"♪ I was alone" "♪ praying for someone to love ♪" "♪ Thinking the moon was a stranger ♪" "♪ The stars were unfriendly ♪" "♪ And love was a shrine ♪" "♪ Not meant to be mine ♪" "♪ I was alone" "♪ praying to heaven above ♪" "♪ When all at once I imagined ♪" "♪ A band of angels up there ♪" "♪ In the heavens" "♪ they seemed to be singing ♪" "♪ A great heavenly love song ♪" "♪ And then, when they were done ♪" "♪ I looked around" "♪ and there I found you ♪" "♪ Now I'm not alone" "♪ thanks to the heavens above ♪" "♪ Thanks to my band of angels ♪" "♪ For answering all of my prayers ♪" "♪ With your love [barking]" "Put your hands up!" "Get down." "Where were you running off to?" "He was going to Cincinnati." "He was scared to go by hisself." "He done made me go with him." "You lying scamp." "A good flogging will take the running out of them." "No flogging." "They're new here, or they wouldn't have run away." "Take them to the cemetery and have them pull the weeds." "Get up." "Move." "Long as I've been at Starrwood, he's never whipped a slave." "Never sold one neither." "Sure got funny ideas up here in Kentucky." "Manty, darling." "Father, why isn't she buried over yonder with our other folks?" "Manty, I told you." "I wanted your mother near the house where she's closer to me and to you." "Oh, shad." "Ya, massa Aaron." "Manty, you go along with shad." "Tell old Sukie to bake us a nice big Berry pie for supper." "Doesn't that sound good?" "Now, now, sweetheart." "What are little girls made of?" "Sugar and spice, I guess." "And everything nice." "You run along, now." "I catched you giving my berries away." "You put her up to them tricks, you no-good shaddy." "That baby gal's got to eat big to grow big like me." "Mm-hmm." "She growing up-- blooming out pretty all over." "Afore you know it, someday she going to be owning Starrwood." "Her, own Starrwood?" "Yes, her, and that's enough from you." "But she couldn't." "Shut your mouth!" "I want to hear about it." "Shad?" "If massa Aaron finds out..." "Massa Aaron?" "Him?" "Them muckety-mucks ain't nothing." "Pull off their fancy clothes, and there ain't nothing different." "And Manty--what's she?" "She ain't nothing." "Ain't no better than nothing." "You get yourself out of my kitchen." "Out of my kitchen right now before I hit you upside your..." "No better than nothing?" "What did he mean?" "He just crazy, that's all." "I'll ask father." "Manty." "Manty!" "That man from danville..." "Took shaddy." "You sold him." "You sold him away." "I had to." "Certain things have to be done." "Nobody can change them." "Now, listen, honey." "Here's some good news." "You've sort of outgrown Starrwood and miss Tottenham, your governess." "You've learned most everything she can teach you, and, well, you're going away to school." "First you send shad away and now me." "I won't leave you." "I won't leave Starrwood." "I don't want you to leave me, Manty, but this is just a little place in a great big world." "Someday you'll come back to it-- miss Amantha Starr, a great lady with a head full of learning." "It won't be too far away." "I'll see you often." "Try to get some sleep now, honey." "Sweet little Manty." "What are little girls made of?" "[Sniffle]" "I don't know, father." "I don't know." "Dear Sukie, you know I would write you more often, but father comes to Cincinnati so frequently." ""And each time I have sent my love to you." ""I am now a graduate student" ""at the conservatory," ""not as homesick as I used to be" ""because I have some fine friends," ""especially the reverend Seth Parton." ""He's a young divinity student" ""who conducts chapel for us" ""at the conservatory." "He is so splendid and strong and earnest."" "That child's sick." "No." "I'd say she's busting with health." ""As you know," ""father will be in Cincinnati this weekend," ""and I am taking Seth" ""to meet him at a tea" ""which miss Idell, my French teacher," ""is giving for me and some girls from my dormitory." ""She's quite fascinating, and father seems to think so, too."" "[Playing camptown races]" "Doesn't she play divinely?" "If you like arias of unbridled passion." "I'm sorry, Mr. Parton." "Perhaps a sonata would have been more fitting." "Possibly so, miss Idell." "Some music lifts the soul." "Some expresses the baser instincts." "Please forgive my ignorance." "To comprendre c'est to pardonner." "There is the unsullied happiness of virtue and good works and the sanctified happiness of marriage." "Aside from these conditions, man's only true joy is self-denial." "I always thought a woman was until I met Seth." "You should have heard his last sermon" ""plowing under the wicked."" "Well, today, Amantha," "I'm troubled by a graver subject, more than anything you heard in that sermon." "Slavery, Mr. Starr." "I declare to you, sir, my burning belief in the natural equality of all humans." "I'm not prepared for debate, but I believe you'd agree that my slaves are treated kindly." "That's just it, sir." "Kindness can be the mask for evil, the kindness of deluded persons ensnared in works of wickedness, for indulgence rivets the shackle." "Kindness seduces the..." "The..." "I'm listening, Mr. Parton." "That is all, sir." "Truth gives pain sometimes, but that doesn't mean I lack regard for the one who might be hurt." "You don't hurt anybody, Seth." "You know how preachers give them tarnation in the sermon and then shake hands when church is out." "My hand, sir." "It's been pleasant." "Good afternoon, all." "Good day, sir." "Come along, girls." "Seth has to work on his new sermon." "I'm sure nobody would go to sleep when you preach, young man." "Good day," "Amantha." "Isn't he wonderful, father?" "If you say so, miss sugar-and-spice." "Big, aren't you?" "Strong as a bull, I imagine." "My strength is of the spirit, miss Idell." "Maybe so, Seth, but if your muscles ever get to wrestling with your spirit," "I'll buy a ticket to the contest." "Good day." "I'll tell Sukie how well you look." "She's asking about you all the time." "I'll write her another letter next week." "I'll tell her, honey." "Now, don't you worry." "I'll see you soon." "I have to come up here next month on business." "Thank you so much for the nice party." "Goodbye, Manty dear." "Bye, father." "Goodbye, dear." "Only graduates are allowed to wear their hair up." "Six years of this." "How did she ever..." "Miss Amantha, are you ever going to leave the conservatory?" "[Seth] Amantha." "Does that answer your question?" "I'll probably be married and have quite a family before you all graduate." "Young ladies." "My dear Amantha," "I've been entrusted with a great crusade." "It'll take me all over two counties." "What is it?" "I volunteered to speak in the presidential campaign of Mr. Lincoln." "I've been chosen." "Seth, what an honor." "Tonight I make my opening address at Clinton county." "I shall carry the fight to every village and crossroads." "Oh, I'm so proud of you." "Oh." "I must be off, or I'll miss my train." "Good luck, Seth." "My apologies." "I'm on my way to strike a blow against slavery." "Splendid." "A letter for you, Amantha." "Mail's arrived." "Mildred." "Jenny." "What is it?" "It's my father." "He's terribly ill." "I'm going to have to leave." "I'm sorry, Amantha." "The floods are making river travel difficult." "Some of the packet boats haven't left for three days." "You'll tell Seth?" "As soon as possible." "♪ Oh, swing low" "♪ sweet chariot" "♪ comin' for to carry me home ♪" "♪ oh, swing low..." "My baby!" "Oh, my baby!" "My baby!" "♪ Comin' for to carry me home... ♪" "That's Amantha Starr." "Thanks, sheriff." "Too bad." "They waited." "They thought you never was coming." "Father." "No." "No!" "That's the wrong place." "He should be over there, over by my mother." "[Sobbing]" "Manty." "Manty, child." "Sorry I got to do this, folks." "All these slaves there, get your belongings together." "A judgment's been given against the estate." "You heard the sheriff, and I'm warning you" "I aim to sell you all, every last one." "Nobody's going to sell them away from