e from the cruelties of the
traitors. One of these patriotic women was arrested while on a visit to
Greenville for the purpose of procuring medicine and other necessaries
for sick Union men then hid away in the woods. This large-hearted
woman--Eunice Hastings--had her horse taken from her, robbed of the
goods she had purchased, and, after experiencing almost death at the
hands of the rebel women, was released and turned out penniless, and
without the means of reaching her home in the country; when Clotelle,
who had just arrived at the dilapidated and poorly kept hotel, met her,
and, learning the particulars of her case, offered assistance to the
injured woman, which brought down upon her own head the condemnation of
the secesh population of the place. However, Clotelle purchased a fine
horse from the landlord, gave it to Miss Hastings, who, after securing
some articles for which she had come to Greenville, left town under
cover of night, and escaped further molestation. This act of kindness to
a helpless sister at once stirred up the vilest feelings of the people.

"The worst of slaves is he whom passion rules."

As has already been said, there was nothing in the appearance of
Clotelle to indicate that a drop of African blood coursed through her
veins, except, perhaps, the slight wave in the hair, and the scarcely
perceptible brunettish tinge upon the countenance. She passed as a rebel
lady; yet the inhabitants of Greenville could not permit sympathy with,
and aid to, a Union woman to pass unnoticed, and therefore resolved on
revenge.

"Revenge, at first though sweet, Bitter ere long, back on itself
recoils."

Clotelle's person, trunks, and letters were all searched with the hope
and expectation of finding evidences of a spy. Nothing of the kind being
found, she was then rigorously interrogated as to her sympathies
with the two contending armies. With no wish whatever to conceal her
opinions, she openly avowed that she was a Union woman. This was enough.
After being persecuted during the day, she was put in charge of a
committee of rebel women for the night, with a promise of more violent
treatment on the morrow. The loyalty of the negroes of the South, during
the severest hours of the rebellion, reflects the greatest possible
credit on the race. Through their assistance, hundreds of Union men
were enabled to make their escape from prisons, and thousands kept from
starvation when on their way to the Federal lines, o