The Trials of the Soldiers Wife | Page 8

young lady; "it is
much cooler there."
"Ha, ha, ha," he laughed; "you had not found that out until I entered.
However," he went on, "do you both go out there. I am certain you will
do better without than with me."
His daughter blushed, but made no reply, and the young man removing
two chairs to the balcony, they both left the old gentleman, who,
turning up the gas, proceeded to read his evening Mississippian.

Dr. James Humphries was one of the oldest and most respectable
citizens of Jackson, and was looked upon with great esteem by all who
knew him. He had been a medical practitioner in that city from the time
it was nothing more than a little village, until railroad connections had
raised it to be a place of some consequence, and the capital of the State.
He had married when a young man, but of all his children, none
remained but his daughter Emma, in gaining whom he lost a
much-loved wife, she having died in child-birth.
At the time we write, Emma Humphries was betrothed to Henry
Shackleford, a young lawyer of fine ability, but who was, like many of
his countrymen, a soldier in the service of his country, and been elected
first lieutenant of the "Mississippi Rifles."
We will now leave them for the present, and in the next chapter
introduce the reader to two other characters.
CHAPTER SIXTH
The Spectator and Extortioner.
Mr. Jacob Swartz was sitting in the back room of his store on Main
street counting a heap of gold and silver coins which lay on a table
before him. He was a small, thin-bodied man, with little gray eyes, light
hair and aquiline nose. He was of that nationality generally known in
this country as "Dutch;" but having been there for over twenty years, he
had become naturalized, and was now a citizen of the chivalrous States
of Mississippi, a fact of which he prided himself considerably.
Mr. Swartz was busily engaged counting his money, when a little boy,
who seemed, from a similarity of features, to be his son appeared at the
door, and mentioned that Mr. Elder desired to see him.
"Vot can he vant?" said Mr. Swartz. Then as if recollecting, he
continued: "I suppose it is apout that little shtore he vants to rent me.
Tell him to come in."
The boy withdrew, and a few seconds after a tall and scrupulously

dressed gentleman, with his coat buttoned up to the throat, and wearing
a broad rimmed hat, entered the room. This was Mr. James Elder, a
citizen of Jackson, but not a native of the State. He came from
Kentucky several years before, and was a man with "Southern
principles." To do him justice, we will say that he was really true friend
to the South, which fact may have been not only from principle, but
from his being a large slaveholder. He was also the possessor of a
considerable amount of landed property and real estate, among which
were several buildings in Jackson.. He was also looked upon by the
world, as very charitable man, being always busy collecting money
from the people in aid of some benevolent object, and occasionally his
name would appear in the newspapers, accompanied by a flattering
compliment to his generosity, as the donor of a liberal amount of
money to some charitable institution or society. There were people,
however, who said that the poor families, who hired a series of
tenement buildings he possessed in the lower part of the city, were very
often hard pressed for their rent, and more than once turned out for
non-payment. These reports were considered as slanders, for being a
member, and one of the pillars of the Methodist Church, no one, for a
moment, believed that he would be guilty of so unfeeling an action.
On entering the room, Mr. James Elder made a stiff bow to Mr. Swartz,
and declining the hand offered to him, as if it were contamination to
touch the person of one of God's likeness, dusted a chair and sat down
opposite his host.
"Vell, Mr. Elder, have you decided whether I can get the shtore or not?
Tis place of mine is in very pad orter, and I tinks yours vill shust suit
me," began Mr. Swartz, after a silence of about three minutes.
"Yes, Mr. Swartz, I think you can have the place, if you and I can come
to terms about the price of the rent, which must be payable always in
advance," replied Mr. Elder.
"I tont care," answered Mr. Swartz. "I would as soon pay you in
advance as not. But vot price to you charge?"
"I charge fifty dollars per month," was the short answer.

"Vell, dat vill do; and I