here." "You'll find out about that, ma'am." "Who are you, if I may ask?" "Mr. Calloway's a slave dealer from Danville." "He's got the court judgment against Starrwood." "Where's the overseer?" "I'm right here." "What do you want?" "Mr. Starr must have thought he was running a charity farm." "They ain't worth their freight." "Here." "Them that's marked on this invoice, you deliver to Franklin landing where they'll be shipped south." "The rest of them, drop them off at robard's market." "You'll do nothing of the kind." "There's some kind of mistake." "You do as I say." "There's been no mistake." "Mr. Aaron Starr was the fine gentleman that borrowed money from me to go a-sportin' in Cincinnati." "Don't you talk about my father that way, you..." "White trash!" "I can't say I like what I got to do, but I call you all to witness." "Do you state and affirm you go by the name of Amantha Starr?" "Certainly." "That's my name." "Amantha, it is sworn and affirmed that you are the issue of the body of a slave called Louisa, a chattel of Aaron Pendleton Starr, deceased, and as her issue, you are declared by the law of this commonwealth" "to be a chattel of Starrwood, subject to any claims against the estate." "My mother?" "She was a Negress." "You're the same stripe as the rest of them slaves." "That's not true." "You're lying." "You liar!" "I know who's got it." "Overseer told me that massa Aaron give her all his bank money." "Got the plantation house, too." "Miss Idell." "Miss Idell." "Miss Idell." "Put this nigger in the rig." "She's real money." "You can't!" "I'm Amantha Starr." "Go on!" "Do like I tell you." "Please, Mr. Calloway." "She ain't no negro." "A nigger's what you can sell, and I aim to sell her quicker than she can swallow her own spit." "My baby's going to be sold into slavery!" "Put her baggage in here." "All right." "Take off." "Sukie!" "Sukie!" "Somebody help me!" "Help me!" "Sukie!" "Now, you wait here." "I'll get us a cabin." "[Steam whistle blows]" "Oh, no, you don't." "You're going all the way." "Let me through here!" "Now, you settle down and stop a-skitterin' around." "You'll find I ain't such a bad fella to get along with." "I got us fixed up real homelike." "Come on!" "Sam, get them in the pen." "All right." "Move on in here." "Let's go." "Come on here." "Let's get in here." "Here we are." "There." "[Ship's bells clang]" "You don't have to be scared." "I ain't no hurrying man." "You lucky there ain't some crazy young rooster sharing this Coop with you." "Put my bags in there." "I brung you a present-- some of old doc Calloway's soothing syrup." "Guaranteed to give you the "don't care" look." "If you feel like it, help yourself." "Hey, you sure are put together real nice, ain't you?" "Soft and white." "You going to bring a right pretty price in New Orleans." "I'm kind of glad this is going to be a long trip." "They'll never own me." "And you won't either." "Now don't you get uppity." "You ain't thinking you're too good for me, are you?" "Nah, you ain't." "You just never had man fun." "Is that it?" "Have you ever had a fella?" "Yes." "And he'll find me, and he'll kill you." "Ha ha ha ha!" "He don't know it, but he'll be killing one of the happiest men he ever seen." "Ow!" "Why, you ornery little she-cat." "You done broke my hide." "[Chuckling]" "But you know something?" "I kind of like that in a wench." "I used to be pretty proud of marks like that when I was a young'un." "You didn't really mean it, did you?" "Dr. Calloway!" "Dr. Calloway!" "Dr. Calloway!" "Big bucks fighting like devils." "Keep an eye on her till I get back." "You better hurry, Mr. Calloway." "They're going to knife themselves up." "I'll cool you off." "So you want to cut each other up, huh?" "I'll learn you how." "Hold on there, now." "None of that." "You'll scar them up worse." "Now clean them up." "If them cuts don't heal, use boot blacking to cover them over." "I still say they need a good whipping." "I couldn't even get $40 for a rambunctious fighting buck." "I'd be losing money." "Calloway." "Yeah." "What price you asking for that pretty little white one you got up there?" "She's kind of personal, Mr. Simpson, that is, until we get to New Orleans." "Open the door!" "Open the door!" "Massa Calloway!" "Massa Calloway!" "Massa Calloway!" "Yeah, yeah." "What now?" "She done locked me out." "She done lock you out." "Unlock that door in there." "You open up that door, or I'll whup you." "[Pounding on door]" "Aah!" "Help me over here!" "Get over there." "You got to..." "Put her down here." "Take this off." "Give me that whiskey." "That'll bring her around." "Here." "Gol-dang you." "I buy you, and you try to cheat me." "You scut, you let her die, and I'll buck-batter you." "[Gasping]" "Ah." "Now you lookee here." "You done tried it once, but you're not going to try it again." "I ain't going to bother you." "I get you a nice cabin, treat you like a lady, but you don't appreciate it." "But any more shenanigans, and I'll chain you with them hot-natured blacks." "I won't care what happens to you, just so they don't bruise you too bad." "I know." "I got money tied up in you, but I'd rather let them wear a couple hundred dollars off you than to get a lot of worriment." "Give me that bag." "And I'll see you at-- hey." "I'm going to bust them biggety notions of your'n wide open." "Get them tea-party duds off her and dress her like the rest of them." "That'll learn you you ain't so fancy." "Might as well get used to it." "Ain't nothing going to change nothing." "I'll change it." "Yeah?" "Just who do you think you are, gal?" "Amantha Starr, and nobody's going to keep me from being free." "You think you're white, don't you?" "Whiter than me." "Well, you ain't." "You stay away from me." "Some fella buy you..." "And what he do?" "What he then do?" "Maybe it won't be so bad." "Maybe you get something you like out of it." "One of them frenchie fellas in New Orleans, maybe he buy you." "You know what he'll do?" "He'll..." "[Laughing]" "Then you get old, and it don't matter-- don't matter what you done had." "They sure can't take it away." "[Laughing]" "Who'll say 75?" "75." "Now who'll say 100?" "100. 100." "Do I hear 100?" "Going, gentlemen." "Sold for $75." "Next." "Come on, boy." "Stand up there." "200 pounds of fine specimen." "What am I offered?" "What am I bid?" "$75." "$75?" "This boy here's built like a bull." "Show him what you're made of." "Watch him run up and down." "Look at him go." "He'll run like a rabbit." "Look at that boy." "Look at those shoulders." "Now, what am I bid?" "100." "100." "Do I hear 125?" "Get up here, boy." "125." "Do I hear 150?" "150." "150 is bid." "Do I hear 175?" "175." "175 is bid." "Do I hear 200?" "Going, going, gone." "Sold for $200." "Next." "Get up here." "You ruin my sale," "I'll break you down to $5.00 worth." "Ah, ladies and gentlemen, a flower of Kentucky in the bloom of youth." "Why go into details about something fit to ornament a drawing room?" "You ladies and gentlemen have eyes, especially you gentlemen." "I don't misrepresent the fact that she has colored blood, but it couldn't be more than a miser's dram, if, indeed, ladies and gentlemen, that much." "Just a moment." "All the same, I'm going to examine her." "Why, certainly, sir." "Anybody's free to look before bidding." "You'll see perfection." "Note the make of the leg and the splendid conformation." "I bid $5,000." "[Murmuring]" "Did I hear 5,000?" "You did." "You mean you want to start the bi-- oh, it's you, sir!" "According to what you say, she's a bargain at 5,000, isn't she?" "Oh, why, sure enough." "Who's game to bid against this gentleman?" "You all know him, and it's an honor-- un moment." "I still intend to have a look at her." "Turn around." "This way." "Perhaps you better tell him the rules of the auction." "Yes, sir." "No inspection permitted after the first bid, sir." "You expect me to bid sight unseen?" "No." "I don't expect you to bid at all." "You got into the Rue Royale by mistake while looking for Gallatin Street, where things are free and