Gathering cotton is very hard work.
The house Legree lived in had once been a very fine one, and had
belonged to a rich gentleman. Now, it was old, neglected, and almost in
ruins.
The house was bad enough, but the cabins where the slaves lived were far
worse. They were roughly built of wood. The wind and the rain came
through the chinks between the planks. There were no windows. The floors
were nothing but the bare earth. There was no furniture of any kind in
them, only heaps of dirty straw to sleep upon.
Uncle Tom felt more unhappy than ever. He had hoped at least to have a
little room which he could keep clean and tidy. But this hole he did not
even have to himself. He had to share it with five or six others.
Now began the saddest time of Uncle Tom's life. Every morning very early
the slaves were driven out into the fields like cattle. All day long
they worked hard. The burning sun blazed down upon them, making them hot
and tired. Legree and his two chief slaves, called Quimbo and Sambo,
marched about all the time with whips in their hands. At night they
drove the slaves back again to their miserable huts.
But before they could rest, they had to grind and cook the corn for
their supper. When at last they did go to sleep, they had to lie on the
heaps of dirty straw instead of in comfortable beds.
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