"Yes, I am afraid it cannot continue much longer, Vincent. Well, of
course, we shall fight to the end."

"I am not talking of giving up, mother; I am looking forward to the
future. The first step will be that all the slaves will be freed. Now,
it seems to me that, however attached they may be to their masters and
mistresses, they will lose their heads over this, flock into the towns,
and nearly starve there; or else take up little patches of land,
cultivate them, and live from hand to mouth, which will be ruin to the
present owners as well as to them. Anyhow, for a time all will be
confusion and disorder. Now, my idea is this: If you give all your
slaves their freedom at once, offer them patches of land for their own
cultivation, and employ them for wages, you will find that a great many
of them will stop with you." There is nowhere for them to go at present
and nothing to excite them, so, before the general crash comes, they
will have settled down quietly to work here in their new positions, and
will not be likely to go away.

"It is a serious step to take, Vincent," Mrs. Wingfield said, after
thinking the matter over in silence for some time. "You do not think
there is any probability of the ultimate success of our cause?"

"None, mother; I do not think there is even a possibility. One by one
the Southern States have been wrested from the Confederacy. Sherman's
march will completely isolate us. We have put our last available man in
the field, and tremendous as are the losses of the enemy they are able
to fill up the gaps as fast as they are made. No, mother, do not let us
deceive ourselves on that head. The end must come, and that before long.
The slaves will unquestionably be freed, and the only question for us is
how to soften the blow. There is no doubt that our slaves, both at the
Orangery and at the other plantations, are contented and happy; but you
know how fickle and easily led the negroes are, and in the excitement of
finding themselves free and able to go where they please, you may be
sure that the greater number will wander away. My proposal is that we
should at once mark out a plot of land for each family, and tell them
that as long as they stay here it is theirs, rent free; they will be
paid for their work upon the estates, three, four, or five days a week,
as they can spare time from their own plots. In this way they will be
settled down, and have crops upon their plots of land, before the whole
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