d the little quilling-wheel, at which a boy or girl
would fill the quills to be in readiness for the shuttles. Scip was an
odd figure, with his short legs, and his woolly hair combed out until
his head looked as big as a bushel.

The dwellings of the negroes were quite a distance from the "Great
House," as that of the master was called, and were built in two or
more long rows with a street between. This was the plan upon every
plantation. Each house had a front and back piazza, and a garden,
which was cultivated or allowed to run wild according to the thrift of
the residents. It generally was stocked with peach and apple trees,
and presented a pretty picture in spring, when the blue smoke from the
houses curled up to the sky amid the pink blossoms, while the drowsy
hum of a spinning-wheel seemed to enhance the quiet of the peaceful
surroundings.

The church at Runiroi was large and comfortably furnished with seats;
colored texts were upon the walls, and the bell, which summoned the
people on Sunday mornings, swung amid the branches of a giant oak.
Both your great-grandfather and grandfather employed a chaplain. At
Runiroi, he officiated only upon alternate Sundays, as the people
liked best to listen to Carpenter Jim. It used to be a pretty sight
upon a Sunday morning to see the people, all dressed in their clean
homespun clothes, trooping to church, laughing and chattering until
they reached the door, when they immediately would assume the deepest
gravity and proceed at once to groan and shake themselves more and
more at every prayer. The singing would often sound very sweet at a
distance, although I must confess that I never sympathized in the
admiration of the negro's voice.

Of course, like all other laboring classes, the negroes had to work,
and of course, as they had not the incentive of poverty, discipline
was necessary. They knew that they would be housed, clothed and well
fed whether they earned these comforts or not; so, in order to insure
diligence, reliable men were chosen from among them as assistants to
the white overseers; these were called "foremen," and were looked up
to with respect by their fellows. Upon every large plantation there
was also a Foreman Plower, his business being to take the lead and see
that the plowing was well done and that the plow horses were not
maltreated. With the settled men this was unnecessary, but it was very
needful with the younger hands. These colored foremen were, in t