But even this Mr. Cumming did bear after a while, and kept his
shoulder to the wheel. He kept his shoulder to the wheel till that
third misfortune came upon him--till the protection duty on Jamaica
sugar was abolished. Then he turned his face to the wall and died.

His son at this time was not of age, and the large but lessening
property which Mr. Cumming left behind him was for three years in the
hands of trustees. But nevertheless Maurice, young as he was,
managed the estate. It was he who grew the canes, and made the
sugar;--or else failed to make it. He was the "massa" to whom the
free negroes looked as the source from whence their wants should be
supplied, notwithstanding that, being free, they were ill inclined to
work for him, let his want of work be ever so sore.

Mount Pleasant had been a very large property. In addition to his
sugar-canes Mr. Cumming had grown coffee; for his land ran up into
the hills of Trelawney to that altitude which in the tropics seems
necessary for the perfect growth of the coffee berry. But it soon
became evident that labour for the double produce could not be had,
and the coffee plantation was abandoned. Wild brush and the thick
undergrowth of forest reappeared on the hill-sides which had been
rich with produce. And the evil re-created and exaggerated itself.
Negroes squatted on the abandoned property; and being able to live
with abundance from their stolen gardens, were less willing than ever
to work in the cane pieces.

And thus things went from bad to worse. In the good old times Mr.
Cumming's sugar produce had spread itself annually over some three
hundred acres; but by degrees this dwindle down to half that extent
of land. And then in those old golden days they had always taken a