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SWORDS AND HEARTS
63
LOOTING THE FRAZIER HOME
' ' Marse Frazier, ' ' he called ; ' ' where am you, Marse Frazier ! ' '
Receiving no reply, he plunged into the front door and up the stairs. Choking, gasping, blinded by the heat and smoke, he groped for the door of Marse Frazier 's room, found it, and stumbled in. The old man sat in his chair, his white head drooping forward upon the desk.
Down thru the smoke and the roar of the flames Uncle Tom, with the old man in his arms, staggered, fighting desperately to keep his senses, until when he came into the cool air at last and laid his precious burden down upon the green grass, he sank beside it unconscious. When he opened his eyes, Marse Frazier was bending over him.
"You saved my life, Uncle Tom," he said, "but the dear old home is gone. It was Baker and his gang. They couldn't find the gold, tho; it
was gone. Do you know when it was taken?"
"I reckon I does, sah," said Tom with a grin.
A year crawled by — a year of loss, of defeat, of bitterness and anguish for the South. As Uncle Tom stood by the gate one morning looking sadly at the ruins of the old home, there was a footfall beside him.
"Marse Hugh!" he exclaimed. ' ' You 's done come back ! ' '
"Yes, Uncle Tom," said Hugh, sadly, "I 'm back, but there 's no home for me. I know how you carried father out of the house, but tell me the rest of it."
"Eeckon they ain't much to tell. The shock was too much fo' yo' pa,
THE FRAZIER HOME IN FLAMES
HUGH RETURNS TO THE RUINS OF HIS OLD HOME
an' he died de day after de fire. 'Take care ob what's left for Marse Hugh,' he said, an' Ise done my best. Ise got a good garden, an' de servants' houses am left, an' I reckon we'll get along. 'Spect you'll soon go to live on de Lambert place, now dis house am gone."
"No. Uncle Tom, that is all over. Irene doesn't want me, defeated and penniless. No one wants me now but you."
Hugh dropped his head on the gate post, or he might have seen the old negro's look of dismayed indignation change to one of pleased satisfaction before he softly stole away. After a long time Hugh lifted his head, looking about the ruined, desolate place,