It was late afternoon of one of June's most beautiful days in 1850 when Edward Marquand heaved his six-foot frame into the hayloft of the horse barn behind his father's house. He threw himself upon a pile of hay remaining from the winter's supply, and lied with his eyes half closed, lazily watching the sparrows that flitted among the roof rafters.

His thoughts were not upon the beauties of the weather, except to be glad it was still cool enough to make the loft a comfortable lounging place. At the age of 18, fair weather, like the other good things of life, was something to be enjoyed as a divine right.

Instead, Edward was pondering whether or not Sally, the light skinned Negro slave girl, would be sent on her usual egg hunt in the outbuildings. He knew it was possible that old Mammy Tina, housekeeper and overlord of the household servants, could tie her up with other duties. He frowned at the latter possibility.

He did not have to wait long. The gangway door downstairs creaked on its rusty hinges and a few minutes later a golden brown Negro girl, perhaps a year younger than himself, came up the ladder with easy grace and set her egg basket on the floor of the loft. She appeared not to notice

him as she raised her cotton shift well above the knee, exposing her plump thigh. He watched her for a moment in silence then sat up with delight.

"Why, Masser Eddie! How yo' startled me," she giggled in mock astonishment, rolling her big black eyes.

"I'll bet I did," he laughed. "Come here, you golden Jezebel!"

Her silvery laugh mingled with his as he came to his feet and folded her in his arms.

"My Honey," he whispered, "I was afraid old Tina might take a notion to sidetrack you this evening."

"She woulda, but I chased li'l Neb down ta da cabins ta look fo' a comb I said I'd lef' there. Warn't nobody around ta send affer them eggs but me!"

"Well, the eggs can wait. She won't expect you back for a while and you know I can't do without my Brown Sugar."

He fumbled with the string ties that fastened her shift and she stepped out of it while he hastily rid himself of his own garments. Again they embraced, his white body entwined with her brown one. They tumbled upon the hay pile together, oblivious to everything but their passionate desires.

"Well, well! Fancy breaking in on anything as perfect as this!"

The voice was like a thunderclap from a cloudless sky. The lovers broke apart and sprang to their feet.

There beside the ladder opening stood another young man, identical to Edward in every respect except that he was fully clothed and his face wore a sneering grin.

"Masser John!" breathed Sally.

"Don't let me interfere with your amours, my dear brother," said the intruder. "I'll go back downstairs until you've finished, then I'll come back up and take my turn. Perhaps we should make a more thorough practice of sharing things. This would be a wonderful time and place to begin."

"We'll do nothing of the kind!" Edward replied angrily. "Sally's mine, and I'm not going to hand her over to you or anyone else!"

"Do tell! Yours, is she? Can't say I remember her being given to you. Seems to me she's still one of father's niggers and doesn't actually belong to either of us yet, though we do have the use of her.

"She never would give me a chance around the house, and now I know why. My dear twin brother has moved in and staked a claim. I had a notion to take her whether she liked it or not, but I thought old Tina might tell the judge and that wouldn't be so good.

"This makes it different—she can't tell on me without telling on you. I really like the field wenches better and wondered why you ducked them, but I see it all now. Well, get on with it my dear Edward. I'll be back in ten minutes for my turn."

"Like hell, you will!' yelled Edward, his rage breaking all bounds. He sprang at John with his fists flying. John gave ground, but defended himself well. The fight continued for a few moments while Sally sat half naked on the hay pile watching the spectacle of two white boys fighting over her like a pair of tomcats.

The encounter ended as quickly as it had begun. With a lucky punch, Edward floored his opponent and jumped in to finish him. John rolled out of the way and came up with a piece of broken pitchfork handle. He brought it crashing down upon his brother's head. Edward collapsed upon the floor and laid still, blood trickling from a gash above his ear.

"Good God! I've killed him!" gasped John. He flung his weapon aside, hurried down through the ladder hatch and was gone in an instant.

Sally had come to her feet with the blow to Edward's head and stood for a moment, petrified. She dropped to Edward's side and cradled his head in her arms. She placed her hand over his heart and found it was still beating.

"Oh mah Honey, mah Honey!" she sobbed, rocking her body back and forth as she tried to collect her scattered wits.

She pulled on her shift and ran out to the well behind the barn. Returning with a gourd full of water from the horse trough, she began bathing his forehead using a handkerchief she found in the pocket of his trousers. Within a few minutes he began to show signs of life with his moaning and twitching. She ran out to get another gourd of water and returned to find him sitting up staring dumbly at the blood that stained his hands and body.

"Are yo' all right, Honey?" Sally pleaded. "Say sumpin' ta me—tell me yo' ain't gonna die."

"Die? What—die?" he faltered, making an effort to rise, then sitting down again.

Sally mopped his head until he recovered enough to ask what had happened. She wasted no time explaining the situation while hurrying him into his clothes as quickly as possible.

"Did he hurt you, Sally? Did he get his hands on you?"

"No Masser Eddie, he got scared when he hit yo' an' he lef' right away. Don't know where he went," Sally replied, her brown cheeks flushing with pleasure that his first thought had been for her safety.

"What's goin' on up here?"

They whirled about to see a kinky black head and broad shoulders appearing just above the floor level on the loft ladder. It was the stableman, attracted by her sobbing and the sound of conversation.

"S'cuse me, Masser Eddie, didn't know it were yo'," he turned to go, as he recognized his master's son and realized it might not be well to intrude.

"Come up an' help! Masser Eddie is hurt! Hurry Ebenezer, yo' big ox," Sally's voice rang with quick assumption of authority.

Ebenezer turned around, and without hesitation he scurried down from the loft to assist his master. Together, he and Sally helped Edward into the aisle between the mangers.

"Help him to the house, Ebenezer, an' don't yo' dare tell nobody I was with him, or I'll claw yo' eyes out."

"Yeah, yeah, Sally. I do it jus' lak yo' say," Ebenezer agreed. "Come Masser Eddie, lean on mah arm."

Edward, who had been leaning weakly against the ladder, started to protest, insisting he could manage by himself. But suddenly the fog closed in on his brain again and he began to slide down toward the floor. Ebenezer picked him up in his great arms and carried him like a baby in the direction of the house. Sally picked up her egg basket and resumed her hunt, trying desperately to think of some way out of their trouble.

No one noticed John as he slipped quietly out of one of the box stalls at the other...