easy." "Mostly free." "Are you calling me a cheap-Jack?" "I must be." "I don't see any others around here." "Then I demand satisfaction." "I have seen brave-talking cowards like you." "Hamish bond." "Why didn't you tell me?" "I've been trying to." "You get his dander up, you'll find yourself in a pine box." "You wouldn't be the first." "Sorry." "Please proceed." "Thank you, sir." "I have 5,000." "5,000." "Mr. Hamish bond offered 5,000." "He invites you to bid against him." "I have 5, 5, 5." "I have 5,000." "Is Mr. bond's bid a little too steep for you?" "Well, it usually is, but that's no disgrace to mortal man." "Sold for $5,000 to Mr. Hamish bond!" "Charge to my account, and send her papers to my house." "What do they call you?" "Manty." "Come on, Manty." "All right, get up there, boy." "Look at this specimen, ladies and gentlemen." "Look at this boy-- 6'2", 225 pounds." "Look at the arms on that boy." "Bonjour, monsieur." "[Speaking French]" "[Speaking French]" "You needn't put me in the center room." "Just put me with the rest of the slaves." "Follow Michele." "Hot water will be sent up to you for your bath, and also your supper." "Like a prisoner in a cell." "I think he's horrible with his iron bars and his iron gate." "I think it's the outside he wants to keep out." "He doesn't give much thought to the inside of this house." "Oh, yes?" "He's thinking about his $5,000." "He has many thousands of dollars." "And he thinks that's all it takes to own a woman." "Well, he can buy her, all right, but he can never own her, her feelings." "And her heart?" "You think monsieur wouldn't be receiving full value without that?" "Many ladies have worn their hearts on their sleeves for him." "Free women, of quality." "Free." "That word." "One hears it so often these days, especially from the north." "I have friends up there." "Maybe you could help me get in touch with them." "There's nothing I can do." "He need never know, if you're afraid of him." "I afraid of monsieur Hamish?" "You're a slave, aren't you?" "Don't you ever think of escape?" "Oh, I see." "Oh, at night, do not forget to arrange the netting against the mosquitoes." "The season is upon us." "What are you doing?" "It is not a prison cell, as you said." "No." "It's worse." "What am I going to do?" "You will live, ma petite." "Michele, would you care to sit down?" "Monsieur is kind, but it is not necessary." "[Footsteps]" "[Door opens]" "[Door closes]" "Well, I declare." "What are you looking for?" "Looks like somebody needs my grigri loving potion." "Pour it in coffee, pour it in rum." "Make master Hamish crawl like a hound dog." "Make him moan for his new gal." "What's the matter, don't you love nobody?" "Then you better try my grigri." "Then you'll love somebody." "Make him sit up and purr like a little pussy kitten." "Dolly, get to work." "Well, seems I was right." "You still live." "Like any other captive." "Monsieur Hamish sends you an invitation to dine with him downstairs any evening you wish." "No, thank you." "Tell him if I ever come down, it'll be to go to the slave quarters." "Ah, that was smart!" "Tease him like a catfish swimming around a worm." "And wait till he gets itchy, and then he'll get a little bite and grab so hard, he'll break his pole!" "Ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha!" "What were we saying?" "Nothing, monsieur." "Nothing for quite a while." "I believe I was about to mention" "I like that gown you're wearing." "You paid for it..." "Just as you did for me." "Now, don't use that as a weapon against me." "I know better than most men that money is no cure-all." "I used to think it was." "I thought it would open the door to friendship and other essentials more important than power." "I believed it was everything-- a drug for loneliness, a painkiller for certain memories, the whole apothecary shop for every problem of life." "What would you know about problems?" "I learned about yours from your papers" "Kentucky, your father." "And my mother?" "My pedigree?" "There's quality in it." "More than in some thoroughbreds I've seen." "Rau-Ru, good to see you." "I've placed the bills of sale for the cotton on your desk, monsieur." "The price goes high on the English markets since Louisiana and the others seceded." "President Lincoln makes no move to blockade the ports." "He's a wise man." "He says he can't control events, that events control him." "They're building up, rau-Ru, like a bonfire waiting for the torch." "The world is full of fools." "Of all colors, monsieur." "The cry for freedom is in the air like a rising wind." "Slaves have already gone wild on many plantations." "But not at pointe du loup." "No." "It is serene." "People don't usually try to kill kindness." "I better go up there as soon as I get the rate of exchange confirmed at the bank." "You know, the cotton market is bound to rise." "Stay in New Orleans and watch it." "Keep everything in the storehouse until we get our price, then ship it out quick." "Oh, this is rau-Ru." "Perhaps you've heard of him." "I've heard all about her, monsieur." "Michele told me." "Monsieur would probably rather discuss this business in the morning." "Good night, rau-Ru." "He's a high-stepper, isn't he?" "That's why they call him big bond's high-stepper." "He gets off the sidewalk for nobody." "No constable or paddy roll ever stopped him." "No steamboat captain ever asked to see his pass because he's big bond's boss negro." "And what am I?" "All your others know their duties." "What am I?" "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." "Why did you buy me?" "Because you were on the slave block." "Somebody was bound to bid you in." "I saw a fellow with lace cuffs putting his hands on you." "I hate lace cuffs." "I wouldn't recommend the streets of New Orleans at night, not for a girl with your looks." "Hey, that is a pretty gown." "And you set it off, too." "Oh, that reminds me." "I told Michele to take you shopping when she goes." "You'll put some beauty and fashion in this old house." "Oh, so you can smile." "I didn't think you could." "I caught you red-handed at it." "You done seen the big k'la rau-Ru." "He's just another slave." "He ain't gonna be a slave for long." "Soon he be the high muckety-muck." "Soon he be the massa, and Hamish bond gonna be toting for him." "You're crazy." "Won't be long now till nobody say come and nobody say go." "No, lord!" "Gonna be parlor time!" "Gonna be rocking chair time." "Sit in the parlor, rock and fan." "Feather fan, this lord's child." "[Giggling]" "Soldiers coming down soon from the north, soldiers toting freedom, dripping freedom like sweat on a hot day." "Then rau-Ru, he gonna be king of pointe du loup." "You purr pretty for him, honey gal." "Maybe you get to be his queen." "I'm white!" "Get out of this room!" "Get out!" "[Speaking French]" "It is nice." "It's been a long time since I..." "I do like it." "Michele!" "[Speaking French]" "And here is another one." "I am sure mademoiselle would adore it." "Who is she?" "Her father is a planter, a friend of monsieur bond." "It is easy to see she's a lady of quality." "From Paris, Manty." "And it's just your size." "But I've already selected two." "But three is lucky, so they say." "All right." "And place this along with the other purchases." "Perhaps lucky for both of us." "Ravissante." "You're a grand lady." "Nobody could ever doubt it." "If you'll excuse me for a little while, ma petite, here." "Take this money." "Buy whatever your heart desires." "You really do love him, don't you?" "Come along, boy." "I'll miss my boat." "I'll give you a dollar if you hurry." "Oh, rau-Ru." "Mademoiselle." "[Boat horn blows]" "That boy is so plumb lazy," "I'll never get home." "Run along, run along." "Well, don't fiddle around like that other boy." "Come along." "At your service, mademoiselle." "[Bell rings]" "So you had to set your spies on me." "Why didn't you just lock me up and be done with it?" "That Manty's?" "Take it to her room." "You know, that's a very becoming frock." "We are putting some style in this