defense, and gave
the overseer an excellent pelting with stones. One of the little fellows
ran up, seized the overseer by the leg and bit him; but the monster was
too busily engaged with Nelly, to pay any attention to the assaults of
the children. There were numerous bloody marks on Mr. Sevier's face,
when I first saw him, and they increased as the struggle went on. The
imprints of Nelly's fingers were visible, and I was glad to see them.
Amidst the wild screams of the children--"_Let my mammy go"--"let my
mammy go_"--there escaped, from between the teeth of the bullet-headed
overseer, a few bitter curses, mingled with threats, that "he would
teach the d--d b--h how to give a white man impudence." There is no
doubt that Nelly felt herself superior, in some respects, to the slaves
around her. She was a wife and a mother; her husband was a valued and
favorite slave. Besides, he was one of the first hands on board of the
sloop, and the sloop hands--since they had to represent the plantation
abroad--were generally treated tenderly. The overseer never was allowed
to whip Harry; why then should he be allowed to whip Harry's wife?
Thoughts of this kind, no doubt, influenced her; but, for whatever
reason, she nobly resisted, and, unlike most of the slaves,{73 COMBAT
BETWEEN MR. SEVIER AND NELLY} seemed determined to make her whipping
cost Mr. Sevier as much as possible. The blood on his (and her) face,
attested her skill, as well as her courage and dexterity in using her
nails. Maddened by her resistance, I expected to see Mr. Sevier
level her to the ground by a stunning blow; but no; like a savage
bull-dog--which he resembled both in temper and appearance--he
maintained his grip, and steadily dragged his victim toward the tree,
disregarding alike her blows, and the cries of the children for their
mother's release. He would, doubtless, have knocked her down with his
hickory stick, but that such act might have cost him his place. It is
often deemed advisable to knock a _man_ slave down, in order to tie him,
but it is considered cowardly and inexcusable, in an overseer, thus to
deal with a _woman_. He is expected to tie her up, and to give her what
is called, in southern parlance, a "genteel flogging," without any very
great outlay of strength or skill. I watched, with palpitating interest,
the course of the preliminary struggle, and was saddened by every new
advantage gained over her by the ruffian. There were times when she
seem