I wondered whether they had ever been opened since.
And there under my eyes stood the very step where Chad had helped his
old master from his horse the day his sweetheart Henny had been
purchased from Judge Barbour, and close to the garden gate were the
negro quarters where they had begun their housekeeping. I thought I
knew the very cabin.
And that line of silver glistening in the morning light must be the
river Tench, and the bend near the willows the spot where the colonel
would build the iron bridge with the double span, and across and beyond
on the plateau, backed by the hills, the site of the future city of
Fairfax.
I left my seat, strolled out into the garden, crossed the grass jeweled
with dew, and filled my lungs with the odor of the sweet box bordering
the beds,--a rare delight in these days of modern gardens. Suddenly
I came upon a wide straw hat and a broad back bending among the bushes.
It was Chad.
"Mawnin', Major; fust fox out de hole, is yer? Lawd a massey, ain't
I glad ter git back to my ole mist'ess! Lan' sakes alive! I ain't slep'
none all night a-thinkin' ober it.
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