"One day I went up to Richmond to spend the night with some college
friends. My uncle Frank was already there, on business he said. Well, I
found out what his business was--accidentally, of course. He was there
to see a nigger lawyer! Think of that, Christine. A Jenison having
dealings with a nigger lawyer. This lawyer had once been a slave on the
Jenison place, a yellow boy whose name was Isaac--Isaac Perry. When the
war broke out he went with my uncle as his body-servant. He was a
smart, thieving fellow,--always too smart to be caught, but always
under suspicion. My grandfather had given him some schooling because
Isaac's father was _his_ body-servant and he would have done anything
for old Abraham. After the war Isaac was made a lawyer, 'way down in
South Carolina. The judges were darkies, they say. Later on he went to
Richmond and did some business for the darkies there, besides
conducting a barber shop.
"Well, I happened to go into his shop the evening I reached Richmond.
He was shaving Uncle Frank. They did not observe me as I sat back along
the wall. I heard him tell Uncle Frank he would surely come to the
hotel that night to see him. Uncle Frank said it was important and
asked him to be sure and bring the papers. He left the shop without
seeing me, and Isaac had forgotten me, I reckon. I wondered what
business he and my uncle could have to discuss. That night I made it a
point to be at the hotel. I saw Uncle Frank standing out in front. When
Isaac came up he took him off down the street. I heard him say to Isaac
that the hotel was not a good place for a nigger to be seen, except as
a servant, even if he did come as a lawyer. So they went back to the
barber shop, which was closed. Isaac opened the doors and they went in.
The blinds were shut. I waited until Uncle Frank came out, an hour
later. He said to Isaac, who came no farther than the door, that he
would be up again in about ten days to see how he was 'getting on with
it.' Isaac said he'd have it fixed up 'so slick that it would fool the
old man hisself.'
"When I went back to Jenison Hall I tried to tell grandfather about all
this, but I didn't do it. I couldn't bear the thought of carrying
tales. I went back to school, but I couldn't get the thing out of my
head."
Christine interrupted him, intense almost to breathlessness.
"They--they were fixing up a new will!" she whispered, vastly excited.
He smiled wanly. "I wish I could prove that. About three weeks ago I
had a message from Uncle Frank, saying that grandfather was quite ill.
I was to come home. When I got to the Hall grandfather was much better,
and seemed annoyed because my uncle had brought me home unnecessarily.
That very night he was murdered."
"Oh!" she whispered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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