"They've flatly refused to ratify the amendment," said Grandpa Merriwether and there was pride in his voice.
"That'll show the Yankees."
"And there'll be hell to pay for it--I beg your pardon, Scarlett," said Ashley.
"Oh, the amendment?" questioned Scarlett, trying to look intelligent.
Politics were beyond her and she seldom wasted time thinking about them.
There had been a Thirteenth Amendment ratified sometime before or maybe it had been the Sixteenth Amendment but what ratification meant she had no idea.
Men were always getting excited about such things.
Something of her lack of comprehension showed in her face and Ashley smiled.
"It's the amendment letting the darkies vote, you know," he explained.
"It was submitted to the legislature and they refused to ratify it."
"How silly of them!
You know the Yankees are going to force it down our throats!"
"That's what I meant by saying there'd be hell to pay," said Ashley.
"I'm proud of the legislature, proud of their gumption!" shouted Uncle Henry.
"The Yankees can't force it down our throats if we won't have it."
"They can and they will."
Ashley's voice was calm but there was worry in his eyes.
"And it'll make things just that much harder for us."
"Oh, Ashley, surely not!
Things couldn't be any harder than they are now!"
"Yes, things can get worse, even worse than they are now.
Suppose we have a darky legislature?
A darky governor?
Suppose we have a worse military rule than we now have?"
Scarlett's eyes grew large with fear as some understanding entered her mind.
"I've been trying to think what would be best for Georgia, best for all of us."
Ashley's face was drawn.
"Whether it's wisest to fight this thing like the legislature has done, rouse the North against us and bring the whole Yankee Army on us to cram the darky vote down us, whether we want it or not. Or--swallow our pride as best we can, submit gracefully and get the whole matter over with as easily as possible.
It will amount to the same thing in the end.
We're helpless.
We've got to take the dose they're determined to give us.
Maybe it would be better for us to take it without kicking."
Scarlett hardly heard his words, certainly their full import went over her head.
She knew that Ashley, as usual, was seeing both sides of a question.
She was seeing only one side--how this slap in the Yankees' faces might affect her.
"Going to turn Radical and vote the Republican ticket, Ashley?" jeered Grandpa Merriwether harshly.
There was a tense silence.
Scarlett saw Archie's hand make a swift move toward his pistol and then stop.
Archie thought, and frequently said, that Grandpa was an old bag of wind and Archie had no intention of letting him insult Miss Melanie's husband, even if Miss Melanie's husband was talking like a fool.
The perplexity vanished suddenly from Ashley's eyes and hot anger flared.
But before he could speak, Uncle Henry charged Grandpa.
"You God--you blast--I beg your pardon, Scarlett--Grandpa, you jackass, don't you say that to Ashley!"
"Ashley can take care of himself without you defending him," said Grandpa coldly.
"And he is talking like a Scallawag.
Submit, hell!
I beg your pardon, Scarlett."
"I didn't believe in secession," said Ashley and his voice shook with anger.
"But when Georgia seceded, I went with her.
And I didn't believe in war but I fought in the war.
And I don't believe in making the Yankees madder than they already are.