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6 Patrick Henry
Lige bid a sum that was prohibitive and a half
sob of pity escaped the young Miss as the auctioneer
tolled off in stentorian tones, "Going, going, going
and sold to Lige W ethers by," at so many pounds
in English money or its weight of tobacco ( tobacco
at that time being almost, if not, a legal ten·der).
The slave girl stepped down off the block but fur-
ther she would not move, and there was a cry of
pain from her lips as Lige W ethers by sunk his
powerful fingers into her arm. Then all the pent up
feelings of the girl, all the wrong she had suffered
came to the surface. There was a yell of rage from
Lige;· the girl had fastened her teeth in the back of
the hand that so cruelly gripped her arm and hung
on as a terrier would. Lige fairly roared his rage,
and when. finally he tore his hand away, the blood
spurted from the wound and covered the face of the
girl. Everyone stood aside, though some, to their
credit be it said, with clenched fists, for Lige was
within the law. The girl was his property and Lige
was a man known for his deeds of strength even
among powerful men. His nature was known to
be that of a killer when in a rage and the rage of
Lige at this moment knew no bounds-. His eyes
blazed with a rage. that was fiendish, his face was
contorted as that of a madman. His curses were
foul and loud. He threw the slave girl to her knees
with a force that seemed nearly to force the plank-
ing of the. 'dock. A long, cruel whiplash. cut through
the air like the hiss of a snake, as it fell upon the
shoulders, the neck and the head of his victim.
When suddenly the crowd was catapulted aside,
something seemed to hurtle through the air. It was
propelled so fast that not until it reached its goal
Patrick Henry 7
was it discernible. It was Patrick Henry; Patrick
Henry, the fisherman; Patrick Henry, the lout.
There were enraged snarls as the two wild animals
of the woods had crashed together. There were two
roiling, twisting bodies, unmatched in size, but equal
in strength, their faces were fairly bloated by their
efforts, their necks assumed the size of the strug-
gling Gladiators of oid. So terrific was the battle
that to this assemblage, so inured to the primitive-
ness of the age, it caused a hushed spell to sweep
over them, while with strained attitudes and wide
stretched eyes they watched the combat over the
slave girl, who, with blood-covered face and trem-
bling limbs, cowered in fear. It was plain that the
lithe man was no match for the burly brute in size.
Yet his strength seemed God-given. The combat
was so wild, so terrific, that something had to give
and it was the larger man. His. knees were seen
to sag, a look of terror came into his eyes. His
bones were fairly breaking, and then the lighter
man slowly drew one of his arms, the right arm,
free. It came by fractions of an inch at first and
then gained speed, but when it ·finally was free it
moved so fast the eye could not follow. There was
a sickening thud of bone meeting bone and flesh
meeting flesh, and the huge bulk of a man crashed
to the floor. The panther-like figure was upon him
with the rapidity of the animal of that name and
as the blood spurted from the nose and mouth of
the fallen man he lifted him high above his head
and hurled him with one mighty heave into the sea.
Only for one instant's time did he stand and then
he turned away. As he walked past his roan horse
the horse turned and followed him and they both