back, and
addressed as Mr. Tomlin by a white man, and that man a representative of
the Government, was quite ready to believe anything he was told by his
new friends, and quite as ready to aid them in carrying out any scheme
that their hatred of the South and their natural rapacity could suggest
or invent.

Therefore, let it not be supposed that the Rev. Jeremiah, as he went
along the path, mumbling out his thoughts, was expressing any doubt of
the wisdom or expediency of the part he was expected to play in arraying
the negroes against the whites. No; he was simply putting together as
many sonorous phrases as he could remember, and storing them away in
view of the contingency that he would be called on to address those of
his race who might be present at the organisation of the Union League.
He had been very busy since his conference with the agent of the
Freedman's Bureau, and, in one way and another, had managed to convey
information of the proposed meeting to quite a number of the negroes;
and in performing this service he was careful that a majority of those
notified should be members of his church--negroes with whom his
influence was all-powerful. But he had also invited Uncle Plato,
Clopton's carriage-driver, Wiley Millirons, and Walthall's Jake, three
of the worthiest and most sensible negroes to be found anywhere.

While the Rev. Jeremiah, full of his own importance, and swelling with
childish vanity, was making his way toward Neighbour Tomlin's, on whose
lot he had a house, rent free, there were other plotters at work. In
addition to Gabriel Tolliver, Nan Dorrington was a plotter to be
reckoned with, especially when she had as her copartner Tasma Tid, who
was as cunning as some wild thing.

When the day was far spent, or, as Mrs. Absalom would say, "along to'rds
the shank of the evenin'," Nan and Tasma Tid went wandering out of town
in the direction of the school-house. The excuse Nan had given at home
was that she wanted to see Tasma Tid's hiding-place. As they passed
Tomlin's, they saw the Rev. Jeremiah splitting wood for his wife, who
was the cook. At sight of Jeremiah, Tasma Tid began to laugh, and she
laughed so long and so loud that the parson paused in his labours and
looked at her. He took off his hat and bowed to Nan, whereupon Tasma Tid
raised her hand above her head, and indulged in a series of wild
gesticulations, which, to the Rev. Jeremiah, were very mysterious and
puzzling. He shook his head