARKANSAS PLANTER.
CHAPTER I.
Lying along the Arkansas River, a few miles below Little Rock, there isa broad strip of country that was once the domain of a lordly race ofmen. They were not lordly in the sense of conquest; no rusting armorhung upon their walls; no ancient blood-stains blotched theirstairways—there were no skeletons in dungeons deep beneath the banquethall. But in their own opinion they were just as great as if they hadpossessed these gracious marks of medieval distinction. Their countrywas comparatively new, but their fathers came mostly from Virginia andtheir whisky came wholly from Kentucky. Their cotton brought a highprice in the Liverpool market, their daughters were celebrated forbeauty, and their sons could hold their own with the poker players thattraveled up and down the Mississippi River. The slave trade had beenabolished, and, therefore, what remained of slavery was right; and inproof of it the pulpit contributed its argument. Negro preachers withwives scattered throughout the community urged their fellow bondsmen todrop upon their knees[Pg 6] and thank God for the privilege of following amule in a Christian land. The merciless work of driving the negroes totheir tasks was performed by men from the North. Many a son of NewEngland,