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UNFETTERED.
A NOVEL.
BY
SUTTON E. GRIGGS,
Author of "IMPERIUM IN IMPERIO," "OVERSHADOWED," "DORLAN'S PLAN," Etc.
NASHVILLE, TENN.:
THE ORION PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1902.
COPYRIGHT
By Sutton E. Griggs.
1902.
DEDICATION.
While a last beloved sister
MARY,
Was, with patience and fortitude, awaiting the
slow but certain tread of the Grim Reaper,
she spared strength enough to read, from
beginning to end, "Overshadowed,"
that came to greet her ere she sped
to the home of the departed.
Were she mindful of happenings on the
earth to-day the author of this volume would
be sure of at least one sympathetic reader.
To her memory "Unfettered" is
affectionately dedicated.
THE AUTHOR.
"The chains that bound the body * * were as tenderchords of mercy compared with the shackles that gyvedhis mind * *."—Kelley Miller.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
On a sad occasion in days gone by, the people of the United States werecalled upon to deal with the Negro's woes, and in the haze of battle therearose to thrill the hearts of men a Fort Sumter, a Bull Run, a Gettysburg,and, at last, an Appomattox.
Since those pregnant days, in spite of a seeming retrogression in somequarters, there has been a steady, unbroken march of the Negro in an upwarddirection. One day our great nation that once dealt with the Negro's woeswill be summoned to deal with his strength, to kindly accept or finallyreject all that he can do.
As the day of final adjustment is inevitable, it is wise for all of us wholove our country to make a study of the internal workings of a race nowshaking itself loose from the death sleep of the ages.
It is the aim of "Unfettered" to lead the reader into the inner life of theNegro race and lay bare the aspirations that are fructifying there.[Pg 6]
Those who come to these pages in quest of pen pictures of either angels ordemons, are not likely to find what they seek, for our story has to do withhuman beings, simply. That is, we should say, with the exception of—butyou will make your own exceptions when the tale is fully told.
The Author.