others crowding about the door and filling the
piazza, quiet and orderly, but eager listeners. Not a single one of
our people came up. John Major is a discontented, conceited fellow,
who has never worked for Mr. Philbrick, though his wife and children
have, and he headed the petition. It was splendid to see how quickly
the Judge saw through him, when he has been only a week in the
Department, and could hardly understand what he said; but he showed
the man pretty plainly what he thought of him, telling him, when he
said the Government could not find him out [know him] that it _had_
found him out, that it had his name in Washington, and that if he
thought Secesh times were so much better, the Government loved him so
well it would let him go back to his old master! After tea came 'Siah
and Pompey, two very different men,--intelligent, hard-working, and
honest, the former particularly truthful and reliable, men whom we all
respect,--and it was a fine sight to see these men, only two years out
of slavery, respectfully but decidedly standing up for what they
thought their rights in a room full of white people. 'Siah only said
that he thought he ought to have fifty cents for what he is now paid
forty for[158] (about four hours work), but that he had given his word
to Mr. Philbrick for this year and he would stand by it. He says he
never signed the paper, or saw it, but that he answered the question
the two officers asked him and told his name. Pompey afterwards
stated that the two officers asked who owned the adjoining plantations
and that one,--and that on being told that Mr. Philbrick had bought
them all, said: "Then we need not go any further"--which looks like
malice aforethought. The paper was, apparently, written at Hilton
Head and there signed with the men's marks--if so, it is a
forgery. Pompey's great difficulty seemed to have arisen from a
misunderstanding of statements made by Mr. Philbrick, in which he
considered that Mr. Philbrick took back his word, and so he had lost
confidence in him and was ready to appeal to any one who promised to
see him righted and relieved from his "confusion." He says, and all
the men say so too, that Mr. Philbrick promised when he bought the
land to sell it to them when the war was over for what he gave for it,
and that when he was here last he told them he should ask them ten
dollars an acre. This they all stand to, and cannot be convinced they
have made a mistake, but have lost their f