Fiction has said so much in regret of the old days when there wereplantations and overseers and masters and slaves, that it was good tocome upon such a household as Berry Hamilton's, if for no other reasonthan that it afforded a relief from the monotony of tiresome iteration.
The little cottage in which he lived with his wife, Fannie, who washousekeeper to the Oakleys, and his son and daughter, Joe and Kit, satback in the yard some hundred paces from the mansion of his employer. Itwas somewhat in the manner of the old cabin in the quarters, with whichusage as well as tradition had made both master and servant familiar.But, unlike the cabin of the elder day, it was a neatly furnished,modern house, the home of a typical, good-living negro. For twenty yearsBerry Hamilton had been butler for Maurice Oakley. He was one of themany slaves who upon their accession to freedom had not left the South,but had wandered from place to place in their own beloved section,waiting, working, and struggling to rise with its rehabilitatedfortunes.
The first faint signs of recovery were being seen when he came toMaurice Oakley as a servant. Through thick and thin he remained withhim, and when the final upward tendency of his employer began hisfortunes had increased in like manner. When, having married, Oakleybought the great house in which he now lived, he left the littleservant's cottage in the yard, for, as he said laughingly, "There is notelling when Berry will be following my example and be taking a wifeunto himself."
His joking prophecy came true very soon. Berry had long had a tendernessfor Fannie, the housekeeper. As she retained her post under the new Mrs.Oakley, and as there was a cottage ready to his hand, it promised to becheaper and more convenient all around to get married. Fannie waswilling, and so the matter was settled.
Fannie had never regretted her choice, nor had Berry ever had cause tocurse his utilitarian ideas. The stream of years had flowed pleasantlyand peacefully with them. Their little sorrows had come, but their joyshad been many.
As time went on, the little cottage grew in comfort. It was replenishedwith things handed down from "the house" from time to time and withothers bought from the pair's earnings.
Berry had time for his lodge, and Fannie time to spare for