old house." "Don't talk about this house!" "I hate it!" "And I hate you." "I thought you had some decency, but you haven't, setting that pet overseer of yours to watch me." "I like the chapeau, too." "I bought it to run away in, you hear?" "I was about to get on a steamboat, if it hadn't been for that rau-Ru." "This slave won't do you any good, massa." "I'm getting out of here come hell and brimstone, and you'll never see hide nor hair of me again." "And you better tell that man to give you back your $5,000." "[Door opens]" "[Door slams]" "[Thunder]" "[Bell rings]" "Open the hatch!" "Let down the plank, you son of a seagoing rascal, or I'll ram your craw with eels!" "[Hamish] Let him in." "[Thunder]" "You get back to the ship, if you can find the way." "Ha ha!" "Jimmee!" "I've come aboard." "Well, Orson Canavan." "I'll be thanking you to call me captain, which is me true station now." "I'm master of that old black coffin the argosy." "[Thunder]" "So, all dressed up you are nowadays." "You're softer than a toad's belly." "Oh?" "Well, grab the capstan, and brace yourself." "Oh, so that's what it is, is it?" "Ha ha ha!" "Hey!" "Stop it, man!" "Stop it!" "Holy rattlesnakes!" "You're breaking me bottle arm." "Jimmee, this fat, pudgy old porpoise needs building up." "Cook him a Turkey, and stuff it with rabbit." "Aye!" "And a few steaks smothered with chops." "We'll drink to the old days and the finest rum of the islands." "[Thunder]" "[Belches]" "Ahh!" "'Tis a sweet belch that rum gives you." "What days they were." "In a thousand ports all across the blinking world." "I remember well the first day you ever came to this gaudy, wicked city." "Correct me if I'm falsifying you." "You were carrying your sea bags and stopping every now and then for whiskey and fighting in dives and emporiums." "Steady as you, go, boatswain." "Then we staggered our way up to the portals of a bank." "It was 4:00 in the afternoon and the hatches was battened." "So we locked arms and stepped off a few paces." "Then we charged like pampas bulls, and we kept on charging till we cracked the blockheads of the portals of the great sultan of the house." "[Thunder]" "Do you remember what you said to him?" "You said..." ""Me name's hashish," ""and I'm a captain from the ocean seas," ""and I wish to deposit in your fort the modest sum of $2 million."" "Those two bags that you'd been carrying through the dives of Sodom and Gomorrah for two nights and a day-- you opened them up and twirled like a whirling dervish till you buried him up to his starting eyeballs" "in gold notes!" "[Thunder]" "Rau-Ru, come here!" "Boatswain." "It's good to see you, monsieur." "You've grown a foot since I saw you last." "Do you remember the old days, the darling old sailing days?" "I'll never forget them." "You won't?" "Then sing us a chantey, lad." "[Wind blowing]" "♪ Oh, blow the man down" "♪ oh, just knock him right down ♪" "♪ way" "♪ blow the man down" "♪ oh, blow the man down" "♪ oh, just knock him right down ♪" "♪ give me some time to blow the man down ♪" "♪ now, as I was a-walkin' down paradise street ♪" "♪ way" "♪ blow the man down" "♪ a brass-bound policeman I chanced for to meet ♪" "♪ give me some time to blow the man down ♪" "♪ give me some time to blow the man down ♪" "[Thunder]" "Good night!" "Good night, rau-Ru, good night!" "Good night!" "Ha ha ha!" "There's a wee breeze." "A wee, wee, trifling breeze." "But it might turn into a wind, so I best be getting back and look to the moor-- ha ha ha!" "Mooring of my ship." "[Thunder]" "If you ever need the old boatswain, ask any seaman bound for the islands." "They're all me friends." "The whole wide world's me friend." "Bye, captain." "Oh, you devil!" "You darn near crippled that one!" "Take this!" "'Tis closer to me heart." "Ha ha ha!" "Steady as you go, captain!" "Goodbye!" "Sounds like the gales we used to get off Rio Pongo." "I've seen them all" "Cape Verde, cape Saint Maria," "Sierra Leone, and the bight of Benin." "You..." "You sailed to all those places?" "Yes, and a thousand more." "[Thunder]" "Maybe it wasn't me at all." "Maybe it was that other fellow I used to be." "He wasn't a bad sort-- young, hungry-- until he got his first ship." "And then more ships, until he had a whole fleet." "First, I was just a mate." "The skipper tried to beat me once." "Just once." "I took his ship and his name-- Hamish bond." "That old sea dog brought it all back to me like it was yesterday." "Who are you, then?" "Never mind what my name was." "You talk about freedom." "You think I've got freedom?" "I've got a past I'd like to forget." "But I can't run away from it, no more than you can run away from what you are." "[Thunder]" "Ma petite, we must pack." "We're going to the upriver plantation, Pointe du Loup." "You'll like it up there, away from the city." "We used to go there more often than now." "You mean..." "You and..." "But I was of no importance." "No real importance." "No woman ever was." "What is it like at Pointe du Loup?" "Oh, it's beautiful up there." "But he sees no beauty." "Nothing but some secret trouble which is always with him." "The golden fleece leaves at noon." "See that the others are ready." "Have Dollie help Manty with her packing." "Very well, monsieur." "Now, as I said, Manty," "I don't think we can run away from ourselves, but everybody deserves a chance to try." "I guess I'm the only one who can give you your chance." "When I get off the boat at Pointe du Loup, you'll continue upriver to Cincinnati." "You mean I'll be free?" "As free as anyone can be..." "If you can make it to the north before the south starts a shooting war." "Them darn fools, they can't win." "Or maybe they can." "I guess in my heart," "I'll always be what I was-- just a damn Yankee skipper." "All aboard!" "Goin' to the land of honey." "Cotton-pickin' bucks up there baying at the moon waiting for Dollie gal." "[Howls]" "♪ Hallelujah, lord" "♪ and hallelujah" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ been down into the sea" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ and hallelujah" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ been down into the sea" "♪ fish from the sea with your head held high ♪" "♪ been down into the sea" "♪ I been to the sea with my head held high ♪" "♪ been down into the sea" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ and hallelujah" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ been down into the sea... ♪" "There they are-- all massa bond's people." "♪ Just watch my face while I cross the reef ♪" "♪ I been down into the sea" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ and hallelujah" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ I been down into the sea" "♪ now you see that sister dressed so fine ♪" "♪ I been down into the sea" "♪ well, she ain't got religion on her mind ♪" "♪ I been down into the sea" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ and hallelujah" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ I been down into the sea" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ and hallelujah" "♪ hallelujah, lord" "♪ I been down into the sea" "♪ I been down into the sea" "♪ been down..." "Well, this is the plantation." "Here's where I leave you." "All arrangements have been made for you." "Captain Simmons will take you to my business representative in Cincinnati." "He'll see that you have comfortable accommodations and ample funds." "Goodbye, Manty." "Listen..." "Forget everything..." "Everything that's happened." "Forget me." "Hamish!" "Well, Manty." "Well, I'll be durned." "Jimmee!" "Bring her baggage!" "Lord, there's going to be trouble to come." "I done seen it in a teacup." "I dreamed up big trouble, all stirred up by a half-white gal high-juiced and sweet-smellin'." "♪ Sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ oh, preacher for your Bible ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ oh, preacher for your Bible ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ oh, the last soul's converted ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ oh, the last soul's converted ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ blow your trumpet, Gabriel ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ blow your trumpet, Gabriel ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ lord, how loud shall I blow it?" "♪" "♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ blow it quiet, calm, and easy ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ he'll not lie to my people ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ tell them lord comes in judgment ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ sing that praise in the morning ♪" "♪ fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ can you see them coffins bustin'?" "♪" "♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "♪ can you see folks is rising?" "♪" "♪ Fare thee well, fare thee well ♪" "I'm glad you came to Pointe du Loup." "Come on." "I'll show you around the old place." "[Hamish] That's all Pointe du Loup..." "All the way to the river... 