h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

[The story so far: Viola has lost or misplaced her parents, her husband has vanished, and even her house has been destroyed. Seeking refuge with her grandfather at Blemnox, the family’s ancestral estate, Viola finds that that haven has been lost as well, because of her grandfather’s gambling addiction. There’s a small cottage at the southern boundary where they can live, however. A87815181]

“My great-grandfather lived out his last years here,” Grandpa explained. “He could have lived in the mansion, but he was angry at his son and grandson for losing so much of the estate with their gambling. I was eight when he died. He and his brother built the mansion just before the War Between the States.

“Which side did the family support during the war?” Viola asked.

“They couldn’t decide. The Mason-Dixon Line, which separates north from south, runs through the middle of the estate. It even bisects the dining room table. My great-grandfather usually sat on the north side of the table because he was against slavery. His brother, who sat on the south side, was not. They had many arguments, and the only way to keep peace in the family was to stay neutral and hide when the armies marched through the estate on their way north or south….”

“Where did they hide?”

“Come, I’ll show you.” Grandpa grabbed a couple of flashlights and led Viola down the cellar stairs. Opening a door at the bottom, he showed her a tunnel that stretched into the distance. “Knox, Great-Grandfather’s brother, was frustrated with the plantation’s soil, which was worn out from years of cotton and corn crops. He tried to grow deep-rooted potatoes and was disappointed to find that he had to dig down seven feet to get to the potatoes. One day the brothers had a great idea: dig this tunnel so they could come down and pull potatoes from the sides any time they needed them. The tunnel served another purpose that Knox didn’t know about: it was an important part of the Underground Railroad.”

“But that wasn’t literally underground!” Viola protested.

“It was in this case. Runaway slaves could enter from this house, which was technically in Maryland, a slave state, and exit at the other end in Pennsylvania, a free state. Great-Grandfather called the whole affair the War Between the Taters”

"War between the Taters"

Deb

Keep up the good w*rk

[Amy P]

I promise to live down to the same low standards that I set in the previous chapters .

ing.