"
"Ephraim," the Colonel said, turning to the old preacher, "put this man
on the payroll as a field hand, beginning from to-morrow, but don't send
him to the field for a couple of weeks. Behave yourself," he added,
turning to the peonage victim, "and you'll be all right here."
The negro thanked him profusely, and went out, his wretched frame
showing up miserably in the strong sunlight as he passed by the window
of the dining room.
"But that's worse than any slavery I ever heard of," burst out Hamilton
indignantly.
"Peonage?" answered the old veteran. "Oh, yes, much worse."
"And it still goes on?"
"There were several hundred stockades in operation last year," was the
reply, "and that's a fair sample of their work."
[Illustration: HOW MOST OF THE NEGROES LIVE. Type of shack usually seen
in Southern States, though the owners are not always in poor
circumstances.]
CHAPTER VII
HOBOES ON THE TRAMP
Although he realized that his lines had fallen in pleasant places for
the enumeration work, it was not without a certain sense of satisfaction
that Hamilton entered up what was marked on the map as the last house,
and started for the supervisor's office.
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