5 miles of fields and meadows to the north..." "And 3,000 acres of cane and cotton to the south." "Oh, it's a grand place, and just as beautiful as Michele told me." "[Singing spiritual]" "They're having a juba-pat." "Gives them a good excuse when I come home." "Home?" "They say you have other plantations." "A bunch of cotton camps." "Lint stations, I call them, but here at Pointe du Loup, built in 1789, it's special, sort of peaceful." "Far from memories." "They're never far away." "I didn't mean yours." "I meant mine-- my father, Starrwood." "Did they ever exist, I wonder?" "[Footsteps]" "I think you better go inside now." "I'm expecting a visit from a neighbor of mine." "Oh, I see." "It would be difficult to present miss Manty, wouldn't it?" "Oh, wait, Manty." "Manty." "You got it backwards." "I don't think Charles de marigny is good enough to present to you." "Who is he?" "He's a blue blood, all right, but I always figured it was better to be a man than a gentleman." "[Speaking French]" "My tread is as light as thistledown." "I get quite an intimate view of life that way." "Hmm." "I heard about you in New Orleans." "One usually suffers a disillusionment on facing the reality, but not this time." "It was a poverty of words which tried to describe you." "Monsieur seems to be using a lot of words to discuss nothing." "Excusez-moi, s'il vous plait." "Always lucky, aren't you?" "If I'd been there, I'd have outbid you." "Get on with it, Charles." "What brings you here?" "We've kicked the Yankees out of fort sumter." "The war is on." "The north will try to bleed us to ruination." "At my plantation, I'm already threatened with the loss of everything, what, with all this freedom fever." "The runaways plundered my stores and run off my livestock." "Well, you used the whip too much." "Please." "This is no time to be smug about your own well-being." "I want you to use your influence with my negroes." "They'll listen to you." "No." "I'd have to give them my own word, and I can't trust you to keep it." "I resent that." "I could call you to account for it." "Oh, yes." "I know your ability with a dueling pistol, but don't bank on it with me." "I believe I'd rather beat you at something that would really hurt you..." "Your vanity." "Your pride and power." "Do you forbid me to see her, Hamish?" "No." "I consider her free, a guest in this house." "You treat her any other way at your own risk." "Good day, Hamish." "Michele..." "Pack a few things for me." "I'm going to Belle Helene plantation." "Very well, monsieur." "Rau-Ru, it's good to see you." "We hear there's trouble in New Orleans." "Their days are numbered." "Farragut's gunboats are hammering them, and they're burning the cotton to keep the Yankees from getting it." "It's the beginning of the end for them." "Where's Hamish?" "He's been away for quite a while, buying the old Belle Helene plantation, planning to make it a grand place again." "They're living in a fool's paradise around here." "With the northerners at the gates, he still wants to live in grand style." "A palace for our little Princess." "Isn't Pointe du Loup good enough for her?" "I believe she's enjoying it here." "According to that snooping Dollie," "Charles de marigny has been teaching her the minuet." "Charles de marigny?" "French poetry..." "A gift, no doubt, from monsieur Charles..." "That performed peacock." "You deluded little coquette, don't you know his reputation?" "Every slave he owns is scarred by the whip." "People of our blood-- of your blood." "I don't want to hear about it." "Gives you a sense of power, doesn't it?" "White men dancing attendance." "But it still isn't freedom." "Freedom's a white word, and the fact is you and I, aside from being male and female, are exactly alike-- no identity beyond the confines of monsieur Hamish's protection." "I chose his protection, and I'm content with it." "You're ungrateful." "He's raised you like a son." "Even broke the law to educate you, and you hate him." "I hate him..." "For his kindness." "That's worse than the rawhide." "When a man uses a whip, you know what there is to fight against, but this kindness, it's a trap that can hold you in bondage forever." "It isn't bondage!" "It's the worst kind!" "You keep trying to cross the white line." "You keep building your hopes for marriage with monsieur Hamish or Charles, and you'll find that your place is with your own people." "Get out!" "Close the door." "Well, Manty, what's the word from Hamish?" "There's been no word lately." "I'm surprised to see you." "I supposed by now you'd be in the gallant uniform of the confederacy." "Cotton is my contribution, Manty." "Our president Jeff Davis says us planters must double our crops." "Cotton is money for the south." "Here." "Have a Brandy with me." "No, thank you." "My dear Manty, this reserve of yours will accomplish nothing." "What has to be will be." "Indeed, it's been too long delayed already." "Listen, you know what I say is true, Manty." "Time has come." "Now, we'll take a little ride and stop by my plantation house." "I'll call rau-Ru." "What good will that do?" "If he touched a white man, he'd be killed, and so will Hamish bond if he challenges me." "You're wasting your life away with him." "You've never really known what life can be like." "Don't you want to know?" "Unless, of course, you've been behind his back with that fancy black fellow of his." "Uhh!" "Now, now." "Aah!" "Look here." "In just a second," "I'll take my hand off your mouth, and you won't scream because you don't really want to scream." "That's not what you want." "Aah!" "Aah!" "Stop it!" "Stop!" "He'll be all right." "I'll get word to Hamish." "If I see him, I'll kill him." "You wouldn't." "Yes, I would." "He did this to me." "He created it." "He made me believe I was a person with pride and dignity." "Now it's destroyed me." "But I'll live to kill him for that." "Go quick, rau-Ru, before he gets word to the sheriff." "[Hounds barking]" "Nothing but swamps out there for 30 miles." "Well, that's a fittin' place for him to die." "Come on." "Let's go." "Come on." "Hamish." "Yes, I know." "I heard." "The doctor says Charles will be all right after some rest." "He's been sleeping." "When he wakes up, let me know." "I'm quite awake, Hamish." "I put the sheriff and his hounds onto that rau-Ru." "I want to see your face when they bring him in." "They'll never bring him in, but take a good look at my face anyhow." "Stand over there, Manty." "No, don't." "Stand over there!" "You're a fool, Hamish." "I could outshoot you on any terms." "Yes, you probably could, in New Orleans with the seconds watching and the referee counting." "You'd cut a dashing figure there." "You make a picture in your mind of how grand you'd look killing a man, but here it's different-- just the three of us alone, and your face mussed up by a negro, the woman you wanted, watching you fight scared." "Give me a pistol." "Let's not hurry things." "I've known you a long time." "A man doesn't kill an old friend fast." "It's