During the week the weaving-house was completed—Tibeats in the meantime making no allusion whateverto the difficulty—when I was informed he had hired meto Peter Tanner， to work under another carpenter by thename of Myers. This announcement was received withgratification， as any place was desirable that would relieveme of his hateful presence.
Peter Tanner， as the reader has already been informed，lived on the opposite shore， and was the brother ofMistress Ford. He is one of the most extensive planterson Bayou Boeuf， and owns a large number of slaves.
Over I went to Tanner’s， joyfully enough. He had heardof my late difficulties—in fact， I ascertained the floggingof Tibeats was soon blazoned far and wide. This affair，together with my rafting experiment， had rendered mesomewhat notorious. More than once I heard it said thatPlatt Ford， now Platt Tibeats—a slave’s name changes withhis change of master—was “a devil of a nigger.” But I wasdestined to make a still further noise， as will presently beseen， throughout the little world of Bayou Boeuf.
Peter Tanner endeavored to impress upon me the ideathat he was quite severe， though I could perceive therewas a vein of good humor in the old fellow， after all.
“You’re the nigger，” he said to me on my arrival— “You’rethe nigger that flogged your master， eh？ You’re the niggerthat kicks， and holds carpenter Tibeats by the leg， and wallops him， are ye？ I’d like to see you hold me by theleg—I should. You’re a ’portant character—you’re a greatnigger—very remarkable nigger， ain’t ye？ I’d lash you—I’dtake the tantrums out of ye. Jest take hold of my leg， ifyou please. None of your pranks here， my boy， rememberthat. Now go to work， you kickin’ rascal，” concluded PeterTanner， unable to suppress a half-comical grin at his ownwit and sarcasm.
After listening to this salutation， I was taken charge ofby Myers， and labored under his direction for a month， tohis and my own satisfaction.
Like William Ford， his brother-in-law， Tanner wasin the habit of reading the Bible to his slaves on theSabbath， but in a somewhat different spirit. He was animpressive commentator on the New-Testament. Thefirst Sunday after my coming to the plantation， he calledthem together， and began to read the twelfth chapterof Luke. When he came to the 47th verse， he lookeddeliberately around him， and continued— “And thatservant which knew his lord’s will，” —here he paused，looking around more deliberately than before， and againproceeded— “which knew his lord’s will， and preparednot himself” —here was another pause— “prepared nothimself， neither did according to his will， shall be beatenwith many stripes.”
“D’ye hear that？” demanded Peter， emphatically.
“Stripes，” he repeated， slowly and distinctly， taking off hisspectacles， preparatory to making a few remarks.
“That nigger that don’t take care—that don’t obey hislord—that’s his master—d’ye see？—that ’erenigger shallbe beaten with many stripes. Now， ‘many’ signifies agreat many—forty， a hundred， a hundred and fifty lashes.
That’s Scripter！” and so Peter continued to elucidate thesubject for a great length of time， much to the edificationof his sable audience.
At the conclusion of the exercises， calling up three ofhis slaves， Warner， Will and Major or， he cried out tome—
“Here， Platt， you held Tibeats by the legs； now I’ll see ifyou can hold these rascals in the same way， till I get backfrom meetin’.”
Thereupon he ordered them to the stocks—a commonthing on plantations in the Red River country. The stocksare formed of two planks， the lower one made fast at theends to two short posts， driven firmly into the ground.
At regular distances half circles are cut in the upperedge. The other plank is fastened to one of the posts by ahinge， so that it can be opened or shut down， in the samemanner as the blade of a pocket-knife is shut or opened.
In the lower edge of the upper plank corresponding halfcircles are also cut， so that when they close， a row of holesis formed large enough to admit a negro’s leg above theankle， but not large enough to enable him to draw outhis foot. The other end of the upper plank， opposite thehinge， is fastened to its post by lock and key. The slave ismade to sit upon the ground， when the uppermost prankis elevated， his legs， just above the ankles， placed in thesub-half circles， and shutting it down again， and lockingit， he is held secure and fast. Very often the neck insteadof the ankle is enclosed. In this manner they are heldduring the operation of whipping.
Warner， Will and Major， according to Tanner’s accountof them， were melon-stealing， Sabbath-breaking niggers，and not approving of such wickedness， he felt it his dutyto put them in the stocks. Handing me the key， himself，Myers， Mistress Tanner and the children entered thecarriage and drove away to church at Cheneyville. Whenthey were gone， the boys begged me to let them out.
I felt sorry to see them sitting on the hot ground， andremembered my own sufferings in the sun. Upon theirpromise to return to the stocks at any moment they wererequired to do so， I consented to release them. Gratefulfor the lenity shown them， and in order in some measureto repay it， they could do no less， of course， than pilot meto the melon-patch. Shortly before Tanner’s return， theywere in the stocks again. Finally he drove up， and lookingat the boys， said， with a chuckle， —
“Aha！ ye havn’t been strolling about much to-day， anyway. I’ll teach you what’s what. I’ll tire ye of eating watermelonson the Lord’s day， ye Sabbath-breaking niggers.”
Peter Tanner prided himself upon his strict religiousobservances： he was a deacon in the church.
But I have now reached a point in the progress of mynarrative， when it becomes necessary to turn away from113
these light deions， to the more grave and weightymatter of the second battle with Master Tibeats， and theflight through the great Pacoudrie Swamp.
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