{"product_id":"2940013521667","title":"FREE JOE AND OTHER GEORGIAN SKETCHES","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                                       PAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          FREE JOE                       3\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          LITTLE COMPTON                30\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          AUNT FOUNTAIN'S PRISONER      98\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          TROUBLE ON LOST MOUNTAIN     133\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          AZALIA                       183\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFREE JOE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE name of Free Joe strikes humorously upon the ear of memory. It is\u003cbr\u003eimpossible to say why, for he was the humblest, the simplest, and the\u003cbr\u003emost serious of all God's living creatures, sadly lacking in all those\u003cbr\u003eelements that suggest the humorous. It is certain, moreover, that in\u003cbr\u003e1850 the sober-minded citizens of the little Georgian village of\u003cbr\u003eHillsborough were not inclined to take a humorous view of Free Joe, and\u003cbr\u003eneither his name nor his presence provoked a smile. He was a black atom,\u003cbr\u003edrifting hither and thither without an owner, blown about by all the\u003cbr\u003ewinds of circumstance, and given over to shiftlessness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe problems of one generation are the paradoxes of a succeeding one,\u003cbr\u003eparticularly if war, or some such incident, intervenes to clarify the\u003cbr\u003eatmosphere and strengthen the understanding. Thus, in 1850, Free Joe\u003cbr\u003erepresented not only a problem of large concern, but, in the watchful\u003cbr\u003eeyes of Hillsborough, he was the embodiment of that vague and mysterious\u003cbr\u003edanger that seemed to be forever lurking on the outskirts of slavery,\u003cbr\u003eready to sound a shrill and ghostly signal in the impenetrable swamps,\u003cbr\u003eand steal forth under the midnight stars to murder, rapine, and\u003cbr\u003epillage--a danger always threatening, and yet never assuming shape;\u003cbr\u003eintangible, and yet real; impossible, and yet not improbable. Across the\u003cbr\u003eserene and smiling front of safety, the pale outlines of the awful\u003cbr\u003eshadow of insurrection sometimes fell. With this invisible panorama as a\u003cbr\u003ebackground, it was natural that the figure of Free Joe, simple and\u003cbr\u003ehumble as it was, should assume undue proportions. Go where he would, do\u003cbr\u003ewhat he might, he could not escape the finger of observation and the\u003cbr\u003ekindling eye of suspicion. His lightest words were noted, his slightest\u003cbr\u003eactions marked.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079507788016,"sku":"2940013521667","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013521667_p0.jpg?v=1763582241","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013521667","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}