taken me 15 years." "I guess I can wait a minute longer and watch you sweat while I tell you just how I'm going to kill you." "Give me that pistol!" "You know I'm not fast, but I'm sure." "Oh, you'll hit me, but I'll still be taking my time." "You'll try to finish me quick between the eyes or in the heart, and you'll miss." "And then I'll nail you." "You know that." "You know when I set my head on doing a thing, I do it." "Yep." "All the time," "I'll be aiming right at your guts, a nice big target, and I'll need it because I'm not as expert as you." "But I don't have to be..." "Because the deepest thing in you is a coward, and you can see yourself now lying on the floor, bleeding like a stuck hog." "How does it feel to know just what's going to happen to you?" "Give me the pistol!" "Look at your hand." "It's twitching." "Not much, but enough." "So now I guess we'll start." "Pick it up." "I'll wait for you." "You just take your shot anytime you can." "All the time," "I'll be aiming at your insides." "You can cock it while I count to three..." "Slow." "1..." "Suppose I--suppose I refuse to shoot." "You won't refuse." "You're not that kind of a coward." "You'd be afraid not to shoot because you're a strutter and a braggart, and Manty's watching you." "2..." "No, Hamish!" "No!" "Oh." "So you want to save him." "No, it's not that." "I loathe him." "Well, it's up to him." "If he wants, he can walk out that door and never come back." "That is..." "If he's coward enough, and I think he is." "I did a bad thing to you, Manty." "I guess I knew all the time, way back, it would turn out like this, and..." "I just let it happen." "No, worse than that, I brought it on." "You know what I'm talking about." "I let him hang around you because..." "Because I wanted to prove something." "I wanted to prove that I could still hold on to somebody I love, and I guess I had to know just what you'd do." "Do you hate me for it, Manty?" "Oh, Hamish." "Hamish." "Sir." "Captain Parton, I commend you on the progress of your negro recruiting." "You're managing a difficult job extremely well." "Thank you, sir." "It's long been a task dear to my heart to further equality among the brethren of all mankind." "A laudable idea, captain." "And now see that they're pressed into the thick of battle, with equal burial rights." "Good day." "Fall in line here." "How many did you bring?" "40." "All right." "What's your name?" "Rau-Ru." "Got a last name?" "Pont de Leon." "I'm getting word to all the planters in the parish-- union troops are heading this way." "We're going to burn our fields and storehouses tonight." "We won't leave a solitary cane stalk or cotton bale for those Yankee thieves." "I'm not setting fire to mine." "Maybe you had a point there." "Damn Yankee general Butler's handed down an order-- anybody destroys property will hang." "Butler?" "That's right." "The one that's been rawhiding New Orleans." "I'll help you burn your fields, and you can help me burn mine." "I knew you'd never take an order from any man." "He just burned out his whole life." "You've been hurt..." "Badly." "Nah." "That's an old scar." "Everything's going to be all right, Manty." "We'll find it somewhere." "But you'll never marry me..." "Will you, Hamish?" "I wonder if you'd marry me." "You know, that's like the night we took the village." "What village?" "Oh, I don't remember the name..." "If I ever knew it." "But it was burning, bodies around..." "Sometimes they'd split open a head and run a hand in, the man still trying to crawl." "Where?" "Africa..." "Up in the Rio pongo." "I was in the nigger business." "I was in it in a large way, if I may say so without pompous boasting." "You mean the slave trade?" "Yeah." "They called me "captain strike down."" "There was a time when I was right proud of that name." "Well, a man has to be proud of something." "But don't get the idea that it was all white man's wickedness." "My chief partner was old Geezo, a black king who drank rum out of gold-mounted skulls while the buzzards sat around, waiting for him to start the slaughter." "Yeah." "Old Geezo and his tribe left nothing alive once they raided a village-- well, nothing, that is, but the good ones, which I had to pay hard cash for." "And when the unfits were culled out for the buzzards, we'd truss the captives to poles and march them through the jungle to the coast." "The ones that couldn't stand the march..." "Geezo and his cutthroats would feed to the sharks behind the reef." "The rest were put in barricades until I could haul them out to my ship." "And what went on in that prison-- 1,000 locked up that way..." "They sounded like dogs, moon-howling and moaning." "You?" "I can't believe it." "Not you." "But that was nothing to what went on in the ship." "I can still hear them, the puking and the screaming and the praying..." "Packed into slave shelves with hardly any turning room, like, uh, like herring in a barrel of salt." "I ran the British blockade with a price on my head and smuggled them into the west indies." "You know, uh..." "Slaving wasn't legal in those days." "It wasn't what you might say Christian, neither, was it?" "But I didn't make this world." "I didn't even make myself." "And if the creator didn't like it, he should've done the world a favor and sunk those hellish ships under the sea along with the whole black coast." "Kindness..." "Michele, rau-Ru..." "They all believed you were kind." "Well, I tried to be." "I tried to make up for it." "You still know how to torture, don't you?" "Why did you have to tell me this?" "Because you wondered why I wouldn't marry you." "I would, Manty, if you could've taken the truth about me." "You know, I had plans for us-- leave all this behind." "Step out to the indies where I still have some holdings." "But that wouldn't work now." "That drop of blood you've got in you would never stop despising me." "You'd always hate me..." "Like rau-Ru." "You said he wanted to kill me." "Nope." "There's no place for you here-- or anywhere-- with me." "♪ God's a-gonna trouble" "♪ the water" "♪ see that man all dressed in red ♪" "♪ god's a-gonna trouble" "♪ the water" "♪ well, it looks to be the band that Moses led ♪" "♪ god's a-gonna trouble" "♪ the water" "♪ oh, Wade" "♪ in the water..." "That's gold." "Not a lot because I put nigh all I had into confederate." "This paper shows you're a freed woman, keep you from getting picked up by the Yankees." "Hamish-- wherever you go, I don't want to know." "I don't ever want to know where you are." "You know," "I always liked that hat on you." "Mr. Hamish, sending her away was not from your heart." "Why did you do it?" "To give her a chance." "Maybe she'll find it in the white world." "Soldiers, they're coming, wearing blue!" "Pretty soldiers marching." "Time for darkies to sing and dance, bust out the barrel, lay on the ground and roll for sweetness." "Hallelujah!" "Stretch the mouth..." "And pour rum till it comes out of your ears." "Praise the lord!" "Lay on the ground and roll for freedom!