was sold to a Mississippi plantation, in the north-western part of the
State and on the river. The farm was managed by an overseer, the
master--Horton by name--being a practising physician in Memphis, Tenn.
Alston had been on the plantation a few weeks when, toward the last of
September, the cotton-picking season opened. The year had been, for the
river-plantations, exceptionally favorable for cotton-growing. On the
Horton place especially "the stand" had been pronounced perfect, there
being scarcely a gap, scarcely a stalk missing from the mile-long rows of
the broad fields. Then, the rainfall had not been so profuse as to develop
foliage at the bolls' expense, as was too frequently the case on the river.
Yet it had been plenteous enough to keep off the "rust," from which the
dryer upland plantations were now suffering. Neither the "boll-worm" nor
the dreaded "army-worm" had molested the river-fields; so the tall
pyramidal plants were thickly set with "squares" and green egg-shaped
bolls, smooth and shining as with varnish. On a single stalk might be seen
all stages of development--from the ripe, brown boll, parted starlike, with
the long white fleece depending, to the bean-sized embryo from which the
crimson flower had but just fallen. Indeed, among the wide-open bolls there
was an occasional flower, cream-hued or crimson according to its age, for
the cotton-bloom at opening resembles in color the magnolia-blossom, but
this changes quickly to a deep crimson.

There was, then, the promise, almost the certainty, of a heavy crop on the
Horton place. It was in view of this that the owner completed an
arrangement, for months under consideration, in which he increased his
working plantation-force by thirteen hands, of whom one was Alston. It was,
too, in view of this promised heavy crop that the overseer, Mr. Buck,
harangued the slaves at the opening of the picking-season. The burden of
his harangue was, that no flagging would be tolerated in cotton-gathering
during the season. The figures of the past year were on record, showing