Book One in a trilogy followed by Runaway Slave and Slave's Revenge. Author's Note--The events in this novel are based upon the authentic diaries and plantation journals of a young slave owner who lived in South Carolina near Charleston at the time in which this story takes place. By today's standards many of the events which occurred at that time are revolting--but nevertheless, they actually happened and are faithfully recorded here in fictional form. It is vital for the modern reader to understand that history reveals that the morals, mores, and social lives of the slave masters of the antebellum South were quite different from those of free men today. In order to show life as it was actually experienced, all the facts have been presented in detail, sparing none of the sordid encounters which the principals in this book experienced. The names have been changed to protect the identities of those descendants who are still living today- but it was from one of these individuals whose great-great-great grandfather was the writer of diaries upon which the trilogy is based, that the major portion of this sometimes incredible story is derived. The facts from the diaries speak for themselves: it is the way it happened.