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Freedom." "If they only knew." "You know, Butler's confiscating slaves, not liberating them." "He's relocating them on carpetbagging plantations where the Yankees will use the whip and pay no wages." "If we could live another 100 years, we'd probably see white justice for the blacks." "Men don't make history, but are shaped by history." "History takes its time..." "So get my slaves out of here before Butler's buzzards come." "Take provisions." "You'll find horses and wagons in the barn." "Oh..." "If you see rau-Ru, tell him this place is his." "I put it in the records years ago." "Make way for general Butler." "Make way, folks." "Well, what a pretty little confederate." "You Yankee pig." "[Spits]" "General order number 28-- it is hereby ordered that if any female of New Orleans, by word, movement, or gesture, should insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States..." ""She shall be regarded as a woman of the town, plying her avocation." "By command of major general Butler."" "Ha." "Well..." "Hey..." "Lookee." "She's doing very well with her lessons." "I'll be back next Thursday." "Ma's home cooking was never like that." "Real Southern-fried chicken." "Watch this." "So you're afraid a Yankee might brush against you, huh?" "Well, that's an insult." "You bear my witness." "Right, corporal." "We seen it." "You could learn some decent manners." "Heh heh." "Why, you're no better than a hooker." "You're no better than those slat-busters following general hooker's army." "Why-- corporal, attention!" "Sir, I was acting under general order 28." "It doesn't authorize you to commit mayhem on ladies." "She insulted me." "I was trying to arrest her." "You'll probably get a chance to explain at a court-martial." "You saw her show contempt for me like the order says, didn't you?" "That's right, sir." "She insulted corporal daggett." "Besides that, she slapped his mouth." "Corporal daggett?" "You're in my regiment, aren't you?" "Yes, sir." "You and these two privates will report to me this evening." "Yes, sir." "You may be asked to make a statement." "I don't want to make any trouble, lieutenant." "It'll just be routine." "I think I'd better escort you wherever you're going." "I was on my way home." "Permit me." "Where are the others?" "Company "c" has some, sir." "There's no trace of Hamish bond." "His plantation is deserted." "They'll get him now that general Butler's offered bounty money." "Well, get on with this job." "Monsieur Hamish." "Jimmee..." "Huh." "So you joined that band of angels." "Yes, monsieur, but to me you are still the master of the land." "I knew you'd be heading this way for your old Belle Helene plantation." "You were right, Jimmee." "I put everything there for you that you need." "I stole it from the Yankees." "You got Manty away safely?" "She's all right." "Thanks, Jimmee." "Seen anything of that reb that's burned out half of Louisiana?" "I heard some noises going through over there, and I kept praying that it wasn't Hamish bond." "Come on." "The little bouquets were just as nice, Ethan." "Everything's been nice." "These last few weeks have been my happiest since I left home." "Does there happen to be a lonely girl back there?" "You underestimate me." "There were several..." "But I can honestly say that absence did not make the heart grow fonder." "Fickle Yankee." "I'll see that you don't break my heart." "Amantha, you're the heartbreaker." "Oh, yes, you are." "With you I could forget I'm in the army, that I'm even a Yankee." "Indeed, I almost forgot what brought me here this afternoon-- dreary bit of rules and regulations." "You need to sign this complaint against those soldiers." "Must I?" "There's nothing to it." "I've taken the Liberty of answering the questions for you." ""Amantha Starr," ""23-a St. Louis street," ""music teacher." "Age..."" "You once referred to me as a gentleman, so I followed my own inclinations on that question." "Now, let's see, "sex--female, color--white..."" "I believe that's all." "Anything wrong, Amantha?" "No." "No." "Do I have to sign it, Ethan?" "Well, otherwise corporal daggett will stay in the guardhouse." "I put him there and preferred the charges personally." "Is there any happiness in this world, I wonder..." "For anybody?" "The way I'm looking at the future, there will be." "Our future." "Us, Amantha." "There's colonel Morton's party at the St. Charles tonight." "Had you forgotten I'm your escort?" "No, I haven't forgotten." "And a proud night for lieutenant sears." "They can have all those gold epaulettes on their shoulders." "I'll have Amantha on my arm." "I'll call for you at 8:00." "Good evening, Ethan." "Don't you ever rest, captain?" "There aren't sufficient hours in the day to add one's humble effort toward the ends of human justice." "Seems you're taking your ease in large doses lately." "A somewhat troubled ease, Seth." "As one friend to another, I don't mind saying that I'm-- well, I'm in love, with a certain charming young lady." "I sympathize with you, especially tonight." "Colonel Morton has requested that you escort Mrs. Morton to the dance." "What?" "But I've already made arrangements with-- with the lady I mentioned." "The colonel's in Baton Rouge." "You know Mrs. Morton-- she'd have us all shot at sunrise if she missed one dreary waltz." "Then you take her." "Please." "Unfortunately, I'm not a candidate for the honor." "I have a theological right leg and a most dogmatic left leg, both unschooled in frivolities." "Please, be a good friend." "I'm sorry, Ethan." "You are smitten, aren't you?" "Who is this light of love?" "You'll find out by reading that document, captain Parton." "The corporal daggett case, sir." "Amantha Starr." "What did you say?" "I was about to say..." "I'd see Mrs. Morton to the dance for you." "Seth!" "Thanks." "Mrs. Morton, may I present miss Amantha Starr." "Miss Starr." "Well, congratulations, Ethan." "She's perfectly lovely." "My goodness, I don't think any gentleman has ever flattered me so much as you have tonight." "How, Mrs. Morton?" "By requesting your friend, the captain, to save practically all of my dances for you." "Did--did you" "I mean, did I, Mrs. Morton?" "With pleasure, dear Ethan." "There seems to be some mistake." "Amantha, meet my friend, my most true and faithful..." "Captain Seth Parton." "[Waltz plays]" "Ethan?" "Seth." "Seth!" "Amantha-- please, miss Amantha-- she's indisposed, gentlemen." "For months I've been looking for you." "Long ago I came across information that you were in New Orleans." "I used to hope you'd try to find me." "Has it all been..." "Unhappy, Amantha?" "No, not quite all." "Of course, when I lost father, everything changed." "Once I went north to try to find you, Seth." "Something changed that, too." "And you're still fighting for your beliefs?" "In my humble way." "You still believe in the equality of all peoples, regardless of color?" "My beliefs remain firm, Amantha, although tempered somewhat with a larger knowledge of life." "You're still the same." "A little more worldly, perhaps, but you're still Seth Parton." "Oh, Seth!" "You were too frugal with the wine." "Please give that punch some real authority." "We must talk soon-- and alone-- away from this." "Perhaps tonight." "Who is it?" "Seth, Amantha." "I had to see you, Amantha." "It's awfully late, Seth." "Yes." "It seems I'm always late." "My arrival in New Orleans, for instance." "Will you excuse me for a moment?" "My dress." "That's right." "I wouldn't wish Ethan to think I made an untimely intrusion." "I think he hopes to marry you, Amantha." "Oh?" "Did he tell you that?" "Oh, I was a fool." "That nonsense I used to spout-- self-denial, man's only true joy-- for which I received the usual reward of all noble idiots-- i lost you." "I lost you to others." "Now you really are being foolish, Seth." "I lost you because I was a fool." "I lost you to a man named Hamish bond." "I've hunted his hiding place, questioned slaves he held." "Amantha, you were his mistress." "Listen, Manty, did you expect to deceive Ethan by falsifying that document, by the lie that you're white?" "I know him well, his family..." "What they'd fight for and what they'd take into their home are two different matters." "What if he knew that..." "You're a Negress?" "But he need never know, Manty." "I'll tell him nothing, nothing at all..." "If-- oh!" "Seth, stop it, Seth." "Don't!" "Oh!" "You hypocrite!" "Manty!" "Manty!" "Forgive me, Manty." "Please forgive me." "I bid $5,000." "Mr. Hamish bond offered 5,000." "He invites you to bid against him." "I have 5, 5, 5... 