This book contains a collection of powerful short stories concerning slavery in Oklahoma. Written post-emancipation in 1898, this fascinating book provides a haunting insight into the day-to-day lives of people in a pre-emancipation America. Stories contained within this collection are: Color-Line Jocundities, Ben and Judas, Hodson's Hide-Out, Rudgis and Grim, A Race Romance, Dusky Genius, and The Balance of Power. This book has been elected for modern republication because of its historical and educational value, republished now in the hope that its messages and lessons can continue to be of value to generations to come. James Maurice Thompson (1844 - 1901) was an American novelist, best known for his works The Ocala Boy (1895), A Tallahassee Girl (1882) and A Fortnight of Folly (1888). This book is republished here complete with its original illustrations and a new introductory biography of the author