Sam felt that he had been slighted if
his opinion was not asked. As to the marketing, he did it all. He sat
at the head of the servants' table in the kitchen, and was master of
the ceremonies. A single look from him was enough to silence any
conversation or noise among the servants in the kitchen or in any other
part of the premises.

There is in the Southern States a great amount of prejudice in regard
to color, even among the negroes themselves. The nearer the negro
or mulatto approaches to the white, the more he seems to feel his
superiority over those of a darker hue. This is no doubt the result of
the prejudice that exists on the part of the whites against both the
mulattoes and the blacks.

Sam was originally from Kentucky, and through the instrumentality of one
of his young masters, whom he had to take to school, he had learned
to read so as to be well understood, and, owing to that fact, was
considered a prodigy, not only among his own master's slaves, but also
among those of the town who knew him. Sam had a great wish to follow in
the footsteps of his master and be a poet, and was therefore often heard
singing doggerels of his own composition.

But there was one drawback to Sam, and that was his color. He was one
of the blackest of his race. This he evidently regarded as a great
misfortune; but he endeavored to make up for it in dress. Mr. Wilson
kept his house-servants well dressed, and as for Sam, he was seldom seen
except in a ruffled shirt. Indeed, the washerwoman feared him more than
any one else in the house.

Agnes had been inaugurated chief of the kitchen department, and had
a general supervision of the household affairs. Alfred, the coachman,
Peter, and Hetty made up the remainder of the house-servants. Besides
these, Mr. Wilson owned eight slaves who were masons. These worked in
the city. Being mechanics, they were let out to greater advantage than
to keep them on the farm.

Every Sunday evening, Mr. Wilson's servants, including the brick-layers,
assembled in the kitchen, where the events of the week were fully
discussed and commented upon. It was on a Sunday evening, in the month
of June, that there was a party at Mr. Wilson's house, and, according to
custom in the Southern States, the ladies had their maid-servants with
them. Tea had been served in "the house," and the servants, including
the strangers, had taken their seats at the table in the kitchen. Sam,
being a "single gentleman," was unu