5,000..." "Sold for $5,000 to Mr. Hamish bond." "Charge my account, and send her papers to my house." "What do they call you?" "Manty." "Come on, Manty." "Come in." "Sit down." "That's your old place over there..." "When Hamish bond gave his orders from this chair." "I hope you didn't expect to find him here, mademoiselle." "Things have changed." "I see." "You in the master's place." "Everything has changed." "I hear you've been doing very well on the white side of the line." "Now you come crawling back here." "You detest me, don't you, because I was the cause of their putting the hounds on you at Pointe du Loup." "I don't hold that against you." "It's the lie you've been living that I despise." "Pick up that light." "I said pick it up!" "Hold it close and look right into it." "Why?" "What do you want?" "Nothing..." "Except just to look at you." "How does it feel with the light on your face, not seeing anything but the light and the darkness beyond you, knowing I'm here but you can't see me, knowing I'm looking at you all the time," "a woman who denied her own people, a woman who cast her lot with Hamish bond, the man who bought her?" "He was good to you." "That was the worst-- the soft talk, the confidences." "Yeah." "If I am ever lucky enough to deliver him to the hangman, it'll be you who helped put him there." "Why didn't you go on your way north?" "Why did you jump the boat at Pointe du Loup?" "Why did you stay on as Hamish bond's woman, denying freedom to be the mistress of a slave holder?" "If you hadn't, much might be different now." "Maybe he'd have a friend somewheres who'd be helping him to live rather than wanting to see him die." "But I guess all the fires of retribution are not in the hereafter." "You've suffered." "And so has he." "And I always will, with him or without him." "There always will be the..." "Fires, the memories..." "Because I love him." "He's the only man I ever loved..." "Or ever will." "And I'll keep on living a white life from now on." "[Man] Rau-Ru?" "Rau-Ru!" "Sergeant, general Butler, he thinks he knows where old Hamish is a-hiding." "Where?" "Belle helene." "Somebody seen a spooky light in the window." "Likely place." "Right by the Gulf." "The bayous overran that land long ago." "Yeah." "Nothing there but snakes and owls." "Them soldiers-- maybe they'll get lost in the swamps looking for that haunted place." "They're on their way?" "Yeah, more than an hour ago." "I'll get him." "I'll get him." "Give it to him again." "Aye!" "There it is." "Ha ha ha ha!" "Old Alec hincks, the blockade runner." "Oh, but I always thought his name was Hamish bond." "Aye, so it is now, me old bucko." "Our soldier's a fine landlubber of a gentleman he wanted to be, and he's requiring an army of vast proportions to send him back to sea again." "Pull up the anchor!" "Give me some sail!" "We'll drop our cargo in New Orleans and come back here to pick him up." "Hey, break out two kegs of rum." "We'll be needing them." "I'm aiming at your back, monsieur." "Put it down." "Turn around." "Well, my k'la." "That is what I used to be called." "This is a new day." "Maybe for you, but not for me." "Sit down." "[Cocks gun]" "I told you to sit down." "Now, go ahead and tell me about it, rau-Ru." "Monsieur's living in the past." "Yes." "You know I never got out of the old days." "Always in the Rio Pongo, living it over again." "You won't be bothered by those memories much longer." "No?" "And who's going to wipe them out, you?" "Excuse me, rau-Ru, if I don't shy too easy." "It's pretty hard for me to get the shakes over the likes of you..." "Because I've known you since you were no bigger than a shucked oyster." "A man can't be afraid of something he's proud of, and believe me, rau-Ru," "I'm real vainglorious about you." "You learned a lot from me beside book knowledge." "Yep." "Right now you're thinking of that bounty that general Butler's offered for my pelt." "I'll give it to my platoon." "White soldiers are on their way to get you now, but I want the satisfaction of taking you in." "Put those on." "Sure." "Sure." "You'll get $1,000 for me." "That's a pretty fair price for a beginner." "Not much the way I used to sell them-- in bulk." "I remember that night in Africa, the night we burned the village." "I guess that was the biggest grab I ever made, but I stood in the middle and watched the unfit nigras get massacred by my partner Geezo and his blacks." "Flames leaping to the top of the jungle, a million bats squeaking in the sky." "I mean, she was a woman I used to know." "I took her aboard my ship once, but she got home fever, so I sent her back to her jungle, but there she was now, dying, sprawled out on the ground, trying to protect something underneath her" "a 2-months-old bawling brat." "That's got nothing to do with now." "One of Geezo's men took a spear swipe at the young'un." "I jumped in the middle and got his spear clean through my leg, but I let him have it with my ship's knife, right through his crocodile belly." "I--I guess that was the other fellow in me, not Hamish bond." "That started me slashing at Geezo's men like they were the enemy." "I guess I wanted some blood, too." "Old Geezo thought it was a good joke-- me all mixed up, fighting on the other side." "And then he reached down and picked up the kid and handed it to me." "I suppose he thought I wanted to eat the brat." "You're not talking your way out of this." "So there I was with a messed-up leg and a whimpering pup on my hands for the rest of my useful days." "But I grew to be proud of him." "I brought him up like my own son, hired the best teachers for him-- denied him nothing." "He called himself my k'la." "That is, until he grew up to know the value of 30 pieces of silver." "Go." "Go wherever you were going." "Cypress cove." "You remember boatswain Canavan." "I have the prisoner, sir." "Where'd you come from, sergeant?" "Across the bayou in a skiff, sir." "Short way, huh?" "Well, bond, I've hunted game in my day, and if it's any compliment to you, you're the toughest old grizzly I ever caught." "That's no compliment from a blue belly." "And you, I wish I'd let you burn in Africa." "I'm sorry that spear went through my leg instead of your guts." "The abuses one must suffer to gain freedom." "But nothing worthwhile is easily bought." "The agonies, the torments, the humiliations-- all these are the natural elements from which the key is forged." "The key that opens the vistas of new worlds and new lives." "The key to freedom." "You're quite a philosopher, sergeant." "Where'd you get all the fancy talk?" "He got it from me." "With your permission, lieutenant," "I'll now take him to the general's headquarters." "Wait a minute, sergeant." "I'll have a couple of my men deliver him to general Butler personally." "Corporal, order the rest of my men to search the premises." "Any wagons, plows, harrows-- confiscate them." "Look in the storehouse and the barn." "Well, I see he left some valuables at least." "Pour us a drink, sergeant." "Ahh." "You know," "I like you, sergeant." "I like the way you handled Hamish bond." "I'm going to recommend you for an advancement." "That's very kind of you, sir." "Well, it might lead to, uh, something a lot more important than that bounty, which I presume you're going to claim." "Yes, sir." "I took monsieur bond prisoner." "Yes, of course." "Ahem." "But I was thinking that perhaps a white officer's influence might be worth some money to you." "Not unless I could change my color, sir." "I see what you mean, and, uh, under such circumstances, uh, well, let's look at it this way." "You take the money, sergeant, and allow me to take the, uh, military credit." "A white man's bargain, sir?" "I'd have to think of it." "Certainly." "Certainly, sergeant." "I know you're a man of honor, and you're only thinking of my good." "I've decided..." "To let you have whatever glory and bounty that's due this occasion." "You will?" "Yes, sir." "I guess it's my sense of inferiority, sir." "Well, well." "I do like you, sergeant." "I really do." "A nig--I--I mean a, uh, negro such as you-- ahem" "I don't, uh, mind shaking hands." "Whoa." "Can't take you no further, missy." "Belle Helene's across there somewhere, but the wilderness has done swallowed up the old road." "I'll find it." "You're going to get lost." "Monsieur Hamish!" "[Hamish] Manty, you did forgive everything." "Rau-Ru." "I guess he felt he couldn't be free unless I was-- you, all of us." "He still is the k'la." "He's even more than that."